[Complete] Steady As She Goes

[paysdelamour]

Who: France (Francis Bonnefoy) and England (Arthur Kirkland)
When: August 29
Where: France's clothing shop housing unit
What: England decides to visit France, who is busy working on his projects. France then spends the rest of his time with England trying to hide his secret - Joan of Arc.
Warnings: Mild French swearing. Also France and England rivalry!

This particular day would not have been anything special, if it were not for one particular moment. Francis Bonnefoy had been working on his nine different projects he had been given from the other people trapped in Arcanarum. But moments have a way of warping the flow of time in the eyes of the observer. It was thus that Francis was busy when he heard a knock on the door. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of hand-sewing a dress hem, and was distracted at the most crucial moment by th knock. "Merde-!" Francis quickly pulled his thumb to his mouth, sucking on it as he made his way to the door. After a moment, he opened it, and stared at his visitor.

"... Angleterre?"

He didn't realize why the concept was so foreign to him, now. Arthur visiting him was an eventuality. After all, he was only next door. Francis watched him dumbfounded for a moment, neglecting the fact his finger was still bleeding minutely. It was then that his proper manners came to him and he decided it was rather rude to stay staring at him. "... oh, do come in, s'il te plaît." He stepped to the side, motioning for England to enter.

Comments

Re: Well still

[unionjackoff]

"We-well... If you're alright..." England said, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Then I suppose I don't need to keep you." He was embarrassed now. They were so tense, and England knew it was his fault. He was the one from the past. He didn't know anything. He was the one holding the grudges. He turned to look at something in the room and planned for his immediate escape.

[paysdelamour]

"You do not need to keep me, certainly," Francis replied with a keen rebuttal and a smile. "... mais, there is always the possibility that you might want to, non?" Truth be told, he'd missed their polite snark at each other, just a little. Just a lot.

Crap. What was he doing? Joan might still be in the house. Well. He had to make sure she was. But how was he going to do that?

Suddenly, he got an idea. "At least stay for a cup of tea, would you?" Excellent. Herd him into the kitchen, get the kettle going, then pop into Joan's room to see if she was there. It was the perfect plan... right...?

[unionjackoff]

Oh, tea! Well, in that case... "I suppose I do deserve some tea for coming all the way here." England had made the journey, so why not? He allowed France to usher him into the kitchen, taking his time to look at the different gadgets his old friend had. England's kitchen had been rather bare until America got his hands on it. Then he started creating new things and explaining how this and that worked, and how much food he needed everyday.

Though, usually, none of England's housemates let him into the kitchen at all. Bastards.

"What kinds do you have?"

[paysdelamour]

Oh, France wasn't letting you in the kitchen to cook anything. The only reason was because of the dining room table, which happened to be in the kitchen alcove with the rest of the appliances. But when they both entered the kitchen, Francis motioned for him to sit as he pulled out the tea kettle and filled it with water, setting it on the stove and heating it properly.

"Mm, let me see now..." He pulled open a cabinet which held a few tins, each with a different hand-written label on them. He quickly read the labels, all in French, and then called out loud. "I have Jasmine, Ceylon, Earl Gray of course, a green tea called 'du Hammam' which is a bit fruity, and then I have a white tea called 'Yin Zhen'. That is all I have." Of course, he expected Arthur to choose the Earl Grey, but, it was always nice to give him the options.

[unionjackoff]

England felt a little more at ease now, at least for the time being. France was being a pleasant, good host, and England felt that he wasn't a threat. He really did feel bad that he had to approach France cautiously. It seemed as though they were close in the future, so they must have made up after the war. They always did.

"Earl Gray is fine," England said without thinking. His rival knew him all too well. "Thank you."

[paysdelamour]

Well, "made up" was debatable. But Francis really didn't want to break it to England that in the span between his time and England's, they had fought against each other in both America's, and his own Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars. Only then had they finally decided to become tentative "friends". And he really did not want to explain the World Wars, and he never really intended to. Not unless someone from their world arrived in the middle of one of them. Then there would be a lot of explaining to do.

"Bien sûr." He drew out the tin of tea, placing the kettle onto the stove to let it heat up. Meanwhile, he set himself to working on setting the table properly, pulling out some delicate, medium-dark blue teacups. These were set with an ivy motif around the rim and saucer and handle, made of gold leaf. He set one in front of England, with a matching tea spoon, and set the second across from his bushy-browed companion, on the other end of the table. All the while he was glancing at Joan's bedroom door out of the corner of his eye.

At last, there was one more detail. He went and got a crystalline sugar dish, placing it in the middle of the table. "Were you wanting anything else, with your tea? Some cakes, perhaps?"