Work Text:
"Parrish ?"
Ronan is pretty sure that he fell asleep with Adam by his side. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, attempting to work out which have been the dreams tonight. He finds Adam in the bathroom, looking mildly panicked. To answer Ronan's silent question, he points at his own throat and parts his lips, only to emit some sort of hissing.
He had lost his voice.
It's hard to reassure him because he's already getting frustrated at the idea of being unable to talk. He tangles his curls, pulls on them and gets close from pulling too hard. Ronan caught Adam's wrists, crossed them on his chest and held them there, before he had managed to harm himself. Adam didn't quite let himself be restrained but on the other hand, Ronan is aware that he could have made it harder. He kissed Adam's bare shoulder and tries to reassure him. It's scary but very likely to be over by the end of the week.
Adam wills himself not to give into panic. He knows why Ronan holds him like this— it's for the better, but it adds to his feeling of being trapped. Half of his hearing and his voice are gone, just like that. He feels Ronan's chest expanding steadily against his back and tries to adjust to his rythm, before feeling like he can't breathe as well.
Ronan knows that Adam's deaf ear is the reason behind his anxiousness at the sudden loss of his voice. But this time he won't be impaired forever.
"I won't let you go until you let me know that you won't harm yourself."
It sound less like a threat than a vow of protection. Ronan's grip is strong but not meant to be harmful. Adam lets his frustration out by struggling a bit more before eventually letting his shoulders drop. He then does the same noise. The only thing Ronan is certain of is that he shouldn't keep trying to speak, which he points out.
"Who have you been yelling at anyway ?"
Adam raised a brow and poked Ronan's arm. A crease appeared between his brows as he tried to remember this argument— to no avail. They probably shouldn't have been drinking that much.
"Why ?"
It's too complex to express without words so Adam sighs loudly and looks out the window. They're heading to the nearest hospital, which is outside of the city.
As expected, he's told to avoid speaking as much as possible until it gets better. At least, it's nothing too harmful. They're used to silence settling between them, but it's different with the knowledge that Adam can't talk. Adam settled for an activity which does not require talking, i.e. studying and Ronan ends up getting the sleep Adam's trouble had taken from him.
Adam does not immediately notices when he's awake and Ronan simply watches him reading, attempting to guess what is the subject he's learning about. At some point, Adam turns to look at him and signs something, twice to make sure that he gets the message.
He dragged his right hand across his face, closing his eyes in the process, then touches his lips and let the back of his right hand touch the palm of his left.
He does it in a typical Adam way, both proud and focused. Ronan laughed and nodded. Given the context and what Adam would usually say, it's safe to assume that he was asked if he slept well.
"Are you bilingual now ?"
Adam cracks a smile, raises three fingers to count Latin in and vigorously shakes his head. He signs something else and adds some clutter to let Ronan understand. Not quite. Ronan closed his eyes, working to keep his thoughts at bay. Pretty much everything about Adam is a turn-on although he shouldn't feel that way about a disability— even temporary. He hears the chair moving and opens his eyes just in time to see Adam straddle his hips, giving in his quiet hilarity.
"Aren't you supposed to be mad at me or anything ? You fucking lost your voice," Ronan pointed out.
Adam tipped his head aside, once again overwhelmed by concepts too complicated to translate with the little knowledge he had gained during Ronan's nap. He end up taking Ronan's hands and squeezed them before bringing them up to his face. Then he released Ronan, still working out a way to let his thoughts be known. He wiped his forehead and shrugged.
"Try to remember that I'm not as fluent as you are," Ronan said, replaying the gestures in his mind. Love, oblivion, doesn't matter, he gets the great lines.
Adam's hand lingers above his lips, as if he wondered whether to touch them. Ronan caught his hand to press a feverish kiss against his fingers. That's not a listed sign, but they understand it just the same. It's along the lines of liking, love, of both mind and body. It does mean many things at once. That's when context comes in handy.
"Have you been studying since our return ?"
Adam pursed his lips and nodded. He let Ronan sit, then pull him in the kitchen.
"I'm fine."
Signs are not enough to carry Adam's protest, so he returns to speaking.
"Be careful, Chainsaw may think that you're insulting her with that voice."
The raven croaked then flew away. Adam had to admit that the sound was painfully similar to what his vocal range had been reduced to. He still weakly punched Ronan's arm for calling him out about his voice.
He wasn't hungry because swallowing was painful. Ronan didn't insist too much and moved on making tea. Meanwhile, Adam kept looking up for more signs, probably planning his next sentences. However, when Ronan glanced at him, he simply touched his own lips. Their sign, again.
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to like it anyway."
Adam signed something related to disapproval, pointed at Ronan and raised an amused brow. Ronan shook his head. Did Adam just managed to be witty in sign language ?
He sat and placed the cup of tea in front of Adam.
"Yeah, guess I do."
Ronan gave his profile a close look, wondering what happened that was meaningless enough for both to forget about it with the morning lights. He focused again as Adam tugged on his shirt.
"I was just wondering..."
If they had an argument, he was afraid that he may have hurt him, although he doubted that he'd ever be drunk enough to raise his hand on Adam.
"What ?"
Ronan could talk, so he was not getting away with vague answers. The tea and honey had soothed Adam's larynx and vocal cords. Instead of sounding like a sorry imitation of Chainsaw, he currently reminded Ronan of a ghost.
"I was afraid that I had hurt you."
Adam shook his head.
"Did I ?"
Ronan said that he did not. Adam let out a relieved sigh and drank more. He touched Ronan's cheek as he noticed how Ronan started spacing out again. Ronan didn't let himself be kissed.
"Later," he promised.
Adam curled up against Ronan's chest, the need to sleep being more powerful than his other need to take a shower. He vowed to help change the sheets the next day. His voice had gotten gradually better until the sunset, and Ronan had been gentle enough not to get him to be more vocal than he could. They will probably never find out what happened to cause him such a sudden loss— aside from the drinking. Which is a shame, because Adam would rather avoid it in the future.
At some point, he turned to face Ronan instead and was not surprised to find him awake. Ronan flashed him a smile before pointing at himself. He then crossed his clenched fists over his chest, the left one topping the right, then pointed at Adam. Once he had gotten over his surprise, which is no more than two seconds later, Adam replied by signing a Y with his right hand and sliding it back and forth between Ronan and him.
I love you.
Me too.