500 Days of Uh-Oh {Dan}

[GERDY MILLAN]

The last few experiments with music and Dan had gone over pretty well, so Gerdy had started thinking of ways to set it up in his own dorm room so he could have music and sound a little more often. Over the past few weeks, she had been running back to his dorm, and abandoning speakers at his door, telling him to stash them away for a little while, until she had everything she needed. Luckily Dan wasn't one of those people that you had to stop everything you were doing to talk to, or really explain things to. Actually--maybe that was a Gerdy thing. Let her do her own thing, she'll explain in due time. Either way, the day had arrived where all the plans were set in motion. Early evening she had landed on Dan's doorstep with another box of speakers under her chin, a few cables, and a package of Swedish Fish and a DVD case sticking out of the upper hem of her shorts. Her phone hung between her teeth, and she had all but run into the dorm and dumped everything on the floor.

"So, basically stuff's gonna get real." She held her phone above her head, texting without looking, making a big show of making sure Dan knew she was speaking to him, before she crawled towards the TV and got to work. It took several cables, and test runs to get the speakers at least in working order. It wasn't going to be as dramatic as it was in the music room, and given the way he reacted the first time she showed him music--maybe that was for the best. Especially if he decided to watch a movie when a friend was over. Straightening up, Gerdy cracked her back, before picking her phone back up, "A little birdy told me you had a favorite movie. How would you like to be able to hear it?" Dragging her slippers along the ground, she scooted around to face Dan, grinning at him before waggling her brows, penciled in to match her recently darkened hair. "It's not gonna be as good as it was in the music room but it'll do for now, right?"

Gerdy wobbled, pushing to her feet before shoving her phone into her back pocket, before holding up a green speaker with an extension cord in her left hand, then the blue in her right. She mouthed the words, much like she had in the music room, before setting them on the edge of his bed. The other speakers carefully were strewn about the room. Honestly--Gerdy could have taken more care to organize them, and make little shelves to balance them on the walls--but that was another project for another day. She really only had so much patience, and she was going to have to hold on to most of her patience for the movie. Gerdy wasn't exactly a movie kinda gal--it meant having to sit still and focus--two things she wasn't very good at.

She hooked her thumb in the beltloops of her tiny shorts, and drummed her fingertips against the tanned strip of skin above the shorts, and below the shirt. What else did they need? Her lips scrunched to the side while she bounced from foot to foot, her dark hair swinging between her shoulders. Duh, the most important part. Again, her phone came out of her pocket, "Wanna get the popcorn?"

[/i] The way she shoved her phone back into the hem of her shorts for easy access meant she wasn't taking no for an answer from Dan; and instead busied herself with putting the DVD into the player. Honestly, the silence in her room was boring her to death. Normally, she would have had her headphones in or would have been singing--but it felt somewhat rude to have her headphones in when she was supposed to be spending time with a friend. Even if that friend couldn't hear.

Gerdy grabbed the remote from the side of the TV shelf, and kicked off her slippers, and perched on the end of Dan's bed. She hunched over, almost folded up while she rested her elbows on her knees. Her fingers flipped through the menu on the screen, making sure that the subtitles were on, and even ran through a few of the commercials to make sure the words were synced with the speakers. She grinned again. This was gonna be mission success. Glancing down at the speakers, she started thinking of new ideas. It wouldn't be comfortable for Dan to hold onto the speakers for hours and hours on end. Maybe she could find speaker pillows, or somehow stitch speakers into a pair of gloves. Grabbing the abandoned bag of Swedish Fish, she popped one into her mouth and stared down at the speakers while the menu of 500 Days of Summer played through, waiting for her friend to come along with the hot, buttery, salty movie snack.[/blockquote][/blockquote]


--
OUTFIT

[DAN KAPLAN]

He tapped his fingers against his thigh as he pushed the door to his room, unsure exactly of what he was going to be finding here. He’d been told very little, #surprise. He’d assumed it was going to be a similar deal to the whole…song…thing? But she hadn’t mentioned any sort of song. Not that she would have anyways. God, why were his thoughts so #scattered today? Dan didn’t generally get nervous about this type of thing. Like, a girl was showing him something new. #Whatever. #Nbd. Totally normal. People showed each other new things all the time. Right?

