Paper and Ink PV Eldred Grayswell Locked

Spoken: #610000 Clothes: Uniform

Maybe it would be worth going outside on such a peacefully bright day. The weather called for a long, exciting time outdoors, and Eldred could imagine that many students were taking advantage of it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t join them because, in the last week of his romantic and social identity crisis, he hadn’t spent a single hour studying. Homework had piled up, just like the questions in his head. His mother liked to say in such moments that one must take it step by step—and that’s exactly what he intended to do this day.

Eldred grabbed a pen, paper, and two books from the pile of "ignore until boredom strikes‘-stack, then set off immediately. He soon arrived, his hair neat and in his usual clean uniform. Somehow, he was proud that he had diverted his thoughts from love drama and instead decided to do something productive: study. He wouldn’t leave the room until he had read at least one chapter and finished two of his assignments!

The best way to do this was to consciously avoid all distractions, hence the study room was where he had found himself to be. He took a deep breath and quietly moved further inside. To find a perfect spot for him, he carefully observed the layout of the tables and the other students. Many were studying, sitting over their materials.
It made him briefly consider sitting at the back, where the windows let in bright light beams, and one could imagine hearing birds chirping even through the castle‘s thick walls. Eldred walked purposefully in that direction. He too would likely have reached it, if out of the corner of his eyes, he hadn’t recognised a familiar figure. The black hair and the anachronistic style of clothing were unmistakable. The last time Eldred had seen her was on his first day at Hogwarts. Back then, he had been walking in his pajamas and yellow old slippers toward the Gryffindor bathroom when he had noticed the strange student by the fireplace.

“Sinclair, nice to see you again,” he heard himself say just a few seconds after recognizing the girl. He had barely noticed how he‘d walked from his spot to her and, as determined as a bee to a flower, placed his books next to her arm on the table. He was glad to see encounter her again, especially since his first impression had likely not been a good one. Who would want to be reminded of the school rules by a classmate? He smiled, hoping she would see his good intentions right away, and sat down next to her without asking. May the next awkward moment prepare itself for him - Eldred was ready to deep dive! The week had been sleep-depiriving already as is.

Sinclair had heard the footsteps of someone approaching, stiffening when she felt the soft thud of heavy books by her arm and heard the creak of the chair next to her. But there came a familiar voice. She tilted her head to see... Eldred. It took a short moment but the name clicked in her head. She'd only met him once, after all. Sinclair raises her brows slightly as she didn't expect to cross paths with him here at all. Her light hazel eyes glance over the selection of books he'd brought with him, then flipped a page in her notebook, not very keen on sharing what awful sketches she'd been making. Her lips curl in a slight tease, her voice lowered, "Why, if it isn't Mr. fluffy yellow slippers?"

She recalls that night at the Gryffindor common room. The firelight was dying, she was carving a piece of wood, and Eldred had come out of his dorm to go to the bathroom. It was a short interaction, and she didn't see anything bad of him. Actually, not anything particularly good, either. Just neutral and unjudgmental. Any kind of teasing of the boy's choice of lounge slippers was simply for fun.

Spoken: #610000 Clothes: Uniform

As the student sat down, he noticed out of the corner of his eye how Sinclair flipped through whatever was visible in her notebook, turning it to a new page. He hadn’t looked closely before, which was exactly what he regretted in this moment. Eldred would have liked to know what she was trying to hide from him, but should he really ask her about it?Not wanting to be rude, he supressed to ask. His week had been miserable, but not enough to be deliberately mean.
Instead of asking or even visibly focusing on the notebook, he much preferred to observe the girl. Her skin appeared even paler in the daylight than he remembered.
Of course, she made a comment about the slippers he had embarrassingly worn when he‘d first met her! However, the nickname had its charm. It made his mouth corners curl up, and slowly, a small chuckleescaped him.
"You would call me a king if you knew how comfortable those shoes really are. As soft as clouds", he defended his mother‘s feetwear with a confident nod.

Then, he leaned his arm forward and rested his head on a hand. His gaze was still on Sinclair, no matter how much she would tease him – her smile told the 12-year-old that she didn’t mean it harshly. At least, that’s what he hoped.

