something there - edmund pevensie ₊˚⊹♡
Guys world history is so complicated they for real got me searching for ration recipes in the UK in 1945 what the heckkkk. Sorry for the historical inaccuracies, and the beginning sounding like a literal history essay </3 (also can you tell I never learned chess?)
After years of seeing the Pevensies, you finally meet them again after the war ends. Turns out Edmund has gone through a lot of changes in just 5 years. A change in attitude (and puberty) seemed to have hit him like a brick, because you started seeing things you never saw in him before.
🐇 . *. ⋆·˚ ༘ *༄
WWII had ended May, 1945. This brought a time of joy for all of the UK and the world. In more intimate settings, your entire neighborhood was content at being back at home and safe. No one was more content than your mother, who was happy to have her husband home and safe.
A few doors down, the Pevenises had also moved back in. You hadn’t seen them in a long while.
Not since getting evacuated to the countryside after the Blitz had dropped in ‘40.
Your mother had also moved you around throughout the last 5 years, trying to feel the safety she had felt before the war while also waiting for your father to return from the war. Nevertheless, the last time you’d seen any of the Pevensies for a prolonged period of time was Edmund, since you went to the same primary school.
You remembered him as a mean boy, usually picking on girls with other mean boys. As a neighbor, though. You couldn’t but have a bit of a crush on him as a girl.
It was easy to like the cute bad boys.
He also tended to not listen to teachers, even though he was smart without trying. He clearly had good memory, and seemed to naturally be good at anything that required strategy and logic. But you understood his choice to be rebellious from him being the younger middle child. Someone had to be the black sheep of the family, afterall.
He’d always complained about his siblings too.
When your families joined for special events, he’d end up hanging out with you and Lucy, forced to because Peter and Susan were stuck speaking to adults about how secondary school was going and how big they’d gotten. You, Lucy and Edmund became somewhat of a trio, forced to sit at the children’s table. By a certain point, Edmund had simply given into the games and you’d gotten quite friendly, especially when it came to competition (he liked playing chess, only because he knew how to play and you didn’t).
Needless to say, the reunion was pending as the neighborhood was back up and running. Your mother was already preparing for the dinner party, finding her best loop holes to make a rationed meal extra tasty.
It was good fortune that you’d joined your mother in grocery shopping, because you found someone you didn’t expect to find.
You were helping your mother get ingredients, consisting of national bread and vegetables for a soup. It was like a scene from a film when you rounded a corner, only to bump into someone’s chest.
“Oh!- I’m so sorry, I didn’t notice you were there!.” You immediately apologized before picking up the item you had dropped, his hand touched yours as he helped you.
“It was my fault, I’m sorry miss…!”
As you locked eyes you recognized him, those normally cold eyes held a new warmth in them that you had never seen in them before.
“Edmund?”
The boy was shocked as his name fell from your lips. The ring of it felt almost like a distant memory. You’d definitely gotten taller, but he’d gotten even taller than that. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw your more grown-up features.
“It’s you…it’s good to see you. Been a while hasn’t it?” He put the item in his hand in the basket you held. There was a silence that filled the air, mostly because you couldn’t seem to stop looking at him. Like, really looking at him.
When did he get so tall?
“It has been, five years is a long time.” You said, looking him over. You noticed how his shoulders had gotten broader, his hair longer, face more chiseled. Overall more handsome. (You weren’t going to tell him that).
You muster a small comment in awe, “Goodness, Edmund. You’re so…tall, now.”
He laughed softly as you said that, but there was an air of smugness in it, seeing as you had both been the same height at 10 years old and he’d always felt funny for that being the case.
“And you’re just as tall as you were five years ago.”
The teasing tone in his voice didn’t escape past you as you blew a raspberry, “I’ll have you know I have grown sufficiently. I am average height for my age- thank you very much Ed.”
You half-expected he’d say something mean in return as the version you’d remembered in your head would have. Instead, he laughed and reached over to ruffle your hair lightly.
You immediately tried to fix your hair up after the mess. You too, reached over to flip his cap over his eyes, an action he didn’t take too seriously.
“It is good to see you again, though.” He adjusted his cap again, a soft smirk playing at his lips.
“I missed having someone else entertain Lucy for me. It sure got tiring to play kid games by myself without someone else to suffer with me.”
He had a different air to him after years. He used to be mean, sometimes even cruel for a kid. Even with this new attitude you still somewhat expected him to have that same mean tone laced in his voice that only used to disappear when you would agree to play the games he wanted.
As he stood in front of you now, he seemed sweet. Even his teasing and smirks had no hint of real malice in them. He was treating you like an old friend, which back then you didn’t even fully realize you were.
With the kindness he presented to you now, you realized you were truly friends back then.
“So you still played games with her, hm? That’s sweet for you to do, as her brother.” You nudged him slightly as you rounded him to get to the aisle you were trying to get to. “Too bad I wasn’t there to be the better one at hide and seek.”
“-You were not, It’s not my fault your mother came into the bathroom while I was hiding in the bathtub.”
Edmund followed behind as you laughed at him for an incident you had almost forgotten about completely. It’s funny how you were reminiscing with him already.
