Roger’s diagnosis had been earth shattering. He was the drummer in the biggest band in the world, a man just introduced into the songwriter’s hall of fame, and with the most loving husband ever. His life was amazing. Until the doctors had pulled him aside and told him he had ruptured all of the microorganisms in his ears and had, in the span of six months, lost all ability to hear. 

Here is what nobody tells you about hearing loss: it is fucking lonely. 

Especially in a house so usually filled with noise. His and Brian’s kids screaming their lungs out, music playing, television at its maximum volume and amongst everything the soft voice and guitar of his husband. Now that was all gone. 

Fuck that. Life had taken already too much from him for him to stop doing what he loved. Which is mainly producing music. It is a hard road, and Roger has to learn sign language eventually to make sure that he could understand his instructors, and then the roadies who they had hired who knew how to speak ASL. At least making music he could connect with other people, fill the void that left knowing he could never, ever, be the same. 

He just never expected his husband to learn ASL. In hindsight it was ridiculous for him not too, Brian was the most attentive and caring person he knew. But he had reasoned that ASL was a whole different language, and that he would be okay to scribble onto a piece of paper for the rest of his life as long as he still had the guitarist with him. 

He was doing so, scribbling excitedly in a piece of paper that is, on the night of their seventh anniversary. He was telling Brian that he was teaching himself to sing again, and that for the first time ever he had managed to sing a song without the help of his coach when the older man placed his hand on top of Roger’s to call his attention. 

He looked up and smiled at the guitarist, only for Brian to smile back and sign, ‘You don’t have to do that anymore’ 

Roger was so shocked that for a second his brain couldn’t quite process the fact that his husband was speaking, very fluently, in ASL. He made a confused sound on the back of his throat and Brian laughed. 

‘You don’t have to write what you want to say to me anymore. I can understand you now.’ 

The restaurant was a quaint joint in the middle of London which had a back room that they had booked for the night. That, however, wasn’t enough to save the guests from the ear piercing scream of happiness that the drummer let out and the sound of a crashing table that came afterwards. 

DeafBlind John is the cuddliest thing. With very little residual hearing and only light perception, touch is his strongest sense and he uses it to navigate his world the most. And it’s the sense he loves to have stimulated the most. 

So, whenever Deaf!Roger is around, John clings to him. He likes being able to feel Roger, to know that he’s there. When they’re in public, John always has a hand on Roger’s shoulder, wrist or hand. It helps him orient himself and keep close. With his white cane, John can get around very well, but he has gotten lost quite a few times before and it’s pretty terrifying. When he can feel Roger, he knows he’s safe, even if he loses track of where he’s going or where he is.

At home though, John’s all over Roger. He hangs off of him all day, nuzzling and hugging him. It’s how the two of them interact best with each other. If they’re snuggled up, John will keep a hand on Roger’s shoulder and Roger will do the same, occasionally tapping his fingers to let John know he’s still there and attentive to him. If they’re washing and drying the dishes, Roger makes sure to brush up against John often. Or if they’re reading on the couch, Roger gets close enough for John to feel his warmth or periodically squeezes John’s foot. These little things make John feel like he’s doing stuff with Roger, not just next to him.

Another way they interact is finger spelling. There are a lot of ways to tactile sign, but the two of them prefer fingerspelling. They use the BANZSL alphabet ( X ), which Roger had to learn how tactile sign with to John, as he never had a deaf blind friend before! 

The two of them could spend all day talking and giggling, Roger finger spelling on John’s hand and John signing back. Over the years, after spending so much time together, when the two of them talk, they go so fast, having developed little shortcuts and new signs to get their point across faster. They’re practically incomprehensible to other deaf and deafblind people when they’re together. 

Can you imagine the boys and everyone else learning happy birthday in BSL?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO6w5ctwkIY

Roger walks in and immediately everyone cheers and stomps their feet so Roger can feel it and they all begin to sign out the song!! Roger’s gobsmacked seeing all his friends, hearing and deaf, signing out the birthday song. They’re all smiling and some are messing up but it’s fine because oh my god. It’s all for him!

And they even include his sign name in the song! (X)

The party from there is great! There’s tons of food and a pile of presents Roger is pretending to not notice. He’s mingling with his friends and he’s so happy to see his deaf and hearing friends mingling too!

