[luceti] - Appointments

[captainhornblower]

Messages and meetings for Cpt. Horatio Hornblower.


(Please title and date as appropriate.)

Comments

[unlayered.livejournal.com]

'Kay.

[That smile makes a world of difference. Without the tension in it, she's more convinced that he's not mad at her and lets herself relax again. Leaving behind the colorful scribbles, she'll step away from the wall and move to slip her hand into his.]

How come your sleepy when it's not nighttime?

[captainhornblower]

[He squeezed her hand lightly as he straightened up to walk with her back to the living room. He'd worry about cleaning the wall later. There... was no real cause to scold a child for something that he could see where she had made the error.

Her question makes him pause as he tries to think how to explain.]

Where I'm from, people don't sleep the same hours all of the time. We have someone who stays up all night [an exaggeration, but it will make his point] to watch out for everyone else while they sleep. I'm used to doing that, so sometimes I get tired during the day.

[Easier than explaining constant worrying and the like.]

[simplestgift]

[And spontaneously, Archie pokes his head into the room. He doesn't talk, watching the adorableness of the scene before him instead. The crayon on the wall has not yet registered.]

[unlayered.livejournal.com]

All night? [her eyes widen in amazement.] Isn't it scary?

[not that she was ever terribly afraid of the dark...but nighttime was supposed to be scary, so staying up all the way through it probably was too. She's amazed enough that she doesn't quite notice Archie yet...though that won't last long]

[captainhornblower]

Well. [He smiled, chuckling a bit. Archie, for now, had escaped his notice as well.] Sometimes there are monsters.

[A French or Spanish ship of war might as well be a monster to a member of the Royal Navy.]

But if that happens, then it's actually your job to wake everybody up so that you can scare the monster away. [Or take it as a prize.]

[simplestgift]

[unlayered.livejournal.com]

Are they real scary monsters?

[somehow she seems more curious than scared]

[captainhornblower]

Only when they surprise you.

Other than that [it's a boast, more of the crew than any individual, and one he'd only make to a small child who would never see a sea battle] they're easy to beat or scare away.

[simplestgift]

[Archie leans against the doorframe quietly, resting his forearm against the frame and watching.]

[unlayered.livejournal.com]

Have you scared lots of 'em?