Post by Liessel on Mar 16, 2024 7:51:48 GMT -5
From where Eli stood on the porch, the phrase Get the hell out of my house, tone and all, from Liessel was his signal to skedaddle off the porch… Kindness personified, indeed. His lip curled. He still needed to get off the porch, but he didn't leave. He just got off the porch and rounded the house. Away from the protection of the porch roof, he was getting wet again. He didn't care-- he didn't want to be seen by Adeline as she left. In silence and soaked to the bone again, he waited till Adeline was well long gone before he went back up to the porch and rapped gently on the door.
It was Cog who answered this time. The straight-backed mechanical butler took one artificial look at Elijia Whitmoor and stepped back with the door opening a little wider. "In need of towels again, sir?" The automation asked, its tone flat.
"Yes, Cog, Thank you. May I step inside?" he asked.
"Please. Shall I reannounce you to the Ladies?" Room was made for Eli in the doorway. Cog would wait until Eli had stepped inside before shutting the door and shifting itself away to go fetch dry towels muttering something about all that rain ruining his floors.
"Just Miss Erphale, please, Cog." He stepped inside and allowed Cog to shut the door behind him. This time, he didn't take his jacket or hat off just yet. He stood and waited; thumbs tucked into his belt.
Several minutes later, Liessel would be at the top of the stairs and coming down. She had not changed her dress; it was still while with peach tips around the collar and cuffs. The front was closed by a row of small buttons that glimmered when the light hit them. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Eli." She said as she came down the stairs, "Did you forget something?"
Her face was still dewy, the hair at her forehead and around her ears and neck was still wet. She'd taken the time to wash her face before coming back downstairs.
From inside his jacket, he produced a flask. He held it out to her. "I heard everything."
Liessel was just about at the bottom step when Eli said that. Her decent slowed, and then stopped just shy of the landing with a glance going past him toward the door. "You -- you did?"
He nodded. His expression was serious. No sense of joy in his eyes like before. "I came back to talk to you. I decided to stay and listen instead of leave. I didn't like the way she spoke to you... So-- I figured I'd offer you this." He shook the flask meaningfully.
One carefully measured step was taken to drop her down onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs. The flash was eyed, and she almost reached for it.
Cog was coming down the stairs behind her, a fresh pile of towels in his arms.
Liessel glanced back and then shifted away to give the automation room, "Thank you, Eli." That was when she reached out to take the flask. "Exactly how much did you hear?"
He gave her a meaningful look. "Enough." He made a face as he reached for the towels that Cog was providing. He took the first one and unfolded it. He draped it across the floor and stepped upon it and carefully removed his hat and jacket so that the water would fall on the towel and not the floor.
"Thank you, Cog," Liessel spared a moment for that as the automation stood there with the towels in hand.
She was frowning, though, unable to help the expression. She hadn't been able to shake it in those minutes that happened in the wake of Adeline Webber. Liessel took a breath and made work of untwisting the top of the flask. A very quick nip was taken, and then she was closing the flask again while trying to fight off the twist that wanted to pull her frown into a sneer at the taste and bite of what was in Eli's flask. "I am -- only sorry that you had to hear all of that from my doorstep, Mister Whitmoor."
"Don't be sorry for that, Miss Erphale," Eli said softly. He gave her another meaningful look. Those eyes that could hold such mischief held no hint of that right now. If only one were to focus on his eyes, he probably looked much older than his years. "You are not responsible for her rude behavior. She showed her ass in your home."
Liessel spent a moment looking Eli over. He was soaking wet again. She wanted to sigh, but held back on it to say, "Come, get dry. We'll talk somewhere more comfortable." With Eli's flask in one hand, she reached for the rest of the towels and dismissed Cog.
After a moment, she added, "I wish I could say that was the first time it happened. But I cannot."
He nodded. He left his jacket and hat in a place to dry and made sure his boots were dry before he moved to follow her. "Is it only with you?" he asked.
She waited until he looked ready, and then turned to head for the parlor where the fire was still burning low in the hearth. "As far as I know, she's like that with everyone. Or, she had been. With the way she was talking, that might have changed."
Liessel was moving to take a seat in one of the plush armchairs as she continued, "Some of her grievances against me are valid -- most of them are not."
"Yeah, no shit," he said softly. But it wasn't a sarcastic comment per say. More like acknowledging the validity of what she'd said. "I don't know what to make of her... But honestly, she's the rudest brittish person I've ever met." He paused for a moment. "At least when Brits are rude or insulting, they're polite about it."
"She's had a difficult life, Eli." She was sitting forward, placing his flask down on the low coffee table, "She's learned some -- dangerous -- behaviors because of it. How she behaves is how she's survived this long."
He frowned at Liessel. "It's not an excuse. You didn't attack her. Her tongue cuts deeper than some blades could ever hope for."
"She is very aware of that, and she wields it well, with little thought of the consequences. Everyone else is expected to make way for her -- I am expected to make way for her." Her sigh there was heavy, "Her concern with others only seems to stretch so far unless it affects her directly. -- Which is where this current argument between us stems from."
He arched a brow at Liessel and leaned forward a little. He picked up the flask nad took a swig of the brandy inside. "So, what you're saying is... She's selfish? Maybe not selfish. Self-centered. Unaware of anything beyond herself?"
"Self-absorbed, I think. She's painfully aware of the world, but I think she sees it only through her eyes and can't see it through anyone else's. I don't think she wants to. All that seems to matter to her is what she sees, how she feels, and what others do to her."
