THEO DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 179
Status:
Married
Partner:
Freyja Damasca
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by THEO DAMASCA on Jul 21, 2022 18:53:05 GMT
Had he winced when he’d waved at Frank out of the car window as he’d pulled away from the humanities building? Yep. It wasn’t cowardice, if it was he’d never have planned to ‘what the hell, man?’ Kit in the first place and Theo absolutely planned to do that. It wasn’t that he had to lie either – having a kid made you pretty good at that pretty fast (oh no, honey, you don’t want to green or orange ones, they’re yuck, let daddy have them, you have the good ones instead). Years after he’d sat down in Frank’s living room, his brother sheet white at the sight of his twin brother back from the dead, Theo still felt the pang in his gut at pulling Frank into any of this.
Music pouring from the stereo, the windows down, his shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows, he tried to push the regret about it out of his head. It was protective, plain and simple. For years before his name had ended up on that list and the hunter had tricked him out into the clearing, he’d kept what he was from Frank, hoping not to lay bodies at his feet in the same way. Only one of them needed the nightmares.
Theo kept an eye on the rear view mirror as he drove, like Frank’s stacked student appointments were all going to cancel and he’d end up heading home early. The two of them had always been like two halves of one whole, but he knew how close Frank had been to his team, how much closer he and Kit had gotten after that Humvee had blown and Kit had gone home to his brother to lose a chunk of his own self. Frank would want to play Switzerland in the middle of what had to be said, torn between his brother and the man who was as good as another one.
Shit, he was torn himself. Theo raked his teeth over his lip, punching at the dash to change the playlist, letting out a little groan as one of Hazel’s popped up and filled the car with the sort of stuff that made him want to flip his hearing aids off. Was that the universe’s way of telling himself to let this go? Nope, that was just a current obsession with Harry Styles and he wasn’t about to just chicken out of this because Kit had kept his daughter safe when he hadn’t even realised the nightmare he’d prayed for her to avoid had come to settle over her like a dark cloud that never went away.
Hazel had begged him not to go straight to uncle Kit – or her mom for that matter – after she’d broken down and told him what had happened out in the woods. When your kid’s holding on to you sobbing, even at sixteen, you did whatever possible to try and unbreak their heart, even if it meant staying silent and not telling your wife until after you were sure they were asleep, or sitting on your knowledge of who’d helped her cover it up for a couple of weeks. Until you were sure you weren’t going to walk in there and swing immediately for not doing what should’ve been done and calling their damn parents.
Fingers flexing on the wheel, Theo eventually pulled up beside Frank’s house. The hum of peaceful, rural life filled the car as he shut the engine off and the music he’d flipped to in order to escape the young guy with the slightly dubious fashion sense. Maybe he’d break it, the hollers sending birds shrieking from the trees, and pissing off any neighbours who might’ve been in screaming distance. Maybe.
He’d have said who was he kidding, but he’d known even before Cory had brought him back to life and Hazel had been born that he was going to do anything to keep his kid safe. Later, he’d apologise, but first …
Trying to ride that thin line of pissed, Theo shoved out of the car. If he hesitated Frank would be here or Kit would be heading out to work at the club and that would be another day of putting it off, maybe letting it slide altogether. On the way up to the door he swung back and forth on whether or not to ring the bell, but that was just another way to avoid it – I rang once, he didn’t answer, oh well. Theo pulled his keys from his pocket, flipping through until he found the one for the front door. This didn’t have that electric rush of an emergency anymore, but he was still buzzed.
Closing the door quietly behind him, he stood there on the mat, his gaze darting around. It was quiet, maybe Kit had left already, it wasn’t like he’d looked out for cars outside, Frank had been the only one he was concerned with. ”Kit?” His voice carried through the house, his brows furrowing. ”Hey man, you home?” Like he’d call back there was nobody there. Either he was home or he wasn’t, either he squeezed the head on this thing and let it settle or that zit of betrayal would keep growing, keep stinging, until it faded of its own accord.
