Christian (stormywaters) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-06-18 23:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-05 |
Making the best of it.
Who: Day, Christian and their father (NPC)
When: Five pm
Where: Their home
For once the whole Danui family was together around the kitchen table. Dinner spread out across it and their father in the usually empty seat at the end of the table. It was graduation day and he couldn't miss that now could he? Christian had wished he had missed it. This graduation was depressing. Day was leaving high school and with it, leaving him behind. At least that's how it felt to Chris. He didn't want Day to graduate. He was proud of him of course, but it was still hard to deal with the fact that he wouldn't be in school with him any longer. He'd at least managed to keep from letting any tears fall at the ceremony. The car ride home though was harder to handle because there was talk of college and all that. As soon as the group got home, he'd retreated to his room for a nice long cry. Dinner though, he couldn't avoid. Sitting down in his chair, he glanced up at Day and then at their father. It almost seemed odd to have him at the table, being so used to not having him around for dinner.
For his part, Day was happy, in a long-lasting good mood for the first time in what felt like days. A little oblivious to his brother's mood, since he had missed the car ride home in order to take Lacy home and he'd spent the last hour since he got back helping their dad put dinner together. When Daniel Danui actually cooked, he was actually pretty good at it, and this was more of a treat than any fancy restaurant could have been. Just having their dad home for a few hours was more of a treat than any fancy restaurant could have been.
And now he sat at his place at the table, portioning food onto his plate and smiling like he was never going to stop. "At least the ceremony didn't drag on for hours," he commented, spooning out vegetables and offering the bowl to Christian.
Christian took the bowl and dished his own serving out. He didn't say much to that at first, letting the silence take over the room for a moment. "Yeah..." he said softly, handing the bowl to his father and picking up his silverware. "Officially summer now." he said, voice still low. He pushed the different items of food stuffs on his plate around, leaving space between each different type of food.
Okay, the silence was harder to be oblivious to, but even then, it was their father-- who had been privy to his emotions in the car-- who said, "Everything all right, son?"
"Fine." Christian said, eyes on his plate, trying hard to decide if he wanted to take a bite or not.
While their father gave him a slightly concerned look, Day's look was pointed. "You're lying," he pointed out. If Chris got to ruin the happy mood, he at least had to explain himself for his trouble, so that maybe they could deal with it. If he was still pissed about the night before, then they were going to have Words. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Christian said, shaking his head and finally taking a bite of his food. He didn't want to get into a big emotional mess of a conversation and he knew as soon as he said something about how bad he felt that Day was graduating, he'd look like a loser that couldn't handle things alone. "I'm fine. Really."
"It's not about yesterday, is it?" Day asked warily. It hadn't crossed his mind that Christian might be unhappy about him graduating-- after all, he wasn't leaving, and Chris obviously didn't think he needed help with the bullies, since he didn't tell Day about them. So the only thing he could imagine Christian would be upset about was his butting in on him and Hayden.
"What happened last night?" their father asked, looking between them.
Answering before Christian could stammer and turn red, Day said dismissively, "He had a friend over, I didn't leave them alone, and they got a bit miffed with me."
"It's not about yesterday." Christian sighed, shaking his head. "It wasn't a big deal." Okay, so it kind of was a big deal, but not what he was upset about at the moment. "I'm just... I don't wanna talk about it." he muttered, not once looking up from his plate.
"So you're just going to be gloomy, instead," Day scoffed lightly at him. Be gloomy at a time when their father was here. That just wasn't allowed, dangit. He could at least be happy they were all together, couldn't he?
"David," the older man said pointedly at the tone, and Day shrunk a little, prodding at his food and giving Christian an unhappy expression.
"I'm not being gloomy." Christian muttered, mostly to himself. "Let's talk about something else, please?" he practically begged, eyes flicking up to look at his father and not at Day. He knew he'd just get more upset if he looked at Day and he just didn't want that. Didn't want to have to leave the table because he was such a big baby.
Seeing as he wanted peace at the table, too, their father found another subject for them. Unfortunately for Christian, it was college. "I did a little poking around the University of Michigan's website today, David. It does seem they have a decent physical and natural sciences program, if that was the direction you wanted to go." He knew perfectly well that Day wanted to do something related to his elemental nature, and natural sciences was the first step to meteorology. He'd need a secondary degree, but he didn't need to worry about that yet.
Christian frowned downwards at his plate and stuffed his mouth with another forkful of food to keep from saying anything to let his brother or father in on what he was feeling. He didn't want to think about college. About everything changing. He'd gotten used to Day being around. Morning car rides together. The more he tried not to think about Day leaving, the more things he remembered about him being in school. He bit his bottom lip, trying to ignore the topic.
"It is," Day agreed, casting his brother a look for the frown and frowning a bit, himself. What was his problem? Day didn't even mind if he was in a bad mood for graduation, for whatever reason, but with their dad here? How could he ruin a family dinner by not even pretending to be in a good mood? "There are a few schools in the midwest with meteorology programs at the master level, and coming out of U of M I should be able to get in, no problem."
