lucetilogs | There's a creeper in your closet.

Who: Horatio Hornblower (

captainhornblower), Archie Kennedy (

simplestgift), William Bush (

wouldntbetonit), with guest stars.
What:William Bush appears in the bedroom designated as his in the Hornblower / Kennedy abode. Hilarity and a bloo bloo'ing abound.
When: January 13th
Where: House 36
Summary: Bush discovers the wonders of a heater, and a bad-luck day turns into a happy / awkward reunion for the sailors.
Rating: A for Awww.

For a man only half dressed, William Bush was disconcertingly warm. The very last thing he remembered was Christmas in neutral waters. Being dismissed for shore leave...and then nothing...the sweet, all-enveloping oblivion of sleep in a warm inn bed. But he didn't understand why on earth he was half dressed (he went to sleep dressed, he was so deadbeat tired.) and in a completely foreign room.

His first thought was that he had been robbed, of course. Who wouldn't suspect such a thing coming to in naught but trousers with all your belongings missing and a horrid dull pain in your back inside an unfamiliar room.

What was strange was how comfortable the space felt. It wasn't heavily ornate or too bland. And clean too. But it felt old - for how strange all the furnishings were. Lived in.

William Bush wanted some answers. Luckily for him he had no problem venturing out of the room with nothing but breeches. He wasn't prepared for any kind of situation, nor did Bush know what he was expecting as he ventured out into the living room.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And this just got stranger and stranger. All Bush had to do was glance over his shoulders and a little less reality was granted to the situation. Upon spotting them his wings flared out a bit - finally acknowledge! ~~Poor~~ William didn't want to lay a finger on them. Instead he faced Archie and Horatio, attempting to look stone-faced and irritated. It was familiar.

"Well, which is it?"

Archie gave a glance at Horatio. See? I've hardly frightened him. But instead of answering, he said, "Sit down, Mr. Bush. I'll get you a glass."

He headed to the kitchen. Horatio would explain, and in the meantime, Bush had better have a drink in his hand.

As Archie left, Horatio sighed and repeated the words. Almost. "Sit down, William."

He sat as well, waiting a moment, collecting his thoughts. "This... place... is called Luceti. The village is controlled by the Malnosso. They tend not to bother us unless they're shipping us out to fight their war for them." He tried to make it sound light, but there was a seriousness to his voice and eyes. "Food, shelter, clothes are provided. And sometimes they do... experiments. Of all sorts. The wings are a good indication of what to expect."

What else was there to say? That he had already been here? And gone? That he had vanished while taken by the Malnosso? No, no. He won't talk about that.

"People come here from all walks of life and... all times. The living and..." He trailed off. The word 'dead' escaped him. "There are people here from our time, our history, and... from two or more hundred years in the future."

It was spoken as simply as if he were laying out the course of action for a battle.

He did sit, rather reluctantly though. Standing was simply more comfortable for the man but he wouldn't tell his captain any differently. Bush listened attentively, trying to soak up the details but knowing he was bound to miss something. Luckily he'd have Horatio and Archie to fall back to if he should misunderstand something.

"Damn." Ever poignant was Bush.

"So how do we get back?"

Excellent question.

"You'd be in the best position to know." By now, Archie had returned and was setting a freshly poured glass of wine in front of Bush. "You were here in July and vanished all on your own."

Striving, as always, to make explanations less complicated for Horatio.

"It's January now," Horatio said in explanation.

Six months. Six long months. But they had not been spent alone, thank God.

"People go... But no one knows how. They just vanish." He sighed and held out his hands in bafflement. "There's no way to voluntarily leave, as far as anyone's found."

He was about to say 'That's impossible' to Archie, but then he remembered the fact that the three of them were currently sporting wings and that Kennedy should be dead. So he only remained quiet.

He grabs the wine for something to hold on to, to occupy the blank space in his hands because Bush needed to toy with something while his entire perception of reality was rearranged. If it was anybody but these two telling him what was what, he would never have believed it. With them he was barely swallowing it.

"Well now that I'm apparently back...what now?"

Can you tell he's really going to be hovering around you two?

Archie glances over at Horatio, letting go of the trolling now that he's gotten much of it out of his system. It's better for Horatio to do this, and frankly, the what now part is still an answer he has trouble with. At first, you take it easy. Then, you see the sights. It's after you've explored and gotten over the newness of it in that things get hard.

What now?

Horatio sighed faintly, closing his eyes halfway as he bowed his head to think. What now? indeed. He opened his eyes at last and looked at Bush. Slowly, his shoulders raised... then fell. That simple shrug said it all.

"I've... found that's rather something that we... figure out as we go along." He had no plan. For once.

Bush frowned a little more and stared at the wine in his hands. His brow furrowed and for a moment, he looked like he was thinking very seriously on things.

Then suddenly, he sighed. His entire expression loosened as he did.

"Right."

And he drank his wine. Very quickly. And was left staring at an empty glass. "I could do with a shirt..."

Without a word, Archie pushed himself to his feet and headed for his room. William was broader across the chest and belly but no wider across the shoulders, but such things weren't greatly important when it came to shirts. Horatio was altogether thinner than both of them, as well as a few inches taller, so the proportions were a little closer this way. He took a minute to rifle through his chest of drawers.

Horatio took up the bottle and poured more wine for Bush, as well as topping off his own glass and Archie's. Might as well continue drinking. Only thing that had made his first night better.

"We've a room for you," he explained while waiting for Archie to return. And then, so it wouldn't be too much of a shock. "Mister Wellard occupies the other room."

Their... cabal. As Sawyer had called it. The three lieutenants and the midshipman who had been, to the best of their abilities, protected by them. And no Sawyer here. No Clive. No Buckland. Just the four of them.

There's a creeper in your closet.

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