[PRP]

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail watched Corinne communicate with her Growlithe with rapt attention, soaking in all the gestures and how the fire-type responded. She hadn't any idea whatsoever what the girl had said to her canine, nor had she any idea what the Growlithe was doing besides looking around - was that what Corinne had asked it to do? Just look around? Maybe to relax or something - but it was incredibly interesting to her regardless.

She saw Corinne raise her hands again but not sign - maybe she intended to but then remembered that Abigail wouldn't understand - and a sudden emotion swept over her features. Wistfulness? No, loneliness. She'd seen it daily on Duncan's face, seen it one too many times to mistake it for anything else. Thus, when she approached Corinne's side, Abigail laid one hand gently on the girl's shoulder while the other offered the notepad she'd pulled out and written on, 'Are you alright?' If the girl looked at the ex-breeder's face, she would see a certain amount of concern and worry had overtaken her.  

[Suudonym]

She looked up to her companion and stared for a moment, and then her phone was in her hand, her fingers hovering over the letters on the screen. A moment later, she clenched them softly and then constructed her response, 'Just a little homesick.' The message was presented with a polite, mild smile and a straight posture that made her resemble more a young woman than a girl in spite of her stature. Her 'brave face,' as Olivier had liked to call it, probably due at least in part to the fact that it was the expression she wore when he had confessed that there was still a lot of work to get done at the library and he would be home late again. Corinne herself thought it more acting her age; she was practically an adult already, after all. And proper adults didn't get sad and cry in front of people they barely knew.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Corinne's response was met with a knowing nod and a kind, warm smile that completely masked her thought that 'little' was an understatement. She removed her hand from the girl's shoulder if only due to the fact she needed it to write out, 'Don't worry.'

She didn't ask questions or make comments, instead opting for a nice subject change, and she quickly scanned the area for something to change it to that wouldn't remind the girl of her home. While Abigail was very curious about the Growlithe, that would probably count in the 'remind her of home' category, so she grasped at something else and instead asked, 'Is it easier to type or to use sign language?' The whole time she wrote, the notepad was in full view of Corinne, although despite this both times she finished writing Abigail had tilted it towards the girl slightly to attempt to make seeing it easier, although it was probably unnecessary.  

[Suudonym]

Corinne knew a change of subject when she witnessed one, but she wasn't adverse to it. She held her phone in her palm, the message appearing on the screen for Abigail to read as she wrote it, 'Signing is my first language, so it's faster to just sign than type out everything letter by letter. It's not as convenient for communicating with others, though.'  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail nodded her head as her mouth formed an inaudible 'oh' of understanding. Of course signing would be easiest for her. Briefly she wondered how a child could learn any language when they couldn't hear it. How would they know how to pronounce a word, how a letter was supposed to sound? But then she realized, really, they probably didn't need to know any of those things, as long as they could learn how to form proper words and sentences. If they could do that, did how things sound or how to pronounce them really matter?

She pulled herself from her thoughts with a shift of posture, bringing herself forcefully back to the present time and place, and smiled at her notepad as she wrote out, 'I can understand why it's not as convenient. I don't know many people that know sign language.' Abigail paused briefly, and then, a little boldly, 'Would you teach me some?'  

[Suudonym]

Corinne read the message, flushed slightly, and signed excitedly for a moment before remembering her composure and resting her palms against one another momentarily, returning to a calm collectedness. 'I'm not exactly qualified as an instructor,' she wrote, 'so I'm not sure I would be much of a teacher, but I can certainly tell you anything you'd like to know.'  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The older woman beamed at the child's sudden excitement at her request, and it soon turned back into a smile as she watched her and read the message she'd typed. Abigail was ready with a response already thought out, so it didn't take long for her to write out, 'I would love to know anything you can teach me.'  

[Suudonym]

She raised her eyes to the distance thoughtfully, and her attention returned with a slightly wistful smile, 'I still have the books my guardian used to help me learn when I was little. They're very basic, if you don't mind reading texts written for small children.' She was glad Olivier's book-hoarding habits had prevented her from throwing those out - for multiple reasons.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

'Oh of course I don't mind,' Abigail wrote quickly with a warm smile, then added, 'Actually those will probably help most. When learning something new you should probably start at the beginning, yes?' Although, now she thought about it, with languages it varied. Some people tended to just learn the most important things, what they could use conversationally, rather than being fluent in the language in its entirety. Well, regardless, the ex-breeder wanted to learn as much as possible, honestly, and what better way to learn it than from books? 'I'd love to see them sometime. In the meantime though,' she added after a hesitant pause, 'could you show me how to sign your name again?' Another pause. 'And possibly my name?' That was at least a start, anyway. While she was interested in seeing these books - she might get others from the library though - they wouldn't help them immediately, seeing as they weren't at wherever Corinne lived.  

