Elise Rose Kirke (elise_kirke) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-10-01 10:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, character: elise kirke, character: evan potter, retired character: byron farro |
who ? elise kirke, byron farro and evan potter
when ? saturday night, 1st october
where ? the pubs of cambridge
what ? evan’s taking elise on a pub crawl and she brought her brother along
status ? completed in docs
It was fresher’s week, which meant that Cambridge was chock-a-block filled with students. More than that, it was the first Saturday out for many of the new students. The pubs were buzzing with people, chatter filling the streets. Evan didn’t go out in Cambridge much and when he did, usually it was for house parties and so such. He had considered seeing if anyone he knew was having a house party this weekend but in the end had decided that it might be a lot of new people to meet for Elise who Evan had invited out.
He still felt a bit bad about what had happened on Thursday. Evan had known that Andrew and Elise had the surname but it hadn’t crossed his mind that that was an important information to bring up. In retrospect, Evan wasn’t sure how he would’ve brought it up anyway. Not to say that what had happened was for the best, but he did think it was better than not knowing at all. Nonetheless, Evan hadn’t wanted to cause Elise any more stress than starting uni already did, and he was sorry for that, even if it had been accidental.
So going out drinking seemed like a great idea. Evan had thought he could show Elise around the best places and they could chat about all sort of things, and maybe he could ask her some questions and that would be fine. They were now in their third pub and on probably seventh drink, since Evan’s head was starting to feel a bit light. It was a good evening, though. Elise had brought her brother along (who wasn’t actually mute, Evan had asked) and Evan returned to their table with drinks for them all.
“Are you enjoying being a university student, yet?” He asked Elise teasingly, pushing her drink towards her.
--
Elise still hadn’t totally recovered from the revelation that had happened Thursday but she knew that she still had to move on and go through life as if her whole entire world hadn’t been shaken up. Thankfully she had Byron who was being a strong support for us. Plus with the start of university she was plenty busy with trying to figure out where all her classes were and how not to get lost going everywhere in the city.
When Evan invited her out on Saturday night she was more than grateful. It was a big sense of relief that Evan was still treating her normally and not ignoring her because his boyfriend apparently was her brother. Not that she expected Evan to, actually he would be the one person who wouldn’t treat her differently in this situation. So after making sure it was okay that her brother came along, she quickly agreed. She figured Byron needed a night out and he might as well become familiar with Evan seeing as he would probably be around much more. She didn’t have high hopes they would become best mates or anything, she wasn’t delusional, but maybe eventually Byron could open up.
So after dressing for the occasion, her and her brother made their way to Cambridge to start their night of festivities. After a few stops she was feeling fabulous and having a great time. It made her laugh that Evan had asked about Byron and his speaking abilities, but in the end if was something she was used to explaining to people. When Evan finally returned with the drinks her eyes were scanning the pub studying the fellow patrons. Taking a sip of her drink she nodded, “Oh extremely! This is much more fun than the other school,” she said with a laugh. “There’s no way you can convince me every weekend isn’t like this, and there’s so many more people around!” Looking over at him she smiled, “Did it take you long to adjust?”
--
Taking a sip of his beer, Evan shook his head slightly at Elise’s question. “Not really?” He offered. “I guess it would’ve been different if I had moved into halls or something, but since I moved in with Harry and Daisy instead it just seemed... fine?” Evan said before clarifying for Byron who Harry and Daisy were, since it seemed rude not to. “Much like you, I guess?” Evan added with a small wave between Byron and Elise. They’d already established that Elise and Byron lived together, though, Evan thought that Byron was probably older than either of Evan’s siblings were in relation to him. Especially Daisy.
“And it’s not like this every weekend,” Evan assured. “I mean, it’s Fresher’s so it’s just a bit mad, but there’s usually always things going on during the weekend,” which was true. The place didn’t usually seem as busy, but it was plenty of busy. “Especially end of exams,” Evan added. “Last time I had to have Andrew rescue me because of celebrating a bit too energetically,” he explained, opting to not mention the bit where he had been sick in a garden. “He’s a very good rescuer, even if he didn’t come on a horse,” Evan noted. A horse would’ve been more dramatically, but Evan had just been glad to see Andrew, horse or no horse.
--
Elise looked over at Byron and nodded, “I suppose that makes sense. Although Byron was out of school before I started so it certainly is weird to see him everyday.” Whereas Evan, Daisy and Harry at least had been at Hogwarts during the same time period, Byron graduated right before Elise was about to start. “You’re right though, but I couldn’t imagine living on campus in their housing. While it would be a good way to meet many people, I had enough of living like that.” No more five girls to a bedroom for her thank you very much.
Taking another sip of her drink she pointed at Evan, “Evan! What did I just tell you? You can’t convince me otherwise. It is this much fun, every single time, no matter what you say!” Nothing was going to ruin her night and oh wait he was talking about Andrew. That slightly put a damper on things but she couldn’t really let it show. Instead her eyes flicked over to Byron’s real quick as she wrapped her hands around her glass. “That’s nice that he came and did that for you. Not all boyfriends would. Have you two been together long?”
