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Scarlett has been sitting in the coffee shop for a good hour sketching away looking up occasionally. Her coffee had long gone cold grimacing at while taking a brief sip glancing around spotting Elliott. A wide smile blossomed across her face as she quickly gathered up her things, the two had been introduced through Chess, and she genuinely liked the guy. Reaching his table she tapped him on the shoulder still smiling.

“Hey bubba how are you doing this fine evening?” Scarlett signed as Elliott had been giving her ASL lessons for a while, and she was semi-confident in her knowledge of it as she then pointed to the empty chair. “Mind if I join you?”

Elliott smiled when he realized that Scarlett was standing above him, happy both to see her and see how well she was signing. He nodded and gestured to the empty chair, signing, “Go ahead! I’m doing well. I just got locked out, so I’m waiting around for Chess. It’s my own fault, I really have to stop doing this. How are you? Your signing has gotten so good!”

Shiloh had been needing caffeine for the last few hours, and with their coffee machine on the fritz in the bakery she was forced to venture out to grab a cup. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, she was overdue for a break and the coffee shop was one of her favorites so it wasn’t too much of a hassle for her to stop in. As she waited in line for her order she looked around, noticing a wallet on the ground, figuring it belonged to the only other person present. Calling out a few times she wondered if he had headphones in, tapping him lightly on the shoulder and offering an apologetic smile as he turned and typed out a message on his phone. Piecing together why he probably hadn’t heard her she slowly and carefully signed. Hi, sorry is this your wallet before shaking her head. “Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve signed, I probably just did that all wrong.”

Elliott smiled when she started signing, appreciating the effort. “No, no. That was perfect,” he signed slowly, nodding encouragingly. Looking at the wallet and feeling his pockets, he realized that it was his. Not wanting to confuse her by continuing to sign, he wrote, “Thank you so much! That is mine. I must have dropped it when I was ordering. It would have been really bad if I had left it, so thank you. Can I buy you a coffee in thanks?”

Jack was momentarily confused before he saw the other typing and saw what was on his phone. Going in and out of foster homes, he’d seen signing, but never thought to pick up any of it. He quickly pulled out his own phone, smiling lightly. “Oh, sorry! Do you mind if I join you? I hate to take up an entire table to myself.” He showed the other his phone, gesturing to the empty chair at the table.

Elliott quickly read the other’s words, grateful that he had written his response. Elliott was always worried he would misunderstand something when he lipread, and it was always a lot more work for him than it was for the other person. He smiled and nodded, writing, “Yeah! I definitely don’t need all this space, so it’s no problem! I’m Elliott, by the way.”

Nick stepped inside the coffee shop expecting nothing than a quick visit to pick up something to keep him going for the day. He spotted the familiar Murphy sibling and tapped him on the shoulder. Nick didn’t know a lot of sign language but he’d pick up a couple of pieces as he encouraged Chess to teach him more. As Elliottt turned to him he raised his hand to his forehead and dropped it, signing ‘hello’ to the younger male. I was just getting a coffee, how are you? he typed quickly into the boys phone.

Elliott smiled when he recognized Nick and signed hello in response. “I’m good, how are you? I left my key in the apartment, though, so you can expect Chess to be complaining about that later. I’m here waiting for him to let me in,” Elliott typed, rolling his eyes as he showed Nick. He didn’t give him a chance to read it, though, before he took it back and typed beneath, “Here, sit. Unless you’re busy, obviously. I don’t want to interrupt.” He turned his phone back to Nick, letting him read the whole thing this time.

Chester sighs in fond annoyance at the text from his brother. He makes a mental note to get Elliott some sort of ugly huge keyring that can’t go unnoticed so he never forgets his keys again. It’s a good thing he’s already on his way back to the apartment from Nick’s, sending a quick text in reply and heading for the usual coffee shop he knows his brother will be waiting in. Noticing Elliott talking to someone he decides to grab a coffee before heading over then slips into the seat opposite once the person is gone. “I’m going to glue your damn key to your hand.” He signs, knowing his brother prefers it. 

Elliott grinned as his brother sat down and rolled his eyes. “That would be kind of useless, though, right? Because then I couldn’t use the key or my hand, which I guess would be a good way of getting me to shut up. But you know I’d still find a way to lose it,” he signed with a shrug. “I’m sorry if I interrupted you or anything. But, honestly, you should be used to me needing to be let in after work.”