IC Contact Post

[proudbraveandtall]

"This is Hjalti; I'm assuming if you've called me, you want to talk to me. Leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can."

[Unlimited Calling/Texting/Data Plan]

Comments

voice;

[youngestone]

Hey, uh, it's me. Can I...I think I have a problem and I kinda need to talk to you and no I didn't get anyone pregnant before you ask. Still an eternal virgin.

[proudbraveandtall]

[It's a few minutes before he gets back to Killian, but only a few. And there's definitely a level of "what the hell did you do" to his voice after that pronouncement.]

What did you break this time.

[youngestone]

Nothing, nothing! Well, I broke a glass but Thalfi ran into me and that's not the problem here. It's, uh.

[Deep breath]

How did--when you and Mom met--oh, hell, how did you know that you and Mom were meant to be a thing?

[proudbraveandtall]

[Silence, skeptical silence. Then-]

I thought you said you hadn't gotten anyone pregnant.

[He'll get back on track in a minute but really kid, you were protesting this so much before.]

[youngestone]

I haven't! God, d'you really think Ariel would even let me near her like that? I'm just...asking, okay.

[And giving away why he's asking but hey, who's counting?]

[proudbraveandtall]

Now? Probably not, but in the future she probably would. You two are close, that's nothing to be ashamed of, and maybe you'll get closer. Maybe you won't. But you keep wanting to cut off the possibility before it can happen.

[He'll pause for a second to let that sink in, although he's not sure if it will. But... well, he has experience with this, so he'll answer the original question. Maybe Killian will see a parallel, because he sure as hell does.]

That's what happened to me and your mother. We met completely on accident - I got lost in Dublin looking for this pub that a friend's brother's band was playing in, I stopped and asked her for directions, and we got to talking and she ended up coming with me to see them perform. After that we just kept meeting up and talking, and eventually...

[youngestone]

[Oh yeah, there's a parallel. Like, nearly the exact same damn thing happened with him. The shooting and the numbers and the...everything. He sighs]

Eventually you were engaged. Fuck. Dad, I really like her. It wasn't until there was that car monster thing downtown that nearly ran her over but I keep wanting to text her and make sure she's okay even though I just saw her home. Fuck.

[proudbraveandtall]

[Okay so his story is less dramatic than his son's, but the point of comparison still stands.]

I didn't realize that I loved her, or at least liked her that way, until your grandmother asked me over the phone if I did. Once the suggestion was in my head, I couldn't get rid of it any way possible.

[There's a quiet sigh, and he's shaking his head a little.]

I don't know what to tell you, kid. I never got to meet her until all of this started up, but she seems like a good person. I can't promise everything's going to work out perfectly, no one knows if everything'll be fine or not. But you two are friends, you go out of your way to spend time together, and it sounds like you both kind of depend on each other to be some sort of support. There's a lot worse things to build a relationship on, and you like her for her and not for what you could get out of her. It sounds like you've got a pretty good chance if you don't do something really stupid.

[youngestone]

Dad, stupid could basically be my middle name. I mean she hasn't ditched me yet but....

[He's scared to lose his friend]

She's really my first non-asshole friend ever. I don't want to fuck this up.

[proudbraveandtall]

You are not stupid. [His tone is very firm there.] No child of Catherine's could ever be stupid, and you're not. You just don't have a lot of practice at dealing with the world outside of an RV caravan made up of people you're related to. If you ever call yourself stupid again, I'm going to find where you are and shake you.

[Bigger problems, Hjalti. Bigger problems.]

You don't have to say anything yet. You don't have to say anything at all, ever, if you don't want to. Keep an eye out and see if she's sending any kind of signals, see if she wants to spend time with you more than anyone else, if she seems to be trying to hide something. I won't pretend that asking that question isn't nerve-wracking - I thought your mother was going to punch me in the nose when I did - but it can be when you're more comfortable with it than you are now.

[youngestone]

[He's going to quietly disagree that he's not stupid since that's not the point right now. Besides, he knows he's kind of an idiot so what does it matter?

(Some part of him is agreeing with his dad, though, saying that he's more than all that, that is he pretty awesome.)]

So that'll either be never or the next time I get worried about her. Fun. Have I mentioned lately that I don't do emotions very well? Or is this normal for everyone and not just me?

[proudbraveandtall]

[Never believing that. You're not stupid, Killian. The more you protest you are, the more everyone will tell you you're not.]

You weren't really raised in an environment that did emotions, from what you've told me. I know the Ryans didn't like dealing with things they didn't like. Like me. But in this case, yeah, pretty much everyone trips over this stuff. I dated a few girls before I met your mother, and I was only never not kind of nervous about it... once? And that was because she was giving me a lot of very obvious signals so I didn't have any reason to worry about how she would take it.

[youngestone]

[He nods, not that Hjalti can see it, and sighs again]

Right. Right. This is normal, actually, which is good. I'm not that much of a loser.

[Another sigh]

...I'm waiting for the "I told you so", by the way.

[proudbraveandtall]

You're not a loser at all.

[He will fight you on this, Killian. And he will win because you are tiny.]

Why? You're not going to hear it from me, or from your uncle.

...I'd be careful of some of the other people the family knows, though.

[youngestone]

You're the first person--other than Blaine, but she's a bitch--but you're the first one to even guess that I might like her and this was when I was in denial.

[A pause]

Don't tell Fil. He'd never let me live it down.

[proudbraveandtall]

I won't until you're ready for it, but you know he only wants to see you happy, right?

And I thought I heard some other people go on about it at that party of Gabriel's, was I hearing something wrong?

[youngestone]

One of 'em was Blaine, the Japanese guy was Shou, my old roomie before I moved in here. You still mentioned it first.

[proudbraveandtall]

[He's not sure if that's something to be proud of or not, but probably better him who isn't making this into a horribly big deal.]

So what do you want to do about the situation? Remember, doing nothing is still doing something.

[youngestone]

Hell if I know. I mean, we've got plans for sparring and stuff on the fourteenth so I'm not canceling that or our Sunday archery, except maybe for family stuff and I don't want to just...ditch her, y'know? But I don't want to risk fucking everything up.

[proudbraveandtall]

Life's a risk, Killian. You never know when something will go wrong - but you never know when something's going to go right, either.

[But he knows that's not what his son wants to hear.]

Just spend time with her and enjoy it. You're still friends, there's no reason you can't keep that. If you don't ever want to say anything, that's your business, but don't believe that it's not because you're not good enough. You are.

[youngestone]

Nothing ever goes right for me, Dad.

[Or at least it didn't. It's starting to now, more or less]

Hey, wanna do lunch on the fifteenth?

[Topic change!]

[proudbraveandtall]

Nothing?

[You can hear that eyebrow raise in that statement, Killian. Direct challenge.]

The fif- uhh, sure, I guess. What did you have in mind?

[Please don't say a steakhouse.]

[youngestone]

[Ignoring the eyebrow!]

I dunno, you can pick I guess? My default is burger or pizza and I am not a creative guy.

[Ladeda dancing around "it's Father's Day and I want to try this"]

[proudbraveandtall]

[He'll store it - for now. You're not getting off that easily.]

No burgers. [You know your dad's diet preferences, Killian.] Pizza might be okay, since you don't like a lot of the things I do.

[youngestone]

You mean you don't like anything I do.

[Yes, he does and he loves to poke at him for it]

Meet for pizza, then?