The music is blasting with the bass on real loud. Everyone’s swaying to the beat. There’s even loose balloons for anyone who wants to pick it up and feel the bass even more. Every room is well light so the people signing can see each other. And there are tons of pens and paper floating around just in case.

Yes!!!! Complete Hc's are what I live for!!!!

Roger has had to navigate in a world where people don't know BSL, so gesturing is how he gets by. He's an expert at understanding gestures so of course Charades is a walk in the park for him.

Brian lost his hearing over time, going completely deaf by 20, so he had a lot of years to practice his singing. Once deaf, he used his muscle memory and perfect pitch to be able to keep singing. It takes a lot of work to learn new songs, but it's fun and worth it.

John's a speed demon on his bass. And the piano too! His fingers are so agile and he's even a little ambidextrous from signing all his life. It really helps in the instrument department.

oh my heart!!! ;0;

Brian was really nervous for this audition and he wasn’t even the one auditioning. He was scared the drummer prospect would laugh at him and walk out the moment he handed him the piece of paper.

Said piece of paper was all dented and crumpled up in his hands from how much he was holding it, turning it around, squishing it. He couldn’t help it. Not many people took kindly to his mutism.

Brian being Brian, he could’ve spent the next few months worrying about this, agonizing over every possible outcome, but the door flung open.

He swallowed hard, sitting up straight in his chair. He smiled wide as a blond entered the room. The blond smiled back with a wave. Brian stood up, heart pounding and crossed the room. He’d just hand him the note and then whatever happened happened. 

As he stretched out his slightly shaking arm, preparing for the worst, when the blond’s arm shot out, a wrinkled paper in hand.

Well that’s weird. Maybe it was his qualifications? Although, Brian had never asked for anything. 

The two exchanged papers, both sharing a perplexed look.

Hello! I’m Roger Taylor. I’d like to audition as a drummer for your band, Smile.

I’ve played the drums since childhood so I’m no novice. The only issue is I’m deaf. I can play like any hearing person but it might make communication difficult. But if it’s alright with you, I’d like to audition. 

Thanks.

Hello. My name is Brian May. I’ll be the one auditioning you today for my new band, Smile.

I can hear just fine, but I can’t talk. I’m mute. I hope it isn’t a problem. I’m really excited to hear you play. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions. 

Thank you.

It was Roger who was the first to react. He let out the most genuine and sweet laugh Brian has ever heard. Brian looked up from the note, a small chuckle tickling the back of his throat. Well, this was strange, wasn’t it?

Roger pointed to his ear and then to Brian, as if asking, you hear? Brian nodded and then replied in BSL, “Yes, I just can’t talk,”

Although the world around him didn’t know sign language, Brian felt it was a relief to be able to talk. So he learned BSL as a teenager. He wasn’t as fluent as others, but it was a good outlet for him.

Roger’s eyes lit up, the biggest grin spreading on his face.

“You know sign?” he said, fingers nearly fumbling over each other in excitement.

“I do!” Brian replied, laughing.

“Oh, this is just fantastic,” Roger said, bouncing a little. It wasn’t everyday he could just talk with someone. No pens and paper, no desperate hand motions.

Without even having to say it, Brian felt the same way. In fact, he tossed the notes into the dust bin and said, “Well, shall we begin? We can hang out afterwards,”

Roger nodded, heading towards the drum’s stool. “I’m ready when you are,” he said.

I’m out of the loop, I had to look up what an imagine is. Let me know if I’m doing this correctly!

They first meet in a school for the deaf and blind. Well, meet is a tricky term. Roger could wave and Brian could say hello, but interactions were more difficult than they were worth. They stuck to their classmates for the most part.

The only reason they want to interact is because Brian brings in a lovely red guitar to school one day and Roger’s interest is piqued. 

Of course, the language barrier is still there, so Roger on the spot decides, he’s gonna learn braille. He’s just gotta speak to that curly haired guitar player.

And he does, with the help of some of the teachers.

Communicating the in beginning is miserable work for the both of them. Roger finds himself talking, only to remember Brian can’t see his fingers. Brian does the same with his voice.

Oddly enough, they’re both quite fascinated with each other, so they make it work.

By the time the older graduates, they have a weird system in place. Brian finger spells and Roger replies in braille. 

Romance doesn’t come into play well after their schooling days. Without students or teachers hovering around, it kind of just happens. 

They were probably up all night, chatting in their slow but worthwhile way. Roger describes the stars to Brian and Brian tells Roger about the owls hooting and crickets chirping. And then they kiss. It’s awkward and bad, but it’s so good and sweet.

