Vera Knight

[costumeloverz71]

Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) Blue dress & red hat.. Downton Abbey (2010-2015).. Costume by Caroline McCall.

[phabblebabbles]

Jack & Vera kid

I was contemplating in what world this happens because I’m pretty sure Vera would have tried to shoot Jack if/when she ever found that he was the one that betrayed Bea to Vardon… BUT I assume in this scenario he’s somehow managed to redeem himself! (And maybe Vera shot to maim, not kill. XD)

Name: Oliver Knight Lewis (there is no way Vera won’t wedge her family name in there somewhere!)

Gender: Male

General Appearance: Tall, somewhat lanky. Mop of brown hair that refuses to behave no matter how many times Vera combs it.

Personality: Stoic around his parents. (Like even if they legit fell in love Vera and Jack would be THE MOST DYSFUNCTIONAL COUPLE IN EXISTENCE.) Incredibly loyal and quick to defend those he cares about which has lead to more than a few school yard brawls. (Vera is appalled.)

Special Talents: Fantastic sense of direction. A whiz with mathematics. 

Who they like better: Neither? (Hah!) Perhaps Aunt Beatrice? 

Who they take after more: Vera

Personal Head canon:  Spends a lot of time with his cousins (AKA all the children of the Hartwright clan.) The “cousins” spend a lot of time discussing whether or not the tale of Vera shooting Jack is actually a joke…

Face Claim: Milo Parker

[upryamadeline]

Where the Skies Are Blue (flashback) | Vera & Lina

[upryavera]

upryamadeline:

“I can’t imagine it,” Lina agreed. “I’m not sure how she manages.” She exhaled, “And now she’s all alone.” She knew that Bea was there, fighting for a better tomorrow, but what a miserable existence! Lina had been able to escape that life, but her sister was not so lucky. It was a life that Bea had chosen and one in which she excelled. Lina knew the truth, but to see her sister with Victor … even she would believe she loved him; one would believe that she stood squarely on their side. If she could not play her role with such conviction, Lina would be sick with worry every moment. 

“I hope she will come home, soon.” She said, knowing full-well that Bea would never leave her position in the North unless the South prevailed or … 

She bit her lip, trying not to think of the alternative, “Have you heard from Bea? It’s been a long time, since I’ve had one of her letters.” Beatrice wrote her whenever she was able: but her letters were infrequent and they were always riddled with false praise for her husband, for Vardon, and pleas for Lina to return to the North in case her letters were ever intercepted. 

“I’m sure it still stands,” Lina said, hopeful. It had stood strong throughout the outbreak; she was certain that it would outlast the war, too. “What was it like?” She asked, “Your childhood home?” She liked to imagine Vera returning there, once all of this was over, and setting up a comfortable home to match her standards. Perhaps she might even be able to repair the relationship she had once had with her father … 

Lina agreed that it was time to head back to the house: the sun was starting to slowly set on the horizon and soon it would be dark. “You’ve brought us supplies!” She exclaimed, “Thank you! Are you sure you can spare them?” She asked. “But that would be lovely,” Lina said in response to Vera’s suggestion that Jack cook for them, “Of course, if he’d rather not, it isn’t any trouble – I’m sure you both are exhausted.” 

“I haven’t had a letter from her in ages,” Vera replied. Bea’s letters to Vera had all but ceased once her friend married Victor Cradon, and even those before were few and far between. She’d always ask for an update whenever anyone headed north, but it was all gossip if anything. Vera had gone over and over in her head trying to think of a way to visit Bea, but she knew it would be too dangerous for them both-- and impossible for Lina.

“Our home...” Vera mused as they weaved slowly down the path together. Vera honestly wondered how true her memories actually were. “Well it was rather modest compared to the grand Vardon estate,” she rolled her eyes and grinned at Lina. “But it was rather spacious, especially for just my parents and myself... I imagine at some point in the past, the Knights had a full staff and large family occupying the place... My parents didn’t live there until the outbreak began... they’d lived in town to be closer to the university. But the house sat at the edge of a rather large drop off, down into the valley below, which I supposed help protect us. I remember sitting in my window in the winter, when there were no leaves on the trees and counting the undead I could see down in the valley... I kept a daily tally in a little notebook. There was a beautiful library, with these huge windows where I’d study. Mother and I built a massive garden-- a proper garden, not something silly and full of flowers.  We did quite well, the three of us, all things considered,” she looked down at her shoes for a moment and back up to Lina. 

“If it stands, I must have you and Sebastian to stay... though it make take quite some time before I could have guests there. I can only imagine the entire place is covered with at least an inch of dust.” 

[sweetladylucrezia]

Mary Crawley in 6.04

When she was talking about Lady Sybil I had one of those moments where you look at your life and I realised how much better Sybil was than I am. It was quite chastening.