He sighed. "Not all that long ago, I was like that... All i could see or feel was myself... It took me a long time to realize that. But I was never... cruel. I think she's just perpetually pissed off."PM
"She is," Liessel agreed, giving Eli a little nod, "And she takes it out on everyone else. I'm holding her focus right now because I did something that threatened her relationship with Aurelia. I tried to apologize, I tried to tell her why it happened. All that mattered to her was that it happened, and I was the one who did it. She thinks I'm a false person, Eli, just like everyone else in this world that hurt her. --And you -- I do not know you like I know the others -- Avery, Felix, and Aurelia -- but I saw enough of you to know that you saw the world when you looked at it, even if you were afraid of what you saw."
"I think I'm a bit too jaded for being afraid of most of the things I see... But-- Maybe." He looked away. "My life has not been easy, either, but I try very hard to not take my struggles out on others. I had to grow up fast, even if it was privileged."
"I remember much of what I learned of you from our first meeting." There was the crack of a little smile that slowly grew until Liessel was shaking her head, "Denver feels like it was so long ago, now. You've learned lessons, even since then, that she has refused, and continues to refuse, in an effort to protect what I suspect is a very soft feeling of herself."
"I don't think she's been through the same things that I have," he said, smiling slightly. "But I was actually referring to what happened before I met the Flynns... I grew up without a mother. I saw ghosts my whole life. I taught myself magic. My father kicked me out when I was 15 because he didn't like who I was becoming. He thought I was crazy. His oldest son-- crazy and unreliable... I was little more than a drunk cowboy when the Flynns found me, Miss Erphale. My mind was broken because of Rachelle's curse, remembering things that weren't mine."
Liessel sat quietly as she listened, her smile had long since sobered. "I have heard many stories that are similar since coming here of a parent, or parents, that did not support their children either wanting to fix them, change them, or throwing them to the streets. My own childhood wasn't as easy as I once imagined it was, but I had parents that loved and wanted to protect me, even if the means of that protection was misguided. I cannot imagine having had to pull myself through that kind of life. Whatever else this life has thrown at you, Eli, that you came through it to be who you are is -- remarkable."
He gave her a small smile. "Thank you. Things have been... amended with the Whitmoor family... But in truth, Avery and Felix are more family to me than the Whitmoors ever were," he said softly. "It is why I stay here in London."
"I am glad to hear things have gotten better with those who share your name," her blessing was made by Liessel bringing her right hand up to touch the mark on her forehead and then her heart, "And I am glad that you were able to find family among the Flynns. They, too, and Aurelia and Gerold, are why I decided to return here from Harroway. They have become my family. I -- suppose -- then that, by extension, so have you."
He smiled at her lopsidedly. "That's true. I guess we're all a really strange family, aren't we?"
"Does "strange" really apply as something that could describe us?" Liessel countered, her own smile growing again, "I've seen strange, Mister Whitmoor, and so have you. I think this little collection we've gathered to ourselves is one of the least strange things I've come across since being here. I think once that word is removed the statement becomes perfect: We are all a real family."
Eli rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and murmured, "Hodge Podge Lodge."
Despite it all, including the pit that had settled into her stomach while she had words with Adeline, Liessel laughed and pointed a finger toward Eli, "I'm never refering to us as that, Mister Whitmoor. You couldn't offer me enough to make it happen."
He shook his head. "Not my name. It's Tom's," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I just will never forget it."
"Remind me," Liessel said, her hand falling back to the arm rest of the chair, and her smile widened just a little, "To file a formal complaint with Mister Jefferson next time I see him, if you would."
He grinned. "Sure thing, Miss Erphale." He pointed back at her. "I'm glad to hear you laugh."
At that her smile dimmed just a little bit and it took her a moment to answer, it took a moment for her to consider her words, "I decided after Miss Webber left that I do not need to waste any more of my energy on her. I do not need to give her any more than I have already. I will take a lot from a lot of people, Eli, but I will not be called a liar. I will not be held accountable for the actions of others, and I will not allow her to diminish me. She can rot in her own misery, and try to take the world down with her, but I've got more important things to do. I've got better people to know."
He nodded once, decisively. "Both of you are not much older than me. But I think out of all 3 of us, she seems the most immature."
"She can be," Liessel nodded, "I think that comes from her trying so hard to claw her way to the top. Some sense of something within the world was lost when she decided the only way to beat the men -- the society -- that was trying to push her down and keep her at the bottom was to fight back however she could. Compassion. Empathy, maybe. Whatever it is, the loss of it has hurt her just as much as those who tried to cut her off at her knees."
He nodded once. He gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry for her. But Like I Said. Its not an excuse." He shook his head. "And anything you say to her will always be wrong because its not how SHE feels."
"I am sure she would snap and say something about keeping your pity to yourself, but you are right. It is no excuse. And I fear very much that you are also correct in saying that no matter what I say, it will never be correct. Not until she's decided that I've paid my penance. I don't have time to wait for something like that. I don't have the desire to. She doesn't have to forgive me, but I do not need to let her punish me either," Liessel spared a moment for a breath, using it to get ahold of her own rising temper and the volume of her voice. She wanted to shout, giving her voice room enough to fill the house! But she held onto it, releasing the feeling of that tension within her chest as she slowly exhaled and then continued.
