Fic: Kitty, Rosemary, and the Knight of Cups (6/?)

[felicia-angel.livejournal.com]

Okay, the first entry with the new rules, and hopefully I'll get this right!

Title: Kitty, Rosemary and the Knight of Cups
Chapter: 6
Pairing: Jeeves/Wooster (eventually)
Summary: In this chapter, we learn the origins of Rosemary, her first meeting with Bertie, and hope she can get the boys to kiss...
Rating: PG (so far)
Words: Oh, lots! (I don't normally count, sorry I promise I will next time!)
Disclaimer: I own Kitty, Rosemary and their "Knight", who is weird enough but hey *shrug* we all need one if he's part of the Drones, wot?

-Rosemary-

There was the odd feeling of being everywhere and nowhere, something I can’t really describe as anything but that. It’s cliché, yes, but it’s the truth. It was like a dream about falling, where you know you fully intend to wake up before you hit the ground, so you can take your time looking around as you fall and not panic as much.

Of course, hitting water is a good amount of wake up, and wouldn’t you know that it took a good few seconds before my brain woke up and registered this fact, as well as the fact that someone was pulling me up above the water.

That was the point I gasped and grabbed hold of the first thing I could, which turned out to be a boat that I was half-pushed, half-pulled-myself into before the rescuer got himself in, muttering as he sputtered water, “I say, that was the dashed oddest thing I’ve seen in a great while!”

I coughed up water over the side and took a look at the savior, blinking upon seeing a skinny, richly dressed man with curling hair and rather huge blue eyes looking me over. I have to admit that I don’t think blue jeans, tennis shoes and my red collared shirt wasn’t something one sees everyday.

“I mean, I say, you just feel out of the sky! I don’t think you were in an aeroplane or anything, were you?”

I blinked at that, placing the fact that a) I was in England and b) this was one really…well…okay, I have no clue.

“No, I didn’t,” I said, sitting in the boat as we drifted slightly, “Um…this is going to be odd, but where am I?”

He tilted his head at that, the water in his hair dripping to the side as I felt myself being simply looked over by someone who was, well…innocent. “You don’t know?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I knew.”

“Oh, rather, but still, I thought if you fell from somewhere you’d know.”

I let out a rather annoyed sigh. “I know I’m in England because of your accent, but that’s rather vague. It’s like saying you’re from ‘America’.”

“Which you are.”

“Well…yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t know where.”

“I think the West Coast?”

“…and you’re well-educated.”

“Well, as well as can be expected, some say. Mainly my aunts, really, but I guess that’s all not important. I say, why did you fall into the lake? I mean, I know you probably didn’t mean to, but it’s a rather dashed business, because if anyone sees me and you in this boat all wet as we are, they might talk, and my fiancée will be rather up in arms about it, and so will my Aunt Agatha.”

I blinked at the rambling. “Well, we can at least say you saw me fall in and went to save me. I mean, wouldn’t that put you in the good…or whatever?”

The blue-eyed Englishman sighed, picking up the oars. “I suppose so. Well, I’m Bertram Wooster, by the way, but everyone calls me Bertie.”

“I’m Rosemary Winceson,” I said, giving him a smile, “and if I told you where I fell from, you’d never believe me.”

“Oh, I dunno about that.”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t.”

He stopped rowing. “Now see here--.”

I sat back, “You won’t, and I don’t know if you’ll believe most of it anyway.”

“Try me anyway.”

I let out a breath. “Okay…”

--

“The future, miss?” Jeeves asked, frowning as we sat on the ground. At least once during the talk, we’d tried standing only to have me start to fade again. Bertie shrugged as Jeeves looked a little surprised by this. “I suppose that explains a few of the things. How did Mr. Wooster explain it to his family and the others?”

“How else?” she said with a smile, “I hate to say it, Jeeves, but when Bertie starts talking, no one really listens to him, or seems to think beyond telling him to be quiet and just taking it at face value. And either way, we had to stop and get something to wear first…”

--

“I tell you,” Bertie was telling the group after a change into more reliable clothing for that time and drying off my hair, “it was the ruddiest thing--.”

“Bertram, do shut up!” I frowned at the dragoon of a lady snapped, the few looking at me with some curiosity but not a lot of interest as Bertie quieted, the woman saying, “I’ll talk to her on my own.”

“I’d rather not,” I said before Bertie left, “I mean, I only know Bertie, and he saved my life. If anything, I’d rather be with him then you.”

The woman huffed, “Now see here--.”

I have to admit that I think the travel got my nerves on edge, and her yelling at me did nothing to help it. At least, I have said that was the reason for me suddenly snapping at the lady.

