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James Moody quite nearly lived up to his name as he looked out the window of the room in the inn, reflecting to himself on the stars and the situation at hand. A glance told him that Lowe was sleeping soundly, and he allowed himself a smile at that -- Harry could sleep through damn near anything, and there had been several times on the short voyage so far he had to roust his comrade for duty. He envied Lowe, in that sense, and idly wondered if Hornblower had the same talent... or perhaps curse. They certainly seemed to have the same temperament, even if Horatio acted more duty-bound than Harold, and he knew for a fact that their similarities were more than just skin-deep.
What he knew of Horatio Hornblower and Archie Kennedy was more than enough to make him wish he didn't. His early years had been spent reading everything he could find on ships and sailing, and it wasn't too shocking that the former's memoirs were among those books. Admiral Hornblower, who had lived an amazing life and had a career most could only dream of... and Kennedy, who died from circumstances surrounding a Spanish siege on the Renown during a particularly turbulent time in both men's careers. Who had been thought of as a mutinous traitor until Hornblower had died and his memoirs were published.
Who, in most ways, had been quite a hero.
That what was weighing so heavily on Jimmy's mind. It was one thing to read about these living legends, where paper doesn't convey the full truth when it comes to personality. It was another story all together when, by some of the most bizarre circumstances ever faced, you have a chance to meet them. He found he liked both, and in an odd way felt a kinship with them as all sailors seem to have -- bound together by a love of the ocean and of their jobs. And, what's more, he was soul searching as to whether it would be wise or not to warn them of the fates they would face.
How long he sat awake in thought was not known, but dawn came through even as he did, and he felt tired and frustrated. It finally wore on him enough, as he thought about the young man who was so damn cheerful and good-natured, that perhaps telling would be better, and that unhappy fate could be avoided. With that decision made, he slipped out quietly and went to find Archie.
The night had been partially kind to Archie, and he was able to sleep through the first hours with ease, but soon the feel of a normal bed took a toll on him, and he lay awake. It had been a long time since he was allowed the time to think, and after what seemed like years of the same routine, he felt tied down by the thoughts. From the time he became a midshipman to when he was alongside Horatio as a lieutenant, his life had been a near perfect routine, causing him to wake up in the early hours of the morning, then go to work aboard the ship until evening when he was finally allowed to sleep once again. There was no time to think between days and shifts -- at least not so thoroughly.
Lowe and Moody had taken the young man by surprise, but he had quickly made up for it with a quip and a good handshake. Still, there was something that disturbed him about the look that Moody had adopted not long after they began talking. There was certainly something akin to understanding fear behind that man's eyes, and that was what had, possibly, scared Archie so much.
Sitting up in bed, he realized that he hadn't even bothered to take of his uniform coat before dropping off into the soft bed. It had been a long time since he had felt the perks to a feather down and cotton mattress, but the effects had caught up to him, causing his back to be stiff along with his neck. Standing, he stretched and then straightened out his uniform completely, noting in the low gray of morning that Horatio had finally managed to get some good rest.
Moving over to the window, he let his blue eyes rest down on the street below, one hand at his side and the other rested against the wall. What had they meant by how he died? He was certainly curious about the comment, but was also afraid of what might come of it. Perhaps he'd die of some horrible disease in the West Indies, or maybe during a storm if something were to happen to the ship. Worse yet, he feared most of all, that something would cause him to be responsible for others deaths as well as his own, probably brought on by some fit or another that seemed to plague him all too often.
He honestly wanted to break down into tears against the window, but his pride got the better of him and he bit back what he could with a disinherited sigh. He almost wished that he were back on the Renown at that point, and nearly laughed at himself, wondering how a few words could have scared him back to such a state. He couldn't let his emotions get the better of him; he wouldn't let them.
So, with the two near-twins asleep, their companions were left to wonder. James finally summoned his courage and knocked very quietly at the door, straightening his shoulders as any good officer and gentleman would do.
