Tea For Two? (Lili and Arthur)

[Lili Walser]

Lili couldn't take her eyes off Arthur during his entire story. The fact that he was a pirate both surprised her - and didn't... but the main point was that, a month earlier, she would have been easily frightened by the admission. Now, however, she knew the person behind the pirate, and so didn't mind as much. Sarah, though, Sarah was pale. Pirate... Captain... Arthur Kirkland?! Her charge was acquainted with Arthur Kirkland. This was... it... it didn't bear thinking about.

It also didn't surprise the noblewoman to know that Francis and Arthur were fond of each other, to put it lightly. And she was happy for the both of them... they had someone. She'd... she'd never...

When Arthur clasped her hands in his own, she looked up at him, both hopeful and guarded. "Do you... do you really believe that...?" Her breath caught on a soft sob. "I... I don't know what to believe any longer... n-not after... n-not after."

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur can't help but express a small smirk at the other woman, nodding his head slightly.

"Captain Arthur Kirkland, at your service." He remarks. He does always get a sense of glee from doing this.

He turns back to Lili, and gently grasps her hands tighter. He smiles softly.

"Of course I do. Many people, no matter how bad their actions, will have good intentions. Trust me."

He pauses.

"Do you feel you can tell me yet?"

[Lili Walser]

Sarah would have already had Lili out of the tearoom by now, if it weren't for the fact that Lili seemed quite okay with this situation.

"Then... then does that mean.... d-does it mean that they intended good by taking me?" Lili had to know the answer to this question before she could confide in him. Of course they'd intended good - for themselves. Her well-being... well, she might not be sitting here quite so comfortably with Arthur had it been anyone else but Jean... Alfred... to kidnap her. She knew that. She also knew... sh-she knew... that... that anything she'd told him... a-anything she'd told him...

"I... I d-don't know where to begin..." She murmured. She didn't know what he knew... or what he suspected... or what he wanted to know.

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

"Most likely, yes." He pauses. "Alfred would apologise to a fly if he could. Not to mention, he intended to get Francis, if I'm correct. He was at Francis' residence, you were there in secret from what I've heard, so it's silly to think that you were a target all along. There might be more to it - Francis has a history with the Ruthians, afterall."

He gives her a small smile.

"How about beginning at the start? And don't worry about what you tell me. I think it will help for you to say what you want to, not what anyone wants to hear."

[Lili Walser]

Lili took a deep, shuddery breath, and nodded. "I... I shall do my best..." She was quiet for another moment, gathering her thoughts.

"I... I w-went to Francis's that night... e-even though Gilbert had told me not to go. He... doesn't often care for me to go anywhere like that unchaperoned, a-and now I see why." She looked down, her gaze centering on the table in front of her. "Francis found me moments after I'd come in, though he didn't recognize me. We spoke for some time on the balcony, him trying at the end to guess my identity... when we heard the... th-the explosions.

As the other guests crowded onto the balcony, Francis and I jumped - and I lost my mask... I... It's really rather a shame... I... I w-was fond of that mask..." But hearing herself, she stopped. Jean... Alfred... would likely sneer at some sentiment like that. She shook her head. "We ran and hid... We'd almost made it to the other side of the street when the carriage came out of no where... I... I c-couldn't... I tried, b-but I c-couldn't get away from them..."

Her voice, quiet before, softened more now.

"They tied me... l-left me in a small room on my own. Th-thankfully Uncle Toni had taught me before h-how to escape ropes... I... I managed. I think it impressed them, s-somewhat... b-but I don't know why it should've. They... he... asked me about Francis... I... I told him some of what I knew... I w-was so afraid that they... he... would hurt me... I n-never thought to lie. S-somehow, they found out who I was... th-they wanted to know about Gilbert... I... I answered their questions... his questions... I... I answered them for him... n-not because he would hurt me b-but because... b-because he wouldn't. H-he... he told me that I... Th-that I oughtn't let myself be led... w-without questioning anything... I... I..." She warred with herself, but lost, and slid her hands free of his to cover her face. "I-I know... I know th-things about Gilbert... a-about w-what he's done with the military... th-that I n-never w-wanted... n-never n-needed to know... I... b-but Jean... that is, Alfred..." The name was strange to say... to associate with the person she knew. "H-he insisted... he'd speak, e-even if I covered my ears."

She paused for breath, for a moment to compose herself... and to see what Arthur's reaction to this story was so far. Sarah was silent... it was no wonder she wasn't certain how to tell anyone of what had happened to her.

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur's expression remained the same, without shifting. He was engaged, but for now, he was reserving any reactions to later.

"What else happened?" He did ask, his voice still soft. He gave an encouraging squeeze of her hand.

