Craving: Tea and Scones (England)

Reader-chan likes history.

“…Tea! Oh and scones too!”

So you skipped down to the tea house a few minutes away. Stepping inside, you took in the eccentric style of the restaurant. A lamp hung over each of the tables, their styles and shades a different color. The floor was wooden and the walls were covered in a Victorian style wallpaper. Since the building shared its walls with other buildings on each side, there were only two windows viewable from the dining room, near the door. In the back, you acknowledged the oddly place bathtub full of hats that girls could go try on and wear while they ate. You walked up to the hostess and asked for a table. Usually, you would make a reservation, but it wasn’t busy and you knew the owner, so it was fine. The hostess sat you at a table on the wall and left you with a menu. You had decided on your favorite kind of tea when the hostess came by again, only to sit a blonde haired man behind you. After several minutes of fiddling with your non-matching silverware, a woman came to ask you what you would like to eat and drink. You ordered two scones and (f/t). After the waitress had left you had begun to amuse yourself by singing little songs, completely forgetting there was someone who could hear you.

“Ring around the Rosie, Pocket full of Posies, Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down.” Starting sweetly, the tone of the song became more and more sadistic and horrifying as you sang the verse over and over again. You knew the true meaning of the song and you loved to scaring people with it. After about the sixth and most eerie verse, you heard a chair push out and you froze. ‘Oops’ you thought. You then felt a light tap on your shoulder and you turned around to meet the blonde haired man from earlier. ‘Better play cute.’ “Yes?”

“Miss, pardon my intrusion, but why are you singing that song?” His English accent was laced with worry and fear and his bright green eyes hinted sadness.

“It’s fun to sing.” You feigned innocence, and he seemed to buy it.

“Do you know what that song is about?” Okay, you could only put up the innocent act for so long, and you really didn’t like to lie to people.

“Yea, it’s about the black death, one of the darkest eras in European history. It knocked out over half of England’s population. It was truly a horrible time. The song is talking about the procedure in which someone in the middle ages would have taken care of the plague back then. The person who contracted the Bubonic plague would have pinkish welts on their skin. When the first welt was noticed the person would draw a circle around the welt to see how much it grew. When the person died, the person in charge of taking care of the body would stuff the bodies clothing pockets full of fragrent flowers to ward of the smell of rotting flesh and decay. They then would burn the body along with the other bodies of the people who had died the previous night. And nearly everyone died during that time.” He just stared at you with his eyes wide. “Oops, there I go again talking without even thinking. I’m terribly sorry about that.” He jumped out of his stupor and shook his head.

“No, it’s quite alright, where did you learn that?”

“I like to read and research things I am interested in. Like England, I am especially interested in England.” The man blushed bright red. “But it’s not like I find English men any more attractive than anyone else I simply like English history!” You were sure you had just saved yourself and made a fool of yourself at the same time. ‘Smooth (y/n), real smooth’ He started laughing at your outburst, which, you realized, you had basically shouted at him. You blushed out of embarrassment and watched him as he finished laughing at you.

“Im sorry for laughing at you. May I ask your name?” He had finally composed himself.

“(y/n)”

“It is nice to meet you, (y/n). My name is Arthur Kirkland. May I sit with you?” You blinked. “N-not that I want to sit with you. You just look lonely, yea lonely, and you seem like a nice girl so…” You cut him off with your giggling.

“I would love it if you would sit with me.” He blushed, smiled, and then went off to collect his things and inform the waitress of the change.

@-@@-@@-time Skip@-@@-@@-@

“Hey Arthur!” you shouted across the room. You were over at his house, helping him clean out his attic. You and him had formed a strong friendship with each other after you had met at the tea house. Friendship, however, was a very loose term for you with him. You loved to tease and flirt with him every once in a while. You even found out that he worked as an English Historian at the nearby university and would come by with lunch every once in a while. Once you arrived a bit early and his students kept asking you if you were his girlfriend. You had to say no, but you couldn’t help but add a ‘not yet’ under your breath. At this moment, you had just found a few boxes of old clothing and other stuff and decided to take a peak.

“Yes, Love?” He said, peaking his head over a stack of old cardboard boxes.

“What’s this?” You said, your tone betraying your amusement. Arthur blushed at what you held up. It was an old, red long coat trimmed with gold and lace. It had a few holds and blood stains, but it still looked nice. You smirked at his obvious blush and put the jacket on over your usual clothing. You then peared into the box again and pulled out a large, black, triangular-shaped hat with a dingy, white feather attached to the side. ‘Definitely a pirate’s outfit,’ you thought as you put the captain’s hat on. You reached into the box once more and pulled out a rusty cutlass and brandished it at Arthur, who had, at this point, moved around the boxes and was staring at you wide eyed. “En garde,” he wrinkled his nose at your French.

“Be careful (y/n), that thing may be old but it is still sharp.” You examined the blade more closely. It was nicked and chipped to hell, but it could still easily skewer someone.

“Iggy,” he wrinkled his nose at you again. You had become close friends with Alfred too.

“Why do you have this stuff?” You, of course, knew the answer. You could be clueless sometimes but you weren’t an idiot. He had been alive a very long time. You hadn’t figured out how or why yet, but you knew that the answer would come with time. Digging in the box, you found the jacket’s belt and fastened it around the middle of your stomach. You then looked at him for an answer, but he had gone pale and had frozen in place. You slipped the cutlass in your new belt and slowly walked up to him. Placing a hand on his ghostly face, you spoke in a low but caring tone. “It’s okay, you can tell me anything.”  He jumped when you spoke and looked at you with sad eyes.

“I’m afraid I can’t (y/n), not yet.” He reached up and grasped your hand delicately. You smiled a sad, sweet smile and kissed him on the nose.

“You can tell me when you are ready.” You then pulled away from him and walked over to the box you had gotten the pirate apparel from. You carefully pulled out the cutlass and placed it in the box and then proceeded to take off the rest of the pirate clothing and place it carefully in the box. Then you marched up to Arthur and tugged him to the ladder heading downstairs.

“What are you doing?”

“We are going to have some tea and you are going to bake me some scones.” You grimaced slightly, but you made sure he didn’t see it. He chuckled lightly and went down the ladder with you closely following. You then walked hand in hand to the kitchen, smiling.