"Yeah, Liam fought in the Great War. The big one." He's tried to explain it to Kyle and it's been so hard to put it into words. Kyle seems familiar with the idea of the whole world gone to war, but in his version, they all fought on the same side against the machines. But... the World War was different. He'd tried to explain how it all happened, but the honest truth is that Sean's not even sure. An Archduke from Austria got shot in Serbia and somehow that meant that Ireland had to go to war alongside Britain. Sean had been too young for it, something he'd been sad about when the war started, then relieved as the time went on... then ashamed that he would feel grateful for anything when he lost Dylan and Niall, and dad.
Sean glances over at Kyle, and then away, not quite able to look him in the eyes while they talk. "He went over soon as he was old enough. My dad and the rest of my brothers were already there for about... six months? We hadn't gotten the letter about Niall yet, but that came shortly after Liam shipped out. Then we got dad's letter, and then Dylan's and... we thought that's it, that's it, all my brothers and my dad are gone, and soon as I'm eighteen, the Great War's going to take me and eat me up too, leave me rotting in a trench somewhere..."
"But it didn't. And Connor came home to his family, and Liam came back to ours. He's a tough bastard. You wouldn't have thought he was in the trenches. There's no ten mile stare in those eyes and he doesn't jump at shadows. He just... doesn't sleep soundly anymore." Sean can feel the mood dipping down, getting heavy and dark and he tries to pull them out of that black pit. "Oh, and he's got a plan for everything now. It's kind of funny. Eliza says that taking him shopping at the market ends up taking half the time, because he makes her write down what they're getting and the order it's being gotten in, and he makes her stick to it. Very in and out, no visiting."
no subject
Sean glances over at Kyle, and then away, not quite able to look him in the eyes while they talk. "He went over soon as he was old enough. My dad and the rest of my brothers were already there for about... six months? We hadn't gotten the letter about Niall yet, but that came shortly after Liam shipped out. Then we got dad's letter, and then Dylan's and... we thought that's it, that's it, all my brothers and my dad are gone, and soon as I'm eighteen, the Great War's going to take me and eat me up too, leave me rotting in a trench somewhere..."
"But it didn't. And Connor came home to his family, and Liam came back to ours. He's a tough bastard. You wouldn't have thought he was in the trenches. There's no ten mile stare in those eyes and he doesn't jump at shadows. He just... doesn't sleep soundly anymore." Sean can feel the mood dipping down, getting heavy and dark and he tries to pull them out of that black pit. "Oh, and he's got a plan for everything now. It's kind of funny. Eliza says that taking him shopping at the market ends up taking half the time, because he makes her write down what they're getting and the order it's being gotten in, and he makes her stick to it. Very in and out, no visiting."