savetheearth | Brotherly Bonding

Who: Thorir and Hjalti
What: Brotherly talking, probably some punching, other stuff
Where: The main Thorsson store and home
Warnings: Maybe some fists flying? Probably some cursing. They're dwarves, after all.

His ribs were still a little tender after the attack by the mob goons the previous month, but Hjalti had been back at work for over a week - and he hadn't told his family about that yet, knowing they'd want him to get more rest and let the bones knit more, but Hjalti had been going out of his skull with boredom. His boss had restricted him to light duty, though, basically manning the counter and only doing simple repairs, but he'd come to the conclusion over the past couple of days that that might only be hurting him, not helping. He hadn't really been close with any of his coworkers, he was too new and he wasn't really social, but he'd been accepted and respected well enough, which was all he asked for. But the double set of issues that came with being Numbered and having a ridiculously complicated family life... he hadn't asked for either situation, but putting them together meant he'd missed a relatively astonishing amount of work since being hired in February. Some of his coworkers didn't much care, but some were envious and annoyed at the situation, and there were a couple that seemed to outright hate him now that his Numbered status was very, very obvious. (Granted, coming to work armed every day probably didn't help that one.)

Hjalti's normal mode of operation in the past had just been to pick up and move on, but that was off the table now - Killian was here, Catherine was here, Thorir was here. Even as much of a mess as being Numbered was, he wasn't about to leave until the entire family did; he'd spent too much time away from them as it was. So he'd called Thorir, asked if he could come over, and at the appointed time pulled up on his bike in front of the smithy behind the store. Hopefully his brother would have some idea of what he could do, or how to proceed with his coworkers.

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Thorir is in the smithy and looks up when Hjalti enters, currently polishing a piece (it's a completely different level of quality and skill now than only a few months ago - strange, to think that Thorin would give him positive things besides fighting, but this is one.

He halts his action at the sight of his brother and lays sword and sandpaper down at his side to get up and greet Hjalti. "What brings you here? You didn't say."

"Different things. You want to step outside? I need a cigarette." Not even cracked ribs will stop him from smoking, much as Thorir would like him to. That's one thing on which he's never going to agree with his older brother.

But whether Thorir agrees or not, he can at least start explaining as he searches the pockets of his jeans for his cigarettes. "It's work - things are getting more and more uncomfortable there lately."

"How so?" He'll venture a guess and say that Hjalti visibly being numbered is a part of the issue, but usually you'll get a fuller picture if you just ask. "And give me a moment."

He has to secure the fire first, but that will only take a minute and he's moving to do so as he speaks.

Having been raised around the stuff, Hjalti does not protest the proper safety measures for the smithy. He'll get out a cigarette while waiting for his brother, but he only lights it once they step outside.

After taking a very long breath of the smoke, he leans back against the wall and starts elaborating. "Feels like a combination of everything - the Numbered crap and all the stuff we're dealing with as a family. Dan's sympathetic and doesn't seem to care about the Pulses as long as I can do my job, but even before we shrunk I was missing work for one reason or another." Most of which were Killian, let's be honest here. Especially when he ran away. It's good having a basically nice boss, but obviously they're not the only two people that work in the shop. "And now a couple of them are wary 'cause of the Numbered stuff, one of them outright hates me, and getting attacked last month didn't do me any favors. Fucking mafia." He takes another pull off the cigarette, definitely frowning. "Normally I'd just pick up and move, but you'd kill me if I tried that again."

"Only if Eydís didn't find you first, otherwise I'd have to revive you to accomplish that. And even then Killian might call first dibs." He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back against the wall of the house, frowning at world in general.

"You'll have to quit?"

"General 'you.' One of you would rip my spine out." It's just a certainty with this family, after all.

Hjalti continues to work on his cigarettes as they talk, but it's clear his mind is on other things than the nicotine rush. "Not yet, and I don't think Dan's going to fire me. It's not like they could say I was missing work for bad reasons after the attack, and I could take them to court if they tried, sue their asses for discrimination or worker cruelty or something. But I don't think it's gonna get any better. Bill and Greg are already pissed that I'm not doing full repairs even though I've only been back a week and my ribs are still painful."

There is a long pause. Thorir could offer Hjalti a position in the store anytime, but he doubts that his brother would accept that - even with the company not in their parents' hands anymore, and... "Mother and father are looking at houses in Iceland now." It would be a nonsequitur if it wasn't so horribly related. "It seems that they're not planning on coming back to Locke." He rubs his face, and for the first time really wishes that he had an unhealthy habit of the smoking variety. It feels like he could really need it now. "We've been talking about Jón and Albin enrolling in a school there, too, so they'd be tied to Iceland because of their grandsons."

They'll be furious if they figure out that Hjalti is back in the family business in some shape or form, but he finds that he doesn't mind at all, that he could care less if things blow up because of it.

Just ask, Thor. He can quite easily get you started on it.

But Hjalti gives his brother a... sideways look at that, sort of half-skeptical and half-disbelieving. He can read between the lines there; it's not exactly hard to see where that's leading. "Do they even know I'm here yet?" He knows they know about Killian, he remembers that blowup well, but he hasn't bothered to find out if they know he's returned.

"Not yet." He figured that it would keep the balance more easily, and there were so many things going on already, he doubted that it would be good for the situation on either side, especially since the thought of Albin and Jón moving in with their grandparents on this side was a thought that was being had...

But he's found that he just doesn't care anymore if things blow up. They will, anyway, and it's not him who is being unreasonable, plus if his parents have an issue with their son affect their relationship with another son's children? There is much more family on Iceland that his sons can move in with. It's a dance on eggshells that he's not willing to perform anymore.

"There was no reason to tell them as long as you had no direct connection to the household or company."

"So you're saying you want me to have one now. If I want it." Those lines are so big you can pick up the betweens with a sky crane, Thorir. Not that Hjalti's exactly objecting - he'd still like to keep his job as a mechanic, he truly enjoys working on engines and finds a kind of comfort and solace in that, but at least he knows that Thorir will welcome him if he wants to return home more immediately. Even if he doesn't take him up on the offer, it's on the table, and Hjalti knows better than to think that Thorir will take it back.

"...Good to know that."

"Exactly that." He'll reach over to squeeze Hjalti's shoulder briefly, a brief, small stand-in for a larger gesture. "Whenever you want, to whatever extent.

I've spoken to Mardís and Inger, and there is no issue with it on their sides, either." He can't imagine either of the nephews minding in the first place, and Mikael isn't as involved as the direct family (he'll still be impacted by a blow-up, as will the children, but Thorir fully expects and intends to take the brunt of it) - plus he's fairly sure that Inger checked with him, she took long enough to consider it.

Hjalti doesn't answer for a minute, smoking the cigarette further down in silence for the next several moments. This will need some consideration, but at least he has an option open to him, and that alone makes him feel like unsure and unhappy about the situation. And really, it's not an option he hates at all.

"You may regret that, you know. It's been a couple of decades, who knows how much of this crap I remember how to do."

"I'll teach you again... and you might remember the way that Killian did." Not a memory at all. A pulse.

Some of them are useful.

Brotherly Bonding

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