(no subject)

[unguibusetrostro]

WHO: The Lynch brothers
WHERE: De Chima, an honest to god ice cream store
WHEN: Wednesday. Because.
WHAT: Ronan finally asks his dumb but sweet little brother about Dorian Gray
WARNINGS: Ronan Lynch

[He brought Matthew out here because Matthew, despite having not a single bone in his body predisposed to things like lying, was also cursed with an unfortunate affliction, which was the attention span of a gnat.

Or so Ronan figured.

In any case, usually feeding him at the same time that one asked him questions kept him focused, as he generally had less reason to wander away because he saw something shiny or a friend distracted him. And ice cream is the best thing, because it required constant vigilance to make sure it wouldn't just melt.]

Chocolate okay?

Comments

[unguibusetrostro]

Gansey told me that, too.

[He stirs his melting ice cream.]

It's me he wants. It's always me they want. But Greenmantle was smart enough to not fuck with you, at least.

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew almost misses it, scooping out another bite of his own ice cream and trying to shake off his worries about Ronan and Dorian Gray and Dorian Gray possibly finding out what Matthew is (please, God, let that never happen.) But then the name sinks in, snagging at his attention. ]

Greenmantle? You mean the Latin teacher?

[ Why would a Latin teacher be after Ronan? Beyond the reasons that teachers were always after Ronan. ]

[unguibusetrostro]

[He's quiet for a long time.

Yeah.

The Latin teacher.

[He frets about this a bit.]

If he ever shows up here, don't speak to him. Promise.

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew watches his brother uncertainly. ]

Right, okay, I promise.

[ And then there's the moment where he hasn't yet decided what to say next, or whether to say anything at all. It would be perfectly easy for Matthew to let it go now, accept the instruction and let Ronan handle the rest of it.

But something just barely tips him in the other direction. ]

Are you going to tell me why?

[ The question isn't loaded with any expectations; when he asks, that's all he wants to know: is Ronan going to explain about the Latin teacher or not? ]

[unguibusetrostro]

[There's quiet. He shouldn't. He should let Matthew live his life comfortably. But he can't.

He can't because he can't keep secrets from him anymore. He promised. All of dad's secrets.]

He had dad killed.

[dreamkid]

[ He doesn't even understand the meaning of the words at first; it takes time for his expression to go from blank and mildly confused to something crumpled.

Of course he knows that their father was murdered, and that an actual person must have done it. Someone made the decision to have him killed, to rip him away from his family and everything that he had made just because he could make it in a way that no one else could. And Matthew figured that person or someone like them must still be out there somewhere because of what happened to Declan, and because it was still so necessary to keep Ronan's abilities a secret.

But Greenmantle wasn't out there; he was right there, at Aglionby.

And Ronan-- oh, god. ]

You-- you were in his class.

[ Matthew had no idea. He wants desperately to bury his head in his brother's shoulder now but there's a table between them, so he settles for leaning in and clutching Ronan's arm instead. Distress is written on every soft curve that makes up his face. ]