LeoPika short stories and one shots!

Sign

{In this short story, Kurapika is deaf. ASL has a different grammar set up than spoken English (it goes "object, subject, verb" rather than "subject verb object), so I will try my best to show what the direct translation is.}

Kurpaika knocked on the desk to get Leorio's attention. He signed 'where car keys, you know?'

'No, I can help look. You going where?' Leorio stood and helped look for the keys.

'Grocery shopping.' He signed. 'You come?'

Leorio signed yes, then found the keys on the kitchen table. Together they went to the car and buckled in. Leorio made sure he had shoes and his wallet.

When they got to the store, they were pleased to find that not many people were there. It wouldn't make much of a difference, but it would be easier to stand at a comfortable signing distance.

Kurapika got a cart and started wheeling it toward the left side of the store where the food was. 'What's on the list?'

Leorio signed the things they needed. Bananas, milk, ibuprofen, more toothpaste, another box of sodas, frozen chicken, and batteries.

'Anything else?' Leorio signed.

Kurapika smiled a little. 'You know I love Oreos.' He finger-spelled the last word. 'Buy Oreos please?'

Leorio nodded. 'We have extra money. Get double stuffed.'

Kurpaika cheered silently, then took off for the Oreos while Leorio stayed for the other food. The blond strode down the aisle confidently, picked out his treat, then went back to his boyfriend.

'Look!' Kurpaika got his attention, and pointed to the box. He finger spelled 'L E' then pointed to the Oreos. He waited for the punchline to land. 'Le-Oreo. Leorio!'

Leorio laughed. 'Clever! Can you say my name?'

Kurapika looked down at the Oreos and took a breath. "Leorio."

It sounded a little bit like Lee-oro, but his voice was so goddamn cute that Leorio didn't mind one single bit. It earned Kurapika a kiss on the cheek.

They got their items and checked out. They unloaded everything into the car, and Leorio took the cart back inside. When he returned to the car, there was someone speaking to Kurapika. Kurapika was shaking his head, a little bit flustered, and trying to communicate with no success.

The man got visibly angry, and started to shout, which caused Leorio to run. He got in between the two men with a "hey, hey hey, what's the matter?"

"That man is pretending to be deaf!" The black haired asshole spat.

"That man is my boyfriend, and he is deaf." Leorio turned to look at Kurapika. 'You ok?'

Kurapika nodded.

"That's not true. I heard him speak. He was speaking to you earlier!"

"That's because he is in speech therapy and is learning how to speak. He needs practice."

"How come he could understand me? He responded when I called him out." The man folded his arms like he'd won.

"What did you say to him?" Leorio asked plainly, not looking for a fight at all.

"I said excuse me, you can't park there if you're not handicapped. That's a handicap spot." The man said matter of factly.

Leorio turned to Kurapika and signed as he said aloud "and what did you hear him say to you?"

'I didn't hear.' Kurapika signed. 'He tapped my shoulder, and was yelling loud. I told him I'm deaf and don't understand.'

"He was just telling you that he's deaf and can't understand you. If you speak slower, he can read your lips and see what you're saying." Leorio crossed his arms. "But to answer your question; yes, we are allowed to park here because we have a disabled parking permit because he is deaf. If you don't have any more questions, we have some frozen items I want to get home as quickly as possible."

The man looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he left. He got enough courage to shout something from across the street, but neither of him could hear what he said.

'He was mean.' Kurapika signed. 'He didn't believe me, I told him I am deaf.'

'I know. I'm sorry he was mean, but it's in the past. In the future, people more accepting.'

Kurapika nodded. 'I hope.'

Once they came to a stop sign, Leorio turned to the driver. 'Can you practice saying your name?'

Kurapika nodded enthusiastically. "Kurapika."

'Say "I love you."'

"I love you." His voice wasn't perfect, and he was still in early stages of learning, but it was Leorio's favorite thing to hear.

Someday they would be able to afford a cochlear implant, then Kurapika would be able to hear Leorio say "I love you" back.

/
Did y'all know that cochlear implant surgery costs like $10,000+ PER EAR?! And many deaf / HOH people are afraid to get the surgery because it's not very safe/ a lot of people have died from it? Anyway, the black haired guy was Chrollo because I love to slander him