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Einar fidgeted. Their brother’s hand was wrapped tightly around their own, Leiv’s fingers uncomfortably cold against their clammy skin. It made them feel far more antsy than they already did… Not that they'd ever admit to feeling unnerved by a little social outing. Really, Einar was quite a social creature so long as you put a screen in front of them, but to mingle in person? It was definitely a situation they didn’t want to be thrown, or rather dragged, into. Even worse was their formal getup; navy suit, slacks, and a too-tight white tie. It all felt wrong on their bony figure, as if their clothes were simultaneously too tight and too loose. How could an outfit manage to both suffocate them and threaten to slide right off their body? That, and Einar simply hated the way they looked in the outfit. It did not suit them.
Still, they were well aware Leiv wouldn’t leave the house until they were properly dressed. Thinking back to it, perhaps Einar should have been a bit more rebellious. Maybe then they wouldn’t have had to let their brother tug them through the nearly full parking area. Maybe then they wouldn’t have to entertain the idea of clinging to their brother’s side for the entire event… Not that their brother would allow that, anyways. Knowing Leiv, the older blond would insist that Einar go scurry off on their own and socialize with people more their age. The adults were talking, after all. Einar couldn’t help but scoff at the thought, chewing the inside of their cheek to prevent a groan of disdain directed at their brother’s more distasteful tendencies. ‘Attend this party Einar!’ he’d insist before shoving the kid away to fend for themself in a situation that was all too uncomfortable for somebody so socially incompetent.
“Behave yourself,” Leiv commands quietly, his voice nearly lost in the chilly November breeze. Einar huffs in return, their breath stirring the powder-white hair that tickled their brow. The clicking of dress shoes against pavement filled the air for the rest of their short walk, a thick silence enveloping the pair of siblings. Einar was frustrated by their brother’s unwavering stiffness. Their hand goes limp as their brother releases it. Einar couldn’t help but feel more nervous at the loss of contact, even if they hadn’t been keen on the hand-holding to begin with. They weren't a nervous little kid, but it did make Einar feel a little better about… Whatever the hell they was supposed to do once they entered the event hall. With a small creak, the wooden door gives way and opens for Leiv, who holds it for the younger sibling. Einar shoots him an indignant glare at the action before entering. They winced against the bright light, which contrasted sharply from the moon’s cold glow, and bit back a bitter remark as warm air snaked around them. At least they weren't chilly anymore.
The event venue was larger than Einar really expected, not that they put much thought into the matter to begin with. Still, the size was almost overwhelming for the teen, and the sheer amount of intelligently dressed people was surely enough to make them feel dizzy. The music was muffled by the buzz of intertwining voices and laughter. Their brother lingers beside them for a moment, bringing a pale hand to slick blond hair from his forehead carefully. He shoots Einar a brief look before patting their shoulder gently.
“I have a discussion to attend to. You have your phone on you, right?” He asks, pale eyes scanning Einar’s expression. The smaller sibling nods, their brow creasing slightly with agitation. Just as they'd expected, Leiv was eager to split the moment they arrived.
“Uh-huh. I’ll text you if something happens, I guess.” Einar mutters half-heartedly, averting their gaze in an attempt to hide their disappointment. And, lucky for them, Leiv didn’t notice how this upset them. That, or he decided to ignore it.
“Mm. Stay out of trouble this time, will you?” Leiv replies, giving Einar’s head an obviously reluctant and torturously stiff pat, “I’m tired of cleaning up after your brash words. Keep your tongue where it belongs.” He adds over his shoulder as he turns away. Einar stares after him, face red with frustration at their brother’s words. Typical. Of course he’d leave on a sour note, that was so very like Leiv. Cold, stiff, harsh Leiv. Leiv, who insisted on perfection in both behavior and actions. Really, Einar should expect no less from their brother. Any hope of feeling at least somewhat at peace during this outing was dashed by their brother’s departure, and Einar really couldn’t help but feel agitated. Still, standing and pouting for the next two hours would likely bore the teen to death. They didn’t want to venture into the tangle of well-dressed event-goers only to push and wander. They'd surely suffocate, what with the body heat and crowding. They decide to linger along the edges instead, nursing their nervous feelings with incoherent mumbling. Reminding themself it’d be over soon, encouraging themself to find an entertaining exchange to listen in on… The usual for them when forced to attend events such as these, really. Einar scans the sea of people lazily, gaze halting on what they could only describe as tantalizingly interesting. Drama ahoy! Einar licks their lips, inching closer to the scene unfolding before them.
