Upper Management [Christofer!]

[Annie Walker]

Annie wasn't sure if even Chris had noticed the shift in his behavior. Knowing him-- and Annie did know him, Chris was his beloved little brother as all his siblings were beloved-- Chris would probably say that nothing about the way he was acting had changed since Iola had come home. He had taken Saffron's earlier return a lot better: he hadn't been as attached to Saffron as he was to Iola in the first place, so her leaving hadn't come as quite a blow in the same way. Annie's perspective was vastly different, of course, as he'd always been close to Valerian and Saffron, and had never followed Iola around or clung to her the way Christofer did, but Annie could easily understand the point of view of a now grown wizard dealing with the ramifications of adolescent wounds reopened by recent events. It had to be similar enough to how Annie felt about Saffy, even if Annie hid it better. He knew Saffron could sense it, and Iola had brought it up with him once, but it was more subtle than Chris's irritability.

That was why Annie was making stir fry to the sound of Pippin playing something slow on the piano in the other room. The piano wasn't necessary, it was just what Pippin was doing, but the stir fry was important. As fully expected, Chris eventually came down the two flights of stairs as the smells of one of his favorite dishes filled their home. "Good nose," he greeted as Chris moved for the breakfast bar. "Fancy stir fry for lunch?"

It wasn't exactly calculated. Annie wasn't angling to discuss Chris's behavior by any means; that had never been his style, and besides, the way Chris had reacted to everything was understandable, even reasonable, and not, it seemed to Annie, all that damaging to anyone. Not worthy of being lured out by stir fry to talk it out. Annie just wanted to do something nice, because adjusting to new circumstances was hard.  They all knew that perfectly well.

[Christofer Walker]

It's been at least a few weeks since Iola came back into the Walker fold, and, as much as Chris wanted to compartmentalize it all—and heck, he was good at compartmentalizing things that happen in his life—it comes with the territory when you lose both parents as a teenager—there were moments when he realized that perhaps he was not doing that good of a job. He wasn’t proud of it: he had snapped at Iris at work more than a few times, and apparently it got to a point where Iris mentioned that she noticed ‘a change in him’—and though Chris had initially chalked that up to maybe Iris just having really good interpersonal skills, he realized that there were some truth in her words. He noticed that he was a bit impatient with a customer when one came in the other day and told him that she was “looking for a book… it’s red”—and instead of going through his usual game of 20 questions to help her find what she was looking for, which usually made him feel somewhat excited—he just replied something in an exasperated tone that basically indicated he wasn’t willing to help her. Even Pippin had caught the brunt of Chris’s irritability when, on several occasions, he’d literally yelled at Pippin, from his room, to please stop playing the same piece over and over again, and “for gods sake please cast a muffler charm when you’re playing” when actually Chris himself was fully capable of just going there and casting one himself if he was that bothered.

And… maybe he was snarkier than usual. But that’s also just Chris.

Christofer had the self-awareness, at this point, to know that maybe others around him were noticing these slightly uncharacteristic behaviors. And so he did the thing he knew how to do, which was to withdraw. It wasn’t that there was particularly anything ‘outgoing’ about him in the first place, which was why Chris thought these changes in him were subtle. He mostly… spent time in his room, chalking it up to work when Annie asked. And that part was true, anyway—lots of books to read, publisher pre-prints and all that, and he honestly liked to stay well-read, in the event that someone asked him for a recommendation or only gave a vague description of a book they were looking for. He really only left his room for meals—which was what happened that day, when he descended the stairs in the Walker estate and into the kitchen. He had smelled something cooking, and that made him hungry, so he was thinking of making something himself. As he entered the kitchen, he realized it was just Annie, and as the two brothers greeted each other, Annie asked if he wanted lunch.

“sure,” Chris said. “but what’s the occasion? It’s not my birthday,” he said jokingly. Sure, it’s not out of the blue for Annie to just do something nice, but lately, Chris had been doing so much of the ‘keeping to yourself’ thing that it almost felt like something had to be going on for them to be having lunch together. Maybe, like Iris, Annie noticed something and was onto him too.

