{"id":19038,"date":"2021-12-06T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T16:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/?p=19038"},"modified":"2021-11-28T14:15:55","modified_gmt":"2021-11-28T22:15:55","slug":"sylum-advent-2021-december-6th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2021-december-6th\/","title":{"rendered":"Sylum Advent 2021: December 6th"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Title: In the Silence<\/span><\/p>\n

Author: Gil Grissom<\/span><\/p>\n

Character: Brian O\u2019Conner<\/span><\/p>\n

Pairing: Dom\/Brian (background)<\/span><\/p>\n

Rating: G<\/span><\/p>\n

Summary: Brian\u2019s an urban guy, and getting used to the silence of Border\u2019s home territory takes some getting used to.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou look constipated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian turned his head and threw a half-hearted glare in James\u2019 direction after he jumped because he hadn\u2019t heard him coming. \u201cI do <\/span>not<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething has got you clearly all in a lather,\u201d James said, sitting down in the chair next to his. \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They were out on the balcony of the main house, looking out over grasslands that stretched out alongside the beach and into the distance on that side of the house. It was a beautiful sight during the day and peaceful at night but\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a city boy. Sure, my hometown wasn\u2019t as big as Los Angeles was, but it still was urban, you know? And it was surrounded by more urban places. There was always something going on. Always noise of the urban type, you know?\u201d He motioned out in front of them. \u201cIt\u2019s different here than it has been anywhere else I lived, and honestly? It\u2019s <\/span>weird<\/span><\/i>. Yeah, you can hear the waves hitting the shore, and you can hear the wind blowing through the grasses, but that\u2019s not what I\u2019m talking about.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo cars, no people, no streetlights, no noises coming from surrounding houses in big neighborhoods.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNone of that or a thousand other things that you don\u2019t really notice, that you learn to tune out until it\u2019s not there.\u201d He pointed upwards. \u201cThere\u2019s no moon tonight, so it makes it even weirder, and it kind of creeps me out. Who the hell knows what\u2019s out there, creeping around in the dark?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean besides us creatures of the night?\u201d James asked teasingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian blew a raspberry at him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

James laughed. \u201cI\u2019m probably one of the last ones here you actually should talk about this with.\u201d He motioned out to the distance. \u201cI grew up with this. I was born in 1884 and we didn\u2019t get power to the ranch, even as wealthy as we were, until well into the 1900s. Same for here. It would have been even longer if the Clan itself hadn\u2019t been a driving force for it.\u00a0 There are parts of Mexico that still don\u2019t have power that comes from the electrical grid. Cars weren\u2019t a huge thing in our lives until after the 1910s, at least in no discernible way. My brother had a motorbike, one of the first, and eventually we had cars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd with all that came the noise pollution that we hear all the damn time,\u201d Brian said with a nod. \u201cI get it, but it\u2019s still weird for me and is going to take some getting used to. I\u2019m the kind of person that has to sleep with a fan on if it\u2019s too quiet. Drives Dom a little batty sometimes, but he indulges it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James snorted. \u201cHe\u2019d have grown up mostly like I did. A little more urban for the given value of what that was back in the very early 1900s in his area, but he would have been an adult long before it was in his life in any significant way. You\u2019re just a product of your time and place you lived.\u201d He clapped him on the arm. \u201cGuess you\u2019ll just have to get used to being freaked the fuck out until you get over it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWow, so helpful. I\u2019m sure Red is feeling very secure in his position with the Clan with guys like you running around.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe newbie has jokes,\u201d James said and laughed. \u201cBut in all seriousness, it\u2019ll be good for you to learn to live with the quiet, and the quietness around here is going to be really good for your training. We can\u2019t leave a delicate little blossom like you untrained. It would drive Dom to distraction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFuck you. Delicate blossom\u2026 I\u2019ll show you who\u2019s a delicate blossom,\u201d Brian said, jumping up and chasing after James, who jumped over the railing and down to the ground while laughing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian followed behind him until he couldn\u2019t hear him, unable to distinguish anymore between the sound of the grass moving and James running through it. It was nearly pitch black, the only light coming from the Clan houses in the distance, but even that was muted out in the grassland. He tried sharpening his eyesight, but that only helped so much with so little light available.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to learn to use all your senses together,\u201d James said from just behind him and Brian yelped before whirling around.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t scare me like that, asshole. I\u2019m a delicate blossom!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

