ＥＮＧＬＡＮＤ♛ Arthur Kirkland (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
keepscalm) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2012-01-29 04:48 pm
keepscalm) wrote in towerofanimus2012-01-29 04:48 pm
04. upon thyself thy beauty's legacy
Characters: England and all of the cultured people. Open!
Setting: Floor 25.
Format: Starting action, but will match!
Summary: England is having a teatime picnic. It's long overdue. Threadjacking is okay and welcomed! Join an existing thread and make it a tea party or make a new thread.
Warnings: Probably language since it's England. Also possibly threadjacking, so just say in the subject if you don't want that!
[So there is no fancy garden table and chairs or quaint little sitting room, but the innocuous spring floor is almost as nice. He's laid out a length of cloth snatched from the workshop floor to act as a makeshift blanket, and has a teaset out, with a full pot of tea, multiple cups, and sugar. No milk or honey, due to the restrictions of the Tower's kitchen, but he can deal.
And he's actually smiling a little. Do you dare risk disrupting him in this almost fugue-like state?
Of course you do, he's just a silly grump with pretty plates and big eyebrows. Come join him for tea.]
Setting: Floor 25.
Format: Starting action, but will match!
Summary: England is having a teatime picnic. It's long overdue. Threadjacking is okay and welcomed! Join an existing thread and make it a tea party or make a new thread.
Warnings: Probably language since it's England. Also possibly threadjacking, so just say in the subject if you don't want that!
[So there is no fancy garden table and chairs or quaint little sitting room, but the innocuous spring floor is almost as nice. He's laid out a length of cloth snatched from the workshop floor to act as a makeshift blanket, and has a teaset out, with a full pot of tea, multiple cups, and sugar. No milk or honey, due to the restrictions of the Tower's kitchen, but he can deal.
And he's actually smiling a little. Do you dare risk disrupting him in this almost fugue-like state?
Of course you do, he's just a silly grump with pretty plates and big eyebrows. Come join him for tea.]
no subject
It's not presumptuous. And it's nice to know that I'm not being, I don't know... something. Not alone, I guess.
It is getting better with time, it's just slow. I can even picture her telling me I'm being silly about it. [She gives a short laugh, and her smile turns more nostalgic instead of melancholy.] Tara was selfless like that.
no subject
Every person is different. Some people need more time to move on than others do. You shouldn't feel bad for the amount of time it's taking you, especially considering how close the two of you were. [Though it gets ridiculous after the second century. Don't become him, Willow.
At some point, he'd started to thoughtfully stroke the handle of his teacup with his thumb, but the action was distant. He didn't seem to realize he was doing it.]
no subject
I know... you're right. I can't expect my feelings to run on a schedule. [And man does she know that better than anyone. Willow takes a sip of her tea, and cradles the cup close, appreciating the warmth. She feels more settled now that she's gotten it out of her system.]
I just feel like I can't say any of this to him or he'll feel like I'm comparing them, and I'm not. So it got all bottled up.
no subject
That's very considerate of you, and a valid concern. Perhaps down the line when you have moved further from the issue, you can bring it up to him -- it seems fair that he should know at some point -- but I think it may be best to hold off on it for the time being.
[He's a bit puzzled as to how she's had trouble bottling, though. He sometimes forgets that not everyone is as deep in denial as he is.]
If you ever have anything else you need to talk about in the meantime, I will gladly be your listening ear. [Again: talk about your feelings, Willow. Don't become him.]
no subject
You really think I'm being considerate? [she blurts out, as if she'd been worried about that topic exactly.] I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm-- I'm just trying to do the right thing. This is all so complicated.
But I really appreciate you listening, Arthur, [she goes on, more urgently and with wide eyes. Her sincerity is palpable.] I keep running into all these trolls, and they're great and all, but it's nice not to have to explain how human things work while I'm trying to vent about my irrational feelings.
no subject
He seems a little surprised by her urgency, if his somewhat widened eyes are any indication.] Ah-- I do, yes. It's important to let your feelings be known, [wow can you say "hypocrite"] but it's also important to take the feelings of others into consideration, as well. Insecurities especially can be damaging to relationships, [h y p o c r i t e] so it's very kind of you to take prevention measures against inspiring them in Eridan.
