William Bush

[Public video]

[It is a sober and less manic Bush that greets the barge-- but he is not unhappy or grim. He looks a little wistful and a bit tired, but all in all he is happy. His voice is strong and fond as he says:]

After the counsel of some good friends, I think it is time I left this ship. I have been underfoot too long when we are crowded of wardens and I have done the service I came here to do.

It's not a common thing that a navy man gets to choose his comings and goings, and I feel we are all lucky that we can go before this work takes too much of us. Captains and heroes of the navy have not always got that chance.

I will be going to sea again, for I've been promised a berth on the Flying Dutchman by Captain Jones-- for those of you who remember him. I will think of you all fondly, and when those who are not now at liberty to visit find that liberty-- we should love to have you. I should love to have you.

It has been my honour to serve with you all, and I wish you the best of the voyage to come.

[He takes his hat off to them, and the video ends.]

[Private-Zane.]

I cannot persuade you to come sailing a while, can I-? Just a month's reprieve from your duties here, to show you all the things I have longed to teach you about ships?

[Dreams]

[Bush dreams, usually, without coherence, without much lingering affect; some sadness, some melancholy, some joy. Never so vivid as this...]

[CW: Fire, amputation, drowning. Items: bloody uniform, cutlass, metal cup]

[Public]

Anyone who has no celebration of their own planned, I mean to set up some of Mister Napier's old gaming things in the pub-- cards and dice and what have you. I should be pleased to have you join me.

[Text - Kennedy and Hornblower]

Perhaps you did not know Lt. Bush long enough to miss him on Christmas, but I do miss my old sailing friends. As we are agreed that each of us is not the other, would you still join me for a late supper tonight

Yours,
Wm Bush

( Gift list below )

[Young William Bush, even more darkly tanned than his older counterpart, is an energetic 18. If he were less disciplined he would probably be underfoot trying to learn the ship.]

Snow! Oh, I haven't seen snow in two years, ain't it splendid? Do you suppose we'll stay through Christmas?


[Open Spam]
[He can be found in every common room, exploring, marveling at the decorations, and trying to figure out the controls of the enclosure.]

[Private to Archie Kennedy]

Lieutenant. Archie. I wonder how you are doing after your first port and if you are enough on your feet that you could fetch me something. ...Unfortunately, my leg is broken.

[He glowers offscreen at it as if by sheer force of will he could make it no so.]

[Filtered away from anyone he knows as a worker. Is that you? You decide!]

[Bill Bush is either in good looking middle age or just before it. He's in business casual-- because apparently he was taken right from work. So; button down shirt, slacks, thin gloves. He has that careful, bland home counties accent you pick up later in life when you go for your MBA, though when he's stressed-- like he is now, say-- the scouse comes out.]

I'm sorry. I know it's rude to question anyone's choice in clothes and you're all from different world. However. You know you've got workers on board, don't you? And a memory worker who's been busy. Where are your fuckin' gloves?

[It's almost plaintive, that question, bewildered.]


[Replies from billbush. Bill's from the Curse Workers universe, but not a worker himself! More info here

I know it has been the done thing for wardens to stay a while even with no intention of finding another deal. And so I am going to stay for a while.

[Private text to Horatio Hornblower and Zane Venture]

I am not staying because of the fine accommodations or because I have anything to fear when I return.

The only thing that keeps me is my debts to my crewmates and the hope that I can still be some use to them. I offer any service I can render.

Your servant,
Wm. Bush

[OOC: Bush is flood affected and doesn't know yet. Come get some Honesty]

[The Bush who addresses the barge is-- well, extremely different. His manner is a little less formal, his clothes much less so-- it is his old uniform jacket, but frayed and much the worse for wear, open over a tattered silk waistcoat found who knows where; he carries a sense of dampness, hair plastered all about his face, and exuberant life. He is not younger, exactly, but -- timeless. His pigtail is wrapped with what on closer look is the leaves of kelp, and a colony of small mussels have colonized it stubbornly. A patch of what look like flowerbuds fan across the front of his jacket-- they are closed sullenly in surprise, but have enough magic about them not to be stunned to death by this sudden remove into air. His hat is absolutely no-where in evidence, and his epaulet has been fastened to the opposite shoulder, denoting for his own sense of propriety that he is a lieutenant. ]

I have picked a fine time to come back aboard, it seems! Anyone unaffected by this flood can tell me how long it has been? It is at least a few years for me. [And one year for the barge, in the future he is from.]

( Valentines for Zane, the Emperor, Iris )

[Accidental video]

[Bush is usually careful of his comm, but today he's caught up in a newfound knowledge of music and has found something to sing along with as he brushes out his hair.]

'Like the Kipling cat, I walk alone
Never inviting trouble, never casting the stone.
But this badge of honor is of tarnished tin.
Light your guiding beacon to bring this fisher in.

Picking up tired feet; Back from a far horizon.. '

[It's a pleasant rather than brilliant voice , but his grip of tune is good and he doesn't lose the thread as he starts to re-braid his hair with practiced ease.]

[CW: Comment thread contains violence, graphic description of drowning.]