Home From Afar. (Open)

[Arthur Kirkland]

Londinium. As many years as he had tried to avoid returning to these streets, despite the intense longing for home that resided in his heart, Matthew could not escape it forever. The risk at getting caught here was still so high despite the fact that the tragedy that had befallen him had happened so long ago, and he had changed so much from living outside of the gentile world encapsulated within the borders of the city. He would have rather avoided his reunion with the city being under these circumstances, returning here to all of the familiar places that had once nurtured him before driving him out.

To be safe, he’d secured a few precautions in an attempt to hide his appearance. Matthew had clicked over the notches of his eyeglasses until the shaded setting was fixed in place to shield his violet eyes from view. The hat on his head was bulky and stuck out awkwardly in all directions despite his best efforts to mold it into some semblance of order; it couldn’t be helped when his hair had sprouted into such a wild patch from these years out in remote locations. Swatches of gold still jutted out in places, especially that stubborn curl of hair that teased his line of vision. Satisfied that he would at least be unrecognizable unless given a proper study, Matthew decided that he could make the trip to see his old household if only from across the street.

The cobblestone of the streets had the same old patterns underneath his feet. He had become so familiar with them that even now he could have probably allowed the furrows to guide him home without even looking up. With the cover of nightfall to give him further cover, Matthew let the reluctant tread of his steps lead him to a point on the sidewalk. He stopped there, hesitant. Out of the corner of his eye, the young man could see the glimmer of lights coming from inside the windows of his family home. He needed to see it. He shouldn’t have come to see it. He wanted to see it. He was afraid to even look. With a slow angling of his delicate chin Matthew found the courage to peek.

It was the same old Tudor-style manor. Nothing appeared to have changed in the time that he had been away. The paint was peeling in a few places, but the home was still sturdy, elegant and inviting. Matthew’s hand lifted to his chest, fingers curling over to clutch at the flesh over his heart as he felt it constrict with an alarming pain. A piece of him wanted nothing more than to cross the street and walk right up to the door. The other, more reasonable portion of him knew that this would have been insanity. Matthew was not even sure whether or not he would be welcome inside of that threshold ever again.

His hand left his chest, blindly searching through the air before curling around the cold metal of the nearby lamppost. Matthew leaned against it, his weight sagging there as he considered what exactly he should do. Find another ship? He couldn’t very well remain in Londinium for long. With a heavy sigh, he tilted his head over and pressed his forehead to the lamppost as he tried to decide his next course of action.

[Sophie Aurélie Bonnefoy]

The size of the world was so often something that humans had the inability to grasp. When final goodbyes are said and the universe seems to scream "This is the end. These two people will never see each other again", it's only natural to believe what the universe says. It's human nature to think that the world is so vast that two people going in opposite directions will never meet again, that there's a flawless and painless escape from family and home, that if you let something go then it will never come back. The sad truth is that when you go straight on a round surface, you end up where you started. There's no way to escape home or family because it's part of you, and if you let go of something that you love and that loves you then it's bound to come back. The world isn't as big as everyone thinks. In fact, compared to the universe, the world is quite small. The size of it all isn't something you realize when you travel or reasearch, it's something you realize when what you've parted ways with finds you on the other side of the world.

At least, that's how Sophie learned her lesson. The smallness of the world was never so clear to her than it had been when she found out that her and her brother had landed on the same path she had....But all of that had taken place a while ago. Before Sophie had even joined the Fritz or only a short time after, if she could remember properly. With how much Sophie loved her brother, she wouldn't quickly forget the day that she found him again. Still, even after all the time that passed and all the time she spent with him, she was still anxious about losing him again. Losing hadn't ever been something she enjoyed.

"Hey! Aurèlie! Where're you off to?"

A voice pulled Sophie away from her thoughts involving her brotherand she looked up. She'd been walking for a while and had managed to stray towards the richer part of the city, a place that she wasn't quite welcome. She blinked at the man who had called her name and smile lightly, shrugging. "I'm just taking a walk. Don't let anyone miss me, alright?"

The man nodded and Sophie continued walking, gazing at the houses. They got larger and larger with the further she walked, getting closer to the size of her family home. The familiar feeling of the high class neighborhood made her almost sad but at the same time she'd spent so much time being sad that she was simply at a point of utter apathy. She stopped and stared around, taking a deep breath. Being in such a familiar setting was starting to wear down on her emotions and it'd only been a few moments.

