Frank Castle aka The Punisher who was working at the construction site when he met you. You were also there a lot of overtime. You sat alone for lunch, no one tried to talk to you.
One day Frank needed to know where a tool was. He went to you, seeing that you were much less bothersome than the others. He waited for you to finish the wall you were working on, then cleared his throat.
"Hey. D'ya know where they moved the demolition forks?"
You turned to Frank. The first thing Frank noticed was the scar on your neck. It looked like you had been sliced in the neck, and the scar didnt heal just right. You started moving your hands in what Frank assumed was ASL.
"Uh. I dont know what you're saying. You mute or something?" You nodded. "Ok...uh, can you show me where the forks are?" You nodded again and walked off.
Life just went like that. You sat with Frank for lunch, worked nearby each other, you were a runaway. Things had gotten messy, youd been on your own since you were 13. You actually lived in the same building as him, so the two of you walked home together often. Frank was slowly picking up sign language just from being around yoh so often. You knew about Lisa and the kids, about the Marines, everything.
When shit started going down, and Frank had to pick up the Punihser suit again, you stood by him. He tried to push you away, but you wouldnt budget.
"Its too dangerous.
"I dont care. You can't just dissappear. I can fight. I will fight."
"I knoe you can." It was true, one night the two of you were at a bar, and Frank got into some trouble, and you punched the guy so hard, he passed out. "But this is more than punching a drunk! This is killing!"
"I've killed before. I'm willing to do it again for a friend."
"Fuck. There's no letting this go is there?"
"No."
You were there for everything. Russo, Madani, Amy, that priest dude, and not once did you falter. It almost scared Frank. You were so willing to do what was necessary.
You did pack quite a punch. One night, you admitted to Frank the you had special abilities. You had gotten your hands splashed by chemicals when you were very young, giving you stronger skin, muscle and bones.
You patched Frank up whenever he needed, refused to let him do it alone. Made sure Frank was actually eating something and sleeping...a little.
He knew you had nightmares. He had heard you make sounds in your sleep, your eyebrows knit together. One very very late night you opened up.
"I had a brother. I gave up everything for him, gave up my childhood. I killed to protect him. We were-"
Frank wasn't sure what the following sign was, so you clarified.
"No mom, dad."
"Orphans?"
"Orphans. The orphanage sent me away when I killed."
“Is your brother still alive?”
“Don’t know. He was disabled. Might have had a hard time.”
Frank just sat in the silence with you.
When all the shit that the punisher brought had been slowing down, you found that you loved to cook. Frank gladly teacher you everything he knew, and helped you get into a culinary class. You parted ways there.
2 years later, you heard a knock on the door of you apartment, you huffed. It was late, who could it possibly be?
You opened the door to none other than Frank Castle himself, a bit more wrinkled around the eyes, a few grey hairs in his hair visible.
“I need help.”
“What kind?”
“A…friend of mine is going through something. He can’t do it alone. Just one night.”
Warnings: Mentions of suicide, partial nudity, assumed attempted sexual assault (no actual sexual assault though, just a misunderstanding)
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His eyes fluttered open and the first thing he saw was a swirling unfamiliar ceiling. He then realized that he was in a great amount of pain. His entire body felt like it was on fire, aching and pulsing with inflammation. A deep groan left his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut. The general, former general, heard shuffling beside him and felt a shadow fall over him. Who was it? Some Resistance member, no doubt come to finish off the job Pryde couldn’t. He didn’t care, everything he had was gone, everything he once was, was no more. As long as Pryde and Kylo Ren didn’t get the satisfaction of having killed him, it didn’t matter. The ginger kept his eyes closed, not scrunched or clenched, he would embrace death willingly. But instead of death, he continued to feel the same throbbing pains, with the added pleasure of a cooling ointment being rubbed onto the spot he knew to be where the blaster fire had met his flesh.