Slightly startled by the knock, Kennedy looked over at Horatio to make sure he wasn't surprised awake before moving to the door and opening it as quietly as it would allow. It took a few second to open it as slowly as he did, and the creaking made him wince, but all that faded when he saw Moody and gave a small smile.
Moody smiled back, his face brighter now that he had at least made a decision. That alone seemed to lift the heavy pall, making his unbidden grin sincere and even one of camaraderie. "Forgive me, sir, if I've interrupted."
"Don't worry," Archie laughed. "I think Horatio would have to be thrown out of his bed before he'd wake up at this point." Stepping away from the door, he gestured towards the inside of the room. "Can come in, if you like."
"Actually," James said, still keeping his voice low, "I was hoping I could persuade you to join me for breakfast." He gave a quiet chuckle. "I hate taking my meals alone, and I would consider it a privilege."
"Well, in that case, I'd be obliged to accept, wouldn't I? I don't think anyone has ever considered being with me a privilege." He flashed a smile, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him. "I'll be glad to have the company as well."
Jimmy chuckled again, though he looked a little tired, and the two of them made their way downstairs into the main room. It was early, and there were very few people up at that time, but those who were had their breakfasts, and after ordering, they found themselves back at the table they had occupied the evening before. Breakfast itself was a very quiet affair, and after some time James sat back with a cup of coffee...good coffee, Moody noted with a sardonic grin. The morning was already beginning to look brighter.
Sipping at the water that was brought to them, the young lieutenant looked across the table at his companion. Watching him for a long moment, he saw the look on his face and offered a sympathetic grin. "Couldn't sleep, eh?"
Moody shook his head, holding the large, earthenware mug in his hands. "No, not nearly so well as I had hoped." He smirked, quite nearly to himself. "Not that Harry had any trouble -- I swear, the ship could sink before he'd wake up."
Kennedy let out a laugh, shaking his head, "Horatio can be the same way sometimes, but usually he's the one that has to wake me up."
"I say, they really do look too alike for their own good," Moody mused, leaning back in his chair and stretching his long legs out in front of himself. "I have never seen two men who weren't related who could pass so easily for each other. If they were dressed the same, I don't think I'd have an easy time figuring it out."
"Certainly something that could cause problems if they weren't both fine men. Imagine the hell one could put the other through just because they'd be easily recognized as the other."
"Or the absolutely treacherous tricks they could pull if they collaborated."
"Perhaps we shouldn't give them any ideas," Archie snickered, turning his glass around and around, idly.
James rolled his eyes, looking at the ceiling and laughing, "Yes, because the next thing we knew, we would be addressing them as Mr. Horatio Lowe and Mr. Harold Hornblower, and tearing our hair because they're too quick and we are just their confused juniors." He looked back across at Archie. "Or, worse still, Harry corrupts Mr. Hornblower and thereby ruins his career due to some insane practical joke."
"I don't think Horatio would very much appreciate that. Of course, I'd probably be serving along side of him a lot longer that way, but I'd much rather he be a success. One of us needs to go on and do something that'll shock the world."
A trace of regret ran across Moody's face again, but he did his best to stifle it. "Do you believe in fate, Mr. Kennedy?" he asked, haltingly, a moment or two later.
"Fate, Mr. Moody?" Looking down at the table, he rubbed at the glass with his thumbs for the sake of something to occupy himself with while he thought. "I suppose I do in most cases, yes. I guess it comes with the belief in the fact that our lives all run along a course that's been set already, right?"
"Somewhat. You see, I've been wondering why we're here, though we're so far separated by our times." James took a deep breath, staring into the cup of coffee with a distant look before looking back. "I've been thinking about fate, and that perhaps this odd circumstance is supposed to happen for a reason."
Unable to keep the usually present grin on his face, he looked up and met the other officer's eyes. "Something happens bad to me, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Moody said, honestly, holding his gaze. "Suffice it to say, that's what's been making me so damn melancholy since we arrived, and I do apologize for that."
Archie laughed for the sake of it, shaking his head, "Don't worry, I don't think any of us have been ourselves since we arrived here."
