(no subject)
Nov. 15th, 2007 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mylodonThis is for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trusea to wish her happy birthday today. I asked her what she wanted and she said "I spent hours trying to make a decision... and have finally decided that I want to know more about the modern boys. But some references to the other Archies and Horatios before them (AOS, Bride's...) would be nice!" So that's what she gets.
“Hold on a minute...”
“Horatio! You used to be so well spoken. Time was you might have said ‘Excuse me for just one moment’. Too much time spent with the foremast jacks, I’ll warrant.”
“Too much time spent with you, you mean.” Horatio rolled his eyes. “You’d be thrown out of hell for being a bad influence on the junior devils.”
“That I would, Mr Hornblower.” Archie smiled brightly, “because I am so pure and wholesome. I would lead them straight back into Abraham’s bosom.”
“I know what you’re doing, you know. Trying to distract me from what I had to say, but it will not work. You can’t be having a birthday tomorrow because you already had one back in April. I remember, because you made me go down into the sail locker so that I could give you a birthday kiss.”
“Seem to remember it was one for each year of my life, which was very gratifying. But as you rightly point out we were half way to the Med then and I was far from the bosom of my family…”
“You seem obsessed with bosoms today. Ow.”
“…and Mama insisted that I should have another, proxy, celebration with my nearest and dearest.”
“She insisted? Don’t you mean that you batted your eyelashes and acted seven and a half and she let you have your own way?”
Kennedy grinned. “Perhaps. Always works with you, that strategy. Anyhow, tomorrow will be my official birthday – you needn’t get me another present. I could not bear the excitement of more handkerchiefs.”
“Handkerchiefs?” Horatio Hornblower snorted. “It’s not very romantic to buy your boyfriend handkerchiefs.”
“Well of course it isn’t – that’s the whole point. He’s supposed to be a bit of a blockhead when it comes to romance, this bloke. He would never have the presence of mind to buy his lover a copy of ‘The Making of Dieux du Stade’.”
Hornblower grinned. “Worth every penny, that was. Now this story doesn’t seem like your usual oeuvre – or will you have a murder going on aboard ship and these two solve it?”
“No – that’d be daft. I thought I’d try my hand at something else, you know – give the old brain a challenge.”
“So you’re writing about a man who shares your name and has a boyfriend with my name and seems to share your birthday? Putting in any more little allusions to the author and his vanity?”
“Not on your nelly. In-jokes can be terribly alienating unless handled with a very light touch. Anyway it’s just his pretend birthday, the fifteenth. And I’m not just being vain – that date means an awful lot to me.”
“The old family tales, eh?” Horatio remembered with great fondness a memorable weekend spent at Archie’s family home where he’d been entertained with stories from the Kennedy past, including some that had only just crept out of the woodwork. Like the fact that Old Archie had stolen Uncle Sherlock’s chair on the fifteenth of November, the same day of the year as both present day Archie and his father’s birthdays.
“Not just them, Horatio. You know the other reason.” Kennedy reached for his lover’s hand and gently caressed it. “I really can’t decide what I’d do if I ever met David; either thrash him for dumping you by text – by text, Horatio and on my birthday! – or shake his hand for making the way clear for me. It would have been awful if we’d met at the theatre only for me to find out that you were already attached.”
“I did wonder whether you were going out with that actor bloke – what was his name, he did that awful ‘Big Brother’ thing – and whether I’d missed the boat.”
“Nice that I wasn’t and you hadn’t. Here, pour me another cup of tea and I’ll take a break from this composition lark. I have something to ask you.”
“That sounds horribly ominous.” Horatio refilled his partner’s favourite old bone china mug.
“I’m curious as to what old David looked like – there’s only one picture you’ve kept of him and that’s a bit blurry. Did he have a blurry face in real life? Too much binding onto the side of the scrum?”
“Twit. He had a very nice face – not as handsome as yours but not bad – and very shapely ears. He used to wear a scrum cap to protect them.”
