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 Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:57 am
Liam, ever the partier, emerged from the kitchen with a beer himself, although he'd skipped the gin.
"You know, we have little kids in the house. You should lock the cabinet," He said as he tossed the keys he had locked said cabinet to Marcos and took a sip.
Speaking of, Ike was helping Clemmie on music lessons up in her room, and Rabid, Emmy, and Dezzy were in the back room, playing house and ponies.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:05 pm
"Sorry," Marcos said, taking a swig of his unholy concoction and grimacing at the taste. "Maybe Heineken and Tanqueray wasn't the way to go."
"Gin's for pansies," Ethan said, the joking tone nearly noticeable under the flat, brooding exhaustion. Marcos snorted.
"Says the boy who's never drank," he said contemptuously. Ethan managed a bare smile.
"I used to be a lush," he said.
"Ha! Why'd ya quit?"
"Not much to drink for two years, really."
Marcos coughed on his beer, shaking his head.
"Punk," he said. Ethan shrugged, the smile fading away absently.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:15 pm
"Smart boy," Liam nodded, sitting down across from Marcos and waggling a finger at Ethan. And then there came a deep, deep clearing of the throat and a little giggle. There stood Björn, arms crossed, brow arched at Ethan. Uh-oh!
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:51 pm
If Ethan had had the emotion to spare, he would have blanched and attempted to crawl under the table. As it was, he just craned his head back and looked up.
"It was a long time ago," he said reasonably. "And I haven't drank since."
Marcos snorted and finished off his beer.
"Tsk tsk," he said, shaking the bottle over his open mouth to catch the last drop. Ethan managed another thin smile.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:21 pm
Björn just smiled and affectionately ruffled Ethan's hair.
"How ya feelin'?" he asked a bit vaguely.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:58 pm
"Felt better," Ethan said with a trace of wryness, smiling if only for Björn's sake. "Want to sleep, but can't really manage it."
Marcos, with a wince and absently irritated clutch at his stomach as he moved, sat up and gave Ethan an ineffective sidelong look with his bad eye.
"Could knock you upside the head a couple times, that always works," he said nonchalantly. Ethan paled a little, then somewhat astonishingly, laughed.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:01 pm
Björn folded his hands on the table and rested his chin thereon, lips twisting slightly. Poor Ethan. But somehow, "I know, I was watching" didn't seem like the right thing to say.
"Life sure ******** you guys over."
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:10 pm
At that, Marcos burst out into earnest, if not particularly bitter, laughter.
"Oh, you have no idea," he said with a grin, words ever so slightly slurred. "Y'know how I lost this eye?"
Ethan winced sympathetically, plucking at the beads of his rosary out of habit.
"Got into a fight with Piper," Marcos said, nodding. "Trainin', y'know? 'Cept with Piper, he figured, hey, if you're gonna fight, you're goddamn well gonna fight no matter where the hell you are. So me an' him, we're having outs, and the ******** tripped me. Yelled something about...ah, damn, don't even remember now. Not watching my left side. So I was stupid enough to say something back. And you know what he did?"
He mimed a vicious slash over his left eye, making a grotesque sound.
"Took my damn eye out. Told me now I didn't have an excuse not to be more careful on my left side."
He gave another bitter laugh, lifting the bottle to his lips before remembering it was empty. He poked Ethan.
"Go get me another, would you?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
As Ethan disappeared into the kitchen, Marcos turned somber.
"He patched me up, afterwards," he said in an undertone. "I'd done it enough times for him, what with all those ********' slashes in his arms."
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:17 pm
"Ethan? You need the key," Liam said, following after him.
A small half-smile ran across Björn's face for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet.
"Mm. I know how you feel," he nodded and turned his hands palm-up to display some rather vicious scars, from ancient burns on his hands to the sealed gashes on his wrists, "That little weasel in there kept me alive. Vavvian Rebellion, Batallion 3. Sarge made my--Hellis kill his own parents, rigged us with alarms so we would be killed if we malfunctioned. Bad s**t. Glad I'm out."
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:27 pm
"Hnn," Marcos said, expression musing. "Well. Looks like we've all been royally ******** one way or another, eh? Here's to waiting out the world until it kicks us into our graves."
It was a little disturbing that the prospect seemed to cheer Marcos a little, but then again maybe it was only because Ethan had returned with another beer.
"Give," Marcos said. Ethan handed it over silently. Marcos took a drink and cringed, gripping at his stomach again. "Ow."
He took another drink, longer this time, and the spasm passed.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:30 pm
Björn flinched.
"If it hurts that bad, maybe you shouldn't get smashed,," he said and then shrugged, "Granted, maybe you should. Hell if I know. Wish Joe was here to fix ya."
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:35 pm
"Everything hurts every day," Marcos said absently, sitting up straighter. "Don't matter. 'Sides, I spend ninety percent of my life reeling drunk. And don't you say a word, Cebcharik, since you just told me you lived in a bottle."
"Wasn't," Ethan said simply, picking at the beads on his rosary again.
"Why d'you still call yourself Ethan, anyway?" Marcos asked, taking another swig. Ethan shrugged absently.
"Just felt like I should."
"Why, though? You didn't even know the guy."
"Know his name. Nobody else remembers him but me."
"I remember him."
"Yeah? What was his last name?"
Marcos began to reply, but paused.
"Huh. Point taken."
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:42 pm
Björn snorted and smiled slightly.
"We call him Ethan because he told us to. I tried,," he shrugged. He didn't know why, and didn't pretend he did.
Liam emerged then, dragging a man a foot taller who sat on his food and cuddled his waist, eyes closed. Hellis. Of course.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:44 pm
Ethan smiled slightly, eyes cast downward. Marcos gave a grunt, taking a deep swig of his beer and glancing at the new arrival. Now who was....oh. Oh yeah. Blanket-kid.
"Hey."
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:49 pm
Hellis opened his eyes, slightly startled, and then looked to Marcos and smiled. Without a word (well, what was one to expect?) he walked over and wrapped his arms around Marcos' shoulders, hugging him. Well! About teh surprise affection!
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