"I spent my entire life living within the expectations of others. I'm finally free of that. I do not need to let her fill that space within my heart. I thought we could be friends, her and I. I wanted to try for it. But after tonight, after what she said to me and how she pushed, I am not wasting my time in trying to please someone like her."
She took in a deep breath and let it out quietly, "Eidole says to love everyone, to accept them. These things I can do without putting myself through whatever whims drive Miss Webber. Because she can be kind, Eli. I have seen that from her, too. It is just a rare thing. Too rare for me right now as, with the truth, it seems to happen only on her terms."
"It seems that, as many hard lessons as she's learned in her short life, she still has more to learn. You can't hold all your cards close to your chest and not pay a price for it."
"I don't think she understands that yet. She has dealt many pains to the lot of us since she was first introduced -- and I don't know how that came to be, but I know that she was fighting with the Flynns and Aurelia throughout that whole ordeal with the sleeping spell. And then she met me, and I was pulled into it. Chance after chance, Eli, that is what has been given to her. Chance after chance. She cuts with her words, and we forgive and move on. We continue to try. But cut her back, as I have done, and one chance is all you get because she cannot afford the pain, never mind the pain that she puts everyone else through."
He made a face. "I don't know if its the American in me or if I just don't have patience for that, but... Honestly. i don't know how I would respond to that kind of attitude. I really don't." that face deepened into a scowl. "I hope she never finds out."
"I hope neither of you get tested in that way, Mister Whitmoor, because she does not fight fair." Liessel answered softly, "I like to consider myself a very patient person. I have been told that I am, at any rate, but the more I know her the less patience I feel that I have. And tonight, I am pretty sure I gave her exactly what she was looking for."
"Kindness personified, indeed" Eli echoed, trying to sound like Adeline in tone and accent. "You did give her what she wanted. But you're not alone in who knows how she talks to you now."
Liessel frowned and shook her head, "Those were my words. She was throwing them back at me. She was insulting me, just as she did when she called me a liar and when that happened, I lost my temper. I could no longer hold my tongue when she started on about how I do not take responsibilities for my own actions, speaking as if I somehow had enchanted the others into stepping in to my defense when she let her daggers fly. Saying in no reserved terms that she blamed me for the ultimatum that we handed to her just to make it through the day."
"Doesn't matter if she was throwing them back at you. it was the tone in which she said it. It was a diminutive tone and attitude. I guarantee if I'd said something along the lines of that to her, her hackles would be raised and i'd be flayed alive by that tongue of hers. She has a double standard and apparently a Clydesdale of a high horse."
"--Clydes--dale?" Liessel's question came haltingly. It was not the right moment for it, she knew, and she thought she had the proper frame for the reference given the use of the word 'horse' but she'd never heard of 'Clydesdale' prior to this so it was better to ask for clarification.
He smiled at her patiently. "Its a really big breed of horse."
Her nod was deep when it came, a small "Ah," sounding from her lips as she nodded, "That, she certainly does. It bothers her that Avery, Felix, Aurelia -- even Ethan -- are so ready to defend me. She blames me for that. There is only one time when I can claim responsibility for that, and I have. I am. I do. I could not control when Aurelia went after her, but I did send Aurelia. But that day in -- when the world slept -- that wasn't my fault, Eli. She tried to tear into me because I had done something foolish while under control of the Kingsboon. Avery was there, Felix was there, and so was Ethan -- she opened her mouth and spat her venom and they stepped in. But she puts that blame on me, too, not on herself and her careless words."
He nodded. "I've gathered that there's things nobody can talk about from that night," Eli said gently. "I am not imperceptive, but sometimes I'm a little dense... I think it just now truly solidified in my mind. People have been dancing around things in regard to that night and I just now put two and two together... I don't know whether its a person, an event, or a place-- I get it. Not for me to know. I wasn't there. I wasn't involved. But whatever it is, can't be talked about for whatever reason and that's fine. But--" He met her eyes. "That's where and when this confrontation happened, did i get that right?"
"Yes," Liessel gave Eli a gentle nod, "There are certain things in place that prevent it from being discussed directly, and I am sorry for that. But that is where, and when this happened. My transgression did not happen there. It happened out on the lawn, here, and carried over to the Dead Regiment just hours before we left for Harroway."
"So, if you're allowed to say, what was this ultimatum that she blames you for?"
"That I can tell you." She told Eli, shifting back into her chair so that it took the curve of her spine. Without her corset, it was an easy thing to do. But she did not stay that way very long. Just long enough to draw in a deep breath and then pull herself forward again, "The others had been fighting with her all day long, from the moment their feet hit the ground that morning. She was unrelenting, from what I had been told. As I said, she was given chance after chance, and it was wearing everyone so thin including her. Captain Singh overhead Aurelia and I talking about it, and offered the idea of an ultimatum. We make her agree to terms and conditions in order to continue working with us that way there would be no surprises or misunderstandings on what was expected. She could not say she didn't know if she agreed to the rules as we set them before her.
"Aurelia and I, we took the idea to the Flynns. Everyone was so wrung out, Eli. The Flynns -- Avery, especially, seemed to be standing by sheer will alone. We proposed the ultimatum as a means of avoiding the fact that we might have to cut her off. If she could not work with us, then we could not work with her at all. There was too much going on. The day was too dangerous to have something like her lack of care hanging over us. So, it was agreed, and we came up with the terms. I had just forgiven her for her comment, we seemed to be in good enough standing, and I had the most energy to face her, so it was me who delivered the message."
