New Roommate

[Pearce Lockheed]

To say Pearce was shocked to recieve a letter from one of his uncles was a massive understatement. Although he was the technical head of his family and he loved them dearly, the man didn't talk to them all that often. They had lives and families and while there was a lot of general correspondence, there wasn't a lot of visiting. It was a point of conflict for Pearce. On one hand, he wished to see them more. His sister and his cousins. On the other hand he would have to explain an awful lot.

To learn he would be playing host to his cousin Percival... They were familiar of course and he cared about his cousin but he wouldn't say they were close. He was also aware that while the word choice was quite polite and requesting rsther than demanding...the man wasn't about to tell them no. He wasn't entirelt certain what sort of 'independence the man might be learning but he wouldn't turn away family.

The letter suggested Percival would be arriving within the week. Which meant he didn't have a lot of alone time with Zander. And he felt quite embarrassed and ashamed of himself on multiple fronts. What was he supposed to tell Zander? Would the redhead understand? Pearce hadn't told his family anything. And while some of them likely suspected, it was one thing to suspect behind closed doors another another to be public about it, especially in his family.

With the absence of his parents, there was certainly a level of overreaction. But the Lockheed family was bigger than that. And had a history and image to uphold. And Pearce tried to do that in all but one way. With family staying with him...he'd have to try in every way.

The nobleman was in the gardens the evening his cousin was due to arrive. He'd taken a walk on his own and had a lot of calming tea and asked Heather to watch over Whisky when Zander wasn't here just to do his best to avoid stress. Family wasn't stressful, it was the pretenses he had to maintain that were. When Percival Lockheed arrived, he arranged to have tea in the sitting room.

[Percival Lockheed]

Percival didn't understand why he was being sent away from home. His parents claimed it was for him to take on some form of 'independence' but he was sure that wasn't the reason. If they wanted him to have independence they wouldn't have been shoving him onto another family member. As much as he tried to not let it get to him there was a part of the blonde that felt betrayed. Still, he couldn't let his cousin know that.

His whole like was being packed away like it was nothing and he was shipped off without more than a goodbye. When he arrived at Pearces manor Percival looked around curiously as an older woman opened the door to greet him. She and a few other servants helped get his things set up in a room. Seeing a large, furry creature suddenly running up to him made him jump back in surprise. "Whisky, leave Master Lockheed alone." Heather insisted as she picked up the squirming pup.

He was led to the tea room just as an unfamiliar redhead walked in. Dirt and sweat covered his clothes as he dragged his hands through his hair. He eyed Percival curiously then reached for Whisky as a small blonde girl ran into the room and nearly knocked over the redhead with a hug. How many people were in this house? Was Pearce letting his servants keep their children here too?

[Pearce Lockheed]

He entered the sitting room alarmed at the company. Not Percival but...well everyone else. Honestly, he was a little frustrated with his staff. They knew they were having company. They knew the intent was to keep the dog away from the room. He would talk to them later.

"Percival," he greeted with a smile that covered his frustrstion. Really, had his staff forgotten what guests meant? "It's g-good to see you, cousin. How was your trip? I trust my staff could at least show you to your rooms appropriately?" He glanced at Heather and gave her a look that could only be disappointed. The woman understood it for the dismissal it was.

As for Zander and his sister... he hadn't not invited them to tea but he hadn't invited them either. "Percival, these are some of my st-students. Zander and Briella Brogthamon. They were just finishing up for the night." Pearce stared at Zander perhaps a little too long. He was entirely not prepared to explain any of this to his cousin. Also, Zander needed to put a shirt on it was...not acceptable even when there weren't guests.

Scratch that, family was stressful. "My apologies for the mess. It has been a while since I had p-proper visitors."

[Percival Lockheed]

Zander knew they were going to have company but he hadn't known exactly when. He didn't like the idea that he couldn't sleep in the same bed as his boyfriend, in his own home. While he wasn't as openly affectionate around his sister at least she knew about their relationship. The redhead was tired, his back hurt, he'd wanted to come home from work and enjoy some time cuddling with Pearce. Instead he was greeted with some rich kid who turned up his nose to Zander and Briella like they were lesser.

Hearing Pearce call him a student hurt a lot more than he thought it would. "Yeah." His voice was lower as he tried to hold back his annoyance. "We were just heading out. Come on, Bri." Briella looked between the new blonde and her brother in confusion then toward Pearce. Zander lifted her into his free arm as he walked out of the room.

