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Post by The Exodus on Jul 18, 2013 16:57:17 GMT -6
Tristan Vidal
Tristan’s head was pounding. He hadn’t been able to look any of the interns in the eye since everyone arrived back to work. Solange’s suggestion that someone might have stolen his decedent’s wedding ring had him paranoid. Irritable. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this. If he’d ever felt like this.
This constantly test attitude had to go. It was Tristan’s job to comfort people, not put them on edge. But when the door to his embalming room creaked open against his will, Tristan knew he was not going to play nicely with whoever was walking in unbidden.
“Out!” he snapped, jabbing one finger towards the door. “And next time, knock.”
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Post by Lets_Eat_Paste on Jul 18, 2013 17:27:04 GMT -6
Torben Blau
Rarely was Torben’s smile this wide, and it certainly hadn’t been lately. Just a month and a half ago, he and Gwen openly wept on the floor with ultrasound pictures of nothing ripped to shreds out of anguish and frustration. Torben retreated into his art, and all conversations with Gwen were strained and heated. Words were said that both of them wished with all their might never even entered their minds. They rarely spoke or saw each other, and Leopold started getting frustrated by it. Everything in their family with exception of Gabriel was falling apart.
And then Gwen fainted on the stairs and all the awful things Torben and her had said to each other suddenly didn’t matter as they rushed her to the hospital (a place they spent far too much time at). An examination and blood test, a pregnancy was confirmed. A real one with a heartbeat and five weeks of life pumping through it. It was amazing. In the nadir of their relationship, life was still created, love was still evident. Torben had to tell someone (despite Gwen’s protestations of it being too early) and Gabriel already knew. So he found himself at the funeral home, practically dancing over the threshold and flinging the door to Tristan’s office open.
“Out!” Tristan yelled in a voice so callous that Torben froze. “And next time, knock.”
Torben put his hands up in frustrated surrender and backed out, plopping himself down on a bench to wait.
But five minutes turned into fifteen and Torben couldn’t wait any longer. He stood, but before he could leave, an open casket caught his eye. He approached it, curious to see who was in it. He had a sketch pad with him, so maybe he could get some work done while he waited.
But the casket was empty and Torben smiled wickedly. Pencil clutched in his hand, folded in prayer, he clamored in the coffin and closed his eyes. Tristan would find him eventually and then he would have to pay attention to him.
It wasn’t long before he drifted to sleep.
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Post by The Exodus on Jul 18, 2013 18:25:23 GMT -6
Tristan Vidal
Tristan expected to see a dumbfounded intern on the threshold. To his surprise, no one was there. The door hung open. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and opened them again. No one was there.
You really are getting paranoid, he thought. He crossed the room and shut the door before returning to work. The interns were supposed to be washing the hearses in the summer heat. Of course they weren’t inside.
Which possibly meant that Tristan had snapped at Solange. He cringed at the thought, but then remembered that if he had dared to yell at Solange like that, she wouldn’t hesitate to fly in his face. Nothing had ever stopped her from giving him a thorough tongue-lashing. Tristan frowned, but dismissed it as his mind playing tricks on him. He was a notorious insomniac, after all. Sleeplessness was bound to catch up to him eventually.
An hour of embalming passed and Tristan had to trade his rubber gloves for bare hands; his scrubs for a suit. He had to double-check that the viewing room was set up for Monsieur Mercier’s funeral tomorrow morning. He cleaned himself and changed, then walked into the viewing room. Everything seemed to be in place, except – of course – Monsieur Mercier himself. Tristan walked up to the casket to inspect it one last time before he moved the body in tomorrow.
He peered into the casket. There was a corpse in the coffin where there shouldn’t have been one yet.
And then Tristan noticed that the corpse was breathing.
He screamed and hastened backwards.
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Post by Lets_Eat_Paste on Jul 18, 2013 18:37:50 GMT -6
Torben Blau
Torben was having a nice dream. In it, aliens came to earth to steal the brains of all of the politicians, but Leopold build a Lego war aircraft that shot little Lego pieces down in places the aliens wouldn’t see them. They would step on them, yowling in pain as they melted to the forest floor. Leopold won a Nobel Peace Prize whilst Torben and Gwen cheered on before taking him out for mint chocolate chip ice cream. And then somewhere, someone screamed.
Torben’s eyes flew open, as he stared up at the softly shining fluorescent lights of some strange building, in some tight, but comfortable bed. He sat up, disoriented, pencil high in the air like a torch, looking around. His eyes fell on Tristan.
“Ah, yes. Tristan. Just the man I wanted to see. That is… if you’re done yelling at me.”
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Post by The Exodus on Jul 18, 2013 18:51:34 GMT -6
Tristan Vidal
The corpse sat up and to Tristan’s relief, it was Torben.
Wait… What…?
Shock mingled with outrage. Now, Tristan understood why Gwen and Torben weren’t allowed in the morgue anymore. His eyes narrowed and he tried to slow his breathing. His heart still raced.
Torben, however, seemed unfazed both by the screaming and the fact that he was sitting in a coffin. Tristan frowned.
“Ah, yes. Tristan,” said Torben. “Just the man I wanted to see. That is… if you’re done yelling at me.”
“What are you doing?” Tristan asked, dropping his voice to an angry whisper. “Get out of there! This is a funeral home not a haunted house!”
