Nathan stood in front of the small community center at six forty five. Now that he was there, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to stay. He could feel his old social anxiety coming back, but he swallowed his fear and opened the door. The center was charming and quiet which helped to calm the man a little. An older woman sat at the reception desk and looked his way when he entered.

"Are you here for the deaf people meeting?" Nathan was blunt and even he felt that was a little rude.

"Well, um, yes I am…"

"Room 7 down the hall on the left."

"Oh, okay, thank you." The woman looked back at her computer and Nathan went to the meeting room.

Once he stood at the door he wasn't sure what to do so he did what he thought was right and knocked. He heard a few voices and some shuffling on the other side before the door opened revealing the lady who invited him. She grinned wide at seeing him there which make Nathan both happy and a little nervous.

"Oh, Mr. Explosion you made it. Come right in please, we were just about to start." Nathan nodded and entered the room. Instantly he felt all eyes on him. He looked around and counted maybe fifteen people total, adults and some kids. It was strange, he never minded people watching him on stage or at a press conference, but in a small place like this he felt shy.

"Y-You know, you can call me Nathan. Mr. Explosion feels... weird." He mentally slapped himself for stuttering. Isabel seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly smiled.

"Alright Nathan, you can call me Isabel. Now let's get this meeting going shall we?" Everyone mumbled in agreement and moved towards the large table in the center of the room.

Nathan stood awkwardly trying to figure out where to go when he felt a small tug on his pant leg. He looked down to find little Fiona staring up at him with stary eyes and a big grin. She was in a cute little light blue dress with matching ribbons in her braids. She bounced as she signed to him.

'Mr. Nathan, do you want to sit next to me?' Nathan smiled at the sweet girl and nodded. She then grabbed his hand and walked him over to the front of the table next to her mom. The two sat down and everyone was quite.

"Okay everyone, I'm glad we could all make it this week. I'm even more glad to introduce our new member, Nathan Explosion." Everyone looked to him and again Nathan began to feel shy. He gave a weak smile and waved a bit, but that was all he could manage.

"Now Nathan, we like to get to know our members a little, so why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" Now he got nervous. Nathan looked around to see everyone waiting for him.

"Like what?" Isabel thought for a second.

"How about you tell us how you learned to sign." Okay, Nathan could do that. He looked down at his hands as he spoke.

"Well my paternal grandmother is completely deaf. Growing up I learned little by little how to sign mostly by interacting with her. My parents did get me a few books on sign language as I got older, but it mostly came from experience. I guess it's just a part of my life I didn't really think about before." Isabel nodded and smiled at him. Nathan looked up and noticed that she was signing to Fiona, must have been doing it the whole time.

"Thank you Nathan, now let's get to this week's agenda…" The meeting lasted about two hours and was a lot more fun than Nathan expected. He learned a lot surprisingly and also found out that Fiona had a wicked sense of humor which he absolutely loved. He exchanged information with Isabel and agreed to keep coming around.

"This was pretty cool. Not exactly metal, but nice. I like that every once in a while." Isabel giggled a bit at this which made Nathan blush slightly.

"I'm happy you enjoyed yourself Nathan. It's always nice to meet another person who knows what it's like." She looked warmly towards Fiona who was running around with another little girl. Nathan looked at her to and caught the kid's eye. She raced over to him and hugged his leg. Then she quickly signed to him.

'Thanks for coming tonight. I had fun with you here. Will you come again?' This made Nathan's chest tighten for some reason and he smiled signing back to her.

'Yes I will, I had fun to.' Fiona bounced and grinned even bigger if that was possible. Isabel laughed and signed to her daughter that it was time to go home. Everyone was very friendly and said goodbye before going in their own directions, Nathan included.

He got back home only to see Charles waiting for him by the door.

"Well, how did it go?" The man never sugar coated and Nathan rolled his eyes but couldn't hide the linger of a smile.

"It was cool, I'm gonna go again. Now I'm tired so... night." Charles nodded, satisfied with the front man's response and left. Nathan returned to his room and checked his phone. There was a text from Isabel.

"Hi Nathan. I was wondering if you wanted to go with Fiona and I to lunch sometime next week? If you can make the time, she'd really like to see you again." Nathan was surprised, but happy to see the text. He quickly (as quickly as he could with his big fingers) texted back.

"Sure, that sounds nice. I'll check my schedule and get back to you." He then got himself ready and went right to sleep. He began to think about what this new little thing of his would do to his career and his reputation, but those were worries for another day and Soon he blacked out.