Sighing, he allowed himself to stroll casually #lowkey into the room. @dantheman22 had ka-PLANS today, as Mikey would say. Okay, that had been a bad joke. God, what was wrong with him tod—

#holyshit.

That is so much fucking equipment #hardocore, he texted back, blinking several times to make sure he was even, like, seeing this shit correctly. Cables, speakers, wow, shit, this was like…okay. #Breathe #Dan #Breathe. This was totally normal. Right? Speakers and cables were everywhere. They had those everywhere. They probably had speakers and cables in the Baum library across campus. Totally normal thing. Nothing special about these. Granted, he hadn’t even understood what speakers did until that one time she’d—okay, this was kind of a big deal.

"A little birdy told me you had a favorite movie. How would you like to be able to hear it?"

He had to physically clench his teeth to keep his jaw from dropping. You mean…500 Days of Summer? #zooeydeschanelruinsmylife? How did she… His fingers hovered over his phone’s keypad hesitantly, but he couldn’t figure out how to phrase his question in a way that wasn’t #ungratefulbastard. He’d probably tweeted about it, actually. That would make sense. There was very little that @dantheman22 hadn’t tweeted about at some point in his life.

Then the second part struck him. Wait…are we watching that? Right now? Like, here? He almost added an “#insertamusedskepticismhere” tag, but was barred by the #wordcountwall. Whatever. It was implied. Like, he got how this little #shindig had worked with a song, but with…a movie? Would that be a thing that would work? Would the laws of like, physics or whatever allow that?

"It's not gonna be as good as it was in the music room but it'll do for now, right?"

He nodded slowly. Whatever. This would work. He had #faith. He trusted Gerdy more than anyone else in the world.

Popcorn. #shit. Right. Stuffing his phone into his back left pocket #haha #buttcheek #haha , he hurried over to the microwave and withdrew the bag of popcorn he’d popped…well, way earlier than was probably wise #masterchefatwork. But whatever. #yolo. Steaming bag in hand, he joined Gerdy over on his bed. He nodded pointedly at her, placing the popcorn between them and readying his arms to receive the weird-looking speaker things. #buffness

Wordz:493
status:has been complete yo
tagz:gerdan is the shiz
notez:cute cute
inspirationcaspar lee is my hero jk he didn’t inspire this specifically but he inspires my life man
credit:this template is by monica DON’T BE STEALIN, YA HEAR???!!!!!

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[GERDY MILLAN]

Gerdy had grinned at his reaction. Yeah, there was a bit of equipment strewn about. Eventually she was going to have to find out how to rig this properly for him. It could get a little in the way if he wanted popcorn, or needed to scratch or text. Actually…with that realization as she put the speakers into his hands—she hesitated. For a moment, she looked nervous and unsure—a face that typically wasn’t very Gerdy. That split moment of hesitation, she wanted to rip all the cords down and run out of the room waving a big old NVM sign over her head.

But the look on his face when he felt the music—it was perfect. She placed the speakers into his hands, before she tried to contort her fingers to make a phrase. No. Work. Don’t. Her brows knitted together before her lips pressed in a thin line, and she pulled out her phone. If the speakers are too hard to hold, don’t worry. We can just watch with subtitles. and then held the screen up for him to see what she had typed in.

Suddenly Dan was making her second guess everything.

Making her stress—making her worry. Those were feelings that Gerdy did her best not to acknowledge. Taking a deep breath, she pointed the remote at the TV and glanced sideways at her friend. She attempted to smile again—despite the strange, sick feeling in her stomach. Why did she suddenly feel so ill? It wasn’t like she was trying to impress him at all; they were friends. And it was a movie she hadn’t seen. This experiment could be a win, or a loss. In some roundabout sort of way, she felt like she was doing more for Dan than science had. Wasn’t there like ways to make deaf kids hear by now? She was sure she had seen that on Tumblr or something.

