simplestgift: (Unsure smile.)
Archie Kennedy ([personal profile] simplestgift) wrote2012-01-13 07:00 pm

Twenty-Seven Bells: [ACTION/VOICE]


[January is proving to be a difficult month, but Archie is making it okay. It’s been just over a year since he arrived, just over a year since his death, and he’s been thinking about how much has changed since he lay half-naked and shivering in someone else’s bed.

He met and embarrassed himself in front of his first modern woman.

He met someone like him.

He tried to write poetry.

He tried a drink from another world.

He fought as Horatio’s first lieutenant.

He fought a duel and had drinks with the man afterwards.

He drove a tractor while purple and narcoleptic.

He found himself as a member of a family, and not only a shift-induced one.

He was reunited beyond hope with the dearest of friends.

He almost died.

He bought a cake and got drunk with an old comrade.

He designed and helped build a ship.

He became Robin Hood.

He became his old self.

He fell in love.

He fell from a hundred feet and survived.

His hair grew longer, he grew older.

He still has no way to let his family know he is alive.

He still can’t completely trust Jack Sparrow.

He’s more convinced than ever that he’s ruined for love.

He’s less convinced than ever that that’s something to be as ashamed of as he is.

He doesn’t want to go back to the Navy, and he’s not sure he wants to go back home at all.

He’s become something he didn’t think possible a year ago.

In spite of all that has happened and all that has been done, Archie Kennedy has become happy.

He hasn’t forgotten the pain of lying in his sickbed in prison or his deathbed in another prison.

He hasn’t forgotten shutting down before a midshipman and a captain who would take any word or gesture as an excuse to destroy him.

He hasn’t forgotten four walls touching him all at once or the overhead grating letting in not nearly enough light.

He hasn’t forgotten Christmas with his family, mince pies and contraband whiskey and stories of drunken shore leave.

He hasn’t forgotten flying for a few terrified, joyous, breathless seconds with the water coming up to meet him and Bush screaming in his ear.

…Not going to jump, and that’s my final word!

…Weak-kneed officers who don’t know how to keep order.

…iiiiitoooons neeeeever shallllll beeeeee slaaaaves!

…ister Kennedy? Just…look after him.

…Must get strong. Now drink.

…Last time, they locked me up in a hole in the earth for a month, with no room to stand up or lie down. Now leave me alone.

…Been a long time. Jack’s missed you, boy.

…It’s all right, Archie. It’s all right. A bad dream. Sleep now. Sleep.

Welcome to Purgatory!


He hasn’t forgotten and he won’t forget. But all of it, joy and pain, is only a part of a whole. The whole, at this moment, is happy.

His life then and his life now are the same life, two parts of the same story, despite what he believed when he first arrived here. What more valuable lesson could he have learned in only a year?

When he was a child, he’d loved his brothers because one has to love one’s brothers. As a man, he’d loved them because they were Finley and Neil. Luceti had been home at first because it had to be and there was no other choice. Now, more and more, it is simply home.]


[Today, Archie goes to the smithy to ask a favor of its weapon smiths (OOC: dibs go to Hiccup Haddock). In the evening, he brings home a bottle of Madeira and a ham to cook before work. Tonight, he'll be working the bar and tables at Cloud Nine.

Eventually, he speaks over the journals, tone light and warm but professional.]


This is Mr. Kennedy.

Any member of the crew of the Britannia is welcome to come with me to tour the ship in the morning. She's quite a handsome woman and I'd very much like you to meet her.

For those who've not yet heard, Britannia is a sixth-rate man of war with the capacity for twenty-two guns, but no actual guns. She carries enough sail to cover her namesake, so she's fast, and nimble as Jack jumping over a candlestick. Winter isn't the best time for sailing, but once things warm up, Captain Hornblower will be taking her out on her maiden voyage. As his first leff--first mate, I'm responsible for hiring the crew, so do speak with me and not with him if you wish to join.

[A pause. Then, he speaks very softly, with many sentiments wrapped up into two words:]

Thank you.
bravelad: (shining with all his might)

voice;

[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-14 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Yes- I- [ Oh, thank god, it's really him. Use your words, don't just blink at him.

Luckily coherence is overrated. Stating the obvious, however, is severely underrated. ]
You're here!
bravelad: (to talk of many things)

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[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-14 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
I found the... welcome center? [ Right, definitely the right name. It's a very nice concept. Very helpful. And yes, he is really over here nodding right now, even though that doesn't do much for not being in person. ] The welcome center, when I arrived, sir. I haven't left.

[ It's been a day or two of awkwardly adjusting to things, and a little bit of trying to figure out a decent way to pull his weight while he does. ]
bravelad: (and why the sea is boiling hot)

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[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-14 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Of course, sir. [ He can't not sound relieved at this point, really. Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Hornblower, who he knows, and who are also decidedly not hanged.

He should likely not be so relieved to have them here, if he's honest with himself. But it's a bit hard to feel guilty for it. ]
captainhornblower: (Reading)

action;

[personal profile] captainhornblower 2012-01-14 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Horatio, too, is in shirtsleeves. For a practical reason, rather than Archie's hurried forgetfulness. For now, to deal with the initial impact of all this, he would leave such a distinct marker of rank off.