A tall blond boy, seeming to be near Einar’s age, looked quite distraught as a much larger man loomed over him. Einar quirks a brow at the display, amused. The taller man was smiling oh so warmly, his face crinkling ever so slightly as he spoke down to the bespectacled blond. Childlike glee came close to describing the display… And that, somehow, managed to elicit dread in the other boy. Einar gives a hum, tilting his head. They obviously knew one another. Einar could tell that much just based on the smaller boy’s poor posture and disdainful glare. Einar pauses, stifling a laugh; this display likened to that of a rebellious teen’s frustration with an embarrassingly affectionate father. How charmingly stupid was that? Einar watches for a moment longer before daring to inch even closer to the pair, determined to hear what it was they were saying. And so, the plot thickens. The actual content of their conversation was underwhelming, to say the least. The older man was simply asking the younger if he was enjoying himself, from what Einar could tell. If the blond was replying, he certainly wasn’t doing so loud enough for Einar to hear. This irritates them a bit, feeling the need to venture even closer to the pair in hopes of picking up the blond’s dialogue. Unfortunately, they don't get the chance to lift even a toe from the ground before the bespectacled boy, who was looking around frantically, locks eyes with them. Pleading blue eyes practically screamed ‘Help a brother out!’ as they bore into Einar’s murky grey pair.
Of course, they couldn’t possibly help the poor blond! What did he expect them to do, swagger up to him and sweep him straight off of his feet like some sort of pompous prince? Please. Feeling a twinge of guilt for ignoring the boy’s obvious grab at getting help, Einar begins to turn tail and book it to find some other altercation when the clacking of dress shoes begins to get louder and louder behind them. Oh, and a hand grabs their arm. That also stops them from hightailing it straight away from what seemed to be a measly familial disagreement. Einar swings around only to find themself face to bespectacled face with the boy from before, their arm held firmly in the blond’s grip. What the hell?
“What the hell,” The blond echos Einar’s thought quietly, narrowing his eyes, “I KNOW you saw me!” he hisses accusingly, stepping closer to Einar before glancing over his shoulder at the man he was talking to only moments before. He was watching the pair of boys warmly, a cheery grin gracing his soft round face. The man shoots a small wave Einar’s way upon noticing the attention. They tear their eyes from the bear-like man to give the blond an apologetic smile.
“No hard feelings? ‘S not like I know you, anyways. Can’t really expect me to jump to your rescue like some sort of storybook hero.” Einar offers simply, attempting to pull their arm away. Their effort was fruitless, and their half-baked apology was given naught but a scoff.
“Whatever. You’re my excuse to get the hell away from Ivan.” The blond huffs, pulling Einar to his side and linking their arms together in a manner that would easily be considered gentlemanly if it were smoother and gentler. Einar grimaces at this, but obliges.
“And where exactly is ‘the hell away’?” They ask. The other boy, who Einar realizes is quite a bit taller than them, sighs.
“I mean, like… I don’t know, I didn’t think about WHERE I was going to drag you, I just wanted to get as far away from Ivan the Terrible as I could,” The blond mutters, looking quite embarrassed by his lack of foresight, “I’m Eduard, by the way.”
“Einar. What’s the deal with this Ivan guy? He seemed plenty nice.”
Eduard cracks a grin at this, shrugging. “You think so? The guy’s really overbearing, and uh… He says a lot of weird shit. It’s hard to handle on a good day, but when he drags the others and I out to events like this, it’s just plain humiliating.” He explains quickly. Einar gives a thoughtful ‘hmm’ in return, eyes trained on their polished feet as they walk. They trusted that this Eduard guy would steer them right.
“Huh. That’s tough.” They murmur. Eduard shrugs again.
“Well, what can you do? I’ll move out eventually.”
“Oh. Is he your dad?” Einar asks quietly, skipping a step as they try to sync their walking. They miss by a beat and curse under their breath, eliciting a snicker from Eduard.
“Roommate. He’s more like an overbearing older brother, though. What are you doing?” Eduard answers, changing the subject with a question of his own. Einar glances up at him before making another attempt at syncing their steps without halting entirely and fails yet again. They grumble, rolling their eyes slightly.
“What do YOU think?” They huff out. Eduard smiles, skipping a step of his own. This only works to widen the difference in steps. Einar groans at this, kicking the other teen's shin lightly.
“Something stupid, from the looks of it,” Eduard hums, flashing the smaller kid a cheshire grin and tapping their ankle back. He pipes up once more right after, looking extremely excited by his proposition as he spoke it into life, “Let’s ditch.”
“Ditch?” Einar echoes, finally ripping their attention from their paces. Eduard nods at this. “Whaddya mean, ditch?”
“Oh, you know. Ditch.” The blond answers, as if his redundant response was in any way helpful to Einar. Which it wasn’t. Like, not at all.
“Meaning what, exactly?” The shorter of the two prompts, a twinge of exasperation obvious in their tone. Eduard stares at them for a moment before answering, studying their expression carefully.