[upryajack]

Growing on Me | Jack & Vera

[upryavera]

upryajack:

Jack tilted his head, eyeing her choice of dress for this evening with an amused smirk. “I might have to debate you on that one, sweetheart.” On another night, he would have said more, but the truth was, his curiosity (and his greed) had suddenly outweighed any desire he had to tease her. 

Fingers laced, Jack leaned forward to inspect the map. It was old: he would guess that it had been drafted long before the outbreak. “I know the place,” He said. He’d wandered Uprya and Arcadia endlessly, long after civilizations had started to be rebuilt. He even thought he might know the exact house where Vera grew up. There weren’t many large, impressive houses that had remained intact. It hadn’t been hard to spot. 

“I can get us there. it shouldn’t be hard to reach. An extra day at most.” He paused, “Since this isn’t official business, how are we planning on accounting for the lost time?” He asked. “I don’t think Virginia will appreciate the delay in our return. We could always say we’d gotten lost, only I don’t think anyone would believe us. I too good at what I do.” He couldn’t resist winking. 

None of that really bothered Jack much: he was more interested in her answer. He always found being reckless and impulsive exciting. He’d rather wing an explanation to Virginia than plan one out, but it would shock him if Vera expected on doing the same. Still, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d managed to surprise even him … 

After a pause, Jack opened his hands, leaning back, “You’ve convinced me.” He said, as though he was a hard man to buy. “My question is: what’s there that’s driving this expedition? You don’t strike me as the sentimental type.” 

Vera stared at him as he observed the map, preparing herself for whatever obnoxious thing might come out of his mouth next. It wasn’t an entirely useless string of words, however-- he did make a good point on accounting for their time with Virginia.

“It isn’t as if we’re doing anything illegal,” she replied simply. It was common for parties to return late from their assignments and even though Jack and Vera rarely arrived behind schedule, it wouldn’t raise any alarms should they be a day later than expected. One day would lead everyone to simply assume any number of things had caused their delay-- car trouble, laying low to avoid northern forces, etc. And like she said, nothing about it was anything Vera thought to keep secret. If the question was posed, she’d give Virginia a straight answer. “I’ll make our excuses to Virginia once we return... no one will think your navigational skills are lacking.”

Something about Jack’s comment regarding her not being sentimental struck a chord with Vera. She stalked towards him, snatching the map up from the table and folded it back up gently. “I convinced you the moment I threw that money into your lap,” Vera snapped at him, returning the map to the safety of the box where it had resided for so many years before turning back to Jack.

She wasn’t finished with him yet.

“You insist on being so familiar with me, Mr. Lewis, but you have a lot of nerve pressuming you can make any sort of judgement on my character, that you know me at all really,” she continued, snatching up her tea cup from the table and set about putting it away. She knew it was silly to think that, even after all this time, Jack Lewis might know anything about her. She figured he didn’t bother to learn a thing about anyone if it didn’t have some form of monetary gain behind it.

In truth, it was information that had been given to her on one of their most recent trips towards the northern border that lead to her finally making the decision to go back to the old house again. 

Her father was dead. 

Vera knew he’d been ill. She asked, from time to time, for their spies in the north to give her information on him. He’d fallen from grace, out of society once he no longer had a daughter to marry off and aid in the creation of more tiny soldiers for Vardon’s armies. Part of her felt sorry for him, knowing he was probably alone at the end. But then she remembered his face the last time she’d seen him, how he’d essentially forced her to leave her life and everyone she loved and she felt a little less generous in her pity.

While he was alive, she’d had no desire to go back to their old house. Something about taking her sour memories of her father back to the place where he, Vera, and their mother had been happy, even through the outbreak, seemed wrong. Something changed upon knowing he was dead. The house was hers and hers alone. Any ghosts that might have haunted the place seemed, at least to Vera, like they might be exorcised now. 

“You’re getting paid to drive a car and make sure I get to where I want to go in one piece. Why is not relevant. I have my reasons and absolutely no desire to share them with you.”

[upryaanna]

Homecoming | Anna & Vera

[upryavera]

upryaanna:

“No, I doubt they do.” Anna said, crossing her arms, leaning up against the counter, “It’s what the brother knows that we are after. He wasn’t talking, but now he is.” The Prior girls had never been involved in much, politically. From what they’d learned from Beatrice, they seemed to be kept purposefully in the dark. Vardon considered them to be like family and he saw no need to worry them with serious matters. 

It was still hard, even knowing all this, to look at them and really believe that they didn’t know what Vardon really was. They’d been living under his roof most of their lives: had they truly seen no sign of the things he was capable of when he did not get his way? It seemed more likely that they both had turned a blind eye to the things they did not like. They lived an easy life, being in Vardon’s inner circle, and all they had to do to keep it that way was to look the other way.

