"I'm sorry. My brother Heinrich died in the trenches, fighting on the western front. It's funny- I feel guilty about it. I was too young for the draft, but I feel like if I had gone, maybe he wouldn't have gotten hit, you know?" Wilhelm swallowed, taking a deep breath. "But you don't want to hear about that, and I don't want to talk about it." He laughed, picking at his thumbnail.
Pheasant Brook (O/O with Icarus!)
(wait…this takes place in the 1930's, right? I thought it took place in the 30's? that means that both Wilhelm and Connor would have been babies at the end of the war, nowhere near old enough for anything to do with the draft?)
Connor shrugged a little. "Don't tell me wha' ah dinnae want ta hear, Wilhelm. Ah'll listen ta just about anythin' tha' yeh want ta talk about." he replied, glancing over at Wilhelm. "Bu'…yeh do know tha' there isn't anythin' yeh could have done, except die for him? Tha's how war works. It's bloody ugly, bu' ah suppose tha' it's necessary sometimes."
(Ah, I was thinking more like the mid 1920s (1923-ish comes to mind), which would place them more like children during the draft. Wilhelm is ~18 at this time, which would make him around 9 years old when WWI first breaks out. I'm sorry that that wasn't very clear!)
"I suppose. It's like then always say- war is hell. Good people die." Wilhelm's volume dropped a bit, mumbling quietly. "Although there are times I wish it was me that died instead of him." His deep brown eyes were glassy, and his nose and cheeks were reddened. "But you're right, yeah. Yeah."
(OH okay. Idk why I thought 1930's. But that makes more sense! Thanks for the clarification)
Connor bit his lip, not sure what to say now. He wanted to comfort his roommate, but he wasn't sure how to. This wasn't exactly his forte. Not at all. "I uhm…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "When m' father died…m' ma could nae take it. No' wi'out him." his mother had…had killed herself, rather than live in a world without her husband. Connor, then only around eight years old, had lost both parents in the span of a year. "Bu'…ah dinnae know wha' ah'm tryin' ta say here. Only tha'…yeh cannae beat yersel' oop abou' 't. It was nae yer fault, and wishin' yeh were dead instead o' him does no one any good."
(no problem!)
“I understand.” Wilhelm was quiet for a bit, listening to Connor speak. “In a sense you’re right. I hear what you’re saying, and I know that you’ve got the right idea, it’s just..” He mimed plucking something out of the air. “I can’t seem to grasp the idea and make myself believe that.”
Connor nodded a little bit. "Try…maybe try thinkin' aboot everythin' yeh've done an' experienced, and…think o' 't this way: if yeh were dead, yeh would nae have experienced those things. For instance, ah would nae have ever had a roommate tha's obsessed with flowers an' plants, an' can likely name a flower from jus' one petal. An' dinnae forget those pretty eyes o' yers, which ah'm goin' ta paint someday."
"You really love my eyes, don't you? Not that that's a bad thing, of course." Wilhelm smiled, rolling his shoulders back. "But.. you're right. Indisputably, unequivocally, incontrovertibly correct." The boy traced his fingers along the seams of his chair, taking a deep breath. "If I went to the fronts, I wouldn't have felt the payoff of all my work when I got accepted here. I wouldn't've met the Scots boy whose sketches are better than most finished paintings in museums and lets me take him into the gardens to talk forever."
"Ah cannae help 't. Ah'm a fool for pretty things." Connor replied, wrinkling his nose. He nodded a little as Wilhelm continued, watching the German boy carefully. "See? An' ah'm no' goin' ta argue abou' the quality of m' work righ' now, since tha's no' the topic o' the conversation." he shrugged his shoulders slightly, hoping the darkness hid the blush that had crept over his cheeks at the compliment. "Bu' does tha' help, 't all?"
Wilhelm gave Connor a slanted smile, exhaling a bit. "It does. I'm not going to treat you like a head doctor, Connor, but you're good at it."
