don't f*** with king's cross (an advanced rp) discussion
newest »
Mod
( i ) home at last
“Welcome home, Dom.”
Arms wrapped around his torso and his spine straightened and muscles tensed, body rigid from the foreign warmth of his sister’s hug, something that was once so mundane and familiar to him. Dominic’s hands clenched into a fist, knuckles white as his fingernails bit into his skin but then he relaxed when he heard muffled gasps of air against the woolen fabric of his uniform, clean and untouched by the grime of the trenches and the blood of his enemies and comrades alike. Tears soaked into the dark fabric and Dominic’s chest tightened even more, jaw twitching as he tried to keep his composure. He was silent when he finally moved, an arm wrapping around Lou’s back, reciprocating her embrace as he allowed her to cling onto him - or maybe he was the one that needed something to cling onto. He wasn’t sure.
The train station was bustling with people, rushing to and from the platforms. Military and civilian clothes mingled in the crowd as soldiers stepped off the steel giants and their loved ones frantically greeted them with tears and shouted words of gratitude that they made it back alive. There were cheers of congratulations and words of praise mixing with the loud metallic squeal of the train brakes as they pulled onto their respective platforms or departed to their next destination. Something about the air of excitement weighed on Dominic, eyebrows furrowing as his chin stayed rested on Lou’s head, the chaotic blues of his eyes sweeping across his surroundings, restless and wary of everything around him. There were no dig outs in the ground, no incessant spray of bullets, no crumbling buildings. Yet, he didn’t feel secure. He felt like a fish out of water. A sailor who swayed on his feet after a long voyage, bombarded by the unpredictability of the ocean.
The war was over but some part of his consciousness was still crawling through No Man’s Land.
He wasn’t sure for how long he had stood there. Probably too long but he didn’t make a move, rooted in his spot by Lou’s crushing hug that had knocked the air out of his lungs originally when she came barreling towards him early. The contact was perhaps his saving grace, acting as his mind’s tether to Earth, a temporary solution to how gravity had so easily abandoned him. Dominic hadn’t expected her to be waiting for him. He couldn’t exactly forget how furious she had been the day that she found out that he was leaving. Everyone was furious in that regard. His mother was driven to tears and anxiety and his father displayed his displeasure through brutal curses and a verbal lashing as he chewed into Dominic about how his actions were a blatant act of negligence to the crown. A prince had no place on the battlefield where thousands died he had said. If he died, then England died. Unfortunately for England, Dominic’s death wish was surely its Achilles heel.
Dominic, like so many others, was one of the blessed few that got sent home breathing whilst others were carried back in wooden coffins. For every man alive, at least ten were dead. That meant that the cost of Dominic’s still beating heart was the still hearts of ten. He hated it. He hated it all. The congratulations. The thankful tears. He hated himself for that bloom of relief he felt when his foot touched the cobblestone ground of the train station. Being alive wasn't a blessing. It wasn’t luck. It was quite the opposite.
Being home was the death sentence. The nail in his coffin.
Mod
why am i crying right now why did you do that to me
Wow that was good! Already interested in this character!
