Cathal laughs and gets to work, spraying some of the substance in the bottle onto Tohru’s hair. His scared hands were the opposite of tough however. Even with the scars, his hands were soft and gentle. It was almost unnoticeable when Cathal would catch a knot or two. He easily detangled Tohru’s hair and hums to himself. After a long while, he smiles. “Done.” He brushes through Tohru’s hair one more time, his hair was now as smooth as silk. “I used to have to do this with my sister…” he chuckles.
Cathal is still working at Tohru’s hair when Trianna first steps out of the shower.
"I know, it's been a while since I had access to a shower, much less a decent one."
As Cathal makes the comment about his sister, though, Tohru grows a little quiet. The comment seems to be a fond one, but it makes Tohru’s heart ache a little.
"How old would she be now?" he ventures, trying to learn just a little more about his story.
Trianna tilts her head, listening to Tohru and Cathal.
Cathal pauses. “Hm…about…14? Yeah 14-” He sets his supplies down. “She passed away when she was 11-ish.” He seemed a little too nonchalant about the whole topic, reaching down and petting Teddy.
Trianna sighs.
"I'm sorry for your loss, kid." she says quietly.
Cathal shrugs, “its ok…i miss her sure…but shes not having to suffer now…”
Trianna nods.
"Yeah." she says quietly.
She has an idea. "I have a bottle of wine I salvaged last year. I can crack that open and we can do a toast to lost friends and family."
Cathal pauses. “Oh I don’t drink anymore- it was a promise I made her…and besides- I’m honestly scared I’ll do something stupid…” he looks away, fidgeting. Cathal used to be a bad alcoholic, mainly to drown out his trauma. Really, his promise was to not overly drink. But he was too scared he would do something ridiculous if he ever got drunk.
Trianna nods thoughtfully.
"Grape juice then." she murmurs. She walks over to her bag and produces both the wine and a small canteen of grape juice.
Tohru considers for a moment. It's been a long time since he's had any alcohol, and he's never been a heavy drinker to begin with.
"Sure, I'll take some wine," he says.
He looks at Cathal.
"If you're okay with us drinking around you?"
He doesn't know for sure, but if Cathal is in recovery, it might not be such a good idea to drink in front of him. He had college friends who were in such a situation. Some were fine with it, others avoided being even near alcohol.
Tohru waited for an answer, a soft smile resting on his face.
"Man, I wish my older siblings adored me that much…" he sighed.
Cathal smiles, chuckling. “Yeah Im cool with it. It’s been years anyways.” He leans back, relaxing.
Trianna smiles, handing Cathal the grape juice before popping open the bottle of wine and grinning.
"No cups. You cool with sharing the bottle?" she asks.
"Fine with me," Tohru agrees.
Maybe a little wine is just what he needs to loosen up. That, the shower, some rest. Maybe it'll all help a little. He's still lost everything, but maybe some sense of normalcy will bring his purpose back.
"Alright, so who all are we toasting to?" he asks.
Cathal hums, taking the grape juice and looking at it.
"Me? I'm toasting to my mom and dad. For raising me to be physically and mentally strong no matter the circumstances." Trianna smiles.
Cathal nods. “My mom…for doing her best to raise me, and my little sister…”
Tohru took a deep breath.
"Well… I have a bit of a list, I guess. To Anh, for being my mentor and my big sister I never had. And Cas, for believing me when no one else would. Aline, for saving my ass- a lot. And to Noah, for helping me grow and giving me all the happiness I thought I'd never have."
He tilts his head, almost feeling like he should bring a family member into this. But they were all, at best, nonchalant in the face of his troubles, and at worst, caused them themselves.
Trianna smiles.
"Cheers." she says, tipping the wine bottle back and knocking down a forth of it before handing it over to Tohru.
Cathal hums, “Cheers…” he takes a drink, giving it back to her.
Trianna chuckles, pushing the canteen back.
"Keep that." she says. "I probably wasn't going to drink it, I just looted it off someone."
He smiles, then takes a small sip.
Trianna chuckles to herself.
She still had yet to put on anything more than just underwear, she realizes, but she didn't care. It was the apocalypse, societal norms had died with most of the world's population.
"What I find kinda funny is, people have already forgotten what the world was like before." she says quietly.
Tohru puts back a little less wine than Trianna did, and he hands it back.
"Makes me nostalgic for my junior year of college. Lots of my studio drawings that year were done while I was drinking cheap red wine," he says, "Just a glass here and there- you know, for the aesthetic."
Cathal chuckles. “Rookie. I drank whole glasses of tequila-“
Trianna grins.
"Back when you were in junior year I was learning how to disassemble guns by touch and how to fire at a target 500 yards downrange. I started with a Smith & Wesson SD9. 9 mil. Very little kick. After a week I was hitting targets with pinpoint accuracy. Having experience with a bow and arrow helped." she says quietly.
"And besides, both of you are rookie. Spirytus vodka and Fireball whiskey are where it's at." she smirks.
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