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[This snippet follows the ending of “Prove Your Immortality to Me…”]
Hannes looked over to the male who sat next to him, he was very quiet and was bitterly staring out the window as tears rolled down his cheeks, Hannes quietly sighed and opened his backpack that was now tucked between his legs,
He rummaged through it until finally pulling out a pair of gloves of which he quickly put on, he then pulled out 32 oz bottle filled with chilled water and three granola bars of three different flavors,
He turned his attention to his new friend who sat next to him, gently he tapped on his shoulder to get his attention,
He watched as Joakim wiped away his tears and looked over to him with a drained look, eyes puffy from crying, and cheeks stained a soft pink,
“You’re probably starving, you should eat something…” Hannes suggests as he hands the food items to Joakim,
Joakim’s eyes widen and he takes them with shaky hands, his stomach growls greedily and he blushes in embarrassment,
“Eat and drink slowly ok…? Don’t want you throwing up…” Hannes suggests,
And Joakim quietly nods, and takes small sips of the water as well at small bites of the granola bars,
After about four hours, Joakim had steadily finished his food and he had to admit that he did feel significantly better,
Hannes helped him to throw out the trash in his backpack since there was no other place for it and Joakim looked over to Hannes, with a quiet meek voice he speaks, “…Th-Thank you…”
It’s the first words he’s ever spoken to another human being in a while, and he deeply means it, as not many people in his life have been kind to him,
Hannes can see tears well up in his eyes again and he pulls him in for a deep hug, he can tell that Joakim needs it,
And Joakim reciprocates the hug, biting back a bitter cry that threatens to rear its ugly head out…
[This snippet is a continuation of the above snippet but with a bit of fast-forwarding, Joakim has been introduced to the place where he will be living, it is Pär’s home turned HQ, it is extremely secure so there’s no fear of intruders ever coming anywhere near to it. Hannes guides Joakim to his room and he shows him that they’ve basically set it up for him with everything he’ll need, as well as new pairs of clothes and shoes! Joakim thanks Hannes for everything but seems to hesitate, he looks like he wants to ask him something so Hannes stays behind to hear him out… ]
“…I-…” Joakim pauses briefly, seeming to consider his words wisely, “…Can I ask you something, Hannes?” he asks the taller male,
Hannes nods, “Yeah, anything… what’s on your mind?”
Joakim swallows and looks down to the ground before he speaks again, “…The uh, the other two guys, the blonde and brunet… are they always like that?” he asks, hoping that he gets the hint of what he means,
And Hannes does, he knows that Joakim is referring to how Chris and Tommy acted towards him when they first met, those two knuckleheads sometimes seem to rarely think before they act, Hannes would have to have a talk with them about that,
“Oh, you mean Chris and Tommy? No, not always… but between you and me? They have only one brain cell and Pär is usually the one holding it most of the time…” Hannes explains, with a hint of amusement in his voice,
Joakim is looking up at Hannes and what he told him seems to crack a smile on his lips, he makes a half-snort laugh before eventually bursting out in a small fit of laughter,
Hannes’ eyes fly open wide at the sound of Joakim’s laughter, a warm feeling fills his chest that is further intensified when he sees his smile,
Hannes’ cheek flush a light pink and for once in his life, he swears that there is something worth fighting and protecting, and that is Joakim’s smile and laughter,
He loves the sound of how his deep laughter echoes around the walls and fills his ears,
It can be compared to that of a long-forgotten song, beautiful and enchanting, and Hannes quite liked that,
So, he swore to himself to fight and protect Joakim, as if he were his younger brother,
He never wanted to see him sad,
“Good to see you’re laughing…” Hannes comments with a bright smile of his own,
Joakim blushes and nods, “It’s all thanks to you…”
Meanwhile, Pär is just outside the room in the hallway, he was originally headed to his room when Joakim’s laugh stopped him in his tracks,
The sound of it made his heart flutter and feel very happy and warm inside,
Something that he thought he was incapable of feeling after so many centuries of pain, blood, and regret,
He glanced over to Joakim’s room and he could hear the two conversings amongst themselves, Joakim sounded significantly happier thanks to Hannes,
Pär clenched his hands into tight fists,
He too wanted to fight for Joakim, to never see him cry, to protect him and his laughter…
[This snippet follows Joakim who’s been living with the guys for about a month now, everyone has gotten to know each other well enough. He eventually wakes up during a thunderstorm and is unable to rest, although he knows it’s just thunder and not the sound of a bullet being fired, he still seems very upset and almost on the verge of tears, he hates feeling weak and decides to get up from his bed, to go downstairs and get a glass of water, and maybe use the bathroom. Little does he know that two people are downstairs waiting for him…”]
Another clap of thunder roars throughout the dark sky as a flash of lightning momentarily lights up his room, Joakim is able to see everything very clearly for only two seconds,
He’s staring at his window as large beads of water smack against it, he listens intently at the pitter-patter of the water,
Another clap of thunder, louder this time as it sounds like it could be less than one-hundred feet, makes Joakim quietly yelp in surprise, he hides under his blanket in fear,
For a moment there, Joakim cringes at himself for acting like such a child,
I mean, he’s a fully-grown man for fuck’s sake!