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KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 136
Age:
33
Occupation:
Manager at The Ruby Slipper
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Katja De La Cruz
Played by:
Julia
"You make my cold heart warm with a touch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:01:45 GMT
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Post by KIT CLARKE on Jul 29, 2022 18:18:01 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━ ON THE SURFACE, HIS LIFE WAS PERFECT AGAIN. He had his brother, a good woman, and a stable home life━there was the absence of his sister and niece, but, overall, things were good. For some reason, though, he still didn’t feel complete. He dreamt of murdering his brother and the men whose faces he’d seen a million times over, the ones he killed again and again in his sleep almost every night since he’d returned. Despite Kace living again, Kit couldn’t be rid of his guilt. He was well aware that PTSD would plague him for life, but did it always have to be the same story?
Maybe he shouldn’t be so fucking picky. After all, he could wake up and curl into Katja, remember that Kace was alive, hear his voice, throw his arms around his brother━all of it. It didn’t make the nightmares any less jarring or heartbreaking, but at least he wouldn’t wake up alone anymore.
And he didn’t expect Kace to forgive him. Every little jab or comment stung, and yet Kit didn’t fault his brother for it. This was his cross to bear. He started wondering about asking Theo and Freyja if he could tag along to Church on Sunday mornings. He hadn’t gone consistently since before he’d been Hazel’s age.
Speaking of, it was really fucking weird that she was suddenly sixteen and his niece was still a toddler. He’d have to tell someone about that eventually… maybe just to Frank at first. Frank and Katja knew how long he’d been sober━err, cutting down. The most he had was a beer here and there, but lately, his hands had been shaking a little more, his mind slipping. Especially with the number of dead bodies these fucking Damascas led him to.
He heard the only Damasca that hadn’t calling up to him from downstairs. At first, he thought it was Frank, but caught the subtle difference in the attitude behind the voice, not the sound itself. And he didn’t hear moving, not in the way Frank would clamber into his own home, and so Kit came to the realization that he had a visitor. It was a weekday, though, and what the hell did Theo ever need him for?
“Yeah, one sec,” He called back. Kit shoved the pills back into the top shelf of the medicine cabinet, out of everybody’s reach except Frank’s and his own, then shut the door tightly. He was just staring at them, deciding, but Theo probably wanted him to move furniture or some shit. And he didn’t want to be around Hazel while he was high━he couldn’t risk Theo and Freyja pulling the same shit Kandice had.
Taking the steps down rapidly, Kit glanced toward the doorway and flashed Theo a smile, nodding upwards. “Hey, man, what’s up? Frank’s still at school, I think. You wanna beer?” He crossed to the kitchen, fetching two out of the fridge anyway and popping the caps on the bottle opener. Holding one out to Theo, though he barely gave him time to respond, Kit took a swig of his own.
THEO DAMASCA | no notes.
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THEO DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 179
Status:
Married
Partner:
Freyja Damasca
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by THEO DAMASCA on Aug 9, 2022 19:05:18 GMT
Identical twins. They should’ve been mirror images right down to the cellular level, only in his and Frank’s case it was almost like a funhouse mirror, wobbly, throwing that reflection out even before you began to scrape away at the surface. His hearing – or lack of it – had marked each of them out as individuals from the very start. One brother who would spend his childhood in and out of speech therapy and doctors offices, who would end up, almost perversely, the one to hear those screams long before his twin. The other what he would’ve jokingly called a perfect specimen, sporty, smart, filled with that determination that would eventually leave the sort of scars on him that made the ‘identical’ even harder to believe.
Silent, standing completely still, dressed alike in a way their parents had never forced them to, Kit still could’ve probably told them apart. He’d seen the parts of Frank that his own brother hadn’t. Theo didn’t resent that, not even now when he was working himself up to rip into Kit for keeping Hazel’s secret for her. He’d sat at the side of Frank’s bed, studying his broken body when Frank hadn’t been with it enough to be aware of the scrutiny. Flesh mottled with those black bruises, the skin beneath a sickly pearl grey that had scared the shit out of him. Bandages swathing the worst of the wounds, hiding the damage that had been torn through him. What he could see – those spidery black threads of the stitches used to draw together the surgical incisions that had allowed the doctors to fix the shattered shoulder and cracked vertebrae, the muscles that twitched and spasmed when the medication wore off – had been a nightmare.