He listened intently, taking it all in as she spoke. "Did she agree to the terms?"
"She did. Mister Adam Larrow, and Captain Singh bore witness to it." Liessel told him before sitting forward and reaching for the little silver bell that sat on the low table. "How about something to drink?" She asked after she rang the bell, having sat it down with just the smallest tink of noise from the metal clapper within.
"Coffee would be wonderful, Miss Erphale," he told her with a smile. "Take the edge off this cold." He looked down at his hands, then shook his head. "I don't understand people like that. To a degree, even Gerold and the Flynns can attest i can be a selfish individual, but damn."
"I'll have Cog rebuild the fire, too." She said as she sat back and gave herself a moment, "I think she is testing this new world she has found herself in, and the people within it. I told Aurelia that I think she fights before the fight, but I also think she looks for the nerves in people so that she knows where and how to strike should she ever need to. It's all an act of defense and control. If she can control how and when the damage is done, then she is less likely to be hurt herself. Draw first blood, leave them hurting, and make the kill quickly. That seems to be how she operates much of the time."
"Well." He cleared his throat. "She definitely failed How to Be Human: 101."
Her laugh was small, sharp and quick. It was also not very light. With a swift motion, Liessel brought her right hand up and made quick work of wiping her eyes free of the mist she'd just realized was gathering there, "I don't think she's failed. I think she chooses not to practice the principles of 'How to be Human'. She behaved rather well while Father McKellen was here. So she knows the principles, she just doesn't act with them in mind."
Cog came in, drawing her attention, "Please, Mister Cog, brew some coffee for Mister Whitmoor, and bring me a glass of water. We would also like a fire, if you would please, Cog."
The mechanical man went to work after a very slight bow Liessel's way, and some quiet mutterings about having enough to do, and bipeds failing to remember how to use their legs....
Liessel shook her head and put her attention back on Eli, "I don't know if this is a matter that should be brought up to the others. What I do know is that I want no more opportunities for her to come at me like that. I'm done, Eli. I've given her so much of myself, of my time, and my kindness, and she sees it all as lies and nothing."
Truly, as only teenagers ever could, Eli rolled his eyes. "So she didn't fail, she haphazardly passed and then excelled at How To Fake Being Human 101."
Across from him, Liessel let half of her smile slip through, "That is one way to put it. So, what do we do about it, Mister Whitmoor? What would you suggest? My experiences with --social interactions of this kind are extremely limited."
He cleared his throat. "As are mine with people like her," he admitted. "Most of my worthwhile social interactions have been since meeting the Flynns, honestly. Before that, I was little more than a drunk criminal who swindled people out of money for poker."
Her smile widened and Liessel shook her head, "However amusing it might be to watch her flounder in a game like that, I think we need skills that are a little more practical," She took a moment to think about that, giving that seedling of an idea some room to grow until, at length, she settled back a little bit and asked, "--Would Mister McDowell be able to help, do you think? She thinks I'm going to take this to the Flynns or Aurelia to send them after her. I don't -- I don't want retribution. I'm just trying to think of who might have some insight on to how to handle her better because she is involved with my friends, and so there is no getting around dealing with her. But I do not have to like her to work with her."
His brows went up. "I..." He made a bemused face. "I don't think Ethan would be the right person for the job to try and befriend her... But umm... To provide amicable frustration, I think he'd do great." He grinned.
"I didn't mean befriend," Liessel said with a small laugh, "And she is well acquainted with his level of frustration. I meant someone to give guidance in this. I do not want to avoid the Flynns or Aurelia, but they all need the break they are getting ready for. I'm not sure that taking something like this to them would be good anyway with that being exactly what Adeline is expecting. But I do need to talk to someone about it. Not to hide, or whatever else -- just for advice."
"Just keep me around," he told her with a wink. "Let the American deter her sour Brit butt."
She laughed again, "We have spare rooms if you want to stay here while the others are away. You can't get much more "around" than that."
His smile deepened. "Sure, I can do that. I'm not sure if there's a need for me to be Kings Orchard-- to take potential clients, but we'll figure it out."
"That, I think, is a safe enough subject to bring up to the others." Liessel said as Cog came back into the room with a tray between his metal hands. On it was a mug of coffee, a small pitcher of cold sweet cream, and a dish of sugar cubes, as well as a glass of cold water.
The mechanical man placed the tray down on the low coffee table and left the room as Liessel was saying, "We'll talk it over with them, then. The alternative would be me coming to stay at Flynn and Flynn to give you a hand there while they are away. My time would be split, either way, between wherever I am staying and going to The Bells to see my father. I also promised Aurelia I'd get out there and do a little exploring."
"Thank you, Cog," he told the automaton. He knew it wasn't necessary, but-- manners mattered. He drank the coffee black, no cream or sugar. He also didn't wince at the bitterness of it as some people often did. "We might could do a split schedule or something. Days at Kings Orchard, nights here. And whatever else we need to do. We'll figure it out. I honestly haven't explored that much of London myself... I..." He shook his head. "Aside from some rather unsavory parts of town, I've pretty much kept to myself aside from trips to the market."
"Then we can explore together," Liessel said after muttering her own thanks to Cog as he took his leave, "I, honestly, was not very thrilled with the idea of being out there on my own with Mister Slake and his men nosing about. It will be good to have some company. It might deter some of their interest, whatever that might be."
