”Hey, little brother” Dominic greeted Kip with their usual banter. As far as the Minnesota native was concerned, Kip was like his baby brother. They didn’t talk a whole lot; that was the magic of their friendship. The two men could convey a whole lot more via looks and body language. Many a night Dom would spend his evening on the balcony with Kip and Didi as his little bro and sis listened to him (always with as little dialogue as possible) talk about his latest expedition.
”Little sis is here somewhere, I know I saw her come in” Of course, he was referring to Didi. Sometimes she and Kip were insperable but that comes from growing up together.
”Nat is just opening her presents, give me two minutes and we can chat”Dom soon watched quietly as Natalya began opening her presents; their friends had gotten her some amazing things. You know, the all came from very different walks of life. Some were rich, some were poor, some were straight, some were gay. There were good guys, bad guys, arseholes and Connor’s and yet they all worked well together, they just clicked. As everyone surrounded Nat with smiles and exuberance, Dominic simply stroked the back of her neck, underneath her ear. He had spent his life in silence, the mountains and the peaks were his escape but in this moment, this moment he shared with his new family, he remembered that sometimes there can be tranquillity in chaos. He was happy.
As the chaos continued, more of their family turned up and Dom would greet them as he always did…mostly with a head nod. Words Dominic, learn to us them. First on his list of meet and greets was his other female best friend, Lucie. They shared a sports bond much like he did with Scare Bear Claire, the difference being that Lucie knew Dom wanted the Olympics just like she did. There was a bond there.
”Hey Lucie, glad your back. We should grab coffee this week, you can fill me in on Russia and I’ll tell you about Alaska”On the inside, Dom was jumping around like an idiot when he saw Jeje and Echo walk into the club….together. About damn time, he thought to himself. Jecho was a reality, people talked about them getting together so damn much that even Dom started shipping them. Finally! Of course, Big Mountain Mason didn’t want to be the guy who brought it up in conversation, nobody wants to be that guy….well maybe Claire but still.
”Hey Jay. Echo the snow bunny, you would’ve loved Haines, the boarding up their was incredible” Dom and Echo had first met on the slopes not long after he moved into the apartments. They had a little race (she won) and bonded at the lodge, unaware they lived on the same block. From then on, she’s always been his snow bunny.
Kissing Nat on the cheek, Dom returned his attention to Kip. They were in crowd, which for once didn’t matter to Dom because he felt like the noise from their island of misfit toys might drown out the stupidity of what he was about to say, damnit this is why he doesn’t speak…oh god what if they hear it? Too late now Dom, you’re already talking.
”I was thinking little brother, maybe we could make a documentary, some big mountain stuff. Us hiking some peaks then riding them….maybe”Oh shit.