Twenty-five Bells: [Written/Action] Night of the 24th and morning of the 25th.

[simplestgift]

[The night is chill and quiet, and Midshipman Archie Kennedy falls asleep hoping never to leave this place.]


[The flickering shadows of the room, dancing to and fro with the light of candles, cross his sleeping face. Hours ago, he experienced his first Thanksgiving. He'd seen and tasted and been welcome even when he was too overwhelmed to speak. Everything about the day was beautiful. Everything about these ten days has been beautiful. Healing. He's been quiet, skeptical, waiting impatiently for the other shoe to fall out of this impossibly blue sky, but everything remains serene.

Before he sleeps, he remembers one last thing: the Lieutenant, as he is wont to call his future self, has no idea how good he really has it.

Oh, he knows he has it good, and he is grateful for it. Still, the Lieutenant is more cynical than the midshipman even as he is more cheerful. Why shouldn't he be? The midshipman has only been struggling out from under his reputation for a few months now. The Lieutenant struggled for years, heard the same criticism and more, the same pity and more, the same judgments and more. Now the battle is past, he is so terrified of having to fight it all over again that he sees even his friends as a threat should they learn too much. That fear makes him hold them at arm's length, although he pretends otherwise. Useless, exhausting fear. Sometimes he hides from it. Sometimes he runs from it. Sometimes he looks it in the eye, coaxes it away from the hold, challenges it to a duel, denounces it under oath, leaps with it off a cliff, but it is always there.

Maybe, just maybe, it doesn't have to be.]

[Before bed, he writes in the journal. He does not sign his name, but the camera catches a soft smile on his face as if a weight has been lifted.]

If I am silent, let it be because I do not wish to speak and not because I am afraid to be heard.

[The Lieutenant has always been ashamed of him, as he is of himself. Ashamed to have him as his past, and ashamed that he will not remain there, where he belongs. Perhaps that will change, although it will take a long time. Perhaps he will even learn to see himself as others have described him to the midshipman. You are happy now. Don't ruin it on my account. I wish you, always, the very best of luck.

The morning is chill, but he is warm and the shadows are gone, and Lieutenant Archie Kennedy wakes up a whole person.



For a time he lies quietly in bed, allowing himself to be pleasantly empty. Then, with a soft exhalation, he releases his death grip on his paradigms.

I am safe.

Kennedy believed, as others do, that he knew how the world works. Luceti, though, is not his world. His friends, and even some he never knew before, have seen him at his most vulnerable, and everything was okay. He was treated with decency and sometimes even respect. Always there is danger, but with it a net beneath his feet to catch him. He thinks he understands Guy Burgess' little utterance a little better now--friendship is everything.

I am loved.

This one is harder. Accepting this means he will have to accept that there is something about him to love. That will come in time. Hard to believe or not, it's truth. He is loved, and to deny it is a fruitless insult to himself and, more importantly, those who love him. Loved.

He feels unstoppable.

It won't last forever, of course. It's still a step forward, and he's not quite sure where it will take him. It is, nevertheless, a step that must be taken and a choice that must be made.]

[After cooking an unnecessarily fancy breakfast for himself and his housemate, he writes again on the journal network, in his happy delirium forgetting to stay anonymous.]

It appears I have come up a bit short lately, but welcome to all new feathers. You should be told that if ever you feel unsafe in your own home for any reason whatever, you may speak with someone at the Welcome Center and you will be placed in a safe home for as long as you need.

Moreover, it is a bit late in coming, but those of us more accustomed to 'old world' traditions will be hosting a Christmas feast and ball on December the First. Ungodly early, of course, but we did not wish to compete with the new feather season round Twelfth Night. All are welcome to attend, but we ask you arrive in full dress--formal clothing. Anyone willing to volunteer to help with cooking, decorating, or music would be most welcome.

[After realizing his mistake and fretting for a bit that he wasn't anonymous for the first announcement, Archie will be knocking on the doors of house 7 and the beach house for some unannounced visits. Catch him in between if you like.

OOC note: Any IC questions about the ball that have been answered OOCly can be handwaved if you prefer.]

Comments

[early morning--outside House 7]

[all7seas]

Jack Sparrow is packed and ready to go and on his way to be transported to the port city: reporting for duty on his first Malnosso mission. He had bid Buffy farewell already, and that was difficult enough without remembering the true purpose of this mission and his hopes for it, and then going on to wonder whether they represented his hopes at all, in the end. A Jack Sparrow who is unsure of his desires is an unhappy Sparrow indeed.

[simplestgift]

"And where be you going without any delicious-looking rum, Captain Jack?"

