A Castle Of Crystal

1. In unloving memory

"How do you do this?! Every time!"

Laughter, curses, and the obnoxious beeping of the fire alarm echoed in the apartment. It left me to snatch a towel off the counter and wave it around before Jude booked it for the porch slider to let in some fresh air. Cold winds nipped at the back of my neck but eventually the beeping stopped, both of us releasing a breath of relief before he returned to the kitchen to continue cooking breakfast. I stepped outside for just a moment to take a deep breath of the crisp December breeze and noted the cloudless blue skies overhead while I closed the door for good.

"There was a chunk a' something trapped under the burner," Jude chimed as he lifted the pan, straightening and promptly whacking his head on the exhaust. I failed to stifle my laugh and he glared at me, sending me to reclaim my spot on the sofa while I hollered over my shoulder at him.

"Are you trying to give yourself more brain damage in there?"

"No, I'm just inept," he scoffed at himself as he backed away, rubbing at his head, "I don't know how you manage not to slam your head into this thing."

"It's called I have depth perception, dumbass," I snorted, "just because I'm taller than you doesn't mean I hit my head on everything."

"Not everything, just the Accord door."

"Coming from the one who smacked his on the Mazda literally yesterday?"

"Listen, do you want your breakfast or not Kane?"

I grinned and he quit his bickering for a few moments just to fill the plates before he brought them over to sit with me and eat. He tied his hair back while I shoveled the cheesy goodness down my throat, not a care in the world about the burning sensation but I did pause when I found a ginger strand on my plate, glaring at him and sticking it to his forehead.

"You're supposed to do that before you cook."

"I'm so fucking sorry I don't bring home hair nets from work," he scoffed back at me. "Hey, it's better than a pube—"

"And suddenly, I've magically lost my appetite."

He loosed a bright laugh, our bickering resuming while he changed the channel and sat back to watch something about the new game he'd started playing last week. I didn't pay much attention, I just wanted the growling in my stomach to cease and by the time I finished my plate I felt much better. My phone buzzed in my pocket though and I saw Mom's name on the screen before I texted her back with a heftier sigh.

"Thank you, I did not want to scramble around and try to cook something," I told him as I set my empty plate on the coffee table. "What are you up to today?"

"Work on the shitbox, swing into town and grab some smokes if I can get it running. What about you?"

"Going up to Mom's here in a bit to help her clean out the attic, was going to see if you wanted to come and get some lunch."

"God don't even tempt me she makes the best mac n' cheese," Jude groaned and I chuckled to myself, "I would if I didn't have crap to do. I'll be up for Christmas at least, assuming she's still making dinner this year."

"It's Mom, when does she not make dinner?"

"True, just y'know with your Dad and all—"

"Shit, I didn't actually think about that." There was a short pause and I ran a hand through my hair. "Tell you what I have been thinking about thought, now that he's gone I want to ask Mom about what really happened. I'm still having these dreams, had it again last night, and now that he's been gone for a little while I'm wondering if she might be willing to talk about it."