Despite him being mean, those were good memories.
“Seriously, why would you even think of hiding in there! Because of you, we were banned from playing hide and seek inside the house.”
He watched you shake your head in mock disapproval as you picked something from the shelves. He took your basket from your hands. You had to look at him questioningly as you didn’t expect him to be this sweet.
“Since when were you this gentleman-like Pevensie?”
“For banning us from hide and seek.” He shrugged, seemingly playful about the ordeal.
You simply laughed as you walked down the aisle together.
“I’m guessing your mother is also shopping for the dinner party tonight?”
He nodded his head in confirmation, “She is, but she’s more stressed out about the rations still being in place. God knows you can only handle national bread so much.”
You had to hum in agreement, before placing your hand on his forearm in reassurance.
“What matters is being together again. It’s been too long, it’ll be nice to see Peter, Susan, and Lucy again too.” You smile dearly at him, and once again find yourself captivated by the warmth in his eyes. The little boy whose heart seemed to become stone as the conditions in London became worse, with his father leaving home and having problems with his siblings, seemed to be a distant memory.
You got snapped out of it as your mother called out for you.
“I must leave, but it was nice to see you before the get together.” Your hand finally left his arm, and while you didn’t know it, he completely missed it being there.
“It was. I’ll see you later.”
He handed you your basket with a warm smile, and you waved at each other as you left. You felt a lingering feeling in your heart that you couldn’t quite put your finger on…and little did you know he also felt it too..
. *. ⋆·˚ ༘ *༄
At the dinner party, you finally caught up with all the Pevensies. If Edmund had gotten tall, Peter had gotten even taller. So had Susan, who Lucy had almost caught up with in height. In the last five years, everyone had grown so much.
You’d also noticed the different relationship the siblings had, they seemed a lot closer. The last time you remembered them all together, Edmund would get annoyed over Peter’s teasing or Susan’s lecturing, or Lucy’s imagination. Now, they seem to have grown into their personalities while also seeming to care much more for one another. Edmund had insisted on helping Lucy carry the dishes she’d helped her mother make, and later patted Peter on the back as he talked about wanting to study medicine.
It was an overall shocking sight to see them getting along.
Around you, Edmund almost seemed… unsure.He was rather dear, really. It just took a while for him to seem the way he had at the grocery store. It seemed he wasn’t used to being sweet to you around other people, like his siblings, who used to have to scold him for making you upset over kid games. Eventually he got comfortable with openly teasing comments and smirks, which you actually enjoyed as you both joked around with him and his siblings.
After much catching up with the four and Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie. Lucy had insisted you show her your room (which had barely changed in the last 5 years) and play a game together again. You didn’t deny her a chance at re-living old memories.
“But not hide and seek!” said your mother at this suggestion, to which everyone laughed (Edmund didn’t).
Up in your room, Lucy was amazed to find a few figurines you had that your father had carved from wood. She exclaimed that she had been jealous of them when she used to come to your house. She was particularly drawn to one of a lion- which she held in her palm as if it was a good luck charm.
Edmund too, was surprised by how familiar your room was, and teased you about still having a stuffed bunny on your bed.
“I think I remember you holding onto that quite tightly after I turned all the lights off in the room once, Ed.” you mused back, to which he put the bunny right back on your bed.
“I think you imagined that.” He said, putting his hand in his trouser pockets and looking around casually, though what seemed like a light flush appeared on his cheeks.
“Sure, Ed.” Even Lucy giggled as she’d remembered. He had teased her of being scared of the dark that time and you’d taken revenge for her.
“Do you still have your old chess set?” Edmund tried to steer the conversation away from the embarrassing moments he’d lived in your house.
In chess, he was a winner, there was nothing for you or Lucy to bring up about it besides his wins.
“I do. My mother almost sold it for extra money during the war, but I was hoping we’d get a chance to play again some day and convinced her into letting me keep it.” Rummaging through your small closet, you pulled out the old thing. It was your fathers, and he’d given it to you.
“Have you practised much? Or should I expect to win forever?” His lips formed a smile as you let the chess pieces fall onto the carpet.
You seemed to think before chuckling and shaking your head, “You should expect to win.”
Knowing that meant you had indeed not practised, both laughed. Lucy ended up getting called a moment after by her mother. She left rather enthusiastically, an energy she seemed to naturally exude. Though she had absent mindedly forgotten about the game she wanted to play, she seemed to just be happy to have seen the lion figure and relive her memories of playing together in your room.
Now alone with Edmund, you sat in silence for a few moments.
“Soo…” you started, putting the chess pieces onto the board the way Edmund had taught you long ago, if you could remember.
“So?” He repeated, smiling as he sat down on the carpet with you.
“You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you…what brought on the change?”
He seemed to think, taking the opportunity to reach over to correct the mistakes you’d made with certain pieces on the board.
“Honestly...” You let him fix the pieces of the board, his hand brushed against yours as you let him take the final piece from your hand. He did it so gently, in the past he might have even snatched it from your hand.
