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Feb. 23rd, 1998 05:52 pmIt's late at night. The corridors aren't quiet; they're full of men and women restlessly trying to sleep in their quarters. Bossie should be one of them. But instead he slips barefoot down the hallway to Carver's room, where he knocks.
"Hey, man, you up?"
"Hey, man, you up?"
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Date: 2025-03-08 12:20 am (UTC)He could have been so much worse, he could have been one of those kids who was so bad off the Army wouldn't even have wanted him. Thank God he was never that bad or he never would have escaped Tennessee.
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Date: 2025-03-08 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-08 01:33 am (UTC)"What was yours like? Did you ever know him?"
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Date: 2025-03-08 01:51 am (UTC)Part of him wants to wave it off. Change the conversation. But that wouldn't really be fair, would it? Not after Bossie told the truth about his own father, even if only in fragments.
Carver sighs, returning to his cooking.
"Dunno what he was like sober. I only met him the one time, when I was fifteen. He showed up with my mom when she was on leave. Just showed up on our porch when I came back from school. They were both sitting there, drunk off their asses."
He shakes his head.
"His name was Brandon, too. Maybe I look like him, I don't know. He told me to get him another beer and I did. That was all he said to me."
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Date: 2025-03-08 02:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-08 02:18 am (UTC)What? Loved him?
He returns to the pancakes and the sausages, sliding a few onto Bossie's plate. "Some people shouldn't be parents," he murmurs. "Never knew what I was supposed to say to my mom. She sent money and she wasn't an asshole most of the time when she showed up, but."
Yeah.
"She was a soldier," he adds softly. "Had me when she was seventeen and already enlisted. She went back in. Did OSC, even. Thought we'd have something to talk about if I enlisted, too."
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Date: 2025-03-08 02:30 am (UTC)"I get that," he says softly. "I do. If going to the coal mines or whatever would've given me an in with my dad? I would've done it. But he was a loser. He didn't do anything. Nothing was going to make him make sense to me. So I ran to the Army."
He reaches out, clasps Carver's shoulder. "I think your mom would be proud of who you are now."
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Date: 2025-03-08 02:49 am (UTC)"I'm glad you're here," he replies gently. "Eating my pancakes. I don't know about my mom. Guess I never understood her, not really. But this? This is good."
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Date: 2025-03-08 02:53 am (UTC)He eats his pancakes. He moans, even, to have such goodness in his mouth. "Never stop cooking for us, Carve."
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Date: 2025-03-08 03:24 am (UTC)This feels good, he realizes. This feels human.
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Date: 2025-03-08 03:57 am (UTC)And there is a meal here, pancakes and bacon and eggs. He lifts his fork in salute.
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Date: 2025-03-08 04:09 am (UTC)Somehow, they'll figure this out.
"Least the food is good, yeah?"
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Date: 2025-03-08 06:28 pm (UTC)He's okay as long as he has his brothers with him. As long as he has Carver here.
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Date: 2025-03-08 10:17 pm (UTC)“I won’t always be like this,” he murmurs. “I’m really trying, kid.”
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Date: 2025-03-08 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-08 11:10 pm (UTC)“Wish we didn’t have to be on all the time,” he admits. “But we have to be. There’s no relief. We fuck up, then bad shit happens.”
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Date: 2025-03-08 11:13 pm (UTC)"I got your back. You slip up, I'll catch you. We've all got you, Carve. Don't worry."
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Date: 2025-03-09 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-09 12:27 am (UTC)"What kind of brother would I be if I didn't return the favor? You're mine, you know. I take care of what's mine."
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Date: 2025-03-09 12:40 am (UTC)They don't touch each other much, Carver's realized. Not unless they're hurting. Maybe there's a better way.
"I gotta tend to the sausages," he murmurs. "Or they're gonna burn. Eat your pancakes."
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Date: 2025-03-09 12:44 am (UTC)"Yessir," he says with a little smile. "I'm not gonna let it get cold."
That would insult the chef, wouldn't it? And he won't do that. He's getting special treatment and it is, he has to admit, inflating his ego a little bit.
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Date: 2025-03-09 12:55 am (UTC)He returns to the food, though. He has a job to do.
"How're the others doing?" Carver murmurs. "I know you pay attention."
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Date: 2025-03-09 12:58 am (UTC)"They're okay. Austin's the only one I worry about right now. ...And you. I'm sorry but I do...worry about you."
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Date: 2025-03-09 01:06 am (UTC)"I know," Carver admits, glancing at Bossie. "I know. I don't like making people worry."
But he is. He'd be doing the same in their shoes.
"How's Austin now?"
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Date: 2025-03-09 01:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
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