Closed Talking Over Melodies

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene had woken up at the crack of dawn, and while most days he would be in bed, continuing to sleep, today he'd just been filled with energy. The recent drama in the dorm with Manaia had brought memories of his mother and the feelings of loss to the forefront. It was different obviously, but it just brought Eugene back to those feelings, and his sympathy for his friend who had to suffer a devastating loss. The counter to it, was it brought Eugene a lot of creative energy. All of his homework was forgotten in favour of practicing. Of writing. So he'd spent the last couple of hours, cross legged on a stool with his guitar and some parchment with vague lyrics and melodies. He was playing a little of what he'd gotten to, a very melancholy song, which had a lot of minor chords and where he let his voice vibrato slightly to push through some emotions. He was a little lost in his own world, not noticing as the world around him woke and the day began. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie had been hiding since the duels, too embarrassed to show his face. Did that mean waking up early for a rushed lunch in the Great Hall? Absolutely. Avoiding Rhys in the Hogwarts Monthly room? Of course. Charlie wished he had never signed up for those stupid duels. He slept in a bit that morning, later than he liked. When he woke up, he grabbed his things and hurried from the dorm, still in his pajamas. Where could he hide today? The arts room, maybe, he'd heard the arts club was collaborating with the wild patch for something. He rushed into the room, and stopped as he saw Eugene. Oh, that worked. He had been looking for Eugene. Charlie walked over, trying to catch the other boys eye without actually interrupting him. Eugene sounded enchanting, as he ever did. His heart fluttered a little. Eugene's music was always beautiful.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene wasn't sure if he'd heard the door open or not, but after a few more minutes of just playing his guitar her noticed that someone was trying to get his attention. He glanced and then broke into a smile, immediately ending his playing. "Charlie! Cuz!" he greeted with warmth. He then noted the boy was still in his pajamas. "Is it pajama day or something?" he asked motioning to Charlie's clothes, he didn't mean anything by it, just genuinely curious about why he hadn't bothered to get dressed. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie smiled as Eugene noticed him, and blushed as he pointed out he was in his pajamas. "Er... no," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I- er..." he sighed, moving to sit nearby. "I slept in. I needed to get out of the dorm before the others caught me," he explained, looking away shyly. He looked over at Eugene. "You're up awfully early. What was that you were playing? It sounded really... moving," he offered.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene looked at Charlie as he explained the why of his outfit. Eugene wasn't sure what time it was. "Why did you need to leave cuz? Is one of the other boys giving you bother?" he asked, clear concern on his expression, he didn't want Charlie to feel like he couldn't sleep in or afford the time to get changed in his dorm. But hopefully it was nothing. "Woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep, this melody's just been in my head," he said, strumming a little of it. "It's just all this stuff with Manaia and his parents, it's got my mind thinking about my mum," he gave a little shrug as he finished speak, a smile remained on his features but it clearly faltered as he spoke of his mother. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie blushed at Eugene's question and quickly shook his head. "What? No, no, I just-" Charlie rubbed the back of his neck, and sighed. "I just... I really made a fool out of myself at the duels, and I don't really know how to face anyone," he admitted scuffing his toe against the floor and staring at his feet. "I don't know why I signed up. I wish I hadn't."

He moved to sit next to Eugene, listening as he played the tune again. "It's really good," he told the boy, hesitating as he mentioned Manaia. Charlie sighed. "I'm sorry, Eugene." He spoke quietly. "And I'm sorry to say this. I've been wanting to tell you, but also worried because of everything that's happened." Charlie looked to his hands in his laps, wringing them together a bit. "I, er... my mom came back over break. I haven't met her yet, but she's writing to me and we're supposed to go to lunch with me and her and my dad when break comes around again. I've never met her. I've... been wanting to talk to you about it, but with everything that's going on with you and Manaia, I haven't been sure if I should..." He peeked over at his friend, biting his lip.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene shook his head, "Bro, you gotta try things and some things you'll fail, other things you'll do great at," he told him, it probably also took work, sure being naturally good at something like duelling was likely now, but they'd learn more spells, and be quicker at their draws. At the very least it was done and over so Charlie didn't have to do it again if he didn't want to. He gave a little smile at the compliment and then frowned, listening at Charlie apologised and told him about his mum. Eugene realised that Charlie didn't know when his mother had died.