James laughed and slung an arm around his shoulders. \u201cYou\u2019re really not, but that\u2019s okay. We like your perky little butt anyway. We\u2019ll get you trained. It\u2019s not easy, tracking someone in these conditions, but we\u2019ll get you there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not enough to just focus on hearing and sight. As you can tell, Vampire eyesight isn\u2019t always as useful as you\u2019d expect when there is very little light source for it to play off. You have to rely on what you can hear, smell, and feel. Sometimes in these cases, even the taste of the air, the chemicals or trace particles floating around you, can give you information.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say that seems impossible, but Sands is a Hunter and he\u2019s blind, so clearly sight isn\u2019t everything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, and no one sense is. He\u2019s not only learned to use all of his senses, but to live without one of the big ones that Hunters often rely on. It\u2019s part of what makes him so dangerous. People always underestimate him and his capabilities simply because the eyes in his head are glass.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSucks to be them,\u201d Brian murmured as they hit the sand and walked along the beach. It was quiet for a few minutes, save the waves to their right as they walked back toward the houses. \u201cHow do you deal with your thoughts when it\u2019s so quiet. It seems so loud in my head with no significant sounds to drown it out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean that little demon voice in the back of your head that tells you you\u2019re not enough of something? Not smart enough, big enough, strong enough, handsome enough. That you\u2019re not worthy of \u2018insert random thing here\u2019?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d Brian swallowed. \u201cSometimes, when it\u2019s quiet like this, it tells me that I\u2019m a fraud, that I\u2019m just faking it through life and I don\u2019t deserve what I have.\u201d He waved his hand around. \u201cIt\u2019s not even about this. It\u2019s been there for years, and usually, I can drown it out and ignore it, but having free time and the space to live with my own thoughts\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel like you\u2019re going to screw it up, that everyone around you is just going to get fed up with your neurotic behavior and show you the door. That you\u2019ll never measure up to the potential that everyone else sees in you, or that you think they perceive anyway.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, exactly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James squeezed him tighter and placed a smacking kiss on his temple. \u201cHell, kid, you fit right in here with the rest of us. There isn\u2019t a single one of us who hasn\u2019t dealt with those kinds of intrusive thoughts at some point or another. Red has certainly never had a dull day here since he arrived.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian eyed him. \u201cSo you\u2019re saying that I\u2019m not the only one with a few bats in the belfry?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James laughed. \u201cHell, no. All of us deal with that kind of shit. Full honesty, being a Vampire isn\u2019t easy. I think it\u2019s worth it, for the family and friendships we\u2019ve built here, the support system we have within the Clans. I love my Clan, but not a single one of us could be considered \u2018normal\u2019, whatever that is.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou got lucky with your Turning. I\u2019d reckon most of them aren\u2019t the gentle one that you had. But hell, even yours was preceded by that whole clusterfuck in LA. I\u2019d say it\u2019s probably really uncommon for someone to just meet their Mate and everything goes great, and the Turning is all smooth and life is a Disney fairy tale ending. More often, some kind of drama or traumatic event surrounds it. Hell, this Clan itself has enough collective baggage to outfit a whole city. Life is messy and fucked up, and we just have to deal the best we can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo what you\u2019re saying is that I fit right in down here and that I should just embrace it and put myself on Red\u2019s already overtaxed schedule?\u201d Brian asked, amused.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, pretty much.\u201d James sighed. \u201cThe best advice I can give you is to remember that while your feelings and what you feel are perfectly valid because it is how you feel, that they don\u2019t necessarily reflect the reality of the situation. You may feel like you\u2019re letting down Dom or Josiah or any number of people, but the reality is that it\u2019s far from the truth. Everyone is content for you to take things at your own pace. No pressure at all. You\u2019re already driven enough to succeed as it is. I know that you expect more from yourself already than anyone else does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t want to be a disappointment,\u201d he said quietly. He knew that stemmed from his childhood, feeling like he needed to make up for the absence of his siblings, but he couldn\u2019t seem to help himself with that. He knew it was a problem, just one he tried to ignore in the hopes it would go away.