Hux peeked an eye open slowly, hesitantly. Above him was an unfamiliar form, someone he had never seen before. A young woman, wearing scraps of dull colored clothing, sat on her knees beside him, her smaller scared hands rubbing ointment into his skin gently. Immediately, the throbbing that accompanied inflammation began to die down and he let his other eye open. He stared at her, unsure whether she was an enemy or a random civilian. She had no insignia, and after looking around as much as he could without too much movement, he realized that the two of them were surrounded by rock. Were they in a cave? Most likely. He turned his attention back to her when he heard her close the lid of whatever ointment she had used on him. “Thank you,” he said, his voice hoarse and throat dry. He tried to clear it.
The girl jumped in surprise, the ointment dropping out of her hands. It clanged loudly against the stone flooring and he flinched a bit at the echo. She turned to face him, eyes wide and hands trembling. Armitage raised an eyebrow at her obvious fear. “Is everything alright?” His voice sounded worse that time, and he coughed rather violently. The force of his cough brought new waves of pain through his chest as it irritated his wound. He wondered how fresh it was, how long he’d been there.
She stood quickly and ran off. A sigh escaped him, if she was an enemy, she was poor one at best. One should never show fear to an enemy, after all, let alone run from one. At least, he thought, she was rather pretty. Without so much dirt and ragged coverings, he thought she might even be considered beautiful. After a bit of time had passed, he heard footsteps once more, quick ones, and he could tell by the sound against the stone that they were bare feet. It was the girl. She knelt beside him once more and set a large claw bowl down to her right. Hux wished to see what she was doing a bit better, so he tried to sit up and she helped him. She placed a bundle of cloth behind his back to make sitting up not only easier but more comfortable against the rocks of the cave wall. Once he was comfortably sitting up she leaned over the bowl she had brought and dipped her hands into it.
Using her hands in place of a cup, she brought the liquid out of the bowl, he figured it to be water, and up to his lips. When he didn’t immediately start drinking from her hands, she ushered them forward a bit more, a bit of the cool water splashing against his bare abdomen. “Okay, okay,” he muttered and began to sip from her outstretched hands. He had not realized how thirsty he had been until she decided he could just drink from the edge of the clay bowl. Once he had downed all of the fluid, he handed the bowl back to her. The girl nodded and stood up once more, still a bit skittish. He could tell she was still trembling. “What’s your name?” He asked. She looked down at him curiously and tilted her head to the side. “Your name,” he repeated. “What is it? I should like to thank my savior properly.”
She continued to stare at him, blinking in confusion. Was he crazy? Did he hit his head too hard when he crashed? Was he not speaking basic? She remained unspeaking and turned around and walked away quickly. Her reaction was unexpected, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much about it. He would die soon anyway, whether he was killed by an enemy, her, or himself, he was unsure. But he would die. There was nothing left for him in the world of the living anymore. His First Order, gone. His Finalizer, gone. His men, gone. Plans, gone, ambitions, turned to dust, leader, murdered by a buffoon, even his precious Millicent was gone.
“Mrwow,” as if having heard his thoughts, his precious orange tabby came sauntering over to him from further in the cave. Armitage blinked at her in shock. It seemed she had also survived the crash, thankfully. Millicent began to purr as she curled up by her master’s side, making sure to sidle up as close to his hand as possible to ask for his affections. The girl also returned, this time holding a smaller clay bowl. Again, she knelt at his side, but she made sure to give the feline next to him a few scratches before turning her attention back to the ginger male. She set the bowl to the side and began to more her hands about, making odd shapes and symbols with them, and moving them in differing motions before staring at him expectantly. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
She furrowed her brow and repeated her actions. He shook his head at her and repeated the same statement. A huff left her lips and she looked down to the bowl beside her. Picking it up once more, she made a sipping motion, and rubbed her abdomen. That he understood and he nodded. She gave him a shy smile before handing the bowl over to him. It was some type of stew, a light-colored broth with hunks of veggies and unfamiliar meats. Hux downed the bowl in a single swallow, some of it spilling past his cheeks and down his chin. He had never been too picky of an eater.