She loved her music, she loved sounds of people laughing and the chirp of birds. The way the wind wooshed past her ears when she was flying. However, she would have easily given that up if it meant Dan could hear. Because maybe he’d enjoy all the sounds like she does. And maybe she wouldn’t make such a fool out of herself trying desperately in vain to make a deaf boy hear. Without pulling her phone out, she leaned over for a moment and put her head on Dan’s shoulder. The bones of his shoulder pressed against her cheek, and the warmth of him seeped through his shirt and into her pale skin. It was a comfort—at least she was trying to help. If it didn’t go well—at least they could have a laugh.

Picking her head back up, she grabbed a handful of popcorn, and after playfully tossing one at Dan’s nose, she hit play.

Even if she had an epic fail of embarrassment, Dan was worth it all.

--
OUTFIT

[DAN KAPLAN]

Dan couldn’t help but be excited for this. #hardcore.

Okay, so he knew it was just a movie and all. Like, how much of a difference could the holding of a speaker really make, right? He was just going to feel some vibrations, probably, the same vibrations he felt in the floor at school dances when the bass was on really low #wubwubwubwahswag or on the arms of his seat in auditoriums when everyone around him erupted into applause. Like, it wasn’t like he’d get the shapes of signs vibrated into him or anything, right? Yeah, definitely not. That definitely wasn’t even a thing that was possible #goddamnitscience.

Dan felt his phone vibrate. If the speakers are too hard to hold, don’t worry. We can just watch with subtitles. This was cool with him. That was how he watched things anyway #swag unless he was like, doing one of those dumb lip-reading exercises that the aids made him do during Support block, where he had to watch videos without subtitles and answer a bunch of dumb comprehension questions about them. He always got Fs on those exercises. Those aids were nice ladies and all, but they still hadn’t been able to grasp the simple concept that Dan Kaplan sucked at reading lips. Like, it wasn’t even a lack of trying. He literally just could not. It was not possible. It was not in his programming. Trying to teach Dan to read lips was like trying to teach a dog to type. No matter how many lessons you gave it, it wasn’t going to happen. #seriously.

But he decided to humor Gerdy. The last time they’d done this thing, with one song, Dan had been a fucking trainwreck the rest of the day #ohmemories. Hopefully he’d be better prepared this time #fingerscrossed. He’d spent the afternoon preparing his mental facilities for the possibility of another #traumaticmusic moment. He was sure he could handle anything, #right?

He hefted the large speakers #machoman and grinned as she pressed the “play” button, wrinkling his nose as a popcorn kernel tickled his ear. Since his arms were #ocupado at the moment, he clumsily shoved another kernel in her direction with his left knee. #whatever. She got the picture.

He felt some slight vibrations as the first sequence began to run. He read the opening words on the screen, chuckling as the white text flashed past. Normally those would be subtitles, but they…weren’t subtitles, right? He glanced at Gerdy inquiringly, but he was pretty sure that those were like, normal hearing people titles that were supposed to be in the actual movie, like, the one you saw in theaters.

Then he felt the music.

He knew it was music because it felt just like the last song he’d felt, those swirling and jumping and clashing quilts of woven vibrations that felt like adrenaline coursing through his arms. It was slower and like, lighter than the last song he’d felt, sure. But it was definitely still there. He let one end of the speaker rest on his knee as he grasped his phone to text Gerdy. Feel's like shit's about to get real, huh?

Wordz:527
status:has been complete yo
tagz:gerdan is the shiz
notez:cute cute
inspirationcaspar lee is my hero jk he didn’t inspire this specifically but he inspires my life man
credit:this template is by monica DON’T BE STEALIN, YA HEAR???!!!!!

