An Odd Reunion [Abbey]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #e1e1e1; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify; padding: 20px; width: 65%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222;] [/style][style=font-size: 10px;]As Alfred disembarked from the ship that carried him across the Atlantic, he wondered if he was making the right decision. He knew it was in his best interest to persuade European nations to stay neutral in the war, but he couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that his presence on the other side of the pond might unintentionally make everything worse. So long as he could keep Lee at bay, he might actually stand a chance of pulling this off with few complications. He knew, from hearsay, that England was meeting with southern representatives to discuss possible diplomacy. It was something that Alfred wanted to stop at all costs, and what better way to ensure that it was done right than to do the job himself? The only problem, again, was keeping himself in one mind in the process of doing so. Quickly making his way to downtown London, he was promptly informed that the older nation was involved in a meeting and would be for some time. Alfred let out a sigh. He fully intended to see Arthur, but he wanted to do it sooner rather than later. He also knew full well, though, that busting in and interrupting whatever meeting Arthur was involved in would not look well for him. He was stern in his latest request to Arthur to remain neutral, but who knew how well that would go? It was why Alfred was determined to meet him in person, to talk with him one on one concerning the matters. Maybe he would listen then. It didn't look like he'd be seeing Arthur just yet, however. Alfred would not...could not let this day go by without speaking to someone. He was operating on limited time - He was always operating on limited time these days. He needed to voice his concerns to someone who might pass the message on to Arthur, in case he was rendered unable to do so himself - and as he peered out at the damp streets of London, he knew just who to visit next. He was outside of Arthur's home in no time. He knew Arthur was not there, but he held out hope that a certain someone else was. She'd be more likely to pass his message on than anyone else, if worse came to worse and he could not meet with Arthur himself. She was the best candidate other than him. He took a deep breath, glancing down at a puddle on his way to the porch. He wasn't even shocked as he saw not his own reflection staring back at him but Lee. His expression was the same as Alfred's, but the differences were there. Nantucket was not reflected, for one, nor was Alfred wearing the glasses sitting atop his reflection's nose. They were instead nestled in his pocket, always on his person regardless of what side was in control. Alfred wanted to need those glasses, but so long as Texas remained seceded, he could not wear them. The act of looking through them for anything longer than a few moments resulted in a strained headache and a slight feeling of vertigo. He made his way to the door, rubbing at his stomach as he noted the scar spanning his midsection starting to burn slightly. He knew the familiar sensation was a sign that something was going on, more than likely some sort of battle. He let out a sigh before reaching out and knocking on the door ahead of him. He did not know how Abbey would react to seeing him after so long, and shifted a little in anticipation. Hopefully she was willing to at least listen, to at least consider his request for neutrality and pass it on to Arthur... Template by AMB Tanz

[atrb=style,background-color: #63a1db; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222; font-family: impact;] June 1862

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,width: 355px; background-color: #15317E; border-left: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-bottom: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-right: inset 3px #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; true] Now I will tell you what I've done for you - 50 thousand tears I've cried. Abbey had decided to bake today. She would just go out and buy sweets, but she did prefer making them most of the time. Besides, she had recently acquired all the things she needed to make turnovers. Now she just had to set about baking them. The capital decided to make the dough first and set it aside to let it rise for a bit. While she was waiting she had decided to spend the time reading. Yes, of course she could read because she had been taught. Abbey did quite like reading too, and enjoyed the chances she got to do so. It would be several hours before the dough would be ready for rolling out and cutting to pastry size. Thus, she figured she could read a few chapters of her book, and maybe even finish it depending on how things went. It didn’t really matter if she waited longer than the required time, and so she decided to go about finishing her book rather than simply reading a few chapters. As it worked out it was actually rather perfect timing. Once it was risen enough she rolled it out and started cutting the pastry into smaller parts so that there could be more than one large turnover. Now that they were all rolled out, she set about making the filling. Sure, she could have done this while waiting for the dough to rise, but you never knew how long it would take to get to the perfect height. London didn’t want the filling just sitting around in the kitchen forever. Bugs could get to it, or maybe Arthur would just pick it up and start eating it without waiting for the pastry to be done. One never knew with him, such things could happen after all. Anyway, she filled in the pastry with the gooey fruit or chocolate filling before placing them in the oven. Yes, she had two different types, apple and chocolate, as she wanted both. They weren’t just for her though of course, and she was certainly willing to share them with guests too. Though it probably depended on the guest, and when they arrived. After all, if they were here and left before they were even done then clearly they wouldn’t get any. Also, there were certainly some people that she would not give sweets to due to a grudge being held on one of their parts. Speaking of guests, she heard a knock on the door a few moments later and wondered who it could be. In hindsight she probably should have looked out the window before opening the door, but because she didn’t she was caught by surprise. The girl just stood at the door and blinked at the person in front of her. Why the heck was Alfred of all people here? Didn’t he have a war going on? This meant he should probably be at home fighting it rather than showing up in London at random. ”….Alfred….why are you here?” she asked crossing her arms over her chest. She honestly was conflicted about seeing him right now. The capital didn’t know how she really felt about it seeing as he had gone to war against her nation for independence, yet here he was now. Why was he here? Honestly, she felt more like she probably shouldn’t see him, but she did kind of want to. It was more that she didn’t expect him to ever really see her again honestly. What reason did he have to after all? He abandoned her just like everyone else had in the past. words: 600 / tag: Mandee&&Alfred /notes: have some feels [/style][style=display: none;]made by ashkir at rpg-directory.com