--
Evan didn’t exactly think himself greatly perceptive (that’s because he wasn’t) but even drunkenly, it would’ve been hard to miss the way Elise paused and looked at her brother before telling Evan Andrew’s rescue attempts had been very nice of him. “We’re coming up to eight months,” Evan replied since she had asked, but did then carry on. “Is this weird?” He asked frankly. “Like I know it’s weird in general but--I don’t know, I’ve never had a surprise sibling,” Evan offered seemingly startling a laugh out of Byron, which Evan didn’t really know whether it was good or bad.
“Andrew’s great,” Evan said because Andrew was. “He’s a touch prone to freaking out over things, though,” which Evan felt was a fair assessment. He thought he did a good job at balancing it out but ever so often there was still freaking out. “And, you know, this is definitely a thing,” in fact, it was a pretty reasonable thing to freak out over. Probably. It was more reasonable than getting distressed over not being able to find hairgel, anyway.
--
When Byron laughed it caused a chuckle out of Elise as she nudged him with her elbow before turning back to Evan. She had a feeling she would hear something about that comment either later tonight or tomorrow morning but for now she decided to just answer Evan’s question. “I definitely don’t think it’s the norm that is for certain,” she joked. Shrugging her shoulders she continued, “It’s very weird, the whole concept of the matter really. To think there is someone out there who shares the same parent as you that you never knew is kind of freaky to be honest. It is crazy that I now have a half-brother from my mom and one from my dad though.” Did that mean she finally had one full sibling? Okay bad drunk joke Elise.
Elise wanted to point out that of course Evan would think he was great, they were dating after all, but what Byron had said the other night stuck with her, she trusted his sense of judgement so Andrew couldn’t be all that horrible. “This most certainly would be a thing I would imagine would be hard to handle. I feel bad for him, with him not really knowing Dad. I’m sure it’s harder for him to process. I just don’t want him to think I’m going to try and take advantage of this or him because of his status as a musician. I already live with one of those.”
--
When Elise had told him, because it had been a lot more of telling than asking, that they were to go out drinking on Saturday evening with Evan, Byron really hadn’t objected. He wasn’t great with new people, or, well, people, but Byron a) wanted to support Elise through this new acquisition of a siblings and b) kind of wanted to get to know Andrew, too, and if that meant drinks with his boyfriend, well, Byron thought it was a start. Evan, it had turned out, was... probably not nice, but definitely not someone Byron couldn’t see himself getting along with. Unlike most people, Evan hadn’t straight out ignored Byron because he didn’t speak. More so than that, despite Byron’s lack of verbal contributions, Evan still paused in his conversation with Elise to explain and clarify things for Byron’s sake. He appreciated that a lot.
The conversation, unsurprisingly, had finally come around to the half-sibling shaped elephant in the room. Evan’s term of ‘surprise sibling’ had amused Byron and he made a mental note to remember it for later. And then Elise was assuring Evan she had no intention of abusing this knowledge and really, Byron hadn’t even considered it from that perspective, but now that she mentioned it, he supposed he could. Except Byron knew Elise and knew she would never do that. He was pleased to discover that Evan agreed, when he said as much out loud.
“Of course you wouldn’t do that,” Evan said with a dismissive wave before taking a sip of his drink. “So,” he continued after a moment. “You don’t, you know, have like a problem with the whole--” And then there was another wave and Byron really wasn’t sure what he was talking about until what Evan said next made Byron’s eyes widen. “The being gay thing?”
The question was, to Byron, so ridiculous that he didn’t even think twice before responding. “No, of course not.” The words were out of his mouth before he could’ve stopped them and as much as that then made a lump of anxiety settle in Byron’s stomach, he wasn’t sorry for verbalising his thoughts. The smile he got in return from Evan was a little bit blinding.
--
Elise was about to respond to Evan’s question when she heard Byron do it instead. Her head quickly whipped to look at him with a look of shock on her face. Did she just imagine that or was her brother actually talking to a practical stranger? She honestly could have hugged him right there if it wasn’t for the fact that he would be completely mortified about the act. Instead she just looked back at even and nodded, “Right exactly what he said, no issues here.” Elise had totally forgotten that most people might think that would be a problem, it didn’t matter to her at all.
There were so many questions she wanted to ask Evan about Andrew. What was his favorite color? How did he feel about giraffes? Did he have any weird superstitions that he took part in? She wanted to know how alike they were really were. What if they didn’t have anything in common though, and they really didn’t get along? Running a hand through her hand she sighed, “Do you think he’ll like me?”
--
Evan liked Elise. He thought that he perhaps even liked her weirdly mute brother. They were good people, Evan was sure. Whilst Andrew wasn’t convinced there was a reason for him to get to know Elise (or Byron, Evan supposed), Evan really didn’t know why he wouldn’t. He’d been perfectly happy to meet Elise before knowing that they were related and Evan wasn’t sure what the difference really was now that they knew they had a dad in common. It wasn’t something he’d expected to happen, and that was fair, but Evan didn’t think that should mean Andrew pretended it hadn’t. Still, Evan’s main concern was whether Elise and Byron should get to know Andrew and the last thing he had wanted was for Andrew to have more family members who were weird about his sexuality. That had prompted Evan to ask and the response he had got from both of them had led Evan to smile widely. Knowing that they would judge Andrew for things that had nothing to do with his sexuality was good.
