Re: log: blake and graham, thorne house
Rash, impulsive violence wasn't Graham's thing. Even when he was pushed to his limit, his actions still held a certain level of calculation, deliberate even in madness. Maybe if Shane were here, he'd have lunged, thrown a punch, beaten Blake to a bloody pulp, but Shane wasn't here and he wasn't Shane. His brand of crazy was quiet, subtle, because if it hadn't been he wouldn't have been able to fly under the radar like he did. Graham might have realized that steadiness, calm, was even more unnerving than anger, but he didn't. Social conventions had mostly gone right over his head after Lorelei died, after his son went to live with his grandfather.
"Your sister," he echoed quietly. His gaze grew sharper in the dark as he regarded Blake, head still cocked. Amelia had told her brother about Lorelei. About his wife. Was that what they did? Talked about the poor crazy man and his dead wife behind his back? And now, now Blake knew about his son. He'd seen things that weren't his to see, and Graham could imagine more whispers, whether it was all in his head or a valid concern. "You knew, then. You knew she was my wife. You knew what you saw was mine. That right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "But you still went looking for the man with the dead wife named Lore." That was what defined him. That was who he was. It hadn't ever mattered until here, until this, when it wasn't just him and Shane anymore. The man with the dead wife and the absent son, all grown up and far, far away. What a thing to be.
Graham smiled when Blake admitted to fucking up. Funny, that he said it like it meant a damn thing. "Okay. You fucked up." On the surface he sounded real agreeable but sarcasm lurked beneath the words, read between the lines, kid, if he was smart he would. He watched Blake with the bottle, watched him drink, watched him sit down. Maybe it was a bad idea, but he took the bottle when it was offered to him. He took a deep gulp, and he thought about staying, about going, about what the hell he'd do in the morning. And the morning after that, and the morning after that, etc etc. "Do you feel better?" No mention of sticking around or not. "Now that you've said it, got it off your chest, do you feel better?"