He made the motion of tipping of his hat to her as if he were wearing his hat to tip to her. He gave her a wink. "We'll have our own adventures, just you and me."
Liessel's smile was back and it grew in warmth within seconds, "We'll just have to make sure that something of London survives for when our friends return."
One black brow went up. "I make no promises," he said behind his mug of coffee.
It was Cog who answered this time. The straight-backed mechanical butler took one artificial look at Elijia Whitmoor and stepped back with the door opening a little wider. "In need of towels again, sir?" The automation asked, its tone flat.
"Yes, Cog, Thank you. May I step inside?" he asked.
"Please. Shall I reannounce you to the Ladies?" Room was made for Eli in the doorway. Cog would wait until Eli had stepped inside before shutting the door and shifting itself away to go fetch dry towels muttering something about all that rain ruining his floors.
"Just Miss Erphale, please, Cog." He stepped inside and allowed Cog to shut the door behind him. This time, he didn't take his jacket or hat off just yet. He stood and waited; thumbs tucked into his belt.
Several minutes later, Liessel would be at the top of the stairs and coming down. She had not changed her dress; it was still while with peach tips around the collar and cuffs. The front was closed by a row of small buttons that glimmered when the light hit them. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Eli." She said as she came down the stairs, "Did you forget something?"
Her face was still dewy, the hair at her forehead and around her ears and neck was still wet. She'd taken the time to wash her face before coming back downstairs.
From inside his jacket, he produced a flask. He held it out to her. "I heard everything."
Liessel was just about at the bottom step when Eli said that. Her decent slowed, and then stopped just shy of the landing with a glance going past him toward the door. "You -- you did?"
He nodded. His expression was serious. No sense of joy in his eyes like before. "I came back to talk to you. I decided to stay and listen instead of leave. I didn't like the way she spoke to you... So-- I figured I'd offer you this." He shook the flask meaningfully.
One carefully measured step was taken to drop her down onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs. The flash was eyed, and she almost reached for it.
Cog was coming down the stairs behind her, a fresh pile of towels in his arms.
Liessel glanced back and then shifted away to give the automation room, "Thank you, Eli." That was when she reached out to take the flask. "Exactly how much did you hear?"
He gave her a meaningful look. "Enough." He made a face as he reached for the towels that Cog was providing. He took the first one and unfolded it. He draped it across the floor and stepped upon it and carefully removed his hat and jacket so that the water would fall on the towel and not the floor.
"Thank you, Cog," Liessel spared a moment for that as the automation stood there with the towels in hand.
She was frowning, though, unable to help the expression. She hadn't been able to shake it in those minutes that happened in the wake of Adeline Webber. Liessel took a breath and made work of untwisting the top of the flask. A very quick nip was taken, and then she was closing the flask again while trying to fight off the twist that wanted to pull her frown into a sneer at the taste and bite of what was in Eli's flask. "I am -- only sorry that you had to hear all of that from my doorstep, Mister Whitmoor."
"Don't be sorry for that, Miss Erphale," Eli said softly. He gave her another meaningful look. Those eyes that could hold such mischief held no hint of that right now. If only one were to focus on his eyes, he probably looked much older than his years. "You are not responsible for her rude behavior. She showed her ass in your home."
Liessel spent a moment looking Eli over. He was soaking wet again. She wanted to sigh, but held back on it to say, "Come, get dry. We'll talk somewhere more comfortable." With Eli's flask in one hand, she reached for the rest of the towels and dismissed Cog.
After a moment, she added, "I wish I could say that was the first time it happened. But I cannot."
He nodded. He left his jacket and hat in a place to dry and made sure his boots were dry before he moved to follow her. "Is it only with you?" he asked.
She waited until he looked ready, and then turned to head for the parlor where the fire was still burning low in the hearth. "As far as I know, she's like that with everyone. Or, she had been. With the way she was talking, that might have changed."
Liessel was moving to take a seat in one of the plush armchairs as she continued, "Some of her grievances against me are valid -- most of them are not."
"Yeah, no shit," he said softly. But it wasn't a sarcastic comment per say. More like acknowledging the validity of what she'd said. "I don't know what to make of her... But honestly, she's the rudest brittish person I've ever met." He paused for a moment. "At least when Brits are rude or insulting, they're polite about it."
"She's had a difficult life, Eli." She was sitting forward, placing his flask down on the low coffee table, "She's learned some -- dangerous -- behaviors because of it. How she behaves is how she's survived this long."
He frowned at Liessel. "It's not an excuse. You didn't attack her. Her tongue cuts deeper than some blades could ever hope for."
"She is very aware of that, and she wields it well, with little thought of the consequences. Everyone else is expected to make way for her -- I am expected to make way for her." Her sigh there was heavy, "Her concern with others only seems to stretch so far unless it affects her directly. -- Which is where this current argument between us stems from."
He arched a brow at Liessel and leaned forward a little. He picked up the flask nad took a swig of the brandy inside. "So, what you're saying is... She's selfish? Maybe not selfish. Self-centered. Unaware of anything beyond herself?"
"Self-absorbed, I think. She's painfully aware of the world, but I think she sees it only through her eyes and can't see it through anyone else's. I don't think she wants to. All that seems to matter to her is what she sees, how she feels, and what others do to her."
