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

[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.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I have to think about that. Exactly that, or ... *something of whimsy in this, still* I could go mad. It's my story, and I couldn't stop reading.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*fondly, hands already a little raw with soap* I trust you, though ... I trust that you'll be sane for everything you mean to do, and everything after that.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

Even if I'm damned for it in the end.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Even then. *dries his hands, and reaches for Hamlet to draw him into an embrace* You'll just have to have faith that everything will work out, somehow.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*leans against him, his shoulder, just -- grateful, beyond the telling of it, beyond even trying to* Or you will.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

I will, too. *stroking his back, slow and rhythmic, as though calming an animal* Can I help you?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

You are. That's why I came -- that's why I came to see you.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Good. That's all that I want--to help you, no matter what that means.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*a short, broken laugh, as he shudders all through himself* God, I'm so scared.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

But you're not alone. Remember that, all right? You're not alone.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

That's when it's the worst -- when I think that none of them know, or they all do and don't care, and I'm alone, there's no one else, no one else who can do what I have to do and no way out -- it terrifies me --

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

But you've got me. *soft* You've got Laertes.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I do. Thank you. *whispered soft* I love you.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

I love you, too. You can always come to me if you need anything. You know that, right?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*leaning against him still* I know if everyone turned against me, you'd still be on my side.