gay-thic lit anyone? (o/o)

(Yes pls Victor get your act together)
“W-what?” He stuttered, looking up. “I promised I’d stay, remember?”
It almost felt like she’d read his mind, which was creepy, but he was too emotional at the moment to really think about it.
“Oh Esme, don’t blame yourself,” he pleaded. “The fault is mine, I left you. I didn’t know they were hurting… oh, why didn’t I see it?”

(Hhhhhhh sad- I love them to but aaaa-)

("which was creepy" well Esme may or may not be a blooming psychic so there's your answer, Robert.)

"Okay," she said, leaning into him and trying not to cry. "I would try not to miss you if you did leave though, so Mum and Mother would be allowed to miss you." she said, giving Robert a mournful look.

(Hahahahahahaha YESSSS)
He stared at her, tears running freely down his freckled cheeks. Staring at her face, his mind suddenly cleared for a moment. “If I do leave, then you’re free to miss me all you want. And you can tell them that they are allowed to miss me, too. But I’m not going to leave. Even if…” he trailed off, then turned his head to cough. “I want to help them. I don’t know if they’ll listen, but I’ll try to talk to them later.”

Esme smiled and nodded, moving away. "Thank you, but it is getting late. We should probably go inside now, Mum will worry." she said, standing up to go inside. She reached out a tiny hand to help Robert up, not quite realizing that she didn't have the strength to do so.

He chuckled, drying his face on his sleeve. "Sounds like you stole my line. Your getting to be a responsible young lady, aren't you?"
Instead of taking her hand, he reached out to gently guide it back to her side. He stood. "But you're right. We should get cleaned up, too."
He was glad he just decided to wear something that he'd worn before on his trip, instead of something new or that he hadn't worn before. He felt less guilty about getting it dirty if he'd already dirtied it before. He let his feet take him back inside, walking alongside Esme.

Esme led Robert back inside, holding his hand tightly. She didn't want to let go in fear that he'd leave her again, but once he was inside she relinquished her hold on her Uncle to go and sit, near the bookshelf, trying to find something to read. None of her old books interested her anymore, but Mum said she was too young to read things like Kant or the Oresteia. "I'm bored now. There aren't any good books here, not anymore, and apparently I'm too young to read anything even remotely interesting because 'I won't understand it yet'." she complained, seemingly having forgotten their earlier conversation.

(Honestly Esme was me but with every CS Lewis and Tolkien book ever written. Like, I was allowed to read Narnia and the Hobbit but I never even started the Silmarillion until I was 16 and I still haven't finished it lol.)

(Ooh, Tolkien is so good! I really love how he prioritizes healthy, platonic relationships in his work over romantic ones because it's just kinda neat to see your favorite characters being friends without any conflicts of (romantic) interest around to fuck shit up. Also, phenomenal worldbuilding, I could never.)

(Like, I have nothing against romance, I write it often, but it's just,,, friemnds. Is good.)

(Yeah, it is… lengthy. Like, it's a shit ton of words without much story, I tend to lean towards writing that is brief and to the point unless I need to evoke a certain emotion from the reader lol.)

"That's because people don't usually write things with children in mind," Robert replied, brushing dirt off his pants. "Unless, of course, it's to teach them lessons and make them behave. Those were most of the things I read when I was young. That's why I didn't read much." he gave her a wink. He didn't mind the change of topic, it let him take a minute to relax.
Then a thought occurred to him. He frowned a little. "I just remembered I have some business to take of. Sorry dear, maybe I can sneak you my copy of Robinson Crusoe later."
He walked over to her to give her a brief hug, then cautiously made his way to his sister's room, listening for any sobbing or crying.

(Same, same. I tried reading the Hobbit but I got bored and started rereading Percy Jackson lol. Their writing styles are complete opposites)

Esme nodded as he hugged her, and didn't even cry when he let go. Meanwhile, Margaret had stopped crying, and she had just opened the door to see Robert when the front door opened up, and slammed loudly. "Damn that stupid… Maggie, where's my bandages? I need-ow!" Anna's voice called, and you could hear her stumbling upstairs with Esme following, she seemed just as wound us as Anna was.

"Mother, what happened? Why is your arm all red and crusty? Is that blood? It looks like blood." Esme said, close to tears but too confused to cry.

('slammed loudly'?)

(either she cussed him out or she slammed the door in his face, I honestly can't tell)

(oh wait I figured it out nvm-)

(So basically Anna slammed the front door, Margaret is still in her bedroom doorway.)

Robert looked between Margaret and the stairs, then back again. "Um, I hoped to discuss something with you, but we can do that later if you want." A worried expression had come over him. "Anna, is that you? Are you alright?" He took a few steps toward the stairs.

"Yes, fine, can someone get me some bandages? I… Er, well, the needle sort of tore open some skin and it's bleeding quite a bit here… not too much!" here tone shifted and changed, and Margaret hurried to her wife with a set of bandages from their bedroom dresser. "Sorry Robert," she said as she passed by.

Anna was finally up the stairs and her arm looked bad. There was a puncture wound the size of a pin's head, a little bigger maybe, with a stream of blood pouring out. Anna had a cloth pressed as tightly as possible to the wound, but blood still dripped on the wooden floors.

(Tolkien is my favorite, I love him, I've read the LotR and the Hobbit like 20 times, along with Children of Hurin and the Silmarillion lmao)

Robert wasn't sure what to do except stare. Esme had told him about this, and it wasn't like he himself hadn't been injured himself on his trips, yet he still felt surprise, concern, and a little disgust when looking at Anna's wound. Another thing he noticed was that Magaret had come out with the bandages quickly, almost like she had done this before. He felt a lump form in his throat.
He just wanted to let the girls handle it, and he wasn't sure if asking to help would make things worse or not. And so he stood there, staring stupidly.

Margaret tenderly cleaned the wound with a cloth, and wrapped it quickly and with great precision. "You need to stop doing this…" Margaret whispered, kissing Anna chastely on the lips. "Sorry, Robert what were you saying? I can talk now." she said, moving over to her brother. "Mum? What's going on?"

"Esme, honey, your Mother just… well, she got into a little scrape is all. Doctoring has its risks, after all." she ushered Robert into her room and closed the door. "So, what do you need to tell me?"

“Just some business,” he said. “Just so you’re aware. In the letter I mentioned how the ship came across some ice, right? The ice caused some damage to it. By my estimate and what Uncle Benjamin has told me, the cost might be around fifty to fifty-five pounds. I think I have enough to pay for most of the expenses but… we might need some extra money. I can get it myself, but your help would be appreciated.” He looked at her, searching for a reaction. He was basically telling her that they would be in debt for some time, and he hated to be the bearer of bad news, especially after he just got home.

(Oh so I found an inflation calculator and £50 in the late 1810s would be around the equivalent of £4,600 today)

Margaret sighed. He brother's antics were constantly getting them into trouble, when would it be enough for him? After he'd destroyed the family?

"I suppose I can convince Anna to work on weekends. It'll get us a little extra, hopefully. We will get through this." Margaret lied, because how could she even be sure? How could she know whether or not things would be alright? But she had to stay brave, and strong, and hold her brother accountable. "But you'll also have to pick up work, and so will your little friends. I already have enough mouths to feed between you and Esme and Anna."

(Holy shit.)