Things I'd Rather Not Say [Atlas]

[brendis everard vane]

“

Things with Tristan were over.

Brendis wasn't sure they had ever started, really, but they were certainly over now. Tristan's words and the look on his face still hung at the forefront of Brendis' mind, and they had echoed on repeat the entire way home. It wasn't the first time Brendis had been called stupid, and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but that didn't make the words sting any less.

Though it was a long walk, Brendis had decided to walk from Tristan's apartment back to his, Callisto, and Atlas'. It gave him time to think, to try and wrap his mind around what had just happened. Even when the rain started, heavy raindrops pounding on his back, Brendis barely noticed. By the time he reached the flat he called home, he was drenched to the bone, tracking water up the stairs and down the hallway to the front door. Even his keys and wallet were drenched, making the keys more than a little slippery as he fit the correct one into the lock and turned.

Atlas was sitting in the living room when Brendis entered, much to his surprise. He had been hoping the flat would be empty, or at least that he'd be able to make it to his bedroom without having to talk to anyone. He wasn't in the mood to talk, not right then. But no—Atlas was sitting on the couch when Brendis entered, looking up at his friend as the front door clicked shut behind him.

"Hey, At," Brendis greeted flatly, hanging his keys on the hook where they belonged and swiping a lock of wet hair from his eyes. Callie would have his head if he tracked water everywhere, he knew, but there was really no avoiding it with how drenched he was. 

atlas fabian weasley ● october 9, 2022 ● 300 words ● n/a

Brendis Everard
Vane★

dandy ♫

[atlas fabian weasley]

atlas fabian weasley

Whoever decided that October was a good time to have the first exams, was allowed to rot in hell if it was up to Atlas. It felt as if he had barely returned to college after summer break, and he was already studying his ass off for al these courses. Admittedly, some exams were resists, things he didn't pass on the first try because his mind was somewhere else. Which was no different the second time around though. Studying had never really been Atlas' thing, but going to college after graduating from Hogwarts seemed like a logical step. Especially because he hadn't quite figured out what he wanted to pursue a career in, and because Brendis was also going.

That first half year of college was nothing more than a whole lot of fun. Until Atlas got a girl pregnant, and he had to quickly grow up and take up some more responsibilities. That's when he started working two jobs to help Clementine provide for their daughter and his mind was not on exams or any schoolwork at all. Now he was a fourth year at Rutherford's and he needed to put in maximum effort to make sure he could graduate this year. So far, that plan wasn't quite successful. 

"Hey, At,"

He had given up on studying for that day, even if he knew he wasn't well enough prepared for his exam tomorrow, when Brendis came home. "Hey Brendis," Atlas greeted him, he had been so focused the afternoon that he hadn't even heard Brendis leave. "How are you? Have you had dinner yet?" He asked, as he hadn't and he was planning to order something. 

brendis everard vane - 277 words

aeron at GS

[brendis everard vane]

“

"Hey Brendis. How are you? Have you had dinner yet?"

"Uh, no, I'm not really hungry," Brendis replied, which in and of itself was a sign something was wrong. Brendis was a veritable bottomless pit most days, willing to eat anything and everything that was put before him. Indian, Italian, Turkish, it didn't matter what cuisine or dish it was, Brendis Vane would eat it.

Brendis made his way into the kitchen, fetching a hand towel from the drawer and attempting to mop up the water he was tracking in everywhere. There was a clear path from the front door to the kitchen, tracing Brendis' path. Every time he mopped up one puddle, another was forming under his feet.

"Fuck," Brendis muttered after a while of trying in vain to dry the floors. He couldn't do anything right, could he? He couldn't manage to not fuck up one of the only good things going in his life, he couldn't manage to not fuck up every class he took at university, and he couldn't even manage to not fuck up drying the floor. He tossed the towel on the floor in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose and screwing his eyes shut. Merling, this night had turned out awful. 

atlas fabian weasley ● october 9, 2022 ● 209 words ● short, sorry!

Brendis Everard
Vane★

dandy ♫

[atlas fabian weasley]

atlas fabian weasley

"Uh, no, I'm not really hungry,"

Atlas' eyebrows already furrowed at those words, ever since he met Brendis, the guy was always hungry. Once he looked over at Brendis, he realised something had happened to his best friend. "Are you sure? I'm planning to order something, cannot be bothered to so any cooking tonight," Atlas said. Normally cooking was one of the things he did around the household, or he at least enjoyed helping whoever was in charge of dinner that evening, which was for obvious reasons never Brendis. "I can easily get you something as well," he said. 

"Fuck,"

He watched from the couch as Brendis grabbed a towel from the kitchen and tried to clean up all the water that he had brought in himself by stepping into the apartment completely soaked. Obviously that wasn't going to work if Brendis was still completely soaked and new puddles kept appearing on their floor. "Brendis," Atlas tried to get his attention, but his friend already seemed so frustrated with the whole thing that he was basically unreachable.

