Location: Potter Estate, outside
Time: Early night, January 11th
Status: Closed, for @rylandgreen
“Ah, there,” Edgar said, pointing at Aldebaran with his little finger. “Taurus.” And now that he had found the constellation, his eyes knew to find the Seven Sister as well.
He had not said much all evening. Hadn’t said much all day, actually, neither all week, which was for those who didn’t know him well perhaps less of a surprise than for those who did. Since the New Year and the news had broken in on him, the longest conversation he had had was with Artem, and even there he had mostly listened, spoken only to find more things to listen to. The reason for this was a mix between guilt and exhaustion, not entirely certain what his words were for anymore if every step he took seemed to be the center of ripples of mistake.
Maybe that was why he had not thought twice about going into the Greengrass house to find Ryland; a desperate attempt to fix things. After all, had he not yielded to Caradoc’s stern gaze a few months back, perhaps they would’ve found Ryland sooner. In retrospection, he realised he had hoped to feel a lighter upon seeing Ryland alive and well, safe at the Potter Estate. A hope that hadn’t come true. The way Ryland looked -- though by far not as awful as one would expect after three months of confinement -- was only further proof of his failures. Nevertheless, Edgar forbade himself to look away.
He couldn’t fathom how someone felt after three months of solitude and torture. He assumed that personally, he’d want to be surrounded by his family, bathed in hugs and laughter. Perhaps Ryland preferred to distance himself from other people though, no longer trusting anyone -- after all, it was none other but his family who had done this to him, wasn’t it? Hence it was with prudence with which Edgar knocked on Ryland’s door that evening. “The sky’s clear tonight,” he heard himself say, and he was certain those were words he had said to Ryland before, many years ago.
Now they were outside. At first Edgar had thought of the roof, but he’d never been there and certainly didn’t want to drag Ryland on a mission around the Potter Estate. So the wide open field it was. No blankets to sit on, only a drying and warming spell to make the grass more hospitable, and two cups of tea. “Do you remember the story for Taurus? If there is one. I forgot.” Was this shallow surface level of small talk idiotic or needed? Selfishly, Edgar wanted it to be needed. To distract, even if only momentarily, from the horrors of this world. But he knew the real questions would come eventually. There was so much Ryland had missed, so much he needed filling in with, and contrary to some, Edgar didn’t believe in treating him any more carefully than before. He knew that he’d answer, truthfully. Perhaps this was exactly why he hoped distraction was the right path for tonight.
