Private To Drain a Swamp

[Efret Farr]

A smile was exchanged with the grandmaster's. Efret drew back only one of her own hands to continue speaking. "Thank you, Val. You're important to me too."

The archeologist's eyes flashed with sorrow for only a moment. "In any other situation, I would never ask, you or anyone else. It would feel for me very medical. I'm not interested in fixing myself by becoming verbal." Her expression was calm now, as she simply explained the nuance of what she was asking to her best friend, who she knew accepted her unconditionally. The sentiment was also true in reverse. "I love Sign. I won't give that up, but I do want to give Elias something that he can treasure like I do when he signs with me. Something more than a sign name."

Which she had already decided on but had yet to use. She didn't want to until she was sure that she could fix what lay between them. It felt a little premature otherwise. By bestowing a sign name onto a hearing person, a Deaf person was accepting them into the greater culture, but also into their personal life in a very profound way. Efret didn't want to send mix signals again, and wanted to instead ensure that Elias knew she was inviting him into her life as more than friends or colleagues.

"I can use the Force to listen to you," she continued. "I'm going to close my eyes to focus better. Squeeze my hand if you need me to pay attention." With a nod, she closed her eyes.

Then, after a moment, she said, "Say his name."

The Force flooded into her ears, depositing ambient sounds of the swamp through her hearing nerves, malformed as they were: the gentle swishing of the wind through the tall, riparian grass; the periodic ripple of the otherwise still waters when a frog jumped for a buzzing insect; the rustle of Nirrah's feathers as she groomed herself; and, surely, Val's voice.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber

"If you speak his name, I'm sure he'll never forget." Valery smiled warmly and felt her heart overrunning with warmth. The idea was so incredibly cute and she just knew it'd bring them closer. It'd show Elias that she wanted him to be an important part of her life, and there was no just no way in her mind that he'd not accept it. They were two of her best friends and they had earned that joy in their lives.

Though, the way Valery could help was quite surprising. She could use the Force to listen to her and then perhaps replicate the sounds that formed his name?

Every day, Efret managed to surprise her again.

"Alright, let's try this." Valery waited for Efret to close her eyes and focus. Remaining quiet until the very moment that her friend asked her to speak his name.

"Elias," she said, careful to pronounce it clearly and correctly.

Efret Farr ​

 

[Efret Farr]

That's what it sounded like?

"That's a beautiful name," she said, signing while her eyes remained closed. "Your voice too."

Both compliments might not mean much considering Efret's lack of experience with the world of sound. Though she had learned Force-listening a little more than two decades ago from the man who would eventually become her second master, she rarely used the technique. When she did, it imparted only awareness of her surroundings, not innate understanding of neither speech nor ambience. Most sounds, even now, were just noise to her—a series of mysterious noises that she often could not imagine the source or meaning of.

The exception was his name, as she had just asked Val to speak the equivalent of its fingerspelling.

Efret meant the remarks though. To her, even if she had no other sound to compare to 'Elias' and the few voices she had heard before Val's she had forgotten, both were almost sacred. Their sound qualities in and of themselves didn't really matter; it was instead that they were of this other sense that she infrequently flexed that meant the most to her. She knew she'd forget these sounds in a few days, but she would remember the feelings wrapped up in this moment forever.

"Once again."

She fell quiet to focus even further on her friend's voice, noticing the syllables and slight inflections. Sympathetic sounds began to tug on the archeologist's tongue, suggesting to her how to position the muscle for each, but she did not speak attempt to parrot the speech yet. A sound did come out, though: a laugh. "I lied. One more please."

A beat after the last repetition, Efret opened her mouth for a first attempt. Her voice was soft, unsure in this precise moment but also generally underused and underdeveloped. She spoke with an unintentional vocal fry that made her speech breathy and raspy as could be common for some people with deaf accents.

"Elie—"

No, that didn't feel right, nor did it sound like what Val had said.

"Eliash."

Extra air spilled off the sides of her tongue. Her brow furrowed. A softly prickling sensation guided her to cup her tongue at the /s/ sound when she tried again.

"Elias." She opened one of her eyes to look nervously at Val. That try had sounded right to her, but she wanted to make sure it had to Val as well before celebrating.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber

"Thank you," Valery said with a soft tone and much brightness to her voice. Perhaps Efret didn't have much to compare her voice to, but it only made the compliment more impactful. It came from a dear friend and she meant it, and that's all that mattered to Valery. It made the woman smile and her joy was reflected in the tone of her voice.

Even if she tried her best to make Elias' name sound very clear.

"Elias," Valery spoke again, curious to see how Efret would handle her first attempts. Was this a difficult name to speak? Valery had no idea — when you've been able to speak for most of your life, you don't really understand what's easy and hard anymore. But no matter how challenging this would be, she knew Efret would succeed.

Because this mattered to her.

"Eliash."

Almost! Valery leaned closer, her eyes widening and her lips already parting...

"Elias."

"You did it!" Valery squealed like a teenage fangirl meeting their idol for the very first time. She reached forward, taking Efret's hands into her own to squeeze them with affection. "And with such a beautiful voice, too." Valery smiled, almost unable to stop her lips from trembling at the joy she felt. This was just far too beautiful.

"You're going to make him cry happy tears."

Efret Farr ​

 

[Efret Farr]

Efret's other eye shot open and she beamed. At the same time, her world faded back to silence. Listening was getting overstimulating. "Thank you," she said, switching back to signing. "So much."

She nodded at Val's comment about happy tears. "I'll use this new ability with care," she promised more herself than Valery. After all, Efret didn't want to make Elias cry, even out of happiness, so soon after this miscommunication of theirs.

"It's getting chilly out here," the archeologist observed next. The air temperature hadn't changed within the last half hour, but the adrenaline of being profoundly upset had evacuated her body and wasn't warming her body anymore. "Do you have time to drink a cup of tea with me? We can go to the enclave cafeteria and talk about something else." A smile spread over Efret's face as she took Val's hand with one of hers. "I can handle it now."

She wouldn't be alone this time when she entered the site that represented her biggest mistake.

And she'd fix it, soon, Force willing.

Valery Noble
Exit thread​