Prompt 4: "How do I know that I can trust you?"

Fandom: none

Pairing(s): ambiguous (you can read is as a ship or not / ship isn't explicit) (but I do plan to make these OCs a couple sooo I guess the hints are there >:3 )

Tags & warnings: language, angst to fluff (?), origin story/first meeting

These two are from a story that's currently written in Vietnamese. I'm still deciding whether to carry on writing it in Vietnamese or switch to English, and whether to give the mains Viet or Eng names :/ But for now, both are in Viet!

This is kind of like their origin story :)

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"Get your filthy hands off me... UGH!"

Hoang tilted his head to get a better look at the newest addition to his cell. Freshly thrown in, the teenage boy laid face-down on the ground, his arms straining futilely against the bonds applied by Fae magic. Seemingly pissed off at the rudeness of the guard, he yelled:

"Couldn't you have at least untied me first?!"

"Do you really think you're in a position to request anything, thief?" The guard sneered, evidently pleased at his oh-so-brilliant comeback. Then his bright green eyes glanced at the other teenager, and his expression soured before he shut the door, the slam detected by Hoang with his back then against the wall.

Paying that no mind, Hoang directed his attention back to the boy, watching with amusement as his cellmate struggled to sit up with only support from his shoulders and legs. He seemed to be around Hoang's age, with a sturdier build but a slightly shorter frame. His hair was black, unkempt and curling at the ends; and his eyes, when they flicked over to Hoang, were filled with a sort of tired exasperation. He mumbled something, before standing up and walking over to the door. Hoang raised an eyebrow as the boy began to kick at the literal block of wood, standing on his tiptoes just to look out of the tiny barred rectangle that was the window. When he realized no one was coming (or when his booted foot started to hurt, Hoang wasn't sure), the ravenette returned to the middle of the room and flopped down, his shoulders rising then slumping as he heaved a sigh.

Hoang didn't notice what he'd said until the boy looked up again, a glum smile on his face:

"And my cellmate doesn't even wanna talk to me. Great."

Hoang had to suppress a smile as he replied, starting by making a circle with his fist against his chest:

"Sorry; can't really hear you."

Then, with almost no pause in between, he added:

"Asshole."

He has gotten used to this already: people not realizing he's deaf, getting mad when he doesn't "listen to them," then profusely apologizing when he starts doing "the sign thing." Or just ignoring him altogether. Either way, ever since he realized people don't understand what he's trying to say, he has started peppering in curse words and even flipping the bird to see if they'd notice. Whenever he does that, almost everyone assumes he's politely correcting them, or introducing himself one way or another; and he really gets a kick out of it when they start smiling or saying something nice back. But what he hadn't expected was for the boy's eyes to narrow, before he spoke:

"Woah man — I mean, I'm sorry, but was that really necessary?"

Usually when people see Hoang sign "asshole," they just assume he's saying "okay" because the word looks like the OK hand sign in the hearing world; so, needless to say, he was surprised the ravenette had noticed it. But even as he was caught off guard, Hoang has never been fond of backing down. He replied:

"No, but it's funny."

"What part of calling a stranger "asshole" do you find funny?" The boy continued, his expression clearly showing how much his first impression of his cellmate has plummeted. Said cellmate signed back:

"The part where they don't understand."

"Have you really never met anyone who knows sign language?" To his surprise, the ravenette pressed on. Why does he give a shit? He isn't even deaf. A crease appeared in between Hoang's brows as he signed, his motions becoming more forceful:

"Have, but usually by now they would've tried to punch me, failed, and dropped the subject."

Seemingly picking up on his annoyance, the boy shrugged and offered an apologetic smile:

"Sorry... I guess I'm not one of those people. What's your name?"

Why would I tell you? was Hoang's initial thought, but he couldn't deny his growing interest in this boy. No one here had ever made a real effort to understand him, much less to hold a conversation. So, half-begrudgingly, he finger-spelled:

"H-O-A-N-G."

"Cool." The boy commented, before the corner of his mouth quirked up again. "I would tell you mine, but my hands are tied. Geddit?"

He burst out laughing, a gesture at which Hoang cocked a judgmental eyebrow. This guy is really just ignoring the fact that he's in prison, huh. Waving his hand to get the boy's attention, he signed:

"I might be able to help you with the restraints. That is, if you promise not to turn on me the first chance you get."

