simplestgift | Eighteen Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN]

[Kennedy comes to himself lying on his side in the grass, his wings splayed haphazardly, a slight breeze causing the feathers to flutter. He lies still for a moment, watching without thought the grass as it ripples softly before his eyes. Then he remembers that he was taken.

That explains this.

It begins to come back to him. He'd glimpsed the cages and panicked. They'd jabbed a needle into him then, and everything had gone soft, then black. He remembers nothing between then and now, and nothing is what he'll search his memories for. The blackout is a blessing, even if it is unsettling. It would be worse to remember.

He's in his own clothes--shirtsleeves, waistcoat, and trousers--and his journal is lying nearby, because clearly the Malnosso are paragons of courtesy. He rolls onto his stomach to reach for it when he hears a clear tinkling sound. He reaches for his throat. There is...something, very much like a collar. No, it is a collar of steel links with no clasp, and hanging from it is a bell.

A bell he cannot touch. It rings when he moves, but his fingers pass through it. No matter what he does, he cannot keep it from sounding.

Apparently someone at the Malnosso facility is a wise guy who eavesdrops on certain conversations and thinks he's pretty damn funny.

Okay. So no audio. He grabs the journal and writes instead.]

I'm here. How long have I been gone?

-A. Kennedy

P.S. Horatio, do tell me one of you fed the cat.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A bell to attract them will only make things worse. I have to get it off.

[Please hold for more highly immature laughter from Captain Jack Sparrow.]

Ha! Ha hahah! Aye, you have to get it off, Kennedy. Get it off immediate-like, before lunch.

The moment I'm back, I'll seek Buffy.

............Archie, don't let's force me to punch you right in the mouth, there's a lad.

...To remove the collar, Jack.

......Right. Of course. Removing the collar. It's either that, I suppose, or you'll have to join the clergy, permanent-like.

The c-- [He actually doesn't get the joke.]

[Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.]

It's a bloody chain, Jack.

Nevermind, Kennedy. You watch yourself on the walk home; your Dawn must be spared any more anxieties on the loss of you, savvy?

Doesn't look anything like a-- [He pauses.] Did she worry?

I...haven't spoken to her. We were all worried. Our Jilly....well. All of us. All worried.

[That causes quite a long pause. Archie doesn't think much about the concept of other people worrying about him. Pitying him, maybe, but worrying? That requires genuine care. And Jack worried.

Jack worried.]

I'm...I'm all right. [Spoken in a softer but more solid tone than before. He's not completely convinced of it, but he can attempt to convince.]

Possibly in need of a stiff Scotch, eh? I can hear that in your voice. But I believe you, Kennedy.

That's a long walk with an injured knee, though. I've...injured knees aren't the easiest things to get about on.

A good stiff Scotch sounds better medicine than anything.

...It's the same one I hurt when I first came here. It doesn't hurt so much I can't walk on it.

[But pain is relative, to Archie.]

Shall I have one waiting for you? I'm out on the Joanna, now. I can bring her in and be back in an hour or so.

Good God yes. I don't think there's anything I'd like better.

I'll see you there, then, son. Our usual spot. I'll be the one with the hat. You be the one wearing the darling little bell. I'll find you.

...All right.

[It'll take him longer than an hour to arrive, but he'll be there, looking tired and still limping.]

[And really, Jack isn't waiting there for too long before Archie walks in. He had to put the boat up in the hidden cove, after all, and walk all the way up the beach. Lucky thing for the transporter.]

Oi! You look like murder, Kennedy! Sit!

[He does, releasing a breath as he does so, careful as he bends his swollen knee.] Good God, Jack, I've had...a giant wolf walked me back halfway, till I met Jilly and Horatio. Buffy can't remove the bell, either.

Buffy wants to save everyone in the world ever, Kennedy; that must have broken her up a bit.

Have you tried speaking to it like a lover?

I'd like a drink now, I believe.

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