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Tweak says, "I'm bored enough to do this..."

Doctor Sergei Sentinus (_callmedoc_) wrote,
@ 2014-06-21 07:40:00

Those were the days!
Who: Sergei and Vladmir
What: Talking about the old days
Where: Sentinus Estate, the family reunion
When: Backdated shortly after the Unification War ended
Status: Complete
Rating: G, there's mischief and nostalgia afoot!

Sergei had a lot on his mind as of late. Over the last forty years his youngest brother Vladmir had turned their father's small mining business into one of the biggest operations in the Rim, Mama and Daddy had lived the rest of their lives comfortably until they passed away about ten years back and now the family was coming together for the bi-yearly reunion.

The brothers had been through a lot together even after Sergei moved to Pacquin and the war reunited them. The Sentinus clan hadn't lost any family members during the war, surprising considering that fourteen of them had gone off to fight though they had lost a lot of good friends in battle and Nikolai lost an arm. The man was still recovering from the socketing procedure and was expected to take two years to fully recover though he was able to come out and socialize.

The family was gathered at the estate and as usual not everybody showed up - they had a very large family scattered across the Verse so that was to be expected. After entertaining the kids with his beloved party tricks of mixing harmless chemicals and food coloring he went to sit on the porch and cracked open a cold beer. He saw Nikolai chasing the kids around the yard and sighed as they turned around and tackled him piling on top of him as he laughed and jokingly called for help - some things never changed.

The old man suddenly burst out into his trademark belly laugh as some of the other kids ganged up on Nikolai's dad and tackled him into the pond and dumped a cooler of ice all over Vlad. When his great grandkids came after Sergei he mixed up some smoke put on his goggles and escaped like a ninja onto the back porch where the kids weren't allowed.

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steelhydra
2014-06-21 12:40 pm UTC (link)

Vlad eventually made his way out back after being subjected to the traditional shenanigans from the great grandkids, sopping wet and a bit cold - luckily it was warm and sunny and he had wisely chosen to not wear his hat.

He saw his big brother sitting in a rocking chair a little out of breath and chuckled while opening a beer. "You're an asshole for leavin' me to fend off the kids by myself. Ugh, we're gettin too damn old for this shit, brother." He sat down on his special chair and took a swig of his beer.

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	_callmedoc_ 2014-06-21 12:47 pm UTC (link)
	He heard Vlad coming and just looked back at him smiling. "Nah we're not that old! You just suck at getaways!" With a chuckle he took a swig of beer and at back staring at the red mesa in the distance. "Remember when we were kids and we'd go play up on that hill?" It felt like a lifetime ago and the memories felt nostalgic. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	steelhydra 2014-06-21 12:52 pm UTC (link)
	He rolled his eyes and grumbled a little taking another swig propping his feet up on the table. "I remember grandpa helpin' us build a clubhouse up there. Remember when Daddy found out about it? He was so pissed!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_callmedoc_
2014-06-21 01:02 pm UTC (link)

He'd almost forgotten about grandpa sneaking up there with them! He'd say they were going fishing but they never brought back any fish. "Grandpa taught us more about gettin' in trouble than we taught ourselves!"

He thought back to when the old man found out about it and then he remembered whose fault it was. "Daddy probably would've never known if you hadn't been blabbin' about our super secret clubhouse! If it wasn't for Mama we would've gotten our asses whipped! And if it wasn't for the still Grandpa put together up there Daddy would've tore the whole place down."

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steelhydra
2014-06-21 01:13 pm UTC (link)

He forgot that it was his fault. That was the problem with 80+ year old stories - details sometimes got lost. Leave it to Sergei to remember something from when he was 12 so easily. "I remember the next time we snuck out there Daddy and Grandpa were sittin in there laughin' and carryin' on like fools. We didn't know back then they were drunk but we ended up campin' out under the stars."

He was finally starting to dry off having finished his beer and fishing two more out of the cooler handing big brother another.

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_callmedoc_
2014-06-21 01:28 pm UTC (link)

Daddy was a strict man when they were growing up but he was a good father and raised the boys well. His kids were growing up and he'd started making up for lost time after the clubhouse was discovered. "One of these days we should go up there like we used to. Twenty credits says the clubhouse is still there."

He tossed his empty bottle in the can and toasted Vlad with the fresh one. "To old farts who still don't wanna grow up."

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steelhydra
2014-06-21 01:36 pm UTC (link)

He raised an eyebrow at Sergei's bet, smirked and shook on it. "Why not today? I won't get another shot to take your money for another two years."

He laughed at the toast and took a big ol' swig, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and sighing. "Hell yeah, I'll drink to that! If anybody asks you know what to tell em'." He got up, dug out his tackle box and a couple fishing poles and started back out front. And the kids knew not to mess with him when he was carrying his fishing stuff around.

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	_callmedoc_ 2014-06-21 01:46 pm UTC (link)
	Sergei got his old fishing gear and rounded the corner following Vlad and when Nikolai asked where they were going he simply answered "Me and your grandpa are goin' fishin'. You kids behave while we're gone!" He got up on his mule, loaded up his gear and sat down waiting for his little brother. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	steelhydra 2014-06-21 01:52 pm UTC (link)
	He'd changed his clothes inside, grabbed his hat and his guns before heading out - just in case shit went down he told Gregorio where he was going and gave him explicit orders to come looking by armed gunship with Nikolai, Ross and Ivan if they weren't back by sunset. Catching up he hopped up onto the mule stashed his stuff and sat down. "Let's ride!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_callmedoc_ 2014-06-21 01:59 pm UTC (link)
	Taking the route through Lodestar Canyon saved time and let Sergei have a little fun at Vlad's expense as big brother was a bit of a crazy driver - he'd done this countless times and scaring the hell out of his little brother was always shiny fun! "Hold on to your britches, Vlad! Here's where shit gets fun! Bwahahaha!!!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

steelhydra
2014-06-21 02:09 pm UTC (link)

Vladimir was a badass to most everyone he met. Right now he didn't feel or look like a badass he was clinging to his seat and his hat for dear life screaming like a kid on a roller coaster. "Yooooou son of a biiiitch!!!"