Plenty of time for that later.

He's right beside Archie, glancing around with poorly-concealed eagerness... and more than a little worry. He wants the young midshipman back where he belongs-- where he and Archie can keep an eye on him.]
bravelad: (and why the sea is boiling hot)

action;

[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-14 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Wellard has taken up a prime position for watching the door, or as best as he can manage without disrupting the usual flow of foot traffic. He's joining in the out of uniform party with one of those general sets of clothing that people might find for a New Feather to change into. They're... not what he's used to, but one hardly turns down something warm in the middle of winter.

Yeah, he's pretty much been perking up any time the door's opened in the past couple of minutes, and this is no exception. Naturally, it doesn't take more than a second to know when they've arrived, and he's quick to make his way over. Grinning is not an optional thing for Mr. Wellard on this occasion. ]
captainhornblower: (Over the shoulder)

action;

[personal profile] captainhornblower 2012-01-14 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
[Horatio is only a step behind, and there's a smile to his features. It's much slighter than Archie's, but... That's quite the difference between them, isn't it?]

Mister Wellard.

I hope you're well? As well as you can be, given the circumstances, that is.

[To-the-point, matter-of-fact... yet with an underlying warmth.]
bravelad: (there were no birds to fly)

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[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-14 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Mister Kennedy; Mister Hornblower. [ And on comes the honest-to-god, face-splitting variety of smile, which is always nice to have an excuse for bearing lately. Completely. Happy. To see you two. And no one was surprised. Horatio's inquiry gets about a half second's consideration and then a firm nod in answer. ]

As well as I can be, sir. [ Glad to be alive. Glad for familiar faces. Decidedly not thinking too deeply beyond that on the matter right now. As tones go, it's well on the side of agreement, and Wellard makes it a point to try not to lose any cheer to say it. One can hardly find something that seems worth complaining about when circumstances are... as they are. ]
captainhornblower: (Reading)

action;

[personal profile] captainhornblower 2012-01-15 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sometimes people remembered, when they'd come and gone. That was what others said. Horatio had little experience. So he was not quite sure what to say and what not to, but he could offer:]

If you've not yet found lodgings, we've a room you're welcome to.
bravelad: (the sea was wet as wet could be)

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[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-16 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ ...ohhh. ]

Really? [ How is it these two are so nice all the time. ]
captainhornblower: (Confident)

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[personal profile] captainhornblower 2012-01-16 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
All made up, just waiting for someone to take it.

[Maybe if he pretends he didn't hear Archie, Wellard will get distracted.

...He's not that little, Horatio.]
bravelad: (a red sun rises)

action;

[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-16 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Wellard looks back and forth between them, just a bit. That was decidedly unexpected. There'd been something about that in the guide, he knew, but he hadn't entertained the notion that it might apply to him. He remembered things that happened to him, that was what people tended to do. This seems like as good a time as any to place his hands behind his back. ]

I've... been here before. [ Slow, unsure, and questioning are competing for the top three positions in this particular line of thought. ]
captainhornblower: (Grin)

action;

[personal profile] captainhornblower 2012-01-17 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
People come and go here. [It's quiet, almost gentle. ...No, it is gentle.] They don't remember it always, but... sometimes those who go come back.

[And, while it may not be completely true, it's true enough.] When you were here before, you lived with us. We've kept your room up for you.

[Nowhere near the attention that had been given to seeing after Bush's room and keeping it ready, but. Wellard's was still open and fixed up for someone to stay there.]
bravelad: (the middle of the night)

action;

[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-17 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. [ And for a second, that just sort of hangs in the air. Oh. There's not much better for wording it.

It's disappointing, not remembering. Not unbelievable- if there were anybody worth trusting about this, they're standing with him right now. How much easier it might have been to know what was happening, turning up in a forest in a different season, though.

But that hardly makes a difference now, does it? And he can tell himself it's not the worst thing that's happened, at least. He's alive, and he's not alone. Everything else, he'll just have to see as bearable. Wellard nods once and does his part to look them both in the eyes, if a bit briefly. ]


Thank you. That was very kind of you.
captainhornblower: (Shirtsleeves)

action;

[personal profile] captainhornblower 2012-01-18 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Horatio nods, motioning the others along as he walks.

They could get Mister Wellard fed and let him have a good night's rest. Then (in Horatio's ideal world, but he knows things rarely work out like they do in that place) they could see to answering what questions the young man might have.

A thought occurred to him, something the young man had said.]


Have you been staying here long?
bravelad: (Default)

action;

[personal profile] bravelad 2012-01-18 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ Wellard follows behind, looking around to eye the scenery as he goes. Something to become familiar with, or so he's been told. He shakes his head to the question, much good as that actually does for answering. ]

Only two days, sir.
captainhornblower: (Over the shoulder)

action;

[personal profile] captainhornblower 2012-01-20 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
[Horatio walks along quietly, listening to the conversation and keeping an eye on both his companions and his surroundings. There was little to worry about here, but he still did not abandon his vigilance.

He might also have been listening more raptly than he would let on to hear how Mister Wellard had fared these last two days he'd been in Luceti.]

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