“YOU see HERE,” I growled out, stepping in front of Bertie as if I was to be his savior instead of the other way around, “Your nephew just saved someone’s life, and you have the gall to not treat him with the respect he deserves for being so damned selfless? I don’t care who’s wife you are or if you’re Bertie’s only living relative, you’re a disgrace to being a family member! I can’t believe I’ve been witness to something so low and callous! If you weren’t old and I wasn’t a good lady and taught to never beat up on the defenseless and the stupid, I would’ve hit you for all it’s worth! You don’t deserve to have such a good nephew!”

“You dare--!”

“I most certainly do! You’re a self-centered, rude, despicable, and horrible person who doesn’t deserve the bottom of Bertie’s boot after he’s taken a walk through cow fertilizer!” I linked my arm around Bertie’s before saying, “I intend to find a way to repay him for saving me from drowning, and trust me it doesn’t require you to give him your leave or anything else! Come on, Bertie!”

I all but dragged him out of the room as his Aunt Agatha puffed out, Bertie tripping over his own feet before we were outside and he exclaimed, “Oh, I say, Rosy, what was that about? I mean…you don’t mean what you said to her, do you?”

“I mean every word, Bertie,” I told him, “and I was tired of her not listening to you despite the fact that you saved someone’s life.” I looked back at him and, noting his slightly downtrodden look, I moved forward and patted his shoulder. “You shouldn’t look so down. I mean, you’re a great guy. I’d give my left arm to have found someone like you in my time.”

“Really?”

“Aunts and all.”

I have to admit, his smile was one of those things that a person does when their whole body lights up, and I echoed it before saying, “So, what else is there to do around here?”

“The races? I was going to head over there, and with it being the…” he rattled on, and suddenly one of those random facts I kept in my head for no reason other than being very nice for Trivial Pursuit or gameshows popped into my head, and I quickly grabbed Bertie’s arm as I heard his Aunt yelling, and he appearing torn between obeying the lady or leaving with me.

“Bertie, can I borrow five pounds?”

“What?”

“I promise to pay you back and to get out of your hair long enough for your aunt to not want to hurt you.”

--

“You gave her five pounds, sir?” Jeeves asked as he retrieved a few cushions and drinks for us.

“What else could I do? Aunt Agatha was livid about her afterwards and, while annoyed at the sum, was grateful that was all she asked. I didn’t see her again until a few days later, when she arrived dressed to the nines in a suit and dripping in good investments.”

Jeeves looked at me and I shrugged. “I got interested in this time and learned about some horse races and stuff. Not my fault time-travel made me lucky.”

--

To say that the time I spent with Bertie Wooster was a ‘lesson in how the high-life was lived’ was quite a mild way of putting it. His friends included a good grouping of men who were, quite frankly, idiots. I mean, I didn’t think you could get bigger idiots, but you apparently could as I met a few of them and they seemed to spend most of their time getting in trouble. The ending threat of the Great War (which I nearly slipped a few times in calling World War I) still hung, and this was a grouping of boys who’d grown up during a time when they were almost drafted but the end of the war didn’t allow it, and I was reminded of the history of the Vietnam War, though the only person I might be able to talk about this with was Bertie, but good luck with that.

Still, it was kinda funny when I attempted to describe the various theories of time-travel, and sadly we were in the Drones Club while I did this. I’d been made an honorary member, despite my gender, but mostly because I was an outstanding lady and had gotten them out of the clutches of marriage. In truth, sometimes it just took a few talks with the ladies to do so, most of which was “they’re too young and so are you. What if there’s a better man who comes along and offers you more, and you’re already hitched? I know men are hard to come by now, but the rich ones are easier to find, so I’d wait a little longer.”

The end result of this, though, was asking for a few things to describe it, the idea of time as linear being two men holding string with one that could only travel along the string no matter who held it or where it went, including around itself. The idea of time being outside was another man (who took to attempting to change up the main string) and other concepts being various other items. Of course, this got to more ideas being discussed in such a way, and finally a game called “String-Around-Jove” talking about the String-Theory.

It was shortly after that and I helped Bertie back to his own flat that he said, “Rosy, you’re a smashing girl! You should meet my fiancée and her friend, Lady Florence Cray. Florence is writing a book, you see, and I’m sure you two will get along swimmingly.”

The date set, it turned out only Florence would be there, and so with a polite handshake and a story about being ‘revolutionary’ and a huge Suffragette, or at least raised in a household that allowed the freedom of women to wear men’s clothing (along with a complex that my dad had about wanting boys which was as far from the truth as you could get but that she took up hook-line-and-sinker), we got to talking and soon turned to the book, which apparently was about philosophy and that how much she liked this and that person and oh, what did I think of this idea?

