Thoster {OC}

“And what sort of time do you call this, Thoster?”

Thoster chuckled to himself as he slipped through the door and closed it quietly behind him to not wake the younger ones. His sister played the part of a nagging wife and mother much better than anyone he’d ever met. It was no wonder he had yet to find a lass worth courting. With Shaylee in his life, he’d have all he ever needed of shouting about his whereabouts.

“I made it home in one piece, didn’t I? And we both know you saved supper for me.” He flashed his sister a smile. She only rolled her eyes, but it seemed to have the desired effect as she pulled out a bowl of lukewarm stew and slid it onto the table, motioning for him to sit.

“They tried waiting up for you.” Shaylee said, her annoyance slipping away into a more conversational tone. “Nearly fell asleep on each other before I shooed them off to bed and told them I’d send you in when you made it home.”

Thoster glanced over his shoulder towards the back rooms before turning back to raise the spoon to his lips. Living in a house with three of his siblings was not the way most young men pictured their lives beginning. For Thoster, it was the way things had always been, and he saw little need to change it. Shaylee, being the eldest, kept the house in order and the rest of them in line. Thoster shared the responsibility of the household with her ever since their mother died three years back. He was only twenty, but had done a bit of growing up in that time. The younger ones, Kip and Annabelle were only twelve and ten, eager to help where they could, but still very young in many ways.

“Let them sleep. I’ll have stories for them in the morning.” He replayed the old man’s story from the tavern. A gem to make a man so rich that he’d never want for money again? A stone that held an unpredictable power that could be your undoing if you didn’t have luck on your side? His younger brother and sister would demand the story be told again and again until he was blue in the face.

“You can’t keep staying out all night, you know.” She kept her back to him, talking as she cleaned furiously. Thoster just laughed absently. He had heard this a few times before, and while he appreciated her worry, he wasn’t about to stop having his fun. The laughter caused Shaylee’s back to stiffen, though, and she turned around very quickly to glare at him. “And who will take care of them if I’m gone and you’re off gallivanting around town?”

“Planning a trip, Shay?” It wasn’t that he didn’t care about his sister’s feelings, but humor was just part of him. It diffused many situations, he’d found, but the ones that it didn’t escalated very quickly. Unfortunately, this was one of the latter.

“I’ve asked Matthew to marry me.” Matthew was a good man that had grown up with the lot of them. He was only a year or so older than Shaylee and had been courting her for what felt like an eternity. Thoster had no question in his mind that the man’s intentions with his sister were honorable. They loved one another in a way that was simple, understated.

“What? Get down on one knee and everything?”

“So what if I did?” One hand at her hip, he knew better than to goad his sister further. Shaylee’s temper was well known by no one more than Thoster. He sat back in his chair and studied her, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. Women didn’t go around asking men to marry them much, but the fact that his sister had made perfect sense.

“I take it he said yes? He ought to. Have to be an idiot to let you go.” Thoster stood and grinned at his sister, stepping around the table to get to her and put a fond hand on her shoulder. For as much as they fought, Thoster did care deeply for his sister. The way she picked up the mantle after their mother passed was not lost on him. He knew that she kept this house running so that he wouldn’t have to worry about it, but it seemed all that was changing now. She’d move in with Matthew, start a family with him, and start a life that she’d missed out on for the sake of her younger siblings.

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. It didn’t matter that she was older or that she had far more of her life sorted than he likely ever would. Thoster felt protective of all of them. Before she died, their mother had pulled him close and made him promise to keep them safe. He was still barely more than a boy at the time, but when he agreed, he meant it with the full power of his heart.

“I can’t take them with me, Thoster.” Shay was quiet when she said it. He realized then that she had thought about it, had possibly even discussed taking their siblings with her. Matthew was a good man, a patient man, but the Chatwyn children were not exactly the easiest to keep in line, and Kip was a quickly growing boy who ate enough for ten men most days.

“Of course you can’t.” He pulled back and shook his head, a little baffled that she had thought it was necessary to say it. Sure, he was a selfish bastard from time to time, but he could never expect her to carry along the two siblings they shared responsibility for. “I’ll look after them. Don’t you worry.”