Seventeen Bells: [WRITTEN/ACTION]

[simplestgift]

On July the 4th, 1776, one Horatio Hornblower was born in Kent.  If you see him, bid him many happy returns.  He will most likely grump about it all day and act ungrateful, but don't allow it to discourage you.  He does appreciate it, he simply does not know it.

[For most of the day, Archie will be running around trying to furnish a bedroom in the house for a new housemate. He'll end up in the library, Good Spirits, the grocery store, then finally the Battle Dome, mostly staring in bewilderment at the controls before deciding this is too scary and leaving. At some point, he'll also take a walk in the woods, rain or no rain, in shirtsleeves and waistcoat but no coat. After a while, he'll get back on the journals.]

[Filtered away from Grell, 44%]

If you wanted to surprise someone dear to you, to cheer her up when she returned from being kidnapped, what would you do for her?

Comments

[simplestgift]

There was a pause.

"You were taking care of him, and it didn't feel right to move into your house."

[all7seas]

"So you kept an eye on him at yours? Probably...probably better, that."

[simplestgift]

"They fought their duel, Jack. It's settled." A beat. "She let him live."

[all7seas]

"....Is it done, then? Is it over?" He had been sent home; Hornblower had done the formal thing expected of him. Could they put it all behind them?

[simplestgift]

"It's settled. I don't know who else she might hurt, but it's settled between them. And possibly between us. I'm afraid we're at Grell's mercy for that."

[all7seas]

So everything most likely was going to remain the same. Avoidances, plotting, secrecy. Jack was good with it. He didn't like the idea of the death god still being here and still carrying any kind of grudge. Jack trusted Grell about as far as he could throw her, in the end.

"Settled. Settled's good, for as long as it lasts."

[simplestgift]

"For as long as it lasts," Archie agreed. "She's got only herself to blame, wanting to be threatening and anonymous all at once. 'Canna sell the cou an sup the milk.'"

[all7seas]

"Aye. And why purchase said cou when you can sup the milk for free?"

Wires were getting crossed, somewhere, but overall Jack agreed with the other man and lifted his glass in recognition before downing more rum.

[simplestgift]

Archie lifted his own glass and sipped. "She doesn't even look very much like a woman, you know," he babbled on, the whiskey taking full force at last. "Broad shoulders, very...very flat in front, although that is the way with some women. And I was always very confused, listening to her, was not at all sure what sex she was. But she does not object to being called Miss Sutcliffe, so Miss Sutcliffe it is. And she has a blade that moves. Very fast. Therefore, Miss Sutcliffe it is."

[all7seas]

"Miss Sutcliffe, as you call her, is deadly." Another sip. "I never intended to tell, you know. I kept that secret for nearly six months. It was only Katie who knew, because she saved me. It...slipped out. To Buffy, one night. Accidental."

[simplestgift]

"She wanted blood, she was going to have it, Jack. She just used you as her excuse that time. Sell the cou, sup the milk. She wants blood and friends. It'll never work. She kept me alive because she likes me. I offered her forgiveness if she wouldn't fight Horatio, you know. She sounded like she wanted it. Forgiveness." He drained the last of his glass and poured a third.

[all7seas]

"Have you? Forgiven her?"

[simplestgift]

Even tipsy, Kennedy understood that either answer might look bad to Jack. So he remained silent, sipping his third glass of Scotch.

[all7seas]

Sparrow continued on his own drink, still curious but not pressing for an answer. For him, it wasn't a matter of forgiveness with Grell. It was a matter of staying alive and avoiding her. It was almost completely not-personal---at least as long as she left his friends alone from now on.

[simplestgift]

I've missed the feel of Death. The sight of blood everywhere. It simply isn't as satisfying with a knife - so dull, so boring. For a second chance at you with this? Ooh, what I wouldn't give.

Archie traced a line down the table with his thumbnail. He had not been able to tell if she had been bluffing, even as she'd turned on the chainsaw and pointed it at him. "Buffy has not called the council she spoke of, yet."

[all7seas]

"Ah. Likely because--"

she has been having one of the worst months of her life

"--of things. Things happening, unexpectedly. Has she spoken of a when? We...were a bit too busy saying hello to discuss it."

[simplestgift]

"It wasn't a criticism, Jack, I was only letting you know. A when has not been discussed."

[all7seas]

"Kennedy? I love that woman." He tested it out, trying those words on his friend. Letting them hang in the air for a moment. "I'm not certain of her feelings for myself, but...she's well and fully trapped me in."

[simplestgift]

"Best of luck." Archie loved Buffy in that semi-comfortable platonic way, but even if he'd never met Dawn, he would not touch that with a ten-foot pole. He empathized with her, was there for her, but dating her would be too much. "It tore her apart, you know. When you left."

[all7seas]

"I know. I'm tryin' to put it back together."

Ironically, she had been one of the healthiest things in Luceti for the pirate. "And no sign of your Dawn yet, eh?"

By his calculations it had been....a while.

[simplestgift]

"None." He swirled his whiskey in his glass, then drank. "Mister Bush thinks I should--"

Aaand he cut himself off there, because what he told Jack would surely get back to Buffy. Although Buffy had just almost-given him The Talk, so might she not be on board with a proposal?

[all7seas]

"Lieutenant Bush thinks you should what, Kennedy?" That voice was almost a purr. Things had suddenly become very interesting indeed to the pirate.

[simplestgift]

A beat.

"Well. We've been courting for five months now, and we like each other very much..." or perhaps another l-word "...and back home, it would be high time for a...a proposal."

[all7seas]

Marriages: match races to see how quickly one could fall out of love. Jack decided not to say that, however.

"I love weddings! Plenty of free drinks, dancing, beautiful ladies! I expect Hornblower would marry the two of you but if he refuses on account of he's a prat I'll do the honors, of course!"

[simplestgift]

"But what if things are different in her time? What if she does not want to?"