After that, their language evolves into something unwritten or unspoken. Simple touches convey paragraphs. Body postures and expressions say everything for them. 

Of course, as the years go by, technology improves drastically, allowing them to speak much easier to one another. But it’s not always necessary.

Bonus:

Old Maylor. Roger has it easier. He can simply type what he wants to say and have his phone read it aloud to Brian. Brian on the other hand has to dictate to his phone and hope the text it shows to Roger isn’t crazy. 

During his youth, Roger never wanted hearing aids. They were so large, bulky and the opposite of inconspicuous. Wires and cords would hang out of his ear, leading to a box that sat in his pocket. And even though he went to a school for deaf children, that’d still be pretty unfashionable by their terms.  

And it was because he was in a deaf school he never felt the need to have them. He could communicate perfectly fine with the students and staff and his parents at home were learning BSL, too. So what use would a hearing aid have?

Well, upon graduating, the real world gave him a hard smack in the face.

The general public didn’t care for people like him. People who needed a little extra help. He was looked down on, mocked, excluded. Just because he couldn’t communicate perfectly. 

Roger could talk. But because he sounded “funny”, nobody listened. Roger could read lips a bit. But since he made mistakes, nobody wanted to speak with him. Roger could write down what he wanted to say. But because no one wanted to be bothered by a freak, they never read them.

The blond could say he was proud of his life, his deafness, his achievements. It was getting harder though as the days progressed, though. He felt so alone, isolated and ignored. Even going to the grocery store was energy and soul draining.

He always said he wouldn’t do it, but he was knocked down by the callousness of the world, bruised and battered. He made an appointment to get hearing aids.

Roger was scared shitless his first appointment. He was shaking so hard a nurse had to calm him down. He wasn’t even quite sure why.

He lived all his life in a relatively quiet world, only enough residual hearing to know if a bomb went off besides him. Would the hearing aids be too loud? Too terrifying?

He also was nervous because he went back on his word. He was conforming to the ableists. His other deaf friends begged to differ, saying he would be improving his life, but he wasn’t so sure.

After a long and taxing visit with the Otolaryngologists, he went back home, anxiously waiting a week for his hearing aids to come in.

Roger found himself back in the doctors office, the doctor besides him opening up the package that could make or break his life.

He was twiddling with his thumbs, a foot tapping incessantly. Was it too late to run?

“Look what we have here!” the doctor said, fingers not fluent but still comprehensible. He held before Roger his new hearing aids.

Roger’s eyebrows shot up. They were much more compact and sleek than the ones he saw during his childhood. And kinda pretty too. 

He gave a questioning look to the doctor who smiled and offered them to the blond. Roger took them into his hands, feeling the curved shape and smooth texture. He inspected the batteries and the microphone, amazed at how far technology had come. 

I guess this is it, he thought. This will determine whether he left the office in tears or left with a new lease on life. He wasn’t feeling good about the odds. 

The doctor helped him put the hearing aids on and pressed the button that turned it on.

His heart leapt out of his chest but quickly returned to a normal beat once nothing happened. The doctor said something with his mouth, but he didn’t hear anything. The doctor laughed before going back to the hearing aids, messing with some of the buttons.

“How about now?” the doctor said.

Roger recoiled, hearing what the doctor said. 

It was a lot. He lost most of his hearing as a kid, so he remembered how words sounded, but...it’d been so long. 

“You heard that, huh?” the doctor said with a chuckle, stepping back from Roger. Roger just nodded, clearly overwhelmed. 

Things didn’t sound as sharp as they did before the fever that took his hearing but he could hear nonetheless. Voices and the tv and the radio and dogs barking by the house and everything.

The appointment ended with Roger carrying the hearing aids home in his hand rather than in his ears. It was too much too soon. The doctor told him though, that he could use them for minutes a day until he got comfortable. Work up to full time use.

It took some coaxing from friends, but eventually Roger complied.

Within a few months, he was a full time user.

It wasn’t a brand new world like Roger had expected. He still got funny looks and teasing for his deaf accent but it was better. A lot better.

He could go to movie theaters now. He could order food at the deli without exchanging notes. He could drive without worrying about missing the siren of an ambulance. 

