[F] On the Hunt

[Arthur Kirkland]

"Well, you'd better be more careful with those, then." Arthur said, with a snort. He wasn't sure why he was giving them to Alfred. Possibly because he was drunk. But his grandfather would have approved. He never liked the separation between the two cities, and did a lot of charity work. Besides which, he was an intellectual who liked to further his knowledge and encourage others to do the same, and Arthur knew that making it easier for Alfred to read would have pleased him. It pleased himself, as well, and he smiled, sitting down on the opposite end of the sofa to the one Alfred was leaning again, cradling his hot chocolate in his lap.

Letting out a nod, Arthur considered what Alfred said. "I have historical books too. Factual and fiction. If you want to borrow them." He offered, smiling a little. "What bit of history do you like best?" He asked, curious, and wanting Alfred to say more about himself. Besides which, he enjoyed history himself. He'd been thinking of trying a historical novel next, but he always got distracted when he tried to research it.

Blinking at the question, Arthur smiled at him. "You'll have to read it and find out." He replied with a chuckle. "It's nothing too groundbreaking." Despite never dating a woman (or anyone, but never sleeping with a woman), Arthur had chosen to write about a heterosexual romance, because he wanted people to notice the story, not the characters.

[Alfred Jones]

"O-of course. I'll give them back before I leave." He said, smiling at Arthur as he chose to move closer and then hummed, pausing to consider that. "Well...I really like reading about the really old civilizations, for one. And the um, dinosaurs...And the old World Wars. It's all so fascinating." He said softly, smiling lightly to himself. It kind of sucked, Arthur was the only other person he could recall meeting that liked history.

"Can I really, though? I always go to the library at least once a week to read, and it's such a pain that I usually can't finish things there.." Especially because they didnt let him rent them out, seeing as he -was- homeless. He nodded though, smiling at something he read as well as what Arthur said.

"I don't usually read romance, but I'll make an exception for you, then." He teased gently, glancing up at him over the glasses as he turned the page, getting comfortable. ""And what kind of history do you like?" He asked then, his legs soon stretching out, crossing at the ankles.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Waving a hand, Arthur smiled a little at Alfred. "You don't have to. They're just an old pair of glasses." He said. "I don't need them." He sipped from his hot chocolate as he listened to Alfred, smiling at what he said. "I didn't enjoy the World Wars in history at school, but when I looked at them in my own time I found out about the Blitz and prisoner of war escapes... I enjoyed that a lot more." Enjoyed wasn't the right word. Arthur had felt strong empathy for the poor men and women involved, and he had been sucked in.

It took Arthur a long moment to work out why on earth Alfred couldn't take books home from the library, and when he did he blinked. "O-oh! Of course you can. You can keep those books if you want, it's easy enough for me to get more. But anything else is fine too." He looked at Alfred. "Do you have a phone? So we can arrange to meet up when you finish them, if you want to borrow anything."

Blinking when Alfred looked up at him through the glasses, Arthur was suddenly struck by how attractive Alfred looked in them. He wouldn't have said that he was a fan of glasses, but Alfred some how looked better in them, as though he'd been missing them before. Even more surprisingly, Arthur pushed it away, not wanting to act on it even though he was drunk. For once he was more interested in the conversation. "I like British history." He admitted. "My family comes from there. Particularly the Tudors, and the colonisation period."

[Alfred Jones]

Alfred lightly frowned, looking on up at Arthur, but he nodded lightly anyway. He did kind of need the things...Still, he smiled lightly. "I like those parts too. There's a lot of psychology in history too, it's kind of crazy..." he murmured, just smiling amusedly when Arthur didnt realize why he couldnt take any with him. "If it's ok, I'll just take one at a time. I dont really have much more room in the bag." He stated.

"Mmmmn....Well I do use the phone at the cafe, and another one at this construction company where I used to work at, but I don't have one of my own anymore." He was just enjoying the glasses, they were amazingly comfortable and he honestly would treasure them...Still, he grinned to hear that." Yeah? That's really cool, british history has a lot of interesting things. All of Europe did, really...If I remember right, my families line was from the United States of America. There wasn't really too much of the cool old stuff for there though, not like England anyway." He pouted lightly.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Nodding at what Alfred said, Arthur frowned. "Some of history... scares me a bit." He admitted, quietly. "Especially the world wars. All three of them." The most recent one most of all. He was almost glad that there was only one country, so no one to fight these days, although the High Lands and the Low Lands might as well have been two countries sometimes.

