The Wordsworth family had not forgotten about their son. No, nothing so indifferent; he was a regular disappointing topic of conversation for their parents and a conflict for his sister, who had never been sure how to feel about it. But they did not usually have to see him in person, be reminded of their choice and the things they had done (or, as they liked to frame it, see what new shame he was bringing).
They were coming to the infirmary to pick up some medicine for Samuel's father, just a routine trip. The whole family had come so they could go for a meal afterwards. But none of them expected to see Sam outside the temple, especially not on a bench with someone they didn't recognise. The Sam they knew was meek, shy, hardly stepped out of his house or tiny stall. He didn't have friends. Even more so, he didn't have friends who he touched like that.
Evie leaned up to whisper something in her father's ear, some gossip or information she knew, but then seemed quite keen to simply walk past and into the infirmary. Sam's mother just watched, her copper hair tied back into a tight bun matching the rest of her, all neat and prim.
As always, his father (a tall man with brown hair and a fierce glare with the same grey-blue as Sam's eyes) saw something he did not understand and reacted with anger. Marching over to the shaking Sam, he gestured roughly at them both. "You think we let you out to be independent so you could do this? Who even is this? Evie says he's an Outlander. Have you really gotten so low?"
They were coming to the infirmary to pick up some medicine for Samuel's father, just a routine trip. The whole family had come so they could go for a meal afterwards. But none of them expected to see Sam outside the temple, especially not on a bench with someone they didn't recognise. The Sam they knew was meek, shy, hardly stepped out of his house or tiny stall. He didn't have friends. Even more so, he didn't have friends who he touched like that.
Evie leaned up to whisper something in her father's ear, some gossip or information she knew, but then seemed quite keen to simply walk past and into the infirmary. Sam's mother just watched, her copper hair tied back into a tight bun matching the rest of her, all neat and prim.
As always, his father (a tall man with brown hair and a fierce glare with the same grey-blue as Sam's eyes) saw something he did not understand and reacted with anger. Marching over to the shaking Sam, he gestured roughly at them both. "You think we let you out to be independent so you could do this? Who even is this? Evie says he's an Outlander. Have you really gotten so low?"
