thoughtformed | {Closed}

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{Closed}

Who: Helen Magnus and Arthur Kirkland
What: A talk. Probably.
When: Backdated just slightly. Two weeks after the age plot.
Where: Arthur’s apartment
Warnings: None, as of yet.

Helen hesitated in the hall, hand poised to knock. She had been avoiding Arthur since whatever forces controlling the island had saw fit to turn her into a child, but that couldn’t continue. She needed to see him.

He was a rare find. It wasn’t often she found someone with such an understanding of what it meant to lead so long a life. Someone who understood the curse of it.

Taking a calming breath, she rapped lightly on the door. It was time they talked.

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He couldn't say he hadn't noticed the fact he'd been being avoided, but there had been some trepidation on his part, too. How, after all, does one resolve that kind of experience? More of an issue for her than him, he'd though, so he'd let her have her time to think things over in the hope that she'd eventually come to talk to him.

When he heard the knock he didn't think for a moment that it might be her. The Doctor - one of them - perhaps, or Rodney, and when he opened the door he couldn't keep the look of surprise off his face.

"Helen! Ah.. what brings you here?"

She almost cupped his cheek, her hand hovering midway for just a moment before she dropped it again. Until he had opened the door, she hadn't realized how much she had missed his company. How far he had managed to work himself into her life in such a short time. She hadn't expected that.

"I wanted to see you."

"You.. you did?"

He'd been wanting to see her as well, but.. well, it had been a long time since he'd done this kind of thing. Arthur wasn't aware of how much of an impact he'd had on her, but then, the same could probably be said of the reverse. It wasn't often he met a woman like her.

".. Aha, of course, you wouldn't be here otherwise. Would you like to come in?"

She nodded, still slightly hesitant. "Please."

It was as if it took his mind a moment to catch up, and he stepped aside quickly, making a small gesture to invite her in and shutting the door once she'd entered.

"It's.. been a while, hasn't it?"

"It has." She crossed her arms, as close to anxious as she tended to get. "I wanted to thank you. For looking after me."

"For.. oh." It hadn't even crossed his mind when she said it, but then he found himself coughing in slight embarrassment, even though it occurred to him a moment later that if anyone had any right to be embarrassed here, it wasn't him.

"It was no trouble at all, I assure you."

Helen wasn't the type to be easily embarrassed, but this? At the very least, it made her uncomfortable to know he had seen her as a child, an innocent. And that he had cared for her in the time it took for the island to return her to her proper state.

She nodded, shifting restlessly. "You handled it well. I can't imagine it was the most...comfortable of experiences."

"I've had worse, I think. Looking after a little girl is hardly high on my list of things I'm incapable of dealing with."

He led her through to the kitchen, then cast her a smile.

"Though I think I much prefer you like this."

"But it wasn't just any little girl."

She still kept some distance between them as she followed, but once in the kitchen, she reached for his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"And I much prefer being with you like this."

"I think that made me rather more protective of you, my dear."

When she grasped his arm he placed his hand over hers and chuckled as he squeezed her fingers in return.

"But I agree most wholeheartedly.. this is definitely preferable. Ah, would you like a drink?"

She hummed faintly, mildly reassured by the contact, and she kept her hand there even as she nodded.

"Tea would be lovely."

"Marvellous, then. I think I have just the thing. Make yourself at home, and I'll just.. yes. Tea."

He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. The habits of courtly conduct had never quite left him and he didn't even realise how old-fashioned he was being.

Well, she'd probably be the only person here who could appreciate it.

The kiss earned him a genuine smile, and she nodded, moving to sit as she watched him. He had been an excellent guardian, but a part of her still wished it had been anyone other than him. Someone she hadn't taken such an interest in.

He would likely share her feelings had the situation been reversed - but then, the idea of anyone attempting to care for him as a child was enough to give him chills. Arthur counted himself lucky that he'd remained untouched by the event.

"Do have a-- Oh, you're sitting. Good. Excellent." A terrible habit of waffling when he's nervous. Arthur smiles quickly then turns from her, in part to hide his blush and also to make the tea.

She clasped her hands together on the table in an effort to avoid fidgeting. This level of nervousness was something she hadn't realized she was still capable of experiencing. It helped to know she wasn't entirely alone in that feeling.

"I imagine you would make an excellent father," she observed softly, watching him.

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{Closed}

Fffh sorry I took so long to reply to this.

No worries. I've been full of failure lately, anyway. <3

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