“Get out of here, go for a walk or something. I get dragged here for shit all the time, and I always dip right as the party hits full swing. There’s a nice walking path right off the side of the car park, not sure if you noticed it or not. Leads to an old playground, if my memory is serving me right.” Eduard explains. Einar stifles a smile at the proposition, absolutely tickled to be given a method of getting right the fuck out of there. Also, the dude said ‘car park’, and Einar found it hilarious because this guy was so, SO obviously not English in any form of the word. But… If they suddenly up and left without any warning, their brother would surely kill them dead. They weren't exactly in the market for a swift kick to the ass, and taking the blond up on his offer was so obviously going to get them one. It was like waving a big flag with the words ‘Kick my ass for breaking the rules again, Leiv!’ in eye bleeding neon colours.
“And get chewed out by my big bro? Not a chance, buster.” Einar replies, only to be met by quiet booing. There was a mischievous glint to Eduard’s blue eyes as he egged the smaller teen on.
“Boooo! That’s so boring. You’re boring.” Eduard hums his faux chastisement with a dramatic scowl. Einar cringes at his awful acting.
“Ugh, stop that. You look stupid, and it’s seriously embarrassing.”
“Like I care!” Eduard chuckles, bumping his shoulder against Einar’s gently.
Einar recoils at the bump, sighing, “Good grief”.
“Good grief yourself,” Eduard pauses for a breath, averting his cerulean gaze for only a moment before shooting Einar yet another excited look, “Shall we?”
“I’m going to stomp on you. I already said my brother’ll be pissed, what makes you think being annoying will change my mind?” They growl, kicking their companion’s shin once more.
“Ow, dude. Pissing your brother off is part of the fun, a bit of rebellion never hurt anybody!” Insists Eduard, whose grin only seemed to grow. Einar hums thoughtfully at this.
“That is not true in the slightest, but I guess I’ll oblige. It’s too hot in here anyway.” Einar mumbles. The blond mutters a ‘yes!’ under his breath, eliciting a laugh from Einar.
Einar allowed Eduard to drag them along gently, their gaze locked on the ground as they made their way to the front entrance. They couldn’t help but keep their eyes locked on the wooden floor, hoping that if they kept their gaze low, their brother wouldn’t even notice their disappearance. Just who the hell is that white-haired kid being escorted outside of the venue? Not Einar, surely. The teen bites back a sigh at the thought, feeling a bit bothered by their repugnantly white hair and pale skin, their gloomy eyes, and bony figure. They stuck out like a sore thumb no matter the occasion and they knew it well. Still, the moment they’re out the door without being given any grief by their supposedly responsible older sibling, who’d surely been close enough to see them flee the scene locked daintily in Eduard’s grip, they felt a bit of triumph. The gravelly crunching of parking lot tar under their nicely polished dress shoes fills the boys’ companionable silence as Eduard continues to lead Einar along. The smaller of the two finally rips their gaze from the ground in favor of flashing Eduard a look of mischief.
“So.” They prompt, catching Eduard’s attention.
“So?” Eduard echoes with a small smile, his eyes steady focused on the expanse of trees they slowly approached.
“Did you seriously call this a car park?” Einar snickers, crinkling their nose with amusement. Eduard rolls his eyes at this, fixing an amused glare on his companion.
“What’s wrong with saying car park?”
“Nothing,” Einar hums, “If you’re a loser.”
Eduard stills at this, squinting his eyes, “Or British?”
“That’s what I said.”
Eduard simply huffs at this, to Einar’s amusement. The light taunting and banter continued well into the night as they walked, Einar’s hand slowly finding its way into Eduard’s. It was a pretty night; the stars and moon dimly lit the tree-locked dirt path they traversed. Chilly and dark, but pretty all the same. Einar’s stressors and boredom were momentarily forgotten, replaced by thoughts of wonder and excitement. Eduard and the pretty November evening air were the only things on their mind as they shuffled along. It was nice.
“We’re almost there,” Eduard whispers from beside them after a bit of walking, gently snagging Einar’s ever-drifting attention. The teen raises a brow at this statement, turning to look at Eduard with a quizzical expression.
“Almost where?” Questions Einar. Eduard’s smile softens slightly at this.
“If you don’t remember, you'll just have to wait and see,” He hums cheekily, turning to meet Einar’s eyes briefly. Einar feels their face heat up at the warmth of their companion’s gaze, lips quirking into a trembling grin. They continued to keep pace with Eduard, which was a rather leisurely one, but their legs still began to feel rubbery and noodle-like. Einar’s dim gaze drifts to where their hand sat, securely encased by Eduard’s. Theirs was only slightly smaller than Eduard’s… They take a mental note of the chipped lavender nailpolish coating the taller boy’s stubby nails, as they thought it to be quite pretty.