A moment was spent soul-searching on Jimmy's part, and he finally said, slowly and deliberately, "I would tell you, if you wanted... I know it may not necessarily be wise, but I wouldn't be an honest man if I didn't offer it, nor would I be able to live with good conscience."
"I can't say that I'd honestly want to know from the look on your face, but if you believe it needs to be told, I'll listen. The only thing I can ask of you, sir, is that you won't say anything to Horatio."
"Of course. If it's any consolation, Mr. Kennedy, it isn't the manner of death that bears so painfully as it's the circumstances surrounding it," Moody offered, wincing slightly.
Nodding slightly, he folded his hands in front of him, tapping his fingers lightly. "Might I ask what circumstances they are?"
Moody shifted in his seat, forcing himself to look at Archie as he told what he remembered. "Well, if you recall, I mentioned that I knew of Captain Sawyer. I can only assume that this is when I think it is, and if Mr. Hornblower's memoirs read properly, soon the Captain will have an accident, rendering him incapable of command." He frowned, eyebrows drawn. "The story is that he fell down into the cargo hold on his own, but it was immediately thought by his loyal crew that it was an act of mutiny. Lieutenant Buckland takes command of the Renown, and you continue to Santo Domingo." The young officer stopped, briefly taking a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Arriving not long later, since your course was heading there as it was, under the command of Mr. Buckland, yourself and a few others run the Spanish out of their own fort, and Mr. Hornblower is able to get them to agree on a complete surrender." He paused a moment, eyes shifting to try to recall the memories to the best of his ability.
"A full surrender by the Dons?" Archie couldn't help but break in, almost if he had forgotten that the story was meant to be a sad one. He was utterly fascinated at the moment, acting as if it were some great old sea story. "Well, Horatio's gonna be a lucky man when he gets home, isn't he?"
James took the question in stride, not knowing how to answer it quite yet. Continuing on, he made sure that his voice was low enough so that Archie would be the only listener, "Nevertheless, at some point on the trip back to England the Spanish are able to leave their confines, and run a revolt along the ship. Lieutenant Hornblower is commanding the prize ships, and while the rest of the crew struggles with the prisoners, he mounts an attack off to the side.
"Somewhere along the line the Second Lieutenant, Bush, isn't it? Anyway, somewhere along the line, he's sliced across the stomach with a sword, as far as I can gather something equally as bad happens to you... I think perhaps you were shot," he said quietly, looking down at the table with a twinge of regret for what he's said already.
"What about Horatio?" Archie looked at his newly found friend, concern written all over his face.
"He was left uninjured. In any case, after the battle was over, Mr. Bush's wounds were tended to, and after the Spanish had been locked down, he found you up on deck. I think that his words were that you were 'a damned bloody fool' for not telling him you were injured before that point." Moody looked up at Kennedy once again, judging his reaction, and not seeing anything to betray the other's emotion, he nodded.
The young man nodded, doing his best not to let on anything he might be feeling, and succeeding quite well. "So I bled to death? Not too bad, all-in-all."
"No, I suppose it isn't," Jimmy agreed.
"But that's not all of it, right? Something else had to have happened, because I can't see that as being a bad end to it all."
The storyteller outwardly winced, truly bothered by the whole situation. "No, it's not all. From what Mr. Hornblower wrote in his memoirs, it seems as though you took it on yourself to take the blame for what had happened to the Captain so Horatio wouldn't be accused."
"And lost my good name in the end." Archie nodded, somewhat bitterly, but after a short moment, a smile crept back onto his young face. "Well, all's well that ends well, right?"
"And even better if it could somehow be avoided," Jimmy pointed out, feeling near drained after just being the bearer of bad news, and the guilty relief that he had gotten it off of his chest.
"I suppose so. Still... I guess I shouldn't ask this, but I'm curious as to why you'd want to help. We weren't exactly the most civil to you and Mr. Lowe..."
A grin that bordered mischievous crossed Moody's face, immediately brightening his entire composure. "It isn't every day that a man gets to meet his boyhood heroes, Mr. Kennedy."