[He raises his teacup to take a sip.] It's no trouble at all, my dear. I would be frustrated too if I happened to be in your position.
no subject
You really are a lot like Giles. Maybe he'll show up sometime, and you guys can have very restrained tea and chat about what it's like being English and secretly kick-ass. [Does she miss Giles like the burning? Ohhhh yes.]
no subject
no subject
Trust me, you are definitely right and definitely kick-ass. I saw those moves when the tower got invaded; you can't pretend with me any longer.
no subject
It's-- i-it wasn't anything special, or-- admirable or anything of the sort, really, I was just--
[wow can he just go crawl into a hole for about a century]
no subject
You're a nice guy and don't you forget it. [She may have met him relatively recently, but Willow feels pretty confident on this point already.]
no subject
[He clears his throat and shifts.] Really accustomed to positive attention of that nature, is all. It's an adjustment. Um, thank you, at any rate. [Fact: he fails at words when they really count.]
no subject
Unless you're secretly some murderer manipulating me for kicks, which, I can't really see. Somehow I don't think many of those do needlepoint. [Yeah, she had actually noticed the stuff on his bed the other day.]
no subject
Maybe he should tell her about the nation thing, if she's going to trust him so openly.] Bad history is most of what stops my acquaintances at home. I can't blame some of them. It's--
[How to phrase it?] ...a rather long and bloody history, at some points.
[Hopefully she'll ask, so he has an excuse to tell the truth.]
no subject
But she wouldn't be Willow if she passed up a chance to get to hear about a potential friend's past.] You don't have to tell me, obviously, but... what about it was so long and bloody?
[She seems a little hesitant to pry, despite her willingness to get to know him. Giles and Angel and all of those other people with major grievances in their past were reluctant and defensive about talking about it. Not that she could blame them. But it was somewhat odd to her that he'd be willing to talk about it if it was really that bad.]
no subject
[It seems pretty high, considering she didn't even blink during the monster attacks, but. He should probably ask anyways.]
no subject
My best friend's little sister used to be a mystical ball of energy. Lay it on me.
no subject
[Sigh.]
Well, however bloody and depraved you may consider the history of England to be, it is all nonetheless mine, for better or for worse. I am England. And diplomatic representative for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a whole, since the capital city is in my country and my brothers are unmotivated arseholes.
Though behind the veil of bureaucracy, I am but a mysterious man of great importance named Arthur Kirkland.
[He sounds almost resigned as he says all this, fully expecting to be called a lunatic. Not that such is an abnormal occurrence, whoops.]
no subject
Wha-- huh? You are England?
How does being an anthropomorphic representation of an entire country, um, work? Is that typical for your world? [First things first: info gathering. Willow can't help but default to asking questions before she settles into an opinion on all of it.]
no subject
What I do know is that we are connected to our country in every way. Our people, our land, our economics, and our politics. [He gingerly places down his cup and saucer, and then pulls up his sleeve a little to expose his wrist to Willow, and the blue trails of the veins beneath his pale skin. He traces up one of the lines.] The River Thames, for example. [He rolls his sleeve down, and then sets a hand over the right side of his chest, indicating his heart.] And London, for another. Then my spine represents the Pennine mountain range.
[England lets his hand drop. He has more examples, but frankly, the exact relation of his geography to his physical body is kind of personal, so he's not going into the more obscure places if he doesn't have to.] Just the same, nations tend to fall ill if they are facing economic crisis. Or they may face mental instability if they are in the midst of civil war.
no subject
Wow, that's pretty funky. Not bad funky! Just... funky. I've really never heard of anything like that, and I've heard of a lot.
--Wait, if it's typical, does that mean there's an America? And an everywhere else, too?
no subject
Of course, she's American, so it doesn't make too much of a difference to England, oops.]
Yes. Nearly every territory recognized by the UN has a personification, and many territories that aren't do, as well. Autonomous regions such as Hong Kong and Macau, for example, and even micronations such as the Principality of Wy and-- [Does his voice get a little sour? It does.] Sealand. Ancient nations from before the United Nations formed were also personified. My land was ruled by Rome for quite some time.
Some of them are even in the Tower with us. [...and the frown deepens.] America, France, and Russia I know for a fact. [
though America is gone as of the actual date of this tag being written cries] I've also met a few nations from a world where we're apparently all of the opposite sex. [Imagine his surprise and despair when he found out that there were two Frances here.]no subject
So she just nods along.] Now that I'm getting used to the idea, this actually sounds nifty! Doesn't that make you, like, ancient? [... Oops was that insulting? She hastens to add,] I'm just asking because, haha, still used to thinking of my history homework, and how convenient would that be?
Usually I ask Giles because he's well-educated and British and also used to be employed by the public school system, but you're like the original Brit. I bet you even like Marmite.
no subject
For example, I was not present when America appeared. He was already a child by the time I found him. [There's something a bit distant in his voice, that grows farther away as the statement goes on. He comes back to himself as rapidly as he got lost, however.] With that in mind, I couldn't tell you my actual age, in all honesty. I had other things to worry about besides counting down with the calendar. [Not to mention that some of those memories, with the muddling of records, have become foggy, as well.
Teal-deer aside, England clears his throat and briefly averts his eyes, almost pouting.] Any potential enjoyment of Marmite on my part is completely coincidental. [No it's not. But geez, did they have to bring his taste in food into this?]
no subject
I'm glad you told me. [She gives him a wide smile, flattered that he'd trust her with it.] I'll refrain from the mocking about food, I promise, just still kinda getting used to the whole idea so the jokes slip out.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)