He made a soft noise in the back of his throat and crossed the hall, pushing open the door to his study and traversing the thick carpet to the minibar, sighing with relief as he closed his fingers around the neck of a bottle of scotch. Oh, welcome home, Charles. He poured himself a glass and took a swig before even thinking to offer something to his guest. Chiding himself quietly, he turned and gestured to the minibar behind him. “If you’d like something, you’re more than welcome to it. Even if you don’t drink, I’ve got some soda here…you know, in case my sister ever comes back.”
He tried not to let the mention of Raven grate on him.
There was a flare of regret, and hurt … Summer tried to pull herself out of the man’s heart. It was really impolite, after all, and was just going to make the side effects worse as they kicked in. “A soda would be really nice, thank you.” She glanced around the room as she crossed to the minibar, snaking a quick hand inside the fridge to grab a can. “It’s a really lovely place you have here, Professor.”
He crossed the room to sit in an overstuffed armchair adjacent to a round marble-top table with a stone chess set resting on its surface. He sat back with a light sigh, taking another drink of his scotch.
“Thank you; my family has lived here for a long time. It’s high time I had a family of my own to inhabit it.” He tried not to feel the swell of pride that bloomed in his chest — he immediately thought of his students, and the joy they had brought to his monolithic manor.
Popping the tab, Summer folded down to sit crosslegged on the floor beside the chess set. She took a moment to yank her braid out from underneath herself before starting to really study him over the top of the can. “What am I allowed to know about this place?”