The girl seemed surprised by his actions and she pressed a hand to her chapped lips. Again, her brow furrowed, and he wondered what she was thinking. Why hadn’t she spoken to him? Could she not understand him? Then where was he, to be on a planet with a human who didn’t understand basic? Armitage watched her carefully, and she watched him intently. Her features were soft and feminine but marred by dirt and scars. The wrapping she wore covered her neck entirely, her breasts and abdomen, but not her arms and shoulders. She wore some type of wrapping for loose pants that obviously did not fit her. Her feet were bare and scarred, much dirtier than the rest of her. It seemed that as he continued to stare at her she grew more and more uncomfortable. He was about to ask for her name again when his stomach grumbled, loudly. The girl let out some odd huffs, hoarse and almost without tone, her shoulders shook, and she covered her mouth with her hand once more, but it seemed as if she was smiling. Was she laughing? What an odd sound she made.
She got to her feet again and picked up the clay bowl the soup had been in earlier. He assumed she was leaving to get him some more of the stew, and he was correct. The girl came back and handed him the bowl once more, watching in fascination as he swallowed the broth and chewed the chunks in a bit more than one go. The third time she brought him the stew, he didn’t finish it, only getting about halfway through before feeling almost too full. “Again, thank you,” he said. She pressed her lips together at that and shook her head. He didn’t understand.
She looked around them, were they being watched? Once she had finished looking, she glanced back at him. Again, she made various hand motions and shapes, these being different from the last ones. Was that why she wouldn’t speak? Because they were being monitored? He glanced around, now also looking for enemies. A strangled noise came from the girl and she grabbed him by the cheeks and forced him to look at her once again. “Are you in trouble? Are we being watched?”
The girl kept her hands on his cheeks, making him look her in the eyes. He didn’t understand. What was going? Millicent let out a yawn and stretched at his side before curling up once more. Now visibly frustrated, the girl huffed and let go of his face. “I don’t understand, what’s going on here?”
It seemed the girl had figured out what she wanted to do. She brought two of her fingers up and pointed at his eyes, then to her own. He understood that. She was telling him, ‘Watch me’. Once he nodded at her in response, she let out a noiseless huff and reached up for the wrappings around her neck. Slowly, she began to untie them, the wrappings around her torso slowly loosening along with the ties. Before she could finish unwrapping them, they both heard footsteps. Hux could tell that these steps were booted, and he narrowed his eyes at the direction they were coming from.
Without missing a beat, the girl stood and ran towards the sound. He heard the booted footsteps stop, then heard the shuffling of clothing and hands. Armitage narrowed his eyes in that direction. Soon, the girl emerged, a larger figure in tow. The other figure looked to be a human male, with dark skin and long dreaded hair. He wore a cream-colored cloak with a hood, a dark green tunic, and brown colored pants. The girl made all sorts of motions at him animatedly. She was making many expressions and mouthing things that he could not get the hang of. All the while her hands were going, again making shapes and motions he’d never seen before. The other male placed his hands on the girl’s shoulders gently, which stopped her motions, before noticing the undone wrappings on her torso. He narrowed his eyes before looking toward Hux with aggravation. The ginger responded in kind. Steely blue eyes glaring back at honey colored brown.
In a language Armitage had not heard, the man spoke to the girl and placed his cloak over her shoulders. She snuggled herself into it easily. The dark-skinned man said something else to her, at which she nodded, before running off in the direction he had come from. He turned to face the ginger, his left hand rubbing his right wrist. “Taking advantage of your savior, hm? Scum like you are the worst.”
Hux narrowed his eyes. So, he could speak basic. His accent, though thick and unfamiliar, was not so bad as to be misunderstood. “I believe you are misunderstanding the situation.”
“I understand plenty,” he responded roughly. He took a few steps toward the ginger before kneeling in front of his Hux’s pale and bare feet. “If she had not found you, you would be nothing but rot. You should be grateful I have not notified the Resistance officials.”
