earphones in and gaze unblinking as he scrolled through his phone, the sixteen-year-old was currently immersed in a world filled with nothing but praise: specifically, praise for himself. so absorbed was he in the recording of a confession directed to him, that it had taken him five more seconds to even notice the repetition of his full name.
with an arched brow, his right hand moved to place his coffee in the cup holder. the same hand then pulled his sunglasses down just slightly, allowing grey eyes to blink at his mother,
"you need something?" he asked, pausing the recording so as to hear the woman speak. whatever she had to offer, anyway. he wasn't quite interested. there was rarely anything that the junior wanted to talk about with his parents. they never had the time to listen anyway. better yet, they were rarely home to begin with.
"pay attention when i speak to you, theo," said the middle-aged woman, eyes sliding from her son to the streets outside, "please readjust your tie. i kindly ask you to be on your best behaviour today."
hearing this, the corners of his mouth dipped slightly downward,
"haven't i always?" he questioned,
"there's a reason that you brought me instead of anyone else, and you know exactly why that is." in reality, it wasn't just that he was more well-behaved than his sisters. it was more because he was the son. the precious son of the massinger family who was expected to achieve great things and form solid connections. but, theodore had no interest in connections and such. he was sociable, sure, but didn't necessarily care to form alliances with people he cared nothing for. why lower himself when there were bigger and
better fish elsewhere: ones that were actually worthy of his attention?
then, the limousine rolled to a stop before a relatively wealthy estate. "we have arrived, madam, young master." said the chauffeur. the door was soon opened by one of the maids so as to let the mother-and-son duo out of the vehicle.
"it's small," said theodore soon after giving the house a brief scan, his hands finally tugging his earphones out and putting his phone away,
"ah. and 'cozy.' pardon me, mother." he added, voice enthusiastic despite the dry undertone.
"
theo. what did i say about behaving yourself?"
"only the best," grey eyes rolled as cordelia, theodore's own personal maid, went ahead and rang the doorbell.
"for nobody but you, mommy dearest.""fine."
conceal don't feel. wasn't there a disney song with a line like that? theodore blinked, deciding that this was probably the best approach. he wasn't the star today. a ridiculous notion, yes, but he and his sisters were usually no more than decorations and puppets during get-togethers. something to be praised and compared over. like slabs of meat. there was a faint sneer on theodore's face as the door swung open.
whatever he had told himself earlier about concealing his thoughts was out of the window the moment he saw the small blonde,
"shall we go?" he turned to his mother,
"whoever these people are, i doubt they're really worth our time if they're unable to hire a grown adult for a butler. quite a disgusting fetish if you ask me." as if
he was one to talk.
"i didn't. i
didn't ask you." mrs. massinger's eye twitched as she sent a glare at her son who instantly flinched.
"but i'm your favourite son, mother." he huffed bitterly, gaze returning to the 'child' who had welcomed them,
"must be tough for you. which orphanage are you from? i'll ask my father to donate to them next time so the same thing won't happen to any of your friends." said theodore, blinking with his upper body lowered so as to have a better look at the child's face.
"zip it, theo. you're being rude." his mother said, giving a forceful pat on her son's back so as to straighten him up. with a nod at the blonde, she smiled, "thanks. how is mr. gilliver doing? you're his son, yes?"
theodore's eyes widened almost immediately,
"they have to answer the door by themselves? what do the servants do?" he asked, glancing to cordelia who was handing the blonde boy a bottle of wine.
"please accept my mistress and young master's humble gift to the mister and the missus." said the maid with a small smile at the 'child.'
theodore blinked at this and let out a snort,
"it's blanc de blancs, how-""theo, i believe that i've asked you to keep quiet."