I finally looked over what she’d written, and blinked about five pages in. “If this isn’t grade-A bull I don’t know what is.”

I should mention how lucky I was that only Florence and Bertie heard that.

“What?”

I looked up. “This,” I handed back her manuscript, “is grade-A b—well, it’s not the best thing in the world. In fact, I have to say it’s not that well-worded, it’s full of more terms without actual research to site or people to credit, and seems to just be you saying what you think of humanity and parroting your favorite philosophers at the time. It’s…well, sorry, but it’s not that good. It’s actually too hard for most people and too easy for others.”

“And which one are you?”

Oh, that tone meant war.

--

“This was the start of your animosity with Lady Florence Cray?” Jeeves asked.

“I must say, it was both wonderful and scary to watch, Jeeves,” Bertie said, sipping his w. and s. “I mean, it was two battleships taking each other on. If you ever went up against them, Jeeves, it would have been the same type of sight.”

“I think it would be a better one,” I pointed out with a smile, “Jeeves has a larger vocabulary then I do, and he’s more civil. I kinda went to insults.”

“Indeed?” Jeeves asked as he sat.

Bertie nodded, his eyes shining with pride at the fact that we were getting along as I gave Jeeves a smile, hoping that Bertie would take a hint and the two would at least go into the kitchen for alone time.

Of course, there was the fact that I had no clue if Jeeves wanted Bertie either, only that Bertie had recently discovered his…well, his San Francisco-Castro nature… I had somewhat supposed that either he batted for both or that he just liked females on the principle that he was never given the option of others.

“The end result was a breakup and we became engaged a little while later,” I said, standing up and holding out my hand. When it didn’t disappear and I didn’t feel sick, I looked back and offered my hand to Jeeves then Bertie.

“I take it that was when you got sick and then disappeared?” Jeeves asked.

I nodded. “Considering the influenza epidemic that had just gone through, Bertie was worried enough, then instead I disappeared in front of him.”

“And when you returned?” Jeeves asked.

“I actually jumped to 1984…you have no clue how weird that was.” I shrugged, “I finally go back to my own time and none had passed. Trust me, it was really odd to get used to it again after meeting Bertie then spending some time in the 1980’s.”

I watched Jeeves going to get us some tea as Bertie said, “How was that time, by the by?”

“Jeeves would’ve had a heart attack with the clothing alone.”

“Ah.”

I looked over at him as we waited. “Bertie, if I asked, could you and Jeeves kiss?”

“WHAT?”

“I’m a perverted woman, you know that!” I defended half-heartedly, “Plus it might get things--.”

“I’m not going to ask that of him. No, I’m sorry old thing, but I just can’t.”

“Well…poo, you two would probably look dreadfully handsome kissing each other.”

Bertie gave me a…well, it’s called a ‘rum’ look, and I gave a small smile back. “Sorry. But if you don’t do anything, he won’t know.”

“I’d rather he not know and stay…” he silenced as Jeeves returned, the three of us taking tea in the main room, surprising him as we tried to figure out what we would say to Meyrick if he asked about Kitty. I wasn’t sure if she was gone for good or not, and admitted that even the inventors of the technology were uncertain as to how it affected everyone.

“The first guy didn’t even come back, I suddenly returned after what I perceived as a year, and…well, Kitty’s the third to go through with it, so we still have no clue how things will go.”

“If it is so unstable, why continue with people?” Jeeves asked.

“I didn’t mention how much money I got when I returned, or the fact that my bank account was still intact in the future, did I?” I gave him a smile as I saw the Jeevesian wheels turning as he began to understand what I was talking about. “Yes, sometimes inflation is a wonderful thing.”

Jeeves gave a nod before saying, “Do you think Miss King will be able to return?”

“I don’t see why not,” I said, “I mean, yeah I landed on an ocean liner, which was closer then landing in a lake with boats, but she’ll return. The only problem is when.”

Comments

[toodlepipsigner.livejournal.com]

I love Rosemary :) She's fun. ^_^
Thanks for the update. Do carry on, I want to see what happens.

[felicia-angel.livejournal.com]

I do too, only because she's an extension of what we all want said to some of Bertie's aunts and fiancees...

and I'll try, but my muses are in full school mode. *glares and pokes them* Hopefully I'll get something out of them.

[toodlepipsigner.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, school first, missy! BACK TO YOUR BOOKS.
*whack*