A Little Help Here (Tristian)

[Eddie Locksley]

Much like his very best friend in the whole world Gaston, Eddie was delighted to be back at Tintagel because it meant he didn't have to hide all of his geeky hobbies. Even worse than Gaston, he didn't even have anyone to indulge his hobbies with when he was at home. His mother but listen, polite but mystified, when he particularly wanted to wax lyrical about what the last Dr Who plot twist might have meant, and while his father recognised all the names and titles as things Arthur used to talk about, he doesn't really have time or inclination to listen to Eddie talk about it. It just wasn't the same.

Here, though, he was free. And today, free meant going to the park to test out his brand new millennium falcon kite. A brand new, very large kite, with long strings and two handles and nobody else to help him control it. On a particularly windy day.

Really, it was a recipe for disaster.

He managed to get the kite up in the air, sending it swooping and gliding above him in the sky, and for a moment it seemed like all would be well. And then his natural clumsiness and bad luck combined in their traditional way, he stepped backwards into a rabbit hole and started to fall just as a particularly strong gust of wind caught hold of the kite and dragged it back towards the trees. Every stumbling step or fall forwards seemed to get him tangled up in the string more and more tightly, and by the time he came to a stop he was practically trussed up, resting against the trunk of the tree his kite was hopelessly caught up in.

"...ow..."

[Tristian]

Tristian had been sitting on a bench nearby, trying to find a quiet moment to catch up on his reading when out of the corner of his eye he saw the stumbling and entangled Eddie pass by in front of him, and gazed on in wonder as he then proceeded to crash into a tree. He did not laugh, he did not giggle, he did not even crack a smile. He just stared with his mouth slightly opened and said under his breathe, “How…how could someone be…so stupid.”

He looked back down at his book, but found that he could not concentrate on it.

There was a part of him that knew what he had to do, a really annoying nagging part of them that sounded an awful lot like his father which only made him more inclined to ignore it. Then there was another part of him that sounded too much like Merlin that said, ‘He’s right you know’.

Tristian groaned, marked the place in his book and walked over to where Eddie was.

“Need a hand?” he asked, just about managing to stop himself from saying ‘need a brain?’.

[Eddie Locksley]

When he initially heard the groan, Eddie thought he must have also hit somebody else during his spectacularly bad acrobatics routine, and that he'd officially reached the point where his clumsiness injured other people as well as himself, but when he finally managed to twist around to look in the direction the noise had come from, he was pleasantly surprised to find Tristian approaching him.

Not that he knew the other boy particularly well, they didn't interact all that much, but he was Gaston's older brother and Gaston was his best friend, so they sort of had a connection, and he was offering help. Right about then Eddie would have been delighted to see even his own older brother if help was being offered... okay, maybe not Richard, there's no way he wouldn't lord that over Eddie forever, he just seemed the type.

"Uh, that would be good, thank you?"

[Tristian]

Tristian nodded and stepping forward began to untangle Eddie from the ropes of the kite.

He had thankfully few interactions with his little brother’s best friend, given that most of his conversation seemed to revolve around the same interests as Gaston Jr’s and there was no way Tristian was going to be drawn in to all that. Ok, so perhaps amongst all the other things he was closeted about he definitely tried hide the fact that all that stuff his father and Gaston Jr, and yes, this Eddie, was interested him…he liked too.

How could he not like it, he was presented with it almost every single day of his life, if he did not like it he would have gone mad. So yes, he had seen star wars, yes, he had, on the odd occasion, sat down to binge watch Game of Thrones, and is most darkest secret yet…yes he had watched Buffy and yes…like his father he had loved it. But such things could never be spoken of, and especially not in front of Eddie.

Once Tristian had got him mostly free he said, “Where’s Gaston, I thought you two were joined at the hip.”

[Eddie Locksley]

"Thank you," Eddie said pathetically, waiting patiently while Tristian untangled the ropes around him. He figured it would be better to just stay as still as possible and try not to get in the way. Admittedly, Eddie had the ability to get in the way regardless of whether he moved or not, so he wasn't sure he could actually make it any better.

He moved very carefully once he was mostly freed, though ended up tripping over and landing flat on his face, one leg still tangled up in the strings. Luckily, the fall didn't get the rest of him any more tangled, just a little muddy, which was par for the course - if there was mud around, Eddie would fall in it. That was why he didn't own anything white.

