At Your Service [Tommy Shelby]

Picnic - Part 2

They rode for quite some time, while talking about the things they saw on their way there. Nothing too deep, just some casual chit chat, sprinkled with a lot of teasing. Tommy told her where he came from, the Blackpatch. He told her how the life of a gypsy is different from the life of a commoner. All fascinating stuff in the eyes of Vivian, but almost anything sounds fascinating to her, as long as it is from the mouth of the man sitting next to her.

Eventually Thomas stops the wagon next to a little creek. The place has an absolutely stunning view over a meadow. Vivian steps out and lets her eyes glide over the landscape, "wow.." Thomas comes standing next to her, "It's something isn't it?" She laughs at the understatement, "It's absolutely stunning, thank you for taking me here." All he gives is a slight nod, before he puts on a cigarette. She accepts the one he offers her again as he leads the way. They walk through some trees and bushes, until they are right next to the creek. She sees he's been here before, since there is a still smoldering fire and he even bothered to put down a blanket.

While she was still taking in her surroundings, Thomas started the fire again and placed himself on the blanket next to it. She stared at him, perhaps a bit too long, because he clearly noticed. She's just thinking to herself, how out of place this man seems here. He's sitting here in a suit that is probably more expensive than the wagon they came in here with. Though, it's only his appearance that's out of place. He seems at home here, more than he seems at home in his mansion.

After the staring got a bit too long for Thomas' liking, he patted the blanket next to him, as to invite her on the ground. She dropped down, quickly adverting her eyes to anywhere but him. And now they sat there for a while in silence. She's actually starting to feel a bit awkward, she wants to get to know the man, but where to start? Thomas on the other hand looks calmer than he ever was. And he actually feels calm, he had so much nerves before, but now it is just right. Perhaps it's the smell of the earth around him that keeps him grounded.

She starts to talk about anything she sees on the ground, a little beetle, moss, a stone. He notices how tensed she is, or more how she'd rather have conversation than sit in silence. Thomas lets her speak and when it is silent again he throws in his own topic. "You try to hide your accent." Her eyes get a bit bigger and as if it is a trigger, her cheeks flush. She forgot just how straightforward this man can be. "Oh my.. is it that bad? I-"
Thomas chuckles a bit, "No, no you're fine."
She puts her hand to face as to hide her embarrassment. "I just think it's such an awful accent. So I try to make it a bit less noticeable." She rolls her eyes knowing how stupid it sounds, especially to a man who doesn't seem to get embarrassed by anything.
He thinks it's cute, her being so worked up over it. It's not even a very noticeable accent, he honestly just wants to talk about her origins.

Tommy decides to let in a silence before he continues: "You sound a lot like those Flemish soldiers I met in France." She seems to think about that for a second, "I suppose the Flemish sound quite the same as the Dutch."
Thomas nods his head, "I've never met any Dutch back there, though."
"Well, we weren't really involved in the war." Meanwhile she started drawing in the sand with a little stick, to keep her hands occupied.
Here we go, the war talk. You can't ignore the topic of war, especially when talking to a Brit. Or so Vivian believes.

Thomas looks her straight in the eyes, "You were though."
She blinks a couple of times, before she gives a timid 'yes'. After both having finished their cigarettes for a while now, he offers another to her and to himself. The topic of war requires a cigarette, or so Thomas believes. He does not really know where he's going with these questions, all he knows is, that he is intrigued in finding out her secrets. Perhaps most of all he wants to know what it is about her that makes his head spin, that makes him feel seventeen again. He went out of his way today, to make this a good day, for Vivian. He never did something like that for Lizzie. He did for Grace.. right?