Rating: K+
Spoilers: None
Pairings: Lorne/Novak
Summary: He had noticed that her hands were never still when she talked.
Disclaimer: I own none of the Stargate Characters
Authors Notes: Another response to the 100 First Lines challenge on the When Plot Bunnies Attack Forum. This is 103. She talked with her hands...
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She talked with her hands; they were never still, as long as she was talking. His father had a saying for the likes of her 'Cut her hands off and she'd be speechless'. Major Evan Lorne watched Dr Lindsey Novak as she explained something to Hermiod, she accidentally cuffed the alien around the ear and he could see her apologising profusely. The Asgard engineer put his hand over Novak's and he could see her trying to pull her hands away as she carried on her discussion. When Hermiod left the mess hall, she got up and went to the coffee pot, Lorne followed her, he could never resist the urge to tease the Daedalus' chief engineer.
"If my dad was here he'd say cut your hands off and you'd be speechless," he said as he reached over her to pick up the coffee pot, she gave him a long-suffering smile
"My brother is deaf, talking with my hands is a 'hic' hard habit to break" she replied. Lorne felt like a heel for teasing her
"I'm sorry I should have kept my mouth shut," he said apologetically
"No it's 'hic' oh for Gods sake, ok" she replied
"Let's sit down and start again," he said with a smile. She smiled back
"I can 'hic' 'scuse me, do that" she replied as they went back to the table she'd been sitting at with Hermiod
"So is your brother older or younger than you?" he asked
"Younger but only by 'hic' damn it, a couple of years" she replied. She grabbed the water bottle on the table, took a swig and put it down he picked it up
"I've got an idea, put your fingers in your ears", he said
"What?" she replied
"Trust me, it's something my Mom did for us" he replied with a smile
"Okay" she said as she put her fingers in her ears. He pinched her nose
"Trust me I'm not going to hurt you" he said as she jerked her head, he put the bottle to her lips "drink", she did as she was told and took a large swig from the bottle "and again" she took a second mouthful, swallowed the water down and took her fingers out of her ears.
"That was weird," she said.
"So your brother's younger than you" he said
"What, oh yes, when my parent's discovered he was deaf we were all signed up for sign language classes, as we grew up it was like our own little code we could talk about people behind their backs in front of their face, if that makes any sense" she said. He nodded
"I know what you mean" he said
"He's a teacher now, he teaches World History in the same school for the deaf he went to and he can use British sign language as well as American, his speech is still a little slurred but he's doing great" she said, she was obviously proud of him.
"Will you teach me?" he asked, she gave a surprised smile
"Really?" she replied
"Yeah it's something I've always wanted to do but never had the time, besides I'm stuck in this tin can for another two weeks I'd like to find something useful to do" he said
"Ok, I'll teach you" she said. She signed a few words to him,
"What's that?" he asked
"It's 'Thank you for curing my hiccups'" she replied
"You're welcome" he said with a grin. Lindsey signed another couple of words, he assumed they were the words he had just said so he copied her actions,
"Here endeth the first lesson" she said with a smile as she got up to leave and return to the engineering deck.
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AN: I have always wanted to learn sign language, I know the alphabet and a few other words.