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[GERDY MILLAN]

Gerdy was gonna have to figure out a better rig for Dan, because this wouldn't work for a regular set-up. Her lips scrunched to the side slightly, before glancing up when he looked at her. Her scrunched mouth turned upwards in a little smile, before casually looking back at the TV. She squirmed slightly on his bed, adjusting her limbs to get comfortable. Gerdy wasn't exactly used to sitting on something solid for long periods of time. Even when she slept--she'd accidentally find herself bumping her noggin' on the ceiling. Floating was much more comfortable, but there was no need to give Dan a heartattack.
No, a drama free gathering was what she wanted.

Leaning over to the side, she pulled her phone out of her shorts, and opened it up when she felt the texts from Dan come through. "Oho, yeah." She said outloud, then repeated it in a text. Gerdy sighed, and then managed to smile again. For some reason Dan really had her on edge with this little experiment. It worked once, why wouldn't it work again? But for some reason, Gerdy's hands were very faintly shaking, which she managed to disguise it enough when she went to reach for more popcorn. It was hard trying to swallow past her heart which seemed to have jumped into her throat and started hammering.

Dammit, Gerdy. Calm your tits, girl. She willed herself, and trying to help--she turned her face back towards the movie. Maybe if she focused on the movie, then the panic that was ebbing in her arms would stop. It felt as the movie inched on, Gerdy felt more and more panicked. Np panic attacks, Gerdy. Relax. She coaxed, distracting herself with grabbing another one of the Swedish Fish, before offering the packet to Dan. Leaning forward, she rested her elbow on her knees, trying to stabilize the tremble she felt that was trying to come back through.

If Dan wasn't seated next to her, she would be literally slapping herself silly. This was wonderful! So far, the movie was really good. He was hearing it--or the closest thing Gerdy could manage, and he was enjoying himself. Honestly, she hoped he'd manage to keep it together. Because if last time was an indicator---Gerdy would end up being a trainwreck right next to him. The only difference being--he actually had an excuse.

--
OUTFIT

[DAN KAPLAN]

Dan’s eyes flicked from the subtitles to the characters above and back to the subtitles again, and his arms quivered with the impact of the vibrations. He could feel them come through whenever a character moved his or her lips, speaking, he assumed. Speaking made the vibrations happen, just like the music had, but the speaking vibrations were more…concentrated. Like, they came in short bursts, and got harder and softer pretty regularly.

Zooey Deschanel’s vibrations, for example, were a lot quieter than Joseph Gordon Levitt’s. His were also like, wider, spread across most of the speaker, where hers were more concentrated in the center. He almost had to grasp it more tightly to be able to feel them. But it was a really weird sensation, feeling these tinglings that somehow aligned perfectly with the openings and closings of the mouths of the characters on the screen. He didn’t mind it. It almost made him want to stop reading the subtitles and just…let himself feel the movie #hardcore #gradeAhipster. All of a sudden, knowing what was going on in the movie seemed a lot less important than being able to see it, feel it, observe it, all on the same plane, with the same abstract eye.

#DeepshitwithDan.

He reached over for another handful of popcorn and his hand collided briefly with Gerdy’s. He drew it back quickly, but...glancing over, he noticed that it was shaking. Actually, not just her hand, but like, she was shaking. He narrowed his eyes in puzzlement #huh. Was it cold in here? No, no it was not, #captainobvious.

And now he was being offered Swedish Fish #beautifuldiabetes, but the bag was shaking so fast that he felt like reaching into it was unsafe #lightweight. He shook his head, trying to focus on the movie and the vibrations. Maybe this was just a really exciting part that she was really excited for. #Yeah. He wasn’t paying that much attention anyways.

Still, something about the atmosphere in the room suddenly seemed weird. There was some like, tension, that hadn’t been there before. Oh man, but now she was keeled over #seasickness or something. What was she…what…should he be…oh man.

You okay? he texted nervously. He hadn’t like, accidentally elbowed her or anything, right? #Shit, he’d probably remember if that had happened, right?

Wordz:427
status:completamente
tagz:gerdan is the shiz
notez:cute cute
inspirationnothing I am uninspired
credit:this template is by monica DON’T BE STEALIN, YA HEAR???!!!!!

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