April 16, 1194
"It's good of you to come and visit, dear," Thetis assured her son, though she privately wasn't surprised to see him. On the weekends, Aldhein went with Shahira to her parents' place to visit little Isidro--and while Teodrin didn't seem to have any explicit issues with the other young men in their residence, he wasn't fond enough of any of them to stick around for an entire two days without classes. Thetis saw Teodrin more weekends than not. "We've been taking good care of your cat--though if you find that she's been trained to ride sheep, blame your father.""Uh... thanks?"
Thetis smiled, or at least tried to. Teodrin had never quite known what to say about anything, even a simple favor. "Not at all. I'm assuming you'll want to take her wherever you decide to live after you graduate." A worrisome thought, how soon that would be.
Teodrin shrugged. "I guess so.""Have you thought about that at all?" She thought she knew the answer to that. But, given that most non-firstborns tended to want to stretch their wings and fly away at their first opportunity, perhaps it was worth asking?
Her son sighed. Her hope, she knew, had been false. "I don't know."
"Well, you know you're always welcome to stay here for as long as you like." Though--for his sake--she hoped it wasn't permanently. The poor boy had had some setbacks in life, but surely it wouldn't do him any good to spend his prime years moping around his childhood bedroom.But... she didn't want to push him either. It seemed he had so little opportunity for comfort.
"I don't know if where to live is my biggest concern right now."
"Hmm?" Thetis raised an eyebrow. Employment, perhaps? He may not have had the people skills to run his own counseling center, but surely Orrick Wythleit over in Ravenhold would be needing some help. She made a note to ask Falidor about it.
"Oh. Nothing." It wasn't nothing--not if that swallow was any indication. But, if Thetis had learned anything as a mother of fourteen... well, it was that children were individuals. Individuals were people. People were entitled to their secrets, even when it would have been in their better interests to share. "Forget I said that."She wouldn't.
But, for the next however odd minutes, she'd try to. "All right. Care for a piece of the pie your sister made for dessert yesterday? It's quite good."NEXT CHAPTER:
3 comments:
Long weekend!
I wonder how Thetis would react if she knew about Teodrins err secret.... She's obviously worried, and surely he needs to talk to somebody about it! I feel bad for him now ha
The only kind of love for her children that Thetis knows is unconditional, so she'd be nothing but supportive and sympathetic. But... she'd probably feel bad about not being able to help him, if he concludes that he (himself personally, not everyone in his shoes of course) does need/want "help".
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