So, he knew who he was. He chose to ignore that comment. “Does the girl not know basic?”
“She does not,” he responded dryly. “And she has a name.”
“Well, I would love to hear it,” Armitage said dryly, forcing back his urge to roll his eyes. The other tilted his head to the side as he looked at the ginger. Carefully, he uttered your name, and Hux made sure to remember it well. “Can you tell her thank you for me, then? Seeing as I don’t know what language you both speak.”
The man smirked, “You can tell her yourself you know, as long as your hands work.”
“My hands?”
“When she comes back, do this,” he said and made a gesture with one of his hands with a single fluid motion. Hux repeated it. “It means thank you.”
“And what is your name?”
“I’ll let her tell you,” he muttered before standing back to his full height. “I’ll be back to check on the two of you later. Be good, general.” He uttered the word with so much sarcasm that the ginger could feel his blood begin to boil. The only person who had annoyed him that much with only a few words had been Kylo Ren. Green clad man walked further into the cave, disappearing in the opposite direction you had gone in.
It took quite some time for you to return, and when you did, you and your wrappings, including the cloak that the other man had placed on your shoulders, were wet with what he assumed with rain. A large smile was plastered on your face, and you held what looked like pieces of scrap metal in your arms. When you noticed Armitage’s stare, you paused in your trek to go further into the cave. After setting down the pieces of scrap metal, you slowly approached him and pressed a wet hand to his forehead. Your small hand was so cold against his skin, he almost shivered. He said your name softly, and you nodded back to him in acknowledgment.
You took your hand away from his forehead and brought the blankets that were around his waist further up his body. He stopped you before you could wrap it around his upper body and hesitant made and gesture and motion the green-clad man had showed him. It took you by surprise, but you gave him a bright smile and repeated the motion to him. Then, you took the cloak off of your shoulders and let it hit the stone floor with a wet smack. Again, you began to undo the wrappings around your neck and torso, and Armitage motioned for you to stop. He couldn’t lean too far forward, his wound wouldn’t let him, but he still reached out and grabbed your left arm, but it was too late. Your wrappings fell, your upper body completely exposed to him. He immediately narrowed his eyes.
‘Watch me’, you motioned to him again, then pointed at the expanse of your neck. You tilted your head back to give him a better view. There was a long and jagged scar there that stopped right at the edge of where your collar bones met. It looked like an older scar, like it had had years to heal. Your hand grabbed his wrist and brought his hand up to the scar. He was confused. This was what you wanted to show him? Why you bared your breasts and abdomen to him? You had scars everywhere, so why was this one so special? Hux ran his fingers along the scar as he thought about what you were trying to tell him. And then it hit him all at once.
The hand gesturing, the odd breathy noises you had made, the scar.
You were mute.
~
A/N: RC's hand signs are based off of ASL if you want to imagine them. Most of the stuff in this story will be based off of American Deaf Culture, as I live in America, even though RC is not deaf. (I love Deaf Culture, I've studied it a bit at university but if anyone sees any glaring inconsistencies, because obviously there will be some differences and i will try to mention them at the beginning chapter notes, please let me know thanks)
Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Muter Nature oriented Reader
Warnings: Residue of anxiety atacks and such some fluff and beginnings of a crush ;-)
A/n: I’m sorry it took soooo long to type this up, but I just saw we’re almost to 1,200 followers!! WOO I love you guys! Also, 7 parts already wtf lol
“Why hasn’t she seen this yet?” Loki asked Bruce after he had read your file.
“Do you have any idea what that’d do to her? She’s already hyper aware of how badly she could hurt people if she doesn’t keep her powers under control. Knowing who did this to her would only hurt her more.”