She was lighting a cigarette when Vera asked if there were any attempts being made to reclaim the Hartwrights. She’d been expecting the question. She knew Vera was anxious for them. Anna was, too. Beatrice was her friend, too, although you wouldn’t know it from the cool “no” she gave Vera in reply. She brought the cigarette to her lips, taking a moment to breath in and out, grateful for the time to consider her words. 

“It’s too dangerous. The gain … it isn’t worth the risk.” It felt crude, even to Anna’s ears, to discuss her friend’s situation as though it only mattered as to what could be lost or gained from her rescue. But it is how she had to think. It’s how they all had to think if they were going to see this through to the end. 

“The situation isn’t … ideal. For either Beatrice or her sister. But they aren’t in danger. They won’t lose their lives. We can afford to take our time.” We have to take our time. Next time there was a mission in the city, perhaps, she considered, hopefully. Although bringing them both back may draw all of Vardon’s armies upon them. They weren’t ready to hold them off. The only hope they’d have to survive would be to turn them back over to him. 

And what would that accomplish? 

“We will, as soon as we are able.” She promised. But when would that be? It wouldn’t be soon, she knew. Perhaps never, she thought, bitterly. 

Vera let out a ‘tut’ at Anna’s explanation regarding why there would be no immediate rescue attempt made for Bea and Lina.

“Yet we can send people into the Capitol city to snatch up the Prior girls to come here, eat our food, and offer little else,” she replied coolly.  “You know as well as I do neither of them are safe. We’re lying to ourselves, all of us, every time we say that. Bea not only betrayed the North, but Vardon’s closest friend,” she rolled her eyes at the thought of anyone befriending that droll man, Victor Cradon. “Its more surprising that he didn’t immediately call for her death as soon as Lina cross the border back into the North.”

Perhaps she was still rattled from her most recent argument with Jack, but Anna’s answer simply wouldn’t do at that moment. “We claim to be so different from Vardon but, to me at least, we seem to be adopting the same war tactics... kidnapping poor innocent girls, treating our people as expendable,” she pushed the bowl away, standing up from the table. 

“I believe I’ve lost my appetite.”

[upryavera]

Wellness Check || Vera + Seb

[upryavera]

upryasebastian:

Seb turned to look at her, said, “Hmmm,” and looked back at the sea.  He wanted to believe her, but he did not.  Virginia had no plan for rescuing the Hartwrights - and how could she? - it was much too dangerous and would risk too many lives for too little gain.  Thought Seb fully comprehended this and her reasons for it, it made him no less bitter.  “No one wants to,” he replied, slowly, watching the water rise towards his boots before falling back.  “But all of this has nothing to do with what we want.  It has to do with the rights of the people who are here.  The ones who aren’t here…” Seb shook his head.

He nodded, felt a touch of guilt bubbling up.  “You’re right, Vera,” he responded.  “I’m sorry.”  Seb was very much carried away with his emotions, caught up in the ramifications of what he’d learned.  It was hard, now, to think, to stop anything, to return from the haze in which everything had left him.  “I won’t die,” he said, softly.  “I wouldn’t do that to her.”  Lina had little enough to hope for, just now, but what she’d done, she’d done to save the life of a loved one.  He knew well and good that, if something were to happen to him as a result, she’d never forgive herself.  She’d only ever wanted to save lives.

Seb chuckled, nodding.  “That’s just what I said,” he responded.  More or less, he supposed.  “He does know and he does feel confident regarding the child’s paternity, thankfully, a fact that will keep both mother and child safe.  I’ll tell you the truth, Vera.  I pray the baby is his or, if not, that he or she so closely resembles Lina as to give him no cause for doubt.”  Seb shook his head.  “Legacy, huh?” he murmured.  “What about this legacy of tyranny and oppression he’s leaving behind?  What can he be thinking?  Is he mad?”  Never in his life had Seb hated anyone the way he loathed Vardon - and never had he been so helpless in the face of something like that.  Seb was a soldier, too.  He’d been raised to fight his enemies.  He despised this inactivity perhaps even more than Vardon himself.

He nodded slowly.  “Security is very tight around his ‘wives,’ anyway,” he replied.  “I can’t imagine what it will look like tightened.”  He shook his head.  “I can’t stand it, Vera, to think of her there, I…I can’t stand it.”  He bowed his head, listened to the crash of the waves.  The sound no longer soothed him.

