Time to see how good I can write deaf characters

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In all his years of running, hiding, and helping other kids, Seven is proud to say he knows the whole lower levels like the back of his hand. He knew where the best hiding spots were, which areas were uninhibited, and when Six joined him, they are both able to go further out than before.

Six was... interesting company. She was short tempered and huffy, never afraid to share her opinion on something. It was nice to have someone who was different than him to hang out with. Sometimes she'd dissappear for short periods of time and come back with the scent of blood, but he never found the nerve to question it.

When the Nome lead them to the boy, Six made her opinion clear of him. She would glare and bared her teeth in what looked to be a soundless growl. It took a bit to persuade her, but he was finally able to get her to help him bring the boy back to The Town.

Well, it wasn't really a town town, but it was close to it. The Town was were most of the kids ended up, hidden deep in the heart of The Maw, just outside of the Nome's Hideout.

The Town was filled with kids, ranging from ages of three to sixteen, or the big siblings are some of the younger ones called them. There wasn't really an overarching leader of the place, but it was mostly the older kids that ran the place.

They brought the injured boy there in hopes of getting help from some of the few kids that knew a bit about medicine. A girl with dull ginger hair, who Seven nicknamed Nosebleed from her constant blood dripping nose, came over to them, pushing through the crowd that had formed around them as they cared him in.

She helped them get the boy to one of the private rooms, but quickly being ushered out, Seven watching as she seemed to be telling them to wait outside. She drew a blue curtain in front of them shortly, cutting his view from inside off.

Six shook her head in an irritated manner, her teeth bared once again as she glared at the curtain. Seven rested a hand on her shoulder, her side glaring him but stopping.

The boy in blue looked over, seeing the few curious kids still watching them to see what was happening. An older boy with shaggy brown hair stepped in front, breaking the crowd up before anything could happen.

Slowly the crowd broke up, going back to whatever they were doing before, though did look over at them time to time. His comrade glanced to the exit, and Seven knew why.

Six also hated huge crowds, she despised them. The times they would normally visit The Town, she'd get irritated much faster than usual, glaring at some of the kids as they passed by them on their way to somewhere.

Speaking of somewhere, Seven remembered he had to go get more parchment paper. Their past run used the past few scraps they had, so more would be needed before they headed out again. He gave a small groan, making the girl in yellow look back to him.

'Got to get paper,' he motioned, pretend scribbling in the air.

Six rolled her eyes, but nodded. The two left the curtained off room, walking along the less cold metal of The Town, the vibrations of other footsteps telling Seven just how busy today seemed to be.

There were maybe fifty kids max here, most of them he knew since his first attempt at helping other's leave. There was One and his sister, Zero, who helped make small shelters for new kids until they decided to stay or not. Two who was helping another girl named Three with making sure The Town ran smoothly since Three was one of the bigger kids.

Five and his brother, Scarf, were too young to really help out, but they did help keep everyone on their toes with shenanigans and pranks by the looks of it.

They neared the east side of the room, where other kids were at, selling different items for everyone. The Nomes helped them collect most of the material, some of them even becoming best friends with their human co-workers and staying to help them out with sales rather then just leave.

Small slanted overhangs made from small wooden boards helped protect them if the pipes above them started leaking, while curtains helped cover up the hole where the Nomes would come in from towards the back. Their request, not the kids' choice.

Small slates of wood were used to make counters to divide the kids from their costumers, and to avoid them from trying to steal, though it was very unnecessary as there was no real form of currency. It was mostly, "I can trade you some meat for lighter fluid," or "I can help you for the next two days with moving things around for that cloak".

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Seven noticed their target. A young girl with ebony black hair in a white gown, face thin, and her eyes a sparkling brown.

She looked up from her spot on the far end, a large roll of parchment paper behind her, arts and crafts supplies behind her as well. She gave a wave to them, Seven being polite and waving back, while Six just gave a smaller, less thrilled wave.

As they neared, she started to speak, but as normal, Seven couldn't hear what she was saying. He was bad at reading lips, mostly leaving it up to what the person was possibly saying.

Six pointed to the paper, the girl looking back and nodding her head. She held her fingers to her mouth, giving a silent whistle. A small dark gray Nome jumped out from behind a small box behind the stand, climbing on to it and jumping onto the handle of the roller, moving it to where he could grab it.

He gripped the end, running over to his human friend, holding it out for her. The girl gave a small giggle it seemed like, patting their head, Seven guessing she was talking him.

He never really found out her name, and just called her Flashlight from when they first met. She was the first person he helped, saving her from a leech before it could eat her. While the two did share history, Seven never really had much of a conversation with her, more focused on both their own respected work.

Flashlight patiently waited for him to try and speak of what he could do in return for the paper. Right, what did he have...

He patted his pocket, before pulling out something from one of his and Six' last ventures out. It was a small, rusty locket they found near the elevator, silver flaking off of it, but still shined in the light from overhanging bulbs.

He hadn't been able to open it, neither did Six have any luck. What laid inside was still a mystery, but not a mystery where they felt the need to break it just to see inside.

Flashlight leaned over to look at it, her eyes noticeably sparkling more. Her Nome friend jumped up onto the counter, excited making grabby hands at the necklace. The two seemed to share a few words, before the girl nodded back to him, cutting the parchment with a small piece of stray metal, dividing it into a rather good sized stack of paper.

Seven handed her the locket, giving a small nod as a thank you, Flashlight smiled to them, waving a small goodbye.

Seven carried the paper, Six still by him, glaring at some of the other kids that passed by them. Unlike most of the kids, they didn't live in The Town. Seven found himself housed not in one particular spot, rather sleeping in places that seemed safe while exploring; often time he did find himself in secret Nome rooms. He wasn't sure where Six would go, it didn't help she didn't like to reveal things and kept most things about her private.