But he does have his fears and anything that remotely sounds like gunfire is known to scare him shitless and capable of sending him into a panic attack,
Joakim sighs and decides that he should head on downstairs, grab some water to drink, and maybe use the bathroom, perhaps it’ll help get him to go back to sleep easier,
He nods and removes the blanket off of himself and gets out of his bed, a rush of cold air greets him and he shudders, Joakim grabs a sweater to put on from his closet and he puts on some slippers before leaving his bedroom,
As Joakim makes his way down, there are brief moments in which the lightning lights up his way and he’s able to see clearly at what’s around him,
Although, he admits that it is very creepy as soon as he’s plunged straight into darkness,
He swallows hard and keeps an ear open for anything that could be going bump in the night,
Eventually, he makes his way to the kitchen and has only but a few more feet ahead of him to get there,
When suddenly movement catches the corner of his eye and Joakim freezes like a deer in headlights, he watches the spot until a strike of lightning lights up the area to reveal Hannes and Pär sitting down, they looked like they were just relaxing… maybe they couldn’t sleep either?
A hand flew onto Joakim’s mouth as he yelped in surprise which scared the other two, they turn their attention to him and sigh when they see that it's just him,
“Can’t sleep?” Hannes asks him softly as he slowly approached Joakim,
Joakim nods and Hannes gently guides him over to the large sofa where he and Pär are sitting down sipping on some tea,
Pär wraps a blanket around Joakim since he seems very cold, “Nightmare? Or did the thunder wake you?” he asks him,
Joakim shakes his head, “No nightmares thankfully…” he sighs before continuing, “The thunder did wake me up though…”
Hannes nods and strokes his back through the blanket, “Want to hang out with us until you get tired?” he asks him,
To which Joakim nods, he doesn’t want to be alone,
He craves some company and indulges himself in it as he leans to Hannes’ shoulder for comfort,
Hannes grins and chuckles, he allows him to lean on his shoulder as he relaxes with him at his side,
Pär smiles at them both and absentmindedly begins to hum an old familiar tune his mother once sung to him,
[This snippet follows Hannes and Pär who in preparation for the holiday of 4th of July they’ve gone out of their way to purchase noise-canceling headphones and earbuds as well as a weighted blanket and a large bear plush for Joakim to have as a source of comfort, they know just how aggressive his triggers can be and how debilitating they leave him so they want to be prepared to help their friend. Pär knows when the few neighbors he has around him start their firework show as well at the other two neighborhoods that surround the area, so he’s well prepared for the night. Together the two present their gifts to Joakim so that he can rest well and enjoy his first firework show if he so wishes to…]
“Hey, Joakim…!” Hannes says with a smile on his lips,
Joakim looks up from his sketchbook and greets his friend back with a wave, he looked like he was both writing and drawing something,
Pär is just behind Hannes and he’s holding a few boxes in hand, they haven’t been wrapped or anything but they do have a single red ribbon on each one,
Joakim raises an eyebrow at the boxes,
“What’re those for? Is it someone’s birthday?” he asks, clearly confused,
Pär sets them down on the table, “No, not really… but they are a gift…” he says
“For who?”