“He’d have had to protect more than his ears if I’d ever got him in a ruck – you can do wonders with your boot when the referee’s on the other side.” Archie grinned and grabbed another biscuit.
“You’ve an unexpectedly competitive streak in you, Archie. Your mother would be appalled if she heard you.”
“It’s only comes out when it concerns something that’s really important to me. In any case I’d have loved to see you two playing together for Rosslyn Park. I bet you were dead nippy down the wing.”
“Our coach said I was a model of what a winger should be – speed combined with determination in the tackle.”
“I’ll vouch for that. And old mouldy drawers was blind side flanker?”
“He was. Very rangy, though – not as muscular as the norm. Looked like that bloke that turns out at full back for France sometimes.”
“Castaignede?”
“No; can’t recall his name. But he’s in your DVD.”
“I’ll pay special attention next time. Glad it wasn’t Castaignede – I like him. Whoever David looked like, you deserved better than him – him running off with a one-legged, tattooed sailor and all.”
“It wasn’t a one-legged sailor he absconded with; although you’re right about the tattoos. Freddie had plenty of them, some in the most extraordinary places, allegedly. But as for limbs he had the usual number and he was something in securitisation.” Hornblower shuddered. Tattoos were high on the list of things of which he did not approve. He wasn’t desperately keen on people in securitisation, either.
“Whatever he was you deserved better.”
“I got better – I got you.” Horatio kissed his partner with great warmth. “Now get back to your scribbling. Will you be submitting it with your other short stories?”
“Depends how it turns out. If it’s too self indulgent I’ll change the names to Pullings and Mowett and post it on the internet as fanfic. See if it floats anyone’s boat.”
“I thought you didn’t approve of fanfic. Not after the incident where that awful girl wrote the stuff about your Inspector Hargreaves.”
“Don’t remind me. There is a whole community devoted to my beloved detective – don’t mind when they behave themselves but when they pair him with a woman it makes my blood boil. And Miss Chan the lawyer at that…I mean she’s a lovely girl, but in my next story I’m marrying her off to the third son of a Lord and anyway she regards Hargreaves as a sort of gay older brother.”
Hornbblower kissed the top of Archie’s head. “You and your stories – I’m not sure you have any concept of where they stop and reality starts.”
Archie laughed and rubbed his forehead. “You could be right, Horatio – as ever,” and returned to the matter of handkerchiefs.
trusea to wish her happy birthday today. I asked her what she wanted and she said "I spent hours trying to make a decision... and have finally decided that I want to know more about the modern boys. But some references to the other Archies and Horatios before them (AOS, Bride's...) would be nice!" So that's what she gets.“Hold on a minute...”
“Horatio! You used to be so well spoken. Time was you might have said ‘Excuse me for just one moment’. Too much time spent with the foremast jacks, I’ll warrant.”
“Too much time spent with you, you mean.” Horatio rolled his eyes. “You’d be thrown out of hell for being a bad influence on the junior devils.”
“That I would, Mr Hornblower.” Archie smiled brightly, “because I am so pure and wholesome. I would lead them straight back into Abraham’s bosom.”
“I know what you’re doing, you know. Trying to distract me from what I had to say, but it will not work. You can’t be having a birthday tomorrow because you already had one back in April. I remember, because you made me go down into the sail locker so that I could give you a birthday kiss.”
“Seem to remember it was one for each year of my life, which was very gratifying. But as you rightly point out we were half way to the Med then and I was far from the bosom of my family…”
“You seem obsessed with bosoms today. Ow.”
“…and Mama insisted that I should have another, proxy, celebration with my nearest and dearest.”
“She insisted? Don’t you mean that you batted your eyelashes and acted seven and a half and she let you have your own way?”
Kennedy grinned. “Perhaps. Always works with you, that strategy. Anyhow, tomorrow will be my official birthday – you needn’t get me another present. I could not bear the excitement of more handkerchiefs.”
“Handkerchiefs?” Horatio Hornblower snorted. “It’s not very romantic to buy your boyfriend handkerchiefs.”
