His Translator

His Translator Part 3

Why did I do that!? Burt thought to himself, embarrassed at his apparent lack of impulse control. He shows me his surgery scar and my first reaction is to touch it!? What is wrong with me? Burt's internal panic continued as Henry tried to think of how to respond. "I'm sorry for doing that, boss. I'm honestly not sure why I did it all." Burt uttered as he buried his face in his hands. Henry awkwardly smiled, finally having an idea on what to do. 

    Henry tapped Burt's hands, gaining his attention. Burt moved his hands, making eye contact with Henry. "Yes boss? Wha-" Burt's sentence was cut off by Henry's hand on his own chest. Now he was confused. After a few more seconds of having Henry's hand on his chest, Henry pulled away, signing to Burt. 'There, now we're even. Nothing to worry about.' Henry gave him a friendly smile, easing the tension. It was moments like these that made Burt appreciate him. 'If you want to check out my scars, just ask. I trust you, Burt.' Burt wasn't sure if he felt more or less awkward, but he decided to go with it. 

"Can I ask about the other scars? You have a surprising amount of them.." Burt asked, curiously. 'Sure, just point to one.' Burt nodded, staring at the numerous scars littering Henry's chest. He pointed to one that marked his collarbone, it was short, but clearly deep. "How'd you get that one?"

Henry looked at the scar, recalling its origin. 

'I got this one while I was still in prison. I was ambushed in the restroom when this guy stabbed me with a sharpened toothbrush, kind of funny, right? Still hurt like hell though.' 

"I bet it did." 

The two of them continued this pattern. Burt points to a scar, Henry tells a story along with it. Got stabbed here, stray bullet there, heck, even a guard dog attack. It was odd at first, but they eventually got comfortable with it. After a good while, it became Henry's turn to ask the questions. 'Well Burt now that you know more about me, how about I learn more about you?' Henry signed. "Hmm, guess it's only fair. Ask away, boss." 

'Alright, if I ask something too personal, just let me know. Alright?' Henry queried. "Sure thing boss."

'I'm aware you know English and sign language, do you speak any other languages?'

Burt gave him a small smile.

"Sí señor, conozco varios idiomas. Je me suis spécialisé en linguistique à l'université.' 

 Henry raised his brows in surprise. 'Did you just talk in Spanish and French? That's impressive.' Henry stated, amazed. I can see why he's the head of communications, he's clearly brilliant when he chooses to put in the effort. Henry thought. What else can Burt do? Burt was honestly surprised at Henry's compliment. None of the previous leaders said anything like that to him, at most he'd get a "Thanks" or "Took ya long enough" or something else along those lines. He never really that much, he just tuned it out, but he had to admit… it was nice having someone think of him as "impressive". It was nice having someone check in on him, talk to him, taking genuine interest in him, it was just… pleasant, feeling genuinely appreciated for once. "Hey boss-" "Henry!" Burt was cut off by a familiar voice. 

"Hi Ellie, is everything okay?" Henry spoke, his voice, as usual, was strained. He probably just spoke up to save time communicating. Judging by Ellie's tone, it was urgent. "Henry, we need your help, Reginald gave us a distress call from The Wall, and Right is losing it right now." Henry looked towards Burt, quickly signing 'Sorry Burt, I gotta go. I'll see you later' 

"Okay boss, see ya." Burt replied. 

Good luck. Burt thought, turning to his computer. I wonder how that's gonna go.

To be continued.