His Translator

His Translator Part 2 (Henry x Burt)

 Being Henry's translator wasn't too hard. Burt just had to read Henry's signing and tell everyone else what he said. Burt ended up attending many important meetings between Henry, Reginald (and his right hand man, of course), and whoever else it concerned. The first important meeting he attended was about some heist or something, he couldn't remember. As soon as the others saw Burt at Henry's side, some looks of confusion were immediately shared.

Reginald spoke first. "Burt? What are you doing here?"

"Henry asked me to be here." Burt replied.

"Really?" Reginald asked, confused. "Henry, has there been a last minute change of plans?" Henry lifted his hands, beginning to sign. Burt watched his hands attentively, before relaying the information to the other Toppats.

"Henry prefers to sign, I know sign language. So I'm going to act as his translator from now on so he can stop hurting his throat every day."

 Right Hand Man spoke up. "Didn't know you knew sign."

Burt replied bluntly "Wasn't relevant before." Right nodded in understanding, and the meeting carried on. Henry signing, Burt speaking. It was the same routine for most meetings, except for when Burt couldn't attend. Henry started off signing slowly, in case it would end up being too much for Burt, but Burt proved to be quite fluent in sign, so Henry eventually went with his preferred speed, with little to no problems for Burt.

After a while of doing this the two of them got closer, spending their spare time together. Eventually, Henry had become curious.

'Hey Burt, can I ask you something?' Henry asked. "Yeah boss, what's up?" Burt responded, his gaze switching between Henry's hands and Henry's face. 'I've been wondering.' Henry continued. 'You're clearly very fluent in sign language. Where did you learn to sign?'

Burt paused for a second. Then responded.

"I grew up learning how to sign, my dad lost his hearing to polio before I was born, so my whole family used sign to communicate." Burt explained. 'That makes sense.' Henry replied. It was quiet between them for a bit. "Hey boss, can I ask you something?" Burt asked. Henry nodded, thinking it was fair. "Have you always been a selective mute? You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I get it if it's too personal."

'Don't worry, it's not super personal to me.' Henry started, 'I had to get surgery done when I was in middle school, the doctor made a mistake and my larynx was damaged. It's not so bad to the point I can't can't talk now, but it still hurts if I use my voice too much. I actually didn't learn sign until my highschool years. It made a lot of things difficult.'

Surgery gone wrong? That wasn't what Burt was expecting. Then again, he wasn't sure what he was expecting honestly, it could've been pretty much anything.

'Do you want to see my surgery scar?' Henry signed, breaking Burt's train of thought. "If you're really comfortable with it, sure." Henry removed the diamond charm that held his scarf in place, then unbuttoned his shirt, holding it open to expose his chest.

The thing that surprised Burt the most wasn't just the long and deep looking surgery scar, but the fact that Henry had many more on his chest alone. Some larger than others. What kind of hell has this guy gone through to warrant that many scars? Burt looked at Henry. His gaze switched between Henry's scarred chest and Henry's eyes. There was so much he wanted to know.

 …

Burt wasn't sure what came over him in the moment, but he suddenly reached his hand out and gently touched the long, vertical, surgery scar. Henry flinched for a second, but didn't retaliate. After a few seconds, Burt withdrew his hand, realizing how awkward he just made the situation. He was never super expressive, but even so, his face was beat red from embarrassment. What did he just do!?

To be continued?