The midwest? He was going to leave after U of M? Great. Christian bit back a sigh and finishing off some of his vegetables. Why couldn't they talk about something else? College talk sucked, in his opinion at least. "Do you have to go back to work tonight, Dad?" he questioned, hoping to jerk the topic off of college.
"Not tonight, no. Though I won't be up too late, either. It's been a long week."
It always was a long week, and when he could, their father always tried to catch up on sleep whenever he had a night off. "Think you've got time for a movie after dinner? Or a game?" Day asked hopefully. He refused to let Christian sour what little time they had with him entirely.
"If I could talk you two into Scrabble, I'm sure I could manage to stay awake," their father said with a smile. His favorite game, of course, and he kept cheating by making up medical-sounding words with funny letters.
Christian didn't want to play games. He just wanted to finish dinner and go hide in his room, but he forced a smile and nodded. "I think I can handle some Scrabble." he said. He didn't want to lose time with his father, but sitting around with him when he wasn't in a very good mood didn't seem like a very good alternative. Upstairs he wouldn't have to listen to college talk and think about Day leaving. Well, yeah, he'd still be thinking about it, but he'd be alone and that was so much better than being around his father and brother when he was upset.
Trying not to look as if he noticed how false the smile was, their father smiled a more real one, back. "Good. ... good."
The rest of the meal was a bit stilted, though Day did his level best to keep conversation going-- sometimes on college, sometimes reminiscing about school, even answering a few queries on his elemental and glamour progress-- and he offered to do the dishes after, to let their father actually sit down and read a newspaper for a little while. Him and Christian, because he of course volunteered his brother to do the washing, while he did the drying and putting away.
Their father looked terribly grateful for the chance to sit down without demands, and Day beamed as he pushed Christian lightly towards the sink. "I'll carry the dishes to you, if you start the water in the sink."
Christian didn't complain and walked to the sink, starting up the water and pouring a bit of dish washing liquid into the flowing water. He hoped that Day wouldn't say anything about his bit of moodiness at dinner. Hoped, but knew better. He held his breath and waited for the other boy to start in on the questioning.
Coming over with a stack of dishes, Day asked conversationally, "So what's the matter? Dad's hear. He's going to play a game with us, even if it's just stupid Scrabble. It's summer. You have a girlfriend. Why in the world are you acting like someone tore up your favorite sketchbook?"
"Because you're leaving." he sighed. "I mean... I know you're not leaving here, but... I'm so... used to having you around and now you're not going to be and I won't have you around if I need you at school and... it just fucking sucks." he sighed. Christian usually didn't curse a lot, but right now he was annoyed and couldn't seem to help it. "But it doesn't matter because there's nothing that can change it so... whatever."
Oh, god, was that all? Day came back with another set of dishes, the glasses and serving bowls and things, and he smiled, leaning against the counter next to him. "Chris, I'm going to be, at most, right across town. A text or a call and I can be back in minutes." Not to mention he had a couple watch-dogs who would let him know the minute anything bad happened to Christian. He reached up to brush back some of his brother's messy hair. "And you know what? You might not even need me. It isn't like you follow me around all day at school, you know."
"But you're there." Christian protested. "And what about after U of M? You're gonna go off somewhere far away and you won't be just a text or phone call away." he mumbled.
"We'll talk about that, then," Day said warmly. His brother did tend to go dismal at a moment's notice, but at least this wasn't a hard one to stave off. Hopefully. "You might be going away to school by then, too. And who knows?" He smirked. "I might happen to transfer to whatever school you pick, or drag you with me when I go to grad school. That's years away, Chris. A lot could change before then. You could get sick of me." At twenty, when Day was finally graduating U of M? One would hope he was sick of being bossed around by his big brother!
Christian didn't seem to think so. "I don't want to worry about it then he sighed. "I'm worrying about it now. I don't want to spend the next four years wanting to know what's going to happen. Knowing that you're just going to... leave." Day was the one person that stuck around for him. His mother was gone when he was just a baby and his father around so little that he might as well have been gone. Day was always there and the thought of him being gone was terrifying.
"Then we'll pick a school together," Day shrugged. "One with a masters program I can use, and an undergraduate department in whatever subject you go into that you like. I'm sure getting in won't be a problem, so if I go away, you can always come with me." He really doubted that in four years-- or two, if he transferred somewhere to accommodate Christian-- Christian would want him there. He expected that two years of high school without him would break him of that habit.
Which was a little scary to Day, too, but he was in the habit of never showing such things. Day, after all, was never afraid of anything. Except blood on tv, but that didn't count.
Christian wasn't so positive in any of that. He was fairly certain that nothing would change and if anything at all happened in the two years between now and him graduating, it would be that he would become even less popular. He was absolutely positive that he wouldn't ever not need his brother. He'd spent his entire life being pretty dependent on him and couldn't fathom that much ever changing. He shrugged a little. "I guess." he muttered.
"We'll work it out, Chris," Day promised, leaning over to hug Christian's shoulders. "I couldn't abandon you-- I hardly ever leave you alone, as it is, you know that. Right?"
