Fifteen Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN]

[simplestgift]

[Archie woke up yesterday.  How is this new?  Well, after getting some fairly critical stab wounds from Grell, he was put on a ventilator and kept under sedation for a few days.  The ventilator was exchanged for a less impressive-looking concentrator yesterday and he was taken off sedation.  He spent yesterday sleeping anyway, since anesthesia doesn't generally leave you bright-eyed immediately afterward.

This morning, he is talking and eating Jell-o, which is a new experience. The most important bit comes written on the journal network in wobbly handwriting courtesy of the heart monitor clipped on his finger.]

I have been informed that I may have visitors. I'd like to know everyone is all right.

Kennedy

[Anyone who comes in will find him looking predictably weak and pale but lucid and in good spirits, or possibly catnapping after a dose of painkillers.

OOC: Purely for the sake of mercy, Archie is unaffected by the event.]

Comments

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

But they're basically the same thing? Just that one's on a leash and the other isn't? [Now she's wondering how many famous pirates were actually privateers and is ready to be quite disappointed.]

[simplestgift]

More or less, in deed. Though there's a bit of honor associated with privateers that isn't given to pirates, because at least privateers serve someone.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

What about sea monsters? [Now she's sort of joking, but man, if you ever did see some sea monsters, she'd love to hear about it.]

[simplestgift]

No sea monsters, no. Not unless you count Styles, which most men did.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Soft giggle.] Styles?

[simplestgift]

He was one of the ratings I knew since I was a mid. Come to think on it, actually, he was bos'n's mate last I knew. Not a bad sort, just crude and ill-mannered and used to kill rats with his teeth. Smelled awful, as well. He was loyal, if he considered you worthy of it.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

Killed rats with his teeth? [You're making that up.]

[simplestgift]

While the other men bet on how many he could kill.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

How did he catch the rats in the first place?

[simplestgift]

Oh good Lord. You could hardly turn round without seeing one or two, in the cable tiers.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

And you could just... catch them?

[Sheltered modern girl that she is, she has the notion in her head that rats are one of those animals it's nearly impossible to catch with your bare hands, so she is wondering if this is supposed to be part of Styles' infamy or not.]

[simplestgift]

If you were quick. Really, they'd spend time luring them to the one room and torment them after that. Not very pleasant business.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Not very pleasant indeed.]

What did you do to pass the time?

[simplestgift]

It depended on the ship, and on my rank or rating, and whether or not there was time to pass.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

I suppose you must have been very busy then. [Come on, surely you got some downtime, right?]

[simplestgift]

...Books. Cards, until I made friends with Horatio, at which point it became a chore unless I was partners with him. As a boy it was enough to sit with the men while they were skylarking in the gunroom. As a lieutenant, it was more befitting of my rank to stick with the books and the cards. Though to be truthful, whenever I wasn't on watch, it was normally best to sleep.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Slowly:] If you could choose... Would you choose a life on the sea? If you could... do it again?

[simplestgift]

[He looks vaguely uncomfortable for a second. Then a small smile crosses his face.]

You're not the first person who's asked me that, would you know?

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Annnnd she realizes she's crossed that invisible (to her) line between 'polite questions' and 'being a nosy nancy.' She tries to fix it.]

I suppose... sailing is one of those things you can't understand unless you've done it.

[simplestgift]

Judging by what poets write about it, I would agree. But...I don't know, truthfully. I don't know if I would do the same thing. I doubt I'd go back to the navy now, if I had a choice, but I haven't put very much thought into changing the past. It can't be done.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

You're right about that.

What sort of poets were you thinking of?

[simplestgift]

Coleridge comes to mind. Lovely rhyme, but he could have brushed up on his seamanship.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

Coleridge... [She's certain she knows the name, but where from...?] I'm afraid I've never read any of him. [lol geneticist here.]

[simplestgift]

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, he wrote. Extremely long, it might not have caught on after my time.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Oh oh, pinging more brain cells-] The... one about the albatross?