simplestgift | Seventeen Bells: [WRITTEN/ACTION]

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Seventeen Bells: [WRITTEN/ACTION]

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?

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[Oh dear, you just asked Archie to talk about Dawn. Get ready.]

Not very much at all, in many ways. More beautiful. More learned, more thoughtful, well-spoken and well-read but still witty. And so, so kind, William, I've never known the like, I don't think. She has a heart for everything, but she's playful and quick to laugh and loves to make others laugh. Has her feet on the ground, no nonsense about her. She's always introducing me to these newfangled desserts. Always putting others before herself, but never anyone's fool.

[As he talks, he sounds a tad melancholy.]

[If William were a crueler sort, he'd tease Archie mercifully. But there is not much cruelty in his heart, and what is is reserved for those on the wrong end of his sword. And, most of all, Archie's obvious pleasure is infectious.]

Sounds like you've found the perfect girl.

[The slight melancholy lifts.] I think you may be right!

When's the wedding? Hope not soon; I've just been to one, and my uniform hasn't shown up yet.

Come now, it's a bit premature for that.

I don't bloody know, do I? For all I know, you've been courting her for ages.

[That was the moment when Archie realized he had been dating Dawn for five months. In their time, marriage was a perfectly reasonable thing to expect after that long. But...why was it premature?]

It...I don't even know who would marry us, here. Not to mention one of us could disappear at any moment.

[Even that does not hit the nail on the head. How did he unthinkingly stray so far from the familiar? Well, besides the fact that he's never properly courted anyone at all before.]

Horatio's a bloody captain, he could marry you. I'm sure there's a priest around here somewhere, if that doesn't suit. They've got everything else.

[William doesn't see why Archie's making such a big deal out of this, it's just a lady. Lady business. Business involving a lady. Not that kind of business. Marrying business. Boring, unnecessary business.]

[Is it Buffy? Buffy will kill him if he takes things at any pace other than the one she deems acceptable, and right now, that pace does not include marriage or sex. It's just that there's something so unhurried and lovely about it simply being what it is, right now. But what if Dawn has been waiting for this? What if he's been misreading everything?]

What if she doesn't want it?

[Sorry, Archie, William is really not the guy to talk about women or marriage. He can really only understand women in the context of sisters or prostitutes; there are precious few inbetweens, those few inbetweens that remain are still unmarriable (barmaids).]

[So he shrugs and blinks a bit, and picks up what will make a nice covering for the dresser (it's a towel).] Ask someone else. I don't know. I don't want a wife, never have, never will. Ask someone who's married.

[William stops.]

But not Horatio.

[He thinks about this.]

Mr. Hughes is married. I shall ask him.

Like I said: wait a week. I haven't my uniform yet.

[Wait a week. Wait a month. Wait on the Malnosso.] She was kidnapped, William. The Malnosso have her, for now. I don't know when they'll return her.

[This gets William's attention. He spins around, or would, if he wasn't carrying like a stone of blanketing at this point. But he does turn, and he does gape, a bit.] Why didn't you tell me? Where is she? I'm sure Horatio could manage it... [Or at least put a plan together, since he's apparently wounded or something.]

No one can manage. Not even the strongest or cleverest. Their facility is outside the barrier, and no one can pass through it.

[None of that registers, except:] Horatio can't?

I'm sure he could, if he had a chart and a few men to follow and a bit of time to plan, and if we were outside the barrier to begin with. [Far be it from him to say Horatio is actually incapable of anything.] But the barrier, William.

[William only frowns and pats Archie's shoulder, tsking faintly.] Hard luck, Archie, hard luck. We'll get her soon enough.

They'll give her back. I don't know when. I can only wait.

And after a kidnapping, William are always romantic. [...Right?]

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