She'd just kinda drift off somewhere for the night, and met up with him outside of The Town to go exploring. It was old routine by now.

Speaking of which, Seven glanced towards the ceiling of The Town, seeing a clock they had stolen from the Janitor. It was getting late, he was surprised so many kids were still out.

Six stopped beside him, catching her partner's attention with a touch of the shoulder. Seven looked over to her, following her finger to where she was pointing at.

Oh, it was Nosebleed again. She motioned them over, the two changing course and coming to her. Once there, Nosebleed started to talk, but Seven was left waiting on Six to explain it to him after she was done.

Six gave a funny look, like she was bewildered and surprised by the news Nosebleed told her. She turned to him, making motions with her hand the best she could.

'Boy fine, but eyes were peirced and not working. Foot fine, but sore,'

'Well, at least he was fine. What blinded him though?' Seven tried to ask, having to put the stack of paper down to communicate.

'Dumbass followed after Nomes, nails pierced his eyes,'

'Be nice, he didn't know,'

'Nomes stupid pest,'

'This is the four hundredth time you said that,'

'Nomes stupid pest,'

'Four hundred and one, now.'

Six gave a small smirk of self-accomplishment at him, before turning to Nosebleed. The small nurse explained a bit more it seemed like, Six giving a nod every once in a while. The girl in yellow turned to him again.

'Boy bad patient, no rest. Scared, I think,'

'You'd be scared too if you couldn't see,'

'True.'

He turned back to Nosebleed, trying to remember how to ask in the little verbal communication he knew. He couldn't hear him, but his throat seemed to shake with the words, hoping it was enough for her to understand.

Nosebleed nodded her head, stepping to the side and drawing the curtain behind her. The two entired, seeing the boy they saved currently standing, trying to guide himself the best he could. Grabbing on the walls, following his bed, blindly following faith a few times as he walked around, arms outstretched to help him.

His paper bag concealed his face, trenchcoat keeping him warm in the slightly chilly air. Seven let out a greeting noises, which made the other jump back, pressing himself against the wall.

Nosebleed held her hands out, though it seemed pretty dumb now that Seven thought about it. She seemed to try and calm him down, carefully walking over to him, gently laying her hand on his shoulder.

He jerked back, stepping to the side, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did so. Six and Seven went to help Nosebleed, ready to catch the other if he stumbled again.

Nosebleed still continued with talking, but by the way the boy was calming down, it seemed to be working. Six carefully crept up behind him, laying a hand on his shoulder, only to let go, teeth bared suddenly.

What was wrong? Seven looked to her with a confused look, but noticed how the touch seemed to set the other off again, only this time facing towards them. Seven couldn't see his face, but the dark eye holes in his mask noticeably looked more ripped and a little bloody from where his eyes were stabbed at.

Seven tried to speak again, hoping he was making some kind of coherent sentence to the other. "Is fine, you fine," he tried to say.

The boy slowly calmed down again, but still shook as he stood still. Seven carefully stepped forward, taking the other's hand into his own as a small sign of comfort.

"You safe," he mumbled. The boy pulled his hand back for a moment, still not trusting him by the looks of it. It was to be expected though, the poor boy seemed terrified out of his mind.

He backed away slowly, still unsure of his surroundings. Nosebleed watched him, before her eyes widen, before saying something to him. What was it?

Six bared her teeth again, shaking her head. She turned to her partner, making motions again in a tense and angry way.

'Him leave.'

Wait, what? No, he couldn't go! He was still injured and-and the Maw was filled with dangers and death and-

The boy in the coat seemed to catch Six's and Nosebleed's attention again. After a moment, Nosebleed untensed her shoulders, looking to Seven and Six.

The girl in the raincoat crossed her arms, furiously shaking her head no. Whatever it was, she seemed very fixed on that answer.

Not seeing Six translate what was happening to her companion, Nosebleed looked to him, before grabbing a piece of paper and writing on it.

She handed it to him, Seven's eyes reading over the writing.

He says his name is Mono, and that he came here to seek refuge from the outside world. He needs to get out of here though because this isn't the safe place he thought it would be. He needs help getting out, but Six is refusing to help him.

Seven looked to his partner, a small frown on his face. It wasn't uncommon for her to be irritated while they helped kids, but this seemed far to unlike her to have it just be some be something as her not wanting to help. What was wrong with her?

He gave the paper back to Nosebleed, making a few motions to Six.

'Why no help?'

'He leave,' Six stated.

'He needs help,'

'He leave Town himself,'

'What is wrong?'

Six glared at him, before turning and leaving the room without answering him. Seven wanted to follow her, but found himself frozen as he watched his partner storm away. What had gotten into her? He was just another kid that needed their help.

Nosebleed looked to him, a small sympathetic look in her eyes. She looked back to Mono, helping guide him to his bed, sitting him down, saying something to him before turning to the boy in blue again.

The shared a brief glance, before the nurse went to another room to possibly help treat the other's wounds with. Seven gave a final look to the boy in the coat; Mono, a simple name.

He gave a shaky "bye" to him, before leaving out of the room. Once out into Town, he looked around for any familiar yellow hoods, but found none.

Six must have went off to where ever she goes when she's upset. Maybe he should just go map out a few areas and than head off to bed. Seemed like the best option, really.

He picked up his stack of paper from where he had placed them outside the doorway, making his way to the entrance of The Town, leaving and making his way down a small corridor, opened up a vent latch and go inside, making sure to close it behind him.

Six'll come back, she always does.

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Finished - June 23rd, 2021

Finally got this chapter done! Man, it's strange not adding real speech dialogue, but I hope this is okay!

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!