Sipping from his hot chocolate, Arthur listened to Alfred, enjoying hearing him talk a little more about himself. He considered offering to give Alfred a mobile, but thought that was a bit far. "I'll give you my number, then." He offered. "And you're always free to come here, though I can't promise I'll be in."

"I don't know. There might not be any old history, but they were critical in recent history." Arthur pointed out. "That's just as interesting. And they helped a lot during the first two world wars too, though I'm not sure that I agree with dropping the atomic bombs." He said, with a slow sigh.

[Alfred Jones]

Silently he listened, but he smiled a bit sadly, nodding. "Those were terrifying times...The things people did were horrific at times." He said softly. "It's odd though...I feel so connected to them sometimes when I read about them, so much that my chest aches..Weird, huh?" He murmured, trying to laugh it off a bit.

Still, he blinked when he said that, watchng him but smiled. "I'll take your phone number, but I wouldn't want to be a bother. Plus, it's not a good thing to be seen with me up here. I wouldn't want to hurt your reputation." He said, smiling at him before he lightly nodded at what Arthur said. "The USA....Scares me sometimes when I read about it. Especially after they did that and proved their power."

"It almost seemed like a monster.." He murmured, eyes darkening slightly before he then shook his head, attempting to get off of these thoughts. "Anyway, let's talk about happier things. Um...When's your birthday?"

[Arthur Kirkland]

"Can you imagine living through such times?" Arthur mused, quietly. "That'd be... awful." Although, actually, this train of thought was giving him an idea, and he eyed his desk, before downing his glass. And because he was distracted, he flashed Alfred a smile as he replied. "Mm? No. Mine does the same." He said, as he tottered over to his desk, grabbed a notepad and scribbled something down.

At the same time, he grabbed one of his cards, and he dropped it in Alfred's lap as he passed back to the sofa. Tucking his thin legs underneath him, Arthur curled up with a quiet noise. "Don't have much of a reputation to ruin. Besides, I'd like to see you again."

Frowning a little at Alfred, Arthur could see that Alfred didn't want to talk about it, but he pursed his lips and spoke anyway. "I think they were scared." He said, softly. "In World War Two, anyway. And too young to know any better. It's almost like..." He paused, playing with his hands. "Like Europe went through being a teenager in the middle ages, and fought enough then that they were all war weary, but the USA hadn't been through any of that. Or Germany, for that matter." He gave a little shrug. "And then, from what I've read about World War Three, I think they got scared after the United Kingdom fell apart because they were such close allies. So no, I don't think a monster... perhaps a scared and slightly foolish young man."

Having said his piece, he smiled at Alfred. "Um, in the spring. April the 23rd." He replied, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I rarely celebrate it, though. When's yours?"

[Alfred Jones]

"Hmnn. You must have a quite bad reputation, then." Alfred replied teasingly, looking at the card that Arthur dropped in his lap and then at what he was scribbling. "Whatcha doin?" He asked curiously, looking at him as he returned to his seat upside down, a curious look on his young face.

Faintly he cocked his head as Arthur spoke though, blinking, before he hummed. "...Well, it's kinda weird comparing countries as people...But I guess that makes sense." He said, settling back while he pondered that line of thought, his feet lightly tapping in the air before he made a noise. "But if the USA was barely a teen, then the United Kingdom must have been an old man." He laughed gently at the thought.

"Mm? July 4th. I remember my mom used to...Tell me that it was a special day for the USA." He said, voice getting a bit softer before he made a noise. "Independence day, I think it was called? ...And why not?" His eyes were on the older man once again, and he smiled brightly.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Snorting at that, Arthur shrugged. "I don't know, and nor do I particularly care. I don't talk to my neighbours." He explained. "And it's just an idea to follow up later. I'm in the middle of a book at the moment, but I got a little stuck on the plot."

Arthur chuckled and nodded. "I know, it's just a way of explaining what I mean." Arthur said, waving his hand dismissively. He did chuckle at Alfred's idea though, and nodded. "Or an old woman. Didn't people used to use female pronouns for countries when they used them?" He asked. He couldn't quite remember. For some reason male did sit better with him than female, but he said it anyway.

"Was it?" Arthur looked across at him. "I didn't know that. Independence day... Something to do with the revolution, then?" He guessed. "I don't really have any one to celebrate with. I'll go down to the clubs and have a drink, but that's no different than usual, so it doesn't really matter."

Curling into himself a little more, Arthur yawned, before tugging the blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapping it around his lithe body. With the alcohol leaving his system, all he really wanted to do now was sleep, but he wouldn't give into that while Alfred was around. Surprisingly, he was enjoying talking to him, and still was worried about him disappearing again.

