simplestgift | Twenty-one Bells: [ACTION/VOICE]

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Twenty-one Bells: [ACTION/VOICE]

[Archie has barely been around town lately, but he does appear in town this afternoon, dashing about to various shops and stores and picking up various one-use items and lots and lots of groceries. He seems to have one thing on his mind.

Later, he'll sit at the fountain and send out the voice message:]

This is Mr. Kennedy. If anyone is in need of me, I shall be at the beach house for most of the week. You can reach me there or on the journals.

Moreover, Mr. Hornblower and I are wondering if anyone would be interested in helping to build a ship. A sloop-of-war, to be specific, with room and ports enough for eighteen or twenty-two guns. I cannot claim we have a practical use for itm besides exploration, but it would be something to do. We have the plans drawn up, and all we need is enough hands to make it possible. We would be grateful for any help at all.

[After this, he'll be walking back to the beach house, where he's been babysitting Jack Sparrow since yesterday.]

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Mincemeat pies.

If they prove edible and you cannot leave Sparrow, I'll bring them over tomorrow evening. [But... hoping Sparrow will be able to spare you, certainly.]

Mincemeat pies! You told him, didn't you?

Told him what?

[The chuckle, though, says it all.]

[Oh Horatio, you have no idea how you've made his day. No idea at all. Suddenly every melancholy, every poke of stress, flies away at the prospect of a proper meal.]

Horatio Hornblower, you are a saint among saints, a rose among thorns, a ruby in the wasting desert sands! My dear Horatio, I could kiss you! And don't be certain I will not--I'm not very far from you, you know.

[Horatio laughs a little.]

Now, now, Archie.

Let us make sure the man doesn't poison us before you praise me.

Poison? Poison! Horatio, I've taken every bite for the last eight months with the grain of salt that I must like it, because this must be home now. But to have a taste of home! Even if it is bad, it will be a taste of home!

[He can't help but chuckle again. It's good to hear Archie's voice like that, and it lifts his own spirits to hear Archie's up a bit.]

Hopefully it will be a good taste of home.

Home. [And suddenly, unbidden tears are stinging Archie's eyes. Real food, normal company, an actual dinner like they'd have between officers back home. And Horatio had mentioned the mincemeat pie. He really is the best friend anyone ever had, and how could Archie forget it for even one second?]

Home. [It's a word he's shied away from before, but his smile is evident in his voice as he says it.]

...Do you suppose there is anything we couldd o to the dining room to make it a bit more presentable? Paint! Paint, and drapes. Candles. Or wallpaper, perhaps. My father's estate...does not matter very much here, but it might make things a bit nicer.

Not by tomorrow night, I don't think.

[He chuckles again.]

But perhaps we could look around a bit soon. See if we can't find a few things to make the place... a little more comfortable.

A comfortable dinner, Horatio, with someone from home! A comfortable dinner! [It cannot be expressed how amazing this is.] No pretenses, no guessing at the unspoken rules of society here! It will be dinner with a guest from home!

...My God. [He actually laughs. Of course, he'd thought of it-- dinner with another captain, a Navy man from their own time. But Archie has brought a point he had not considered.

No guessing at the unspoken rules of society. They would actually know what to do.] My God.

A proper, comfortable dinner. [His voice drops in volume, but the warmth is there still, perhaps even increased.] Like on the Indy.

I'll ask Buffy for the best port in Luceti. The best brandy in Luceti. It will be a proper celebration, Horatio, a proper dinner. You and your lieutenant dining with another ship's captain! Good God, Horatio, we can call him by his family name and no one will think anything of it!

No corrections or insistence on first names. [He tries to respect what others ask him to call them, but the "Miss" and "Mister" remain. He has not come to the ability to strike those yet, most of the time. But to have someone he can refer to as he has always been taught is polite and not be stared at. Or corrected.

Another slight laugh.] God above. Even if he can't cook, it will be well worth it just for the company.

It will be! And if he cannot cook, Horatio, we'll only drink more port! [Everything will taste better the more they drink, anyway.]

Best bring more than one bottle, Archie. If I remember what I've heard about Aubrey [their paths crossed only once, and even then, only briefly] is true, he will be very grateful for drink and plenty of it.

I'll bring the finest brandy as well! You've heard of him before, then?

We met briefly. He was captain of the... of the Lively, and Hotspur was part of a squadron with Lively.

Very brief-- I can't say we said more than a few words to one another.

And he remembers you?

My name, that we met in that engagement but did not see action together. I would not imagine he remembers more than that.

And he is dining with us tomorrow night! In our home, Horatio, as a guest, with proper food and proper company! [Seriously, he might just cry tomorrow, and he might not be able to sleep tonight. All these days running together, and finally something happens that he can look forward to.]

That he is.

My God. A proper dinner. A fellow Navy man, a man of our time. We won't be wondering about conversation topics, hoping not to offend by mistake. [Someone he knows how to handle, how to speak to. Even if the Navy isn't talked about or the politics of their time, they can at least have a general idea of where they stand, what to say, what not to say...]

I shan't sleep tonight, Horatio.

I'm not sure I will either, Archie. And, for once-- for the best of reasons.

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