He unlocked the door and held it open for Edith. She thanked him. He tried to discreetly check for any messes. All clear, but one problem. "Um, would you mind taking off your shoes and waiting here? I'll be right back." Emrys explained as he changed his shoes. Damn, why did he have to bring her through the one entrance without slippers available.

She nodded and he immediately darted to the front door.

"Emrys!" His mother shouted and he skidded to a halt. 

"How is she?" She said lowly, as if Edith could understand Korean. He doubted it.

"Claustrophobic, shivering and she says she'd love to try the food. She also insists that she can use chopsticks even though she admits she's barely used them before." Emrys listed off.

"I'll keep a fork nearby then. Tell her to take a shower and dry off. How big is she?" She asked.

"Um, I'd say around five feet tall? Why?" Emrys asked back.

"Wondering if I should stick her in some of my old clothes or yours. Rain's not letting up so she's probably going to be here for a while. Now, run along. We don't want to keep that poor girl waiting." She said offhandedly.

Emrys scooped up the spare slippers and rushed back to Edith. "Here, wear these. You can take a shower if you want, it's just behind that door. There are towels on a rack next to the shower. My mom will bring you some clothes."

She flushed and nodded, then practically dashed to the bathroom. She closed the door gently though. Emrys dug out his new phone to message Ronan about what was going on. He still felt a bit giddy about having a brand new phone all to himself. He and Ronan had been texting all the time when they had gotten their first phones once they graduated primary school. 

Ronan texted back that yes, she was his friend and to tell her that he said hi. Emrys quickly decided that it was a bad idea to let her know that he was talking about her behind her back. Any friend of Ronan's was a friend of his after all.

"Emrys!" His mother yelled. 

"Yeah?" He yelled back.

"Go find your dad." She said, barely loud enough for him to hear it at all.

Emrys grumbled. She could have easily texted that. Or texted his dad herself. He did as she asked anyway, to avoid getting yelled at in front of a girl. He eventually found his dad relaxing in his armchair on the top floor. When he told him about what she said and the context his dad just grunted, "Not getting up."

"Tell mom that yourself then. I'm not a carrier pigeon." Emrys huffed and went back to the sitting room. 

He texted Ronan until he heard the shower switch off. He could only see a small pale hand snatch the clothes his mother had left. He giggled.

She came out in a skirt and button up that he vaguely recognised from some of his mom's childhood photos. He was pretty sure it was a part of her middle school uniform. From the eighties. No idea why she kept it so long, his primary school uniform had already been entirely sold off.

She spotted him and her skin turned even redder. He wasn't sure what to do so he waved. She waved back. They stared at eachother saying nothing. 

"Emrys! Set the table, we have a guest... Oh, hello Edith. Is everything alright?" His mother's tone veered from authoritative to sickly sweet.

"Yes ma'am." Edith mumbled as she twisted her fingers. 

"No need to call me ma'am sweetheart. Call me Minji. Or Mrs. Lloyd if you prefer." His mother said cheerfully. Emrys was a tad confused. His mother usually treated his classmates as little more than nuisances, except for Ronan. It had gotten him the cold shoulder after visits, so many times that he just didn't invite classmates over anymore. Well, at least she wouldn't scare this one away.

"Okay Mrs. Lloyd." Edith said, barely above a whisper.

"Great! Why don't you two set the table. The food is ready, it just needs to cool." His mother said and ambled upstairs.

He led her to the dining room and pulled out the dishes and cutlery.

"Um..." He turned to face her and she flushed. "I'm not sure how to... We don't really eat together in my house." She mumbled.

"Oh! Um, this isn't universal but this is how we do it." He said then organised them in the way he was taught. "Just do it like this. My parents won't care if you get it wrong."

She set out the other two sets perfectly. "Where do I sit?" She asked.

"Anywhere. I like to sit here because it has the best light." He said as he plopped down in his favourite chair. She sat next to him stiffly and stared straight ahead.

"So..." He trailed off, "Why don't you and your family eat together?" He said and immediately regretted it. Why did he have to bring up the one thing that was potentially a sore subject?

"Oh, we all have different diets and prefer to eat at different times." She said casually. Emrys breathed a sigh of relief then tensed up again.

"Are you vegan?" He asked.

"No. I just don't eat that much meat." She replied. Fuck. His parents conveniently came in.

"Mom! Did you put pork in it?" He asked as she brought the dish in from the kitchen.

"No, we're out of pork. Why?" She replied.

"Ah..." He paused and Edith flushed and sunk into her seat. "What a shame. When are you buying more?" He pouted theatrically.

His mother laughed, "Sorry, not until next week."

His dad sat down across from him and his mother across from Edith. His dad served himself and his mom served herself, Edith and Emrys.

"Here, this is how you have to hold them. Took me ages to figure it out, she was zero help." His dad said and mock glared at his mom. She stuck her tongue out at him and they laughed.

"I'm Elwyn Lloyd. These are my wife and son, Minji and Emrys. I presume you've already been introduced...?"

"Yes, Mr. Lloyd." She paused, "I'm Edith Eld."

"Alright! Time to dig in." His mom exclaimed.

His first bite was mild. The next was still mild. He locked eyes with his dad and saw that he was just as confused. They both looked over to his mom who steadfastly ignored them and ate like there was nothing amiss. His dad caught his eye again and shook his head minutely. Emrys shrugged and went back to eating.

"Ah! I forgot the water. Emrys, go get it." His mother ordered. 

Emrys spluttered, "You forgot it, you go get it!"

His parents gave him very unimpressed looks and he slunked off to the kitchen.

"... My dad locked me out and my mom's out of town. She's not going to back until tomorrow." Edith said point-blank, as if it was entirely normal. Emrys hung back behind the door and tried to stay quiet and hold the jug still.

"Do you have any other relatives?" His mother asked kindly.

"My brother is in the middle of his leaving cert and doesn't have his license yet." 

"Do you know your mother's number?"

Edith rattled off a string of numbers that Emrys couldn't catch.

"I'll call your mom and check with her but you can stay as long as you need to." 

They fell silent and Emrys tiptoed back to the kitchen and then stomped back to the dining room. He set the jug down and ate silently. Edith was the first to fill her cup and first to finish her drink. Her face was red and Emrys realised she probably had no spice tolerance. Poor thing.

They all finished remarkably quickly and brought their plates to the sink.

"I'll clean up. Emrys, go show her that foul book you like." His dad called over his shoulder. Emrys grumbled and guided her upstairs to his room.

"It's Artemis Fowl and I'm about halfway through the series..."

---÷---

Edith's bedraggled mother showed up a bit past midnight. She was a beautiful woman with greying black hair, green eyes and tanned skin. She reminded him of his grandmother a bit and was alert despite the late hour.

"I'm so sorry for this. Thank you for taking care of my daughter." Emrys heard her say through his window.

"It's no bother. She was very well-behaved. Much more than our one." His dad said and laughed.

"She can come over whenever. Seriously. I'm home all day." His mother said. 

"He does this quite a lot, especially when I need to go to a work event. Are you sure?" Her mother asked.

"Absolutely. Maybe her good manners will rub off on my son." His mother joked and Emrys scoffed. Quietly. His parents would be very mad at him if they found out he was still awake. His parents closed the door before her mother could argue. They walked down the street to their car, weaving through the well-dressed drunken revelers spilling out from the hotel down the street. When her mother wasn't looking, Edith turned and waved at him. He waved back and she hugged his Artemis Fowl book to her chest and got in the car.

He had a niggling feeling that this was the start of something. Something good, he hoped.