WWI-verse Anarchist AU

[ay_my_lord]

*Horatio has a room in a lodging-house not far from the castle; he shares the house with three other men on his floor and an extended family on the floor above him. his belongings, he has largely left in Wittenberg, on the (perhaps vain) hope that the war will soon be over and he will be able to return within a few months' time at most.

with his fellow-lodgers at work, though, he has the narrow front room to himself--or rather, in this case, to himself and Hamlet. he is pouring out tea for them, his spectacles slipping down his nose* I'm glad you came to call today. I'd been hoping I'd hear from you soon--it's been awkward trying to get back to the castle without a wedding invitation.

Comments

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Oh. *pours himself another cup of tea*

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

He's in love with somebody.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Oh. *and topping up Hamlet's cup, while he's at it* That's ... all right, isn't it?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*mmtea* For me, it is. I think he'd rather not be -- that means it's serious. When you'd rather not love somebody and still do, it's usually serious.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

It must be. *well, drat.* So you're only playing with him ...?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

At first, I was.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Are you trying to win his heart, now?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

Do you think I could?

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Of course you could. *more sugar for his tea* You can do anything you want to do--I've seen you.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

Easier than winning a war.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

But he'll help you with that.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

He believes that it's the right thing. That it could make the people he loves safer. I'd never thought about anyone but myself.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Well--you came to see me.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*crookedsmile* But I worried you, for a while, didn't I?

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

You did. *quiet* You still worry me, a little. How did you get that? *touching his own cheek, indicating the bruise on Hamlet's*

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

Oh ... *touching it as though he'd forgotten it* He hit me.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*frowning, leaning forward* He can't just hit you ...

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

He can, though. *shrugging* It's all right. I provoked him to it, and I don't particularly regret it.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

You won't provoke him again, will you? *is having grave doubts about Hamlet's relationship proposition now*

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*amused* I don't know. I might.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Why?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I might want to be hit. *whimsically -- that's a strange word, but, yes* I might want to be punished.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

You're teasing me again. *but there's something in that whimsy that disquiets him, and he rises to wash the dishes in the communal kitchen. the upstairs family uses it, too, and so there are always dishes to be done; Horatio hasn't a job, yet (hasn't been drafted into home service), and so the task falls to him.* At school, you were always talking about penitence and purgatory ... but that's not the same thing.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*follows him, watching him, thoughtful and intent* Do you ever think about things like that?

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Yes ... sometimes, I can't help thinking about it. *almost a smile* But we're not the ones who get to say, are we? If the punishment fits the crime, or what damnation is, or who deserves it ... it's so far beyond us that it doesn't bear thinking about for long.