feeling angsty so my ocs are my target to dump it on as usual :3 not sticking to anything other than angst(?), im just yapping ehdgsjdh
Orion, who is always laid-back and (mostly) endorses the Shadows' shenanigans, getting strict and more prone to snap at others when it's his parents' death anniversary. One says that grief is the unexpressed love towards the one lost but for Orion, it's the unexpressed rage and frustration that he never got to resolve with them before they passed away. Of course, there's his siblings still and he knows that they are still hoping that he's alive and not dead as the newspaper said years ago but he sees no point in giving them any closure. Call him petty but he holds no love for them, if they are really remorseful then they can find him themselves. He won't be the one to return to them. He has a new family that he needs to take care of, if isolating himself when the date nears is the least he could do to not hurt them, then so be it.
Zachary does check on his sperm donour biological father whenever his Mother's death anniversary neared, making sure his half-siblings are taken care of by the man. He would take a week or two of leave to return to Malaysia and visit his Mother's grave, cleaning it and making sure it's taken care of even when he's not there. He would spend day after day at her grave, telling her about his life now and how much he missed her. Oftentimes, Orion would pull some strings and follow him. His friend was basically adopted by his Mother when they first met afterall. How unfair Life is, taking the person he loved most from him and putting the other one through unimaginable pain the minute he turned his gaze away from them.
Dipaolo never said it outloud but he misses being on field; the feeling of uselessness would grip at him whenever he sees Shadows gearing up, unable to join them no matter how skilled he is. That's the price he, Vance, and Erik paid, the price that Phillip paid, the price that the Shadows paid, for being Shepherd's attack dogs. Oh, how he wished he could get back at that General, wishing that time could be reversed so that they could prevent that mission. When he woke up from his coma—the last of the three to wake up too—it was as if he was in another world, a reality that he couldn't accept. He said nothing (what's the use of a dog that lost its bark and bite?) to his brothers friends about the sinking feeling that he kept feeling in his stomach when he finally recovered enough to return.
Aethio had no such grievances as the others, they prefer to keep their head up and never think about their past for too long lest they want to forfeit their life. Whatever happened, happened and they even met Ro who helped them out with that aspect of their life. Though, it doesn't seem like they value their life that much—Ah, yes, no more about them. Quite a secretive person, this one is.