He nodded slowly, closing the file he was handed just minutes ago. Whenever your negative emotions spiked, you went into a different mindset, one of panic and fear of yourself. If you were alone when that happened, your powers spiraled out of control, causing vines to go everywhere and appear from your body. Your back was the most common pace for them to break out of your skin. You had six scars on your back where the vines had emerged, one on each shoulder blade, two about mid-back, then the last two were said to be above the curve of your rear. There weren’t any pictures, so he had to trust what Bruce had written down. He just shook his head. You were still so young to have this sort of torment every second.
“The first time she did it,” Bruce said softly, leaning against a table, “was about three days after she got here. She must’ve had a horrible nightmare because she was crying so hard when we saw her. Her skin was almost the same color as mine when I Hulk out and the vines were...you ever seen an octopus? Or, better yet, a Disney character called Ursula? The vines were like her tentacles. Well, except green with thorns.”
“Did anyone get hurt?”
Bruce hesitated. “I-it was mostly her. When the vines reversed, her back was bleeding pretty badly. We thought we were going to lose her, but...apparently, her mutation also has this safety switch. Instead of a normal scab, what grew over the wounds looked more like bark. It disappeared and left scar tissue, but still.”
Loki couldn’t believe any of this. You seemed incredibly gentle and kind, but you were terrified of yourself and your abilities. He understood you were scared of people getting hurt, but now that he knew a part of what you had gone through, what hell you experienced since you were born…
He was angry.
He was angry at something he didn’t even have a stake in.
Why?
“Thank you for your time, Dr. Banner.” He dropped the file on the table and left the room quickly, heading directly to your room. He’d seen you come and go from a room, so he assumed it was your bedroom.
You were sitting in front of your window again. You had taken your pills before Steve had left you alone and you felt the familiar buzz as they took affect. You didn’t get high off them, but you knew the feeling of them working well enough by now to know the feeling by heart. The sun was filtering in through your window softly since it was nearing sundown now and you were feeling exhausted. You always felt drained after an episode like that, though it could’ve been a lot worse if Steve hadn’t thought of a song. Music was your outlet, after all.
Just as you were about to get up, you heard a soft chuckle from your door.
“My, Petal, but the light does compliment you very well.”
You had turned quickly to face him, eyes widening. He had seen you in the training room. Why wasn’t he scared of you? How did no one understand that you were dangerous, something to be feared and hurt? A freak of nature made for people to use.
“You look paler than I do,” he said offhandedly, trying to keep you calm with small jokes. However, when he saw that wasn’t working and that you were trying to keep yourself in a corner, he stepped closer. “It’s okay, Petal.”
You shook your head violently, holding your hands up in front of you to keep him away. You weren’t risking hurting him. You wouldn’t hurt him.
He sighed quietly, his large hands gently clasping around your wrists, making you wince. Not out of pain, but still fear. His hands were cool to your skin, which you didn’t know why. The Tower was usually warm enough to keep hands from being cool, everyone elses’ hands were warm. Why was he different?
“You aren’t going to hurt me. I know you won’t.” His voice was soft. He hadn’t moved closer yet, but he hadn’t let go of your wrists. “May I tell you something? It might help you.”
You raised your head slightly to meet his eyes and nodded. He gently guided you to sit on your bed, which you did gladly. You were exhausted, after all.
“I am not originally from Asgard. You know of the Nine Realms, yes?” When you nodded, he continued. “I am from the world of Frost-Giants, Jotunheim, and I am also a Frost-Giant. I know it seems odd, since I am neither very giant nor do I look like any of them. I was taken as a baby to Asgard and adopted by Odin. As you can probably guess, I...never fit in. I never felt like I was loved as much as Thor.”
You nodded, moving your hands out of his grip to gently place one on top of his hand as comfort. He smiled softly at you, turning his hand so yours fell on his.
“I am glad Thor did bring me here and didn’t give up on me. I wouldn’t have met such a wonderful girl who genuinely wants to be my friend.”
You flushed pink, smiling at him. He was really sweet to you when no one else was around and it still baffled you. He was referred to as a dangerous villain, but you had yet to see any signs of that side of him. He was holding your hands, for God’s sake.He had so many chances to hurt you, manipulate you, use you against your family, but he hadn't. He had been a friend and had acted accordingly.