Instead of continuing to try from the couch, Atlas got up and walked over, taking the towel from Brendis' hands. "This isn't going to work, Bren," he said, standing in front of him as he was clearly going through something. "Not if you're completely soaked. Why don't you take a shower while I clean this up and order us some food and then you can tell me about what the hell happened to you since I saw you three hours ago?" 

brendis everard vane  - 258 words

aeron at GS

[brendis everard vane]

“

"Are you sure? I'm planning to order something, cannot be bothered to do any cooking tonight. I can easily get you something as well."

Brendis barely heard Atlas' words. All he could hear was Tristan's words, echoing in his brain. He'd been so fucking stupid, why should he have ever thought someone like Tristan would actually be interested in him? Tristan was successful, handsome, smart, adored by so many. And Brendis was a waiter who was about to flunk out of university. They lived in different worlds, and Brendis should have seen that long ago.

He continued trying to mop up the puddle of water on the floor, becoming more and more frustrated with every passing moment. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

"Brendis... This isn't going to work, Bren. Not if you're completely soaked. Why don't you take a shower while I clean this up and order us some food and then you can tell me about what the hell happened to you since I saw you three hours ago?"

It was Atlas to the rescue, as always. Brendis didn't want to think about where he would be without his best friend; for as long as he could remember, Atlas had always been by his side, for better or worse. The Weasleys had been more of a family to him than his parents ever were, and it had been only his younger siblings that kept him from leaving the Vane home and name behind by his third year at Hogwarts.

"Fine," Brendis mumbled, not wanting to let Atlas have to save his skin again, but not seeing much other choice. He rose and pushed his water-logged hair from his face, going into his bedroom and closing the door without protest. He showered as fast as he could, not wanting to have to be alone with his thoughts anymore than he already was, and pulled on a fresh set of sweats and a tshirt, towel-dried his hair, and tossed his wet clothes in the hamper before returning to the living room.

"Thanks, At," Brendis said, seeing that Atlas had cleaned up the mess he'd made, tracking water everywhere. Atlas had even dried the path of water that had led from the front door to his bedroom. "I would've gotten it, it was just. Not working out." Brendis let out a sigh. A lot of things had no worked out that evening. 

atlas fabian weasley ● october 9, 2022 ● 398 words ● n/a

Brendis Everard
Vane★

dandy ♫

[atlas fabian weasley]

atlas fabian weasley

Atlas was truly more caring than anyone ever gave him credit for. He was the irresponsible, reckless kind of caring, but still. He had always been like that, it wasn't just after he became a father that that quality of him surfaced, but his sense of responsibility had surely increased after Maisie was born, even if many didn't see it. Besides, he could always kind of feel when something was wrong, especially when it came to his best friends. There was obviously something wrong with Brendis that evening.

While Brendis was in the shower, Atlas mopped the floors of the apartment and ordered some Indian food from a place down the street. Brendis had said that he wasn't hungry, but Atlas knew that if he ordered nothing for him, his best friend would eat all of Atlas', so he ordered a portion for him anyways.  He was just preparing the table so they could have dinner when the food arrived, when Brendis returned to the living room. 

"Thanks, At, I would've gotten it, it was just. Not working out."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine,"  Atlas said, brushing Brendis' words away. "I ordered food, it should be arriving any time now," he said, "Do you want a beer? Or something stronger maybe?" He asked, opening the fridge to grab a can of beer for himself. "You know, if you forgot your wand, you could have gotten yourself a taxi," Atlas said as he opened his can of beer and took a sip. "Instead of walking home in this dreadful weather. Where were you anyways?" He asked Brendis, hoping that this might be a way of getting Brendis to talk to him about what was wrong. 

brendis everard vane  - 285 words

aeron at GS

[brendis everard vane]

“

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. I ordered food, it should be arriving any time now. Do you want a beer? Or something stronger maybe?"

"Sure, whatever we've got," Brendis replied with a little shrug, moving to fetch his wallet (quite wet, but it was enchanted to keep its contents dry so it didn't matter) without much thought. He paid for most of the takeout he and Atlas ordered out of habit, and he set a stack of bills on the sidetable near the door for when the delivery arrived. Merlin knew he had enough money between his job at the Raevon's Feather and the generous allowance his mother sent him each month. It seemed right that he pay for their takeout habit, while Atlas was working so hard to provide for his daughter. 

"You know, if you forgot your wand, you could have gotten yourself a taxi Instead of walking home in this dreadful weather. Where were you anyways?"

Brendis could only shrug at Atlas' question. As close as he and Atlas were, as long as they had been, Brendis probably should have had an easier time being open with his best friend about how he was feeling and his struggled. Sure, it was easy to share the good news—he'd gotten a B on his History of Magic essay, his sister had gotten that job she wanted, some gross old guy at work had tipped him £20—but bad things were never something Brendis wanted to talk about. He didn't want to talk about his struggles in school or his struggles with his parents and how much of a mess his family was, and he certainly didn't want to talk about boy problems.

"I needed some space to think. I didn't mind," Brendis replied at last, shaking his head a little and then, when a lock of still-wet hair fell into his eyes, shook his head again to get it out of the way. "I was, ah, at a guy's house. Didn't go the way I thought the evening was going to go."

atlas fabian weasley ● october 9, 2022 ● 343 words ● n/a

Brendis Everard
Vane★

dandy ♫