He heard her words, felt her hand on his shoulder, and slowly turned to look at her, smiled softly.  “It is,” he assured her.  “Any child of Lina’s is ours and that’s an end to it.  She didn’t choose this path, not really.  Whatever happens, she’ll always be the love of my life.”  He shifted, then laughed at her next words.  “Good to know where I rank in that lineup,” he said, half-teasingly, but he knew how she meant it, and he nodded.  “Thank you,” he said, softly, genuinely, then added, assuringly: “I have no intention of allowing either of them to remain there any longer than they have to.  I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m sure - I’m sure - there’s a way.  We’ll get them out of there…with Virginia’s help or without it.”

Shaking himself as he heard her suggestion, Seb nodded.  “You’re right,” he responded softly.  He hardly heard her, but the idea of warmth and something hot to drink did sound appealing, he thought, as he followed her inside.  Seb got to work starting a fire - found it was relieving to be able to make one, to stab at something with a stick, after the days he’d passed.  “Have you eaten?” he asked over his shoulder as they both continued with their tasks.  “I’ve got some food here, if you’d like to have dinner.  It’s nothing much,” he confessed.  “But it’s food.”

Vera was uncharacteristically silent until the pair were inside. She knew where the kettle was kept and set about making tea in silence as Seb, somewhat aggressively, stoked a fire to life. She stared at the kettle for a time as it sat on the burner before turning around to face Seb

“Its not true, you know, what you said about no one wanting to save them. I do,” she informed him. “More than anything, really.”

The kettle began whistling suddenly and Vera turned back to it, wrapping her hand in a towel in order to pull it from the stove without burning herself. 

“I don’t know if Lina’s ever told you that we grew up together, the Hartwrights and I,” she poured the water slowly into the waiting teapot. “It was just my parents and I for most of the outbreak.... we lived in this rather secluded part of the south and during the outbreak were spared from most of the unpleasantness. The Hartwrights were the first people I remember meeting once we moved to the city, so I suppose they were my first friends, really,” she continued, pausing for a moment to scoop tea from a container into the pot to steep. She turned back around and smiled slightly. 

“I remember Lina and I sitting in those fancy rooms, watching Bea rant and rave and make her father turn red in the face,” Vera shook her head. “If it hadn’t been so necessary for me to make my departure so abruptly for the south, I’m sure we all might’ve plotted to escape together. Though, I suppose, Lina might not have met you then,” she smiled slightly at Seb. 

Vera paused once again, turning to find tea cups in the cupboard. She thought long and hard about her next words, worrying she might sound as if she were betraying the south, Virginia and all they were fighting for.

“I want to help you,” she finally continued, picking up the tea pot and pouring two cups as calmly as if they were just discussing the weather. “You know I believe in what Virginia stands for and I would take a bullet for that woman but Seb,” she handed him his cup. “What’s the point if we’re just going to abandon our own people to the North? What are we even fighting for then?” 

Plenty of things, in all honestly. But, in Vera’s mind, abandoning even one person wasn’t the sort of people they claimed to be. Those were Vardon’s ideals, treating his men, his soldiers, as expendable objects. 

“I know Virginia’s made it quite clear that a rescue attempt is too risky but I’ve always been of the opinion that its better to ask for forgiveness than permission at times,” she picked up her own cup, taking a dignified sip. 

“So I say we make a plan,” she concluded. 

[littlewickedthings]

Spitzer castle 6 by andrea.horvat on Flickr.

[soyouthinkyoucansee]

[quillington]

vera knight - earth

bea crandon - air

madeline vardon - water

veronica hartwright - fire

[upryaanna]

Homecoming | Anna & Vera

[upryavera]

upryaanna:

Anna crossed her arms, warming herself against the cold wind that whipping through the yard. She shook her head in frustration at Vera’s outburst regarding Jack. She’d never been a fan of him, herself. His mannerisms were too similar to Nathaniel’s for her liking. But, unlike Nathaniel, he’d been given a position that suited his talents. Furthermore, sensitive information was kept from him, if it was possible for him to do his job without it. Nathaniel had done less, in her opinion, to earn it … and he was senior in Virginia’s councils, second only to her. 

“I’m surprised you haven’t strangled him. I would have,” She teased, a small smile playing on her lips. Although, in the mood she’d been in, just now, she wondered if she would have had the patience not to. 

“The rumors are true,” She announced, as she busied herself with pouring some stew into a bowl for Vera, “We do have his sisters. He wasn’t cooperating and now he is.” She shrugged, as though it had been simple. “The information we’ve gathered from him has been invaluable.” 

She wondered how much more he would tell them. She wasn’t sure what they would do once he had divulged all that he could. They could use him in a trade for Beatrice, perhaps, but allowing him to return to the North could prove dangerous. They’d been careful not to let him learn much of anything since he arrived, but they had been less careful with his sisters. She hoped giving them so much freedom hadn’t been a mistake. 

