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Eventually, after some time we find everyone gathered downstairs at the dining room table, Pär has gathered all of them together so that finally, everyone can know just how old everyone is in comparison to each other,
“Alright… so who wants to go first then?” Pär says,
Hannes frowns at him, “Why us, old man? Why not you?” he asks him, curious as to know why he didn’t go first since he suggested this entire thing,
Pär shook his head, “…No…” is all he tells him,
The reason why Pär doesn’t go first is that he knows he’s the absolute oldest in the group and he’ll most likely shock everyone with what he’s seen and gone through in his life,
Chris sighs and leans back into his chair, “Alright, I guess I can go first-…” he says after some time, he takes a deep breath before he continues,
“I’m one-hundred-and-twenty-two years old, I’ve been around since 1898 and I took part in WW2 in a fighter plane… my first death was in 1932…” he explains,
Joakim’s eyes widen, “My god- you’re old!” he exclaims without thinking,
Chris takes no offense to it, instead of taking it all in stride with a laugh, “Yeah, I know!”
“Well, I guess I’ll go next then-“ Joakim states, “-I’ve been around since 1980 and I’ve had my first death last year in 2020, by-… uh-… firing squad…” is all he manages out,
“Wait, you’re forty?” Tommy blurts out, he doesn’t believe what he just heard,
Joakim nods, “Yeah…?” he says, not understanding what warranted such a reaction,
Tommy sighs in content “Oh thank god… I’m finally not the baby of the group…”
Joakim is sitting there confused, “What do you mean by ‘baby’?” he asks him, unsure of what he means,
“I’m eighty-three years old-“ Tommy begins, “-not even a full century yet, and I’ve been around since 1937, I was in the Vietnam war and my first death was in 1970…” he explains,
Joakim nods, “Oh, so before I came here, you were the youngest then?” he asks him,
Reluctantly, Tommy nods which cause Hannes to chuckle,
Tommy shoots him a glare, “What’s so funny, huh?” he probes,
Hannes tries to stifle his laugher, “N-Nothing!” he says,
Tommy rolls his eyes at him, “Oh come on man, I’m not dumb! What- what is it? What’s so funny?” he’s desperate to know what the other found so funny,
Hannes nods, “Oh you want to know what I found so funny, baby?” he teases, and for a moment there he swears that he can see steam come out of Tommy’s ears as he flushes,
Joakim makes a half-snort laugh when he sees Tommy blush, he stifles it by covering his mouth,
Tommy says nothing and instead covers his face with his hands at being called ‘baby’,
Chris rolls his eyes and turns over to Hannes, “So…” he begins, “…and how old are you…?” He questions him,
“One-hundred-and-thirty-five to be exact…” he replies,
“Shit… since when were you alive for?” Chris asks him
Hannes takes a moment to collect his thoughts, “Uh… well, I’ve been alive since 1885 and had my first death in 1916, so that would be mid WW1… I think?” he explains,
Joakim and Chris nod, “Wow…” answers Chris, “That’s old…”
Pär finally speaks up after not doing so for such a long time, “Not really…” he adds,
This gets everyone’s attention, their heads turn to him, “What’d you mean?” someone asks,
Pär sighs, mentally preparing himself for the incoming flurry of questions, “I was born in the year one-thousand, and I had my death thirty-nine years later, so one-thousand-and-thirty-nine is when I died, I was a Viking…” he explains,
There’s a moment of collective silence as everyone process’ what he just said,
“In the year one-thousand?” Tommy replies,
Pär nods,
“Christ…” says Chris,
Joakim speaks up, “Wait, so that explains how you know Manfred!” he exclaims,
“Who?” asks Tommy,
“Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron? Please tell me you know who he is…” Joakim responds,
Tommy nods, “I’ve read about him-“
“-I think I might’ve seen him on the battlefield, now that you mention that…” Adds Chris,
Suddenly the realization sinks in for Tommy and Chris,
“Wait! So, you were alive at the same time as a legend was???” they as, clearly both stupefied and amazed,
Pär nods, “Oh, I wasn’t just alive at the same time as him, I also befriended him… and many others too-…” he mentions,
“-Bullshit-“ Tommy says,
“-Nope, not even lying…” Pär declares,
Joakim nods, “He’s not lying, I can attest to that-…”
“-Thank you-“
“-No problem!” Joakim finishes,
Tommy looks at Pär, “So, this means that you’ve probably been married plenty of times, right?” he asks,
Pär nods, “I have…”
“Who was the first person that you married?”
Pär doesn’t hesitate to answer, “It was a friend of mine, who went by the name Thialfi…” he responds,
“… Why'd you marry your friend? How come?” Chris asks him,
“I loved him…” Pär states, a feeling of melancholy washes over him, for a moment he sits there distinctly remembering the face of his first love, one of which he’ll never get to hold again,
He misses him,
“-Shit, I-I-I’m sorry man…” Chris says, he feels horrible for asking him,
Pär shakes his head, “No, it’s ok… I’m not mad or anything… after all you were just curious and wanted to know…” he adds,
Joakim leans back into his chair, “Damn…”
Tommy cocks an eyebrow at him, “What?”
“We’re all so old…” he says, although he knows that, that isn’t true for himself he still feels like he’s already a thousand years old, after all, he definitely will live to see his one-thousandth birthday…
An eruption of laughter follows from everyone in the room,
“Yeah, I guess we really are!” someone exclaims before another wave of laughter follows,
It’s good to know that they’ll all have each other at least, and none of them won’t ever have to suffer alone…