It could’ve been worse. He’d reminded himself of that a hundred times in the years since, a dozen times since Hazel had come into his office and burst into tears as she’d admitted what had happened. Without Kit pulling Frank from the wreckage and holding off the enemy until the cavalry arrived, it would’ve been. Theo frowned, stiffening up as Kit called back down. How the hell did you tear into a guy who’d done that? Who’d been a good uncle when Hazel had needed him.
Shit.
Frank sure as hell wouldn’t have considered backing out the door and firing off some excuse about not hearing the holler back when the ‘what the hell?’ came later. Swaggering around his shiny brass balls, Frank would’ve probably charged in, swung first, and apologised later. But he wasn’t Frank, all similarities aside.
Softer, more patient, fatherly – Theo cleared his throt and glanced up what he could see of the staircase. ”No problem.” Not yet anyway.
Trailing over to the shelves on the wall he’d stared at a thousand times – scratch that, the ones he’d helped put up when Frank had bought the place because ‘operational logic’ didn’t stretch to a ‘Fenglesnooter’ kit from Ikea – Theo stared at the photos scattered there. Sixteen years of family life – Hazel’s school photos stood proudly beside candid shots of the team who’d been fractured by the IED, their parents, the two of them astride their first bikes, Frank’s knee already sporting a band aid because he’d ridden his down the porch stairs instead of carrying it down. Kit, Frank and another guy, arms thrown around one another, grins bright enough to disguise the dark cloud that had to have been hovering on the horizon then.
Sweat pooled in his palms. Theo scrubbed them on his jeans. This wasn’t him bringing up some bullshit just because he was jealous. This was Hazel and keeping his daughter safe was one of his biggest priorities, one of theirs, because no matter if blood stretched that far or not, Kit was family and sometimes you had to offer that fuck you up to family too.
His smile twitched anxiously as Kit clattered down the stairs and into the room. Theo lifted his chin, trying not to look like a man about to climb up to the gallows. At the mention of Frank he cleared his throat, rubbed his hand over the hip of his jeans again before he forced himself to stop. ”Oh yeah, I know. I … uh, I left him just a little while ago … sure …” Now that was civilised, beers shared while the elephant in the room was dragged out into the light, screaming like the proverbial banshee. ”It was you I was looking for actually.” Obvious now. He winced, lifted the beer for a swallow. ”I don’t really know how to, you know, tiptoe into this … so I’m just gonna come right out with it. Hazel told me what happened out in the woods.” No accusations, not yet, although Kit wasn’t a dumb ass, never could’ve been to end up on a team with Frank, he had to know it was coming.
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KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 136
Age:
33
Occupation:
Manager at The Ruby Slipper
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Katja De La Cruz
Played by:
Julia
"You make my cold heart warm with a touch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:01:45 GMT
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Post by KIT CLARKE on Sept 15, 2022 16:18:38 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━ AS KIT STROLLED INTO THE KITCHEN AND STRAIGHT for the refrigerator, he wondered what Theo could’ve needed him for. The thing with Hazel hadn’t crossed his mind; he assumed it was some mundane, domestic task━or secret planning for some family event coming up. The only time he’d ever spoken to Freyja (before Theo’s funeral) had been about stealthily grabbing that photo she wanted to be recreated into a painting for Theo’s birthday present. Now, though, there was a kid and other family shit dropped into the mix━all of which included Kit. Weird, huh? Almost like he’d swapped out his real family for a new one━with intertwining members, obviously. A new family who accepted him for what he’d done and didn’t hold it over his head━granted, Kace wasn’t blood-related to any of them, so it was likely easier to forgive.