Then, his gaze briefly shifted down to her clothes. She, like back then, seemed to come from another era. His gray eyes lingered on her shirt and traveled over her shoulders and the black vest.
"You look stylish... you know," he furrowed his brow and gestured with a finger down her body, making a circle to emphasize that he was talking about all the items she was wearing "your clothes suit you... I hope you don’t start dressing like the rest of the school."

He indeed meant it. There was something peculiar and fascinating about authentic people like she seemed to be.

She gives him a rare smile, then stands up to take a dramatic bow like she had seen in her mother's vintage movies, "Ah thank you my king," she lifts her head, "No worries, I don't plan on changing my sense of taste." She finds Eldred easy to speak with. Not particularly annoyingly vibrant like some could be, just somewhat calming and a nice, unjudging presence. The fact that he seemed to take her little quips lightly, instead of finding offense was a big bonus. Being raised to be honest and direct, she simply doesn't care very much about coddling sensitive people. It takes the whole fun out of such banter. The girl sits back down, glancing at his books, "Doing a bit of studying are we? Or leisure reading?" She assumed the former, since she didn't really take Eldred as a very bookish type. But she may be wrong, who knows.

However, there seemed to be a little gloom that lingered around the boy, or at least that is what it seemed like to Sinclair. She wondered if she should point it out, but since it isn't exactly a point of topic right now nor does she think it's any of her business, she doesn't pry.

Spoken: #610000 Clothes: Uniform

Eldred observed her bow and tilted his head to accept this spectacle as his reward. Meanwhile, he smiled even more sincerely, and a chuckling "Thank you, thank you!" escaped his lips. Pretending to be a king had something enjoyable about it. In fact, he wouldn’t mind exploring things with his servants and sending his loyal knights into strategic games! Maybe he should play chess again? He can‘t even remember the last time he did.

Sinclair sat down, and suddenly Eldred had to realize how relaxed it was with her. She had a nature to her that was something clear, playfully teasing, without digging under his skin simultanously. His gray eyes were fixed on her black hair, watching for a moment as it swayed in the air. He listened to her words, and his smile faded into an expression of mild suffering. Normally he‘d rather keep it off his face, but he felt the need to properly showcase his troubles.

“I have to do homework. So much has happened lately that I just kept postponing it. Now I have a few chapters in various books to catch up on...”, he sighed. How much he wished he hadn’t procrastinated. His gaze turned to the long, towering window. The bright rays of sunlight poured inside, and the boy seemed even more distraught. The more the sky cleared up above Hogwarts, the more Eldred‘s joy was drained. He murmured softly, “I’d much rather be outside. Finally, nice weather. I was looking forward to it for a couple of days... Have you experienced as much as I have lately?”

At his question, he turned his head to her and forced a calm and friendly smile onto his face. It didn’t reach his eyes, but the student hoped she recognised his intention. Eldred didn’t want to come across as a pessimist and possibly ruin the mood! Maybe Sinclair even preferred staying inside?

Hmm, there was that look. Something is definitely up. Sinclair followed his gaze for a moment, but ultimately just observed the way he seemed to longingly stare outside.

"Well, as you might have noticed, I enjoy being alone, possibly more than you. So, in that regards I probably haven't had as much happen than you have," she shrugs nonchalantly with her left shoulder, leaning with her side against the back of her chair. She simply is the type to remain out of whatever drama or most social happenings, as they were often draining for her and she found she'd much rather spend her free time doing things she actually likes. She found it pointless to engage in something that wasn't beneficial.

Eldred seems somewhat melancholic to her right now. Sinclair wasn't heartless even if she may be too frank for her own good sometimes. She may be incredibly aloof to most, but she finds she actually enjoys being around Eldred because of this relaxed dynamic they have. Her eyes flit over his posture and the clearly forced smile- clear to her at least. "...Besides, if you're upset, just be upset," she speaks calmly and sincerely with no judgement, "Talk to me about it, prince. What's been going on?"

