Theme 73: Confront
When Lord Kyouya Ootori walked into White’s that morning, he found his father in discussion with the Earl of Shelbourne.
He sighed quietly under his breath, and then walked towards them, smiling genially.
“My lord,” he gave a quick bow to Shelbourne and sat down with them.
Their conversation continued with only a polite nod to him, which was what Kyouya had hoped for.
He opened the day’s newspaper and began to read.
A few minutes later, though, a distinct clearing of the throat brought him out of recent silk and cotton prices.
“Lord Shelbourne?” he inquired pleasantly.
“I’ve been hearing things about you, Ootori,” the man rumbled in his deep voice.
Kyouya put his paper aside, shifting into the polite façade that had served him well since leaving Oxford for the multiple worlds of Society, politics and business.
“Oh?”
“Don’t you find it unsuitable for lords to be acting like infatuated youths, chasing after the skirt of such a common poppy?” he asked, eyes beady with calculation, waiting for the younger man’s response. Kyouya felt himself stiffen, just the slightest.
He didn’t look to see if his father had noticed.
“Common?” he asked instead, letting his smile widen just a bit. “Haven’t you been paying attention in the Lords, sir? There are distinct murmurs of the ‘commoners’ rising up and taking our places, if we don’t join them in preparing for the future.”
The Earl’s face was turning a distinctly red colour; Kyouya decided it would be prudent to let his father deal with the resulting explosion. He knew by now that his father’s views towards the situation that was becoming more obvious with every year were similar to his own, but as one of the most highly regarded lords he could not afford to speak with the freedom (and rudeness) Kyouya just had.
Which was why, Kyouya thought to himself as he walked up the street, his father was beginning to value him as much, if perhaps not more, than his elder sons.
It had taken a few years for Kyouya to realize there were distinct advantages to being a younger son; after taking over the companies and beginning his own venture, he could worry about attaining the correct titles.
Besides, Fujioka’s recent addition to the peerage had told Kyouya some valuable information about the king’s frame of mind towards the new age of enterprise rising up.
Kyouya was not worried about the future.
Though he did miss a step when his eyes fell on a short figure across the street, moving through the front door of Hatchard’s bookstore.
Letting out a sigh he hadn’t known he’d been holding, he changed direction to catch up to a young woman who had shown a most intriguingly uncommon mind in their previous encounters.
The fact that her eyes widened in amusing dismay every time they fell on him had nothing to do with why he was still seeking her acquaintance.
A/N: Of course, the irony of the title is that he hasn’t yet confronted how he feels about said ‘common’ girl. =D
He sighed quietly under his breath, and then walked towards them, smiling genially.
“My lord,” he gave a quick bow to Shelbourne and sat down with them.
Their conversation continued with only a polite nod to him, which was what Kyouya had hoped for.
He opened the day’s newspaper and began to read.
A few minutes later, though, a distinct clearing of the throat brought him out of recent silk and cotton prices.
“Lord Shelbourne?” he inquired pleasantly.
“I’ve been hearing things about you, Ootori,” the man rumbled in his deep voice.
Kyouya put his paper aside, shifting into the polite façade that had served him well since leaving Oxford for the multiple worlds of Society, politics and business.
“Oh?”
“Don’t you find it unsuitable for lords to be acting like infatuated youths, chasing after the skirt of such a common poppy?” he asked, eyes beady with calculation, waiting for the younger man’s response. Kyouya felt himself stiffen, just the slightest.
He didn’t look to see if his father had noticed.
“Common?” he asked instead, letting his smile widen just a bit. “Haven’t you been paying attention in the Lords, sir? There are distinct murmurs of the ‘commoners’ rising up and taking our places, if we don’t join them in preparing for the future.”
The Earl’s face was turning a distinctly red colour; Kyouya decided it would be prudent to let his father deal with the resulting explosion. He knew by now that his father’s views towards the situation that was becoming more obvious with every year were similar to his own, but as one of the most highly regarded lords he could not afford to speak with the freedom (and rudeness) Kyouya just had.
Which was why, Kyouya thought to himself as he walked up the street, his father was beginning to value him as much, if perhaps not more, than his elder sons.
It had taken a few years for Kyouya to realize there were distinct advantages to being a younger son; after taking over the companies and beginning his own venture, he could worry about attaining the correct titles.
Besides, Fujioka’s recent addition to the peerage had told Kyouya some valuable information about the king’s frame of mind towards the new age of enterprise rising up.
Kyouya was not worried about the future.
Though he did miss a step when his eyes fell on a short figure across the street, moving through the front door of Hatchard’s bookstore.
Letting out a sigh he hadn’t known he’d been holding, he changed direction to catch up to a young woman who had shown a most intriguingly uncommon mind in their previous encounters.
The fact that her eyes widened in amusing dismay every time they fell on him had nothing to do with why he was still seeking her acquaintance.
A/N: Of course, the irony of the title is that he hasn’t yet confronted how he feels about said ‘common’ girl. =D