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Post by Donato Martelli on May 20, 2014 22:52:13 GMT -5
Don was still giddy with excitement, and how could he NOT be? He was practically engaged, he had all the right in the world to be excited! In fact, he hadn't really shut up about it since their talk about it, going on about where they should have it at, the color scheme, if a bouquet should be a thing for them, and so on…
The Italian hugged the blond for the millionth time that day and grinned. "So you're gonna get to meet my mom, yeah? Don't worry, she's awesome, you'll love her!" Everyone loved his mom, she was sweet and SO friendly and-
He blinked, realizing something else that got him even MORE thrilled. Weddings meant family, and that meant the possibility of getting to meet Egil's family. Oh he bet they were great if they had raised someone as amazing as him! "Hey, this mean I get to meet your folks too?" He asked, voice a mixture of cheerful and curious. Now that he thought about it, Egil hadn't really mentioned his family before.
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Post by Egil Mednick on May 20, 2014 23:05:54 GMT -5
Egil smiled at the hug and hugged the other man back. As calm as he appeared he was both eager and a little nervous about the wedding. They were getting married for real and everything, it kind of came with the package and all and... oh man he'd meet Don's mother. Oh man. He couldn't help but smile. "'M s're 'll l've 'er..." He said, completely ignoring the latter part of what Don had said. It hadn't been the first time he'd done it, but it was the first time that it'd been so blatant a brush-off...
Don was probably not going to let it slide, and he tensed up in anticipation.
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Post by Donato Martelli on May 20, 2014 23:17:13 GMT -5
Don's smile fell a little, but was still there for the most part. This… couldn't be a coincidence, he'd just outright ignored that last part, he knew it. But WHY though? Did something happen? Did they not get along? Something else? Whatever it was Donato wanted to find out, hell he kinda NEEDED to if they were getting married, right?
He figured he'd ask again, then go from there. "What about your family? I gotta compliment them on their fantastic job with you after all." He smiled a little more, trying to ease it in with a light tone in hoping to make it easier. There had to be a reason he always avoided the topic, he could feel it.
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Post by Egil Mednick on May 20, 2014 23:36:16 GMT -5
Egil loosened his arms and kept quiet for a moment. It almost seemed like he was willfully ignoring again, and then he opened his mouth. And... closed it again, searching for words. "...I d'n't..." he mumbled. "D'n't th'nk th'y c'n c'me..." He said quietly, so soft that Don would have to have been searching for the words to find them. Egil could feel his stomach twisting at the thought of continuing the conversation. He didn't want to talk about this.
He'd never talked about this...
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Post by Donato Martelli on May 20, 2014 23:46:54 GMT -5
Don did his best to catch what Egil was saying, and he frowned after he managed to get it. "Why not?" He asked carefully. This… wasn't like the Swede. Sure he was normally quiet, that much wasn't new, but this was a different sort of quiet, and honestly it worried the older Ookami a bit.
"Hey," he started gently, moving a hand up to place on the blond's cheek. "Something's wrong, talk to me please?"
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Post by Egil Mednick on May 21, 2014 0:02:53 GMT -5
Egil moved his hand up to cover Don's own, keeping his eyes down. He didn't want to talk about it, then he'd have to remember and he didn't want to remember what had happened at all. It hurt too much. It hurt far far too much... But...
But didn't Don deserve an answer? "D'n..." he mumbled, both yearning to tell the Italian and not sure he'd be able to handle saying it. "D'n th'y're de'd..." He whispered, already feeling tears dripping down his face. That was the first time he'd ever said it, he was pretty sure... Satoru knew through background checks and Mina knew through Satoru... but Egil had never said anything himself.
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Post by Donato Martelli on May 21, 2014 1:38:58 GMT -5
Don's eyes widened for a moment, and for a second he wasn't too sure what to say. He wiped away some of the blond's tears before hugging him again, this time tighter and more secure. "I'm so sorry…" He knew that wouldn't help anything, but it was all he could think to say. What DID you say to something like that? It wasn't something he could really relate to. Sure, his grandparents had died, but it had all been of old age and after they'd had long and happy lives. This on the other hand, well it was obvious just from Egil's reaction that it was something so much worse, and that broke the Italian's heart.
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Post by Egil Mednick on May 21, 2014 23:31:50 GMT -5
Egil just stood still as a statue... because he wasn't all that sure how to continue... He still didn't want to say anything but he didn't want to leave it at that. It felt like there was a crack now and if it didn't burst now it would happen later, at some time that Egil wouldn't be able to stand it... Don had asked... and he cared.
"C-" His voice faltered and he tried again. "C'n w' s't..?" He asked quietly, his whole body was trembling at the memory... if he thought long enough he could even still smell it... There was a reason he didn't get an apartment with a fireplace.
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Post by Donato Martelli on May 21, 2014 23:45:58 GMT -5
Don pulled back a little and nodded. "Yeah," he said, keeping his voice almost as quietly as Egil's. "Yeah of course." Gently he tugged them to the couch that thankfully wasn't too far away and sat down with him. He still hadn't let go of Egil, not completely, and he probably wouldn't for a good while longer. He… was at a loss for what to say next, however. There wasn't much else that you really COULD say to that, and while he was curious about what had happened he wouldn't dare ask. Poor guy was already hurting, he'd hate to make it even worse for him…
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Post by Egil Mednick on May 22, 2014 0:17:37 GMT -5
Egil tried to manage a smile... It had happened over a decade ago now, hadn't it?
