Thirty-Five Bells: [Voice/Action]

[simplestgift]

[Archie is going to head into All Passions today, in desperate need of a dress uniform. When things are slow at work tonight, he'll speak a message.]

Is there anyone in the village who could perform a wedding? A priest or other official? I'm...getting married.

[He sounds a tad stunned about it, too. Even if it's been over a month since this was decided.]

Comments

[simplestgift]

See if he'll do it out of friendship first.

[thedicearecast]

...Good luck.

[No, seriously. She means that. And she's hoping Jack is decent enough to actually respect Archie's wish.]

[simplestgift]

Ye of little faith.

[thedicearecast]

Pretty much. [No point in denying it.] At least it's not me of no faith at all.

[simplestgift]

I never subscribed to optimism till coming here.

[thedicearecast]

I still don't. Think of something to bribe him with just in case.

[simplestgift]

Most naturally, my dear Amelia.

[thedicearecast]

...'My dear Amelia?'

Look. I know you're happy about getting married, but don't get carried away.

[simplestgift]

...I'll never understand you future folk.

[thedicearecast]

It's not about being from the future. I don't go for nicknames. Which is why I tell Jack not to call me 'darling', Horatio not to call me 'Miss,' and Vash not to add '-chan' to my name.

[All to no avail, mind, but she does tell them to stop.]

[simplestgift]

..."Miss" is not a pet name. He is showing you respect.

[thedicearecast]

Either way. I don't understand why he won't just call me Amelia.

[simplestgift]

I told you, respect is assumed, intimacy is earned. Even husbands and wives don't always call each other by Christian names in public.

[thedicearecast]

...Wow. That's even stricter than I thought.

[simplestgift]

It isn't strict, it is courtesy. Something we give freely, and then we have to listen to others complain about how we expect it back.

[Sorry, Amelia, you hit a sore point.]

[thedicearecast]

[Clearly. Amelia pauses before she replies.]

...I don't really mean it, you know.

[simplestgift]

[He hesitates, seeming to deflate.]

Beg pardon.

[thedicearecast]

[And she sighs.]

When I give you a hard time. I'm not saying I'm a fan of how things are in your world, but most of it is just complaining to complain. It doesn't actually bug me that Hornblower calls me "Miss." At least not that much.

I didn't know it was bothering you that much.