Domcallion looked at the calendar - a month from now, he would be married. It seemed too have arrived too soon, and taken forever all at the same time. So many things had happened during the past year. His grandparents and youngest brother were living with them now. The house had been expanded to build a ground-level suite for his grandparents. Although they were still doing very well physically, the stairs would have one day become a problem. And of course, while they were at it they had suggested another room. Since their eldest grandson seemed disinclined to leave his basement apartment, and 'inevitably' there would be a little one running around some day, there simply couldn't be an entire floor between the parents and child~

So construction plans had been made, and finished in a timely manner. That was something Destiny City definitely had going for it - construction tended to happen fast. Of course, it was usually repair work in the city proper, but while the city had it's little 'terrorism' problem it kept seeing exponential population growth somehow. And that meant constant construction. The construction businesses and other contractors had no shortage of business, and had gotten good at doing it fast. So his grandparents only had to spend a short while in one of the upstairs rooms.

They had arrived before Christmas, and that is when Amaranth and he had put together their little 'proposal scheme.'

There had been no real classic proposal - they both knew what they wanted. However Dom knew his grandparents would be thrilled with a little something - and making them part of it would thrill them all the more. So he put together a little plan where he let them in on a 'secret surprise proposal dinner' and gave them little tasks to help it happen. Both his grandmother and grandfather were absolutely giddy, as expected. And everything had gone wonderfully. Including them and seeing how happy they were to be included had been truly heart-warming. It was a wonderful Christmas.

What would have made it even better, though, would have been if his other brother had been there. Truly, having his grandparents and Marks here was great and all, but Dom missed Recks terribly. They had been so close as kids - 'Irish Twins' that they were. They had been partners in crime, little Merry and Pippins, close as could be, until the incident.

The day Dom had been abducted by that group of his own peers had changed everything. Held in a shed in the woods, tied up and tortured in the depraved way that only pre-teen and young teenage boys could, it had severed something. Recks had been a wreak, blamed himself, and even been blamed by law enforcement - interviewed and railroaded with zero compassion. Their grandparents knew better - they knew Recks would never do anything to hurt Dom, but as time had gone on, the community and peers looked at Recks differently. Finally, a month later, one of the boys that had been part of the abduction and torture cracked. Apparently, having someone strung up in a shed and tormented was one thing, but thinking they had killed someone was another. The boy lead the cops to where they had left Dom in a shallow grave.

Everyone thought he was dead. Recks was experiencing all the grief of thinking his big brother was dead then - he wasn't? There was so much confusion for the young boy. Dom was all set for autopsy when the pathologist began work and - corpses don't bleed. Dom was rushed in to the hospital. It turned out, he had a seizure and subsequently fell in to a cataleptic episode that made the boys think they had killed him. The catalepsy saved him. Not only had it made them bury him, where his imperceptivity slow breathing saved him from suffocation, but it made the one boy crack and tell police.

Recks couldn't understand. And he still felt so much guilt. He was too young to have been told the full details of what happened. It didn't help him to understand, didn't help him to feel less guilty, didn't help the anger and rage he felt at those boys... And every time he saw Dom, it hurt. He stopped playing guitar after that. How could he had kept playing when it was guitar strings that had been used to tie him up, whip him, torture him. Recks didn't want to admit that he kind of resented him for it. Resented that he had to give up something he loved for someone he loved, because he didn't want to make him uncomfortable. He loved his brother more than he loved guitar.... but it felt unfair sometimes. Dom had tried to assure him that it would be okay, that he should do what he loved...but Recks saw the way Dom would flinch at the sound of acoustic music - notably the sliding of flesh or pick against strings. Over time Dom got better at listening to it, but the moment a slide would happened the involuntary flinch or freeze was hard to miss.

More than just the guitar, Recks just...didn't know how to go back to how things were. No matter how well Dom seemed to recover mentally and emotionally, the scars that covered him were imprinted even deeper on Reck's heart. Therapy had at least made him understand, and family therapy had made them both see and understand where the other was coming from.

The love was there, but so was a wall.

His brother still lived at their family home in Belgium, and hadn't visited that Christmas, but had promised to be there for the wedding.

With the wedding planned and all set, Dom was full-steam ahead on planning a way to convinced Recks to stay. Well, staying probably was asking a bit much... but at least have him start planning to move here. The process had been quick and easy for his grandparents and Marks, so it shouldn't be any more difficult for Recks! He knew from their communications that he was getting fed up with the dental office he was working at - Dom was more than willing to front the funds for him to start his own here if that is what it took to entice him.

Some more deeply ingrained in the war might have cautioned him against bringing his family anywhere near Destiny City. It wasn't safe. But he had also been informed that Destiny City was pretty much the only place where Chaos hadn't taken over. So in his mind, it was better - safer - to have them here. Close, where Steins and He could watch over and protect them.

There was a part of Dom that also hoped that maybe his brothers could also be part of the magical side of his life. Regardless of whether they, too, could gain these powers, he did want to at least tell them. Show them Hierapolis. That might have been part of his 'bachelor party' plans, at least. He wasn't sure how either of them would take it, but it wasn't like they'd be able to escape once they were there, right? They would see and believe. And maybe knowing there was Weird Magical s**t happening in the world - and space! - it would help convince Recks.... Maybe it would help them to take down that wall, and they could be the lowercase-chaos gremlin duo they were always meant to be. With the addition of Marks - the little brother who had always been on the outside watching the tragic tale of his big brothers.

Marks and Dom had spoke at length to each other about their distant brother. Dom knew he wanted to see them a united force again, even if he was too young to have any memories of the two at their closest. None the less, he was onboard with doing whatever it took to have the family together. At least Marks could pull the puppy-dog eyes. Amaranth too was, of course, happy to do whatever she needed to help - although Recks was kind of suspicious of her initially. Christmas before last when he had visited, He had been rather cold, but tensions eased the more he watched her with Dom. It wasn't that he thought Dom couldn't score a pretty young lady like Amaranth! He just....Even now, he was protective. He didn't want to see his brother hurt by some little strumpet. Recks and he had talked about that, and knowing that is how Recks felt, it helped flame that fire of hope in Dom. If his brother still felt that sense of fierce protection and love, then there was hope that all his schemes and all his begging and all his pleading would bear fruit.

Was he being greedy, thinking that he could have everything he wanted here at his fingertips? Was he conjuring his inner Icarus and flying too close to the sun? Did going after what he wanted with such fervour invite danger? Maybe... but be was willing to risk it. For there was no reward without risk. It was something worth fighting for...and to continue fighting to keep.