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #e1e1e1; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify; padding: 20px; width: 65%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222;] [/style][style=font-size: 10px;]Alfred waited impatiently for Abbey to open the door. The young country was by no means a pinnacle of patience on the best of days, but these were special circumstances. He noted the expression of surprise when Abbey finally opened the door. When it was accompanied by the capital crossing her arms across her chest in a defensive mode, a faintly amused smile came across his face. "You look happy to see me," He noted as the corners of his mouth twitched upward a little more. At least he could adopt some semblance of normalcy, even if this visit was anything but normal. It might have been better to send a letter or telegram informing Arthur and Abbey of his arrival, but he did not feel that he had an ample amount of time to do such a thing. "I need to talk to Arthur, but he's busy. I'm not sure how much time I have, so I decided to come see you instead." Hopefully that would offer enough of an explanation for her to hear him out. Though, now that he was standing in front of Abbey, he wasn't entirely sure where to go next. This, like many other actions Alfred took, hadn't exactly been thought through. "A while back, Arthur told me he that he was going to remain neutral in my war," At the word 'war', the skin on his abdomen prickled once more. "I wanted to pay him a visit to make sure he still intends to uphold that agreement we made." The fact that Arthur was still meeting with southern officials worried Alfred immensely. He wanted to take Arthur's word, but the fact remained that he found it hard to trust Arthur for the better part of a century, and that wasn't just going to go away - Especially so long as Arthur continued to meet with the other side. Another pain coursed through Alfred's stomach, this one greater in intensity. Yes, there was definitely a battle going on somewhere in his land. He leaned forward, preventing himself from doubling over by placing a hand on the side of the doorway to prop himself up, his other hand resting on top of his gut. He proceeded to sniff at the air in an attempt to draw the attention away from what had just occurred. "Are you baking something? It smells delicious." Alfred commented with a small smile that held hints of a grimace. Template by AMB Tanz

[atrb=style,background-color: #63a1db; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222; font-family: impact;] June 1862

