We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors...with a soldier

[simplestgift]

Who: Norrington (abidinglaw ), Hornblower (captainhornblower ), Sharpe (greenjacketed ), Bush (wouldntbetonit ), Kennedy (simplestgift ), and Wellard (bravelad ).
What: Officers' dinner.
When: The 23rd at four o'clock
Where: The captain's cabin of the Britannia
Summary: Archie's feeling like recapturing some of the magic officer dinners used to have when Aubrey and Maturin were here.
Rating: A is for Awkward, B is for Bonaparte, C is for Cinnamon, D is for.../shuts up

So Archie isn't Aubrey, but he's tried to make things warm and have lots of good food.  He's done pretty well, but his attempts to replace the captain of which he was so fond aren't perfect.  The beef is, perhaps, just a tad drier, the pudding a teensy bit too moist, and other such nitpicks, but hey.  One of you try it.

Comments

[greenjacketed]

Bloody hell, if he was sincere then they must be hard-pressed for company in this place.

"At the very least, it's better eating than the last time I was on a ship."

[captainhornblower]

"Mister Kennedy is a remarkable cook. My own attempts are... Well. The best I can say is that I managed not to poison my housemates."

[greenjacketed]

And then there was Sharpe, who had no housemates to poison.

"He has skill," Richard said as he speared a bit of beef.

[captainhornblower]

Hornblower gave a slight nod. He would not have managed without Archie here at all, and these dinners had helped. Particularly with Aubrey here...

Maturin, he could do without. But Aubrey's company was sorely missed.

"Where are you staying?" Polite to ask.

[greenjacketed]

"Up until Friday, I've been bivouaking in the forest. But now I've a right fancy billet in one of those large buildings."

/way, way late, sorry

[captainhornblower]

"They're nice enough, the places they offer here." He does his best to smile. "Affordable, too."

NO PROBLEM.

[greenjacketed]

"Quite," he agreed with his own nebulous smirk. "Though -- there's summat in that what don't feel right. A British officer pays for his billets."

Unlike the French. The comparison needn't be said aloud.

[captainhornblower]

"We've no one to pay," Hornblower replied, but his tone conveyed agreement with the sentiment of the Army officer.

"It's a strange world," he murmured. "No coin of any kind, yet one might," as he often did, "feel a need to wonder when the debt will come due."

A pause. Darkness tinted his words. "any how they will demand payment. Their war and experiments may be it, but I am not inclined to assume that is the sum of it."

Then, he shook his head. "My apologies." An attempt at a smile. "This is meant to be a friendly gathering, and I speak of worries."

[greenjacketed]

"...It's a worrisome problem, Captain." Sharpe acknowledged the tactical concerns with a shallow nod of his head. No matter how many diversions he'd already found for himself, the uncertainty remained.

"And in my experience, crimpers and conscriptors quickly learn to want more from their charges."

[captainhornblower]

"My worry exactly."

He took a sip of the wine before he spoke again.

"If tyrants know they can demand any price, they will, and we are in no position to refuse them, should they prove tyrants. We have no ability to refuse, if we look at our situation with full honesty. They can compel us to obey."

Powerless. It was a feeling he would never 'get used' to, nor would he allow himself to do so.

"Still," he raised his glass slightly, "we endure, and good company makes it a little more bearable."

[greenjacketed]

Speaking of: "Company seems awfully stocked with sailors, Captain. Are you sure there are no soldiers about?" A beat. "From our army. From our war."

[captainhornblower]

"Not that I know of, but I can say that Mister Kennedy was here a long time himself before I arrived, and Mister Bush shortly after me. Mister Wellard after him. The admiral," a nod to Norrington in conversation with one of the others, "arrived, I believe, around the same time I did."

He smiles. He knows what it is to want companionship. "Perhaps your presence will bring others."