Percival sneered at the redhead before turning his attention back to his cousin. "Obviously." He grumbled before taking a breath and smiling. "I understand you haven't had much family come visit. I guess teaching commoners is the next best thing."

[Pearce Lockheed]

He knew he should have explained more beforehand but he hadn't though his boyfriend would be...well there. Right away. It wasn't a conversation the man was comfortablr having right now. Honestly it wasn't a conversation he was likely going to be comfortable with period but some preparation would help.

Pearce breathed an awkward sigh of relief that Zander and Briella both left. That didn't mean he didn't know he would need to apologize and explain later. He...also wasn't prepared for that. He knew this was his fault. He also knew how much the both of them wanted to share some affectionate company but Pearce wasn't sure he deserved that right now.

He couldn't look at either of them when they left.

Percival didn't exactly make his presence gracious. The noble decided not to call the man on his choice words or on his comparing their family to 'teachin g commoners' as if that was a bad thing. As if even being around Zander and his sister was a bad thing.

But...Pearce supposed that was what he was suggesting by asking them to leave. Damn it.

On the other hand...sone of Pearce's family were proper assholes. It was an insult to commoners to use them as one such insult.

He gestured at the sofas for his cousin to take a seat. "How are things with my favorite b-branch of the f-family? I'm sure you will enjoy it here, closer to the city," he said hopefully. He wasn't sure what Percival expected out of this move. He new what his aunt and uncle preferred he leaen but...well Pesrce was notoriously a push over. If someone i the family needed something, their rich uncle/nephew/cousin was an easy ask.

"Hopefully the room is too your liking." It should be. The manor possessed quite a few lavishly furnished guest rooms and suites and Percival, as extended stay family, had one such. The only thing it lacked was a private entrance, but it jad a lock, key, and Pearce had granted his cousin a manservant. It was likely even more luxurious than his own home. And that was before meals. "You'll have an allowance of course." Also that.

[Percival Lockheed]

Percival wasn't raised to be gracious to commoners. They were beneath him and therefore he didn't owe them any sort of kindness or hospitality. How Pearce managed to do it was beyond him. But at least they went home at the end of the day right?

He was more than happy when his cousin told the two and their mutt to leave. If they were students he had no doubt he'd see them again but hopefully they wouldn't bring the dog with them. Percival took a seat on the couch when offered and scrunched his nose in distaste at the mans stuttering. "Your house is lovely, though there's a lot of people here." He meant in the city in general not the house.

The manor was much larger than his families but that was to be expected. Given that Pearce was the head of their family it only made sense he'd have a larger house. Having an allowance also wasn't anything foreign to him. His parents had given him and all of his siblings one. Well, at least he and his brothers. His little sister was allowed to buy anything she wanted. "And how much is that going to be?"

With another thought Percival rested his chin on the palm of his hand as another servant brought him a cup of tea. "How many commoners do you teach? Or is it just those two? Why do you let them in your house? Did you see how dirty that redhead one was? Don't you have a classroom or something? Do you tutor nobles as well?"

[Pearce Lockheed]

"Thank you," he said softly. "The city is still growing. The manor grounds offer a lot of privacy and sp-space should you have need." Well, Pearce used them for rest and recuperation and the like a lot but they would be a lot less private now. There were...some things one did not share with their family.

Of course he wanted to know how much the allowance was. No 'thank you' or even a 'you don't have to do that' gesture. Because why would he be expected to? His uncle might not have the same position and income as Pearce's father, but the man had money and his children were raised with it. Not unlike Pearce. Honestly, if the man hadn't had such a rough home life and been sent abroad, he likely would be just as much of an entitled brat. But this one was his cousin and he wasn't about to be stingy with family. "Two hundred and fifty pounds a month." It was more than he paid his servants a month, honestly.

He took a careful drink of his tea before Percival's barrage of opinionated questions and concerns. Pearce blinked, a bit taken aback, and had to forcible remind himself that Percival was much younger than he was. Twenty or twenty-one or something? And then, as that realization sunk in, so did another. He took a slow breath to gather his thoughts and words and pointedly not think about the fact he was in a relationship with someone younger than his baby cousin.