You always saw the attitude change with him. Anytime it was you two, he was more open and gentle, which instantly vanished when someone else walked in. He fascinated you. The way his eyes glimmered when you showed him something, the slight mischievous smirk after he made you laugh, and the way he was trying to make you feel better over a small mistake he made. He wouldn’t have known to not touch you. You had never made a move to show him what would happen.
Reaching up, you tucked a lock of hair behind his ear and smiled. It didn’t matter what he was in his past to you and you wanted him to know that. By the way he smiled, you assumed he did. As you pulled away from him to go back to the main tower area, you had on though distracting you; his hair was soft.
What was he thinking?
Loki paced his room, running his hands angrily through his raven hair. He wasn’t supposed to get attached, that was the last thing he was supposed to do! You weren’t supposed to break down his walls, you weren’t supposed to mean something to him. He couldn’t focus on anything but you when you were close to him, he couldn’t help himself from smiling whenever you looked at him with your beautiful eyes that showed him so much but so little about you. You were too kind to him, too understanding, too...nice. You were nice to a villain who had tried to rule your kind before! Why? All the Avengers still glared at him sometimes when he passed, save for Black Widow. She’d seen how well you had been getting through to him and she had been giving the team updates about the both of you. Steve was still concerned about the amount of time you spent with him, he knew that too. Yet...you had no qualms about being near him. You let him hold your hands and calm you down.
You had even touched him and...and looked at him like he was just any other person.
Like someone who could be loved.
He shook his head. You were different, yes, but you weren’t crazy enough to love a man like him. He was evil, no matter what you did to try and convince him and others, Maybe even yourself. There was no changing what he did in the past, it was bad. He was bad.
And you were good. Everything about you was good. From your attitude to your personality, you were good. Too good for this earth and far too good for him.
He shook his head again and growled out loud to himself. Why did you have to be so perfect and amazing to make it impossible to not love you? Why did you have to be a hero? If you had been a villain like him, maybe he’d allow himself to understand what these confusing feelings are. He hated earth and the stupid emotions that came with it.
But he couldn’t help but feel...something for you. What it was, he didn’t know. He was too conflicted inside his head to comprehend what he felt for you. Maybe it really was the beginning of making a friend. Had he ever really had a friend?
Maybe...maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have one. Especially if it was you.
Warnings: I don’t think there are any for this chapter
Read it on AO3
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Hux had no idea how much time had passed since he first woke up, all he knew was that at night the cave got incredibly cold. He shivered, his teeth almost at the point of chattering. You had given him a blanket, it was thin and dirty but more then the what he had before, and yet he was still freezing. He would have crossed his arms over his chest for warmth, but he knew that would irritate his wounds. Millicent was doing what little she could for him, laying against his hip and sharing some her own warmth, but he was still freezing.
It reminded him of Starkiller, and how cold he had been on the first few nights he spent there. Eventually he had acclimatized, so he assumed the same rules would apply here. He heard his teeth begin to chatter. “You’re loud, shut up,” called the other male in the dark. The ginger heard a loud smacking noise and then a pained noise from said man. The next noise he heard was the shuffling of feet on the stone floor and he saw your silhouette move toward him and lay alongside him. You faced him, your softer eyes trailing along his face to examine him. He felt your roughened hand reach up and lay on his forehead before a frown pulled at your chapped lips.
Armitage was tempted to say something, to ask what was wrong, but he knew you wouldn’t understand, and he could take a guess as to what made you frown. You used one of your feet to smack against the stone and your companion tsked from his spot before approaching the two of you. The dark-skinned man watched you as you began to sign to him. Honey eyes trained on blue once you were finished. “She says you have a fever,” he said in a gruff voice. “She’s making me go waste money on medicine for you, so be a good soldier and stay put.”