“Well of course it isn’t – that’s the whole point. He’s supposed to be a bit of a blockhead when it comes to romance, this bloke. He would never have the presence of mind to buy his lover a copy of ‘The Making of Dieux du Stade’.”
Hornblower grinned. “Worth every penny, that was. Now this story doesn’t seem like your usual oeuvre – or will you have a murder going on aboard ship and these two solve it?”
“No – that’d be daft. I thought I’d try my hand at something else, you know – give the old brain a challenge.”
“So you’re writing about a man who shares your name and has a boyfriend with my name and seems to share your birthday? Putting in any more little allusions to the author and his vanity?”
“Not on your nelly. In-jokes can be terribly alienating unless handled with a very light touch. Anyway it’s just his pretend birthday, the fifteenth. And I’m not just being vain – that date means an awful lot to me.”
“The old family tales, eh?” Horatio remembered with great fondness a memorable weekend spent at Archie’s family home where he’d been entertained with stories from the Kennedy past, including some that had only just crept out of the woodwork. Like the fact that Old Archie had stolen Uncle Sherlock’s chair on the fifteenth of November, the same day of the year as both present day Archie and his father’s birthdays.
“Not just them, Horatio. You know the other reason.” Kennedy reached for his lover’s hand and gently caressed it. “I really can’t decide what I’d do if I ever met David; either thrash him for dumping you by text – by text, Horatio and on my birthday! – or shake his hand for making the way clear for me. It would have been awful if we’d met at the theatre only for me to find out that you were already attached.”
“I did wonder whether you were going out with that actor bloke – what was his name, he did that awful ‘Big Brother’ thing – and whether I’d missed the boat.”
“Nice that I wasn’t and you hadn’t. Here, pour me another cup of tea and I’ll take a break from this composition lark. I have something to ask you.”
“That sounds horribly ominous.” Horatio refilled his partner’s favourite old bone china mug.
“I’m curious as to what old David looked like – there’s only one picture you’ve kept of him and that’s a bit blurry. Did he have a blurry face in real life? Too much binding onto the side of the scrum?”
“Twit. He had a very nice face – not as handsome as yours but not bad – and very shapely ears. He used to wear a scrum cap to protect them.”
“He’d have had to protect more than his ears if I’d ever got him in a ruck – you can do wonders with your boot when the referee’s on the other side.” Archie grinned and grabbed another biscuit.
“You’ve an unexpectedly competitive streak in you, Archie. Your mother would be appalled if she heard you.”
“It’s only comes out when it concerns something that’s really important to me. In any case I’d have loved to see you two playing together for Rosslyn Park. I bet you were dead nippy down the wing.”
“Our coach said I was a model of what a winger should be – speed combined with determination in the tackle.”
“I’ll vouch for that. And old mouldy drawers was blind side flanker?”
“He was. Very rangy, though – not as muscular as the norm. Looked like that bloke that turns out at full back for France sometimes.”
“Castaignede?”
“No; can’t recall his name. But he’s in your DVD.”
“I’ll pay special attention next time. Glad it wasn’t Castaignede – I like him. Whoever David looked like, you deserved better than him – him running off with a one-legged, tattooed sailor and all.”
“It wasn’t a one-legged sailor he absconded with; although you’re right about the tattoos. Freddie had plenty of them, some in the most extraordinary places, allegedly. But as for limbs he had the usual number and he was something in securitisation.” Hornblower shuddered. Tattoos were high on the list of things of which he did not approve. He wasn’t desperately keen on people in securitisation, either.
“Whatever he was you deserved better.”
“I got better – I got you.” Horatio kissed his partner with great warmth. “Now get back to your scribbling. Will you be submitting it with your other short stories?”
“Depends how it turns out. If it’s too self indulgent I’ll change the names to Pullings and Mowett and post it on the internet as fanfic. See if it floats anyone’s boat.”
“I thought you didn’t approve of fanfic. Not after the incident where that awful girl wrote the stuff about your Inspector Hargreaves.”