“You’re great, I don’t see why he wouldn’t like you,” Evan replied confidently. Taking a sip of his drink, Evan gave a small shrug. “He might take a while, but I’m sure once the dust sort of settles, Andrew will come around,” at least Evan hoped so. There was no reason at all that he could see for why Andrew wouldn’t like Elise (though, he was a bit unsure how Byron’s whole mute thing was going to work). “And I think you’ll like him, too,” Evan added. “I don’t see how anyone could not like Andrew,” which was very true, the idea itself was puzzling to Evan. “But I’m a little bit biased, I suppose,” he added somewhat jokingly. He definitely was biased but at the same time, Evan was also rather sure that it was impossible to dislike Andrew.
--
Elise let out a breath of air she hadn’t realized she was holding when Evan confirmed that he couldn’t see a reason why Andrew wouldn’t like her. Why was she seeking approval of someone for the time being had no desire to even get to know her? What Evan had said earlier really just summed up this whole situation. It was very very weird and she really had no one in the world she could turn to for advice on this situation.
Laughing at his next statement she nodded, “You’re right. You probably biased but I won’t hold that against you, Evan.” Thinking back to what her brother said the other night, “I mean I get along with you yeah? So wouldn’t it naturally make sense that I would get along with Andrew?” Was that over simplifying things? Finishing off her drink she looked at him, “I hope eventually he comes around. I’m so angry with my father right now. How could he do that to his own child?”
--
“You do get along with me,” Evan nodded. “And I have excellent taste in people,” he added because it was true. There were plenty of people who Evan had no patience for, plenty of people he deemed too irritating to spent much time with, but in turn, that meant that those who Evan thought worthy of his time were great people. “Besides,” Evan said with a small shrug. “I think you have a lot in common,” he told Elise honestly. “Not just, you know, genetics,” he explained waving his hand about like that meant anything at all.
When Elise said that she was angry at her father, that she didn’t understand how he could’ve... not told? Left Andrew behind? Evan wasn’t sure but both were pretty terrible things in his opinion. “I don’t know,” he offered with a shrug, because he really didn’t. “But I don’t really understand people, so I’m not the best person to ask,” which was also true, even if Evan wasn’t sure there was any good explanation for what Andrew’s dad had done. “Are you going to tell him? About finding out?” Evan asked curious of the answer.
--
Nodding Elise laughed, “Right, the genetics thing is sort of a given. I’m glad to think though that you think we’d get along okay. I try to give everyone at least one shot, don’t want to miss out on meeting someone completely and utterly amazing.” Elise probably put too much on a first impression but she knew in the business world that was pretty much your only chance to impress someone. She figured she might as well get used to that lifestyle.
When he asked if she was going to talk to her dad she sighed and looked at her glass. She looked up to her brother before answering, “Eventually I think? I don’t plan on it anytime soon, which I’m sure some people might say is the cowardly thing to do. I just really want some time to process this, and to let Andrew process this. I don’t want to all off a sudden drop it on my dad and then he go and do something drastic.” Honestly she was scared her dad would do something crazy when she talked to him, like leave her, which was a selfish thing to think but given her recent discoveries could it be a real situation. “I would like to get to know Andrew first if that is possible?”
All of this was getting very serious for a night of celebration. Looking around she stood up, “My turn on drinks yeah?”
--
“Well, Andrew is completely and utterly amazing,” Evan assured Elise with a small grin. Once they got past the freaking out, Evan was sure that Elise could learn just how true that statement was. Evan really didn’t doubt that her and Andrew would get on as people. And if they could do that, then getting on as siblings could come after. Evan thought it would be nice for Andrew to have siblings, even if Andrew currently didn’t think so. He really had no idea what Andrew might make of a most-mute brother, but Elise and her boundless energy? Evan felt they’d be well suited.
When Elise explained that she didn’t want to talk to her dad about it just yet, Evan nodded. He obviously didn’t know what her relationship with her dad was like, but Evan could see reason in preferring to sort it out for herself, or themselves, before opening that particular can of worms. “I’ll see what I can do,” Evan promised when Elise said she’d like to get to know Andrew first. Evan hadn’t told him he was going out with Elise (and Byron) but he did intend to and, hopefully, Evan could convince Andrew that maybe he should give getting to know Elise (and Byron?) a chance.
Downing the rest of his drink, Evan nodded. “Same again,” he told Elise as her brother mimicked Evan’s actions with a nod and a grin. As she went off to the bar, Evan turned to Byron. “So is the not talking like a nerves thing?” He asked. “I’ve got a stutter. Like it was super bad when I was a kid and now it’s very rarely there, but I guess maybe that’s similar? It used to make me really uncomfortable. Still does. I didn’t ever want people to judge my intelligence because I couldn’t speak, you know? So is it like that?” Evan rambled, mostly because the alcohol was cruising through his system, but also because Byron seemed mostly just amused but also following Evan’s barrage of words. Evan was sure they could make this work until Elise returned.
--