"Oh, not always, he's got lots of friends," Eddie said, a little mournfully. He idolised Gaston, he was kind of honoured the boy was his best friend, Gaston was pretty much the alpha nerd of Tintagel - it wasn't a very large group of people, but still, Gaston was the coolest (in Eddie's opinion anyway) "...and I wanted to test out the kite so I could impress him with it..."

[Tristian]

When Eddie fell into the mud Tristian looked down at him and once again said under his breathe, “…how?!”

When Eddie had got back to his feet Tristian reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief he kept there, handing it to Eddie so that he could wipe away the bit of mud that he had managed to get smudged on his cheek. Eddie was a good looking young man, Tristian could appreciate that, and it was just as well, because he did not have much else. Well he wasn’t being entirely fair there, Eddie was also somewhat sweet and loyal, no one could deny that he was loyal. Any girl that dated Eddie would know that he was truly devoted to her…then again…the way he spoke about Gaston Jr sometimes…it did make him wonder…

“Impress him?” said Tristian raising an eyebrow at Eddie before turning to look up at the kite, “yeah…I suppose I can see why you might think that.”

He looked back at Eddie and said, “Eddie…have you ever flown a kite before?”

[Eddie Locksley]

Eddie grinned gratefully, taking the handkerchief and wiping off his muddy palms and cheek, of course he did it in that order, so all he managed to do was get a worse smudge across his cheek and then he tried to hand Tristian the mud-covered handkerchief back. Part of the problem with Eddie was that all his thought processes were perfectly logical, he just didn't stop to think if there was a better way once he'd got his first idea, so rather than thinking that giving Tristian the handkerchief back would be better once he'd cleaned it, he just went straight to the part where he needed to return the item he'd borrowed.

"Yea! I mean he loves the millennium falcon, obviously we both do, so I thought he'd really like to see it flying through the air, and I could get the kite going and then call him to come and see..." never mind the fact that it was a two handed kite so if he was flying the kite he wouldn't be able to call, or that he didn't need to explain himself more at all since Tristian had already indicated he understood.

"This was my first time..." he admitted.

[Tristian]

When Eddie handed him back the handkerchief Tristian sighed and finding the cleanest part of it that he could stepped in and wiped off the smudge of mud on Eddie’s face. He couldn’t help it, there was just no way he was going to be able to have any more conversation with the boy until it was done. Honestly, how did Eddie even survive leaving the house in the morning?

“Why didn’t you just ask him to come with you, then he could have helped-” Tristian stopped, this was going to be too much logic for Eddie.

He needed to slow things down, take it one step at a time.

“Ok,” said Tristian drawing on his patience, “how about we get the kite down from the tree, I’ll teach you how to fly it, then we can go show Gaston, how does that sound?”

[Eddie Locksley]

Eddie was already opening his mouth to protest that it wouldn't be a surprise if he did that, but Tristian stopped talking so he closed it again, waiting for whatever he was going to say instead. Sometimes Eddie had trouble controlling his mouth, he often spoke without thinking, but sometimes he managed to catch himself and employ just enough sensibility to wait until he knew everything before speaking, especially since not doing that tended to end up with him embarrassed or causing offence.

"Oh, well that sounds really good, are you sure? I mean if you're busy...I don't want to interrupt your afternoon..." if he was being honest he found Tristian more than a little bit daunting, he was older and cooler than both him and Gaston (though in a different way, because Gaston was clearly the coolest person in the universe) and he was a prince who was going to be a king someday, he was pretty impressive.

[Tristian]

“It’s fine,” said Tristian looking up at the tree, “besides this may prove to be more entertaining.”

He walked around the tree for a moment, trying to figure out the best way of removing the kite without damaging it. He pulled a few of the strings loose, untangling them from the branches, being careful not to snap off any of the twigs. You never could tell with things in Tintagel, one minute you’re snapping off a twig the next you’re running through the park being chased by a suddenly human shaped tree.

Seeing a slightly sturdier looking branch, he held on and pulled himself up, chin first, and then wrapped his legs around it. Once he was sat on the branch he looked at his trousers…and the green on them. He sighed.

As he carefully tried to dislodge the kite he said, “So how are you enjoying being back in Tintagel Eddie?”

