simplestgift | Eight Bells: [Action/Written]

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Eight Bells: [Action/Written]

[Luceti, Jack Sparrow now has drapes. They are lovely drapes, made of something like spiderweb silk and dyed a nice, neutral, manlyish color. The furniture and silver are both polished. There is even a new rug on the living room floor. Everything looks very home-ish.

Jack's clothes, on the other hand, are strewn all over the place, and every drop of dairy is badly curdled. Missing is a pair of trousers and Jack's Jolly Roger t-shirt.

Archie Kennedy comes dashing into town from the Cullen House wearing a pair of trousers and a Jolly Roger t-shirt. He'll make his way as quickly as is possible to his own apartment to get dressed properly so no one will suspect he spent the week with Jack--least of all Jack. He can be run into at any point.

After all this is accomplished and he's eaten something at Seventh Heaven that does not include porridge, honey, or cream, he will sit down to write this note.]

May I speak with a tailor in this town?

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That's perfectly fine. [She can talk as much as she wants. She keeps losing people.]

Dawn wanted to be involved in what I mentioned. The...the ceremony, for people who've gone home.

Great. That'll be good for her. It'll be nice to think that maybe at some point there'll be people here who've never had to go through something like that without a...ceremony.

[ though in future you may find her conspicuously absent from them. buffy works through these things either privately or one-on-one. she can't afford a breakdown like she had with archie. not in public. ]

[That he can understand.] I'm...not certain I'm the right man for the job.

Archie -- [ she could almost laugh. ] You're talking to a girl who took up being a champion for the good fight at the age of fifteen and also a mostly-teetotaler who serves at the local bar. I'm the definition of not right for the job. It's never stopped me.

[ a warm smile -- possibly the warmest since this conversation began. ] Just do it. Own it. Nothing wrong with that.

[It takes him a second--he wasn't the right man for the job even in his previous career. He could be grateful that no one here saw him lose his control to panic in his first land battle. But he's not a bad lieutenant now at all, so her story strikes home.]

Of course. [He thinks.] Maybe Dawn will have better ideas about what to do. If I can just get the names from everyone who wants to attend, it'll be a start.

[ summers girls. also experts in grieving. they came with such maudlin resumes. ]

Find some musicians. Music always helps.

Right. [A tight but grateful smile at her support.] Thank you.

[ she sips the tea, slowly. not much left to it. ]

No problem. Just -- good luck with it.

[A sigh as he looks up to the ceiling.]

I don't know if I'm qualified because I haven't lost anyone I'm particularly close with yet. I'm not complaining, mind you. But people might talk.

Someone who raises an opinion over that is someone whose opinion you don't want to listen to in the first place.

Very possibly. Though I'd rather be spared any claim that I'm mocking anyone.

I'm not convinced anyone'd try to claim that.

Then I've no excuse, have I?

That's how it sounds.

[ she drains her mug. ]

I'll get started on that, then. Put something out on the journals for a list of names. It'll be something to do when I'm not killing myself with sword practice.

...He's that bad, huh?

[ she means jack's teaching. ]

One move three hundred times a day. I tried it with a twig this week. I hate to think what it'll be like with a sword.

My God. For real? That's...half the Watcher's council isn't even that wacky when it comes to training.

[ maybe this was being too generous to the council, actually. ]

I expect it'll do the trick. I can't sail with him until I've bested him in a fight, so I have incentive.

[ and all buffy had to do was make a wish. ]

Still, it's kinda...regimenty and soulless, that sort of training.

Oh? Training should have a soul?

And imagination.

I have to imagine I know what he's talking about.

[Does that count?]

Jack's techniques are pretty fantastic. [ and this is coming from a girl who simply woke up one morning with most of the techniques naturally in place. ] But don't forget about the emotions that go into a fight. The fuel, not just the physics.

What one fights for?

[This feels so backwards when he thinks about it. He's been fighting for the last nine years, even if he did take an enforced two-year break, and Buffy is a tiny woman. She's still been fighting for longer than he has, and was the only person in her army for most of that time.]

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