Anna managed a smirk as she set the food down in front of Vera, “Not quite. He can have the miserable Victor Crandon all to himself,” She teased. 

“Well, be my guest. I think many people would thank you if you did,” Vera huffed, but she was calming down slightly. Nothing set her off as much as unkind words about the people she cared about. The situation with the Hartwrights and her unability to do anything about it lead to a particularly short fuse. 

Vera simple nodded in response to Anna’s reply regarding the Prior sisters. She remembered them both, vaguely, from her youth. They’d been rather innocent things,always being watched by their father or brother or Vardon himself. She wondered to herself if their tactics were straying much too close to Vardon’s own, abducting the two girls who could offer them nothing except striking fear into their brother.  "And do we think there is anything they’ll be able to offer us? Or are we simply giving them a holiday in the rustic south?” she inquired, taking the bowl of stew from Anna. 

“I suppose the only good thing about Bea’s current... predicament... is that she no long has to live and pretend to be in love with that droll man,” Vera commented. Of course she wished the opposite. It would be much easier to whisk Bea back to the south that way, rather than trying to rescue her from a southern jail.

“Has Virginia made any mention of sending a party north to try and bring Bea and Lina home?”

[upryamadeline]

Where the Skies Are Blue (flashback) | Vera & Lina

[upryavera]

upryamadeline:

“Oh, dear. That sounds awful.” Lina said, casting another glance up where Jack Lewis was standing with her husband. She didn’t know him well, but she did know that he could be a handful. She imagined him driving through these dirt country roads with a wild and reckless abandon, all the while being scolded by Vera who would manage to still look dignified through the whole thing. “I hope he knows what he’s doing. What you do is already so awfully dangerous …” 

She knew Vera was intelligent and capable and brave, but that did not stop her from worrying. It was easy, living here, to forget that there was a war. But there was no forgetting for someone like Vera; for someone like her sister who braved new dangers everyday. Xavier Vardon was a powerful and influential man, but Lina firmly believed that he would not (could not!) win out in the end. She just hoped and prayed that nothing happened to Vera or Beatrice before that time. She wanted them to know what it was like to feel safe; to feel blissfully happy. 

She laughed: Vera’s comment regarding Jack’s inability to look presentable pushed away her more serious thoughts, “Is his appearance really so unprepossessing as that?” She asked. Of course, no one had higher standards than Vera Knight when it came to how one should present oneself … and from what she knew of Jack, dressing to impress was the least of his priorities. 

Lina smiled, looking out across the ocean. “It’s so beautiful; so peaceful.” She agreed, “It’s like paradise.” She’d never been so happy, as she was here. Her time living in the capital (and the few years she remembered from even before that) seemed like another lifetime. “I hope you have a place like this of your own one day.” It didn’t seem fair, Lina thought, that she should have escaped so much while those closest to her must still suffer through it all. 

Vera sighed shaking her head slightly. “I suppose its not as terrible as it might be,” Vera confessed, glancing back up at Jack and Seb. “He may be a bit uncouth, but he seems to respond well to Virginia’s payments, so I don’t feel as if he might pull over and push me out of the car along the side of the road.”

She’d never admit it, but after the time they’d spent together travelling back and forth across the countryside, there was no one she trusted more to be her companion. Despite their prickly attitude towards one another, he had given her no reason to distrust him.

“I suppose it is dangerous, in a sense...” Vera didn’t see it that way, really. Often she and Jack were travelling through southern controlled territory so the only danger might be a rogue undead, though things were changing now that the north had taken some of their lands. “No like it is with Bea, though. Not only is there the danger of being discovered, I suppose there’s also the danger of being utterly bored to death being married to Victor Cradon!”

Now that Lina was in the south along with Veronica,  Vera was eager for Bea to return as well. She knew Bea was doing good work for the cause, but it had been years and, selfishly, she wanted her little surrogate family back safe with her. 

“Now that I’ve managed to find proper cushions, I’m quite happy in my little apartment back in town,”  Vera assured her, though her quarters would never suit her fancy. “Perhaps one day, once things have settled, I might see if father’s family estate has survived...” Vera mused. She wondered what he would think about his disgraced only child returning home after all these years.  

“Shall we head back?” Vera suggested, gesturing towards the lighthouse. “Jack is such a stickler about packing the car light, but I persuded him to bring along some supplies for you both. And I would be quite happy to have Jack cook this evening,”  she continued as if she had the authority to command Jack cook for them. “He is surprisingly not terrible at it, if you can believe such a thing.”

[upryajack]

Growing on Me | Jack & Vera

[upryavera]

upryajack:

Jack chuckled at her comment about the corset, “I can’t say that I have.” He leaned forward to poke at the fire. It didn’t really need tending, just yet, only he wanted to catch the full of her expression at what he planned to say next. he couldn’t help but cast her a mischievous grin, “I’ve certainly helped enough women out of them, so if you ever need any help in that area … all you have to do is ask.” He winked.