"Come on now, do I really look like someone who would do that?" The ravenette pouted mockingly before laughing again, his head thrown back like he'd just told the most hilarious joke. The hell's with him? Hoang wrinkled his nose, and, already regretting his offer, turned away. But it only took a few seconds for his cellmate to appear in his field of vision again, this time not laughing but sporting a huge shit-eating grin, which unfortunately was even worse:

"Hey hey, don't get mad at me now. You're my only hope. Please?"

"How do I know that I can trust you?" Hoang signed, to which the boy moaned:

"Augh, come on. It's so unfair that I'm tied up but you're not. We're cellmates, aren't we? Have some sympathy for your fellow prisoner!"

By this point, it seemed to have come down to a choice between helping the ravenette, or allowing himself to be annoyed forever. So, with his lips pressed together resignedly, Hoang reached for the magical restraints on the boy's wrists and directed his energy to his fingertips. It only took about ten seconds for the boy's hand to be freed... and even less than that for him to land a punch on Hoang's face, jump on top of him, and pin him down to the ground. Squirming against his impossibly strong hands and legs, all the while soaking in the effects of the punch, Hoang could only defeatedly mouth:

"Fucking bastard! What did I just say!"

He scowled at the boy like he could rip him in half with pure animosity — and in fact, he did see a flicker of hesitation on the ravenette's face. But then the boy regained his composure and spoke, all the humor from just moments ago gone from his lips:

"Who cares? All I know is that you're a Fae, in a Fae prison. How did you get sent here, huh? Murder? Or something worse?"

Clenching his jaws so hard he thought his teeth would crack, Hoang turned away, refusing to answer the boy's question. It wasn't like he really could, anyway — his hands were positively immobile. He grunted when the grip on his arms tightened; and Hoang could feel the ravenette's warm breath as he said something, but hell if he knew what it was. Giving the silent treatment is immensely easier when you can neither hear nor speak. But then a hand grabbed onto his face and forced it to look straight, and Hoang could understand every single word from the boy's lips:

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, asshole."

A fit of rage took over his body, and Hoang wrung his hand free, swinging his fist with all the hate he could muster. He felt it slam against the side of the boy's face with a crunch, and his attacker veered sideways, seemingly having cried out from shock. As his hold on him loosened, Hoang wrestled himself out from under the ravenette and stood bolt up, assuming fighting position even as his knuckles throbbed hotly. His hands could do more than just talk, and he wasn't afraid to prove it — with or without words.

He watched as the boy rose from the floor, a hand cradling the side of his face; and when he turned, Hoang could see blood staining his lower lip. The ravenette glared at him, brown eyes smouldering; and for a second, Hoang thought he would charge. But he only asked:

"Why are you here?"

"None of your fucking business."

"I'll tell you why I'm here. I stole. Obviously not with success because, well, here I am. But I was stealing for a reason, and I think the people who put me here knew that, too." The boy confessed — a shitty confession, Hoang thought. "So why are you here?"

"Guess the Fae dislikes imperfection as much as they dislike thieves." His hands moved before he could think. Hoang didn't really know why he felt the need to tell the truth, or to answer at all. The normal him would've chosen a fight over a discussion anytime, no matter how low the chance of winning was. And yet he'd basically summed up the source of all his miseries to this stranger. Hoang is half Fae, half human. The former is evident in his supernatural powers, his tall and graceful posture, his talent with the bow. But the latter is evident in his eloquence, his affability, his hearing — or, applicable to all, his lack thereof. In other words, he is imperfect; and there's no room for imperfection in a true Fae.

The boy's glower was gone, and Hoang stopped bothering with the fighting stance. People are shocked. Then they move on. Big deal. At the end of the day, no one cared about him but himself. He didn't realize he had closed his eyes until a light tap on the shoulder forced him to crack them open again. The ravenette had walked up to him, and his gaze was filled with what could only be described as empathy, as he lifted a hand and spelled:

"K-I-E-T."

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Oooooof okay I don't like the ending at all x'D Plus this doesn't feel like a one-shot since it's longer than the others :P But eeh you guys made it!! So I'm not too concerned haha 👌

But anyway!!1! I'm soooo glad I got to introduce y'all to my newest OCs >:333 I hope you enjoyed reading about their first meeting!!

I'm honestly open to critique or anything else you guys have :0 AND!!! also, if any of you have any experience with writing deaf /HoH characters, hit me uuuuuuup because this is my first time hicc and I don't want to make any mistakes or bad assumptions. But otherwise, I think I'm pretty happy with this origin story (at least for now) :P

Have a nice day/night peeps~