Pearce spoke with a nervous but practiced patience. "I t-teach many people or all classes and ages. The nobles I tutor, I attend in the comfort of their homes. The commoners I invite here, since not everyone has a p-proper place of learning. I don't have a classroom. Usually the sitting room or the library is s-suitable." He bit his lip and politely made no comment on the notion of Zander being dirty. It was rude of his cousin to say as much but he wasn't the confrontational sort. Also, imagining Zander 'dirty' meant imagining him 'in need of a bath' and that...that was not an appropriate train of thought in present company. He tried to take another sip of tea but found his stomach was already unsettled.

[Percival Lockheed]

When Pearce confirmed that he taught commoners in his house Percival wrinkled his nose in disgust. The idea that there would be more filth walking around the manor while he was there made the blonde skin crawl. Though he bit his tongue on any distaste he may have felt. Certainly given that they were cousins the two were familiar with each other but not enough to know how the man would react to certain things. Percival knew how much of a hardass his uncle was and how much of one his own father is. If Pearce was anything like either of them he wouldn't take kindly to him running his mouth too much.

Hearing the amount of allowance he'd be given made him feel a little better. It was a little more than his parents had given him which was nice. Perhaps he could find something in the city to do while Pearce was tutoring his...students. At least they all went home at the end of the night right?

Still the stuttering was starting to grate on his nerves. "Do you stutter often?" Was it a rude question? Absolutely. But Percival had never been explicitly taught to watch what he said as much as he had been taught to just shut up. "My brother used to stutter as well but my father paid to train it out of him. Did yours not do the same?"

[Pearce Lockheed]

Well, if Percival didn't like it, he could always attempt to live somewhere else on his own. Pearce wasn't about to change his entire life around to accommodate, just...some of the parts he would get more publicly shamed for. Were Aralore more strict socially, he wouldn't have entered into teaching so generally.

He didn't mind Percival talking much. Even about things he didn't agree with. Pearce was more apt to nod (and maybe smile if it would make the moment pass easier) just to get through a conversation. He much preferred not to make a big deal about anything or be a bother or impose on other people. A lot of it was because his father had demanded a lot and it had often been much easier to remain in the background and let comments slide over him. He'd been happier pretending. At least, he thought he had been happier. There were consequences to that now.

Pearce raised his eyebrows in surprise at the question, stuck for a moment before he blushed. And then turned even more red at the notion of being trained out of it. His father had tried first. Largely because paying someone was embarrassing to admit. But the man had only made it worse. He'd tried a speech tutor and Pearce had learned a few things he could do or say or think about that helped, but none of that had eased the stressors causing the problem. Physically, he could talk perfectly fine. Mentally...he lacked a lot of confidence, to say the least.

"He..." and immediately he had to stop because the word 'tried' was not going to work in the moment. Neither would 'did' or a lot of other hard consonants. "Yes." He shifted slightly and fidgeted with the tea cup, turning his gaze from his cousin to the tea. Focus on something else. Which was...difficult because they were talking about his father. Don't think about father. Don't think about stammering. "It...helped for a while."

[Percival Lockheed]

Percival was certainly not in any position to go looking for another place to stay. It wasn't like he made his own money. Perhaps learning to keep his mouth shut and his opinions to himself would help out better. When his cousin seemed thrown off the blonde took that as he'd stepped on a nerve. though he wasn't entirely sure which nerve. Though he assumed it had to do with talking about the stuttering.

"Perhaps it might help if you looked into more speech therapy." It wasn't exactly proper for the head of a family to not know how to speak properly. How would they be taken seriously if the lead of their family wasn't taken seriously? "Why haven't you gotten married yet?" Given his age wasn't it beyond time for the man to have started a family? Unless he did have a wife already. Though Percival hadn't heard about any wedding.

Percivals own parents were wanting him to get married. Though there wasn't as much pressure on him for it as his siblings. Still, there hadn't been any women he'd been particularly attracted to but he was still young. There was plenty of time for him to find a wife. Though the idea made his stomach churn he pushed that feeling away.

[Pearce Lockheed]

He forced himself to breathe and take another drink of tea and do all those things he had once been instructed to do to speak fluently. Control breathing. Speak slowly. Relax. Some were easier than others. Pearce decided rather graciously to take Percival's words as a suggestions for positive personal growth.

"I should," he said slowly with a nervous smile. In truth, the nobleman's thoughts mirrored Perci's. It was frustrating personally how people might look at him. As stupid or incapable because he couldn't speak. Even when people didn't judge him so offhandedly, he was generslly seen as more...cute then commanding. Not all of it had to do with speech, of course.