“For you…” Hannes replies to Joakim,
Joakim’s cheeks flush a light pink and he’s speechless, “I- B- Wh-What?” he asks, disbelieving that his friends would even think of getting him anything, “I didn’t-… I-… Do I pay you back???” he asks confused as to what to do to the unexpected act of kindness,
Pär shook his head, “No need to, go ahead and open them…” he says as he slides Joakim a box opener on the table,
Joakim is still in disbelief but nods, he takes the box opener and opens the first package, in it he finds a pair of black headphones, they are called “Sony WH-1000XM4” the box reads “Best noise-canceling headphones in decades! You won’t hear a thing from the world around you, which will allow you to concentrate on your work!”
Joakim turns his head to Pär, who says nothing and gestures to the rest of the boxes silently,
He nods and opens the next box, it’s much smaller and in it has a pair of black earbuds, they are called “Bose QuietComfort Earbuds” the box also reads that they’re apparently for noise-canceling,
Joakim frowns but sets the earbuds down on the table, he looks over at the remaining two boxes, one is fairly large and heavy, while the other is also large but light as air,
He grabs the lightbox and carefully opens it, not expecting anything to be inside it,
When he sees a giant brown teddy bear his cheeks flush bright pink, he grabs at it and immediately notices just how nice to the touch it feels, he smiles softly at it and puts it on the table off to the side with the other two items,
He drags the heavier box over to him and opens it, he’s surprised to find a grey blanket in it and when he goes to pick it up he feels just how heavy it is, he sets it down on the table as Hanes moves all the boxes out of the way,
“So…? What do you think?” Hannes asks him, “You like ‘em?”
Joakim raises an eyebrow at them, “I… don’t know what to think?... Thank you?” he says finally after some silence,
Pär smiles, “No problem… do you know why we got these for you?”
Joakim shakes his head as he takes a seat down next to them,
“There’s a holiday coming up that’s called “The Fourth of July” and people celebrate by letting off colorful explosives into the sky, they’re beautiful but they can scare someone who suffers from PTSD of loud noises… which is why we got them for you…” Pär explains,
And suddenly, the usage of all of the objects click together, he finally gets it!
They got him these things so that he would be calm and not have to hear anything that could frighten and send him into a panic,
Joakim blushes and nods, “…Thank you both, so much!” he says with a bright smile that the two of them melt to,
“The fireworks will start at around 8:30 pm when it's sufficiently dark outside, so have your headphones or earbuds on before then, ok?” Pär suggests to Joakim and he nods feverishly, agreeing with his friend about his safety,
At around seven-o’-clock is when Joakim had put on his noise-canceling earbuds, he enjoyed the rest of the day with his newfound family as best he could despite not being able to hear much,
He spent it playing board games, drawing, or listening to music, he was just having fun and enjoying himself,
When the dawning hour finally arrived, Pär looked over to Joakim who kept on happily sketching away as the first flurry of loud explosives echoes through the air,
He sighed in relief when Joakim didn’t even seem to notice the noise, he was humming along as he drew,
A flash of yellow and green lights greeted all of them from outside,
The colors caught Joakim’s attention and he lifted his head up from his sketchbook, he looked to Pär who motioned for him to look out the window but not to remove the earbuds,
Joakim nodded and looked out the window just in time to see a large firework fly up in the air and explode in a large pink heart followed by two more fireworks by its side that exploded into two large blue roses,
“WOAH!” Joakim exclaimed loudly, he watching on in excitement as another firework exploded into a sunflower,
and then several more that spelled out “HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!”,
Joakim was thoroughly entranced by the display like a kid at a candy shop,
“Good to know he’s enjoying himself…” Pär spoke with a happy sigh,
Hannes nodded, “Yep… the best thing too is that the bear and weighted blanket will help him with nightmares, hopefully, so that he won’t have to cry…”
“Yes… thank Odin for that…” Pär happily comments as he watches Joakim continue to stare out the window,
Tommy chuckles, “You know what’s funny?”
“No, what?” Chris asks
“He’ll absolutely love it when I show him that you can watch even better firework shows on his phone-“ Tommy watches as Pär shoots him a glare, “-on mute!” Tommy adds as a wave of fear washes over him,
If looks could kill, Pär would’ve already killed millions…