A Noble Rescue (Francis + Arthur, Closed)

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur stood up, and raised an almost perplexed eyebrow at the other. "... W-What's wrong?" He asks, bewildered. He doesn't realise how quickly he's stood up and has to lean against the table for a moment. "I have to get back to my bloody ship, that's what's wrong. Where are my clothes?"

He needs to get out -- damnit, why was Francis still being so ridiculously polite? It was almost bizarre to him, now he knew who he was. He was a noble. While he'd never been under Arthur's radar, he was still a noble. Even if that wasn't the only occupation Arthur had met him.

He looks at Francis, and it's bearing onto a glare at this point. He's not really, just in fact that he's angry with himself. How could he have been so stupid...

[Francis Bonnefoy]

Francis blinked, unable to wrap his mind over the new persona the man seemed to acquire. He had so many questions, but the first thing out of his mouth was a blank, "Your clothes? Oh, I'm sorry, they were terribly stained and torn - beyond repair. So the laundrymaid disposed of them."

Francis stood slowly, looking closely at the man. "I - I'm going to give you a new set of clothes anyway, so I didn't think to keep them..."

Francis moved closer. "Please don't be so hasty. I'm not sure what's happening, but I assure you, all I want to do is help."

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

He laughs.

"Hah, oh, come on. They were my plain set. What am I meant to do now to get around?" At the remark Francis makes about wanting to help, Arthur can't help but roll his eyes slightly.

"Oh come on, Where's the wittier, more feisty Francis I came across amidst the battle, by the gunpowder, on Antonio's ship? Or the one that snuck out bread to a eight year old, homeless boy, for that matter." He sighs. "I need to get back to my ship. My crew are clearly looking for me. I need those clothes. Let me go."

Damnit, his head hurt.

There was a part of him that almost wish he hadn't remembered who he was...

[Francis Bonnefoy]

Francis stared at the man, completely stunned into silence. He couldn't understand why the man was so hostile now. Nor did Francis understand what the man was talking about. Battling on Antonio's ship? How did the man find out about his past? And giving bread to homeless boys? Francis couldn't remember that.

"How did you - what do you know about me?" he asked softly, cautiously. He had to be careful not to reveal too much. "Sh - ship? You have a ship...and crew?"

Francis suddenly had a hard time breathing. "Who are you?"

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur didn't reply for a moment, moving too quickly causing his chest to shoot pain into him. He never was brilliant with wounds, which is why he had people like Eliza to tend to him and to whack him when he did get injured. Not to mention how geeze his head hurt suddenly.

He does manage a smirk to Francis, however strained it may be.

"Captain Arthur Kirkland, at your service. Now, really, I need those bloody clothes."

If he wasn't too caught up in himself he probably would take some joy in Francis' confusion.

[Francis Bonnefoy]

Francis couldn't stop gaping at the man. The pirate's answer explained so much now, but at the same time, it was so hard to reconcile the scared, lonely stranger with the ruthless pirate smirking at him.

It was all so bewildering and overwhelming, but what Francis felt most keenly was...dejection. Heavy, bitter dejection. It had been stupid, but Francis had begun to hope...

He gazed at the man searchingly for a moment, and found his answer in the man's eyes. All Francis could do was sigh and look down.

"I had the maid lay out your outfit for today on your bed," he said quietly. "Just ask the butler for extra funds and food on your way out. I can assure you he will deliver however much you want at top speed."

Francis turned away, having no desire to see the person his sweet stranger really was. "I won't make you stay if you don't want to."

He tried to keep his bearing rigid and proud when he left the kitchen, but he slumped as soon as he was out of sight in the hallway.

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur disappeared for a few minutes at that, but that was due to getting changed. He didn't exactly like wearing borrowed clothes -- it made him feel... poor.

However, rather than marching out of the house, rather than just leaving it at that and however ashamed he was of having been caught in such a vulnerable position before he'd gotten his memory back, he soon appeared before Francis again, almost out of nowhere. He looks at him for a long moment, before looking away, almost shy. There's a tiny, tiny hint of his former softness.

"If you must know, the night before I was relying on someone to give me information on another noble who is incredibly corrupt. It was a horrible judgement because they turned out to be a crony of the noble, and I was tricked and ambushed. I tried to run and they caught me. You would've found me at a result of them getting me. ...." He looks like he's about to say something else, probably a thank you, but he just humphs and turns away.

"That's why I'm this injured. Simple idiocy on my part that have should have rightly got me killed."

[Francis Bonnefoy]

Francis had not expected to find himself face-to-face with the pirate again. He had expected the pirate to take as much as he could and steal away from the mansion as quickly as possible. It wouldn't do too stay in one place too long, or to tie oneself down. Francis would know; he had been a pirate himself after all.

So when the pirate captain approached him, all Francis could do was stare at him again, his expression wondering and soft, though he didn't know it. For a moment, he couldn't believe it.

As the pirate's words sank in and his story began to take shape, Francis couldn't help but notice how Arthur seemed to be especially averse to corrupt nobles. But Francis decided not raise his own hopes for now.

"It's not your fault," said Francis, feeling that familiar surge of protectiveness. "Even the most cunning of us make mistakes. And it is especially risky to meddle with nobles - especially the depraved ones." He cast his eyes down, concealing what he knew of the subject.

[Cpt. Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur did note the rather soft expression, so much so that he had to look away slightly. It was easy enough putting up a mask around other masks, but when the expression was genuine, not something too often around most people he had to surround himself by, especially with men, it wasn't as simple. He sighs.

"Of course it's my fault. Whose is it, the bloody faeries?" He mutters. He turns around again, sighing. "I'm aware of the etiquette of Nobles. Never trusting, never giving... Well, the bastards, anyway." He does pause, and there's a glint in his eye, malicious but a hint of pure boyish excitement and joy there too. "If you're not noticing a decline in the Depraved end of the Nobles, either by being offed or a sudden, 'unexplained' cut in their wealth.... then I'm clearly not doing my job right. Or I need to raise my game up."

[Francis Bonnefoy]

Francis raised an eyebrow but otherwise kept still. His timid guest seemed to have grown an ego along with his memories.

"That's very presumptuous of you," replied Francis, his voice even, "to give yourself all the credit for eliminating all nobles you deem 'corrupt.' I suppose you haven't considered that there are other ways to die, or that you're not the only one feeling victimized by those men."

A sudden, unpleasant thought crossed his mind. It seemed impossible, given what the man had said he had gone through, but Francis couldn't let it go.

"Is that why you're here?" Rather than backing away from the potential danger, Francis stepped closer to the pirate. "Am I a target too?" A bitter laugh escaped him. "Because I'm sure that I stand for everything you despise enough to get rid of."