‘It was you I was looking for actually.’
Kit’s brows rose mid-swig, and he slowly lowered the bottle while his focus stayed on Theo, feeling the tension begin to build. What the fuck was this about? ‘Cause clearly his guess about furniture was wrong. Theo didn’t need his help with other shit, he was sure of that━the fact that they were gonna make about a billion babies was proof. Shit, was it about Hazel?
Finally, it came out, and Kit deflated for a second while the realization came over him. Ah, right, Hazel. He shoulda known. Kit swallowed his mouthful and nodded, leaning back into the counter. “Good, I’m glad she did, man. She promised she would.” Another sip, and then Kit felt the need to explain, “I get there faster ‘cause I think you guys scream for the rest of us, right?” He grinned, lifting a hand to tap his ear. “Like a dog whistle.” Kit joked, dropping his free hand to curl it around the counter's edge. He didn’t know he was in trouble, he figured he’d followed all the proper Uncle Protocols.
That was when he remembered the prison thing. Shit. Was this about them not contacting the police? Kit tried to start on damage control before Theo could get into it on his own, “I know we shoulda called the cops━trust me, man━but what was I gonna do? I can’t keep showin’ up around dead bodies with you Damascas.” He smiled again, confident that Theo would see the logic in his argument and let it go.
THEO DAMASCA | no notes.
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THEO DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 179
Status:
Married
Partner:
Freyja Damasca
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by THEO DAMASCA on Oct 4, 2022 19:36:15 GMT
He’d picked at a threadbare patch on Frank’s couch as his brother had talked him through what had happened on the night that he’d died. Oh he knew, he’d witnessed most of it from the other side of the invisible veil that had kept him trapped for months. Theo knew his brother had to get it all out though – the blank spot in his memory as he’d left his office and had walked into the woods, the scream (it only took a mention for his own throat to feel like it was raw with it), Kit finding him, the truth about his comrade that had appeared in the flash of blue eyes. Kit was something just as they were, but that didn’t define the guy any more than the fact that it was his own hand wrapped around the hilt of the knife when his brother had died. Frank’s life had been saved by the guy and when he could’ve left Hazel terrified out in the woods, he hadn’t. It all meant something and that was what was gonna tear at him after this. Until then he had to stay strong.
Still, Theo found himself practically squirming as Kit strolled into the room. Sweaty palms, nervous smile, tears of the apology that was bound to babble out after this already building behind his eyes. How the hell Kit couldn’t see it, he didn’t know. Freyja would’ve read him like a book, nudging him and his pending regret aside to get up in the face of a guy who had the better part of a foot on her – just like her far softer husband.
Trying to channel his wife a little, he didn’t dance around it, making small talk over beers until he chickened out. Theo dropped his hand after his first mouthful, his teeth raking over his lower lip to send the taste of beer blooming across his tongue again, along with that taste of old pennies that spelt regret as much as the blood he once felt spilling up into his throat from his torn lung. Kit’s brows were rising before he even got the full explanation out. Both hands went up, fingers peeling away from the bottle as though he had to prove he was rolling over and showing his belly. ”I’m not gonna swing at you for it … although I can’t promise what Freyja’s gonna do. You know my wife.” He knew how soft the spot at the heart of her was for her husband and their children. Pregnancy might’ve made Freyja all the fiercer, but it also brought the tears on faster.
Theo remembered the way Hazel had trailed into his office that day, tears welling in her eyes the way they had whenever she’d scraped her knee as a kid, or bumped her head, reaching for her parents, knowing that somehow they’d make everything feel better. This time the fear had been shared, the one thing he’d prayed his daughter hadn’t inherited from him – other than the nose, and that was non-negotiable, especially for a girl – and Hazel had been cursed with it. He nodded slowly, his gaze rising back to Kit’s as he dropped the bottle. ”It took her a few days. I think she thought we were gonna be made at you and her for keeping quiet about it all.” And he was, at Kit at least, just enough that he hadn’t been able to just let it slide. Kit probably would’ve come to him eventually to talk about it, but that seemed too far off.
