Chapter Text
Nathan is going through his things. He has been living with his father the past few most, because he is still adjusting to his condition (his Trouble). He really didn't think much about the stuff he took with him. But on this December day in 2007, he's bored. So he is once again going through his movie collection. He notices a grey clored DVD cover that has text that isn't in English. It makes him curious, so he picks it up to check it out better. Tuntematon sotilas-Unknown soldier. Nathan looks at the back cover. It's a WWII movie from Finland with English subtitles. Made in the 1950s and almost 3 hours long. That would make the evening go nicely. He briefly wonders where he might have gotten it, probably from some fleamarket. He shrugs at his thoughts, he has it now and he is bored. And it would be nice to hear some Finnish again.
He leaves his room and goes to the living room. He's wondering where Garland has put the DVD-player again. He hardly ever uses it, although it has gotten more use during Nathan's 'visit'. It's easy to watch movies, without having to think about what he isn't feeling, how he should feel about things. He's not ready to live alone again quite yet, sometimes living with your parent as an adult can be really exhausting.
He found the DVD-player and is setting it up again. Garland comes home just when he has gotten everything done and the movie's menu screen is up.
"What's this?"
"I'm watching a movie. A Finnish war film."
"Again? Maybe you should do something besides watch movies during your free time.
Nathan glares at Garland. "I know what I'm doing."
"You shouldn't become passive like this, Nathan."
Nathan grits his teeth. "I'm not becoming passive. It's just not always safe for me to walk in the snow since I can't feel anything. Like my feet.
Garland just grunts, accepting Nathan's words without liking them.
"So, what are you watching today?"
Nathan lifts up the DVD cover. "Finnish war movie. I don't remember where I got it, but it seems interesting."
"It's in Finnish?"
"Yeah, with English subtitles."
"That's too fancy."
"Subtitles? You can read, it shouldn't be a problem." Nathan grins. "I think it will be interesting to hear some Finnish."
"Oh, so you speak it, then?"
"No, but still."
As they have been talking Nathan has finished setting everything up and goes to the kitchen to get the popcorn and something to drink. When he comes back in a few minutes (he had to wait for the popcorn cool down so that he won't burn his mouth), Garland has settled on the couch.
Garland shrugs, "It could be nice to get to know my heritage. And war is always interesting."
Nathan smiles, puts the popcorn on the table, give Garland his beer and goes back to the kitchen to get a new one. When he gets back, he sits nearer to the center of the couch than usual, so that the distance between him and... his father is not that much. He starts the DVD.
He watch the movie almost completely quietly, occasionally laughing and living with the movie. For the first time in a long time Nathan feels connected to his father. It's nice.
**
Watching movies doesn't become a habit between them, but sometimes Nathan hears Garland use a quote from Tuntematon sotilas and it always makes him remember that day in December. It wasn't always bad between them.