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Being Deaf in Hollywood had its challenges. You had to work much harder than everyone else around you but to prove that you deserved to be where you were. Many studios didn't want to hire you because they didn't want to make the necessary accommodations for you. That, however, only made you want to work that much harder. Because of your hard work, you were one of the best make up artists in the business, which did help slightly. But still not enough to be booked for everything you applied for. Luckily enough for you, you'd been hired on set for the new Spider-Man movie.
Working on set at the Spider-Man movie was a dream come true. Working on a Marvel movie was a big deal. Not to mention, you were also a huge fan of Marvel movies, and Spider-Man just so happened to be your favorite. You knew he wasn't a Deaf character, but he more or less signed "I love you" while shooting webs, which you had thought was pretty damn cool when you were younger.
The studio did their best to have an interpreter around if you needed it, but there wasn't always one there, especially if it was super early or super late. The whole cast was very friendly, and you could tell that they did their best to communicate with you. You were used to being the odd one out, to having to try harder just to fit in.
As a kid, you'd been mainstreamed (meaning you went to a regular public high school), and you'd had speech therapy in an attempt to help you vocalize, but you knew sign language and preferred to use it whenever you could. Your parents had done their best to immerse you in Deaf Culture, even though they were hearing, as well as the hearing world. They learned as much sign language as they could to communicate with you, and did everything in their power to make things easier for you. You knew you were lucky, as you knew plenty of people who didn't have parents like yours.
Anyhow, most people on the cast would just talk to you normally, thinking you could lip read, but then you'd have to explain that you were actually shit at lip reading. Most people didn't realize how hard it actually was, and that very few Deaf people could lip read well. In order to communicate with cast members while you did their makeup, you'd usually use a phone, typing things out back and forth to one another. Fortunately, doing makeup didn't require a whole lot of talking. Some of the cast picked up a few signs here and there, but not enough to hold a real conversation.
You were always one of the first people on set early in the morning, as was Tom. Tom was one of the people who seemed to show genuine interest in learning sign language and learning more about Deaf Culture. While others on set were interested and did take time to talk to you, you could tell that Tom was really going above and beyond. When you had time, you'd often teach Tom different signs, and he picked them up fairly quickly. You even taught him your name sign before giving him one of his own.
One morning, he surprised you by greeting you in sign language, "Good morning, Y/N. How are you doing?" His signing was a little awkward and clumsy, not totally correct, and his fingerspelling was painfully slow, but you were shocked that he had been able to string together a full sentence; you'd only been teaching him a few random signs here and there. Your jaw had dropped, and your eyes were wide as you stared at the curly haired boy. He laughed at your expression, "What?"
You signed slowly and clearly so he could understand, "Good morning, Tom. Where did you learn to sign like that?"
He laughed again, and you couldn't help but notice the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled. He shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way, "I'm learning with an app. I want to talk to you."
To say you were blown away was an understatement. Never in your career had someone you'd worked with taken the time to actually learn sign language, to immerse themselves in Deaf Culture. The shock was evident on your face - facial expressions are a huge part of sign language - and you watched as Tom smiled again, seemingly understanding the look in your face. His bottom lip came between his teeth as he tried to remember the right signs for what he was going to say, "More people should learn how to talk to you. You're-" he paused, face twisting up as he forgot one of the signs before fingerspelling 'great' slowly.
Laughing a little, you demonstrated the sign for him and he nodded quickly. "Yeah, you're great, Y/N." He finished the sentence correctly, using your name sign and everything.
You could feel tears stinging in your eyes, threatening to spill over your lashes and onto your cheeks. Placing your hands over your heart, you tried to blink back the tears; you were so grateful that Tom was so kind. Your fingers brushed away some tears that had fallen as Tom held his arms out toward you, asking for a hug. You nodded quickly, sliding your arms around his torso.
Tom was quick to return the favor, his arms circling around your waist and drawing you in closer. The palm of his hand was running up and down your back gently as you gave him a squeeze. You'd never have the right words - or signs - to truly show how thankful you were.
When you pulled back from each other, Tom gave you a smile, his eyebrows raising up as he said, "I forgot to say earlier... you're beautiful."