The attempt fumbled, then failed altogether. He took a moment before he moved to pull out his wallet and took and unfolded a picture from one of the pockets of it. A family of blonds. Mother, father, and three sons. It was easy to tell which was Egil, ducking his head in a shy smile at the camera as one of his brothers (more dirty-blond that Egil's gold hair) had an arm slung around his shoulders and a bright grin. The smallest brother appeared to be laughing.
Dear lord he must have been maybe late into his 15th year, about to turn 16...
"Th't's th'm..." Egil said quietly as he tried to smooth the well-worn creases out. The picture was a little worn at them, and he was worried it would tear if he unfolded it too often. "M'm 'n d'd," He said, "An' th'n... M'tti's," he pointed to the dirty blond brother. "D'v'd," then to the smallest, "'N me..." he pointed to himself last.
He just... wanted Don to know who they were. He could... he could tell the rest once Don gave a sign or SOMETHING... anything.
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Post by Donato Martelli on May 22, 2014 0:50:03 GMT -5
Donato looked on at the picture with Egil and smiled softly. They all looked so happy, he must have had a pretty good life with a family like that. "Good people," He said. "All of them, I can tell." It was hard to wrap around his head, all of them were dead? Even the other two boys? That was just… oh god that was just terrible. His arms tightened once again around the blond, he certainly wasn't letting go now.
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Post by Egil Mednick on May 22, 2014 10:24:11 GMT -5
Egil nodded, leaning into the embrace as best he could without fearing that he'd crush the elder man. "M'tt 'nd D'v'd w're h'me s'ck," he decided to start off. "M'm 'nd D'd w're w'rking fr'm h'me." And, well, he'd left out one person, he supposed. "'Nd I w's 't sch'l."
He thumbed over the edge of the photo. "D'dn't w'nna b', h'd a b'd f'lin', w'nt 'nyw'y." He had tried to stay home with his brothers, tried to argue the point that his parents needed to focus on their work and he could make sure they were okay... But his parents had just laughed a bit and said they would handle it. He hadn't liked it but he trusted them...
He should have snuck back home.
"Th're w's a f're." He said, recollecting the call from the office and the grim looks on the principle and his feeling of perfect dread. Because he had known before the words even passed his lips that something had happened, that his gut had been right. "Wh'n I g't h'me th're w'sn't 'nythin' l'ft..." Wood charred black surrounded by police tape and gawkers-
And the smell, burned meat and fire and ash and he had been on autopilot. His things had been dropped half a block before, schoolbooks scattered as he ran for it and tore past the police line and towards the house. He'd always been big, they hadn't been able to stop him from getting to the remains of the house and searching, hoping beyond all hope he'd find Mattias or David or Mom and Dad.
He still had a scar on the side of his left hand from where he'd cut himself deep on a broken beam when the tried to drag him back.
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Post by Donato Martelli on May 22, 2014 18:50:37 GMT -5
Donato listened to Egil explain what had happened. What small smile he'd had on his face from seeing the picture had faded into a frown by the end of it. He just… That was just… "That's awful." He finally said after a while. He wished he had something better to say, he really really did.
He couldn't leave it at that, he refused, so quickly he thought of something else to add to it. "It really is, but… you know they're not gone, not really." The Italian moved a hand over where the blond's heart was. "Ya got 'em here all the time, and isn't that something?" He picked his smile up at that.
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Post by Egil Mednick on May 22, 2014 19:37:36 GMT -5
Egil knew... He'd heard that before, from concerned neighbors and teachers and one grief counselor he'd been forced to see in the army that had gone nowhere (and had only ended the painfully silent sessions with his discharge from service). It didn't change how he'd spent the last two years of school in a daze filled with work and alcohol that he rightly shouldn't have been able to afford. Balancing finances for himself hadn't been possible and he'd crashed and burned hard after graduation.
The army hadn't so much been a choice as it had been a necessity at the time. There was food and structure and someone telling him what to do... And he'd been able to cope a little. He'd learned how to fix people, and taken it poorly when patients died on the table... He learned to disconnect from those he operated on.
He wasn't able to do that with people he wasn't.
But he could tell Don that another time, if the Ookami asked... he could relive those memories easier than the event itself. Because coming from Don, the sentiment felt nicer. Less like a bandaid on a gunshot wound and more like a salve on a burn.
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Post by Donato Martelli on May 22, 2014 19:47:57 GMT -5
The silence filled the room for a little bit, and for once Don was actually okay with that. He didn't expect the words to do much in all honesty, but they were something he believed completely and it was better than saying nothing at all, he thought.
He reached up and kissed Egil's cheek before going back to his position before. "Wanna tell me about them?" He asked. Maybe going back to some of the happier memories would be good. If it didn't help, well Egil didn't have to talk if he didn't want to, Donato wouldn't push it.
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