The sound of his name being called from downstairs knocked Anthony out of that fit on concentration long enough to respond with a soft "hm?" and brush his hair out of his eyes for the millionth time. He didn't really care how his mother was right in that simply cutting it would solve this constant struggle with his tresses, because he knew if she had her way he'd end up with something close to a buzz cut. Besides, that wasn't even his biggest problem right now seeing as he was having trouble figuring out this page-long cryptogram that he'd been working on for close to the past hour in an attempt to merely keep himself busy. It still primarily captured his attention until he heard his name called yet again, this time it being his mum's voice ringing out with a slight note of impatience - never a good sign. Straightening from where he'd been sitting slumped over at his desk, there was only a moment wasted stretching before he started up and responded. "Sorry. Coming."
He didn't exactly dawdle, but didn't race down those sets of stairs to come and find both of his parents in the kitchen working on dinner. Oh right, they were having a dinner party tonight with quite a few of their co-workers and friends coming over. Coming to a stop, Anthony leaned a hip against the side of the table that was already covered in h'or devours for the impending festivities and first took notice of the fact that it was starting to get dark outside. Huh. "Need some help?" he asked absently as he drew his gaze back over to his aproned father stirring something and his mother charming a knife to chop vegetables as she sipped from a glass of wine.
"You're not wearing that, dear, are you? Everyone will be arriving soon, so you should be ready," Sabrina saw to respond with instead of answering his question as julienned carrots then made their way to a bowl that already had the start of a salad in it.
"Thanks, Ant, but I think we have things under control here," Matt gently interjected on top of his wife's words as he turned towards the spice rack. He would have helped if they truly needed it; not that they were incapable of going through the motions of throwing another one of these shindigs, but they had raised him with manners after all. As it stood he was fine with that admission.
Looking down at his clothes, he realised he'd somehow made it through the day still in his flannels and a t-shirt flaunting some Muggle band Terry had gotten him for his last birthday. Considering he'd woken up as early as ever this should have been remedied hours ago, but then that apparently fell to the wayside in favour of substitution ciphers. "Oh. No. I planned to change before this started." This conversation definitely wouldn't count as strained or tense, but it would be a lie to say Anthony hadn't been quieter than usual since he'd come home for winter hols. His parents had noticed, but for once the Goldsteins weren't bringing everything out into the open due to the current state of the world. They were living in dark days, but strives were being made to keep about a sense of normality they usually existed in: this get-together being a prime example of that.
Satisfied that her son wasn't going to wander around helping entertain guests in his pyjamas, she nodded for a moment before checking whatever was baking in the oven. His mother probably could have gone on from that point, but he wasn't the only one giving into brevity lately and besides had already said her piece. With silence threatening to overtake the stylish kitchen, the older male spoke up again with an inquiring grin directed over to the younger, "So you never told us if Michael and Terry were going to be joining us tonight. ...haven't seen much of them over the break."
Crossing his arms over his chest, those pale eyes were purposely drawn to his feet that were shifting to buy himself a second before replying. "I swore I already told you that they couldn't make it." Though he wasn't watching his parents, knew them too well to know that a concerned look had just been exchanged over what he'd said. Lest they get it in their heads to start asking a bunch of questions about if things were alright or had there been some sort of argument, Anthony gazed back up with a placating look that fell flat as he continued, "I asked, but... you know, they're doing stuff with their family. I mean, Terry's mum- Well, Andy's with him, MJ and Rosie, of course- And I think Micheal's going to-" He was saved by the bell as a timer went off, signifying that something within this smörgåsbord was done and he hopefully didn't have to ramble on anymore.
It wasn't that he didn't want to see his friends, but with everything already going on in both macro and micro scales? Doubted that the last thing his best friends needed was to put up with his parent's colleagues for any number of hours. The prospect of this all had been mentioned to the other two in as far as he wasn't looking forward to it himself, but no true invitation had been extended since they'd already decided to meet up tomorrow to hang out for a bit and exchange gifts. Anthony hadn't even gone into some tirade about the uselessness of supporting upcoming holidays that were supposedly based in religion with disgusting amounts of commercialisation like usual, either. Seeing as he was watching them again, there was no way to miss that second glance exchanged but he overall ignored it. His parent's didn't know about each and every thing that had already gone on in his last year at Hogwarts, but were kept abreast of his life enough to know to not really push this topic unless they wanted him to clam up entirely.
Being the one who was better at handling delicate situations, it was his father that said anything first. "Well," Matt started, "Next time you three talk you'll have to tell them to come over. Hopefully you lot can help me figure out something I've been working on." Anthony was no fool - chances were that if there was something that was stumping his father the probability of anyone else finding a solution was laughable at best. But. He appreciated the sentiment and could deduce what type of place it was coming from.
"Okay. I'll make sure to pass that on to them." Fidgeting for a moment more, he then decided to turn and start back upstairs to shower and find something else to wear, stopping only when his mother reminded him to make sure the shirt he was to wear wasn't covered in wrinkles as she always did. After agreeing to that as well he finally started back to his room, the sounds of the older family members talking in hushed tones reaching his ears before he was even on the third step up. For all that he loved his parents, Anthony couldn't help but wonder when they would realise that sound carried and he had extremely keen hearing.