Gilbert Blythe (fairandsquare) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2019-10-26 14:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !log, ~2019 october, ~25 points, ~~gilbert blythe (fairandsquare), ~~jemma simmons (smarterhalf) |
WHO Gilbert Blythe & Jemma Simmons
WHATMeeting someone new
WHEN Saturday afternoon
WHERE The FitzSimmons House
WARNINGS TBD, will update but probably none
STATUS Closed | Incomplete Gdoc
To say that Gilbert was disoriented and overwhelmed would be an understatement. The Welcoming Committee wasn't very useful at all except to give him items he'd never seen before and an address which would be his new home. He was perfectly alright with not being in Avonlea anymore, though he'd expected to working on the docks a while longer before finding work on a steamer ship. Arriving in Madison Valley, in the United States, was far past anything he could comprehend. He certainly didn't have the proper papers or funds to be traveling outside of Canada and yet no one seemed to question it.
He hoped that the house he was directed to had more answers than the Committee and, with a bit of help from a fellow with a very interesting glove over one of his hands, found it without too much issue. Said gentleman had informed him that Fitzsimmons was very nice, although it was hard to distinguish if he was talking about one person or two. Just as Gilbert had turned to thank him, the man was gone. It left him a bit confused as he turned back to knock on the door. Hopefully, whomever lived there was home and expecting him.
***
It had to be years now since the Fitz-Simmons household had been added to the list of potential guardians. Well before they’d ever planned on having Rowan, at least, if not longer. Jemma had completely forgotten about it, was just surprised to see a young man no more than fifteen on the doorstep. The baby was napping upstairs and Jemma was wrapped up in reading a fascinating article; she almost didn’t notice the knock.
It was long enough to be poor manners before she made it to the door. “So sorry. I--” she realized who was standing there as the words tumbled out of her mouth. “Oh. Hello there. You are?”
She clearly was not expecting him. She clearly wasn’t expecting anyone. She might have at least tidied her hair a little better if she had been.
***
Gilbert smiled earnestly at the woman who answered the door, albeit a little bit later than he would have hoped. The last thing he wanted was to wait on their doorstep, although he would have if necessary. “Hello, ma’am,” he greeted with a slight inclination of his head. “My name is Gilbert Blythe, and I’ve just arrived here. The Welcoming Committee said that you were to be my guardian.”
He sounded and looked very out of place, though hopefully she wouldn’t hold it against him. “I take it to mean they didn’t notify you?” That was disappointing and a bit confusing, but he was determined to press onward. “I can stay somewhere else if you could just point me in the direction of where to go,” Gilbert offered, since he was a bit affronted by the idea that he needed a guardian in the first place. His father had died. He was an orphan, but also more than an adult in his time. He would try to find a way to no longer be their concern if he could help it.
***
Guardians. Well that both answered and stirred up a lot of questions. The new ones could wait, though; Jemma did have enough sense that she wasn’t going to just leave a child standing on her doorstep.
“They did not,” she confirmed, but stood aside and held the door for him. “But by all means, come inside. You must be quite shocked, coming here. I’ll put on some tea.” A nice cup of tea would solve everything, or nearly all of it. It would be calming, if nothing else.
“And you can tell me a little about yourself while we’re at it.” And while she sent Fitz a text to let him know what was going on.
***
He hesitated for only a moment before he took his hat off and stepped over the threshold. "I apologize for the inconvenience, ma'am," he said, doing his best to remember his manners even though he was very confused and not at all sure what was going on around him. "It's been a big shock, yes. I'm from Avonlea, on Prince Edward Island in Canada," he explained, choosing to follow her lead since it was her home. He felt very much like a houseguest, and perhaps an unwanted one at that since she'd not been prepared at all for his arrival.
"The Welcoming Committee gave me some information, but it's frankly a bit outlandish to believe it's 2019 and October at that. That's quite a long ways away from the late 19th century," he explained, a bit unwilling to say exactly which year he was from. He was at an incredible disadvantage just by the discrepancy in years alone. "And I somehow appeared in the United States, in the middle of the country no less, even though I'd only just made it to Charlottetown."
***
“You’d be surprised the outlandish things that happen around here,” Jemma said with a laugh as she led him through to the kitchen. Outlandish was really an understatement. The madness of Madison Valley was really beyond words. At least Gilbert had come at a time not long after a bout of insanity and should be safe from it for a moment. He clearly had enough to deal with right now.
“I suppose you’ll have a lot to catch up on very quickly.” She hoped he was bright. He seemed bright. That would help him a lot with adjusting. “And there is something of a cultural shift. Have you ever been to America before?” Having been helped, she thought. She’d first come when she was about his age and every time she’d come back after that had been a little bit easier. It was as much home as home now.
***
Gilbert would be incredibly surprised by some of the things that happened in Madison Valley, but hopefully he would be eased into it. He took a seat at the kitchen table and, thankfully, the house wasn't entirely set up too differently from what he expected. "I'm not afraid of catching up if the schoolteacher won't mind helping me get caught up. My current schoolteacher didn't seem to have the time for it," he replied, though he didn't hold it against the older man. If his guardian could point him in the direction of the schoolteacher, he'd figure it out.
"I've been to America, but just in passing. My dad and I traveled quite a bit the past few months." Gilbert didn't feel the need to tell her about his father's death or his plans to work a steamer ship, so he kept that to himself. "How long have you been here?" he asked, since she clearly wasn't from the States or Canada based on her accent.