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot gonna happen. Even if someone was to be disappointed in an event that occurs or a choice, there\u2019s nothing about you, Brain O\u2019Conner, that is a disappointment.\u201d He dropped onto the sand and tugged Brian down. \u201cCome on. Let\u2019s sit out here and embrace the silence until Dom comes looking for us because he\u2019s worried I\u2019m trying to steal your fine ass away from him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian laughed and leaned into James and the silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Title: In the Silence Author: Gil Grissom Character: Brian O\u2019Conner Pairing: Dom\/Brian (background) Rating: G Summary: Brian\u2019s an urban guy, and getting used to the silence of Border\u2019s home territory takes some getting used to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1003,137],"tags":[1015,1004,86],"class_list":["post-19038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sylum-advent-2021","category-sylum-events","tag-story-in-the-silence","tag-sylum-advent-2021","tag-writer-gil-grissom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Da1M-4X4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":519,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-december-13th-on-the-shores-of-cape-sounion-by-gil-grissom\/","url_meta":{"origin":19038,"position":0},"title":"Sylum Advent – December 13th: On the Shores of Cape Sounion by Gil Grissom","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"December 13th \u00a0 Title:\u00a0On the Shores of Cape Sounion Author:\u00a0Gil Grissom Pairings\/Characters:\u00a0Dom Toretto\/Brian O'Conner Rating:\u00a0FRAO Summary:\u00a0\u00a0Dom and Brian take a little trip to the Clan's villa. Art:\u00a0taibhrigh \u00a0 Link to Sylum Archive \u00a0 Please reply to this post for comments\/observations","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2012"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2012","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2012\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/banner_advent2012-final.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2278,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-december-3rd-building-mysteries-by-gil-grissom\/","url_meta":{"origin":19038,"position":1},"title":"Sylum Advent – December 3rd: Building Mysteries by Gil Grissom","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"December 3rd \u00a0 \u00a0 Title: Building Mysteries Author: Gil Grissom Summary:\u00a0Dom seeks out Brian a few days after Christmas. \u00a0 Link to Sylum Archive \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2013"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2013","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2013\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"banner_advent2013","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/banner_advent2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":506,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-december-9th-the-perfect-gift-by-gil-grissom\/","url_meta":{"origin":19038,"position":2},"title":"Sylum Advent – December 9th: The Perfect Gift by Gil Grissom","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"December 9th Title:\u00a0The Perfect Gift Author:\u00a0Gil Grissom Pairings\/Characters:\u00a0Dom\/Brian, Daniel Boone, David Crockett Rating:\u00a0FRAO Summary:\u00a0Daniel and David's gift on their fifth-year Bonding anniversary wasn't anything they'd ever expected, but it was more than welcome. Art:\u00a0taibhrigh \u00a0 Link to Sylum Archive \u00a0 Please reply to this post for comments\/observations","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2012"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2012","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2012\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/banner_advent2012-final.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19024,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2021-december-3rd\/","url_meta":{"origin":19038,"position":3},"title":"Sylum Advent 2021: December 3rd","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Artwork: Frankenstein Artist: Gil Grissom","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2021"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2021","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2021\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2021.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19111,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2021-december-17th\/","url_meta":{"origin":19038,"position":4},"title":"Sylum Advent 2021: December 17th","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Artwork: Jonathon Royce Artist: Gil Grissom","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2021"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2021","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2021\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2021.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19147,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2021-december-23rd\/","url_meta":{"origin":19038,"position":5},"title":"Sylum Advent 2021: December 23rd","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Artwork: Rick and Daryl Artist: Gil Grissom","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2021"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2021","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2021\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2021.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}