Her eyes then landed on a young looking man who was leaning on a lightpost and she was pulled from her thoughts. His hate looked almost too strange for anyone in such an area and in her opinion he was poorly dressed, very poorly dressed. After going down the list of things wrong with the way he looked and mentally judging him to a point that it could've mad someone cry, she realized that something about his posture seemed sad. It was almost like he was upset about being where he was. Normally she wasn't so kind, but tonight, being in such a familiar place, she felt the need to be nice. She straightened herself out and moved towrads him slowly. He seemed harmless.

"Excuse me..." Sophie's tone remained polite, "Are you alright, sir?"

[Arthur Kirkland]

Matthew sucked in a quick breath, every muscle locking up with tension as he heard someone speak to him. His grip on the lamppost nearly slipped as Matthew’s shoulder slid from the support of the metal in his surprise. The young man’s face quickly turned towards the woman, lights from above striking off the hairs that jutted out from under his hat. He was astonished that anyone was out here so late. Few people ever prowled the streets of this neighborhood at night. Not because the neighborhood was safe, but due to the fact that the elegance of the homes here somehow deterred much crime from this street.

Not recognizing her, Matthew relaxed a little. She was just a stranger. Less risk than encountering someone that he knew. Matthew clued in on the fact that he’d probably looked like he’d been standing there moping like some lovelorn fool. He straightened, coughing awkwardly into an upraised hand as she waited for him to respond. “Oh. Ah, yes. Yes, I’m just fine. I was just… standing here thinking about things better left alone.”

Those dark spectacles were given another adjustment with a tap of his finger, the lenses clicking through the transitions until they were normal. Matthew’s violet eyes were revealed as he instantly gave her a polite, charming smile. Remembering his manners seconds later, the young man hurriedly pulled the hat off his head, clutching the fabric of it into his hands – because it was proper to remove such an accessory in the presence of a lady. And this woman certainly fit the image of one. Matthew felt incredibly self-conscious about his state of dress. He would have felt scandalized to speak to a woman in such poor attire in the past.

“Are you… traveling alone?” Matthew’s eyebrows furrowed, surprised that she would be out this late without an escort. There were pirates in this city and even the buffer of these gentile streets did not always keep them at bay. She looked capable enough to handle herself, which was admirable in a young lady, but Matthew still felt that old surge of chivalry. “Excuse me for saying so, but a lady of your stature should have an escort at this hour. Are you not concerned for your safety?”

[Sophie Aurélie Bonnefoy]

Sophie watched as he shifted his stance a few time, keeping the same polite smile on her as he seemd to try and gain control of himself. Her eyes glimmered a bit as she ran over how stupid she probably looked, how stupid it made her feel to stand still and smile like an idiot. It probably made her look more innocent and weak than she actually was, especially considering she'd been handling herself just fine on her own for several years. She was wonderfully skilled at talking circles around anyone who tried to get near her and if worse came to worse they ended with bullets in their face. After studying her, the young man seemed to relax a great deal and finally spoke.

Indeed he wasn't quite as sad as she'd thought he was, but he sounded as if he wasn't fully telling the truth. He seemed to be staring at the house across the street with the same longing eyes that she would've if she ever stumbled across her home, but Sophie didn't want to assume he was in the same situation that she was.

"I understand..." She nodded politely.

His eyes came into view and she blinked a bit, head tilting to the side. They were a lovely shade of violet that she hadn't seen before and still seemed slightly familiar. When he took off his hat was when she was really shocked though, mostly because people dressed as he was were rarely so polite. Most of the time they tried to make a move on her, movements that weren't normally accepted.

Then he continued on about her being out so late without any escort and she forced down a laugh. It was a silly thought, considering she was far beyond taking care of herself. However, the fair maiden card was one that she hadn't been able to play in her new circle and it founded like a fun game at the time.

"Oh yes, sir. I am traveling on my own." She put on a blush, "I'm can't be as high stature as someone in this kind of neighborhood. I never thought I'd be harmed somewhere as nice as this though. Is it not safe?"

[Arthur Kirkland]

“Oh. No, no, I didn’t mean to alarm you.” Matthew told her quickly when she questioned him about the neighborhood. “It… this is a nice area. A safe place. Or… at least it was a couple of years ago.” He trailed off and glanced in the direction of the house again, that subtle longing twisting his delicate features for a few seconds.

Shaking himself out of it, Matthew smiled tentatively at the woman. She was certainly lovely, and despite her claims not to have been of a high enough stature to live in the area, the young man could not fathom why she would feel self-conscious about it as he noticed her blush. Matthew’s face softened with kindness. That sadness was still present in the depths of his eyes, and even that kindness was marred with an undertone of constant melancholy, though he was skilled at repressing it from everyone except those who were perceptive. “I doubt that anyone here would ever consider harming you. It’s just that… well… something bad happened here a couple of years back, and I am still a little bothered to think that it could happen again. Though that might be my own paranoia.”

