But they sound like a million colors in my mind

Jul 07, 2011 00:48

Who: An tehoniongirl andnoprevaricating seventeensir yrobtsvt.
What: A paint war ensues
When: Wednesday afternoon
Where: The boys' new house
Summary: Jilly tries to recreate her mural in the new house, Horatio is a neat freak, Bush is new, and Archie's just plain trouble.
Rating: Kittens and paint splatters

Jilly had spent the better part of one day and one morning carefully sketching ghost-like lines- )

[newford series] jilly coppercorn, [hornblower] archie kennedy, [hornblower] horatio hornblower

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seventeensir July 7 2011, 17:03:48 UTC
Ship life meant rats. Rats meant a ship cat. A ship cat meant Horatio Hornblower knew that there would be coloured paw prints everywhere if the creature was not contained, small as it was.

So, the little kitten was shut in a bedroom and mewling pathetically. It had everything it needed. Food, water, and even an annoying little ball with a very small bell in it. The moment Archie wasn't around? That ball was going to find a corner of a drawer to be hidden in.

The captain had watched Jilly sketch, sipping his own cup of coffee. He said nothing about the potential for paint getting everywhere... but he appreciated the canvas on the floor. Painting was a messy business but one he could respect, both for its utility, for the finished look it gave a project, and because he'd seen Jilly's last work on a wall.

Politely, he offered, even if he couldn't imagine what use he might be, "If I can be of assistance, Miss Jilly, let me know."

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yrobtsvt July 7 2011, 17:55:03 UTC
Ship life means keeping everything as clean as possible at all times. William, at least, was itching to clean-- or get someone else to clean-- the mess that was sure to come. He can keep himself from it, though; they deserved their bloody mural, for all the headaches it'd cause later. William mostly keeps out of the way and wonders at the cat, locked away.

So he mulls around the kitchen, alternates between checking these journal things, and wondering at what, exactly, he's doing here and what's going on. He pipes in after Horatio: "Of course-- and if I can help, just holler."

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tehoniongirl July 7 2011, 18:25:50 UTC
It doesn't take long to drain her own cup to the dregs and set it aside. Wiping her hands on her jeans - an automatic gesture, even if she had yet to get paint on her fingers - she stood and stretched. She'd start with the sky. After the time it took to reach up and address the top of the mural, she'd be grateful for break of working on the lower areas.

Besides...she was pretty sure the Crow Girls would have agreed, if they were there to ask. Everything should start with the sky.

The blue wash, pale in the afternoon light, was already in place, so she moved to pry the lid off a bucket of white paint, lifting it to pour the thick liquid into a pan.

"You can both relax." It's said lightly, more as a reassurance than a reprimand. "I promise I won't do too much damage."

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noprevaricating July 7 2011, 19:01:55 UTC
Archie was admittedly a little worried about the kitten shut up in the spare bedroom but was pretending not to be, since cats were cats even if this one was his cat. He sort of figured it would not be making all that noise if something wasn't wrong, so he kept glancing in the direction of the bedroom. When he heard scratching noises, he jumped up automatically with the intent to crack open the door and see if it was okay.

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seventeensir July 7 2011, 19:14:03 UTC
"...It's fine, Archie."

Were kittens anything like children? If they were, best to let it entertain itself. Learn to be self-sufficient. Otherwise, there'd be no peace in the house whatsoever. Or so he told himself.

He still glanced down the hallway, listening. It wanted attention. It wasn't in distress. ...Right?

Then, though, to distract himself, he nods to Jilly. "I'm sure you won't, Miss Jilly."

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yrobtsvt July 7 2011, 19:31:46 UTC
William is ignoring the cat. It's a cat. It can fend for itself. He had cats growing up, and they were all mousers, rough and self-sufficient; surely this one will be fine, but only if they can manage not to coddle it.

"Not the damage I'm worried about." And then he realizes how that sounded. "Don't want you to strain yourself." Isn't paint toxic or something?

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tehoniongirl July 7 2011, 19:42:16 UTC
She laughed at that, glancing over her shoulder briefly before turning back to the task at hand and dipping her brush into the paint. She ran the bristles along the side of the pan to remove the excess, but some still dripped down the handle and on to her thumb as she raised it. "It's not a strain. Or not one I'm unused to. This is sort of my job."

She shook her hair out of her eyes, moving to the wall. "Though, I will say this is more practice with murals than I was expecting."

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noprevaricating July 7 2011, 19:57:21 UTC
Archie stopped at Horatio's word and turned back around to the couch, looking a little embarrassed. "I only wanted to stop him scratching."

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seventeensir July 7 2011, 20:10:05 UTC
Horatio (aside from ship cats that wandered at leisure) has had one cat. A rather mangy creature he'd plucked from a stream as a boy and taken home. Kittens, never. Such a small creature... and so curious. He'd learned that quickly enough. What with the claws in his his leg when it had, just yesterday, hopped off the couch and decided it wanted back up. It couldn't jump like a proper cat (granted, Horatio would acknowledge it was quite small, its legs might not be strong enough yet), no. It had to climb.

And with paint?

No. Better the animal stayed shut away until things were done.

"I do apologize that you have to redo it, Miss Jilly."

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yrobtsvt July 7 2011, 20:12:21 UTC
"You can sit in there with it, if you like. I'm sure the cat would thank you for it." He says, teasing.

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tehoniongirl July 7 2011, 20:29:30 UTC
"Don't apologize. I wanted to." It had been her gift to Archie, for getting her out of the snow and picking out paints for her. And it had been a way to make him feel at home. And this was his home now. It was only right.

Her brush strokes are light and loose, the beginnings of clouds taking shape on the wall. Not that they looked like much, for now. She painted in layers on canvas, and that's how she would work on the wall...albeit, at a much larger scale.

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noprevaricating July 7 2011, 20:40:38 UTC
Archie rolled his eyes at William and sat on the couch "If it dies in there, you'll have to explain it to a very upset doctor who loves to attack people with sedatives." His expanding vocabulary shown off, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, quite finished.

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seventeensir July 7 2011, 20:44:32 UTC
"Mr. Kennedy is also not above drugging you, William. Or me, for that matter. So we'd best be careful." But his tone was light, and he flashed Archie a smile. He was also unaware, so far, that he'd been drugged a second time. "Give it five minutes, Archie. Then, if he's still making a fuss."

He watched Jilly paint, not asking about what she was doing. Best to let her work, he decided. After all, he knew how he took to being questioned.

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yrobtsvt July 7 2011, 20:47:40 UTC
"If it died because we've paid it no mind, it's likely defective and we've no want of it anyway." William Bush: Proto-Darwinist. The idea of Archie drugging people gives him pause, though. "You've acquired a free hand with laudanum, Kennedy?"

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tehoniongirl July 7 2011, 21:04:44 UTC
It took all of her willpower not to flinch at the talk of drugging, or to avoid glancing in Archie's direction. Instead, she made a small sound at Bush's comment, tinged with amusement. "It's lonely, not defective. It's used to Buffy and me spoiling it."

This, after all, is what happened when doctors were unable to quickly rid themselves of fluffy kittens.

If she knew she was being watched, there was nothing self-conscious about her movements. Art school and her regular habit of stopping in odd public places to draw had left her more or less used to curious eyes.

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noprevaricating July 7 2011, 21:12:48 UTC
"You see there, William? Beasts have feelings." It was only half-serious, the remark, but he was glad for Jilly's remark.

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