Elevator Ride
#14 of Writing Prompt
Well, here's last week's prompt for my group!
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This week's prompt was "Write a story between two characters that do not speak the same language, and cannot verbally communicate."
This one was harder than I thought, and kicked my ass. But, oh well, I had to just plow through. Let me know what ya'll think.
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Gary was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed to get some sleep. It was far too late at night for him to still be awake, but there had just been so much to do at the convention. A wild rave had been thrown in the main ballroom, and he'd danced with friends before retiring to a room party for drinks and hanging out. Now he just had to retreat to his own room to get some sleep.
The fox was a bit surprised when he got to the escalators and found another person there waiting. He hadn't seen anyone while wandering the convention space to get to the wing of the hotel he was staying, but here was a tall, brown-furred wolf with over-sized ears and an outfit that would have been out of place anywhere else.
He was dressed up in cosplay that Gary didn't recognize, but still could appreciate as some sort of warrior or fighter. An embroidered suede vest was left open to expose the hardened muscles beneath, and the pants reminded Gary of some harem-style design he'd expect out of the middle east. The wolf carried a giant, polearm that would have been intimidating if it were real.
"I like your outfit. Is it from a game? Or a show?" Gary asked, perking up a bit.
The wolf glanced down at the fox and rubbed a free paw over the back of his head, still holding onto the polearm with the other. "Lo, ul man coya Eimanulqi..." he replied apologetically.
Gary blinked in surprise, confused for a moment before he realized what the wolf was saying. "Oh, uh. Oh. I, didn't know you didn't speak English," he said, and then he put a paw to his forehead. "And I'm still trying to talk..."
The wolf looked a bit sheepish and shrugged his shoulders with a laugh. "Lo. Sze hoyqi rho rhoza."
Gary answered with his own nervous laugh and turned back to the elevator as it dinged open. He let the wolf on first and noted that the button for his own floor at the top was already pressed. "I guess we're going to the same floor."
The wolf looked at him and then at the panel, eyes widening. " Oszei szeqiza!"
Gary pointed at the number and tilted his head, but the wolf repeated the words. "Ah, so, twenty-three." It was so awkward having tried to make conversation with someone he couldn't speak to, and now he couldn't keep quiet because that also felt awkward.
As if things weren't awkward enough, they hadn't made it more than halfway up before the lights in the elevator flickered and the car came to a jarring halt.
"Yahoy hoyeiza?"
"You've got to be kidding me..."
The car was pitch black and it didn't seem like the emergency lights were coming on so Gary fished around in his pocket for his phone and turned on the camera flash to give them some light to see by. The warrior wolf looked a bit more concerned, but visibly relaxed at the addition of light.
"Don't worry, it'll probably start back up soon." Gary said, then caught the wolf's eyes and gave him a hopeful smile and a thumbs up.
The wolf's face brightened and he mirrored the gesture with his own thumbs up and a quick nod.
Gary nodded slowly and went to the elevator panel, checking it for a phone, or button to press to call for attention. Finding it was easy, but then there didn't seem to be any power going to it either. "Well, damn. I guess we're stuck until we can get help." The fox slumped against the wall and slid to the floor to take a seat, his phone sitting beside him to give them light.
The wolf hesitated for a moment before sitting down against the adjacent wall, his polearm propped up in the corner of the elevator.
There was silence for a minute before the wolf cleared his throat and pointed at himself. "Jora."
Gary rolled his head to look at the wolf, brow furrowed in confusion. "Jora?"
"Jora," the wolf repeated, patting his bare chest with a paw and then pointing at the fox. "Yahoy ul sze hoyza?"
Gary sat there, dumbfounded, before his eyes lit up. "Oh! I'm Gary. Gary," he repeated, putting his paw on his own chest. "Jora?"
Jora nodded emphatically and patted his chest once more. "Jora! Gary," he said, his accent drawing out the name with softer vowel sounds.
The fox laughed, and this time there was nothing nervous about it. It was exciting to have found something to communicate, no matter how small. He was about to try to say something else when the lights in the elevator flickered on and the car jolted upwards.
Jora hopped up to his feet, grinning. "Szehoy hoy lo szehoy rhoulahza!"
Gary pocketed his phone and was about to stand up when the wolf's paw appeared in front of his face. His gaze followed it up to the Jora's face and he took it, being pulled to his feet with ease.
Jora gave it a small squeeze and let go, stepping out of the doors when they opened on their floor.
Gary stepped off and watched as the wolf started off down one of the hallways. "Jora!"
The wolf turned back and tilted his head to one side.
Gary stood there dumbly, flexing the paw that Jora had squeezed. With his other he gave him a shy thumbs up and beamed at him.
Jora's muzzle split into a grin and he stepped back over to Gary, leaning down until their muzzles met in a quick kiss.
The fox's face heated up and he chuckled when they pulled away. "G-goodnight, then."
"Ithah za, Gary. Sze hoyqi kurho hoy rhoza rhoefza," Jora said, turning away and leaving Gary standing by the elevators with a dopey grin.