#heart mlc

[distant-screaming]

Yeah I'm thinking about Heart again. What did Heart do to survive, after losing his hearing? Did he try different hobbies, trying to see which ones felt right? Are there scrapbooks somewhere in his room, crushed origami cranes, half completed puzzles? Were there ever things Heart tried that he gave up on solely because there was no one there to encourage him, to tell him 'good job'? Did Heart ever spend days on end doing nothing?

[moonchildbichen]

li ming walks into their shared apartment. it's a bit late, but he'd already sent heart a warning text that he'd reached. who knew grocery lines could be so chaotic? he opens their door and steps inside, placing the grocery bags on the floor. he takes out his phone to text heart again, to tell him he's home.

(it's their signal, so there are no more broken stolen alcohol bottle incidents. heart makes sure to keep his phone on vibrate and li ming makes sure to text when he's out of sight)

he's about to hit send when he hears it.

a humming.

it's choppy, goes in and out of tune. sometimes too low sometimes a bit too loud. but the voice itself is musical, giving the tune the charm of a small wild wood, beautiful and untouched by rules. li ming pauses and approaches their kitchen.

heart is there in a cozy brown pullover and sweatpants. (he gets cold easy and god knows weather is moody these days). he has his back to li ming and li ming can smell home.

he's making chicken rice.

but that isn't li ming's focus right now. it's the humming.

he stills. heart may not be able to hear but it just heightens his other senses. hes quick to catch movements. so li ming stays, still, like watching a unicorn in the wild.

he isn't sure if heart knows he's doing it. the humming. there's no phone in sight and no machine could replicate heart's voice. tears jump to li ming's eyes unbidden. the tune is soft, sweet, and he realises it's familiar. it's the music from the Church. a tune heart hadn't heard but felt in his heart through vibrations and words signed.

li ming forgets his need to stay still and reaches up to wipe his eyes. his boyfriend, ever sharp, sees it and heart is turning around.

"𝘭𝘪 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨-" heart begins to sign and then stops. li ming smiles, and signs, "𝘩𝘦𝘺. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦." he begins to move towards heart but pauses when heart puts his hands up, a look of consternation on his face.

"𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?"

he starts to fill a trickle of worry but waits. heart nods. and then he opens his mouth.

"l- li mi- ing!"

heart looks up and grins.

li ming freezes, jaw dropped, tear streaks drying on his face. yes, he's heard his name being spoken into fresh existence by heart before, no the feeling of finally loving his name never goes away each time he sees it's syllables followed by that starry smile.

"li ming!" heart repeats with a shy smile, cocking his head to the side, asking for a review. li ming unfreezes and ignores his tears that are dropping afresh.

"𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵! 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥!" he hopes his signing isn't as messy as he feels inside.

but heart isn't watching his hands, he's watching his face.

ah yes, he forgot he was crying with how much he was feeling. heart's brows furrow, his eyes wide and worried.

"𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵?" heart signs, as he approaches li ming.

li ming shakes his head. he smiles, even as the tears flow. he points to himself and makes his smile wider, so much so it crinckles his eyes.

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺"

heart pauses and considers him. then he nods and li ming has never felt so endeared.

heart smiles, eyes sparkling happily. he spreads his arms wide.

"𝘩𝘶𝘨?"

li ming chokes and laughs, shaking his head as he stumbles into heart's waiting arms.

he feels heart write something on his back.

"𝘪 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

li ming smiles.

into the skin that spreads over heart's pulse he mouths,

"𝘪 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰."

he snuggles further into heart happily and sighs when he feels giggles. the smell of chicken rices fills the little kitchen.

li ming is home.

[alisdump]

HBD GEM!! 🎂🎊🪅🎈✨

[distant-screaming]

So like. Had one too many thoughts about mlc again hold on

I haven't stopped thinking about how and why Heart learned sign language. It keeps me up at night. Do you. Like. His parents won't communicate with him (they're scared, and he can't really hate them for it because he gets it, but it still - it hurts) and all he can hear is dead silence when he's been so used to laughter and piano and music and sound and he's so desperate for a voice and he's just so, so alone. So in the dead of the night he's scrolling through some random thread and he just - he can't do it anymore, Heart needs SOMETHING. So he gets out of bed carefully, blinks at the bright light of his computer screen and opens up YouTube, clumsily follows the sweeping hand gestures from a lady with a too wide smile in a desperate prayer, in a hope that maybe, maybe he will get to use it one day. Heart learns sign for himself in the mirror every morning and himself in the ceiling every night. And Heart is angry and hurt and lonely and tired and silent, but -

He signs you look handsome today in the mirror. It makes him laugh.

[paperzombie]

Li Ming is trying to recreate some of the scenes from Heart's favorite movies, which turn into cute date ideas. From the morning market to taking Saleng's bike to the next town over, they have a whirlwind of adventures. Li Ming doesn't know if it's the bright smile that blooms on Heart's face or the chaste kiss he receives at the end of the night is the best part of their time together ❤️

[paperzombie]

Heart and Li Ming having FaceTime calls before bed and falling asleep looking at each other. Li Ming can't read lips, but he thinks Heart said he likes him one night.

[hyperfocusmadness]

I had to pause in the middle of watching mlc bc my professor started talking to me but OH MY GOD HEART'S PARENTS TALKING TO HIM IN SIGN LANGUAGE I CAN'T HANDLE