Her request had surprised him.

He leaned back against the tree, raising his eyebrow, “Never thought I’d see the day when you’d want to make a detour.” It had always been in and out for them. As soon as one message had been delivered, they were to report directly back into camp and wait for the next. Once, he’d wanted to stay for a drink and a smoke when they’d had dinner in a small town, but she had insisted that they couldn’t spare the twenty minutes that would take! He couldn’t imagine what she had planned, but he suspected that it would take longer than that.

“That depends. Where, exactly, are we going? I’m assuming this isn’t official business?” It was a favor to her, she had said, so he guessed that this, whatever it was, had not been passed down directly from Virginia. He tilted his head, “What’s in it for me?”

Vera knew he was trying to rattle her, but she was well practiced in the art of keeping a straight face when Jack said something completely improper. Her initial response was something along the lines of ‘I’d rather set myself on fire,’ but she manged to hold her tongue.

“While I”m sure you’re quite the expert, Mr. Lewis, I am perfectly capable of undressing myself, thank you,” she replied coolly, walking away from the fire back to where her bag rested.

Normally, the small wooden box she retrieved from inside was kept in the top drawer of her dresser back home, but when she had received the orders for this trip, she had packed it on a whim. Jack’s comments nearly made her put it away, to tell him to forget the entire idea... but if not now, then when might they make it out this way again?

“It isn’t official, no,” Vera said slowly, opening the box and pulling out the paper inside. It was yellow and had been folded and unfolded hundreds of times. She took a deep breath before turning back to cross the short distance to where Jack waited.

“This is where I’m hoping to go,” she informed him, unfolding the map carefully and laying it out in front of him. It was old, older than the arrival of the undead. Vera was unsure of where her mother had found it that night before she left the north, but it had been one of the last things she’d even given her to daughter. There was a small circle in blank ink which, if correct, was where the Knight family once had lived. 

“Its a map to my childhood home,” she explained, straightening back up, but continuing to stare down at where Jack sat. “If I’m reading it properly, it should only be about half a day’s journey out of our way,” she continued. After a pause, she dropped the small bit of money she’d brought along into Jack’s lap.

“Of course I’ll pay... I know there’s no other way to go about this. I’m sure there will also be plenty of my family’s heirlooms left behind that you can pocket while you think I’m not looking,” she added flatly. 

[myheadisfullofpoison]

[upryajack]

Growing on Me | Jack & Vera

[upryavera]

upryajack:

He’d never admit this to anyone (he hardly even admitted it to himself) but Vera Knight belonged here. You wouldn’t think so to look at her (even now as she was out in it – especially now as she complained about the food and arranged the luxuries she’d toted along with her). The truth was, she could survived out here without any of it. in fact, in dire situations, she’d proven that she could. She just chose not to when there were other options available. It still seemed silly to him to try to bring civilization to the wilderness, but Vera was nothing if not stubborn. 

Jack shrugged, as though it didn’t matter to him that she’d refused to eat. “I’ll never say no to seconds.” He took another bite of food from his newly refilled bowl. “There wasn’t room next to the silver,” He teased, mouth still half full, when she brought up the spices. “Next time,” He pointed his fork at her, “pack a little lighter, and I’ll make us a decent meal.” 

A few moments later and his bowl was empty. He ate like his food was going to be stolen off of his plate. As a boy, there had been too many times when food had been scarce and if you didn’t eat it then and there, you risked someone else taking it (sometimes out of your very hands). Most nights, Jack would finish his plate before Vera had managed two bites. Vera called his eating habits uncivilized; he called her more dignified way of eating a waste of time. 

His impulse was to say something rude to the effect of “you can fill your own damn kettle” but surprised himself when he realized he was already standing over it, pouring water from his canteen into it. Hanging it over the fire, he looked over his shoulder, “Don’t get used to this, sweetheart.” 

He sat back down, taking a cigarette from his jacket pocket. “You plan on surviving this whole trip on tea?” He asked. “If you are going on a liquid diet, you might want something a stronger than that.” He took a swig of whiskey from his flask before tilting it in her direction. 

Vera barely noticed now when he rambled at her with his mouth full of food. She’d audibly gasped the first time he’d done it, along with gesturing at her with his poor excuse for a fork. Now it was just one of his many oddities she was forced to put up with.

She frowned at his use of a pet name. She’d demanded time and time again he speak to her properly, but he took no notice. “Thank you, Mr. Lewis,” she replied simply, though that was followed with a frown as he pulled out his flask.