[Eddie Locksley]

"Oh, yea I think it will be a lot of fun," Eddie brightened up, looking amazed but incredibly pleased that Tristian seemed to think hanging out with him would be more entertaining than whatever else he was planning on doing that day. He didn't stop to think that there might be some laughing at him that was the entertaining part, because while that was something that happened a lot, he usually wasn't bright enough to catch it.

He watched with wide eyes as Tristian pulled himself easily up onto the tree branch, resisting the urge to clap because he knew it would probably be weird, but he couldn't stop himself from saying "Wow that was really cool. I tried to do a pull up once, it didn't go very well." He was wisely staying back himself, keeping out of reach of the detangling process so as not to make it any more difficult for Tristian.

"Oh I really like it, I mean it's good to see Gaston a lot more often and I like being able to read comics and watch Star Wars whenever I like, although my brother's here too now so that's...not as good..."

[Tristian]

Before Tristian could stop himself, he asked, “Why, what happened?”

He could already imagine the various accidents that would have ensued from Eddie doing a ‘pull up’ but his own curiosity got the better of him. Sometimes the reality was far more hilarious than anything he could have imagined. Hopefully it was just…he couldn’t and wasn’t ‘I hit my head on the branch and fell into the river below where for some reason there were crocodiles.’ He hoped that was not the case…although you never could tell with Eddie.

Carefully, he began to dislodge the kite, pulling it from the branches.

“Ah, this must be Richard, yes?” said Tristian glancing down at the boy, “Gaston Jr mentioned him. It’s not easy when a new sibling turns up.”

The kite was finally free of the branches and in Tristian’s hands. He looked down at Eddie, this was going to be interesting.

“Ok, I’m going to drop this down to the ground, you don’t need to catch it, just…let it fall,” said Tristian, “ok?”

[Eddie Locksley]

"Oh, I just fell off the tree, but it was really muddy underneath so I slipped over and broke my arm. Luckily it was just before we went on a visit to Camelot so Merlin fixed it with magic, good as new." he waved his arm to demonstrate, as if Tristian hadn't already seen it fully functional several times since the incident in question.

"Yea. Richard." he said bitterly, "Stupid Richard and his ...sword fighting and... stuff..." he added in a low mutter before edging back a little bit further so he wasn't in the way.

"Okay, I'll stay right here." he promised

[Tristian]

Tristian watched as Eddie waved his arm about and once again marvelled at how the boy had got this far in life. “Well, that was lucky,” was all Tristian could think to say to that particular piece of information.

It was a good thing that Eddie had decided to befriend Gaston Jr, another friend might take advantage of the trusting nature of the Locksley boy, maybe lead him down a darker path. It wouldn’t be hard after all. However thankfully he had fallen in with Gaston Jr, and whilst his little brother might not be able to do much if it came to a fight, he could at least keep Eddie from injuring himself in other ways, not to mention looking out for his emotional wellbeing.

Speaking of which…

“Ah yes, your older brother,” said Tristian with a smirk, “I take it you’re not too happy he’s returned?”

He gently dropped the kite to the ground where it gracefully landed on the grass. Tristian carefully swung himself down back onto the ground, crossing over to the kite and picking it up. “I’m afraid that’s just big brothers for you, just ask Gaston, there is nothing we enjoy more than terrorising and bossing our younger siblings around,” said Tristian with a smile, “but when it really matters, I’m sure Richard will have your back.”

‘Fairly sure’ said Tristian.

From their brief, ahem, interaction, he wasn’t sure he really had any information on that judgement…still…they were family. They might not like each other but family was family.

“Right, shall we get this back up in the air?” said Tristian holding up the kite.

[Eddie Locksley]

"Huh," Eddie scoffed, shaking his head "I don't think Richard has anyone's back except his own. He was raised by the Sheriff. Not the current sheriff, the old one, the bad one that mum and dad fought, he stole Richard when he was a baby and raised him to be a bad guy, so I don't know why we have to go trusting him just because we're related. We don't even know him. He was literally raised on the dark side, and I know Darth Vader was good in the end sort of, but he did a lot of bad things before that, he blew up a whole planet! How do they know Richard isn't going to blow up a planet? Okay he doesn't have a space laser but they still should have thought about it."

"Oh!" he perked up immediately "Okay, let's go! This is going to be so cool!"