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Re: Gear Up and Buckle Down [message #2036 is a reply to message #2035] Sun, 29 July 2012 11:22 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Tikatu is currently offline  Tikatu
Messages: 813
Registered: April 2012
Location: South Carolina
Karma:
Field Commander
Ubiquitous one
Sunday 01 April. 9.00am. Tracy Island.

The quiet clank of the washer-dryer, working its magic on some dirty clothes, and the light tapping of a well-worn high-top sneaker on the hard floor were the only sounds in the cliff house laundry room. Dominic leant back against another of the machines, his arms folded and head down, hair falling across his face. The relative quiet and the rhythmic sounds of the tapping and the machine were helping to lull him into a daze, and he didn't fight it. Perhaps it was what he needed.

So it was the first of April once again. He remembered the excitement of practical jokes in his youth, hanging out with his friends and trying to catch each other out in the most unique way possible. Now, however, that enthusiasm had gone, for a particularly poignant reason. It had become a sombre day, on which the twenty-seven year old felt like he was seventy-seven. Sometimes he wished it would just go away.

Quiet was something he now always sought on this day, and he had been particularly glad when Kyrano, on seeing his dampened spirits in sharp contrast to the exuberance of the child he was trailing after, had kindly taken Joshua off his hands, promising the little blond a lesson in cookery. Of course, the two-year-old had no idea what Kyrano had said, but he was happy enough to go off with the wizened, intriguing man, and Dominic had taken the time to get some of his mound of washing done, and to think for a little while.

He was caught off-guard, however, by a soft 'hello', and he jumped sharply, letting out an embarrassingly un-manly squeak. He felt a flush creep into his face as Nikki placed a basket of her own washing on one of the counters, and he gave her a wan smile and a quiet 'hello' back.

The young woman began to sort out her laundry, and she glanced over him, concerned. He seemed to have visibly deflated, with his shoulders slumped and his arms tucked in. Something was up.

"Are you okay, Dom?" She asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm all right."

"You look very down-in-the-dumps for a guy who's 'all right'," Nikki said with a slight grin. Men. If they weren't saying too much -- Alan sprang to mind -- they weren't saying enough.

"It's nothin'. I'm fine, honest." He tried to smile, but it didn't quite come out right. It felt wrong, bent out of shape, as if he had been out of practice for a while, even though he hadn't.

"Come on, Dom. We're friends, right? Friends help each other, right? Tell me."

They had indeed become fast friends, and Dominic sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides, fingers drumming lightly on the machine behind him. He took in the compassion evident in the woman, his friend, before him, and he caved. He always seemed to, when it came to anyone who showed even a little bit of concern.

"It's the sixth anniversary of my mother's death, today," he said quietly.

Nikki had perhaps not been expecting such a revelation, but she took it in her stride if she hadn't, and her face softened into compassion.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dom."

He waved it off, and shook his head. It really wasn't that big of a deal; at least, not as big as it had been before.

"It's okay. I'm just a bit down right now. I'll bounce back in a few hours, I expect. It's just hard sometimes when I think about it." He sighed as memories floated back in of her last few years of illness. "She was only forty-nine. She died of lung cancer."

"I'm sorry," Nikki said again.

She didn't seem to know what else to say, and there wasn't much. He had been in her position many times before, so he knew how tough it was.

His washer-dryer stopped clanking, sounding the end of the cycle, and he gave her a small smile before beginning to cross the room to unload the clothing. He stopped as Nikki called him, and he found himself enveloped in a swift, comforting hug. Nikki grinned as she went back to her own washing, and he smiled back.

"Thanks, Nik," he said, "I think I needed that."

He transferred the clothing into his laundry basket and nodded his goodbye, heading up to his apartment to do some ironing. It seemed, now, that some of the gloom had lifted, and he felt considerably lighter as he ascended in the lift. The smile playing on his lips felt natural, now, and the memories that came back were much, much happier.

Post by ArtisticRainey on 26/01/2005

Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!

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