[Lili Walser]

"H-he was kind. I... I'd always thought the R-Ruth... the... I'd always thought they were p-people without m-morals, w-without feeling... I... I didn't know wh-what to think after him... I... I'm s-still so confused... He took me on a walk with him, once, th-through the slums... I... I'd n-never seen..." She stopped, shaking her head again. "I... I h-had so much... a-and th-they had so little... I..."

Sarah could hardly believe her ears. She'd have to tell Herr Beilschmidt some of this, all of this, but how could she? She didn't know what Lili had seen, or felt.

"Wh-when I r-returned home... I... e-everything was different... I... I feel so... s-so out of place there, anymore... I... A-and Tante Agnes... sh-she... G-Gilbert threw her out of the house, after th-the things she said... th-things like... I w-won't ever find a m-man to m-marry me now, b-because of what happened..." She shook her head. "E-even if I say n-nothing happened... n-no one will believe me... b-because I had no chaperone..."

Her attention shot to the door as it opened, but it was just another customer, no one she... she recognized. That meant nothing, though, she knew now. "I... I j-just... how do I tell Gilbert... a-and Uncle Toni... I... I d-don't know what to do, anymore... Everything and nothing has changed..."

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

After Lili finished, there was a few moments of pause. Arthur was gazing, not directly at her, but more lost in his thoughts, a light frown on his expression. He then sighs, and removes the monocle resting in front of his eye, and gazes properly at the young noblewoman.

"Now, listen to me very carefully, Lili. No matter what group that anyone belongs to, the people who make up that group are people. People who have good things and bad things about them, just as you and I do. If you go around thinking that there are only good and bad people in the world, then you are very much going the wrong way round about things. There is only good in people, and bad situations and ideals.
But you also cannot go around being so unsure of everyone and anyone else. You've had a shock, because you've been sheltered all your life and you've never been aware of it. Whether that was good or bad compared to other people is not a question any more; you were, and now you're not. That is it. What you now need to do is let things come naturally. I'm sure that you feel that people are pressuring you to be one day or that you feel the need to be, but that is not the case. It is a shock, and it will take time to adjust to what the world really can be like, but at the same time? You can take action. There is nothing stopping you from going out there into the slums and helping the poor, giving them food and better shelter. You cannot tell if anyone is 'bad' or 'good', the only thing you can do is learn to stand up for yourself and what you believe in."

He pulls a face.

"And whatever someone says about that is disgusting. You have the potential to be a very strong woman, Lili, and those who say you aren't worth a husband are lying. The men who will think you aren't worth it really do not deserve you. Trust me, the men who will appreciate you for you will be the ones you want to be with; not those who just want to use you for your money and as a way to keep their family going."

[Lili Walser]

As Arthur spoke, Lili listened intently... much as she had to Jean-Alfred, after a while. Then, she hadn't had much of a choice. Now... now it was routine. What he said... how he said it... She shook her head. He did say that he'd known J-Alfred... It was no wonder that they spoke similarly.

"R-Ruthians k-killed my parents. I... I d-didn't know what else to think... I... I w-was thirteen." She was proud of herself; she'd not shied away from using the word, though a cold chill had run up her back. She was still convinced that the people who had bombed the hospital were bad - because who would attack a hospital, where the injured were? ... Jean hadn't been part of the Ruthians then, he'd been quick to point out. He couldn't tell her, though, whether her parents had been a target... or just part of the... part of the... part of what had happened.

"I... I know now, that I was sheltered... b-but there are nobles out there that were more sheltered than I was... A-at least I can..." She stopped. Was she just trying to prove herself to Arthur, now...? Well... be that as it may... "I... I know how to defend myself, s-somewhat. Gilbert taught me to shoot... Uncle Toni to escape being tied up... A-at least I've got that... S-so many others of my station wouldn't have had." She sighed softly. "I... I w-want to help, n-now that I know that so many are less fortunate... b-but is it too little too late to do so? I just... I don't know if it would be accepted..."

Hearing him say nearly the same thing as Gilbert had... she nodded, and told him nearly the same thing as she'd told her cousin. "... I only hope that there is someone out there... th-that is actually as you say." As far as she could tell, no one had wanted her before - why would that change now that she'd had such an experience as this?

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur nods, reassuringly.

"Of course. You are brave, very brave. Too many people are ignorant of what the world is really like around them. Just because it's scary at first does not mean it is not good at the same time. Stop thinking about what people would accept, just go with what you want."

He smiles. "If there is no one right now, it simply means you are strong enough to go it alone. It may not seem it now, but you are strong enough. You just have to believe in yourself. Trust me."

He squeezes her hand.