"Right." he nodded. Of course last night he'd wanted to be alone, but he hoped that didn't make Day think that he had the ability to be by himself all the time. Christian hoped that it didn't make his brother think that he was pushing him away, because he wasn't. Definitely wasn't.
"Good." Patting Christian on the back lightly, Day grabbed a towel to start drying. "Now that that's settled, we can try and convince Dad that 'pharmaquoigeal' is not actually a word without bringing him down. Right?" God, he hoped so, because he really, really wanted to just have some honest fun with his family before he went to pick up Lacy.
"Maybe we should get out the dictionary. Then he can correct us too if he wants to. You know that he'll love that." Christian didn't feel much better about the situation, but he supposed he could pretend for a little while. More for his father than for anything else. He'd be out of the picture again the following night so making the best of this evening was better than being depressed and losing out on the few minutes they got to spend with the man. He handed over another dish to Day and reached out to take a dirty plate and wash it clean.
"He ought to know by now I can quote the whole dictionary definition back at him," Day groaned, but it was light-hearted. "But we might as well, or he might dare accuse me of cheating." Which he'd done a time or two. But only a time or two, and it was all in good fun, since their father was doing the same thing. This was a little better. Even if Christian wasn't reassured, at least he could act like he was for the evening, and that, he supposed, was what mattered just then.
Christian finished up washing the last few dishes and handed them over to Day. Then he went about washing out the sink and then the counters. And then the table. Then the sink again just because it gave him an excuse to play in the water for a few more seconds. "Are you still mad at me about yesterday?" he questioned.
Day sighed, putting the last of the clean dishes away while Christian... played around with water. Heh. "No, Chris. I wasn't really all that angry, to begin with. I was just in a mood for a good portion of the day, anyway, and I expect I just took it out on you."
"Why were you in a mood?" he questioned. "Did I say something or... whatever? I mean you didn't have to bring Hayden home. You could have said no if you didn't want to... And I didn't mean that you weren't... welcome or whatever, I mean you were, but I wanted to spend five seconds by myself with Hayden without everyone around like they were at the party and... I'm really sorry."
"It wasn't you, Chris," Day assured him. "If you want the honest truth about it-- and you must tell no one this, I can only imagine how badly it would fall out-- it was mostly Tilly and her new boy. Hawk." He made a face at the name. He couldn't even have had a boring name, could he have? "The fact that you and Hayden wanted some makeout time was merely an irritation on top of that."
"So you're jealous of the new guy?" Christian questioned, assuming that was the problem. "Do you like Tilly?" he asked. Was that the big deal? He was upset that Tilly had gotten a boyfriend? "Wait, Tilly's got a boyfriend?" he questioned, having not known that much until just then. "When did that happen?"
"Oh, I told you about him the other day. The boy who lives in his van?" Day knew he had; he'd asked him to talk to Tilly and find out more about the guy, which hadn't happened, probably because Christian had been too busy worrying about Hayden, or something. "And I'm not jealous. I don't wish I were dating Tilly, myself; she's my best friend. I just... don't like the situation." He couldn't explain the real reason, not to his little brother. Apparently not to anybody.
"Oh... you did tell me..." Christian said. The look on his face saying he'd obviously forgotten. "I haven't gotten to talk to her since then. I didn't know they were together though... did you tell me that part too?" he asked, biting his bottom lip and feeling pretty lousy about not remembering. "And if you're not jealous... then why don't you like it? Do you not like the guy?"
"Don't worry about it, I know you've had other things on your mind. I met him today, is all, and the problem is, he seems perfectly nice." Day shrugged. "Which makes me wary." And annoyed that he didn't have a legitimate reason to dislike him. Beyond his obvious rootlessness and irresponsibility, but Tilly didn't count that, apparently. "Then there's the fact that she just dotes on him, and it's only been three days since they met, or something, and I think that's far too fast." He huffed.
Christian shrugged a little. "That is a little fast..." he agreed. "But... there's that whole love at first sight thing." he suggested. "Or lust. Or something like that. Maybe she just sees something in him that you don't see..." again he shrugged. "I don't know. I suck at love and relationships and all that. I can't even... kiss my girlfriend in public. Do you have any clue how terrifying it is for me to even think about kissing her where people can see?"
"I can imagine," Day said dryly. "Though I would honestly rather not imagine." Apparently he wasn't so good at the love and relationships thing, either. Imagine that, the most popular boy in school, model boyfriend-- as long as you didn't want to be seduced-- sucked at love and relationships. At least according to popular standards. God. "Come on, the sink is clean enough. Let's not keep Dad waiting too much longer."
Christian nodded, but felt a little bad that he'd pushed Day into a slightly annoyed mood. He didn't seem too keen on the idea of love or relationships. "Let's go." he agreed. "Don't have much time with him, might as well make the most of it, right?"
"Definitely need to make the most of it," Day agreed. Given their father was in the next room, and they were going to play Scrabble with him-- which Day professed was stupid, but he rather enjoyed anyway, since he could show off his vocabulary, and if it was with his dad, anything could be fun-- Day didn't think his annoyance would last for long. He was very firmly putting his displeasure with romance in general behind him, as he hooked his arm with his brother and headed out to the living room.