[Alfred Jones]

"Ahh...Well, glad to help the thought process?" Grinning, he settled down, continuing to read. "Mm...I think they did...I know uh...Oh what was it called...Russia was called "The Motherland" or something like that..? But I dunno, male seems to fit better.." He agreed with Arthurs thoughts unknowingly.

"Yeah, Independence from the British Empire." He chuckled, eyes on the book before he turned the page. "Hmn...Well, that doesn't seem very fun for a birthday thing." He chuckled, thinking that Arthur at least deserved a cake or something. Mentally he filed that away for later though, and as Arthur did that he looked over his shoulder at the older again, smiling faintly.

"Want me to head out? The rains let up for now..." It hadn't, not really, but he wouldnt trust a homeless person in someones home when they were sleeping either.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Slowly nodding, Arthur tried to remember. "I think so. Wasn't America called something like that at some point too? I think Germany was called the Fatherland, though." He really couldn't remember very well. "Then there's Britannia and the Statue of Liberty, I've seen cartoons with them personifying the countries. But, um, there's Father... Uncle Sam too?" It was hurting his head to think so hard, and his head started to spin a little, so he sighed and curled in, trying not to feel a little ill.

"Don't you think it was a bit rude of them to celebrate that? It was shoving it in the United Kingdom's face a little." Arthur said, frowning a little. "I do what I enjoy for my birthday. It's not like I have friends to celebrate with." He admitted without meaning to.

Arthur looked out of the window, and then quirked one eyebrow at the blatant lie. "It's still pissing it down, Alfred." Yawning again, he ran a hand through his messy hair, curling up a little more. "It's all right, I'm not that tired. I was enjoying our conversation anyway." He closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked at Alfred. "Are you tired?"

[Alfred Jones]

"Mmmn....I...Can't really remember...I remember the cartoons though. Those were pretty amusing." He chuckled, tucking his legs up eventually while resting the book on his lap, relaxing more as he continued his reading. "Hmn....Kinda...But it was kind of something worth celebrating. They were so small against an entire empire, even if there were a lot of contributing factors that were in their favor that allowed them to gain Independence. "

Alfred frowned at hearing the others...Friendlessness though, looking up at him again with a noise. Well that was sad. He had friends, even if he wasn't very close to them. He pouted at being caught though, watching him for a moment before he hummed lightly. "I guess...Ah, no. I'm usually awake at this time anyway." he smiled, but did rub his eyes, unused to the prescription helping his eyes. "You sure you aren't tired though?..." He asked, looking at him worriedly.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur frowned lightly, and mused on that. "I suppose so. I wonder if all of the other colonies celebrated independence as well?" He thought allowed. He'd end up doing research in the morning, he knew it. He hadn't looked into this aspect of history a lot before.

Chuckling at the pout, Arthur thought that it was cute. "Mm, well, if you do get tired, you're welcome to sleep on the bed. I don't mind sleeping here." Arthur nodded, and smiled a little at Alfred. "It's just because I stopped drinking. Normally I wouldn't have even left the clubs yet." He told him, as though determined not to be tired. It was a lie, of course, but Arthur didn't want Alfred to leave.

"Why do you like the dinosaurs? That's not really history, it's biology, isn't it?" Arthur asked, to leave the subject, and because he wanted to hear Alfred speak. As he spoke, he cuddled up into his blanket with a happy little noise, obviously pleased by the warmth and softness of it, but he kept his green eyes on Alfred.

[Alfred Jones]

Shrugging, Alfred also pondered that. He wasn't sure if they did or not, because he did remember that the United Kingdom let some of them go without a fight..He hummed lightly, not planning on doing so, and just arched a brow. "And how often do you do this?" He asked curiously.

"Mmm....Kind of. Biology is really interesting too, but Dinosaurs play such a huge part of history. They're one of the first things I really retained when I was younger about history. But the adaption and various periods of time that they lived in is just interesting to me, along with the biological aspects." He spoke, smiling as he did so. The noise made him glance over at Arthur though, and he smiled lightly to see him like that. "Comfy there?" He teased softly.

[Arthur Kirkland]

"Mmm, you asked that last time, idiot. A couple of times a month." Once or twice a week was closer to the mark, but Arthur honestly didn't think that it was that often. Like he didn't think that he drank that much, and that he ate more than enough (aside from on those days when he forgot to entirely, of course).