"Bro...," he said with a little smile, "My mum died when I was seven...I get sad about it sometimes, but you know I've almost spent more of my life without her than with her..." he assured him, some days were worse than others and sometimes weeks would go by without a thought. "So, I'm okay, I can talk about it," he assured his friend. "Talk to me about it, tell me about your mum, I'm all ears cuz," he assured him. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie fidgeted a bit. He hadn't known it had been so long since Eugene had lost his mom. After a moment of hesitation, he sighed and spoke. "No, I- you don't get it," He ran his hands into his hair. "My mom... she's like, a master. In dueling and in hand to hand combat. That's how her and dad met, she was a judge at a competition he was covering." He sighed. "Apparently she couldn't take care of me, so she had me, named me, then had the social worker take me to my dad to see if he wanted me. I mean, it's worked well, and I guess she came back to make sure I was okay." Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. "I found out over break, but the stuff with Manaia went down and I wasn't sure if I should bring it up with anyone," He peeked to Eugene.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene gave a little frown, he maybe didn't understand so he leaned in to listen closely as Charlie began speaking. Eugene nodded along, knowing oddly the feeling of someone not being able to take him and being taken by someone else. "Okay, how do you feel about her coming into your life?" he decided to ask, since he wasn't quite sure if there was a problem, or if Charlie simply needed someone to vent to about it. "You know cuz, we're your friends, it doesn't matter if we've got something else on our minds, we always wanna hear about whats going on with you," Eugene told him with a little smile. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie hesitated at Eugene's question. What did he think? He looked to the boy again as Eugene said he could always talk about what was going on. He sighed. "But, that's the thing," he gave his friend a small smile. "I care about what's going on with you guys, too. I don't want to sound like I'm just worried about me. I care about you guys." He tried to explain. "I've just... been pretty confused all year, I guess. There's a lot happening," He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene frowned at him, "Cuz, it's okay to be worried about you...about yourself, especially if you have something massive going on," he told him with a little smile. "If my dad suddenly appeared and I was telling you and the other boys about it, would you think I'm just worried about me?" Eugene didn't know when this had perhaps begun happening, he wanted Charlie to feel okay expressing himself, talking to him and others about what was going on in his life. "We wanna hear about your life bro, we care about you and whats going on with you" he added with a little smile.

Eugene knew he was the one boy that had the least to talk about, his cousin was all he had and she wasn't that much older than him so their life was very much like two siblings, there wasn't much more in his life that could go wrong. "if you want, to make things easier we could play twenty questions, like you ask a question, I ask a question, we gotta be honest but no follow up, so like we can both talk about our lives and it won't be only about ourselves?" the idea had struck him there and then and he hadn't been able to stop himself from saying it.​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Eugene was making sense, Charlie couldn't really argue with him. He bit his lip, thinking about it, unthinkingly sitting a little closer to the boy. He nodded at his suggestion. "Oh, sure, sure, I would love to know more about you," he agreed. "I could start if you want?" He offered, thinking a moment. "Where were you born?" He asked. "I was born in New York, and my dad and I have always lived there. It's just always been the two of us." He told his friend.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene gave a little smile as Charlie started to seem to get what he said, but the questions offer seemed like a good idea too. He seemed keen to talk and really Eugene could do that. He had known that Charlie was born in New York, but it was interesting to hear that that was where he’d always lived. ”I was born in Auckland, first time I ever left the city was to come here,” Eugene said with a little smile. ”Though not in the exact same apartment,” he did clarify. ”What does your dad do?” he decided to ask, it seemed like a neutral enough question, from what Charlie had said earlier it was probably journalism or something close but he felt it would be a good thing to ask.​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie nodded, thinking it was something they had in common. Even moving around in the same city, it was still the same city. He smiled at the next question. "My dad is a sports journalist," He told Eugene. "It's why I take the Quidditch article in the Monthly so often." He ran a hand through his hair. "What... family do you have?" He asked softly, unsure about this question. He knew Eugene didn't have a mother, but surely Eugene had someone at home... right?

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene nodded as Charlie told him what his dad did and he felt that made sense for why he would then write articles about it too. He gave a little smile at the question. ”It’s just me and my cousin, she took me in when I was like 8,” Eugene said. ”She’s only 10 years older than me, so she’s more like a sister...child services weren’t super keen on it, but she has a job and a flat and she fought for me to join her.,” Eugene explained. He had maybe gone into more detail. He didn’t want to mention his grandmother, mostly she’d rejected him and in his mind it wasn’t worth discussing. ”What other family do you have?” Eugene asked. He knew Charlie was an only child, but he could very easily have uncles or grandparents, or cousins.​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie nodded as Eugene spoke. It made sense, and though he was tempted to ask about Eugene's father he decided against it for the moment. "Well, it's mostly just been my dad and I," he started, rubbing the back of his neck. "He introduced me to his mother when I wanted to go to school here, but she was really mean to him all the time, thats why I stay with you until he picks me up for breaks now," He explained.