A huff of amusement dropped out as he leaned back against Frank’s kitchen table – the one that held fond memories of more than just those hundreds of family dinners. Theo set the bottle down on his thigh, his thumb nail scratching against the label. ”We scream to get someone to see what’s happened,” Theo murmured. ”Just seems like we keep getting you caught up in it. I know Frank’s glad you were the one there when I …” He swallowed hard, gesturing back towards his chest like it needed much explanation. ”Not glad you had to see it, or that … he was just glad he had someone there who understood. I’m sure Hazel was glad to see a familiar face too.” He’d barely cracked a smile at the dog joke, although they’d shot plenty of them at Kit over the years.
Dark brows crept towards one another as the concern for Hazel rolled back in. Theo shifted, moving the bottle from his thigh to the table beside him. There was a reason why Freyja tended to be the disciplinarian in their house, him not being able to say a sharp word to Hazel without immediately apologising was probably one of them. ”I wanted to say thanks for it all, but … you know, next time I want you to call, ‘k? Hazel’s still a kid, she had her uncle there…” And Kit had more than earned that title over the years he’d been there for all three of them. ”… she should have had her parents there too though. I get you wanted to do what she asked, you just need to remember she’s only sixteen, she still doesn’t know what’s best for her.” And she’s not your kid to decide that for. The reminder was one too far and it stoppered up in Theo’s throat before he could even get the first word out, like enough had spilled. He lifted the bottle, grimacing slightly as he chugged back a half dozen gulps of beer, like he needed to wash away the taste of being mad about the whole thing.
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KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 136
Age:
33
Occupation:
Manager at The Ruby Slipper
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Katja De La Cruz
Played by:
Julia
"You make my cold heart warm with a touch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:01:45 GMT
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Post by KIT CLARKE on Oct 19, 2022 18:36:35 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━ NOT GONNA SWING AT HIM FOR IT? KIT PAUSED FOR a moment, though that extended once he found out what exactly it was Theo wanted to talk about. He didn’t often stay quiet for this long, but this topic seemed far more serious than Kit thought it would be. She’d told them in the end, right? So what was the problem?
Nodding slowly, Kit thought about saying ‘glad ya weren’t’ when Hazel’s worry was mentioned, but it seemed presumptive. Especially ‘cause his dog whistle joke was funny as fuck, and Theo didn’t seem to care about it. Something was definitely up, and it was definitely the prison thing.
“Yeah,” Kit nodded, “No sweat, man.” The police had called him to come when Theo died, not Frank’s supernatural siren, but it was just semantics━none of that shit mattered in the end. He’d been called to Frank the second time, when it wasn’t Theo, and then again with Hazel. Two would be more than enough to have them sniffing around, and that wasn’t the sorta stress he needed in his life.
Theo seemed a little restless. Pent up, like he wouldn’t just come out with it, and Kit frowned, trying to explain the cops thing again when he wasn’t sure it needed clarifying. Theo knew; he’d had to come to that conclusion on his own, right?
Kit took another swig of his beer, not nervous in the slightest, just wishing whatever it was could be over and done with already. He wasn’t a guy that got all clammy and awkward around other dudes━not like Theo, obviously━and this wasn’t any exception. But they were family, and that mattered to Kit. His wasn’t anything like Theo’s, and he felt so fuckin’ happy that they’d accepted him into it.
He was about to ask, but Theo finally came forward with it. Oh, shit, Theo was trynna tell him off, huh? He grinned lightly at the mention of being Hazel’s uncle━she called him Uncle Kit, which was always nice, but somehow it was different coming from Theo. That was his kid, and he was acknowledging Kit’s position in their family.
But the rest of it wasn’t nothin’ to smile over.
It wasn’t bad, he supposed. Probably better comin’ from Theo than Freyja, like he’d said, ‘cause Kit had a feeling she’d go all Crazy Pregnant Lady on him.
