undergrounds | Started by daylight next morning blithe and early

"..."

He hadn't considered that, actually. Really, he'd like her to just take the food away and stop speaking, but he suppose since he was the imposition here, it would only be gentlemanly to make room.

So, giving a nod finally, he'd scoot over to give her more than enough space.

"Yes, that's fine. Help yourself to the rest, as well. The bread is fresh, the fruit should still be chilled, and red wine doesn't do poorly in the sun."

Annie really only talks when she's nervous, so he'd be fine.

"Oh, wow, uhm. thank you. It looks delicious." She stands and moves over towards his blanket, gingerly sitting on the corner of it. "I think I'm okay without the wine." She's not a huge drinker, except every once in a while, and having not eaten, she'd pass.

But she'll take a handful of grapes instead.

"Can I- ah... What's your name? Sorry. I'm Annie."

A nod to that, appreciative. He liked to have something to occupy himself as he read, and be it alcohol, tea, or coffee, drinks were the addition of choice.

"Henry." A polite nod, though not offering a hand. "Are you from London? I'm finding the majority of those I meet here are not."

Edited 2016-05-26 03:18 (UTC)

She shook her head. "Oh, no. I'm from Inishmaan. Ireland." He was American, he'd have no idea where Inishmaan was, let alone the Aran Islands in total.

But she couldn't name the United States, so there was that, too.

Popping a grape in her mouth, she chewed and swallowed before speaking again. "I can tell you're American. With your accent. It's, uhm, a giveaway." Awkward. "Sorry, Henry." Yep, only talked when she was nervous.

A slight tilt of his head, agreeing with her.

"They often are."

He tried not to gamble with British or Irish accents, however; they could be from anywhere, and he felt it was impolite to play guessing games.

"One of the lesser-known states, I'm afraid. ...Your home is near Dún Chonchúir then, is it?"

Woah.

Annie blinks.

"Yeah- you know it?" Odd, she hadn't thought many people knew about Dún Chonchúir. "I've been a few times. Uhm- School trips." When she was at a more mundane school, before she'd gone to the Fourth District to train.

"That's, ah, really impressive." She smiles at him, a little less-nervously this time.

"I do." A small nod. "I have an interest in archaeology. However, I've never been. Is the area impressive?" Mostly rubble now, but with imagination, perhaps it would be.

Annie nods. "It's beautiful. I miss it, but going back... Uhm, it's not really... an option for me?" She still owned her small family home, but there was nothing for her there. Just memories and ghosts.

"But you should go. If you, ah, if you get the chance...?" Helpful. She's so helpful. Maybe she should just move on to some strawberries and stop talking asap.

"Bad memories?" Sitting back, setting his book down on his knee, open to it's correct page. Usually, these things were to do with family, but he didn't want to pry outright.

"It's a bit of an arduous journey. I don't mind boat travel, but if suppose the summer might be kinder for that sort of thing."

Annie nods. "yeah. Yeah, something like that." She glances sidelong to avoid looking at Henry. bad memories was really putting it mildly, though.

"I love boats," Annie says lamely. "I grew up around them. uhm if you get the chance- the scuba is really great out there, too." One of her weirder talents. other than killing vampires.

"I'm a fan of boating, myself." Yachts, mostly, but he had had a few creative and deeply illegal ideas in mind for a tugboat before moving here.

"Scuba diving no, though. I don't think I could be the type. Is it for the fish, or are there some ruins to explore?"

Edited 2016-05-31 20:31 (UTC)

"that's great- my da- he used to have a fishing boat." The boat was probably still moored near their old home. she hadn't wanted to sell.

"great ruins," she told Henry. "It's a bit hard to see. And cold. I haven't gone in a while though. no reason." she did swim a lot, to no one's surprise.

"Was he a fisherman, or was it a hobby?"

A little surprised by that, honestly, as he was by finding out there was any earthly fact he didn't know. "I wasn't aware of the ruins in that area. BCE, or early Empire?"

"Both- after my mother uhm- he started doing it for a living." He'd retired when Annie decided to learn to hunt.

"uhm... I don't know? I'm not ah, an academic?"

"I see. ...Have I pried too much? This seems like a difficult topic." Shifting the bread her way. Food was comforting to most people.

"oh! no, no," she said but was hardly convincing. "I'm not good at talking. not really. especially not about myself. but it's okay, if you're curious." She avoids the bread but smiles. "I just live with my gran. That's all."

everyone else was dead.

"I see. Is she originally from London, or around those same parts?"

Settling in to have more wine, in hopes that that was easy enough to convince her to eat.

That gets Annie to nod. "yeah- we have a flat in ah, in Kensington.." Hopefully he had no idea what that meant. "Family home. it's hers. not mine." She lived there, still. but spent a lot of time with her boyfriend in his flat.

"You're very wealthy, then." Of course he knew what it meant. He wasn't the kind of American who didn't know up from down, Marylebone from Dalston. "Or she is. It's a very nice part of town. Are you happy there?"

"She is." Annie is quick to say it. She doesn't like talking about money. Most people don't even know she has money until they get to know her. if they get to know her.

"I do- It's not home home exactly. But I like it. where ah- where are you living?"

"The Notting Hill area." Lightly, tilting his head. He was sure she'd understand the implication in turn.

"Otherwise, I agree. I prefer Paris."

Annie nods. "beautiful area." Because it was. "great for walks." Just not at night when you could get eaten by a wealthy vampire. But she did understand the implication.

"I've never been. Is it as pretty as everyone says?"

"It is." Rarely did he agree with common consensus, but when it came to Paris...

"The train from here is quite a quick route, I've been told. It's worth the visit. It's a calmer city. More like this park. But very grand."

Annie considers this- it is so close and it would be nice to get out of London for a quick jaunt. fewer memories than if she went to Ireland.

"Yeah- maybe. maybe I can convince Finnick to go with me. he deserves a vacation." With the elections he had been so busy, so stressed out. ...and then he'd stabbed a guy.

a witch, but still.

"Finnick is a friend of yours?" Brows raised, surprised to find a name he actually recognized on her tongue, and one that certainly had very few owners.

That gets her to smile. Blush, even. "yes- he's my- he's my boyfriend." and it felt so good to be public about it.

"I see. He seemed like a good man." A smile, curt; as much as he could smile. "I met him recently. I hope the stress of the elections has worn off?"

he knew Finnick. okay, that wasn't odd. Finnick was popular, and Henry's explanation helped iron out the details. "oh- no. A little?" how did he know about the elections?

"Are you...?"

Started by daylight next morning blithe and early

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