"And my mom now I guess. As far as I can tell, she does have family but she's cut off pretty much everyone except for her nephew and his boyfriend, but I haven't met my mom yet, or the others. She's just been writing to me since school started this year." He shifted in his seat, thinking over what he could ask next. "How long have you been playing music?" He asked, thinking that was a good question.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene nodded, he almost agreed to the point about his own grandmother, but he didn't really want to invite questions about that. "My cousin think you're great," he told him, since he knew she did. He knew his cousin had been a little surprised about it, but not unlike his own mother, and how Eugene tried to be, she was kind. He nodded about his new mum and that new side of the family. Eugene grinned and gave a little strum of his guitar. "For as long as I can remember," Eugene told him. "My granddad taught me, gave me this guitar too, I've practiced basically every day for as long as I remember," he gave a little laugh, the love of guitar and playing definitely feeding through into his words. "Why did you want to learn violin?"​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie blushed as Eugene said his cousin liked him. Eugene's cousin was pretty and kind, he hadn't thought she'd taken much notice of Charlie. He brushed the thought aside, listening to Eugene talk about his guitar instead. He laughed with Eugene, thinking it was a nice little story. He considered the question returned to him. "You know... I'm not really sure. I was just... exploring, when we got here, and I found this room. I was looking around, and there was just this... old violin that had been left abandoned in the corner. I don't know what drew me to it, I just... kinda stole it," he laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his neck. He peeked at Eugene, then looked away again quickly. "Have... you thought much about dating? Or liking anyone?"

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene thought it was interesting that Charlie had just picked one out, taken it. He'd noted a violin in this room in first year and had noted its absence for a little while before it returned. He was glad it had been given back, but no one had been looking for it. "I don't think anyone noticed it was gone," Eugene told him. "Dating?" he repeated with a little laugh before shaking his head, "Nah bro, got no time for that, gotta focus on music," he said. "Have you?" he returned thinking that perhaps if Charlie had asked the question perhaps he had given it some thought, ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie laughed a little at Eugene's comment. "Probably not. But my dad noticed when I took it," he rubbed the back of his neck. "He was really cool about it though, he bought me a nice new one and a pretty case, too." Charlie smiled.

He bit his lip as Eugene said he was focused on his music. That didn't help. He blushed at the next question and nodded slowly. "A bit, yeah. I'm... noticing how cute some people are. And I like spending time with a few kids more than others..." Charlie peeked at Eugene before looking away. "Bern, for one, we've been going to the dances. I'm not sure if he likes me or not. And I like spending time with you, but I don't know if its the same. I'm just trying to figure it out," He sighed. "You really don't think about these things?"

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene couldn't help the little jealousy towards Charlie and how easily he had just been given an instrument. But it went away as quickly as it came. It wasn't Charlie's fault that he was just in a family where there was a little more money. He listened as Charlie talked about different people being cute, though mostly boys. He didn't know Bern but he had noted Charlie at the dances with a guy. "Not really...." he replied, he hadn't given it any thought. "I dunno, I like chill with my buds, my band, and having fun, nothing more to it than that," Eugene shrugged, he was perhaps now a little worried that he wasn't thinking about those things. That he wasn't thinking about if people were cute, and why he liked spending time with some people over others. "Do you want to date people, like Bern?"​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck, thinking over what his friend said. "I don't know..." he replied honestly. "I don't really know how to date anyone," he answered. "I'm just trying to figure this out, honestly. I don't know how I feel. I wouldn't know how to be a boyfriend. It's just... Bern asked me if I could ever fall in love with a boy, and I don't really know what it's even like to fall in love. But between that and my dad and mom getting along so well, I just... I don't know, this whole thing is confusing me," he sighed. He looked to Eugene. "You always seem so sure about everything. I'm jealous sometimes, you know." He admitted shyly. "Do you always know what you're doing?" He asked.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene nodded, he could agree that sometimes it was difficult to know how to do something if they hadn't already. He was sure that something like love would be something one naturally fell into when it was the right time. "But you know how it feels to be loved?" Eugene asked, "And you know what it's like to feel love?" he was more thinking though it would be different, it couldn't be so different from loving a parent or being loved. Eugene gave a little laugh and shrugged. "No, but mum always said, all you can ever do is put your best foot forward and wear your heart on your sleeve," he knew it hadn't always worked out for his mother but he would always do the same. even if he didn't know he could try and then learn and he knew that being kind and being a good person would always leave him in good standing. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie thought over what Eugene asked. "I dunno... I love my dad, and he loves me. And I love you, and I think you love me, but is that like, different?" He asked, looking to Eugene. He smiled, thinking that what the other boy said was very fitting of his entire personality. "That makes sense, I think that fits you really well," He smiled at him. "I mean, I think that I like Bern. I like spending time with him, but I just keep thinking like, I like being with him, but I like being with you, and I'm not sure what the difference is." He admitted, looking to his friend with a shy smile. "Have you ever noticed that anyone is cute or anything?" Charlie asked, curious.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene gave a little nod, "Yeah, but you know therefore how it should approximately feel..maybe," he shrugged, he knew that falling in love with someone and being loved by friends or family were not the same thing, but Eugene also thought that knowing what love felt like, and feeling loved would mean you at least know when the person is being unkind..Eugene thought about it. "What does your gut say?" he asked. "Maybe it's like if you had to pick who to kiss?" he wasn't sure it would be it and his tone was very uncertain before he just shook his head. "No....I haven't really...looked," Eugene said, "I've been just focusing on other things," ​