Color Me Curious pv Maisie

Date: Sept 6, 2026
Location: Study Room
Word Count: 600
Tag: @Maisie Fenwick Rose Williams

Zephyr was sitting in the Study Room for almost an hour now, and he was beginning to think it's more than that. His History of Magic book lay open in front of him. He started off fine, the homework was about the Runes and Magic, and the subject itself was fascinating. It was interesting when he first started reading, but now that he's been reading for an hour, the words have begun to blur. He blinked a few times and leaned forward to the page to reread the same paragraph for what felt like the fifth time. He reached the end and realised once again that he didn't understand what he just just read. He sighed deeply and left his quill on the table as he finally rubbed his eyes. There were subjects he could spend hours on without noticing the time like plants or creatures and he would happily keep going until someone reminded him that meals exist. But there were those he could only manage for so long before his attention started wandering somewhere else. That day, it's going somewhere very specific--the letter from his dad which he received early that morning.

It didn't contain anything unusual, it was all about Aelwyd Vale, their pets and his family. Just usual normal things from home. What's different was what's written in the end. His dad asked him again if he received any letters from his family, the Aldertons. He rested his cheek against his palm while staring at the book without really seeing the words there. The same question was asked from him before and it came up again. From what his dad told him last summer, things between him and his family were not good. And he understood why, that his dad left that life behind. As far as he knew, the Aldertons were not exactly happy about his dad's choices. But that was between them and his dad wasn't it?

He picked his quill up again and looked at his unfinished homework. Is it really that bad if they write to me? He was their grandson. It's not something anyone could change just because his dad was not in speaking term with them anymore. He's never done anything bad to them. He barely knew them. Most of what he knew about that side of his family came from the few things his dad told him including the pocket watch he was given over the summer. He couldn’t help feeling curious. The past is the past. Whatever happened between his father and the Aldertons happened years ago. It shouldn't decide what should happen now, right?

His eyes stayed on the parchment, but his thoughts were far away from Runes and Magic. What if one of them did write, would his dad expect him to ignore them? Would he be angry if he did? More importantly, why did his dad seem to expect it in the first place? He didn't realize he was frowning deeply, not noicing the tip of his quill was still pointing at his parchment until the dark spot spread against it. Finally realizing what just happened, his removed his quill but it was too late. There was now a large black blot that soaked through the sentence he spent the last several minutes writing. “Great.” He mumbled in annoyance. Giving up, he sighed once again and leanead back in his chair as he looked at the ceiling. Forget about homework, he didn't think he'll be able to do anything productive now. He would just continue to think about his relatives he had never properly met.