Fairytale?

Chapter 29- Elasped Epoch

Let them stand-
You shall meet with your curse in your pleasures
Set off for your course, I'll pursue with my rain.
-

"Checkers is stupid." Edmund said, staring at the instruction-book to checkers that Eustace had got him for his birthday. "Well, it's not stupid, but it's certainly not as erudite as chess."

"That's probably why most people like it." Eustace said, sitting on Edmund's cot and carefully labelling a sympetrum fonscolombii. "Most of them aren't as intelligent as us."

His cousin sighed, "Eustace, no."

The younger boy looked around, a look of bewilderment on his face.
"Was that rude? It can't have been- it's just the truth-"

Just the truth.
Edmund disliked his brain.
"It wasn't so much rude as it was pretentious." He told him. "It was rude, too, though, mind you."

"I see." Eustace said, frowning. He had been bettering by leaps and bounds, but by some counts, he was still a prat. "Tha-"

The word of gratitude was cut off by the door of Eustace's room being thrown open.
It was Oscar, his eyes wide and his hair stuck up as though he had just woken up, and there came shouting from downstairs.

"Who is that boy, Eusty!?" Aunt Alberta was shrieking. "I am not running a-"

"Os, what's up?" Edmund asked calmly, after he had closed the door and drowned out his aunt's voice. "You look like you've just escaped from Medusa."

His- boyfriend, he supposed, he didn't know, they hadn't talked about it, even though they had been together for over two months now- blinked at him.
"What's Medusa?"

"Er-" Edmund didn't really feel like explaining Greek mythology right then, "doesn't matter. Are you alright?"

Oscar nodded, looking slightly frazzled.
He sat down next to Eustace- who immediately sprang up, because the older boy had come from outside, all sweaty and running and he hadn't even washed his hands!- and then looked up at Ed, dazed.
"I got into uni."

"What?" Edmund blinked- and then he laughed. Not in mockery- as Eustace seemed to think, going by his expression- but in delight. "That's so great, Os, congratulations."

"I'll leave." Eustace said. He wasn't entirely sure about the nature of their relationship- but he cared nothing for any relationships, and he regularly tried to keep himself away from couples.
He walked to the door, mumbling, "I'll go see if Lucy and Peter need help with the peeling..."

Edmund and Oscar stared at his retreating figure.

"Huh, your cousin isn't an utter arsehole anymore."

The younger boy nodded, moving away from the door and sitting down next to him, "It shocks and rattles me to my very core. Now, what's this about uni?"

Oscar flushed, and brought out a crumpled letter from his pocket.
"It just got delivered- I slept late last night, and I woke up to yelling from my mum that I have mail. I somehow got over to the letters- and- and this was just waiting."
He'd applied to a fair few universities- he wasn't a bad student, but he was nothing brilliant, and he had wanted to keep his options open.
"It still doesn't feel real."

"Which university is it?"

He hesitated for a moment- but something about his boyfriend's dark eyes made him unable to hold back the answer for longer.
"University of South Wales."

He knew about that. He knew where that was. Peter had had a letter from there- he couldn't remember if it had been an acceptance or a rejection.
It was in Cardiff. Which was in Wales. Far away from both Cambridge and Finchley. In fact, Wales and England were two different legal jurisdictions!
"Oh." Edmund said, because he had to say something. He didn't know how he felt about that.