Myles pulled up front of the concert hall, handed his keys to the valet and made his way around to open Sue's door, offering her his hand as he assisted her out of his car.

She looked up and their eyes met for only a brief second; then his raised hand caught her attention. She watched as he formed his right hand into a 'R' and slightly shook it in front of his shoulder, just as she had shown him. He even raised a brow in question.

Smiling brightly, she made a 'S' hand and nodded it, and then placed her hand in his. He tucked her hand against his arm as they headed for the entrance to the Kennedy Center.

I always feel like a princess, walking in here. She looked around at all the other patrons decked out in their formal wear. I guess everyone else must, too.

As they walked towards the main doors to enter, Myles stopped dead in his tracks, startling her. "Is everything alright?"

He pulled her off to the side so others could pass. "I forgot to ask you. You didn't happen to remember to bring the...?" He paused, trying to recall what she had called them so he wouldn't confuse her further.

"The ear molds?" she reminded him.

"Yes. That was the whole purpose of this little outing, wasn't it? Besides the company of a lovely lady." He aimed his most charming smile at her.

Sue laughed. "Gregori was right. You are incorrigible." She reached into her small purse and pulled out a small plastic container, beige in color, and handed it to him. "Did you really think I'd forget?"

He carefully opened the container to find the oddest-looking set of ear plugs he had ever seen. They were a light flesh color and quite soft to the touch. His smile disappeared in bewilderment as he tried to figure out how he was to put them in his ears.

Noticing the change in his expression, she teased him gently. "What's wrong? Not your color?"

A small gasp escaped his lips at the thought of her possibly being insulted. "No, no, the color is perfect… I mean…"

"But…?" she said as she watched his lip movement, indicating his voice trailing off. She added a smile to reassure him.

"I'm sorry for my ignorance, but how do they go in your ears?" he asked. "I'm used to the little foam ones that you twist and cram in your ears at the shooting range."

It was Sue's turn to chuckle now. "Please don't apologize," she told him. She held out her hand, and he handed them back to her. "Do you mind?" she said, offering to show him.

They were getting some strange looks from some of the people around them, but Myles really didn't care. Here was the whole reason he'd suggested the evening, and he was eager for the experience. His brows rose as he spoke. "Please," he said simply.

After showing him a few times, Myles was finally able to put them in securely himself.

"I suggest you take them out until the concert starts." She finished speaking before she turned.

Thank heaven. He'd started to follow her, but stopped dead again as it registered that he'd just experienced, in a single sentence, her whole life. He thought again at how he had seen her lips move, but had no idea what she had said. Everything was completely silent, except for a small hum; he wondered where it was coming from. He glanced around the entrance of the Kennedy Center; people were bustling around in the late twilight, talking and laughing as they made their way into the hall. Yet he heard almost nothing, the very faintest buzz. He could imagine it, having attended the symphony here countless times, but to watch and realize that it was all sight and almost no sound stopped him cold.

He saw that Sue had turned back to him, wondering why he hadn't followed her. She waved to him, until she noticed his eyes were on her. "Are you coming?"

Myles knew that if he hadn't been concentrating hard on her lips, he wouldn't have even figured out "coming;" "Yes. Sorry." He heard his own voice in his head, and felt immensely comforted for some reason. He moved toward her, and they stepped into the lobby of the concert hall.

Inside was just as disconcerting; silent conversations were going on all around him, and it swiftly became a chaotic jumble. He didn't even realize he was gripping her hand rather tightly until she laid a hand on his arm. "Myles, are you ok?"

It was too much at the moment. Not able to stand not knowing what she'd said, he shook his head slightly and removed the ear molds from his ears. "You were right. These things do work, very well. I couldn't hear anything except my own voice."

Sue gave him a small, sad smile as she looked him in the eyes and her brows rose. "Well, that's one up on me," she said softly. "But that's good, I'm glad they work well for you." She started to walk ahead of him toward the ushers, pulling her ticket out of her purse.

I did it again. He groaned inwardly, still trying to shake off the overwhelming feelings of a few minutes ago. He waited until they were through the inside doors before he gently caught her arm and pulled her aside into a small, lit alcove. "Sue, I'm sorry. I just… I didn't mean it to sound… look…" He sighed. "I wasn't trying to be flippant, ok? It just caught me by surprise. I never realized…"

She gazed at him for a long moment, and he struggled to keep the walls down. The experience he'd just been through left him feeling more a bit vulnerable, but he needed her to understand. After a moment, her eyes widened. "You really weren't ok out there, were you?"

"No. I mean…" He sighed heavily. "It just hit me all at once, that's all. So much going on around me, and not able to make sense of any of it." His head dropped a little, but not enough that she couldn't read him. "I'm sorry I bailed before we even got through the doors."

She smiled after a moment. "Are you telling me you don't want to put them back in and try again?"

"No! I'm not saying that at all. I just…" He trailed off as her caught the twinkle in her eyes. "You're not mad at me?"

Her brows shot up again. "For what? Being completely overwhelmed at the sudden 'catastrophic loss' of your hearing? Myles, what do you take me for?"

He was totally confused now. "But… the look on your face… I said something about only being able to hear my own voice, and you got this hurt expression and walked away. I don't understand what I did wrong."

"Oh!" She gasped in realization. "Myles, I wasn't upset; I meant for that to come out as a joke. I guess it didn't ."

"Oh." He looked immensely relieved, then fixed his gaze on her. "You really can't hear your own voice? I never really thought about that, until now. I know that the voice resonates off the bones in your skull…"

"But the hair cells still need to work for it to register as sound," she explained.

"Ahhhh." He noticed she looked confused at that, and signed ME… He thought for a second, then realized he had no idea. So he started to fingerspell it. U-N-D-E-R-S-T—

She stopped him before he could finish. "Here; this is UNDERSTAND." She held her right fist next to her temple, the fingers facing her, then flicked her index finger up as she moved her hand out slightly.

THANK YOU, he replied. ME UNDERSTAND.

"Do you want to talk some more, or shall we take our seats?" She glanced at the dim lighting in the concert hall. "I don't know how well I'll be able to read you, but I can give it a shot. We can always come back up here if we need to."

He smiled and offered her his arm again. "Actually, I have that covered," he said. "Shall we?"