John's POV

I wandered over to Roger who was watching birds outside the kitchen window and put my hand on his shoulder, he turned around and looked at me then smiled, "hi, do you want breakfast?" I asked and pointed at the cereal on the counter. He looked at the cereal then nodded and tried to say something but didn't manage to form any words so he signed it to me, 'which do you want?'

Oh, silly me, I forgot to explain. Roger's been deaf since he was born so he learned how to sign before he learned how to speak and I was trying to encourage him to talk to me so he could speak if we ever got implants for him.

Back to the cereal...

'The brown box' I signed and he nodded then made both of us cereal and he didn't realise it but he was making little humming noises which I found adorable, "I love you" I said and kissed his cheek then grabbed my bowl of cereal as he made a whining noise. "Alright, alright, I'm still here" I cooed and ruffled his hair before both of us went and sat in the living room.

He snuggled up against me as I put the laptop on my lap and brought up a poster with things that he could practice saying. He started eating and saw it then cleared his mouth and looked at me, 'have a go at that' I signed and he looked at the first word, "h-hey... luh-oh" he stuttered and I smiled, 'try again' I signed and he had another mouthful of cereal.

"Hel-hel-loh" He said and I nodded, "that's really good" I said then pointed at the second word on the list which was his name. "Ruh-guh... n-nu... ruh-oh-gah" he made his way through the word slowly and when he got it, I gave him a big kiss on the head, "g-guh?" He asked and I nodded, "really good" I said and gave him two thumbs up until he gave me an adorable smile.

I ran my hand through his hair and he nuzzled into me, "I lo-love yuh" he said and I kissed his head, "I love you too... do you want to see the cats?" I asked and he looked at me and frowned, 'type it' he signed so I brought up a plain page and typed what I said, 'of course. Can I teach you how to say that?' He signed and I nodded before he went through it slowly and I copied.

'Now for those cats' he signed and got up and dragged me out of the door, "Rog! Stop!" I laughed and he looked at me and giggled when he realised he'd grabbed my shirt and popped the buttons open. He did the buttons up for me then kissed my lips and took my hand, leading me towards the stray cats shelter. He loved being there, he loved seeing the new cats coming in and because of how quiet he was, they didn't mind him sitting in with them.

We both went in and Alice, the lady who ran the shelter, greeted us in sign language since we'd taught her how to say hello. "Does he mind going in with a nervous cat, it won't let anyone in at the moment and we want it to get some food" she asked and Roger looked at me, 'nervous cat?' He signed and I nodded, 'yes. Do you want to go in with it?' I signed and he nodded.

"Alright, if you take him down to number sixteen, she's in there" Alice said and I thanked her before I led Roger to the little enclosure and he let himself in. Once the door was shut, he turned and looked at me then blew me a kiss before he sat down with the cat and I went back out with Alice, "he seems happy in there, can I sit back with you?" I asked and she nodded, "yeah, it's a bit of a mess, sorry about that"

"Oh, don't worry about that, it's only me" I said and she smiled as I sat in an office chair next to a small monitor that showed all the little enclosures. I clicked on the one that my husband was sat in and saw him laying on the floor, trying to beckon the cat to come closer to him, "aw, he's really precious" Alice cooed and I smiled as I saw the cat actually start to move towards Roger, "he is... oh, look!" I cooed and watched as Roger put his hand out to the cat and she let him pat her head.

The cat completely trusted him after that and let him pick her up and give her little kisses but got a bit startled when he called out to me, "Juh! Juh!" He called and I smiled as I got up and heard Alice coo at him, "I'm coming baby, shh" I called and went around to him then looked at him and he made the cat wave her paw at me, "aww, hi kitty" I cooed and waved back then looked at Roger, 'did you want something? A toy?' I signed and he nodded.

'Cat toy please' he signed and I nodded then went off and got him a little toy on a stick and put it through the bars at the top and let it drop next to him. He picked it up straight away and started playing with the little cat, making small happy noises when she would grab it, "Juh, g' way!" He whined when he saw me and I shook my head, "Juh!" He whined again and I looked at him.

'I want to look at the cat' I signed and he shook his head and scooped the cat up, 'no, she is my cat. You can't look at her' he signed awkwardly and I smiled, 'alright then, call me if you need me' I signed and he was finally content when I left him and went back to the desk with Alice, "I saw that, he really loves that cat" she said and I nodded, "yeah... could we get her?" I asked and she nodded then looked back at me, "you can, why?"