Spoken: #75001d Clothes: -

In fact, he really could believe her statements. His eyes shifted from the window back at her, observing the tip of her pale nose and the silhouette of her eyes. Eldred imagined that she could enjoy solitude, although he envisioned it to be lonesome. Wasn’t she also in Gryffindor? With such a personality trait, he thought she might have been better suited to be a student in the Ravenclaw house, among the individualists and the peculiar. His father often recounted stories from his time at Hogwarts, claiming that the blue house was filled with eccentric people and strange individuals. However, Eldred shouldn’t forget that Quentin wasn’t particularly suited for the house of the brown eagle either, yet he was one of them.

Despite Eldred being lost in thought and occasionally gazing at her and the window, the boy attempted to force a small smile onto his lips. The immediate success was remarkable, particularly because Sinclair called him a prince, and the nickname felt unexpectedly endearing!
„Well..“, he began, his words drawn out as he exhaled frustratedly "I've met a lot of people lately. In the process, I got a broom to slam me in my face, bought a rat, met a girl—and… I slept in a boy's bed. A boy I like very much and then cuddled up with him and realized I liked him perhaps way too much“ Eldred chose not to elaborate further, especially regarding the identity of the one he was speaking about.

Nonetheless, Eldred leaned closer to her and whispered in a softer voice, "I didn’t know I liked boys, in addition to girls. Maybe even a little more than girls..." The inner conflict flickered in his eyes.

Oh..
Sinclair kept a neutral expression, studying Eldred's fine cut features and the way the boy seemed to show his frustration.
A part of her was surprised at how open he was, regarding something this personal that is. It must be quite a significant thing, then. She'd never really been interested in such gossip. Or romance, for that matter. Did she dream? Yes, maybe the romantic plots in her mother's early 20th century movies gave her a certain idea of what romance and attraction is, but in reality she had not found herself interested in boys. Which, now knowing about Eldred's attraction to his buddy, now has Sinclair pondering about attraction in general.

Normally, whether someone likes someone else ain't any of her business, but Eldred seemed to be genuinely having some kind of inner crisis here. She couldn't help but be curious about who this mentioned boy was, but didn't want to pry. But, guessing from that they shared a bed, and that students aren't supposed to intermingle in each others dorms, she concluded that it was some Gryffindor boy.
"I also had a broom-related accident, but..." she lowers her voice a little more, "I guess that's good for you that you found this out about yourself. A little surprising, but there's nothing bad about it." There is a brief pause as she shifts and leans her head against her fist, studying his expressions. "Say, when you.. like someone way too much. How do you know?"

Spoken: #75001d Clothes:Uniform

Somehow, Eldred knew, or at least convinced himself, that he could trust Sinclair. The pale student didn't seem like someone who would use information to stab anyone in the back. Although, Eldred couldn’t even imagine what someone would do with such information! In fact, he would have been helped if a few strangers took the time to think about his adolescent problems and maybe gave him a tip or two afterwards…

He leaned away from her again and slowly lowered his head. His forehead rested on one of the leather-bound books, and Eldred had to sigh in frustration. She was right about what she spoke of. It's always good to know yourself better. Only then can you assess how you’re doing and what you actually want in life, or at least, that’s what his mother’s anecdotes would suggest.
“Somehow, it feels bad nonetheless. I didn’t want to focus on something like feelings this year.…” he grumbled quietly and closed his eyes.

Only to open them again immediately when he heard Sinclair’s question beside him. Frowning, he turned his head, and his eyes landed directly on Sinclair‘s face. The way she was sitting brought a tiny smile back to Eldred. The corners of his mouth curled. This was exactly the kind of relaxed company he needed right now, even though her studying gaze didn’t exactly radiate relaxation to the 12 year old.

“How does one know…?” he began softly in a parrot, furrowing his brow. The newly sparked melancholy couldn‘t steal the smile from his lips. “You often think about the person, and somehow they get under your skin. It’s like they have a special key to a door you usually keep shut. ” Did that even make sense? Eldred wasn’t sure, but that was how he felt about Sebastian at this moment, and also with his parents, especially since he was secretly being tormented by homesickness. He regularly wondered what they were up to at home in Brighton. „Does this make sense to you? I can‘t quite put my finger on a better explaination, my apologies..“