He sighed. "Not all that long ago, I was like that... All i could see or feel was myself... It took me a long time to realize that. But I was never... cruel. I think she's just perpetually pissed off."PM
"She is," Liessel agreed, giving Eli a little nod, "And she takes it out on everyone else. I'm holding her focus right now because I did something that threatened her relationship with Aurelia. I tried to apologize, I tried to tell her why it happened. All that mattered to her was that it happened, and I was the one who did it. She thinks I'm a false person, Eli, just like everyone else in this world that hurt her. --And you -- I do not know you like I know the others -- Avery, Felix, and Aurelia -- but I saw enough of you to know that you saw the world when you looked at it, even if you were afraid of what you saw."
"I think I'm a bit too jaded for being afraid of most of the things I see... But-- Maybe." He looked away. "My life has not been easy, either, but I try very hard to not take my struggles out on others. I had to grow up fast, even if it was privileged."
"I remember much of what I learned of you from our first meeting." There was the crack of a little smile that slowly grew until Liessel was shaking her head, "Denver feels like it was so long ago, now. You've learned lessons, even since then, that she has refused, and continues to refuse, in an effort to protect what I suspect is a very soft feeling of herself."
"I don't think she's been through the same things that I have," he said, smiling slightly. "But I was actually referring to what happened before I met the Flynns... I grew up without a mother. I saw ghosts my whole life. I taught myself magic. My father kicked me out when I was 15 because he didn't like who I was becoming. He thought I was crazy. His oldest son-- crazy and unreliable... I was little more than a drunk cowboy when the Flynns found me, Miss Erphale. My mind was broken because of Rachelle's curse, remembering things that weren't mine."
Liessel sat quietly as she listened, her smile had long since sobered. "I have heard many stories that are similar since coming here of a parent, or parents, that did not support their children either wanting to fix them, change them, or throwing them to the streets. My own childhood wasn't as easy as I once imagined it was, but I had parents that loved and wanted to protect me, even if the means of that protection was misguided. I cannot imagine having had to pull myself through that kind of life. Whatever else this life has thrown at you, Eli, that you came through it to be who you are is -- remarkable."
He gave her a small smile. "Thank you. Things have been... amended with the Whitmoor family... But in truth, Avery and Felix are more family to me than the Whitmoors ever were," he said softly. "It is why I stay here in London."
"I am glad to hear things have gotten better with those who share your name," her blessing was made by Liessel bringing her right hand up to touch the mark on her forehead and then her heart, "And I am glad that you were able to find family among the Flynns. They, too, and Aurelia and Gerold, are why I decided to return here from Harroway. They have become my family. I -- suppose -- then that, by extension, so have you."
He smiled at her lopsidedly. "That's true. I guess we're all a really strange family, aren't we?"
"Does "strange" really apply as something that could describe us?" Liessel countered, her own smile growing again, "I've seen strange, Mister Whitmoor, and so have you. I think this little collection we've gathered to ourselves is one of the least strange things I've come across since being here. I think once that word is removed the statement becomes perfect: We are all a real family."
Eli rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and murmured, "Hodge Podge Lodge."
Despite it all, including the pit that had settled into her stomach while she had words with Adeline, Liessel laughed and pointed a finger toward Eli, "I'm never refering to us as that, Mister Whitmoor. You couldn't offer me enough to make it happen."
He shook his head. "Not my name. It's Tom's," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I just will never forget it."
"Remind me," Liessel said, her hand falling back to the arm rest of the chair, and her smile widened just a little, "To file a formal complaint with Mister Jefferson next time I see him, if you would."
He grinned. "Sure thing, Miss Erphale." He pointed back at her. "I'm glad to hear you laugh."
At that her smile dimmed just a little bit and it took her a moment to answer, it took a moment for her to consider her words, "I decided after Miss Webber left that I do not need to waste any more of my energy on her. I do not need to give her any more than I have already. I will take a lot from a lot of people, Eli, but I will not be called a liar. I will not be held accountable for the actions of others, and I will not allow her to diminish me. She can rot in her own misery, and try to take the world down with her, but I've got more important things to do. I've got better people to know."
He nodded once, decisively. "Both of you are not much older than me. But I think out of all 3 of us, she seems the most immature."
"She can be," Liessel nodded, "I think that comes from her trying so hard to claw her way to the top. Some sense of something within the world was lost when she decided the only way to beat the men -- the society -- that was trying to push her down and keep her at the bottom was to fight back however she could. Compassion. Empathy, maybe. Whatever it is, the loss of it has hurt her just as much as those who tried to cut her off at her knees."
He nodded once. He gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry for her. But Like I Said. Its not an excuse." He shook his head. "And anything you say to her will always be wrong because its not how SHE feels."
"I am sure she would snap and say something about keeping your pity to yourself, but you are right. It is no excuse. And I fear very much that you are also correct in saying that no matter what I say, it will never be correct. Not until she's decided that I've paid my penance. I don't have time to wait for something like that. I don't have the desire to. She doesn't have to forgive me, but I do not need to let her punish me either," Liessel spared a moment for a breath, using it to get ahold of her own rising temper and the volume of her voice. She wanted to shout, giving her voice room enough to fill the house! But she held onto it, releasing the feeling of that tension within her chest as she slowly exhaled and then continued.
"I spent my entire life living within the expectations of others. I'm finally free of that. I do not need to let her fill that space within my heart. I thought we could be friends, her and I. I wanted to try for it. But after tonight, after what she said to me and how she pushed, I am not wasting my time in trying to please someone like her."