“You, Mr. Lewis, have clearly never had to wear a corset,” she replied, shaking her head at his offer. Rarely did she partake in any alcoholic beverages these days. Champagne had been her drink of choice and it was impossible to come by in the north, understandably. “If you had then you might understand the necessity of a liquid diet.”

Vera crossed the campsite, standing near the fire, eyes on the kettle. It was silent for a time and Vera’s mind wandered back to the days when a fire this large was impossible in the evenings due to its attraction to the undead. It seemed their numbers were dwindling these days.

“Mr. Lewis, I wonder if you might be willing to do a favor for me,” Vera said suddenly. She turned away from the fire to face him. She’d been toying with this idea since they’d planned this trip. She also knew it was unlikely Jack would be willing to do anything for her as simply a favor, which was why she had a small bit of money hidden away at the bottom of her suitcase. “It would mean a small detour on our route home.”

[upryabeatrice]

Garden Tea | Bea & Vera

[upryavera]

upryabeatrice:

As soon as Vera had turned up in need of assistance, Bea had determined to help her.  She didn’t have much experience hiding fellow spies, but she was finding that, difficult and perilous though it may be, she would regret it when Vera had to leave.  

It had been far too long since the two had seen much of each other and, while she regretted that she had store Vera and her companion under a trap door beneath one of the out buildings rather than put her up properly as a guest, it was still wonderful to see her…not to mention to have the opportunity for the first time in far too long to talk openly with someone.  Bea’s life was a ring of secrets and lies, a fact which pained her.  There was nothing she craved more than a little honesty - and few more honest than Vera.

“I’ll be taking tea in the garden, this afternoon,” Bea told the cook breezily.  “And, please, make some extra.  I suspect Lina might be stopping in with that fiancé of hers.”

It was not, however, Lina or Seb that Bea was expecting and, when the tea had been set out and the servants gone their way, Bea took the tray and walked into the little building.  “I thought you might be in need of some tea,” announced Bea, as she came down the stairs.  “Nothing so soothing on a stressful journey as a cuppa, if you ask me,” she added with a smirk.

Coming down the final step, she noticed that Jack was sleeping.  He seemed nice enough, of course, but Bea was relieved to have a little time with only her friend.  Glancing at the slumbering man, she shot a bemused glance towards Vera.  Bea set down the tea tray, planting her fists on her hips as she chuckled softly.  “I have to know, Vera,” she giggled.  “What on earth is it like…the two of you traveling together?”

Vera had been sure that, after so many years, there would be no chance of anyone recognizing her from the old days. Vera could only imagine how many other “It” girls had passed through society since her departure. Virginia had been concern, but had agreed to Vera’s trip to the Capitol. The information was too important for her to do otherwise. 

Jack had joked she shouldn’t dress so well, but Vera had ignored his advice. The pair tried to stay out of sight, keeping a low profile and staying inside most of the day. Still, while sitting at the restaurant late in the evening where their informant was supposed to meet the pair, it happened. Vera felt eyes on her. Despite her tumultuous relationship with Jack Lewis, they managed to speak simply through looks. He’d seen someone staring; they needed to leave. Jack made the excuse to the waiter that Vera felt ill and the pair moved quickly towards the exit, but not quickly enough. 

Vera remembered Samantha Squires. She’d never been the sort of woman Vera wished to associate with-- silly, simple, acting as if she didn’t have a thought in her head. Somehow that was the person who spotted Vera, hurrying across the restaurant as she and Jack attempted to leave, causing a scene. 

Is that really you, Vera? Everyone thought you were dead! We heard you’d gone southern on us!

Vera and Jack had assured the woman she was mistaken and made their exit quickly. Panic set in almost instantly and the pair returned to their rented rooms and hastily packed. It was out the window that they noticed the influx of soldiers on the street. Whether it was due to the possible reemergence of Vera Knight, southern defector, or not, Jack and Vera could not risk being discovered.

Going to Beatrice Hartwright’s home was a terrible risk, seeing as Bea was married to Vardon’s right hand man, Victor Cradon. But the luckiest of chances, however, they managed to catch Bea in the garden while Victor was away. She’d whisked the pair into the cellar where they had been living like incredibly well dressed moles for the past two days.

“Bea!” Vera exclaimed, hurrying across the dirt floor to help her fried with the tray as she came down the rickety wooden stairs. She cared little for keeping quiet in order for Jack to sleep-- a bomb might go off inside the cellar and he wouldn’t wake. 

“Oil and water would do better travelling together than Mr. Lewis and myself,” Vera replied, sitting down at the table. She smiled at the tea laid out in front of her, feeling like an actual human being for the first time in ages. 