Pearce grunted softly at the sudden change of topic. Married. Right. His mother had arranged and engagement when he was younger. Thankfully the young woman had been more opposed and more vocal about it that Pearce. Eventually, she ended it. It was...admittedly both a relief and a little demoralizing. But that was that. His mother had been too ill by then and his father had never been good with people.

There wasn't a way to explain to his cousin why he wasn't presently engaged or married. "I am..." he took a breath. "Pursuing my options." Yes. That. Technically he was not, he was pursing just one option in Zander but...technically such a relationship was an option over a woman. So it was close. "And what about you?" Direct attention somewhere else. That might help. He hoped it helped.

He took another drink of tea. He needed...something stronger than tea already. Formal dinners were going to be...painful.

[Percival Lockheed]

At least the man was taking his suggestion seriously. Most people didn't seem to take Percival seriously. At least not in his family. To hear the man say he was 'prusuing his options' made the blonde more than a little confused. Did he have many options? Certainly there was a perfectly fine noblewoman in town to have children with. Unless the man was more concerned about love. That was something he'd heard before that he didn't quite understand. People in their position didn't marry for love. As far as he understood. Though he thought it best to keep those comments yo himself.

When asked about his marriage Percival shrugged his shoulders. "My parents are more concerned with marrying off my older brothers and finding a proper suitor for my sister. Though I was briefly betrothed when I was fifteen." The girl was pretty enough but the two of them argued so much. She was insufferable and eventually her father called off the marriage. His parents hadn't been too happy about that. They'd blamed him for the marriage being cancled. Said he'd ruined his best chance at a decent life. That memory made his chest hurt.

Percival looked down at his tea and grit his teeth for a moment before taking another drink to calm his nerves. "I'm not the next in line to be head of the family so there aren't many concerns about me getting married." That was at least a relief.

[Pearce Lockheed]

He had a lot of options from quite a few families. Not that he knew any of them because he wasn't rrally looking. Pearce was aware that he was defying his family and tradition and to some degree social norms by not getting married. He could have married a woman amd had children with her and still preferred men. But he hadn't. That was too much lying. In private, he tried very hard to be himself and to be happy. He would like to do it in public was...not yet.

His shoulders relaxed as Percival became thoughtful. It was clear this wasn't a positive topic for his cousin either but honestly, Pearce enjoyed the respite in the conversation.

"Ah. I was once. She...wasn't agreeable." That was one way to put it. A nice way. He imagined there was a story for Percy there but he wasn't prepared to ask. He knew of it a little from family politics but not what happened. He didn't push.

Head of the family. He wanted to say that not being the first born was a good thing. But that wasn't a discussion he wanted to have. And clearly not one Percival wanted to have.

He shifted slightly. "Well, I am happy to have you. I imagine you would like to g-get accustomed to the manor. I expect you at d-d-dinner." He smiled slightly at his cousin. The nobleman needed a break. And a drink. And his boyfriend.

But...well, he would get used to Percival eventually. It was hardly the young man's fault he made Pearce nervous.

[Percival Lockheed]

Percival chuckled when his cousin stated his exfiance hadn't been 'agreeable'. "Neither was mine." That was in fact a nicer way to put it. Much nicer than he would have said. Still, there weren't many other questions he had. At least not any that could be answered by sitting and having tea. Besides there was always room for conversation later.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one thinking that as Pearce suggested they split ways for the time being as well. "I am curious to get a look around." He stated as he set his half empty cup down. "I suppose I'll see you at dinner then." If he was being honest Percival was happy to explore on his own instead of having his cousin following him around. Making unpleasant small talk. There was a servant that took his cup as another showed him out of the room.

[Pearce Lockheed]

It was a soft dismissal that he was glad Perci not only understood but didn't seem too upset over. The man hadn't intended to give his cousin a tour before anyway. Percival was family and a guest and was welcome wherever he would like. Well, not in Pearce's bedroom or study upstairs but he thought that was obvious enough.

He smiled and nodded before standing. He waited until Perci left and then sat down again heavily, leaning back into the sofa and closing his eyes. This shouldn't have been so stressful.

"Lord Lockheed?"

He jumped at Heather's voice, whipping his attention to the woman, his hand flying to his chest in alarm. The man blushed and relaxed again. Or trying to relax. "I'm alright, Heather. Can...c-can I get a brandy?"

She nodded.

"And let Zander kn-know I would like to t-talk to him." Whether the boy would come to him or not after what he said, Pearce wasnt sure. He would got to hime them.