A hellish week had finally, finally gone by, and in that hateful Friday night all Martín wanted was to get home, pass out on the nearest soft surface and not give a single care about the world anymore. He locked up the door after fumbling a little with the keys, then dragged his feet to the couch and simply dropped down on it face first, limbs sprawling awkwardly around him. He then grumbled a delayed “I’m home” and, as if on cue, Daniel came over from the kitchen. The paraguayan couldn’t hold back a small laugh upon seeing such an image in the living room.
“Hard week, huh.” he said, laughter still on his voice as he kneeled down beside the couch.
His only answer was a long suffering sigh. Dani laughed again.
“Come on Tintin, you can’t have dinner if you die on me like this. I put extra love in it today, so don’t you dare let it go to waste.” the brunette said with no real bite to it as he combed back blond locks away from his cousin’s face with his fingers, dragging them up and digging a little in his scalpel, a small massage of both encouragement and sympathy.
Despite a small groan of approval, the Argentinian refused to move an inch. “I really can’t move Dani. Call the doctors so they can formally declare my death. Put me in a coffin and tell Sebastián he can’t have my old CDs collection not even over my dead body.”
“Such a drama queen you are, but that won’t work on me when I made you special food. You have no right to decline it since you need to eat better than those sandwiches you gobble up in 5 minutes during work break, so come on now.” Dani pulled his hand back from Martín’s hair and tugged on his sleeve.
Another long grunt later, Martín was up again. He slowly walked over to kitchen and sat down. Dani had also gone through the trouble of setting it nicely, and Martín was infinitely grateful for those small cares Daniel always took whenever he had to slave himself off in the office during the busiest weeks. After serving two plates of incredibly good-smelling food, Dani also sat down across the table to enjoy the meal, but he fidgeted a little with his silvery and that was usually a sign some big news were coming next.
“You know… I was thinking…”
“It’s not healthy to think too hard at this time, you know.” The comment earned Martín a swat on the arm, but he only smiled and focused his attention on cutting himself a piece of beef. “Anyway, what were you thinking about?”
“Ma insisted I had to go visit her this weekend and bring you along because she’s been worried. Will you come with me?” Dani watched as Martín’s smile grew.
“You know I can’t refuse any invitation from her unless I want her to call me every 10 minutes along the entire week after. So are you really inviting me or just communicating me that we’re going there anyway?”
“Well, you kind of answered it yourself.” Dani finally turned his attention to his plate afterwards, but it only took a couple of chews before Tincho’s voice called him back.
“You might want to bring a metal concert home tomorrow because I doubt I’ll ever open my eyes again once I lie on that bed.”
“You say that as if I’d find it a terrible idea.” Dani answered sarcastically.
“Fiiine, but I can’t promise not to kick you off the bed permanently if you actually do it.”
Dani made a face as if balancing the pros and cons of the idea after all but settled for finishing his dinner without pushing the subject further.
———————————————
Indeed, it was a real penitence to get Martín out of bed the morning after but he got up after a little coaxing and they were able to travel without much delay to Keraná’s house in the countryside. The matriarch of the Guaraníes already awaited for them with all their lunches ready. Keraná cooed repeatedly over “her children”, as she called them, upon their arrival, and they exchanged words during the whole meal, pausing so often to update Keraná on the most recent events of their lives that their plates nearly grew cold.
After being released from the “clutches” of the super loving mother, they gathered their bags and carried them to the bedroom. As they were unpacking their most important items, Daniel turned towards Tincho.
“Hey, let’s go somewhere.”
Martín lifted a confused gaze towards his cousin. “Where do you mean, specifically?”
“Somewhere special. Don’t ask too much, let’s go or not?”
“… Fine, if you insist. Hope you don’t have anything weird in mind.”
Dani smiled brightly. “Come on, don’t you trust me?”
“… Is this a rethorical question or do you really want the answer?”
The punch that hit his arm was stronger than the day before.
———————————————
As it turns out, they didn’t go that far: only a few steps until they reached the old music salon. Daniel pulled a chair from a corner and turned it back towards the door.