Annie Walker

[Annie Walker]

"Close enough to a half birthday," Annie excused. 12 January. Depending on when the powers that be specifically chose to set this discussion, it was most certainly close enough. Perhaps not so close as to throw a party about it, but enough to make Chris a meal. "Or just a Tuesday." What would Chris like the occasion to be, he could have asked. More than likely Chris would have a smart answer for that, which Annie didn't mind exactly: Chris was among the funniest of the family to be sure. But Annie had always been a wizard of few words, and especially few questions. His family knew this, and it was just as likely as anything else that Christofer may offer his preference unprompted, the question implied in their interactions.

In his younger years, before Annie had become Chris's guardian, he had quieted himself a good amount more, not wishing to cause any level of disturbance for the people around him. He still did that to an extent-- old habits die hard-- but with Chris in particular, he remained conspicuous as he checked on the rice, far from loud, but deliberately making noise enough for his little brother to make sense of what was going on in the kitchen, the little click-clang of the pot lid being removed, more than just poking at the rice, stirring it so Chris could gather that it was still wet, the clang-click of replacing the lid. Annie's silence had become a point of contention when Chris's vision had really started to go, and though his accommodation was no longer all that conscious, he still sort of felt a sense of guilt for ever failing to do it.

He felt guilt with a handful of things, when it came to Christofer. He had been 15 during the attack, had tried to argue that he ought to fight, then had lost both parents and his favorite sister. Sure, the same thing had happened to Annie, but Annie had been an adult already, his life and career largely sorted out by that point. Annie was a poor replacement for their parents, he knew, but Molly and Gavin had been young enough to accept it anyway. Chris, on the other hand, had largely raised himself after the attack, a stubborn reserve about him that was interrupted only by Annie making sure he ate during school breaks. None of that was Annie's fault, no, but he felt it colored some of their interactions.

[Christofer Walker]

"Close enough to a half birthday,"

“is it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think we’ve ever been a half-birthday sort of family, because you know, logistics” – honestly, their parents had enough birthdays to remember already. It felt like it was almost always someone’s birthday, while they were growing up. “but now that I got the memo—I will certainly remember yours in…” he paused, made a dramatic thinking face, and he did the quick math. “… May. Yeah, May.” He nodded solemnly as he gave his answer… before taking a breath and continuing: “And Gavin’s in February, Molly’s in August, Gabby and Iola’s in—”

"Or just a Tuesday."

He had just quickly counted the months in his head and was about to say it all in one go when Annie said that it could also just be a Tuesday. So this was slightly more believable to Chris, but only ever so slightly, because there was just something that struck him as ‘intervention-esque’ about the whole situation, though it could also very well be just Annie being Annie. “Happy Tuesday then,” he said, with a feigned sigh of relief. “phew. and here I was thinking I’ll be needing to send Gavin some half-birthday presents soon.”

Annie was his guardian once they lost their parents, and though fifteen-year-old Chris would’ve never said it out loud, Annie was… quite good at it, especially for just being thrown into that position. For one, Molly and Gavin turned out alright. Chris could imagine he probably proved to be more difficult for Annie: he was stubborn as hell and despised the holiday breaks when he had to come home because that meant he didn’t have school to distract him. The teenage angst and anger at the world Chris had held at the time… well let’s just say his family, especially Annie, got the brunt of that. But despite it all, Annie made sure he turned out okay too. And sometimes part of that involved just having a meal together. Like now. And maybe that’s why Chris felt like Annie might ask him something that he wouldn’t particularly want to address… And maybe that’s why Chris was attempting to fill the silences with his usual collection of snarky remarks and silly, exaggerated facial expressions, though one could also argue that they’re medium-funny at best mostly because Kate is feeling medium-funny at best, at this particular moment.

Chris listened to the comfortable click-clacking of the sounds in the kitchen. He knew if he offered to help, he would mostly likely just get in the way. Plus, it’s more likely than not that Annie had a flow of his own going on. Still, he asked. “Want help? I can…” a pause, as he thought about what he could do that wouldn’t make the kitchen feel more crowded. “… I can make tea,’ he said, with a half-amused smile on his face. Tea wasn’t his thing, and that made him a bit of a black sheep in the family, since tea is basically a Walker personality trait. But because it was a Walker personality trait, he also have had plenty of tea in his lifetime and also know that apparently, in this family at least, it’s never not a time for tea. Plus, he didn’t want to do nothing, while Annie worked on the food.

