He didn’t respond so I paused and waited for an answer. He still didn’t respond, and didn’t even move. My thoughts flashed furiously, processing everything I had seen from the young man so far, my mind coming to a strange conclusion.
I reached out as if to touch my companion’s shoulder, but stopped at the last moment. I knew what it felt like to have someone touch you against your will. Instead, I made myself just wave my hands in the periphery of the man’s vision and the young man turned to look back at me. I was struck again by the beauty of his green eyes as I repeated my question.
“Too many,” he responded.
I looked at him, and couldn’t help feeling an odd kinship with the man.
“My name’s Luke,” I said. “Lucien, I guess, but my friends call me Luke.”
“Hi Luke. I’m Rhuyin,” the young man said, smiling at me. His smile was heartbreakingly beautiful, and I had to remind himself to breathe, but this time for a completely different reason. “My friends call me Rhu.”
“I—I don’t want to offend you, Rhu, but… do you have a hearing problem?” I asked, then wanted to kick myself at the look of surprise on his face.
“Yeah, I do. How did you know?” he asked, flushing slightly.
“The gestures. It took me a minute, but I remember reading a book written by the Scribes guild in Alexandria. It was about how they use their hands to communicate. I think they called it sign language?”
Rhu nodded eagerly.
“That’s right! Not many people I know of have ever even heard of it,” he said excitedly.
“It was such an intriguing idea! I was thinking of all the ways we could use it—” I paused suddenly. I’d been about to say “how we could use it in the war with the Illyrians.”
Rhu didn’t seem to notice my hesitation.
“I know! It’s a great way to communicate when you can’t make a sound. A bit harder to use when you’re carrying groceries though…” he said, laughing.
I surprised myself by joining him.
“I can see how that would be a challenge,” I responded, then looked at Rhu curiously. “How is it you are able to understand me when I don’t know how to make the signs?”
Rhu pointed at himself, laid one hand flat and placed the other on top of it in a closed fist with his thumb pointed upwards. He brought his hands up toward his chin.
“I read lips!” he said. “I was taught to both sign and speak at the same time. It’s a habit I’ve had all my life.”
“Really? That is so cool!” I said. “How did you learn? Is there a video on it? How does it affect your work? Do you use it to spy on people? How about—”
“Whoa! Whoa! Slow down!” Rhu said, laughing. “Too many questions too fast. I’ll answer them if I can, but we need to go one at a time.”
We sat and talked for a long time. I excitedly learned a few signs from Rhuyin. Simple things: our names, a few small words. My new friend showed me how to spell their names with a manual alphabet.
“This is so cool!” I said. “Are there—are there any books here? Or can I learn from someone?”
Rhuyin seemed to flush in surprise.
“I mean, if that’s okay,” I continued, making sure I was facing Rhu so he could read my lips. “I don’t know how these things work in Illyria.”
“Most people don’t want to learn,” Rhu said finally, his voice oddly controlled.
“But why not?” I asked, brow furrowed in confusion. “How else can they talk with you?”
“Damaged Somas aren’t in high demand,” Rhu responded before he looked away and I saw him swallow hard.
“Oh.” I felt like an idiot. I hadn’t thought how having any kind of physical disability would affect a Soma. I thought about the number of people I had seen today. I didn’t recall seeing anyone who was less than physically perfect. Illyria would be a challenging world for anyone with a disability, not that Alexandria was much different. We sat in silence for several minutes before Rhu finally looked back at me.
“I should probably take you back to the auditorium,” Rhu said finally. “You’re probably going to want to meet with the Somas you matched with.”
“Yeah, I’m sure my friends are wondering what happened to me,” I said ruefully. “Though I’m not really sure I matched with anyone.”