Arthur did listen to Alfred, but couldn't stop his eyes from drifting closed as he snuggled into the warm comfort of his blanket. His head was still spinning a little, and he felt disconnected from his body, but in a soft, sleepy way. Surprised out of his light doze by the teasing, Arthur half heartedly glared at Alfred. "Mm... It's warm." He murmured. "Like your jacket."

Smiling to think about the jacket, Arthur cuddled himself in. "It's a nice one, that. Where did you get it from." And then, suddenly he remembered his coat, and sat up a little, frowning. "Fuck. I left my coat in the cloakroom."

[Alfred Jones]

"Yes, but I'm starting to worry about your health." he chuckled, smiling and then smiled more to catch him starting to fall asleep. Still, it amused him more that he was starting to talk about his jacket, and he chuckled when Arthur remembered. "Well, that usually means you're out a jacket then, doesn't it."

Returning his attention to the book, he thought for a moment. "It was in a discount store, in the military section. I liked it, so I figured I could spare five bucks." He smiled,glancing at the jacket fondly. "I got it a few months ago actually. It seems kinda old, but...It's served me well so far." He smiled, then turned the page of the book.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur snorted a little, and looked at Alfred. "You're the one who doesn't eat properly." He pointed out. "And I have somewhere safe to go out of the rain. You don't need to worry about me when you have yourself to worry about."

Sighing, Arthur remembered his coat mournfully. He'd liked that one. Still, it wasn't like he couldn't afford to replace it, and at least it didn't have anything important in it. "That's cheap for a good jacket." Arthur said, looking at it. "It was a good find."

He fell silent for a little while, watching Alfred read. "What do you think?" He asked, finally, sounding a little nervous. While he'd been told they were brilliant, his agent was paid to tell him that and his fans were, well, fans. He'd never really asked someone who's opinion he cared about.

[Alfred Jones]

"I do too, I just forget sometimes." Well that was true enough. When he had a job and he was looking out for crime-doers, he did forget to eat. In any case, he nodded in agreement, stretching one of his legs out again to get comfortable, like he couldnt stay still. Eventually he moved, laying on his stomache, and he glanced up with a smile as he asked that. "You really want the honest answer..?"

"It's pretty good for a first published book. It's a little unbelievable with characterizations though, and reactions. It's a bit in the wrong genre though too, I think it'd do better as a pre-teen book if you took out the more adult situations. However, I do quite like the basic plotline, it's a nice fairytale."

"Have you ever considered writing childrens books? I think you'd be very good at them if you expanded more with the mythical stuff." He finally said, smiling at the other brightly in a purely honest way.

[Arthur Kirkland]

"Hmm. You should be more careful, especially out on the streets. You need to look after yourself, just in case something does happen..." He frowned, remembering what Joel had said about Alfred getting stabbed.

He took the criticism with a nod, thinking that Alfred was going light on him. He waved a hand a little. "I told you it's not very good." He chuckled. "The other two are a bit better, but I could still improve a lot."

Arthur hesitated at that suggestion, chewing on his lip, before he stood up. Wordlessly he went to his desk again, this time opening the draw and pulling out a sheath of papers. Rather than dropping them, this time he gave them to Alfred. "My current publisher doesn't take children's stories, but..." The pages were a complete children's book, little cartoonish water colours on one side and the story penciled on the other. It was an obvious allegory to an adult, a story about a tiger that wanted to eat grass, and eventually found solace with a group of other animals that were different, and a lion that ate grass too. And behind that was a half started story about a leopard that wanted to be a zebra. Arthur blushed a little as he handed them over, playing with his hands nervously as he waited for the verdict. He really hadn't shown those to anyone before.

[Alfred Jones]

"Don't worry too much about me, it'll give you wrinkles more than smoking and drinking will." Was the teasing words. He smiled at him though, arching a brow. "It's not bad, it's just that i can be improved more." Nodding, he then blinked then and cocked his head as he watched Arthur moved over.

Curiously he stuck the card in the book to keep his place, then took the papers carefully, cocking his head with a small childish smile at the drawings. "You're a pretty good artist, Arthur." Smiling, he looked through the papers carefully, keeping them in order as he read through them, spending a little time on each drawn picture. "These seem like you put more of your heart in them, to be honest." He finally said, going back to look at a picture he particularily liked. "They're really quite good though, I like them a lot." He paused on the picture of all the animals together, looking them over and for some reason felt strange thinking about it and staring at the picture, before he tore his eyes from it and got them in order again carefully "But really, I like them....Not that some bums opinion matters much." he laughed softly, offering him the papers back. "You really seem to have a knack for 'em though. Just sayin'."