The pale man nodded slowly in response, unwilling to verbally acknowledge his statement. Hux’s eyes trailed back to you as he heard you begin to stand. He watched you collect some stones and twigs and move them a bit closer to his location. You were preparing a fire for him. The other male reached into his back pocket and handed the ginger a folded sheet of paper. Armitage took it reluctantly, too much movement caused him discomfort, and unfolded the sheet. It looked worn and yellowed, probably due to time and usage. On the paper were drawings of hands and motions, alien words now crossed out and rewritten in basic, no doubt for his understanding. “So that you can make basic conversation with her. It makes her sad that she can’t understand you,” the other male grumbled, he shook his head before moving to stand. “I’ll be back in a day or two.” Hux assumed he repeated himself to you in your language, as you nodded to him before lighting the fire.
The flames closer proximity helped to warm him a bit, but he still felt chilled. You watched him carefully with a bit of concern. He tried to sit up on his own and groaned in pain, Millicent let out a small noise of disgruntlement before getting up and stretching. Again, you helped him to a sit up, and placed the bundle of his old uniform against his lower back for comfort, which he appreciated. The ginger tabby pranced toward you and you smiled at her softly before stroking her fur, almost immediately the feline began to purr loudly. Hux muttered your name quietly and you peered up at him, still petting the cat, and he made the ‘Thank you’ motion and you fixed your smile on him. You shifted your gaze to the parchment he had in his hand and you pointed to it with a spark of excitement in your eyes. He looked at the signs and their translations again before nodding at you slowly. With her lips pressed against one another you pointed to him then moved both your hands inward and tapped two fingers from each hand against one another. His brow furrowed as he tried to single out the sign on the sheet of paper. You repeated your motions.
‘you’ and ‘name’ You had asked him for his name. He repeated the sign for name and then said, “Armitage.”
It seemed either the first name of the General of the First Order meant nothing to you, or that you simply didn’t care, as you excitedly nodded your head. You then pointed to the orange tabby curled up by your knees and repeated the sign for name. “Millicent,” he responded. A large grin erupted onto your face as you scooped up the feline, she let out a startled meow, and gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. The now angered feline wriggled free of your grip and ran to his side, curling up into a ball and closing her eyes once more.
You began to sign again, making sure to do it slowly and even repeat the signs, so that he could find them on the chart. You signed; me, give, name, sign, you, two. The ginger narrowed his eyes in confusion but nodded to see what you would do. First, you pointed to Millicent, then signed animal. You signed animal a second time, but with a different handshape. Then, you pointed to him and made the sign for hair, again when you signed hair a second time you used a different handshape. He was still confused. His lack of response did not dissuade you, as you continued to stare at him with an expectant smile.
Hux had many things to ask you; where are we, who are you, how’d you find me, how many days has it been since he arrived, what’s the state of the galaxy, who’s the man with the poor attitude, and so on and so forth, but he only had the where withal to ask simple questions and understand simple answers. He decided to try to ask for the name of your dreaded companion.
‘What’s his name’ he signed, clumsily, slowly.
You patiently answered with a sign he was unfamiliar with, one that wasn’t on his chart, before bringing up a single hand and spelling the letters I A N. So, his name was Ian. Then you signed the words ‘good’ and ‘friend’ with a soft but sad smile. He nodded to you and you yawned. You stood to your full height and stretched a bit, then walked to the other side of the cave and grabbed a blanket, a lot like the one he was using, and placed it atop his lap. With a tired expression you signed a simple ‘good night’ before curling up on his side, much like a cat, and laying your head on his uninjured leg. Hux went stiff at the intimate action, unsure if he wanted to push you off, or allow you to use his lap as a payment for the care you were giving him.
In the end, the latter won out and he eventual fell asleep as well, now much warmer thanks to the fire, Millicent, and your warm company.
The Avengers rescued you from a HYDRA lab when you were 16, finding you mute and unable to trust. You slowly regain the trust through their care and come to think of them as family. Six years later, Thor brings his brother in to learn not to terrorize Earth. Can you teach him without words? And can something else blossom?
