kingseeking | PSL/Meme Continuation

[Gansey is halfway through popping a tea pod into his Keurig, which is stacked on an overturned crate near an outlet - there really is nothing like a proper kitchen about this place - when Esther emerges from the bathroom. He turns to her with an easy smile, eyes following her motion toward the makeshift Henrietta. He lets out a soft chuckle at the question - it's one he struggles not to feel sheepish over, but he's sure not to let his confidence waver when he answers.]

Just something I meddle with in my free time. [Long, tired, often anxious nights spent alone with craft glue and acrylic paint. He stands up from where he'd been crouched by the coffee maker, which makes a soft roaring sound as it heats up.] Is mint tea alright? I thought I had some other options, but ah...

Well, there's always coffee too if you don't like it. Or iced tea! There should be some in the fridge.

[Then he drifts closer to the model town, nearer by where Esther stands, and puts his hands on his hips, overlooking it as if he were its king.] Henrietta, if you couldn't tell. Have you been here long?

[ 'Something I meddle with'. Pfft. She has to smile at that - a look that comes to her a little easier now. Just a little bit. ]

That's some impressive meddling. I've never been good at building things. [ RIP to every school project that's involved crafts. ] Oh- mint's fine, thank you. I wouldn't say no to anything warm right now.

[ As Gansey steps closer, Esther subtly moves away a step or two - thankfully something made easier with the pretence of looking at more of the town. Well, it's not entirely pretend - she really is impressed!

Especially when he reveals it's the literal town they're in; somehow that makes it even cooler. ]

No, only about a week - I thought it'd be a good idea to look around and get to know the place, but that didn't really go to plan. [ She gestures a little sheepishly to the storm, a rumble of thunder making itself heard delightfully on cue. ] First time in America...not really off to a brilliant start.

Ah, well. No time like the present is there? [He gestures again to the model town, grinning broadly with one hand still placed on his hip. He looks not unlike a proud father at a Fourth of July barbecue, what with the khakis, polo, boat shoes...] Get yourself acquainted. There's Main Street there, Church of the Holy Redeemer there-- Ah, and Nino's, of course. I suppose you haven't yet been to Nino's.

[It's all punctuated with a good-natured chuckle, and then he's off to retrieve the tea. When he makes his way back to Henrietta (Lite), he has a mug full of mint, which he hands to Esther.] Careful. Hot.

[Then, as if only to match the sudden scent of the evening, he pulls a literal mint leave out of one of his pockets and pops it in his mouth.] We don't have a couch, I'm afraid.

But if you'd like to sit, please feel free to use the bed. Or there's the desk there across town. [He laughs again. It's funny, what with the tiny town. Get it?]

No, not yet. Honestly I haven't really left the house much, there's been a lot to do, unpacking and everything...

[ It sure would be handy if she could just memorise the town here and now and be able to apply it to when she's next out, but Esther knows she wouldn't be able to remember everything. She does try to work out where her new home is in relationship to the modified cereal boxes, but then she's being handed tea, and her attention's pulled away.

Alongside the dry clothes, the warmth from the mug alone is already doing wonders for her mood. ]

Thank you so much.

[ The idea of sitting on the bed seems far too awkward to entertain, as does sitting on the desk (even though he's just given her permission to, it seems so rude; she knows she wouldn't want people sitting on hers at home...)

So, she just shakes her head, her smile...not really brightening at all, but she tries to make it seem that way regardless. ]

No, no - I'm fine, really. I don't want to be in the way. [ And, as she takes a sip of tea and promptly burns the ever-loving fuck out of her tongue, not that Gansey would know (though it does seem appropriate to note it); ]

So, um...the academy you attend, I guess that must be the all-boys school? [ Fuck her mouth hurts. ] Is it nice? I start at Cheltenham next week and I'm a little terrified.

[What's more awkward - standing in the middle of the room all night instead of taking the seat that's been offered you, or Gansey not realizing that there's no chair at the desk he just offered up as a seat. He still doesn't notice, but he also doesn't press Esther to sit down. And he doesn't sit down himself.

[He chews on his mint leaf as he talks now, still smiling brightly through it somehow. He has very nice teeth.] Aglionby, yes. Fine school.

And Cheltenham too! [He does, in fact, pronounce the "ham".] Lovely girls at Cheltenham. I'm sure you have no reason to be nervous.

[He's sounding a bit like a fuckboy again, but he doesn't seem disingenuous. They'll probably love the fact that she's English alone enough not to ostracize her, though she could do with a little more confidence, but clearly he can't say any of that.

[Still, she'll be fine. Gansey understands that places like Aglionby or Cheltenham can be intimidating - he doesn't particularly understand why, but he understands that they can - but if Adam could get used to Aglionby, surely anyone could get used to anything.]

Aglionby's known to partner up with Cheltenham for an event every now and then. Both schools give you a perfectly decent shot at a good university. It's certainly a privilege to attend one.

[Blah, blah. He doesn't really feel that way all that much. Aglionby fits into his life rather than his life fitting in between his time at Aglionby. But it seems like the right thing to say, maybe what most people want to hear.

[He wonders how that will suit Esther, though. He wonders if she's much like a Cheltenham girl at all.]

[ For what it's worth, his accent - and therefore, his pronunciation - warms her smile a touch. She should get used to it, she supposes; she'll be the one pronouncing things strangely in every else's eyes here, he's in the majority - but it's funny to her nonetheless.

Endearing, even, if she were to take his looks into account.

Which she isn't.

She glances back at her tea. ]

It doesn't seem as though it's much different to my old school, really. All big academies sort of look the same after you've attended one or two. It's more that it's an odd time in the year to be joining, is all. I hate feeling as though I'm behind on things.

What will you study, if you're planning on going to uni..? [ Business, probably. Or law. Not that she's meaning to stereotype, but...

Well. Yeah. ]

I'm hoping to go into music composition, or performance - maybe both, I haven't quite decided yet.

[Ah, the dreaded question. He's been asked it so many times that he's not even sure which false answer to give any more. "Undecided thus far - maybe business! There's so much you can do with a business degree. My father, you know, he's done wonderful with business, and my mother's background in law--" blah, blah, blah, blah. He hates this question. But he tries not to let that show on his face. Still, the perfectly polished smile falters just slightly into something more authentic, because when Esther said that all academies start to look the same after a while, well. He felt that.

[He decides, after a bit of hesitation, to be more honest than usual when answering.] Truthfully, I haven't really thought all that much about it. [He sounds only slightly self-conscious when he says this - perhaps a bit like a young student who isn't sure he's given the right answer in class. Gansey is not often that student.] I'm rather focused on what I spend my time with now, is all.

Music, though. [He raises his eyebrows.] Terribly admirable. What do you play?

No, that's- that's fair enough.

[ She can tell that maybe that question has been a bit overused - God knows she gets it enough - but he's good enough not to roll his eyes or anything like that at least. Makes her wonder what he will end up doing though, when they've left their respective academies behind.

For the first time since coming upstairs, she perks up a bit more; almost involuntarily. ]

The violin. Piano, too, but violin is what I love most. I started when I was little and I've never looked back.

Piano, now. That’s terribly admirable. [He laughs.] I took lessons as a child, but I had no patience for it. Not terribly musically inclined, I’m afraid.

But I do love to hear it. If only I had one lying around, I might ask you to play.

[It’s good to see her at once look more comfortable. Gansey does love passion if anything. And his smile is exceedingly genuine.]

PSL/Meme Continuation

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