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,width: 355px; background-color: #15317E; border-left: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-bottom: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-right: inset 3px #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; true] Now I will tell you what I've done for you - 50 thousand tears I've cried. The last person she expected to see today was Alfred. Granted, she didn’t really expect to ever see him again if she was being honest. He had abandoned her just like everyone else had, and like them wasn’t coming back. The capital had accepted that, but now he was on her doorstep and she was having all sorts of mixed feelings about seeing him. Hearing his statement she gave a slight frown and left her arms crossed across her chest. ”Should I be?” she asked him simply with a raised eyebrow. Really, she probably shouldn’t be, but somewhere inside she secretly was. The girl wasn’t about to let him know that though of course. Now what was she supposed to do with him even? Arthur wasn’t home, and really she wondered if he wanted to deal with Alfred even if he was. Besides, some would consider it rather rude to show up out of the blue on someone you went and abandoned’s doorstep. There was also the fact that you really shouldn’t expect too much excitement in such a situation unless someone was really hoping you would come back. Abbey, was not that person though, usually she jumped to the conclusion that they were never coming back and she’d have to just deal with that. This was only after years of others doing that though. Still, it was really a fact that she didn’t expect him to come back, and wasn’t sure she wanted him to. All it would do was open up old wounds when he left again. Hearing the next statement she contemplated that. ”How much time you have?” she asked him with a raised eyebrow. She was going to ignore the fact that she was only being visited because Arthur was busy. Not even going to comment on how that did slightly hurt. Granted, she did suppose he saw Arthur more, but still you didn’t just walk up to someone and say well he was busy so I guess you’ll do instead . It was, quite rude actually. The girl wasn’t going to say anything about it for the moment though, and listened to the next statement instead. Oh right, Alfred was at war, and from what she’d heard it wasn’t going particularly well. ”I wouldn’t know, he hasn’t said either way to me as of yet. Speaking of…shouldn’t you be at home fighting that war?” she asked him with a raised eyebrow. It would make sense for him to not be travelling about the world making visits when he was in the middle of a war. Usually they did take quite a toll on a country, so he probably shouldn’t be running around England and instead, since clearly he had down time, he should be using that time to rest. Seeing Alfred clearly reacting to pain of some sort only made her feel more strongly about her point. He shouldn’t be running around, he should be resting somewhere. Then he seemed to try and derail her by asking if she was baking something, and that it smelled delicious. ”Yes actually, I’m making turnovers.” she stated simply. ”Are you okay?” she asked him simply with a small sigh. ”…maybe you should come in and sit down.” she offered to him with a vaguely worried look on her face. words: 551 / tag: Mandee&&Alfred /notes:blurr feels [/style][style=display: none;]made by ashkir at rpg-directory.com

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #e1e1e1; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify; padding: 20px; width: 65%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222;] [/style][style=font-size: 10px;]Alfred had mixed feelings concerning the reunion as well. Abbey was a part of his childhood -perhaps not as much as Arthur, but still a part of it nonetheless. He had fond memories associated with Abbey, and just seeing her before him lightened the weight on his shoulders ever so slightly. It was only temporary respite, but it was something nevertheless. Contrary to what Abbey thought, Alfred did care for her as something of a maternal figure - and she was the only woman with that title still around. It was a comfort just to see her again, especially in such a trying time. Unfortunately, his stubbornness would continue to forbid him from telling her that outright. "Yes...I don't know how much time we'll have to discuss matters, and I'd rather we get it taken care before..." "Y'all find yourselves rudely interrupted?" That...did not just happen. Alfred started laughing at once, a painfully forced laugh that rang out like an alarm bell. "I mean, I don't want to interfere if you're cooking for guests or anything! I just wanted to drop by and make sure that Arthur was still going to honor what he told me earlier! Neutrality! Remember, neutrality is important! Preserve the Union, heh heh. Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably head back to my ship!" This didn't work out as well as he expected to, for just as he was about to turn to make his exit, another stab of pain shot through his stomach. "Fuck..." He muttered under his breath. Why here? Why now? He could barely move, let alone walk away. He was supposed to appear strong, dammit, even though he was at his weakest since the Articles of Confederation. How could one stay strong when they were fighting with themselves? "Did you say turnovers?" Alfred asked, a ghost of a smile crossing his face in spite of himself. He knew it was fruitless to pretend like the last minute or so never happened, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying! "In that case, I might be able to extend my stay a little longer." While he would enjoy some of Abbey's baked goods as a treat after such a long time, it was plain as day that the turnovers weren't Al's primary reason for staying. He hardly had a choice in the matter when both his physical and mental state were sent topsy-turvy, all as a result of a battle being waged as they spoke. Template by AMB Tanz

[atrb=style,background-color: #63a1db; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222; font-family: impact;] June 1862