He laughed quietly, the volume barely audible. It was a pleasant sound, certainly gentle in nature, and suited him perfectly. Matthew became sheepish after his explanation as a hand reached up to rub awkwardly at the base of his neck. He’d wanted to reassure her and there he went probably saying something that would make her even more nervous. “S-sorry. I’m rambling. You’ll have to forgive me, s’il vous plaît? I am terribly distracted tonight.”

Matthew sighed faintly and it would have been hard to miss the fact that his gaze slid sidelong to peek at the house again out of the corner of his eye. There was a shadow that moved across one of the windows, the young man tensing visibly as his lips slightly parted. His intake of breath was sharp and audible, holding it as he turned his head completely to stare at that distant window. He wondered, dimly, who it might have been moving around within the residence.

[Sophie Aurélie Bonnefoy]

"Oh!" Sophie gasped, letting a relieved smile pull at the corners of her mouth as she continued to play the cute and innocent card. In all honesty, she had always been best at being the cluelessly naive blond girl who tended to get lost in her thoughts and was generally very out of it. She stared up at him thankfully, a grin snaking it's way along her features. This was almost as easy as beating the boys in the bar at a game of poker. "That's good, I would've been worried if such a lovely area wasn't safe for someone like myself..." Her voice trailed off when he continued to speak.

There it was again, the terribly sad sound in his voice. She quarked an eyebrow at him and tlited her head, trying to read his actions. It was annoying, the fact that he was so upset about something she didn't know about. At the same time, the sorrow was almost nostalgic. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she watched him, fading when he laughed. It was a plesant laugh, a cute laugh and it made her smile a little bit. It was almost familiar.

When he apologized, she gave a smile. A real smile, not one that was part of her game. It was real and genuine mostly because of the language he'd apologized in. There was just something about the smooth sound of her native language that made her relax. There was something about it that made her feel much more happy than she normally was. It was almost as if it was the embodiment of the home she couldn't go back too. "Non, non!" She laughed softly, "Don't worry about it! It's a part of life, rambling, right? I'm used to it by now anyway. Not a lot of people around here make sense..." Her eyes followed his as they moved back towards the house and she made something of an attempt to read the look on his face. It wasn't worth the time tough, because she simply couldn't figure him out all the way.

"Marche avec moi...please." It sounded at first more like an order than a request, and she threw the 'please' on the end to make it seem a bit more polite. In her mind, however, it was more of an order. She didn't want him to have a choice in the matter, but it wasn't like she controlled him. She wanted to move him away from whatever it was that was upsetting him and in order to do that, she'd have to convince him to take a walk with her. "It's a beautiful night, one more beautiful than any that I've seen in a long time. It would be terrible to spend it alone..."

Sophie's eyes darted towards the moon and she laughed, more to herself than anything. "Besides, you said it yourself that I shouldn't be out on my own at this late hour."

[Arthur Kirkland]

“A-ah. Oui.” It had taken Matthew a little by surprise that the French had slipped out of him so naturally. When he had been flying on that mining ship no one out there had spoken the language and so Matthew had been forced to bottle it up. Part of him had been afraid that it would become rusty on his tongue from the lack of use. Another part was relieved that it still came naturally.

He smiled wryly as she lured his attention away from the residence again. It would do him no good to gaze forlornly through those windows. His situation would remain unchanged regardless of how long he stared. Matthew’s face lifted, drawn into looking at the moon when she did. “It is beautiful. Sometimes it’s hard to remember to enjoy something so simple and yet so wonderful. I have been too caught up in my troubles to appreciate the things right in front of me that are good.”

Turning, Matthew crooked his elbow out beside him. Despite his attire he had all the training of a true gentleman that was incongruous with his appearance – just another layer to the mystery of this melancholy young man. Though Matthew did not even realize what sort of a puzzle he presented to those around him. His eyes were bright, reflecting kindness as he peered at her with that offered arm for her to take, like a gentleman about to escort a debutante through a ballroom. “Mademoiselle. I would be honored to walk with you.”

Matthew was just as eager to remove himself from this torture as she was. Escorting her would provide him the excuse that he needed to break free of this war inside that was dividing his mind and his emotions. The distraction that she provided was greatly welcome. Plus, it would give him some time to plan on what he would do next, where he would go from here, and try to organize his scattered mind back into some semblance of its usual logical pattern.