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Post by Lets_Eat_Paste on Jul 18, 2013 19:13:56 GMT -6
Torben Blau
The shock and horror on Tristan’s face was just the revenge Torben sought for his lashing out at him. He was rather please with himself, and even when Tristan’s face turned from pale surprise anger, Torben smiled, proud of his achievement. He had news and pictures for Tristan, and didn’t come here to be screamed at.
“What are you doing?” Tristan whispered angrily, the way a librarian would softly scold you for talking too loudly. “Get out of there! This is a funeral home not a haunted house!”
“Could have fooled me,” Torben said, climbing out carefully. “You’ve looked so ghost-like lately. It’s the House of Usher in here. Have you been feeling okay?”
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Post by The Exodus on Jul 18, 2013 19:53:36 GMT -6
Tristan Vidal
Tristan expect this kind of behavior out of Leopold – and maybe even Gwen – but not Torben. He watched with exasperated fascination as his friend clambered out of the coffin.
“Could have fooled me,” said Torben as he swung his legs to the ground. “You’ve looked so ghost-like lately. It’s the House of Usher in here. Have you been feeling okay?”
“I’m fine, Torben,” said Tristan. Lied Tristan. But he wasn’t going to be all Doctor Doom on Torben’s good mood. Even if the good mood was annoying him, the way Tristan figured, someone deserved to be in a good mood. Especially Torben. Tristan smiled as he remembered the elation on Gwen’s face when she announced her pregnancy. Of course Torben was in a good mood. “So. Why are you hanging around with us stiffs today? Shouldn’t you and your chipper mood be… I dunno… hanging around Gwen?”
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Post by Lets_Eat_Paste on Jul 19, 2013 9:14:55 GMT -6
Torben Blau
“I’m fine, Torben,” Tristan said, but Torben couldn’t help but think there was some amount of untruth in his statement. He wasn’t quite as oblivious as people gave him credit for, not when people he loved were hurting. But he shrugged, unsure if sure hug Tristan or try to coax it out of him. He decided to do neither.
“So. Why are you hanging around with us stiffs today? Shouldn’t you and your chipper mood be… I dunno… hanging around Gwen?
“Well you see, Tristan,” Torben said leaning against the coffin that was just a moment ago his bed. “Long story short, Gwen hasn’t been to work in several weeks and her boss would really rather I didn’t distract her. And I had to show someone these and you’re the only person I know who’d care who hasn’t seen them.” He reached into his back pocket and procured three HD ultrasound images. He remembered when he first saw the pictures on the screen, holding Gwen’s hand, disgusted by the translucent jelly they put on her. But when he looked up at the screen, he smiled and fought back tears. At last, what they had worked so hard for was breathed into existence. “I know it still looks like a sea creature right now, but I promise, that’s a baby. I thought you’d want to see. Just… don’t tell Gwen I showed you.”
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Post by The Exodus on Jul 29, 2013 12:20:29 GMT -6
Tristan Vidal
Tristan studied the images Torben offered him with mingled awe, confusion, and excitement. He’d never been near a (live) baby before. And he’d never seen ultrasounds of a baby before, either. There was something so precious about this moment that Tristan instantly forgave Torben for climbing in a coffin to get his attention.
Some things were just worth it.
Torben was right about one thing: the photographs did look like a sea creature. Tristan struggled to make out what was a head and what might have been feet. Even though the baby wasn’t exactly “cute” yet, a soft smile tugged at Tristan’s lips and something pulled on his chest. And then, confused, he looked up.
“Why can’t I tell Gwen you showed me these?” he asked, holding up the ultrasound pictures. “I mean, I know she promised to be the one to show me these, but she’s not seriously gonna get mad…”
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Post by Lets_Eat_Paste on Aug 6, 2013 10:55:02 GMT -6
Torben Blau
Tristan took the pictures as gingerly as he would a real, born baby. He looked at the pictures with scrutiny before his face softened. A smile spread across his lips and something in his blue eyes melted. Torben smiled understandingly. He knew that look—it was the same one he had when he first saw the pictures, except the melted expression in his own eyes had spilled over.
At least Tristan wasn’t still mad. But his face twisted again, this time in confusion. “Why can’t I tell Gwen you showed me these? I mean, I know she promised to be the one to show me these, but she’s not seriously gonna get mad…”
Torben’s face fell as he thought about the prognosis of their doctor. “This is going to be a very difficult pregnancy… that is, if it even makes it to term. Be careful.” The last time, they hadn’t had such a warning and they were careful not to tell anyone until month four… and then they lost the baby. Neither Torben or Gwen wanted a repeat of that experience. He sighed and swallowed his sadness. “Don’t worry about it, Tristan. I just didn’t ask to show you is all,” Torben lied. “She thinks I’m buying lettuce, not stopping by here. As long as you don’t tell her and I come home with lettuce, it will be fine.”
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Post by The Exodus on Sept 14, 2013 2:37:18 GMT -6
Tristan Vidal
Tristan chuckled and shook his head. Sometimes he wanted to ask Torben “Is that what marriage is really like? Lying about lettuce shopping and tango lessons on Wednesday nights?” and then he would remember that Torben and Gwen weren’t actually married and neither would have a quality answer for him.
“Thank you,” he said instead. A quiet smile pulled at his lips and he clapped Torben on the shoulder. The closest thing to a hug they were mutually comfortable with. “For showing me.”
He stole one last glance at the amorphous blob. A grayfaced baby who would one day grow to look like the best bits of Torben and Gwen. Maybe Torben’s soulful eyes and Gwen’s madcap smile…
“I’ll act surprised when Gwen tells me herself,” he said. “I won’t tell on you. Promise.”
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