The edges of his lips shifted into a frown, but Kit remained lazily reclined against the counter’s edge, sipping his beer once before he responded. He was gonna come up with an excuse, some sorta shot back, about how sixteen wasn’t that much of a kid, but what was he gonna say? ‘Oh, I was sixteen when I got a girl knocked up, so…’ he was seventeen, technically, but what did that prove? And his own parents? It would only justify Theo’s point.
“Look, man,” He puffed, free hand curling against the counter, shifting to lean to one side. “I know you’ve all accepted me into the family over the last coupla years━and I appreciate that━but I know I ain’t blood, and I get that there’s a difference. Maybe Frank would’ve had the same dilemma━but anyway, she’s not my kid; I don’t make choices for ‘er. I ain’t a banshee, neither, so I don’t really know how that shit works. I figured she was old enough to have some responsibility, y’know? That was her shit, and not really my business, so I wanted to give ‘er that freedom to come forward. If she didn’t, I woulda let you know.” Kit sipped his beer again, blue eyes staying level with Theo’s face. He didn’t feel the need to explain himself like some trembling kid getting told off by his dad, but they could talk about this like adults.
“Kace and I got into a lotta shit when we were younger, and some of it I wouldn’t even tell my folks today. They weren’t that kind, though. Maybe my dad, but still━Hazel tells you guys everythin’. It seemed like her thing to share when she felt comfortable, and takin’ away that trust and freedom when I made a promise felt wrong. I never told anybody what I was, and I woulda been pissed if, like, Katja took that shit away from me.” But he was already an adult on his own by then, which he figured was Theo’s entire argument. “But, like I said, I woulda come to you if she hadn’t. I get it.” Sighing lightly, Kit took another swig.
“That all you stopped by for? Got any more grievances to air?” He asked, raising his brows lightly, along with a small smile to show he was only jesting. It didn’t matter to him either way, and he wasn’t kicking Theo out, but he’d rather get through it if there was anything else buggin’ Theo. Saved Kit from standin’ there while the guy shook like a leaf.
THEO DAMASCA | no notes.
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THEO DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 179
Status:
Married
Partner:
Freyja Damasca
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by THEO DAMASCA on Nov 6, 2022 17:18:05 GMT
No sweat? Theo had almost laughed at that one, his throat aching, and not from the scream for once. There was a little pool of it gathering at the base of his spine, nerves pumping it out of his pores in a way Kit coulda probably smelt with that bloodhound nose of his. Lifting his hand, he pressed it to his hip, fingers working into that spot nervously, like they could melt it all away. This was a guy who’d changed Hazel’s diapers, who would’ve thrown himself between Hazel and whatever might’ve killed the person out in the woods without hesitation. He shouldn’t have been punished for that but in the dad rule book there was that line about keeping things from parents and he had to stick by it, didn’t he?
Fumbling through parenthood hadn’t been easy – not that Theo ever imagined it was for people. Coming back from the dead at the tail end of Freyja’s pregnancy, trying to cram in all the hands on experience possible before Hazel started squirming her way free in the middle of the night. There’d been panic then, that breathless rush to the hospital with Freyja clinging onto him like that grip would stop him from having to deliver their little girl on the side of the road, cursing the entire time with that mouth he loved. In the weeks after he’d been terrified that somehow he was gonna screw this new little life up – the edge had come off of it over the years, but even now Theo wasn’t sure if he was stumbling into some sort of minefield here. Freyja wouldn’t have hesitated, without a blink she’d have charged right out into it. Kit wouldn’t have the opportunity to stand there and frown, she’d have been nose to nose with him, drawing out those lines that Kit wasn’t to cross.
He was scratching them out between the two of them as weakly as his thumb nail worked at the label on the beer, leaving them still hair thin and invisible enough that Kit was just standing there, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop somewhere. Sucking in a breath, Theo tried to do that, cutting the laces and blurting. Hazel eyes rolled up to Kit’s face as he spoke, his brows starting to nod as the guy grinned - which bit had that been about? He squared his shoulders, trying to puff himself up, but doing that in front of a trained soldier seemed ridiculous.
