Thornton nodded politely, not at all sure whether he had known that before or not. He supposed it might have been in something he'd read but he was more than a little distracted recently. Between the near constant cello practice to perfect that audition piece and now his weekly Saturday morning painting plans with Maddie, he was barely managing his homework load. Extracurricular reading was... no longer on the table.

"That's really fast," he offered, sliding into the chair she'd kicked out. Father would have had much to say about Eden's manners, but Thornton, frankly, was starting not to care. "Thanks."

As soon as he sat, he immediately regretted not having a book with him to at least pretend to be studying while he found a way to bring up his question for the older girl. There would be little way to cover the fact that he was going to interrupt her reading for something, well, that Thornton feared was maybe just a bit ridiculous. Chewing the inside of his cheek and studying the wood grain of the table far too intensely, he just decided to get it over with.

"I..I was actually wondering if I could ask you a question?"