Snake Boy

~ Chapter Five ~

They decided on Dorrian. Logan had found it while scrolling through a baby naming sight and the snake boy seemed to take a liking to it.

"Very well, Dorrian. I think we should talk a little bit more about our plan with this." Logan turned in his chair, facing his new roommate. Dorrian blinked at him. 

"I don't want to move too quickly while you're healing, but it would be advantageous to get an idea of what we should do. If you want to join the general public we'll have to work through some topics. Perhaps I could teach you English-"

Dorrian pulled a face. When Logan replied with a questioning look, he reached over to pick up his notebook again.

'English is hard for me. I have trouble forming the words.'

When Logan looked up from the paper, Dorrian lifted one lip to show off the sharp fangs right about where his canines would be.

"Ah, I see." Logan nodded, understanding. "English could be difficult then, yes... and I certainly can't teach you French."

He got up, pacing around his room. "You can't just walk around the rest of your life writing everything. It would be time consuming and you'd end up wasting money... hang on."

There was a specific stack of books on one of his shelves. Logan picked it up and began to sift through it, carrying it to his desk to set it down there while he searched for what he wanted.

"Perhaps this?"

The book in his hands was a well-worn beginner's guide to ASL. Logan turned and brought it over to the papasan, showing it to Dorrian.

"American Sign Language is well used, especially around here. It would provide you a means of communicating that is much quicker than trying to write your answers to everything."

Dorrian took the book slowly and opened it, peering at the pages curiously. After a few moments he looked up at Logan again, a slightly puzzled look on his face.

"How does it work?" Logan guessed. The boy nodded.

"There are signs for words and signs for letters. If you ever don't know the action for a word, you can always finger spell it to someone who knows how to translate. You understand English, so it wouldn't be too difficult... well. How did you learn to write?"

He waited while Dorrian began to write again.

'There used to be a man who would take care of me. He was very careful. He didn't mind the monster.'

"You're not a monster." Logan frowned.

'People think I am. He taught me to write. We knew I could not speak. It was better I didn't.'

Dorrian folded up on himself, glaring at a spot on the floor. Logan didn't ask what happened, clearly this man had been special to him and was removed in a way that made him upset.

"Well, you'll have no problem with ASL then, I'm sure. We could get started right away, but I think you should recover some first. It will be easier to concentrate when you're healthier." Teaching would help him take his mind off what may have happened to Dorrian, but Logan really did want him to feel better before they started.

Dorrian nodded and curled himself up tighter. Logan quietly got up and set the ASL book back on the rest of the stack, then moved it to his desk where it was easily accessible. He grabbed his hamper and took it upstairs to wash it, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to tell the other that he'd be back in a few minutes.

When he came back downstairs, Logan was surprised to find the boy had moved to his desk chair again. He had the beginner ASL book open, and was peering at it while hesitantly forming his fingers into letters. He seemed to be running through the alphabet.

Logan went over to his closet again, letting Dorrian do what he wanted. He wouldn't stop him if he wanted to start on it, and he assumed Dorrian would ask for help if he needed it.

He sorted through his clothing, picking out several more items that Dorrian could wear. He tried to pick things that wouldn't get caught on the edges of the scales, though they were pretty flat on Dorrian's skin.

Soon he had a good stack of clothing that he felt would work. He set them all aside.

"You might remember him from last night, one of the boys who was in the front of the car is coming over tomorrow to do some homework." He glanced over his shoulder as he spoke. Dorrian looked up, a small furrow appearing as he frowned.

"Roman. The curly haired boy who met us at the car, not the one who was already inside." Logan pinched his nose and added, "the one who called you Jack Scale-ington."

Dorrian's eyes flickered in recognition, then vague annoyance. Logan nodded. "He's extravagant, and obnoxious, but he asked in a semi-polite manner and we happen to be... acquaintances of a sort."

Logan set the clothes aside and walked over to the desk. "How is this going?"

Dorrian looked at the book, then up at him again, and slowly, meticulously spelled a single word.

'O-K-A-Y.'

"You have to start somewhere, obviously." Logan nodded. "Knowing the main alphabet helps you work through the more complicated parts."

He began to sign as he talked, to illustrate his point. "As you get more confident with it, you will be able to string together full sentences. I often speak and sign at the same time because many people who use ASL can also read lips, and it also keeps me from having to repeat myself."

Dorrian nodded and glanced at the book again. He started to spell, then shook his head and picked up the notebook.

'Do you think it will be a long process? Learning all of this?'

Logan paused, then shrugged. "With language an individual is always learning. Basic mastery will not take long, I learned most of it within a year, though I took a class in school to learn."

{My plan with Dorrian is to keep both his writing and his signing written the same way, otherwise it's more than I want to keep track of. I usually specify, and when he gets to the point where he can sign efficiently it's most likely he'll be signing}