“Don’t remind me. There is a whole community devoted to my beloved detective – don’t mind when they behave themselves but when they pair him with a woman it makes my blood boil. And Miss Chan the lawyer at that…I mean she’s a lovely girl, but in my next story I’m marrying her off to the third son of a Lord and anyway she regards Hargreaves as a sort of gay older brother.”
Hornbblower kissed the top of Archie’s head. “You and your stories – I’m not sure you have any concept of where they stop and reality starts.”
Archie laughed and rubbed his forehead. “You could be right, Horatio – as ever,” and returned to the matter of handkerchiefs.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
CP story - I
Date: 2007-11-16 09:08 pm (UTC)#You can't be having a birthday tomorrow because you already had one back in April.#
Is this in one of your stories??? If it is, i like that little hint ...
#"It's not very romantic to buy your boyfriend handkerchiefs." He's supposed to be a bit of a blockhead when it comes to romance,#
*g* not unlike his modern!day!incarnation, eh?
#to buy his lover a copy of 'The Making of Dieux du Stade'."#
I take it back, all back. Now *that* is a lovely gift (assuming of course, that it featured a certain gentleman who shall remain nameless)
#"Worth every penny, that was.#
lol. Has a mister hornblower been viewing (and reviewing) shots of a certain sweetie pie over and over again? I don't doubt he would have appreciated the cinematographer obssessed with poor vincent's bum.
#or will you have a murder going on aboard ship and these two solve it?"#
i love how archie immediately dismissed this idea - having his characters as detectives would just be 'so out of place'.
#In-jokes can be terribly alienating unless handled with a very light touch.#
Indeed *g*
#either thrash him for dumping you by text – by text, Horatio and on my birthday!#
oh now that *is* mean ... I can't believe CP did that to poor horatio. *hugs him* *thwacks clement* *sends vincent to discipline clement for being mean* Though it was a sort of back-handed birthday present for archie, was it not?
Re: CP story - I
Date: 2007-11-17 01:37 pm (UTC)Actually I had started writing AOS when Trusea decided she wanted modern day. I 'recycled'.
###
Is this in one of your stories??? If it is, i like that little hint ... ###
I think my AOS Archie shares JB1's birthday.
###
lol. Has a mister hornblower been viewing (and reviewing) shots of a certain sweetie pie over and over again? I don't doubt he would have appreciated the cinematographer obssessed with poor vincent's bum.###
That poor overexposed botty...
###
i love how archie immediately dismissed this idea - having his characters as detectives would just be 'so out of place'. ###
Oh absolutely. He is dedicated to Inspector Hargreaves, after all.
#In-jokes can be terribly alienating unless handled with a very light touch.#
Indeed *g*###
I never use them... *whistles*
###Though it was a sort of back-handed birthday present for archie, was it not?###
Oh yes - a lovely oe.
Re: CP story - I
Date: 2007-11-18 02:49 pm (UTC)Very good of you and you know, you shouldn't let your writing ever go to waste.
###I think my AOS Archie shares JB1's birthday.#
Oh good.
###That poor overexposed botty...#
I know, poor thing. I've noticed that both in the 2005 and 2006 clips, he's not smiling and he looks very put out with the whole thing. no clement accompanying him
###Oh absolutely. He is dedicated to Inspector Hargreaves, after all.#
Yes indeed.
#I never use them... *whistles*#
Well of course not ... XD
Re: CP story - I
Date: 2007-11-18 02:49 pm (UTC)Very good of you and you know, you shouldn't let your writing ever go to waste.
###I think my AOS Archie shares JB1's birthday.#
Oh good.
###That poor overexposed botty...#
I know, poor thing. I've noticed that both in the 2005 and 2006 clips, he's not smiling and he looks very put out with the whole thing. no clement accompanying him
###Oh absolutely. He is dedicated to Inspector Hargreaves, after all.#
Yes indeed.
#I never use them... *whistles*#
Well of course not ... XD