( @paledhorses )
Gus is back in his element. Back at the school he's been calling a second home and thank god, because there were only so many more days he could spend staring at nothing in that apartment. Some boring Netflix show, zoning out. Thinking about too many things, and wishing he could just be back with his kids.
'Deaf Interpreters: Central Players in Healthcare Access' is a lecture that's something Gus knows all too well from his time as an FBI agent, not to mention his freelance interpreting that often brings him into medical spaces. The lecture hall is pretty full, because it doesn't take an ASL major to know the importance. Nursing students, doctoral candidates... they're riveted as Gus speaks easily. He's bubbly, friendly, and his hands move the entire time - signing with each phrase to show that for him, at this point, it's second nature.
And he eats it up, feels invigorated as it goes on. "So the next time you end up in the doctor's office, imagine not being able to communicate your wants and needs. Think about what you can and can't understand - and how that impacts what you ask, what you're able to-" Gus's voice stops short.
Chocolate brown eyes catch sight of a face in the sea of students that... no. Another face in the crowd, another person he should never be seeing again.
He doesn't know his name. But he remembers him as though 5 years was 5 days. That broad brow, the dark eyes. Hands gripping him to help clean him up - and squeezing his arms, and his neck, and tugging his bonds into the proper position, and speaking so, so softly against his ear....
"Professor Amado?" His intern comments gently, from where they're sitting by the laptop that holds the slideshow presentation.
"...S-So..." Gus laughs, shaking his head. "Senior moment, I apologize! Remember, of course, that everything we've talked about is imperative for proper accessibility in the healthcare world. And. Thank you all s-so much, for coming out." With a nod as people awkwardly start to clap, he's off and out the door, to the toilets down the hall.