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,width: 355px; background-color: #15317E; border-left: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-bottom: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-right: inset 3px #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; true] Now I will tell you what I've done for you - 50 thousand tears I've cried. Abbey really just wasn’t sure what to do at the moment. Alfred was on her doorstep and she had no idea what she wanted to do about it. It wasn’t as if she could really just slam the door in his face. Well, she could, but she’d probably feel bad about it. Then Alfred started talking again and then his accent changed suddenly. Well, that was rather weird and she was a little bit disturbed by it she had to say. Hearing him laugh did not help in the slightest. That just made it seem all the stranger to her. She raised an eyebrow at him and blinked in confusion a few times as he tried to cover what just happened up. ”Alfred…we both know I can’t cook. Actually Arthur doesn’t let me try anymore…he’s afraid I’ll set the kitchen aflame.” she stated with a slight frown. It was true, she couldn’t cook to save her life, and all she could do was bake sweets. Anything else would probably either explode or go up in flames based on the few attempts she had made previously. Ah well, she did suppose that some people mistook baking for cooking sometimes, but still that wasn’t the point. Something weird was going on here, and she wanted to know what it was exactly. Though that required getting him to spill, and she idly wondered how that would work out. Maybe she’d just feed him sweets until he started talking. That could be rather difficult actually. Now if only she could find a way to do that. It was certainly easier said than done. She saw, as he stated that he wanted to go back to his ship, that he seemed to be in some sort of pain. Idly she wondered how he was going to handle this and sighed. She should take him inside and force him to drink tea or something. Granted, he probably wouldn’t want tea, all things considered, but it wasn’t as if she had a lot of soothing beverage options. Maybe she’d offer him a turnover, maybe, if he was polite enough. Also, just so long as he didn’t mention too much about how he left. The capital was pretty sure she did not want to deal with that right now. Not with how conflicted she felt at the moment. If he started with that he was going to get smacked with something. Just because he was in pain did not mean he could upset her for no reason. ”Yes, apple and chocolate turnovers.” she said simply. She was definitely concerned, but at the same time she wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. Then he seemed to state he was going to extend his stay a little longer. ”Who are you kidding? I’m going to have to practically drag you to the sofa as it is.” she said with a frown before throwing one of his arms over one of her shoulders and proceeding to drag him towards a sofa. ”Now, do you want to tell me what’s really going on or am I going to have to force it out of you?” she asked with a sigh. She knew there was a civil war of course, but not how it was impacting him. Most countries did handle it differently after all. So, now the question was if he would tell her or not. words: 566 / tag: Mandee&&Alfred /notes: meeeer [/style][style=display: none;]made by ashkir at rpg-directory.com

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #e1e1e1; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify; padding: 20px; width: 65%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222;] [/style][style=font-size: 10px;]Despite his less than optimal condition, the corners of his mouth twitched upward as Abbey confessed that Arthur didn't want her to cook. "He's one to talk." Arthur actually wasn't a terrible cook (or at least not as terrible as some made it out to be), but to say that it wasn't one of his greatest talents wouldn't be much of a stretch. That said, he would attempt to bite back any particularly snarky commentary. He needed Arthur to keep his pledge of neutrality, and doubted that outright insulting him would earn him any brownie points. Would it stop him from making the occasional off comment? Of course not, but he couldn't afford to be as loose with his tongue in his current condition. "Apple and chocolate? Two of my favorites." She'd know that, of course. Alfred enjoyed anything sweet, but he had a particular fondness for apple - apple pie being one of his favorite desserts, behind only ice cream. The young country was none too thrilled about being helped over to the sofa - Much less by Abbey. He squirmed a little as she dragged him along, admittedly thankful for the help but not wanting it to look as though he needed it. He was independent, after all! He squirmed once more, only stopping once they reached the sofa. "You know, I could have walked over here myself." Alfred stated in a somewhat defiant tone. It was true, he likely could have, though it would have been much more of a challenge given the condition that he was in. "A battle," Alfred provided in response to Abbey's inquiry. He opted to go with providing Abbey with the least amount of detail that he could get away with. "A skirmish hopefully," he chuckled conversationally as the pain in his abdomen reduced to a dull ache. Suddenly Alfred jerked, his body moving into a different position. "Think she's lookin' for more of an explanation than that, North." He met Abbey's gaze, tilting his head with a smile. "Ain't that right, Miss Abbey?" Another pain coursed through his gut, forcing him to bend over with a hand clenched against his stomach. "I need a glass of water." He informed Abbey. He wasn't sure if water would actually do anything, but it was certainly worth a shot as he felt a few beads of sweat slip down his face. "Or, if you don't have water, I'll take a glass of the strongest liquor you have." Template by AMB Tanz

[atrb=style,background-color: #63a1db; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222; font-family: impact;] June 1862