Sergei was having a grand time and the more terrified Vlad got the more the older brother laughed and after about ten minutes of pure hell for Vladimir they finally arrived at the base of the mesa with him taking out his hunting rifle just in case it was needed. "You crazy bastard! I'm drivin' on the way back!"

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_callmedoc_
2014-06-21 02:19 pm UTC (link)

He parked and powered down the mule hiding it behind some dead bushes. loaded a hunting rifle and checked his pistol before getting off the vehicle. "Alright, I don't think I'll be doing that again though."

He'd been practically in tears having laughed so hard and now that they'd arrived he started up the path keeping his eyes peeled for trouble. The mesa was on Vlad's property but that didn't mean that outlaws wouldn't use it. Only a stupid outlaw would though because Sentinus men were notoriously good shots and Vlad's local reputation from a criminal's perspective was not a very nice one - to bad men he was seen as a badder man.

If they found anyone up there they had the legal right to shoot first and ask questions later.

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	steelhydra 2014-06-21 02:23 pm UTC (link)
	It took them a couple hours to reach the top and in the midday sun they found it uninhabited. Sergei beat him to the top and Vlad couldn't help but notice he was smiling evilly. "What's got you so moonbrained all of a sudden?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_callmedoc_
2014-06-21 02:34 pm UTC (link)

Sergei was sitting on an old log seat cross-legged pointing left to the clubhouse which was still completely intact. "I'll take my twenty credits now."

It was a brick and mortar building covered in red clay cement on the outside with a crude but still functional brass ceiling fan powered by an old wind turbine on the back with gears and doodads, when he opened to door it was still working. "Grandpa wasn't kidding when he said this place was gonna last a long time! Good thing we made it big enough for grownups!"

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	steelhydra 2014-06-21 02:41 pm UTC (link)
	"I think the sun fried your brain. What makes you think that you've..." Then he saw it and he scowled at him. "Ah, fuck..." Grumbling he took out his wallet and put a crumpled up wad of money in his brother's hand, grumbling the whole time with the only legible part being "ahh, ya son of a bitch..." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_callmedoc_
2014-06-21 02:51 pm UTC (link)

He laughed heartily as he took the wad of cash and put it in his wallet. "Pleasure doin' business with ya!" He walked inside and had a seat, opened the cabinet and dusted off a very old jar of moonshine with a dusty cough.

"There's a lot of moonshine in this place. Just wait till we get into the cellar! We might end up camping here tonight because there's no way in hell either of us is drivin' drunk on this shit!" Off the shelf he took two tin cups wrapped in cloth, cleaned them out and poured some shine for the both of them. "Bottoms up!" He drank his cup and savored the burn breathing out almost like he was out of breath.

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steelhydra
2014-06-21 03:03 pm UTC (link)

He sat down and took his cup with a wide grin of his own "Now THIS is more like it! I forgot about the moonshine, that's probably why it's still here!"

Going in the cellar was gonna be fun - there were hundreds of jars down there and some of the liquor stored there was made over a hundred years ago and brought here for safe keeping!

All of it was at least sixty years old as Grandpa Zeb had been shining from the time he was ten up until he died sixty years ago - Vladimir Zebulon Sentinus had lived to be 150 years old so that meant there was a metric shitload of bootleg whiskey hidden all over the property!

Vlad drank his cup and leaned back in his seat thoroughly pleased with this stroll down memory lane. "This was a good idea you had, big brother."

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_callmedoc_
2014-06-21 03:14 pm UTC (link)

The brothers drank and reminisced about the good old days for the better part of the afternoon all the way to the evening laughing like they hadn't in years and eventually migrating to the old fire pit where they set up a nice campfire and cooked a big pot of venison stew after killing and prepping a deer.

It was just past sunset when Sergei saw lights in the sky above the house he turned to look at Vlad and grinned drunkenly. "Still blabbin' about our super secret clubhouse, eh, Vladdy? Ah, fuggit at least we have a ride back to the house!"

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steelhydra
2014-06-21 03:25 pm UTC (link)

Vlad was pretty hammered too and saw the lights, barely remembering that he'd told Greg to come if they weren't home by sunset and on the far side of the mesa Sundowner dropped Greg, Nikolai and Sergei's son Ivan armed with assault rifles and body armor checking for danger while O'Malley flew overhead ready to rain hell if needed.

Finding both men perfectly fine, albeit completely shitfaced they relaxed, Ross landed and the younger men gathered around the campfire for drinks and stew. Even Greg didn't know about this place until now but he contacted the house and let them know that everything was alright.

"Lemme tell you boys a story..."

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_callmedoc_
2014-06-21 03:44 pm UTC (link)

After the fire was out, the food was gone and they'd gone through a few jars of booze everyone staggered into the old brick building, found a spot and laid down to go to sleep. It'd been a really good day and now the younger men had some stories of their own to tell to their kids and grandkids about the place the old times kept a secret for all these years.

Here he wasn't a great doctor, a war veteran or a crazy old fart. He was just... Sergei. Maybe he was wrong holding onto this little piece of the past but he didn't give a rat's ass if he was wrong. He was happy that's all that mattered.

Come morning they'd all wake up, head home and the day would move forward. Time would march on as it always did but for now he would simply enjoy camping under the stars with his family. He drifted off to sleep dreaming of golden days long since past with people who'd been called home long ago and as the night passed quietly the old man...simply smiled.

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