BRANCE + RINNEY

rinney - silence silence silence

Small hands threaded into the fabric of an older woman's sweater, pulling her close as tears fell out of their eyes and onto the cloudy fabric she wore so nicely. The child's ears burned, making him cry more. The older woman offered him words of affirmation, hands shaking when they cupped his face as she realized he couldn't hear anything she was saying.

Robin was seven and a half when he became deaf, the world becoming quiet as he cried into the chest of his mother.
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Bruised knuckles knocked on a window frame, dried blood leaving empty marks of pain against the glass. Less than a minute later, the window was opened. A brush of warm air pulled Robin close, settling against his clothes and face in the form of a hug.

Climbing through the window, Robin brushed peeled paint from his jeans and specks of grime from his shirt. Some odd feet in front of him, Finn smiled and waved.

Robin turned back towards the window, closing it, before looking towards Finn. He too waved, a smile passing over his tanned skin to reveal his whitened teeth.

Finn pointed at himself, then at Robin, his hands opening and closing as he tilted his head to the side. Robin nodded his head and opened his arms without hesitation, allowing the other boy to find comfort in his chest as the hugged.

Robin could feel a finger moving against his back, slowly spelling out words.

I , M I S S E D , Y O U

Robin smiled at that, shifting to where he could see Finn's face better. Pointing to himself first, he made a peace sign with his right hand and pushed their foreheads together.

He could feel Finn's heartbeat against him, their breathing matching as they stood intwined in silence.
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The sound of pencil meeting paper surrounded the room's air, though Robin's mother minded none as she watched her son draw with a smile. Most of his time was occupied in doing such, crayon marks stained into his hands with pen ink poked into his fingertips.

Robin's mother smiled wider when the picture was handed to her, though her eyes flashed with confusion as she looked towards what appeared to be her son and another boy holding hands.

Poking at the paper with her finger, she looked towards Robin and cocked her head to the side.

Robin, on the other hand, smiled big and spread his arms out.

"Finn!" He couldn't hear how loud he was, but again, his mother minded none. She smiled at his happiness, taking him in her arms and tickling his sides as he laughed.
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Finn laughed, face red and eyes teary as Robin mimicked an explosion with his hands. Shaking his head, Finn mouthed 'you're lying'. Robin laughed too, shaking his own head as he crossed his arms. "I'm not."

"We should make our own language. I can't hear you, but you can hear me. That's not very fair." Robin was pacing through his room, fingers retreating towards his hair and he tangled thin strands of it. Finn, who was sat on the floor, did nothing but nod his head.

Finn quirked one of his eyebrows up, an amused expression sat on his face as he looked towards Robin. The other boy didn't have enough time to question anything as Finn took no extra time in tackling him into the bed.

"Any ideas?" Robin turned to Finn, hands now resting by his sides as he raised his eyebrows. Finn stood up, stretching his arms out in front of him. Robin, though confused, moved towards the boy and accepted the hug. Finn began to trace letters into his back, making Robin even more confused as he didn't understand what the boy was doing. A finger tapped against his head, concentrate. So Robin did, smiling when he figured it out.

"Finn! I wasn't ready idiot!" Robin laughed, narrowly avoiding hitting his head on the wall as he blocked his face with his hands. Finn laughed, wrapping his arms around Robin's body as he pressed a kiss onto the boy's head.

Pulling away from the hug, Finn raised his eyebrows in question. Robin nodded his head, accepting the idea. Finn pointed at his lips after a minute, mouthing something that Robin could make out as 'read'. Robin nodded his head and Finn smiled. "Cool."

Robin swatted Finn away from him, pulling the boy close when he began to frown. "You know I love you, shut up."
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"Are you serious?" Robin thumbed with the disc Finn had given him, a smile on his face as his eyes scanned over the details for the horror movie sat in his palms. Finn nudged him with his hand, smiling with a nod when Robin turned to him.

"Dude this is amazing, thank you." Finn mouthed out the words 'you're welcome', hugging Robin after a passing moment.

Robin's mother, who had been watching the interaction for only a short amount of time, smiled at how easily the two seemed to connect.
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Finn looked up to Robin, eyes soft and lips curled into a smile.

'I love you too'

Though Robin didn't hear it, he understood.

authors note: sorry for this shit chapter uh, i love you guys 😾