23 Jun 2021, 23:24
A Better Day
Interacting with @Henry Llewellyn
#008040
The silence sure did make things awkward, and maybe the whole plan in general a tad spooky. It almost felt like at any minute something would jump out to scare them. Maybe one of the many knights in silver - in their shining armour and blackholed faces, or given the many chances of such occurrences to happen, a ghost. Eden hated them. Bloody creatures could do anything they wanted without any consequences, and it made the white-haired boy confused and envious at the same time. He wished not to die, but to hold such immunity made death seem more appealing than scary. And that was concerning at best.
But then Henry spoke, and he dared to ask a question, a specific question that made Eden stop at a halt and nearly choke on his own gasping. He stopped at a sudden so chances were that if Henry was behind him, he'd end up walking straight into him. The boy turned around, his neck twirling like a grumpy owl, and then his shoulders, hip, and legs. His lips were mushed into a sad pout and his eyes gnarred at Henry, though he did not intend on coming off as mad for being asked about his family, such facial response came natural. And honestly, Eden was not angry, he was just scared.
He was suddenly caught in a dilemma. Usually, no one ever really asked about Eden's family, because everyone knew who they were. But they were pure-blood from other prestigious families so it was almost within their nature to have associations and knowledge of other fellow families who shared such benevolent traits. But Henry was a muggle-born and thus, there was no clear way for him to know. So, that meant that whereas usually Eden could walk into a room and let everybody know who he was given his white hair, pale milk skin and aquatic blue eyes, he had to break everything down to Henry. And what he feared the most was what Little Ed really thought of his family now.
Things were far from alright and everything was crumbling down. The only beacon of hope was his mother, Pryselys, and maybe his younger sister, Elaine. Eden was rest assured that the both of them loved him unconditionally, but his father was not so easy to bring affection to. Ever since being sorted into Hufflepuff, Lord father Edward Gardener has shown signs of distinguishment between Eden and every real Gardener in existence. Eden was raised to be perfect and think the same way his father did, but now, as his father shows so much distaste, Eden felt discouraged to reenact his father's behaviour and opinions, and for once, get to be truly himself. But even that was difficult to do after an eternity of grooming.
So what did Eden want to say? Did he want to go with the usual and talk about how prominent House Gardener was... or finally start admitting that it wasn't as great as he thought it was. Henry seemed to be trustworthy, kind and gentle. Innocent too. He was just as old as Eden was and he was more than willing to forgive him. But Eden was scared, if he talked too much... he would get in further trouble and he couldn't risk that.
But his mind pondered and maybe for once he could lead with his heart. A fragile heart of a boy so young that he did not deserve to go through such thoughts at such a young age.
A weak, cowardly smile made its way across Eden's lips, still standing at where he stopped. He couldn't find the words and at first there was a stutter.
"My f-family...my house, I mean, is gr-great! Yeah, of course. We um, we've been around for so long. A long time yes. So old we um, served some kings or something." He knew all of this, the name of thing king his family served once - but now he seemed unmotivated to even bother remembering it.
"But yes I have a mother... and um, a f-father. I've got two sisters, but one of them is young. A baby. All she does is poop and cry and eat. I don't know what's the point of her." Eden said innocently, sounding like an eleven-year-old for once - just like he was also being humble. Usually he would went off about how many things the Gardeners did and what they contributed to the wizarding community. But Henry didn't need to know that - no one really did.
"We live in a big house too. A manor. We have moving portraits of my ancestors and even a beautiful garden! I tend to enjoy picking flowers and climb the biggest tree I have ever seen in my life!" Eden felt more comfortable talking about the greenery back home than his family itself. It brought some sense of joy to remind himself of the time he spent there, and maybe he did start thinking far too ahead, "I could show you sometime!" He exclaimed, suddenly realizing that that was quite frankly impossible. Almost, impossible. "I mean, t-through pictures. Of course, yes. Pictures."
He awkwardly ran his hand through the back of his hair and gave his nose a quick nudge with his fingers, pretending he did not just say what he said or feel what he felt. He even gave a quick look at his surroundings trying to escape the awkwardness. Maybe the silence would have been better to endure. But, Eden returned the favour.
"And what about you? I can only but presume to imagine how... odd, the way of life of a muggle is. Do your parents even know that you're here? Are any of your siblings wizards or witches too? If you have any, that is." Eden then asked curiously, surprisingly enough showing actual, genuine interest.