[Suudonym]

Corinne nodded; it seemed like it would be embarrassing to learn from children's books, but indeed, they were written the most clearly. She brightened at the request regarding her name, excited to discuss a topic she always thought was so interesting and unique to sign language. 'Corinne Lambert is,' she wrote, then moved her hand from the screen and raised it, forming a crescent that metamorphosed into a right angle as it arced her thumb towards her chest. 'Apparently the first half of my name sounds like "core," so my guardian chose to spell my name with C, L, and "heart." Sign language names are interesting because they're sort of made up.' She raised her hand and gestured letter by letter, forming seven distinct shapes, 'That's "Abigail" spelled out, but you can choose what you want your name to look like and mean.'  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As soon as Corinne raised her hands, Abigail hurriedly shoved her items into her purse to have hers free with which to mimic the young girl's gestures as best as she could. She frowned in concentration as she attempted to copy Corinne's finger placement and motions as she did them, and then when the deaf girl had finished, she tried it again in a (slightly) more confident manner, before looking to Corinne for verification or if she was just messing it up.

The explanation of names in sign language made her raise her eyebrows in surprise, and she pulled her pen and notepad out again to write the question, 'If they're made up, how do other people know what you mean when you sign your name?' Wouldn't they think it was something different, or not understand it or something?  

[Suudonym]

Corinne repeated the gesture more slowly after Abigail's attempt. It was her name, after all, so she was very particular about its proper execution - not that the woman was really doing anything wrong with it, but a healthy dose of perfectionism was always welcome.

The question that followed elicited some thoughtfulness. 'Well,' she paused to consider her words more closely, 'Abigail is just a word, right? If you said it to someone who spoke another language, they would probably be confused by it and ask what it means. Sign language names are the same. They're just unique gestures used to identify someone, and context establishes their meaning - like I would say "My name is Corinne" like this.' She manipulated her hands in the appropriate gestures, the unique movement of the C and L visible amidst the other motions.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While some might be vaguely offended at the repetition of her name that Corinne offered, Abigail was incredibly grateful for it, and she watched the smaller hands with rapt attention each time before repeating the gestures very carefully and slowly. She wanted to sign it as perfectly as she possibly could, after all, and what better way to learn something than through repetition?

At Corinne's explanation, Abigail's mouth formed a small circle as she said an almost inaudible "ohh" in understanding. Of course, that made perfect sense; it actually made her feel like she'd asked a rather foolish question, but either way she was grateful for the answer and nodded her head to show she understood, even if her question was only half answered. What if the person she was speaking to had never heard or seen the name Corinne before? How would they know what that specific gesture meant? The matter was, she realized immediately after, easily rectified by spelling the name out letter for letter, as she had done for her own name. Abigail pulled out her pen and notepad again to write, 'That's wonderful.' She would have to look up ways to sign her own name at some point later. Another question struck her quickly and she added, 'How do you sign your Growlithe's name?'  

[Suudonym]

'Her name is Lady,' Corinne wrote, 'signed as:' She moved her hands through two unique gestures that, unlike the sign for her name, resembled letters at no point in their execution. 'It's a combination of "lady" and "love."'

The Growlithe appeared at Corinne's side suddenly, as though summoned. Indeed, Lady kept a close eye on her trainer at all moments, and though she knew the girl was not specifically calling her, she had recognized the form of her name and decided it a good time to rejoin the humans. The fire-type looked up at Abigail thoughtfully, her tail wagging gently in a pleasant introduction.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail nodded and watched with rapt attention, and as she did with Corinne's name, she attempted to copy the gestures as perfectly as she could. The offered meaning made her smile warmly - such a lovely meaning, she thought - and the named Growlithe's sudden appearance nearby made her chuckle a bit. She pulled her notepad and pen out again to write, 'That's a beautiful way to sign her name, and she is such a beautiful Growlithe' and held the pad of paper for Corinne to see.

While she did that, Abigail paused before offering her free hand to the fire type. She actually wanted to pet her, if the canine would allow it, but she wasn't about to force the attention on her if she didn't want it. She was always careful around other people's pokemon, just in case. Really, though, you never could tell for sure.