She took in a deep breath and let it out quietly, "Eidole says to love everyone, to accept them. These things I can do without putting myself through whatever whims drive Miss Webber. Because she can be kind, Eli. I have seen that from her, too. It is just a rare thing. Too rare for me right now as, with the truth, it seems to happen only on her terms."
"It seems that, as many hard lessons as she's learned in her short life, she still has more to learn. You can't hold all your cards close to your chest and not pay a price for it."
"I don't think she understands that yet. She has dealt many pains to the lot of us since she was first introduced -- and I don't know how that came to be, but I know that she was fighting with the Flynns and Aurelia throughout that whole ordeal with the sleeping spell. And then she met me, and I was pulled into it. Chance after chance, Eli, that is what has been given to her. Chance after chance. She cuts with her words, and we forgive and move on. We continue to try. But cut her back, as I have done, and one chance is all you get because she cannot afford the pain, never mind the pain that she puts everyone else through."
He made a face. "I don't know if its the American in me or if I just don't have patience for that, but... Honestly. i don't know how I would respond to that kind of attitude. I really don't." that face deepened into a scowl. "I hope she never finds out."
"I hope neither of you get tested in that way, Mister Whitmoor, because she does not fight fair." Liessel answered softly, "I like to consider myself a very patient person. I have been told that I am, at any rate, but the more I know her the less patience I feel that I have. And tonight, I am pretty sure I gave her exactly what she was looking for."
"Kindness personified, indeed" Eli echoed, trying to sound like Adeline in tone and accent. "You did give her what she wanted. But you're not alone in who knows how she talks to you now."
Liessel frowned and shook her head, "Those were my words. She was throwing them back at me. She was insulting me, just as she did when she called me a liar and when that happened, I lost my temper. I could no longer hold my tongue when she started on about how I do not take responsibilities for my own actions, speaking as if I somehow had enchanted the others into stepping in to my defense when she let her daggers fly. Saying in no reserved terms that she blamed me for the ultimatum that we handed to her just to make it through the day."
"Doesn't matter if she was throwing them back at you. it was the tone in which she said it. It was a diminutive tone and attitude. I guarantee if I'd said something along the lines of that to her, her hackles would be raised and i'd be flayed alive by that tongue of hers. She has a double standard and apparently a Clydesdale of a high horse."
"--Clydes--dale?" Liessel's question came haltingly. It was not the right moment for it, she knew, and she thought she had the proper frame for the reference given the use of the word 'horse' but she'd never heard of 'Clydesdale' prior to this so it was better to ask for clarification.
He smiled at her patiently. "Its a really big breed of horse."
Her nod was deep when it came, a small "Ah," sounding from her lips as she nodded, "That, she certainly does. It bothers her that Avery, Felix, Aurelia -- even Ethan -- are so ready to defend me. She blames me for that. There is only one time when I can claim responsibility for that, and I have. I am. I do. I could not control when Aurelia went after her, but I did send Aurelia. But that day in -- when the world slept -- that wasn't my fault, Eli. She tried to tear into me because I had done something foolish while under control of the Kingsboon. Avery was there, Felix was there, and so was Ethan -- she opened her mouth and spat her venom and they stepped in. But she puts that blame on me, too, not on herself and her careless words."
He nodded. "I've gathered that there's things nobody can talk about from that night," Eli said gently. "I am not imperceptive, but sometimes I'm a little dense... I think it just now truly solidified in my mind. People have been dancing around things in regard to that night and I just now put two and two together... I don't know whether its a person, an event, or a place-- I get it. Not for me to know. I wasn't there. I wasn't involved. But whatever it is, can't be talked about for whatever reason and that's fine. But--" He met her eyes. "That's where and when this confrontation happened, did i get that right?"
"Yes," Liessel gave Eli a gentle nod, "There are certain things in place that prevent it from being discussed directly, and I am sorry for that. But that is where, and when this happened. My transgression did not happen there. It happened out on the lawn, here, and carried over to the Dead Regiment just hours before we left for Harroway."
"So, if you're allowed to say, what was this ultimatum that she blames you for?"
"That I can tell you." She told Eli, shifting back into her chair so that it took the curve of her spine. Without her corset, it was an easy thing to do. But she did not stay that way very long. Just long enough to draw in a deep breath and then pull herself forward again, "The others had been fighting with her all day long, from the moment their feet hit the ground that morning. She was unrelenting, from what I had been told. As I said, she was given chance after chance, and it was wearing everyone so thin including her. Captain Singh overhead Aurelia and I talking about it, and offered the idea of an ultimatum. We make her agree to terms and conditions in order to continue working with us that way there would be no surprises or misunderstandings on what was expected. She could not say she didn't know if she agreed to the rules as we set them before her.
"Aurelia and I, we took the idea to the Flynns. Everyone was so wrung out, Eli. The Flynns -- Avery, especially, seemed to be standing by sheer will alone. We proposed the ultimatum as a means of avoiding the fact that we might have to cut her off. If she could not work with us, then we could not work with her at all. There was too much going on. The day was too dangerous to have something like her lack of care hanging over us. So, it was agreed, and we came up with the terms. I had just forgiven her for her comment, we seemed to be in good enough standing, and I had the most energy to face her, so it was me who delivered the message."
He listened intently, taking it all in as she spoke. "Did she agree to the terms?"
"She did. Mister Adam Larrow, and Captain Singh bore witness to it." Liessel told him before sitting forward and reaching for the little silver bell that sat on the low table. "How about something to drink?" She asked after she rang the bell, having sat it down with just the smallest tink of noise from the metal clapper within.