“Your nails are nice,” Einar mutters plainly, cringing at the way their voice hitched. The other kid looked a bit surprised by his observation.
“You think so?” Eduard’s startled expression melts into one of fondness rather quickly, his long, thin fingers flexing slightly around Einar’s hand. The white-haired kid gives a nod of approval in response, squeezing his hand in return.
“Yeah, I do. I’ve wanted to paint my nails for a while, but ‘m not really allowed.”
“How come?” He challenges gently, cerulean gaze now fixed pointedly on Einar. Pausing to think, Einar feels a twinge of embarrassment. Perhaps they shouldn’t have spoken that idea into life - Eduard would probably find a way to degrade them for their brother’s silly rules. Either that, or he’d pity Einar… And somehow, that idea felt worse to them.
“My brother is really strict about how I present myself. Thinks nailpolish makes me look like a hooligan.” Einar responds carefully. The sound of an agitated huff is enough to confuse the smaller teen, who hadn’t expected anything but amused snickering in light of their pathetic excuse for a plight.
“I hate restrictive guardians. Seriously- Imagine thinking your kid’s supposed to figure out who they are without a little experimentation,” Eduard’s lips twist into a bitter smile with each word, each syllable poison against his tongue, “Absolutely ridiculous. I’ll make sure to carry some nail polish on me, in case I see you come around here next time. We can come out here and paint your nails, and I’ll rub it right in your brother’s face too!”
As Eduard speaks his promise into the crisp nighttime air, Einar feels their heart stutter against the confines of their chest. They'd never met anybody quite so kind to them, that was for certain. Not to mention all of Eduard’s brash and bold behaviours. It was quite thrilling to be in the company of a boy who seemed to hold so much regard for all the often-ignored parts of being a teenager. And Einar had to admit that they agreed with Eduard, at least a little. Where every other kid their age seemed caught up in socializing and following pointless social rules and standards, Einar’s new companion seemed to pave his own little path. They wanted to follow that path. They wanted to walk clean out of every party in order to do something more productive, or to offer excitement to the life of somebody as dull as they are, or to rebel against their brother without any feelings of real fear. Perhaps it was the confident manner in which Eduard spoke and behaved that Einar wished to mimic. Perhaps it was his overwhelmingly obvious competence. Regardless, they found their respect and admiration for this near-stranger growing at an alarmingly quick pace. They were not worried in the slightest.
“Sounds like fun if you’re in the market to get your tail whipped… Which, usually, I am not.” Einar snorts, eliciting a scoff from Eduard.
“Please. If your brother is anything like you, I could take him on with no problems.”
Einar cracks a grin at this, rolling his eyes, “Sure, sure.” They entertain Eduard’s challenge with quiet amusement, admiring the way his bespectacled visage glows under the cool moonlight. Eduard puffs out his chest at this, mischievous grin widening confidently.
“I’m right, you know!” Eduard was practically beaming… It was positively the goofiest thing Einar has ever seen. Nodding in defeated agreement, they elect to change the subject once more, curious of their destination. They were taking a rather long time walking, and they were growing weary.
“Are we almost there?” They question. Eduard turns his gaze ahead of them, pondering Einar’s question momentarily before replying.
“We are, actually! It usually takes me less time, but I figured I should move at a pace more manageable for your short, pathetic baby legs.” An amused smile danced upon Eduard’s lips as Einar groaned. They make a point to take longer strides, just to prove to Eduard that their legs were neither pathetic nor short. Eduard allows himself to cackle at this, picking up the pace.
Einar shoots him a glare, “You’re really pushing it, stretch.”
“Or so you say,” Eduard taunts with a shrug, “You a fan of swings?” He shoots. Einar wrinkles their nose at the question, joining Eduard in looking straight ahead. A small children’s playground stood overgrown at the end of their woodland dirt pathway. Ivy slithered up messily chipped orange pillars. Leaf-laden tree branches pushed up against slides and monkey bars. Long grass licked at the bottoms of black metal platforms and poked through the large holes in their bases. Under the night sky’s natural light, the park seemed almost surreal.
“I am.” Einar replies after a moment of silence, still drinking in the greenery that engulfed the now-abandoned play area. Eduard allows himself to smile wide at this, dragging Einar along to a clearly worn and rusted swing set. Stale rainwater pooled in the center of each swing, turning green plastic damp and dark. Both teens elect to ignore the small puddles on each seat, allowing their pants to absorb the dampness as they sit carelessly beside one another. Hands still entwined, they begin to rock back and forth gently, Einar struggling to keep their kicks and sways timed perfectly with Eduard’s. Companionable silence engulfs the pair and accompanies them well into the chilly evening.