simplestgift | Thirty-Six Bells: [Written/Action]

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Thirty-Six Bells: [Written/Action]

[Written:]

In light of my new duties as first lieutenant of the LES Britannia, impending matrimony, and being bloody terrible at running a foodhouse, I shall soon retire as the owner of Cloud Nine. I'd like to continue to work a few shifts, of course, but the club will need new management. Which brave soul will shoulder the task?

-A. Kennedy

[Action only: He is enjoying the last night of the voyage, simply meditating upon the lovely roll of the ship beneath him. It's chilly out, and he can see his breath, but he doesn't mind, wrapped up tightly in his heavy wool greatcoat. Softly he sings a song swallowed by the night, evidenced mainly by the mist of it in the air around his lips.]

The maiden, oh, the maiden oh.
The sailor loves the maiden, oh!
So early in the morning,
The sailor loves the maiden, oh!
A maid that is young,
A maid that is fair,
A maid that is kind and pleasant, oh,
So early in the morning,
The sailor loves the maiden, oh!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Moreover, I thought you hated writing.

I do. But you wrote first and...[ and she was trying to be polite and accommodating but... ]

Does that mean we can stop?

Why do you think I mentioned it?

[ FREEDOM. ]

Because sometimes you can be a bit of a...what's the word?

Prat. I think the word is prat. Is the word prat?

...What inspired this sudden bout of earnestness?

[ after a long cold conflict, a few things are at rights in her world. not even the arrival of two exes could shatter it. it made her a little more sparkling and a little more playful. ]

Earnestness? You think that was me being earnest?

[He's not feeling really sense-of-humory tonight. A casually smarmy tone comes back.]

Lovely. You're very clever. You've proven you're far superior to myself in all manners of intellect. How adorable of me, to be so silly.

[ humourous or not, buffy summers's mirth was wont to drain away at the merest slight. and so -- bled dry of hers tonight -- her voice evened out. her tone grew distant. ]

Gee, do I ever hate the taste of words being put in my mouth. [ and by a friend -- a young man who ought to be marrying her sister and not the woman who'd sent sparrow to his death. a marriage she's been remarkably helpful with, she thought. but... ]

I'll let you return to your hiring. Sorry to get in the way.

Edited 2012-09-19 01:01 (UTC)

[There's a pause.]

Sorry. Dunno what's come over me tonight.

[ ...she doesn't want to scold him. she definitely doesn't want to. who knows what troubles could be churning in the once-again-lieutenant's mind? that in itself, she thought, could've been it.

but his words had still stung. they'd bitten into her. for she, buffy believes, hadn't behaved in any way that was unlike herself. whatever earnestness archie had mentioned was only her own usual sass.

so, cautiously: ] No harm? No foul. As long as it's not a case of cabin fever, maybe we're better off sorting it out when you're home...

[Dawn is not a ghost. But she still haunts him, and tonight, when Buffy speaks, he also hears Dawn. There's a long pause, then he speaks softly.]

You must be very happy not to be planning this wedding for someone else.

[ she mistakes his meaning -- but not accidentally. her ignorance (as it occasionally can be) is entirely feigned: ] About half the village seemed to think it was mine I was trying to plan when I asked about magazines for Liz.

I'm talking about your sister.

[ she'd lightly plucked at this conversation with spike, but: ] Isn't that the sort of thing me and you should maybe talk about in person?

...Perhaps. I won't deny I've had a glass or two. I'm acting a bit foolishly.

It's just -- these things are so cold...

Words always sound worse over the phone.

Edited 2012-09-19 01:29 (UTC)

You would know better than I. By tomorrow perhaps this mood will be ended anyway.

That's the problem with moods. They come and go. And the going part's not so bad but the coming...

[ here would be seen a shrug, should things have been face-to-face. ] But for what it's worth? You've never been more wrong.

About what?

[ buffy understands that telling him might be just about the worst thing she could do. not for archie, no. but perhaps for herself. it was the sort of truth a woman should be long-suffering about and keep to herself. there's no reason to incite any guilt on any person's part but...

he'd loved her. he could have been family. he deserved to know. ]

About whose wedding I'd rather be planning.

[That earns a long pause. His next words are even quieter.]

You don't know how I made her feel about herself.

Frankly? I don't think you know how you made her feel about herself.

[ buffy gets it. there was some...conflict. some argument. some point of contention near the end.

but even then, she remembers her baby sister so happy. so lively. so tangibly in love. ]

Edited 2012-09-19 01:41 (UTC)

I do know. I thought you'd hate me for it.

And maybe -- a year ago -- I would've.

But now there's all this and there's me, getting weepy over veil designs and candle arrangements and...

I just about died on the spot when Liz asked me, you know.

[ some maid of honour she was. ]

Buffy...Dawn wouldn't have been happy with me. And I know that. I don't simply fear it, as I do with Elizabeth. Any time I was in a mood like this, she'd blame herself. You didn't hear her ask me if she wasn't good enough.

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