savetheearth

K.

[And he's just chilling in his room with Tuala when his dad arrives.]

[Hjalti's reached somewhere just over 5'4" by this point, but he's still wearing his old motorcycle jacket - actually he's been able to keep most of his upper-body clothing, since the biggest changes seem to be happening to his legs and a slight bit of his arms, though he has lost a couple of inches or so in the torso. At least he can salvage half of his wardrobe. The only thing he's carrying when he walks in is his helmet, which he drops on the first open spot available that's not the floor or the bed, and looks at his son.]

So, what happened?

Skype call, like I said. I was gonna introduce Ariel to them over Skype but it didn't get that far. They didn't want to meet her, Trish started telling Gran I was going to end up like "well, you know", I snapped and told them I knew the truth about you and that I knew why Mom never gave me a middle name and what it should have been.

They didn't like that.

Edited 2014-07-15 21:33 (UTC)

Trish didn't choke on the spot, did she? That'd be poetic.

[He's neutral on a couple, distrustful on most, and downright pissed off at a few, but Trish always holds a special place in his heart.]

[Hjalti will sit down wherever there's room, arms braced on his legs and hands clasped between his knees.]

What'd they say? Did they try to tell you all of that was wrong?

They tried, but I went off on them and hung up before they got very far, though Trish turned a really stunning shade of red when I told her that my name wasn't Killian whatever middle name they were using for effect Ryan. [He smiles, bitter] Don't think they even remembered your name, so me saying "Hjaltason" was kind of a shocker.

They didn't even remember my name? [He's honestly surprised at that, considering he was around for over a year and he was the one person the collective family hated most that was still alive. But, at the same time, it's really not that surprising to him, because if anyone could will themselves to erase most memory of someone they hated, it was probably the Ryans.] "Hjaltason" doesn't sound anything like the English and Irish names they go for, so... yeah, it'd probably be a shocker.

[He's going to pause here, though, because the pieces are all falling into place.]

You thinking of doing it?

Not thinking. I'm going to. Not sure about going from Ryan to Thorsson, though that's possible, but...fuck, it's my name. I don't have a middle name, legally, and I'm pretty sure I know why and...Mom's gone but I think she'd like it if I did this.

[Killian might be concerned when Hjalti remains quiet for a few moments, looking down. But when he finally does look up, there's... well, something in his eyes, not a lot, he's good at hiding his feelings, but it's there.]

I can't speak for her, but... I would.

[And Killian smiles a little when he realizes it. He won't point it out, though]

Like I told Thorir, you guys feel more like family now then the Ryans did when Mom and I left them last year. Maybe it's got something to do with the numbers but...honestly I think you guys are just better.

[Meaning you too, Hjalti.]

Even if you prank me with cell phones.

[He chuckles a little at the reminder.] Couldn't let a good idea go to waste, now could I?

[He pauses for a moment again, but only a moment this time.]

We're not perfect, but... we're Thorssons. You have to do something they really hate to get rid of them.

So I'm learning. The Ryans woulda just let me run off.

So you realize how much I wanted to marry your mother in spite of the fact that they were like that, don't you.

[Theirs was true love - and it always will be.]

You're an adult - if you want to do this, I won't try to talk you out of it. All I'm going to say is just make sure that you want this and not just to piss them off.

[He nods. Yeah, he gets that]

I do. Yeah, okay, we're still figuring each other out and stuff and I'm still not sure how to handle having an actual dad around but...one, I think this is what Mom would want and two...I dunno, maybe it's stupid but it feels like there was this part of me that was missing for eighteen years and I found it and I can fix it, getting a middle name.

If you really want to do it, we can look it up. I know you have to sign some papers and pay a fee.

[Which he'll pay. No arguing, kid.]

But... You want to get out of here for a little? Maybe get something to eat, or something like that.

I really want to. I gave it a day to see if cooling off would change it but it just feels right.

[He nods]

Dude, it's food. Have I ever turned down food? Freakin' Kíli, I have no idea how he wasn't a big as an ox but man did that guy eat.

I think it was just a dwarf thing. I, uh.

[He's standing again, reaching for his helmet, a tad... contrite.]

I think it's happening to me, too, my grocery bills started skyrocketing a couple days ago.

...so we're gonna pray that it doesn't happen to Thorir, yeah? Because Fil and I already eat a ton.

At this point it's probably inevitable. Who knows how he's going to get it, but if the rest of us did, it'll show up for him at some point. But with all the walking and fighting we did, it's really not that much of a surprise.

[What is more of a surprise is...]

...Came with me really wanting meat, though.

[He cracks up at that]

Seriously? Like steak and stuff?

[Hjalti sighs at that, because he's pretty sure Killian is never going to let him live this down.] Steaks, sausage, burgers, chicken, all of it. And a few things I've been living on for years suddenly taste like sawdust.

[He liked chickpeas, damnit.]

[Yep, he's howling with laughter now]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know this has to suck but you were bitching at me for the red meat just last week! Maybe mix what you used to eat with the stuff you're craving now?

[He's just gonna reach over and cuff Killian on the shoulder, not hard - well, not very hard. It's a slightly unusual reaction but it's growing more familiar every day.]

That's not it, seems like it's a complete diet change. Once I got over being sick from eating a burger for the first time in a decade, everything just kind of fell out that way. I still can eat vegetables and other things like that, but that's way down the priority list now.

So where d'you wanna go?

Seriously? I haven't noticed anything weird about my diet...then again my default foods are pizza and burgers so really I can't judge.

[Weird for Hjalti, but more or less normal for Killian. He grins]

My favorite burger place, now that you'll actually eat the damn burgers!

Edited 2014-07-16 00:56 (UTC)

The only default diet worse than yours is Liam's. I swear that boy is going to kill himself through malnutrition sooner rather than later.

[He digs the spare helmet out of the storage compartment on the motorcycle, handing it over to Killian before putting his on.]

All right, I'll make you happy and give this place a shot. Can't be worse than the one I tried yesterday, I think they were making their burgers out of tile grout.

[He takes it and straps it on]

At least I eat all the food groups! I told you about having to drag his ass to the ER during those blackouts, yeah?

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