May, Year 95, Mora military base, Dalarna, Sweden.Emil woke up, yawned and stretched.
He was sure his hair was a mess and tried to tame it with his fingers, but gave up after a minute. He would have to deal with it later, after breakfast.
He glanced at Lalli, who was still asleep. Emil had never met someone that liked… no, liked was an understatement,
loved sleeping with such a passion. Lalli’s face was calm and serene. Well, at least he wasn’t doing anything dangerous. Maybe he was in his dream space, walking through his beautiful forest or lying over that small pond. He tried to slip from the bed silently and scurried towards the bathroom.
Emil looked briefly at the mirror and walked into the small kitchen to start setting everything. They had to get ready on time, so he didn't bother with how much noise he made, hoping that it would drag Lalli out of sleep. He had some cinnamon rolls, bought yesterday at the nearby bakery. But he also had coffee, and was confident that Lalli’s acute sense of smell would pick the strong and unusual scent and wake him up.
He was right. A few minutes later he went back into the bedroom to find Lalli’s eyes wide open. “Hey! It’s good to see you…” He struggled to find the right words. Damn, even after years of study and practice Finnish was hard! Then he remembered. “Awake! Good to see you awake!” He gave Lalli his best smile.
“You made coffee.” Lalli wasn’t asking, nor smiling. Waking up was always hard for him.
“Yes! I know it’s expensive, but today’s a special day and I wanted to make everything great right from the start!” Emil replied.
“It’s just normal day” Lalli mumbled, getting out of bed. “We eat, dress, go to work.”
“No... It isn’t, Lalli! You know. It’s the first mission, and lots of people will be there. Generals, politicians, reporters… We have to look our best, and we can’t be late!”
“Do I smell cinnamon rolls?”
“You’re unbelievable!”
Emil knew very well how hard it was to make Lalli consider things like social implications. “You know how great this job is. We can work together, it’s safer and we earn more. We’ve talked about this!”
“And we got it because we’re famous. I know that too. They want heroes to look good in pictures.” He walked to the kitchen.
“Not just famous. If we weren’t good at our jobs they would never give us this chance... Though I guess being the brave expeditioners who risked their lives in the Silent World didn’t hurt.”
Lalli sat and dropped two sugar cubes into his coffee. “We’re no heroes, just crazy people that should have thought twice. And we went...
beyond risking our lives.”
Emil couldn’t answer. He was well aware that Lalli didn’t go a day without thinking about Tuuri. He sat down and snatched a roll.
They ate, a heavy silence hanging over them. After a few minutes, however, Emil could tell that Lalli loved the breakfast, and was quickly slipping into a better mood. He even took a third roll, coupled with a second cup of coffee.
Emil finished eating and was distractedly putting the dishes in the sink, when he felt Lalli’s hand settle softly on his shoulder. “Yes, I know, we have to go.” He answered and turned around. Lalli was staring at him with those cat-like eyes that made him melt inside.
Those eyes looked down, and Emil followed. Lalli's hands were holding a small package. "For you." He said in his best Swedish.
"To me?" Emil replied, confused.
Lalli gave him a wry smile. "You don't remember. Use your head. Think."
It took Emil almost a minute to recall. "Wait! Today is..."
"Your birthday, stupid!"
He remembered! But Lalli didn't care about that kind of thing, Emil knew. Yet he had even bought him a gift! He hugged Lalli so strong that he started to choke. "Can't... breath."
Emil eased his grip. "Oops. Sorry."
"Stupid! Open gift, see if you like it."
It was a lighter! Zippo-style, looking brand knew and giving a nice, bluish flame! Emil stared at the dancing fire for a while. When he looked up Lalli was staring at him. "You like it?"
"Like?" Emil hugged him again. "I love it! Thank you!" They stood there. Emil just wanted to stay, but he knew they had to go. "Lalli, I love that, and I love
you. Now, I know this job isn't what you wanted, but..."
“Shhh. Stupid. Here because I chose.” Lalli said, arms folding around him. “Understand it's… important to you… to us. Will do my best, for you, like always.”
“I know you’re here for me and if I didn’t exist you’d be with Onni, somewhere deep in the forest, where you feel like you… belong. But you know that you mean much more to me than money, comfort and anything else, don’t you?”
Lalli just nodded, his chin resting on Emil’s shoulder. He wished he could stay there and ignore everything and everyone else, but he couldn’t. After a minute he stepped back and fixed Lalli’s hair. “C’mon, let’s get ready.”
Lalli nodded again and went back to the bedroom. Emil looked at his gift, feeling the cold touch on his hand, and pocketed it, turning to the dishes... until he glimpsed the clock on the wall and dropped everything hastily in the sink.
“Jävlar!” He swore, running to the bathroom. The sound of a dish shattering on the ground followed him.
(and those references to the new job... Well, this is the very first part of "Thunder", the continuation of "Lightning". Eventually, hopefully, I'll have the opportunity to tell more about it...
)
