Gwen liked spending time with her friends but it was also nice to reserve a little family time with Chuck and Daniel, and sometimes Emilia-Louise too. This definitely helped subdue feelings of homesickness. It was natural to miss home, which had been her entire life up until recently, but there was always so much going on at Sonora to keep her occupied which was great. Gwen loved school so far and knew now that wherever she was she’d always be missing something, but that was normal, that was life. That’s what happened when you ventured to new places and met new people, because you couldn’t take everything with you. It was all preparation for when she would eventually get married and leave home, she supposed.
Daniel had always been quite studious, the opposite of Chuck in that respect, and Gwen was pleasantly surprised when they agreed to have weekly study sessions with her in the library. It reminded her of the good old days of school with Aunt Karen.
Chuck had always made the effort to meet up with Dan ever since his younger cousin first joined him at Sonora. It was nice having him at school with him, for the most part. Of course, not all the times they hung out went smoothly but that just about summed up their relationship. Dan could be a bit funny with him sometimes and he wasn’t always sure why. Other times the younger boy made the source of his annoyance clearer.
Dan didn’t like having his own dormitory. It was good to be able to focus when he was studying but he was used to being surrounded by some level of noise at home, so he preferred doing his work in the library. And now that he was a Library Assistant, he felt more at home in there than ever. In previous years he had met up with Chuck to study on occasion but he had to accept that he wouldn’t get much work done. Dan wondered at how Chuck would possibly pass his CATS this year with the attitude about homework that he appeared to possess.
Now that Gwen was at school, she seemed quite keen to study with her older cousins regularly, despite not sharing classes with them. Dan rather liked this, as Gwen seemed to reduce the potential for arguments between him and Chuck.
“Oh look Daniel it’s your girlfriend,” Gwen teased, spotting Kira Spaulding enter the library when they were studying one evening.
Chuck turned to look and, upon seeing the “girlfriend” that Gwen was referring to, chuckled and raised his palm to high five his young cousin.
Gwen returned the high five but she was actually more interested in the little bit of colour that had crept into Daniel’s cheeks when he looked up and saw Kira. It was the sort of look that she imagined she possessed whenever Louis spoke to her. Did he like her? Oh my, he actually liked her. Not that there was any reason he shouldn’t. Gwen didn’t know Kira but she imagined the girl must be nice if she was friends with Chuck and Dan, and she was a Spaulding - the kind of girl she would expect Daniel to be interested in.
The first year didn’t comment on her new suspicion, however, because that really would be cruel. She wasn’t about to forget it though and she probably would try and extract some confirmation out of Daniel at some point, but not now with Chuck sitting right there and Kira just having walked through the door.
“Kira!” Chuck beckoned his friend over in a hushed voice, having been told off one too many times for his noise levels in the library and thus probably at risk of being kicked out once and for all. “Come join us, we’re struggling with that Transfig homework.” This wasn’t the first time he’d turned to Kira for Transfiguration help but they were both a year older now so the work had become even more challenging.
“Hey, speak for yourself,” Daniel interjected. He didn’t appreciate the insinuation that he was “struggling” with his work, and definitely didn’t want his crush to think that (especially after that embarrassing lesson he’d had with her). “Hi Kira,” he smiled, turning to her. “How are you?” Someone needed to make up for Chuck’s basic lack of manners, although he kind of wished he could have that more easygoing relationship with Kira. He supposed that was just the difference between him and Chuck, as well as the fact that he had it bad for the girl. That really didn’t help him relax around her. Not that he was nervous or anything, of course.
He just wasn’t sure whether to go for it or not. Had she given him any signs of returning his feelings? Daniel didn’t think so and this was quite off putting. He had considered asking Alistair for girl advice, since he’d always believed the Crotalus Captain to be a success with the ladies. Upon getting to know the older boy better and from spending more time with him, however, Dan had witnessed some of the ups and downs of Alistair’s love life and got the impression that it was more of a carnage than first met the eye. The third year didn’t want carnage.
But even if it wasn’t, Dan and Alistair’s relationship didn’t actually extend so far as to having heart to hearts about women. The closest they’d ever got to that was when Daniel had asked him about Kira’s ball date status and Alistair had given him some advice that he hadn’t even asked for. As much as he hated to acknowledge it, perhaps Chuck’s disapproval of their friendship would be in the back of his mind, trying to remind Daniel where his loyalties should lie.
“Oh, Kira, meet Gwen, our cousin,” Chuck stole the spotlight back from Daniel by introducing Gwen to their friend. “Gwen, meet Kira.”
“Hi,” Gwen smiled a little shyly. Her cousins were rather casual with this girl so she thought it would be a bit weird if she suddenly got up to give a formal curtsy, but at the same time she worried about what a Spaulding would expect. She didn’t want Kira to think badly of her.
8Chuck, Daniel & Gwen FintocSick of us yet? [tag Kira]333Chuck, Daniel & Gwen Fintoc15