Twenty-two bells: [WRITTEN/ACTION]

[noprevaricating]

[Filtered from known villains and Grell, 100% unhackable]

[The handwriting is disguised and the picture is obscured.]

For the benefit of the new feathers: if you feel unsafe somehow in your own home, you may go to the Welcome Center and be placed in a safe house until you can get back on your feet. There does not have to be a reason. Even if you have

Comments

[abidinglaw]

[Early that evening Admiral Norrington catches sight of Archie on his - James's - way to the square. The admiral is carrying a rake over his shoulder, and wears the clothing of a civilian. He quickens his step when he notices the lieutenant. Almost as though he fears the man will bolt.]

Lieutenant Kennedy! A moment of your time.

[noprevaricating]

[Ooookay. Archie halts where he stands, and after a moment, clasps his hands behind his back.]

Yes, sir?

[abidinglaw]

[But he cannot simply launch into it, heedless, clamourous. There are formalities to uphold.]

Are - ah. Are you well?

[noprevaricating]

Quite well, sir, and yourself?

[abidinglaw]

Quite well. Indeed, quite well.

[He feels a fool in this clothes, and all the more in front of this - this boy. With the rake besides, he must look like a common laborer.]

Yet for my part I suffered little through the course of the draft.

[Yes, it's still on his mind.]

[noprevaricating]

As did I. [No need to talk about the splinter he took to a wing. His Grave Admiralness can't be interested in that kind of thing. Admirals really never are.]

[abidinglaw]

[And yet he is, he has been. It had been Norrington who had chosen to permit Horatio to go ahead with his plan. And yes, it had provided them foreknowledge of the shrapnel-encased shot, but..

The admiral nods once, curtly. Kennedy must not wish to talk about it. And small wonder.]

I shall not keep you long. This McCoy, the doctor. He was well loved.

[It will be a sore subject. He watches Archie as he waits.]

[noprevaricating]

[Archie's eyes drop. He must be fact-checking. It's still a moment before he conjures up an answer. It comes out in a low voice.]

He was.

[By me. By everyone.]

[abidinglaw]

It is a great pity that I met him only briefly. He was recommended to me on more than one occasion for his skill, and for what he did for this village -- we owe him more than we could ever have hoped to repay.

[This wasn't what he had come to say, but Archie's passion disarmed him. He had not expected that the doctor and the lieutenant would have been so well acquainted as to merit this mourning.]

[noprevaricating]

[Kennedy tries nodding. The more the admiral says, the less he is able to speak. He presses his lips together tightly, betraying the intensity of his grief even as he tries to hide it. After a moment, he swallows hard, blinks rapidly a few times, and whispers:]

Yes, sir.

[abidinglaw]

[What follows is an extraordinarily awkward pause. What can he say in the face of this? But he cannot merely turn and leave. Albeit that is likely what Kennedy wants.]

My condolences.

[Fool, the man did not die.]

That is - my apologies.

[Nor is it your fault. The admiral's eyes flit to the ground.]

[noprevaricating]

[At the same time, Kennedy's eyes flit up from the ground in surprise. Very suddenly, he has to resist the crazed impulse to laugh. Two men trying to maintain formality and failing miserably. His lips tighten around a suppressed smile.]

Thank you, sir. [Not the right answer.] For the condolences, not the apology. [Also not the right answer.] It... [He stops, breathes in again as if to say something else, then lets the breath back out instead, giving up, smile utterly gone now. Then, he just says what he wants to say.]

You're a good man, sir.

[abidinglaw]

[Damn it all if that doesn't confuse the Admiral still further. Who is this? Standing before him here?]

Yes, well, that remains to be seen. Lieutenant Kennedy, I stopped you in hopes that I might understand a little of what -- ..

[Of what?]

As I said, I did not know Doctor McCoy. I feel that I do a disservice to him by standing untouched while others join to express the loss of him.

[It is not entirely true, this. His primary goal lies in gaining what means he can to help the many who have been so touched by this event. He would rather not be helpless.]

[noprevaricating]

[Okay. An straightforward task, given to him. He can do this.]

I-I would be happy to tell you about him, sir. Would you like to come to my house? I can make tea, coffee, chocolate, whatever you like.

[abidinglaw]

[More than he could have hoped for by far. The admiral looks up at this, and in doing so he feels a gust of autumn wind strike his cheek.]

Tea, thank you -- so long as you will drink a cup or two yourself.

[There is a lot to be said for a warm drink shared between men.]

[noprevaricating]

[Thank you, Mr. Bush, but I will share the watch with you.]

Of course, sir. Right this way, sir. [With a nod, he heads in the direction of house 36.]