𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚡𝙱)

Track 36 | 𝗚𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲

⏭

"Harvey?" Ari raised an eyebrow at my unresponsive silence.

Fuck, I was staring again. 

"I—Sorry," I stuttered, glitching like a malfunctioning computer. "Do it again, I missed it."

Ari just smirked and rolled his eyes, fully aware that I was indiscreetly drooling all over him. He raised his paws and repeated the same figures and shapes with his fingers he did seconds ago.

Nice to meet you.

"Yeah, yeah, exactly," I approved in response to the greeting I'd just taught him in ASL. "Just, uh, make sure your pointer fingers are facing each other when you sign 'meet'." I turned my fingers toward one another and touched my knuckles together, showing him how it was done correctly. "Think of your fingers as, like, two different people. They would meet face to face, not side to side."

"Got it," Ari nodded, redoing the action with my added revision.

I smiled at his compliance, using my own hands to communicate an appropriate reply.

Same.

"What does that mean?" Ari questioned, trying to interpret the simple hand movement.

"It means 'same', like, 'nice to meet you, too'. It's a reply," I informed him, continuously moving my hand back in forth with my thumb pointed to my chest and my pinky pointed at Ari.

"Ah," Ari mimicked the motion of my paw.

As Ari practiced it, I turned my attention to the blankets underneath us in search of my phone. It was the afternoon now and we were sitting on my bed—Ari against the wall and me against the window. The two of us were sharing Ari's wireless earbuds, with one in my ear and the other in his, listening to the music that Ari had chosen. It was sort of like a business exchange: I'd show him some ASL, he'd play me some of his favorite music.

As of now, we were listening to this R&B/Soul album by this band called the 'Alabama Shakes'. The volume was low so as to not distract us from our studies, but the current song playing was unlike anything I'd heard before. Ari was definitely widening my scope and introducing me to all kinds of new music. 

Retrieving my phone beside me, I stared at the digital clock on my home screen and noticed it was almost five o'clock. My mom would be getting back from work soon. "Um, can we just go over the alphabet one more time? Did you have it memorized?"

"Um, I think?" Ari hesitated to answer.

"Did you practice it in your free time?"

Ari shrugged like a student who forgot to do their homework. "I practiced a little."

"Um, okay..." I murmured, a little dejected. The current track in my ear had ended and the next one on the album was now playing. "Can you try reciting the letters—?"

"Oh, shit—Hold on, I fucking love this song," Ari interrupted excitedly, leaping across the bed and grabbing his phone, boosting the volume.

"Ari, wait..." My voice trailed off, it was no use. Ari's focus was now dead-centered on the music churning out of his headphones. 

In my ear, I could hear the sudden discordant striking of a chord followed by a pause, initiating a slow breakdown of electric guitar strings. It sounded like jazz and rock had a baby.

Ari sat up and faced me from across the mattress, a large smile plastered on his face. He messed up his hair and rocked his head to the rampant chords, beating his fists in the air to match the tempo. Though I wanted to continue the lesson, I couldn't help but fight the urge to smile back. This wasn't the first time Ari's been distracted during one of these, so I knew better than to try to stop him. I just stared at the floor and scratched my cheek, waiting for him to finish.