But they sound like a million colors in my mind

[tehoniongirl]

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

Comments

[seventeensir]

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."

[seventeensir]

"They're smart things." Horatio chuckled slightly. "Feed them once, and they'll never stop following you about." Not that he had learned this with Hotspur's cat. Not at all.

[yrobtsvt]

William rolls his eyes. "Ah, now I see why Kennedy loves the cat so." They have a lot in common, it seems.

[tehoniongirl]

"He doesn't have a choice in the matter. I'm fairly certain Leonard would make sure there were consequences if he didn't."

[noprevaricating]

Archie sighed and stood up, dipping two fingers briefly in a bucket of blue paint and then reaching to drip a little of it onto William's head. William always brought out the mature side of Archie.

[seventeensir]

"William." A light scolding, no sign of temper.

Then Archie's up. And there's paint on his fingers. And. "Archie!"

[yrobtsvt]

Sorry, Captain, William's just flicked some paint into Archie's face, hope you don't mind. He is usually very rarely swayed by such childish tomfoolery, but... Well, Archie's special.

[tehoniongirl]

[Horatio's reprimand catches her attention, and she turns just in time to see Bush retaliate. And laughs] I thought I was the one who was supposed to make a mess.

[noprevaricating]

Archie's face scrunches up as the paint speckles it, and he dashes forward to leave blue fingerprints on William's nose. It is a matter of honor.

[seventeensir]

"Mr. Bush! Mr. Kennedy!"

Horatio-- thankfully sans his uniform coat, as the threat had always been present of paint being a bit erratic-- thinks nothing of rising and approaching the men, intending to intervene.

He cannot see that this really is a disaster waiting to happen on his part.

[yrobtsvt]

William manages to smear Archie's hair with streaks of blue-- always go for the hair, it's what bothered his sisters most (which encapsulates entirely his current state of mind)-- before the sound of Horatio's voice truly catches him. Being called Mister Bush will always get his attention; having Horatio call him so will never fail to have him standing to it, too.

He looks to Horatio, suddenly entirely conscious of what he's done, a guilty expression on his face. He started it is not, in fact, the correct answer, though William is tempted.

[tehoniongirl]

For now, she is an innocent observer in all of this, white paint smeared on finger tips as she watches this and laughs. As Horatio moves to be the responsible captain, however, that strain of mischief she shares with Archie might just be forming ideas. After all, if some of them are to be covered in pain, it's only fair that all of them are.

...She doesn't immediately act, though, still outside their circle where she's standing by the wall. William has obviously fallen to Horatio's command, immediately straightening, but it's Archie that she watches.

[noprevaricating]

By habit deferring to Horatio, Archie withdraws and looks reprimanded. "It's only a bit of fun, Horatio," he says lamely, but makes no further move to harass his fellow lieutenant.

[seventeensir]

"'Conduct unbecoming' is a phrase that comes to mind."

Yet, even as he said it, there was a smile tugging at his lips, a barely contained chuckle in every word. The reprimand came from a sense of duty but was not backed by any conviction.

[yrobtsvt]

William smiles, happy to see Horatio doesn't disapprove too much. He nods, clearly in agreement, but still very much amused, and sits back down, trying to smear some more of the paint out of his face.

[tehoniongirl]

It is an unavoidable fact that, if held long enough, a wet paint brush will drip, no matter the effort made to remove the excess. Quietly laughing, Jilly had only started to shake her head in amusement when she feels just such a drip fall into her hand, white streaking across the palm.

Shifting the brush to her other hand, she rubbed two paint-slicked fingers together...and then glanced at the soldiers. Thoroughly reprimanded, William and Archie had stepped back, leaving only Horatio to stand unmarked between the two. And...well...Jilly just couldn't let that lie.

It wasn't a thought so much as instinct as she stepped forward, closing the meager gap between them, and reached up to press one white palm to Horatio's cheek.