Spanish Bombs

So We Danced

After walking around the garden for the time it took him to smoke three cigarettes we were back indoors but this time in my room. I had read somewhere that music is linked to memories so I thought maybe it would help Joseph.
As soon as he walks into my room he is drawn by my the mural I had painted aside my bed, The Creation of Adam, a replica to Michelangelo's original except on mine Adam's body ended where his belly button was.

"This is astounding."
"Thank you, took me a while to complete."
"You mean you painted it?" He says with eyes still fixed on the wall.
"Yeah, I love painting. The painting of the boat downstairs is mine as well."
He faces me, "you ought to be famous."
I blush "no, its just a hobby, I ought to be a translator in a government house."
"A translator?"
"Yeah, it's what my parents want."
"And you?"
"Pardon?"
"What do you want? Like, from life."
I ponder a second, I don't recall ever being asked what I wanted. What did I want?
"I don't know, wisdom, I suppose."
He smiles, "you're very interesting, you know?"
I can't help smiling back like an idiot, "not really."
"Are you gonna deny every compliment I give you?" He laughs.
"Possibly."
"Don't" he says with dreamy eyes clinging to mine, we stand close face to face like lovers on an altar. I wish I could take him by the hand and kiss his plump lips, but I'm not so bold.

Instead I turn towards the shelves keeping my records and books, he stands next to me to skim through the selection. He pulls out a work by Nietzsche, "you know German?"
I nod taking an LP and turning towards the turntable. "I also speak Italian but I'm more fluent in German. It is said amongst politicians that German will become more important that English and Germany more powerful than England."
He scoffs, "and you believe that?"
I look back at him shrugging, "Beethoven was German."
He puts the book back and stands behind me as I set the record in place, my fingers begin to shake, I press play. A bit of feedback through the speakers, then playful piano keys followed by a sweet melody.
I turn my head slowly to meet his gaze again then he kindly takes me by the hand, we begin to waltz as if it was scripted. We twirl through the floor to the rhythm of "Valses Brilliante No.1." His grip upon my hip and the other on my palm, I, resting my free arm over his strong shoulder, around his neck. We smile and I think to myself: I could spend the rest of my days in his arms and that would be just fine.

When the A side ends we let go, the atmosphere is an awkward one like when you receive your first kiss and you don't know what to do after.
"It's, it's a bit warm in here isn't it?"
He half-nods, half-shrugs in response so I open one of of my windows, fresh wind hits against my heated face, my short curls flow back with it.

Joseph has found my radio, he turns the knob through the stations curiously until an upbeat jazz tune plays, he stood up.
"I know this song," he says excitedly.
"Can you remember the name?" I ask.
"Hmm, no. But, I know I've heard it before."
"Don't worry, soon enough your memory will restore" I sit on my bed. "Do you remember anything at all?"
He sits by me, "yeah, while taking a shower earlier my troubled childhood in Westminster came back in flashes. With my father dead after the fourteen-eighteen war my mother ran off, I was left for my brothers to raise." He says, I can tell by his eyes those memories ache.
"I'm sorry Joseph," I say placing a gentle hand upon his knee.
He smiles weakly, "It's not your fault...Anyway, I don't remember anything else, I don't know how or why I'm in Spain, even less why I was fighting a war. I'm not keen on violence."
I take my hand back, "it sounds like you have retrograde amnesia, meaning you don't remember things that preceded your injury. That's good, I think."
"Good?"
"Yeah, because sometimes head trauma doesn't allow you to store new memories for a while after the injury. And I don't want you to forget me." That last part slipped out.
He smiles flattered, "I wouldn't forget you. As far as I know, you're the first sight my eyes ever saw."