“When we went off to the countryside I did something really bad towards my siblings. That’s what really changed me. I couldn’t keep acting the way I had, especially towards the only people I could rely on during those times.”
You nodded in understanding, seeing the change in his eyes as he seemed to reminisce.
“I see…well, I know you used to be well- coarse and unrefined.” you chuckled softly, and Edmund couldn’t really bring himself to disagree. “So I can say that those bad things happened for a good reason…you’re much sweeter from what I can tell. Kinder than I remember, though you’re also still the same. In a good way. I didn’t quite see it there before, but now it’s more apparent.”
Edmund couldn’t help but feel a little flustered by your kind words. No one had pointed out his change to this extent, complementing him on his kindness and sweetness of all things.
“I…appreciate that.” he motioned for you to go first, long ago he decided to compromise by letting you be white. Though that still never really gave you the upper hand.
Moving one of your pawns forwards a step, you began the game.
“I’m...sorry if I was cruel to you back then.”
He, too, moved one of his pawns forwards. Edmund felt strangely comfortable with you even after so long, he just naturally felt the urge to apologize. You were always so sweet to him even when he was mean. And now, you both seemed to easily meld together even after how he acted in the past.
Something glimmered in your eyes as you saw him fully become himself in a way that made his heart almost flutter.
“Well, you're no prince charming yet Pevensie. But your lack of mean and sarcastic comments is certainly something I can easily get used to.”
He snorted at the prince charming part, finding it amusing in many ways. You were playing while you had been talking, and he already found himself in possession of one of your pieces.
“Don't get too used to it, I am still capable of welding my skills of sarcasm against you, even if they aren’t mean..”
“You wouldn't though, would you?”
Your tone sounded almost challenging in a way that questioned just how seemingly kind he'd become. Would he dare try and say something mean towards you?
He had to feel flustered yet again. Your smile, and overall presence reminded him of a feeling he'd strike down long ago. A small, tinsey winsey crush on you. He couldn't possibly revert back to being mean towards you.
“No. No, I wouldn't.” He quickly moved one of his knights, snatching 2 of your pieces from the board.
“But not letting your old friend win just once isn’t mean?”
“Your lack of skill isn’t my fault, silly.”
You had to roll your eyes as he smirked smugly. He appeared just like his 10 year old self did, smug about winning.
‘Old habits die hard, I guess.’
“I hope dinner gets called soon.” you pouted, finally getting the chance to take a black pawn from him.
“So you can quit? We just started!” He laughed softly as he made another move on the board.
If you could understand chess, you'd know what moves he was planning…but you didn’t know at all.
“We both know you will win, Ed. You always did."
He shook his head over you saying this, then swiftly moved around the board to sit next to you. His arm brushed against yours as he pointed to your pieces on the board.
“Okay, see here- you aren’t using your rook or bishop enough. Do you remember what I taught you before about how they move?”
“Rooks move…vertically and horizontally…? And the bishop moves diagonally?” You answered, sounding unsure though since you were distracted by his side profile. You were forced to stare in the way you did at the grocery store. When did he get so handsome?
“Exactly. You’re very focused on using just the knight and the regular pawns. Even if it’s risky, since you’re still a beginner, you should still use all the pieces.” He seemed very focused on strategizing against himself, pointing to the board. You had to raise your eyebrow at the ‘still a beginner’ comment, though.
“See you could move this here, or this here and take more of my pieces. See? Easy.” He smiled at you in a way that made your heart jump.
Though your mother had taught you well that staring was wrong, you couldn’t help it in the moment. His presence wasn’t icy cold like before. Instead, the way his delicate finger pointed at the board and handled the chess pieces to show you the moves you could make to have a better chance at winning was warm.
His cinnamon colored eyes looked at you as if the five years you’d gone without each other didn't exist. He felt gentle.
“Hm…yeah, seems simple enough.” you muttered, unable to take your eyes off him just yet. He seemed to notice as the familiar flush rose to his cheeks just slightly.
Who had ever thought Edmund Pevensie, cold little Edmund would now be sitting beside you and helping you win against him?
“Guys! Dinner’s all set up-”
Susan walked in to you staring at Edmund with a certain passion in your eyes, and her brother looking flustered in a way she'd never seen before.
“Well. You guys were quick in warming up to each other.” She teased, her red lips were set in a cheshire grin as you both looked up at her with wide eyes, “Stop your flirting, the table is set and our parents want everyone down there.”
Without another word, she turned around and left, making sure the door stayed open.
Edmund cleared his throat as he got up.
“Ignore her…she's grown to be quite a, uh- romantic.” He held his hand towards you as you giggled.
“Well, I guess she's at least right about us warming up to each other."
You took his hand firmly, allowing him to help pull you up from the floor. The hold your hands had lingered for quite a bit as you stared at each other again.
“There's just something in you that makes it easy.” Edmund mumbled, before remembering the fact you had to go down for dinner. “We should go down for dinner.”
You nodded in agreement, then realized Edmund had already begun leading you out the door by your hand.
As your eyes lingered on the back of his head, you had to think that those feelings were coming back.
That the warmth Edmund Pevensie now held, the little something you'd never noticed was there before, was making you fall for him.