"I want to get him something special and they obviously already have a bond" I said and she laughed, "what? Why are you laughing?" I asked and she flapped her hand at me, "nothing, John, you're alright" she said but I still wanted to know so I pressed further, "you-you were talking and you were signing at the same time. Did you not notice?" She said and I shook my head, "n-no I didn't" I said, rather embarrassed.

"Aw precious, I'm sorry, you're so red" she cooed and pulled me into a hug then both of us watched the screen, "he really loves that cat... how much would she be?" I asked and Alice looked through her little book then stopped for a second and carried on, "twelve pounds, I think. Since she's only a kitten, she's not the full eighteen pounds we usually charge for cats" she said and I smiled as I got my wallet out, "it's done" I said and handed her twelve pounds then she went over to a little machine in the corner.

She took two pounds of the money I gave her and put it into the machine, "go and ask him what he wants to name her" she said so I got up and went to the enclosure and tapped his shoulder, 'have you been there the whole time?' He signed and I shook my head, 'no, I was just wondering. If we got that cat, what would you call it?' I signed and he looked at the cat then back at me and made a noise.

'Rosa' He spelled out then looked back at the cat, 'no, Rosie. I like Rosie' he signed and I smiled, 'that's her name now' I signed and he frowned then looked at the cat, "wuh?" He mumbled and I giggled, 'she's ours, Roger. I got her for you' I signed and he covered his mouth with his hand and started crying.

'She's ours?' He signed and I nodded as he scooped the cat up and started crying into her fur as I unlocked the door and helped him up. I put my hand up to Rosie and she sniffed my hand then let me pet her, "little Rosie, hi... you're adorable" I cooed and she meowed at me before I led Roger out to the reception area and told Alice that we decided to name the little cat Rosie.

"That's an adorable name" she smiled and put the name into the machine then there was an awful grinding noise as the machine engraved a tag for us and I had Roger stay out in the corridor so Rosie wouldn't be spooked. He was so good at keeping her calm, you wouldn't even realise she was a nervous cat, and she was so loving towards him that it was cute.

Alice came over to me with the little tag and gave me a sparkly silver collar, "on me, for all the help you've given us over the years" she said and I gave her a hug and thanked her then stroked Rosie on the head and put her little collar on her. She seemed a bit nervous at first about wearing it but once I got it comfortable for her, she was completely fine with it.

'You look cute in your collar, Rosie' Roger signed and I translated it to the cat even though she wouldn't understand but I did get to stroke her under the chin and got a kitty kiss. "Thank you Alice, she's beautiful" I said and she smiled as Roger headed outside with Rosie, "we'll see you next week, I'll tell you how she's getting on" I said and hugged her again then followed my husband out of the door.

I put my hand on his shoulder and he looked at me and made a noise, 'do you want me to carry her?' I signed and he shook his head as he stroked Rosie's chin, "l-love" he said then spelt out Rosie with one hand which I took and kissed as we started walking home. His hand moved in mine and he tapped my palm, spelling out 'I love you' which made a massive grin spread across my face and I spelled out 'I love you too' to him.

We took a slow walk home and as soon as we got into the flat, Rosie jumped out of Roger's arms and started exploring around, 'why did you get her?' Roger signed and I got him sitting down on the sofa, 'your birthday is coming up and I wanted to get something special for you. I might have also got you something else' I signed and he frowned at me, 'what?'

'Go to the bathroom where the toothbrushes are' I signed and he got up straight away and ran to the bathroom then I heard him cry out and he came in with tears running down his cheeks 'pregnant?' He signed and I patted my nonexistent bump, 'a month today' I signed and he sat in front of me then pulled my shirt up and started kissing my stomach.

I tapped his head and he looked up at me, 'you want to hear her, yes?' I signed and he nodded as he put a hand on my tummy, 'I've paid for your implants already' I signed and he started crying and spelling out 'thank you' over and over with his fingers until I held them together and put my hands up to both of his as he couldn't see me when he was crying.

'I love you so much' I spelled and he sobbed into my chest and hugged me tight, 'you're a miracle... thank you' he spelled and I kissed his head as tears started to roll down my cheeks, 'come and give me a hug' I spelled and he sat up next to me and hugged me tightly, 'this is going to be amazing' he signed and kissed my neck.

"It sure is... let's hope you don't get fed up of babies screaming when you can hear”

Hello! This is one of the ones from Wattpad and it’s now become a fully-fledged story if you’d like to read it, I’ll put a link to it under this. Thank you for reading c: