Theodore and Charlie
July 05, 2015 8:58 AM
Pride and Prejudice by Theodore and Charlie
Theodore was fond of MARS’ room four. He made relatively frequent use of its ability to mimic his favourite galleries, finding them a good place to unwind and get some headspace. He had, however, never used its craftier side. He tentatively poked his head in, almost expecting to find it utterly empty, as he had no idea what he wanted, except some orange card. However, he found it full not only with supplies, but with the seventh year Teppenpaw boy, who seemed to be sketching a lady in a dress. Charlie looked around at the click of the door opening.“Sorry,” Theodore said softly, “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I could come back later…”
“No, come in if you’d like. I’m just working on my portfolio, and I’m quite happy to have some company.”
“Portfolio?” Theodore queried, stepping into the room and closing the door.
“For college,” Charlie confirmed, “I want to be a fashion designer. What are you in for?”
“Uh… I wanted to make a birthday card. For my sister,” Theodore admitted sheepishly. He had never given Charlie much credit for… well, anything really. Intelligence. Ambition. Being able to focus for more than five minutes. But here he was, driven and working hard. Towards an admittedly stupid and fripperous career but his level of focus and dedication was surprising. And made Theodore’s own reasons for being here seem rather pitiful. Charlie, however beamed at him.
“That’s really sweet. Which sister, and what did you have in mind?” he asked.
“Uh. Jemima. She’s very artsy, so I thought she might… um, appreciate it,” he admitted awkwardly. He wasn’t ashamed of being fond of his sisters in the slightest but he didn’t often share many of his feelings, and Charlie would not have been his first choice for any admissions he did make. “And I’m not really sure. I was sort of hoping that I’d get some inspiration from what was available.” Again, Charlie didn’t meet this suggestion with derision but with a nod and a smile.
“Sometimes the best way,” he agreed, turning back to his sketch.
Theodore secured a piece of orange card, Jemima’s favourite colour and folded it in half. He rotated it, studying it landscape, then portrait, then back to landscape again. Perhaps looking through the drawers of materials would help…. There were trays of paints, pastels and charcoals… But he wasn’t sure he’d ever used anything more complex than a felt-tip. There were ribbons and buttons and little gemstones. He pulled out an orange ribbon, feeling that it would be useful somehow. He laid it next to the card. It sort of blended in which was probably not really the right idea.
“Would you like some help?” The voice at his shoulder made him jump. He shuffled a little, regaining some sense of personal space whilst he considered the offer. He really was lost and incompetent on his own but….
“If you like,” he said, as if it was he who was doing Charlie a favour, indulging him.
“Ok,” Charlie replied, suppressing his smile. The birthday card was clearly in need of a rescue mission but it seemed someone didn’t like to admit to not knowing what to do….
“So, your sister likes orange then?” he observed, eyeing up Theodore’s selected materials, “Let’s choose a ribbon that compliments the card, instead of getting lost on it. What else does she like?” he asked, as he rummaged in the ribbon drawer.
“Um… her cat. Animals in general really. Art, like I said. Er…. wearing dresses with loud patterns on them.”
“A girl after my own heart,” Charlie grinned, pulling a pale orange ribbon and a cream one with green polka dots out of the drawer. “We could go for a simple picture of something she likes, and add the ribbons as decoration,” he suggested. There were complex arrangements of gems and buttons running through his mind but he didn’t think Theodore was quite ready for those.
“Ok,” Theodore nodded. He waited, but Charlie’s raise of the eyebrows indicated that he should go on. “Um… an easel with ‘Happy Birthday Jemima’ on the canvas?” he suggested.
Boring. Predictable. This girl sounded like a fascinating human and this was the best her brother could come up with.
“Perfect,” he smiled. Every pupil had to start somewhere and the card would mean more if it was Theodore’s ideas, and something he could do himself, than if Charlie produced the most fantastical card the world had ever seen. She was bound to know her brother had had very little to do with it if that was the case. “Think you can sketch that out whilst I pick some more decorative bits and bobs.”
“Yes, thank you,” Theodore nodded. He was torn between gratitude for the help and distaste at feeling indebted to, and bettered by, someone like that. He had heard the rumours about Charlie. Or had he? Were they even rumours, when he pranced around being so obvious about his perversions?
Theodore was filling in the lettering in a rather plain style, just about paying attention to basic things like sizing and formatting, when Charlie returned with his pile of potential pieces. He wound one of the ribbons into a little bow.
“I’m thinking maybe that there?” he suggested, pinning it to decorate the corner of the easel. His hand brushed Theodore’s and the other boy retracted it sharply as if he had been burnt. Charlie blinked, not sure what he’d done but then... The silence stretched out as the implication of this gesture sunk in.
“You can’t catch anything from me, you know,” Charlie said icily, dropping the ribbon. He retreated to his sketches but he was too angry to even stay in the room with Theodore. He’d heard of people like him but he had never met one. And he’d been trying to help him… How could anyone treat a person like that who was trying to help them? He untacked his designs, rolling them up and sliding them into his case. Why had he even tried? Why did he care what sort of birthday card stuck-up Theodore’s probably equally stuck-up sister got, when clearly what they thought of ‘people like him’ was so very, very low? He slammed the door behind him as he left, telling himself he had to get to his room before he let it all out - that he wouldn’t give Theodore the satisfaction of anyone seeing him crying in public.
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Theodore and Charlie
Pride and Prejudice
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Theodore and Charlie
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