There, a frown, better, maybe. Nope, that just had him feeling shitty for doing it in the first place. The apology that wanted to come stuck. Theo tried to blink it back, wash it away as he broke off and started to chug his beer. It burned in his eyes like tears – were they actually tears? Fuck. He wasn’t doing that. Clearing his throat, he knuckled under his nose, sniffing it all back like the foam had just burned its way up into his sinuses. Theo huffed out a breath, eyes rolling up to Kit. ”I would’ve expected him to do the same. I know kids don’t always wanna go to their parents over things, but this … this was big.” And it had broken his heart to see how deep the scars were already running for Hazel. Tears burning tracks down her cheeks, that fear he knew was still lingering.
Mouth pinched, Theo nodded before his head dropped, his eyes sliding from Kit’s face, although he could still feel the pressure of Kit’s gaze on him. Fuck. He’d just been a good uncle, in ways that hadn’t appeared in the black and white, just in the shades of grey running from his mouth now. ”You were being the uncle she needed. Fuck.” The laughter that choked out into his palm as he scrubbed it over his face again. Theo brought his other hand up, ground both heels of his palms into his eyes before he shoved his hands back into his hair. ”You are family and that makes it your business too, I’m not about to start carving all of this up.” He swirled his fingers in the air, indicating the house, how Frank chose to live his life now. Most of it wasn’t his to life, it was just that intersection of the Venn diagram of the Damasca twins’ existence that he had to focus on. Kit was in that intersection, and would be for life now, whether or not he occupied the same spot that whole time. You didn’t get to run away easy when you had those sorts of ties.
Kit hadn’t needed those lines to be drawn, not in the way he’d expected. He knew what he’d intended to do and in all accounts it hadn’t been bad, not exactly right, but … not done for any sort of malevolence. The mental image of the way Hazel had crept into his office remained in the back of his mind, like an after image from a flash. His heart had broken for her, knowing that hers was already shattered into those bright little pieces that felt like they’d never be whole again. He’d had more than a decade to start scooping his into some recognisable pattern before he’d run into Freyja on campus, but hers had been the hands that had helped sort it into this bright shining picture that stretched from one side of his life to the other.
Their hands were usually on everything like this together, but this had been his lecture to give. Theo’s mouth curled into a tight line as he scooped the beer bottle back up. He stared at the label for a moment, considering taking downing the whole thing while Kit explained his own childhood – folks who weren’t there as much as they maybe should’ve been. ”I appreciate hearing it,” Theo said hoarsely. He took a swig from his bottle, the corners of his mouth tipping up faintly. ”She came to me when she was ready to, cried it all out. Seeing your kid like that … it hurts you as much as it does them. I always prayed she was gonna take after her mom, like that was gonna be easier. It’s a lot to handle when you’re a kid and all of that … that stuff is in your face. I’m glad she had you there for it, that she wasn’t on her own. I guess the whistle comes in handy.” He pursed his lips like he was gonna mime it out but stopped himself.
His brows furrowed as he fell back into that pit of rue over how it had turned out. He would’ve taken remodelling the kitchen a half dozen times over instead of trying to find ways to keep his daughter safe from the things leaving bodies scattered like leaves all over town. At Kit’s question, Theo snorted, shaking his head slowly. ”Nothing more from me, although, I’d watch out for Freyja for a while. I volunteered for lecture duty, but I maybe wouldn’t sit next to her at dinner for a while.” He raked his teeth over his lower lip, hesitating for just a moment before he downed the rest of his beer. Slowly Theo got to his feet, tossing the empty in the recycling before he eyed Kit again. ”I meant what I said, you’re a good uncle, Hazel’s lucky to have you around. Thanks for … you know … not getting too pissed about this. We’ll see you Sunday” He raised a hand, stepping back slowly before he turned and headed for the door. The sweat was still sticky at the bottom of his back, but at least he wasn’t dripping with it.
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