Archie looked across the table with an inquiring look for a moment before breaking into a fit of laughter, "Lord, man, don't say that! You're nearly the same age as me."
James laughed with him, though he had only been half-joking when he had said it. There were differences between what a boy thought of as his heroes versus that of an adult, though he found he instantly liked Kennedy, and even Hornblower, despite his stiff and upstanding demeanor. Truth be told, he found it much easier to relate to them as equals rather than people he should bow before. Equal ground allowed for friendship, and as all four of them knew, that was something to be held onto.
"Well, James, what do you say that I buy you a drink?" Kennedy took out some bills from his pocket. "I'm just in half-pay right now, but I think I can spare it for the man who just saved my life."
"No thank you," Moody said, smiling though in appreciation. "I'll be glad to keep you company, however."
"Sounds like an idea to me." Archie grinned, sitting back in his chair and relaxing.
James took a sip of the long cold coffee, mentally noting that it was still better than the near-deadly stuff they served in the Officer's Mess on the Titanic. He tried to stifle a yawn, feeling quite acutely the pressures that had lifted in his telling Archie and the ones that replaced it about getting home. "I wonder what will happen when we get back."
"Maybe you'll all get promoted? I'm not sure about you, but I think that we're going to get court-martialed if we're gone too terribly long. Let's hope that no one notices."
Jimmy nodded, setting his cup down and rubbing his eyes. "Heaven only knows how we got here in the first place. We don't even know when we are, let alone how to get home." A slightly teasing grin ran across his lips as he added, "I'd venture to say that we all have lost our minds, but that would be too simple an explanation."
"You can say that again. Then again, that doesn't explain the similarities between Mr. Lowe and Horatio..."
"No, that it doesn't."
Rubbing his eyes, Archie took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his mind. It would have been considered meditation if it had been a voluntary thing, but he soon found himself staring off into the distance at something completely unexplainable. Really, he didn't realize that he was doing it; it was just something that happened.
James sat in silence for a moment before reaching across the table to touch the other man's arm, eyebrows knitting in concern. "Mr. Kennedy?"
Startled out of his trance, the young lieutenant looked over at Moody, blinking. "Sorry, did you say something?" Frowning, he looked down at the table, then around him before looking back to the other officer.
"Somewhere else, were you?" Jimmy asked, smiling slightly.
"Somewhere else? No, I don't think so. I guess I was caught up in thought, perhaps." Chuckling lightly, he shook his head. "Don't worry, it happens all the time."
Moody nodded, rubbing his eyes yet again. The mellow light of early morning and the quiet of the inn was starting to make him drowsy, and the coffee didn't help as it normally would. Leaning his elbows on the table, proper or not, he rested his face in his hands before glancing back up. "How long d'you suppose our good gentlemen will be sleeping?"
Finishing off the last of his water, Archie smiled. "I'm not sure about your friend, but I think mine will sleep quite a while. Think we should follow their examples?"
"I'm certainly tempted to," James said, standing and throwing down a few coins as a tip. "I know I could use the rest."
"I think that goes for both of us. Next time, the meal's on me, but until then, I guess we should go." Standing, Kennedy once again straightened his uniform, mostly out of habit, and offered Moody a smile.
Moody did the same, giving a formal nod and a less formal grin to the other officer before heading back upstairs. He walked into the room quietly, chuckling softly to himself as he noted Lowe still sleeping the morning hours away. He slipped his uniform jacket off, resting it over the back of a chair, and undid his tie before laying down on the opposite bed. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.
Likewise, when Archie returned to his room, Horatio was still laying motionless on his bed. Making sure that everything was in order, he then proceeded to unbutton his uniform jacket and shrugged it off before laying it carefully over the only chair in the room. Brushing some dust off his hat, he sat it on the seat and crawled back into the soft bed. Thinking of his fate for a moment with a slightly grim look, he decided it wasn't of great importance at the time, and closed his eyes, drifting not long later.