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,width: 355px; background-color: #15317E; border-left: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-bottom: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-right: inset 3px #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; true] Now I will tell you what I've done for you - 50 thousand tears I've cried. Hearing Alfred’s comment she raised an eyebrow and gave him a look. ”He doesn’t set the kitchen on fire when he cooks.” she pointed out with a slight frown. Sure it wasn’t the best food in the world, but the kitchen was still intact when he finished. Unlike her, who really could only bake sweets and nothing else. It wasn’t very healthy, but it was something she could do at least. Besides, it was nice to have a snack every so often wasn’t it? Hearing his statement about them being his favorites she just shrugged. Of course she knew that, but it wasn’t as if she was expecting him to show up. She personally preferred cherry to apple, but she had been out of cherry so thus had gone with apple instead. ”I was out of cherry.” she stated simply with a slight smile. It was actually true, but it also just made her look like she was being difficult. That was fine, she wasn’t ecstatic about seeing him after all. Who could blame her with the way he had left her and Arthur? The capital would certainly never speak of the way her country reacted to it, and definitely not how she did either. It was, a rather unpleasant time in their lives, and she wished to forget about it. Then she had to help him to the couch, and he seemed to be none too thrilled about it. Well that was good, humility would be healthy for him. He needed to learn that he couldn’t perpetually do things by himself just because he was now ‘independent’. Everyone has their down moments, and they needed to learn to accept them instead of just pretending everything was fine. Hearing him state that he could have walked over here on his own she rolled her eyes. ”You really need to learn humility Alfred. Everyone has times where they aren’t at their best and need help. Swallowing your ego wouldn’t kill you, and neither would learning how to thank someone for their help.” she pointed out not taking well to his defiant tone. There was no need for him to be a rude child about it, and besides he would have taken an eternity, perhaps she should have let him try to make his own way and watched him struggle to get her point across. That would have been impolite though, which is what he was doing now. Hearing his explanation, that wasn’t what she was looking for. She was looking for why his accent just drastically swapped in the middle of the sentence. ”That’s not what I meant Alfred and you know it. Your accent just swapped in the middle of talking.” she pointed out with a crossing of her arms, and then he proved her point by doing it again. ”Like that…yeah kinda looking for an explanation for that rather than the pain. Pain is easy to figure out after all I’m not dense.” she noted with a slight glare at him for being a pain. He stated that he needed a glass of water and sighed, then raised an eyebrow when he stated that if they didn’t have water liquor would be fine. ”Of course we have water don’t be ridiculous.” she said and wandered off to get him a glass and check on her turnovers that weren’t quite done yet. When she came back she offered it to him and waited for him to explain. words: 577 / tag: Mandee&&Alfred /notes: -rolls- [/style][style=display: none;]made by ashkir at rpg-directory.com

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #e1e1e1; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify; padding: 20px; width: 65%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222;] [/style][style=font-size: 10px;]"You've set the kitchen on fire before?" Alfred's tone was caught somewhere between incredulity and amusement. Come to think of it, had he ever tried Abbey's actual cooking? He had plenty of the sweets she made over the years, but her actual cooking was something that Alfred never had the privilege of trying. Perhaps there was a reason for that... "Aww, so they weren't for me?" He remarked in jest, trying to lighten the mood even the slightest bit. "Cherry isn't bad either," he commented - but then again, if any of Abbey's sweet treats were bad, Alfred had yet to try them. "I never said I wasn't thankful for your help, I said that I could have made it over myself. There's a difference." Alfred argued back, folding his arms across his chest. He was stubborn to a fault. Whether or not it was, he still felt as though every action was scrutinized by Arthur - and, as an extension, Abbey. He was besieged with a strong desire to prove himself as a power in his own right, someone that Arthur could respect as an equal. He'd come a long way, but he still had a long way to go. He longed for the day when Arthur would admit that he was wrong - that maybe, just maybe, Alfred was worthy of the status he fought for decades before. Unfortunately for Alfred, Abbey refused to let it go. She was adamant in her request for an explanation, and it didn't seem as though any of Alfred's attempts to steer away from the subject were having the effect that he hoped. His last resort was asking for Abbey to fetch him something to drink, in the hopes that it might distract her enough that she would let the subject drop when she returned. He wasn't so lucky in his endeavor. Abbey did return with a glass of water, which Alfred was quick to sample, but the ensuing silence told Alfred that Abbey had not forgotten about her inquiries - And that she expected answers. He wasn't going to get out of this one, was he? "His name is Lee." Alfred responded, deciding to go straight to the point if Abbey was going to keep pressing on the issue. He shifted in his seat, trying fruitlessly to attain some degree of comfort despite the ever present ache in his torso. "He's me, but not me, if that makes any sense." Alfred ran a hand through his hair, taking another drink from his glass. This was going to be a much longer visit than he anticipated. Template by AMB Tanz