Archie Kennedy, midshipman no longer, saunters casually up to the pirate, offering an entire bottle of the finest rum Luceti has to offer. He is clearly in a fantastic mood.

[all7seas]

"Kennedy?" That voice, and that mood, brings Jack up short. He tosses his small bundle of belongings to the opposite shoulder in order to accept that bottle. It's fine rum---so very fine.

"Mission, mate. I was told to be ready at the Barracks. What's all this then?"

A closer, peering look: "You're........lieutenant."

[herotypical]

[ and after jack and archie have their chat on the front step, buffy will eventually get around to answering the door. ]

[simplestgift]

[She will be greeted with this smile.]

1/2

[herotypical]

[ pardon her dour mood. her lover just ran off on a mission he only told her about the night before.

so she's about to step aside and let the midshipman into the house when...]

Wait. Archie?

/needs happier hug

[herotypical]

[ he's not the midshipman at all!

she drags him immediately into a hug the likes of which he enjoyed (or didn't enjoy) when he had first returned from his kidnapping. ]

Welcome back.

[Written]

[shadedsunlight]

A Christmas feast and ball sounds wonderful. Where will it be held?

[Written]

[simplestgift]

The Recreation Center.

[Written]

[shadedsunlight]

Wonderful. I'll make a note on the calendar. A party would be a wonderful way to start off the month.

I don't mind helping out in whatever way.

[Written]

[derek-bliss.livejournal.com]

Depending on what you're cooking, I can help with the food, or even go find it for you if you need.

[Written]

[simplestgift]

You would have to ask Captain Aubrey, sir. He is overseeing the food.

Have you been settling in?

[Written]

[derek-bliss.livejournal.com]

I'll look into it, then.

All right, I guess. Starting to remember a few things, but not much.

[pugilistinpink.livejournal.com]

Sure, I wouldn't mind doin' a lil' decoratin' f'this party y'plannin'. Jus', uh, one question... I don' gotta be all nicely dressed if I'm jus' volunteerin', right?

[simplestgift]

It'd be a bit silly to come to work in full dress, yes.

[pugilistinpink.livejournal.com]

Well, okay, jus' makin' sure, 'cause I ain't got a suit or nothin' like that t'wear. [One can expect him to pop and lend a hand after working up a mean sweat at the Battledome or the barracks as part of his training routine - and possibly before having freshened up in the shower.]

Where's all this happenin', again?

[i_am_not_cute]

A ball, huh...? [She's conflicted. She doesn't like dressing up, but balls and fancy things like that usually had pretty good food, and since this particular ball was apparently open to everyone...] What kind of food will you have?

[simplestgift]

Traditional English fare, most likely.

[i_am_not_cute]

Oh, so would that be things like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and shepherd's pie? [She's a little less familiar with specifically English cuisine, but it's food so she's still definitely familiar with it.]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Jilly was normally an early riser, but a night of good food and company and stargazing all combined together to create a very sound sleep. The sounds of people speaking down the hall was the first thing to cause her to stir, but it wasn't all that unusual. Jack and Buffy were morning people as much as she was, and it wasn't exactly uncommon for the pirate to spend the night if Buffy hadn't gone to the Cullen House instead.

So, when Jilly manages to pull herself from bed, her hair still tangled and her clothes still rumpled from sleep, she isn't expecting to find Archie when she goes to get her morning coffee.

[simplestgift]

Seeing Jilly go into the kitchen, Archie approaches quietly and knocks lightly against the edge of the entryway to alert her.

"Jilly? I'm back."

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Her first thought is that Archie the midshipman probably won't have adjusted too well to girls in modern sleepwear, even if she really couldn't be much more modest than a t-shirt and pajama pants. "Back? Back from-"

And then she turned from the counter to see him. Really see him. And her eyes go wide with a quiet "Oh..." before any thoughts of coffee are forgotten and she quickly closes the gap to throw her arms around his middle. "You're back!"

[captainhornblower]

Perhaps, on some level, Horatio Hornblower is aware of the shift back. Not consciously, and he has no reason to expect it, no... But for once, Horatio is properly asleep in his chair beside Archie's bed. It's perhaps not the most comfortable place to be asleep, but it is the first time he's been fully and completely asleep in over a week.

[simplestgift]

Archie is not willing to wake up his friend when he's been so much trouble for him for the last ten days. Very quietly, he pulls on a housecoat and tiptoes out into the kitchen to fix breakfast. Maybe Horatio will wake to the smell of food.

[captainhornblower]

Sure enough, about ten minutes later, as the smell of food fills the house properly, there are footsteps in the kitchen doorway.

Horatio hasn't noticed the height change yet as he walks in. "Morning, Archie."