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Post by Mattie Williams on Oct 29, 2011 18:38:34 GMT -5
Mattie hesitated, then slowly took the handkerchief with a trembling hand. He wasn't ashamed of the fact he needed one; nor was he ashamed to actually use it in front of Arthur. Far from it. Maman had said to him, before she died, that there was no shame in showing emotions.
Hearing that the pirate, one of the most feared pirates (if not the most) in Atheros, telling him that he'd hidden in small spaces like this... well, it had two effects on Mattie. The first was a small sense of vindication (Ha, take that, Al. Small spaces really are a good place to hide). The second was that he actually looked at the other, looked at him to see the person Alfred had spent the last several years with. And he found that, though he'd never tell a soul other than Kuma this, that Arthur didn't seem that bad. ... but he'd killed Daddy... but - but nothing. He'd killed Daddy, and he'd taken Al away, and there was no way that Mattie would forgive him that easily.
All the same... "... I've just got Kumajiro... Kuma's the only one with me all the time... Sometimes, I feel like Maman's still here, but Maman isn't. She's with A- with Daddy now."
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Post by Cpt. Arthur Kirkland on Oct 29, 2011 19:20:07 GMT -5
Arthur nodded.
"Your father was on a military ship that had surrounded ours, back when I was seventeen years old. It was a result of our Captain who had backed himself into a corner, and while we were trying to get ourselves out of it, I found him trying to abandon us. He was disposed of, but those two ships went down with him, otherwise we'd all have probably died. I didn't kill him intentionally. I'm sorry he did die." He sighs. "I hate it when innocents die. Sometimes they've just been corrupted instead, and it's not their fault. It's the reason I didn't just kick Alfred straight back out on the docks again. It was doubtful he knew his way back, and I didn't want him to either end up like I did or have something happened to him by someone while he wandered about, lost."
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Post by Mattie Williams on Oct 29, 2011 19:31:57 GMT -5
"... Daddy invented that ship... or... or a lot of the stuff on it.... and Al had to go with him to test it..." Mattie's voice was quiet. It was like he was scared to even talk as loudly as he normally did in this small space. He didn't like raising his voice - and he'd done so today. Hearing his voice that loud reminded him of Alfred... a memory that would still hurt as much as, if not more than, it used to. To know his brother was alive and hadn't come home...
That was something for later.
"... Was he... I... I guess... he never mentioned Maman... or me... " At this last, his voice was so soft Mattie could barely hear it himself. "... but... he... wasn't ever hurt... was he...?"
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Post by Cpt. Arthur Kirkland on Oct 29, 2011 19:42:28 GMT -5
"Not particularly out loud, he seemed to put that in the back of his mind. He did talk about it in his sleep, though." He remarks, leaning his head back. "Especially when he'd been having nightmares and the suchlike."
He shakes his head at the soft remark.
"... Once." He says, "When he was around 15, a passing enemy ship gave random shots. He got shot in the arm. It wasn't lethal, but I don't think he'd been injured so seriously before and he panicked." There's a murderous glint in his eyes. "The ship itself didn't last that long, though."
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Post by Mattie Williams on Oct 29, 2011 19:47:16 GMT -5
Well... at least he hadn't forgotten them completely. If only Maman could know that Al was alright - but... but she did know. Because he wasn't with her. So it had only been Mattie, these past year, Mattie and Kuma that didn't know.
Mattie wasn't sure what to say, hearing that his brother had been shot. He... didn't like hearing it, but he had asked. "... but he was alright... right...?" There was a need for reassurance, a need to know that, even if he hadn't been there to make sure Al went and got his ouches looked at, Al had been taken care of.
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Post by Cpt. Arthur Kirkland on Oct 29, 2011 19:51:54 GMT -5
Arthur smiles. "Course he was. He was my cabin boy, I wasn't about to let him go get shot. Not to mention he's a stubborn arsehole. He was screaming but as soon as he was patched up he wanted to go back up on deck, which in the middle of a warzone isn't a good idea when you're getting over shock and shock from bloodloss."
He shakes his head, and seems to subconcsiously bring his knees up to his chest. He rests his chin on them.
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Post by Mattie Williams on Oct 29, 2011 20:01:03 GMT -5
"... sounds like Al... stubborn until he got- gets his way... and then he's happy you're doing what he wants..." Mattie shook his head, pulling Kumajiro closer. "... Maman and Daddy always said stubborn should have been his middle name, instead of Jean."
He blinked, attention straight ahead. This... was the most he'd talked about Al with anyone, except Maman - and even more than he'd talked about Al with Maman after the first year they'd been gone. Strange to realize that. Stranger to realize just who he was talking to.
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Post by Cpt. Arthur Kirkland on Oct 30, 2011 8:51:15 GMT -5
Arthur smiles. "Seems he never changed then. Oh, but Jean? He might've altered his name then when he came on my ship. He was smarter than people took him for, even at that age. I daresay smarter than I was." He looks down at his fingers, a scar running against his index finger.
"... Stubborn as a mule, that boy..."
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Post by Mattie Williams on Oct 30, 2011 17:04:12 GMT -5
"... oh..." That was all Mattie could think to say. Of course Al would have changed his name, if he didn't want to be found. His stupid, irritatingly smart, brother. If Mattie weren't so... conflictedly relieved at hearing that Al was alive, he might be angry. Maybe he was angry. He wasn't sure. Neither was Kuma.
"... more stubborn, sometimes... you... you can actually get a mule to move if you have to..." Wait. He was actually bantering with... this was getting weirder and weirder. Well, he'd told him to stay, what did he expect? ... he didn't know.
A moment later, he peeked at the other out of the corner of his eye. "... what is it... that Al did... when he was with you...?" Maybe he didn't want to know, but he'd asked now. And besides... maybe he did.
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Post by Cpt. Arthur Kirkland on Oct 31, 2011 18:05:51 GMT -5
"A cabin boy is essentially a Captain's second-hand man, an apprentice of sorts. Something who runs the small jobs. He'd sometimes send messages, help give orders to specific parts of the crew, sit with me when I was planning navigation and find out about it all. Only when he was older did he help me with raids and land missions, and a lot of the time it was simply look-out. At least at first."
Arthur was smiling, smiling like a proud parent would.
"He's bloody good on the battlefield, on his feet. He can think fast when he needs to. All that charisma and intuition." His faces falls. ".. Probably why he left."
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