blood like lemonade

In and out, in and out. Raynor breathed in and out as he focused. It had only been two months since Halvor died, it could take time for his ghost to come to Raynor when summoned. Or he could face a reality that perhaps Halvor didn’t want to be summoned. 

He tried not to think like that. He had been an inconsolable mess ever since he felt his love’s death, even more so after each resurrection attempt failed.

He finally gave up with a frustrated groan, a wall nearby the victim of his frustration with a punch to it. Only vaguely aware of the presence on someone nearby, he dusted his hand off and leaned against the wall.

    curiously, and with intention, gunnar was watching his cousin attempt, unsuccessfully, to summon someone from the dead. unbeknownst to his cousin, gunnar had been watching from the start. it was pathetic to watch, and gunnar almost felt sad for raynor, almost. 

   stepping out of the shadows after raynor seemed to accept his defeat, gunnar cleared his throat, hoping to alert his cousin to his presence. “hello, cousin.” the dark haired boy pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lighted it in one swift motion before taking a long drag. “saw your attempts there, so frustrating isn’t it? failing.” 

    licking his lips, gunnar thought carefully about his next words. “you know, bringing him back from the dead won’t do anything. you’re miserable now and you’ll be miserable with a dead boyfriend...” he paused, taking a moment to wonder how it turned out that basically everyone in his family liked boys except him...was he missing something? he quickly shook the thoughts from his head. 

to say daniel was caught off guard by his older brother’s reaction would be an understatement, it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him as he struggled to comprehend what gunnar was saying. he wasn’t sure if his brother had ever shown this level of care towards him, and it was quite honestly, concerning. “gunnar relax, it was just an accident,” he spoke slowly, gently chewing at his lip as he looked at the other male. “i don’t suppose you’d have one ready to go?” he joked, a playful jab at his brother’s lifestyle, 

“it’s not too noticeable, is it?” daniel asked, his tone entirely too positive, as he held out hope that his self-inflected injury wasn’t that bad. but, based on the level of pain and his genuine bad luck, something told him it was incredibly visible. “okay-okay, here’s a different question- any suggestions on how i can cover it up?”