Eighteenth evolution of sail - in tatters
Mar. 16th, 2014 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shakenandlimp[Bush's communicator does not show the pile of letters he tried to write-- hand-written apologies, requests for conversation, simple statements of his continued regard-- only his ink-stained fingers, showing because his chin is propped heavy on his fist, attest to his failures.
And so there are no private messages to Iris, to Barbara, to Zane, to the Emperor-- only his haggard face on the video, all stripped of the insulating good nature he uses to cushion the oddities of the barge. He is the harsh, stoic seaman who trod the deck of Nonsuch now; not unkind, but not smiling.]
I daresay there's a few of you now that that's your first breach. It is a nasty shock and no preparing for it. It's not unlike a hurricane, the sensation that you're in the hands of forces beyond your control.
As in a hurricane, try to keep your head, breathe, and cling to something solid as soon as you catch hold. Look out for your friends. There ain't stopping these events any more than the sea.
I am sorry, you newer ones. I am sorry for you.
[Private to Hornblower]
[He does manage this one message, feeling he's less to answer for in this case. And there is his duty -- to Jones, yes, but also to young Hornblower, and if Bush fussed over Hornblower like a hen with one chick when Hornblower was his commanding officer and only a few years his junior, that worry and affectionate meddling is doubled now that Hornblower is a Lieutenant and nearly twenty years the younger. He is the concerned senior officer now.]
That was a bad blow, Lieutenant, a bad way to have your first breach. Are you all right?
[And Private to Captain Jones]
[This is the easiest message of all. Duty has always been simple for him; it overrules little pains and heartbreaks.]
Didn't see you about during the breach, Jones-- tell me if you're the worse for wear.
And so there are no private messages to Iris, to Barbara, to Zane, to the Emperor-- only his haggard face on the video, all stripped of the insulating good nature he uses to cushion the oddities of the barge. He is the harsh, stoic seaman who trod the deck of Nonsuch now; not unkind, but not smiling.]
I daresay there's a few of you now that that's your first breach. It is a nasty shock and no preparing for it. It's not unlike a hurricane, the sensation that you're in the hands of forces beyond your control.
As in a hurricane, try to keep your head, breathe, and cling to something solid as soon as you catch hold. Look out for your friends. There ain't stopping these events any more than the sea.
I am sorry, you newer ones. I am sorry for you.
[Private to Hornblower]
[He does manage this one message, feeling he's less to answer for in this case. And there is his duty -- to Jones, yes, but also to young Hornblower, and if Bush fussed over Hornblower like a hen with one chick when Hornblower was his commanding officer and only a few years his junior, that worry and affectionate meddling is doubled now that Hornblower is a Lieutenant and nearly twenty years the younger. He is the concerned senior officer now.]
That was a bad blow, Lieutenant, a bad way to have your first breach. Are you all right?
[And Private to Captain Jones]
[This is the easiest message of all. Duty has always been simple for him; it overrules little pains and heartbreaks.]
Didn't see you about during the breach, Jones-- tell me if you're the worse for wear.
[Private]
Date: 2014-03-17 03:05 am (UTC)As I recall, I was some sort of monstrous creature. Wouldn't happen to know what that's like.
[Oh look he made a funny.]
[Private]
Date: 2014-03-17 03:08 am (UTC){Ha, ha. There's little enough humour in Bush today. He is tired and angry, but not at Jones-- Jones he only wishes to look in on.]
No injuries sustained, I hope? Not on the mothership that tried to make landfall at Home? [The one his ship Cheshire and the fleet helped to destroy.]
[Private]
Date: 2014-03-17 03:09 am (UTC)[Private]
Date: 2014-03-17 03:14 am (UTC)[To hell with everything, say his voice and lined face.]
[Private]
Date: 2014-03-17 03:15 am (UTC)And a fine one I'm sure yeh made. Didn't die, then?
[Private]
Date: 2014-03-17 03:17 am (UTC)Hang it all, Captain Jones, I hate this damned place, come walking on the seashore with me.
[Private]
Date: 2014-03-17 03:20 am (UTC)I've been saying the same damn thing for months.
But for what it's worth, I'm glad you're whole.
[Private] -> [Spam]
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Date: 2014-03-17 03:06 am (UTC)private
Date: 2014-03-17 03:10 am (UTC)private
Date: 2014-03-17 03:17 am (UTC): private
Date: 2014-03-17 03:19 am (UTC)[And a minute later]
pardon me. do not go to blazes. my apologies.
private
Date: 2014-03-17 03:24 am (UTC)did you die?
Re: private
Date: 2014-03-17 03:25 am (UTC)Sedated and imprisoned. After trying to wake up the Emperor and dissuade him from this. Failed completely.
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Date: 2014-03-17 07:06 pm (UTC)[ It hasn't yet. There is a reason Gard is not using video. ]
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Date: 2014-03-17 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-17 07:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-17 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-17 07:27 pm (UTC)Nope.
Definitely not.
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Date: 2014-03-17 07:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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From:Private - Video
Date: 2014-03-17 11:54 pm (UTC)I am quite well, Sir. Thank you. It was strange, of course, although that seems so small a thing to tell you, knowing that you've been here for as long as you have.
[It had been strange. Up until the last day, when it suddenly became abruptly much worse than strange, but he doesn't want to say that now.]
What of yourself, Sir? Did you fare well?
Private - Video
Date: 2014-03-18 12:24 am (UTC)I have been through a breach or two but that doesn't mean I am ever quite ready for them. This one-- they aren't usually quite like this, Lieutenant. Nobody is aware of it till it's past. And you may find yourself a dishonorable, unsavory man if the dice fall against your favour.
I know-- that the memories can linger, and the feelings, and if you feel you need to speak about it, I am at your service.
Private - Video
Date: 2014-03-18 01:14 am (UTC)[A pause as he considers this, and then, a little shrug.]
I cannot even say who it is for, exactly. There seemed to be so many who were so deserving of it.
Re: Private - Video
Date: 2014-03-18 01:20 am (UTC)Private - Video
Date: 2014-03-18 01:53 am (UTC)[He almost adds that being mad made it easier, in some ways, but he doesn't. Better never to bring that up, lest it's somehow used against him later.]
Private - Video
Date: 2014-03-18 02:34 am (UTC)...you are remembering to sleep, aren't you?
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