It was dark, it was Sunday morning, it was 3 am, and Arthur wasn't happy. After having witnessed a startling scenario that he, if given the choice, would have liked to have missed, he lay with his eyes glued to his computer screen. He found himself wrapped up in the world of the internet, endlessly scrolling, seeking something he didn't quite know. It would be another day without an update on his blog, though he did find subtle comfort from the various posts that still flooded his dash from his friends over in England. Most of his family would be in bed right now, and as his eyes flicked down to the toolbar to check their skype status, a notification popped up.
Ami "The Burger" Jones is Online
Arthur froze. His hand wavered an inch from the mousepad, afraid to continue its work. Why would she be on at this hour? It didn't matter why, did it, he thought to himself, trying to push back the mounting curiosity that was beginning to bubble over and force his mouse to hover over her name.
Night out on the town with new buddies! Hope to do it again soon!
Her status alone unnerved him, and yet his muscles subconsciously worked against him to click the mouse and open a chat. She'd changed her icon, he noticed. Instead of a picture of a certain loveable adopted cat that had gotten too close to the webcam (the same one who was ironically sleeping beside him on the bed), she'd chosen one of herself. It was a stereotypical selfie, peace-sign included, wearing the same attire he'd seen her in earlier that evening when…
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Hey, Artie! You're up early ;)
Just as Arthur was about to return to his mundane blogging, the window had summoned itself from his nightmares. His cursor sat there, blinking in an empty box. There were a million things he wished to say to her, a million things he wanted to express, to rant and rave about. The cursor just kept blinking.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Artie? You there? Did you fall asleep on me?!
Arthur Kirkland: No. I'm awake. Good morning, Amelia.
He regretted it the instant that he typed it. What had convinced him that typing with her at three in the morning was a good idea?! Then again, he was still highly confused on why he was upset in the first place. Why was he still so conflicted about communicating with one of his only friends here in the States? Arthur couldn't tell if he was angry, sad, disappointed, or some strange muddled-up conglomeration of the three. Now, however, wasn't the time to think about it, as the bouncing orange indication on his taskbar brought him back to reality.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Goodie! I thought that you'd gone to bed on me, ya old coot. Why are you up so early anyway?
Arthur Kirkland: I just can't sleep well, that's all.
He fidgeted, sitting up from his sprawled-out position to lean now with his back against the wall, pillows embracing him either side, while he rested his laptop on his knees. Christopher Robin stirred and stretched before curling back into a furry ball once more.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Awww...Do you need me to read you a bedtime story? Though I guess that's more up your alley, right?
Arthur Kirkland: I appreciate the offer, Amelia, but I could ask the same of you. What could possibly inspire you to wake up at this hour?
Ami "The Burger" Jones: lol. I always get up this early. Raised on a farm, ya know? Gotta collect those eggs from the chickens, milk the cows, and pa'll want me to start breakfast for him soon since he's gonna tend to the cattle in the field and my second uncle, who also happens to be my cousin due to the strange ways of southern marriage, is a good-for-nothing-bum that mooches off of our family.
Not to mention all the harvest will be coming in soon, so I have to get up EXTRA early.
Arthur Kirkland: I never knew that you had such a busy lifestyle, Miss Jones.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Haha! I bet there's a lot you don't know about me, Mr. Kirkland.
The corners of Arthur's mouth sagged down into a deep frown. The memories of what he'd discovered earlier that night came racing back to the forefront of his mind. His gaze shifted towards her status and icon once more.
Arthur Kirkland: Lovely outfit you have on in your new picture, by the way. Did you attend a special event this evening?
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Oh you charmer you~ Nah, just something I put on to go out this evening. Ended up having a great time with some new friends! They were suuuper nice.
Super nice my arse.
Arthur Kirkland: You don't say? Then can I assume that the reason you're up might actually be influenced by a certain amount of alcohol?
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Shush, you! :( I had like maybe two drinks, okay? They paid, so I thought it was in my best interest to take advantage of the situation.
Arthur Kirkland: Were these new friends from work?
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Nope. Just people I met on the street today. LOL!
The sheer preposterous nature of her statement infuriated him. He attempted to replay the situation in his head, reformulating conclusions he'd made prior to her confession into a more suitable scenario. Not only had she failed to tell him that she wasn't going to be at work when she knew that he would be paying a visit, she'd gone off with total strangers for drinks in a completely different part of town by herself?!
Arthur Kirkland: You met them on the street? Amelia, you are undoubtedly one of the most friendly individuals I have yet to meet on this planet, but what in the name of gallifrey made you think that was a good idea?
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Ha ha! I love it when you use your Doctor Who refs when you're upset.
Arthur Kirkland: This is no jest, Amelia. Is everything alright? They didn't force you to come with them, did they?!