Annie Walker  

[Annie Walker]

Annie rarely interrupted. That wasn’t his style either, and he would mostly only do so in an emergency, or... maybe when his little brother was headed down a rabbit hole of listing every single one of their sibling's half birthday months. He seemed to have started from the youngest, anyway, and Annie didn't want to hear him list off Valerian's name like he was still part of the family, if Chris considered him such. He had no way of knowing what had happened to him-- Annie had neglected to tell him-- so from Chris' perspective, perhaps Valerian had disappeared for other reasons? Or he was dead. That one might be true, actually. Even Annie didn't know that one. Some days he hoped for it. Most days he didn't know what to hope for.

Regardless, Chris was right: logistically, a birthday-based event every two weeks on average just wasn’t sustainable. "Just Tuesday" worked just fine for Annie.

It probably did seem like an intervention on a certain level, just because Annie was in the habit of softening Chris up first when they had to talk. It usually worked: a meal he liked here, a personal gift there... not that Annie didn't do that anyway, especially when it came to cooking-- he was ever in the habit of making far more than he needed to, as were most of them really-- but this was a favorite of Chris’s, so he was understandably a little suspicious. It was fair enough.

"If you'd like it," Annie granted. He knew tea wasn’t his usual, but he appreciated the gesture. "Teapot's to my right." Tad had always gotten the aroma cups out for oolong any time they had Chinese food, but the specifics were up to Christofer. He didn't want to push him into anything, never had, but he always wanted to be available, present for Chris to talk to if he felt the need. A decent way to encourage that was with food.

[Christofer Walker]

"If you'd like it. "Teapot's to my right."

"mhm," he said, as he started moving towards where Annie had mentioned where the teapot was. Navigating around the house was mostly memory, at this point, though he often still relied on sounds and tactile feedback when he is doing something--like making tea. He grabbed the tea kettle from where he'd expected it--filled it up with water, and passed it off to Annie to put on the stove so that the water can be boiled. Then he reached into the cabinet where they stored a bunch of teas--and just picked one out. Usually things were, well, labelled--or maybe if it wasn't, and if Chris cared, he'd just use a read-aloud charm, or maybe an retrieval charm... but he really couldn't be bothered. Tea all kinda taste the same to him. He grabbed the tin of tea leaves at the very front and held it towards Annie to see. "is this okay?" he asked his brother. The label probably wasn't even pointed towards Annie, honestly, and Chris also wasn't super sure if Annie was picky enough to ask him to change teas if it doesn't uhh.. pair well with the food. But still! He was mostly making the tea for his brother, anyway, not himself. 

As he messed with the tin of tea (whether or not he picked another one, Kate will leave that up to Lamp), finding a spoon in one of the drawers and scooping the tea leaves into the tea pot, Chris piped up. "so um... how's life?" it's definitely a pretty boring conversation starter, but he was genuinely curious. for living in such close proximity with one another, Chris really hadn't seen much of Annie lately. And, while he knew that Annie would also be perfectly happy to just hang out in silence (as would Chris, honestly), he was in a bit of an abnormally chatty mood. Plus, if Annie's goal was to start a conversation, it made Chris felt like he was ahead of the game if he got to ask him what's up first.

Annie Walker

[Annie Walker]

Annie didnt need to watch his little brother, but he did, prone as he was to staring as Chris moved comfortably around the space they called home. "Sure, yeah," Annie said before really glancing down to the tin Chris had pulled out. When he did look, he noted the usual red tin that held the breakfast tea. It was labeled in two different ways that Annie couldn't read either of for very different reasons, and colored brightly enough for Chris to make it out in the right light even without the braille, but Chris usually chose what was easily accessible regardless of flavor profile, and Annie wasn't too fussed. If he'd gone to the effort of seeking out the oolong specifically, it would have tipped Annie off to something very particular going on in his head. They all sort of had some lingering issues after Tad's death, even as they'd done their best afterward.

Annie cracked a small smile. "You're not planning on teasing me about Maverick straight away then, but that just leaves me in anticipation." They'd been seeing each other for just a few weeks at this point, and most of his siblings had taken various opportunities to poke and prod at his fresh relationship with Molly and Gavin's cute driving instructor. "Life's alright. My little brother's half birthday was last week. You?"