“Sit here, please. And don’t look back.”
Martín raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. What were they doing there among Dani’s instruments, each one of them dripping with too many memories, and what was Daniel up to? Despite the confusion, Martín sat down and did as told, facing the door directly.
He could hear some shuffling, and it was very tempting to just take a quick glance over his shoulder and see what was going on there but he knew better than to betray Dani’s trust on this. One thing he had to admit, Dani’s surprises to him were very rarely of the bad kind, so he could relax a little, letting himself just… Trust him.
Soon enough, it was as if angels had descended into that room. Martín’s eyes went wide as a most beautiful melody seemed to invade him, entering through his ears and reaching directly for his heart. It was slow and so very soulful… Nothing like he had ever heard before and it took him a few seconds to realize it: this music wouldn’t come from angels who came down from the very Heavens to deliver our Lord’s Words as he was taught as a child by Antonio and even more fervently by Lovino later. This song that seemed to speak directly to his core was being produced by his only living companion in that room: Daniel. Daniel was actually playing to him his beloved harp, something he’s kept most private throughout the years.
His hands would curl up on his lap, grasping at the fabric of his pants, a grounding reminder not to let his own mind wander so far into the song he’d forget where he was. But despite the best effort to keep a grip on his consciousness, Martín had closed his eyes at some point of that overwhelming experience and his whole body relaxed as the music kept going. Even as a great admirer of the beautiful lyrics of his favourite songs, he had to recognize this music, even lacking them, spoke louder than they could ever do.
The rhythm slowed gradually to a halt. It was over and their surroundings were once again material in the silence that followed. Somehow, without being on the verge of death, Martín had the impression his soul had returned to his flesh and he was alive and functional again, but a longing feeling remained deep inside, as if he missed something he couldn’t quite put a finger on. He opened his eyes and turned to look over his shoulder, no longer afraid if Dani’s reprimands, but the scene he saw brought a rush of blood to his cheeks.
Daniel was hugged to the harp, eyes closed and a smile Martín knew quite well. His chest rising and falling noticeably. He didn’t even notice the words coming out of his mouth until they were out and hanging in the air.
“Want me to leave you alone with your lover?”
It broke the spell that had been floating above their heads until then. Dani’s eyes opened and glared straight into his cousin’s before rolling back a little. Luckily for Martín, he had grown immune to this kind of commentary after hearing them from his own mother oh too often.
“Don’t be ungrateful now. I wanted to do something nice for you, you had been away for too long and, as always, overworking yourself to exhaustion. I don’t like seeing you like that so I thought maybe… I’d share something that always relaxes me with you. Sorry if I’m—.”
His words were cut by a pair of lips against his and a pair of hands keeping his face up.
Once again, lyrics were unnecessary, and the melody of love spoke clearer for them than any kind of words.
In Portuguese we don’t say “Help”, we say “Mim ajuda cara pufavô nunca te pedi nada” which roughly translates to “My soul is in need of yours” and I think that’s beautiful.
I was tagged by Wulfbana to make a list of my top 10 favourite fictional characters from any fandom. They’re not in an ‘intensity of my love’ order, they’re all just too dear. Let’s go!
1) Arthur Kirkland (Axis Powers Hetalia)
2) Red Scout (Team Fortress 2)
3) Kankri Vantas (Homestuck)
4) Godot (Phoenix Wright)
5) Feliciano Vargas (Axis Powers Hetalia)
6) Enjolras (Les Miserables)
7) Dick Grayson (Batman)
8) Ezio Auditore (Assassin’s Creed 2 +)
9) Cecil Baldwin (Welcome to Nightvale)
10) FUCKING DEADPOOL
Honourable mentions: Roxy Lalonde, Francis Bonnefoy, Bruce Wayne, John Egbert, Miguel from Road to El Dorado and Jack Sparrow.
I tag: Nina, Ceci, Paula, Dans, Brubs aaaannnndddd whoever wants to play.