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Woah woah, Art! It's nothing like that. Both of them were as friendly and sweet as they could be, and treated me like a proper lady. A gentleman like you would have been proud.
Arthur Kirkland: I'd be more proud if I could give them a good thrashing. A gentleman would get to know a lady first before sauntering off to a bar-with seemingly no intention of foul play. Amelia, if they did anything to you, you don't have to hide it. I'm not against calling the authorities on them.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Arthur. Calm down. I was the one that interrupted their get-together and wanted to go to the bar with them. I can make my own decisions. I'm a big girl.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: In more than one way I guess.
Arthur didn't have time for her pity-party over her completely fabricated weight problem. By now he was fuming, hands gripping the sides of his laptop tightly. From now on, he determined, it was no more playing dumb. A heavy weight had forced itself into his chest, a pain he could only associate with the frustration he felt towards her reckless tendencies. His fingers flew across the keys rapidly, faster his mind could work to stop them.
Arthur Kirkland: It's not about you being mature enough to make your own choices. This is about recognizing a dangerous situation when you're thrust into one. What if they had merely been pretending in order to get to you? The fact that they were able to lead you to a bar you'd never been before, purchase you multiple drinks-that could have been laced with bloody well anything- and then, I'm assuming in gentlemanly fashion walked you to your home should have sent up a bleedin' gargantuan red flag! They could have been plotting to take advantage of you, Amelia, to return in your sleep and knock you off their target's list of unsuspecting women they had yet to shag and then brag about it to their gang of ruffians.
Arthur Kirkland: You could be DEAD right now, Amelia? And where would that leave me? Who would I have to blame than anyone but myself for seeing the situation and doing nothing about it, eh? That's right, no one. Just a grumpy Brit without a purpose who'd spend the rest of his life wondering what he could have done differently to have saved you.
Somehow, he'd managed to physically exhausted himself with the vigor of his typing. He sat there, back straight, sweating at his temples while staring at the mess of text that had erupted in the chat box. For once since the conversation began, he felt...relieved. It was as if the catharsis of yelling into a electronic box had subdued the beast rising with him. While he outwardly cringed reading over it, he felt every word had been necessary.
The chat was silent for a few minutes. Then, he saw it: a tiny pencil began scrawling in the area just above his entry box. It scribbled, back and forth, for ages. Arthur felt his heart sink. No doubt she was planning on retaliating with her own emotional-fueled rant to return his own. He waited.
Just as he was about to type an apology, the window flashed a new message.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: The reason I went with him was because he reminded me of you, Arthur.
Arthur read and re-read the statement. He tried to wrap his head around it, analyze every piece for any hidden message of sarcasm, resentment. He could find none.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: He looked and acted so much like you, Arthur. From your silly mannerisms, to your kind hearted smile. I knew I could trust him because I trust YOU, Arthur.
He continued to be at a loss for words, anxiously watching the pencil flit across the chat box. What more could she have to say?
Ami "The Burger" Jones: If you're so worried about me going off with strange guys.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Why don't you do something about it?
Arthur Kirkland: Do you want me to do something about it?
The pause between his statement and her answer was simultaneously just as terrifying as it was exhilarating.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Are you asking me what I think you're asking me, or is this some sort of British mind-game?
Arthur heaved a sigh of relief, the stress of the day and the fatigue of the early morning hour finally catching up with him. Slow, methodical strokes, he reminded himself. You can do this, Kirkland.
Arthur Kirkland: I fear that I must do this in traditional British mind-game fashion, if you would allow it, Miss Jones.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: Continue.
Arthur Kirkland: Amelia Jones, I must say that I have secretly fancied you for quite some time now. Would you do me the honor of participating in numerous other professional get-togethers, afternoon strolls through the park, and possible cozy evenings enjoying hot cups of tea while in addition to our weekly meetings at the cafe?
Ami "The Burger" Jones: That was so British it hurt, Artie.
Arthur Kirkland: Forgive me, Miss.
Ami "The Burger" Jones: As an American, I feel it is my duty to respond in the language of my people.
Arthur Kirkland: Naturally.
Totally Artie's Gal: See you tomorrow at 10, Sweetie~
Author's Note: I'm SO sorry that this was such a long-time coming with this. I've been really uninspired as of late, and working on a lot of other things at the moment with the blog and life in general, so forgive me OTL
But I hope that this is as fun for you to read as it was for me to write! I came up with the Skype idea a bit last minute, but I really liked the concept and so I rolled with it. I was originally intending to write this in first person (and it pretty much is save for pronoun usage), but I'm glad I stuck with the same POV as it turned out better than I think it would have otherwise.
I want to say HOW MUCH I appreciate all of you SO much for following this little continuous drabble of random events. I appreciate each and everyone of you for dealing with my slow updates ;_;
As always, if you want to read the full one, go to my blog here: ask-writherarthur .tumblr . com