Connor shrugged a little, examining his hands for a moment. "I spent time at a… sanitarium, after m' parents died, so. Ah should hope ah know a bit about what ah'm talkin' about." He shrugged again, shaking his head for a moment. "Trauma does wonders for th' brain." He said.
Wilhelm laughed slightly, slipping his hands back into his hair. He never seemed to be able to refrain from that longer than half an hour. He wasn't sure where to take the conversation, or even if he could take it anywhere. "I suppose so."
Connor shrugged a little bit, a half smile tugging at his lips. He brushed a curl out of his face. "M' uncle insisted on the sanatorium. Said 't would do me good. But…ah'd rather no' talk aboot tha'."
"I won't force you to, then." Wilhelm watched Connor's body language, trying to decipher it to the best of his ability. He glanced at Bonnie, who was just now awakening from her nap. The little dog stretched, digging her tiny paws into Connor's legs.
Connor looked down at the dog, a soft smile flashing across his face. "Hey, sweetie." He cooed to the dog. "Did yeh have a good nap?" He reached down to pet the Yorkie.
Wilhelm's heart practically melted when he heard Connor speak. Men who could speak to animals like that were so attractive. He tried to shake the thought- James, of course. Bonnie pressed further into Connor's hand- clearly she liked being pet. "Little thing.. she likes you, huh?"
"O' course she does. Ah'm very likeable, y'know." Connor replied, giving Wilhelm a teasing smile. He looked down at Bonnie again, petting her more.
Wilhelm grinned lopsidedly. "Are you? I hadn't noticed." He teased, leaning forward. "It's a good indicator of a person's character, you know. When a dog likes them, I mean. They're good judges of character."
Connor chuckled softly, and nodded a little, still petting Bonnie. "Ah think that probably depends on th' dog, but yeh also are probably right."
"From what I've seen, I'd say it's accurate." Wilhelm shook his head, causing his hair to fluff out. He combed through it with his fingers, trying to tame the wild curls. "Especially with Bonnie."
Connor nodded a little. "Hm. So who doesn't she like in this school, then?" He replied, cocking an eyebrow curiously and smiling. He kept letting the little Yorkie, his red curls falling into his face a little bit.
"Oh, you know.. Peter, Jack, Francis, Romeo, and I'm sure there are others that I can't name." Wilhelm pushed his hair off of his forehead, tucking it behind his ears.
"Oh." Connor replied slowly. He wanted to ask what the beef was between Wilhelm and Romeo, exactly, but…it wasn't his business. It really wasn't. Though he was curious what had happened between yesterday and today. Since yesterday they had seemed like they got along, and then…today they didn't.
"Yeah. And she's usually right." Wilhelm laughed, leaning back. He rested his head on the top of the chair and crossed his legs. He really didn't want to get into his issues with each boy right now, especially not Romeo. "Agh, I forgot.. I'll be right back, I've got to get my homework from my bag. It shouldn't be difficult- no English, since we took the final today, but some for all my other classes." He stood up, stretching.
"Alright." Connor replied. He dug into his bag, which held all his own homework. "Don't get lost." He teased, grabbing his homework to figure out what he needed to do.
"No guarantees." Wilhelm quipped back, walking in the dorm for a bit. He came back out with his schoolbag, taking his place back in his chair. he pulled out a couple books, beginning to go through them.
Connor looked up for a moment when Wilhelm came back. "Oh. By the way…do you know how th' mail works? Like where ah can collect it or anythin'?"
"Oh, yeah! Uh- if you go to the main office and ask, they should give it to you. Remember that you need your student number to claim it, though." Wilhelm wrote a few things down on his paper. "That reminds me, I should probably check. It's been a couple months since I last went."
Connor nodded a little bit. "Alrigh', thanks." he replied softly. He sighed softly, running a hand through his hair.
"Why? Are you expecting something, or are you just curious?" Wilhelm tilted his head,tapping his pen against his homework. "Not to pry."
"Both. Ah gave Jamie the address." Connor replied with a soft smile. He ran a hand through his hair again.