"Coffee would be wonderful, Miss Erphale," he told her with a smile. "Take the edge off this cold." He looked down at his hands, then shook his head. "I don't understand people like that. To a degree, even Gerold and the Flynns can attest i can be a selfish individual, but damn."
"I'll have Cog rebuild the fire, too." She said as she sat back and gave herself a moment, "I think she is testing this new world she has found herself in, and the people within it. I told Aurelia that I think she fights before the fight, but I also think she looks for the nerves in people so that she knows where and how to strike should she ever need to. It's all an act of defense and control. If she can control how and when the damage is done, then she is less likely to be hurt herself. Draw first blood, leave them hurting, and make the kill quickly. That seems to be how she operates much of the time."
"Well." He cleared his throat. "She definitely failed How to Be Human: 101."
Her laugh was small, sharp and quick. It was also not very light. With a swift motion, Liessel brought her right hand up and made quick work of wiping her eyes free of the mist she'd just realized was gathering there, "I don't think she's failed. I think she chooses not to practice the principles of 'How to be Human'. She behaved rather well while Father McKellen was here. So she knows the principles, she just doesn't act with them in mind."
Cog came in, drawing her attention, "Please, Mister Cog, brew some coffee for Mister Whitmoor, and bring me a glass of water. We would also like a fire, if you would please, Cog."
The mechanical man went to work after a very slight bow Liessel's way, and some quiet mutterings about having enough to do, and bipeds failing to remember how to use their legs....
Liessel shook her head and put her attention back on Eli, "I don't know if this is a matter that should be brought up to the others. What I do know is that I want no more opportunities for her to come at me like that. I'm done, Eli. I've given her so much of myself, of my time, and my kindness, and she sees it all as lies and nothing."
Truly, as only teenagers ever could, Eli rolled his eyes. "So she didn't fail, she haphazardly passed and then excelled at How To Fake Being Human 101."
Across from him, Liessel let half of her smile slip through, "That is one way to put it. So, what do we do about it, Mister Whitmoor? What would you suggest? My experiences with --social interactions of this kind are extremely limited."
He cleared his throat. "As are mine with people like her," he admitted. "Most of my worthwhile social interactions have been since meeting the Flynns, honestly. Before that, I was little more than a drunk criminal who swindled people out of money for poker."
Her smile widened and Liessel shook her head, "However amusing it might be to watch her flounder in a game like that, I think we need skills that are a little more practical," She took a moment to think about that, giving that seedling of an idea some room to grow until, at length, she settled back a little bit and asked, "--Would Mister McDowell be able to help, do you think? She thinks I'm going to take this to the Flynns or Aurelia to send them after her. I don't -- I don't want retribution. I'm just trying to think of who might have some insight on to how to handle her better because she is involved with my friends, and so there is no getting around dealing with her. But I do not have to like her to work with her."
His brows went up. "I..." He made a bemused face. "I don't think Ethan would be the right person for the job to try and befriend her... But umm... To provide amicable frustration, I think he'd do great." He grinned.
"I didn't mean befriend," Liessel said with a small laugh, "And she is well acquainted with his level of frustration. I meant someone to give guidance in this. I do not want to avoid the Flynns or Aurelia, but they all need the break they are getting ready for. I'm not sure that taking something like this to them would be good anyway with that being exactly what Adeline is expecting. But I do need to talk to someone about it. Not to hide, or whatever else -- just for advice."
"Just keep me around," he told her with a wink. "Let the American deter her sour Brit butt."
She laughed again, "We have spare rooms if you want to stay here while the others are away. You can't get much more "around" than that."
His smile deepened. "Sure, I can do that. I'm not sure if there's a need for me to be Kings Orchard-- to take potential clients, but we'll figure it out."
"That, I think, is a safe enough subject to bring up to the others." Liessel said as Cog came back into the room with a tray between his metal hands. On it was a mug of coffee, a small pitcher of cold sweet cream, and a dish of sugar cubes, as well as a glass of cold water.
The mechanical man placed the tray down on the low coffee table and left the room as Liessel was saying, "We'll talk it over with them, then. The alternative would be me coming to stay at Flynn and Flynn to give you a hand there while they are away. My time would be split, either way, between wherever I am staying and going to The Bells to see my father. I also promised Aurelia I'd get out there and do a little exploring."
"Thank you, Cog," he told the automaton. He knew it wasn't necessary, but-- manners mattered. He drank the coffee black, no cream or sugar. He also didn't wince at the bitterness of it as some people often did. "We might could do a split schedule or something. Days at Kings Orchard, nights here. And whatever else we need to do. We'll figure it out. I honestly haven't explored that much of London myself... I..." He shook his head. "Aside from some rather unsavory parts of town, I've pretty much kept to myself aside from trips to the market."
"Then we can explore together," Liessel said after muttering her own thanks to Cog as he took his leave, "I, honestly, was not very thrilled with the idea of being out there on my own with Mister Slake and his men nosing about. It will be good to have some company. It might deter some of their interest, whatever that might be."
He made the motion of tipping of his hat to her as if he were wearing his hat to tip to her. He gave her a wink. "We'll have our own adventures, just you and me."
Liessel's smile was back and it grew in warmth within seconds, "We'll just have to make sure that something of London survives for when our friends return."
One black brow went up. "I make no promises," he said behind his mug of coffee.