“Shouldn’t you be worried someone might see you?” Vera inquired as she reached for the pot of tea, pouring a cup for Bea first and then herself. “You’re a stronger woman than I might ever be... living alongside one of Vardon’s closest companions. How do you stand him?” she reached for the milk, adding a small amount to her tea, stirring it as she looked across the table at her old friend. 

[upryavera]

Wellness Check || Vera + Seb

[upryavera]

upryasebastian:

Seb rubbed his neck at the sound of Vera’s disapproving horror.  He wasn’t at all surprised by her reaction, though it was hardly welcome.  It was the same thing that Lina had told him, but what did he care for that?  He didn’t regret going and, in fact, only regretted not going earlier; only regretted leaving.  And, in truth, he couldn’t find it in him to care what the consequences might be.  Vardon had already stolen his life from him once - what did it matter if he did it again?  What did any of it matter?  

His own expression was disapproving as he glanced towards her in response.  “She’s my wife,” he said, as though this changed everything.  For him, in fact, it did.  “I can’t abandon her.”  He shrugged helplessly, casting his glance back towards the tumultuous sea.  “I can’t.”

Seb nodded, but in fact he hadn’t really doubted her discretion.  Reading the doubt and confusion in her eyes, he shrugged.  “Don’t forget that I was also Upryan before I was Arcadian.  I trained in Vardon’s army at one time.  I know how his guard behaves…well enough to sneak one person inside, particularly because I still have my old uniform.  I doubt I could do much more than that.”  He shook his head.  “Fighting for him is how I began to learn what he truly was.”  Meeting the Hartwrights had only confirmed his worst fears…but meeting Lina had also taught him hope and happiness beyond what he’d previously imagined.

“What did she tell you?”

Seb felt choked and hung his head as he ran through it, the minutia of Lina’s expressions appearing before his face.  “Vera,” he said, softly.  “She’s pregnant.”  He turned towards her, watching for her reaction.  “Did you know?”  He wondered if it was general knowledge that simply hadn’t reached his ears (after all, no one was eager to discuss the situation with him), or if it was had yet to be announced.  Clearing his throat, he glanced back towards the ocean.  “There’s something you certainly don’t know.  There’s…a chance that I’m the father.  Which, if true, puts both mother and child in danger.”  He shook his head.  “I don’t know what to do.”

“No one is suggesting you abandon your wife,” Vera replied defensively. She often felt, after Sebastian of course, that she was the person who most wanted to get the Hartwright sisters out of the north and back to Arcadia where they belonged. “No one wants to abandon any of our compatriats in the North!”

She wasn’t sure she believed those words the second they left her lips.

“Don’t you forget I was also Uprayan before I was Arcadian,” she snapped at him in response. “I may not have trained in his army, but I sat in rooms with his closest confidants... I listened to the stories of what happened to dissenters. How will you help Lina if you’re dead?” 

She wasn’t sure why she was so frustrated with him seeing as they both had the same end goal: save the people they cared about. Vera wasn’t, outwardly ,overly sentimental, but in her own mind considered Bea and Lina to be the closest things she had to family, meaning Seb was part of that family now. She imagined part of her frustration about his seeming lack of care for his personal well being stemmed from not wanting to lose any more of her adopted family. 

Vera had geared up to start another tirade, but stopped at the look on Sebastian’s face. When he turned and divulged Lina’s news to her, she was rendered speechless for a few moments. Nothing had prepared her for that news. Thousands of thoughts were swimming through her head until she heard Seb speak the words I don’t know what to do. 

“We have to think about this logically... He must know she’s with child, correct? If she and the baby are unharmed than he must believe the child is his... which, as odd as it sounds, is good news. From what I’ve come to understand about Vardon, he is obsessed with... legacy. Obsessed with having children-- well, boys-- to carry on his future. That’s undoubtedly part of the reason for the harem of women he keeps marrying-- if one won’t give him what he wants, he finds another and tries again.” she paused, not wanting to get off track and start ranting about Xavier Vardon’s less than proper lifestyle. 

“The bad news is that he will take every precaution to see that nothing happens to Lina... which will obviously make it more difficult to extract her from the north,” Vera paused, letting out a heavy sigh. She didn’t mention that the farther along in her pregnancy Lina was, the more dangerous it would be for her to travel the long, somewhat dangerous trip out of the north. 

“You must believe the child is yours, Sebastian,” Vera said, her voice softer than when she had been discussing the details of the situation. She took a step towards him, reaching out to put her hand on his shoulder. “Even if... biologically, it isn’t... any child would be the luckiest to have you as their father instead of a man like Vardon.” 

She dropped her hand almost instantly once she’d made that statement. “We should go inside... its quite chilly and we will do no one, especially Lina, an ounce of good if we freeze to death along the seaside. I’ll put on some tea.”