[atrb=style,background-color: #63a1db; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222; font-family: impact;] June 1862

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,width: 355px; background-color: #15317E; border-left: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-bottom: inset 3px #FFFFFF; border-right: inset 3px #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; border-radius: 200px 200px 0px 0px; true] Now I will tell you what I've done for you - 50 thousand tears I've cried. Hearing his question she frowned slightly. ”Yes.” she answered simply. He seemed both surprised and amused by this statement, and she found that a little annoying. It wasn’t her fault she caught the kitchen on fire. It just ended up always happening that way, and so Arthur had decided to never let her cook again. He was probably tired of having to rebuild the kitchen, and so she had given up learning how to. Baking, on the other hand, she was good at. Thus, she stuck to that sort of thing. Hearing his statement she raised an eyebrow. ”You didn’t exactly say you were coming.” she pointed out with a frown. He had just shown up out of the blue after all, and she just happened to be baking. It was a coincidence and nothing else. Abbey preferred cherry over apple, and apparently Alfred said that it wasn’t bad. Of course cherry wasn’t bad, it was cherry and her favorite, so of course she didn’t think it was bad. Maybe she was biased in that opinion, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, that Alfred was here and it was unexpected while she was baking. She wanted to know why he was here, and how she felt about it. Hearing his statement she frowned and also folded her arms as well. ”You never said you were thankful either. “ she pointed out with a frown. It was true, he hadn’t said he was grateful. He had just whined about her helping him. ”I don’t want you doubling over in pain in the middle of the floor. It’s better if I just dragged you over as quickly as possible.” she pointed out with a frown. She did have a point, he neither said he was grateful and if he doubled over in pain then she’d never be able to get him to the couch. Well, she probably could, but he’d like it even less that was for certain. She seriously doubted he would like it if she dragged him across the floor. It was better for his ego if she just helped him to the couch while he was still on his feet rather than her doing so while he was on his face right? So, really she was helping to not completely crush his ego. Though, it could take some hits and deflation that was for certain. They were both quite stubborn it seemed, and neither of them was going to easily give. Alfred was certainly going to explain what was going on whether he wanted to or not. Abbey was absolutely not going to let it drop so easily. Of course, she never let anything drop easily. She was a very stubborn capital, quite like her nation. When she returned with the water, she waited for Alfred to reply and raised an eyebrow when he did. ”Are you saying that you’re two different people now?” she asked? That was the only explanation she could come up with due to how he was explaining it. That was, slightly worrisome she had to admit. She wondered how much longer he was going to be able to deal with swapping back and forth between people before losing it, and what would happen depending on which side won the war. words: 548 / tag: Mandee&&Alfred /notes: bluh [style=width: 375px; align: center: border-bottom: 3px solid #000000;][/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #e1e1e1; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify; padding: 20px; width: 65%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222;] [/style][style=font-size: 10px;]"Still, he's not the best person to criticize your cooking." Alfred chuckled, thankful for the small distraction in the subject of Arthur and Abbey's cooking. He let out a small sigh when his joke fell flat. Alfred shrugged as Abbey made her point. He still would not concede and admit that he was grateful, though he at least had the sense not to continue debating with her. Perhaps if he were in a better condition he might do so, but he wasn't in the best of sorts. Pain condition to flare up in his abdomen at odd intervals. While it was tempting to chug down as much of the water as he possibly could in one gulp, he quickly found that the results of such an endeavor might not be so favorable. After a few swallows, he had to pull the glass away and set it down. He rubbed his stomach, feeling nausea set in along with more frequent stabs of pain. He frowned when Abbey attempted to get a better understanding of the situation. "I guess you could call it that. I mean, it's still my body, but it's not me talking when he comes around, so that's probably the best way to put it." Alfred sighed, running his hand along his stomach once more. He paused when he felt something moist, turning his hand to find a red smear across his fingers. One gaze downward showed that not only was he indeed bleeding, but he was bleeding through his clothing as well. Good luck playing that one off. "Abbey, you wouldn't happen to have any bandages, would you?" He placed his arm around his middle, trying to conceal the line of red that appeared there through his clothes. He decided to take another sip from his glass of water, but another wave of pain caused him to gasp in the middle of drinking. He quickly fell into a coughing fit. Template by AMB Tanz

[atrb=style,background-color: #63a1db; width: 20%; vertical-align: top; color: #222222; font-family: impact;] June 1862

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