Disclaimer: C. S. Forrester and Meridian own these fine men of His
Majesty's navy, not I.
Story notes: Set immediately before 'Mutiny'. Very slight mention of rape.
Feedback: Please tell me if you approve of how I'm utilising these officers!
Wellard was staring into space. Rather, this was the impression he was trying to create, of the officer, not needed at the moment, maintaining alert watchfulness. What he was actually doing was scrutinising Lt. Kennedy, trying to memorise each feature, whilst offering up a silent prayer of thanks to whoever it was designed the naval uniforms. They left just enough to the imagination to make things... interesting. Wellard was letting his imagination wander when he was startled.
"A fine day Mr. Wellard."
Wellard knew he had jumped at the sound of Hornblower's voice, and tried to recover himself. "Ah, um, yes, a good day for sailing . Looks like it will freshen later though."
Horatio was slightly impressed. That hadn't been a bad recovery, if Wellard's mind had been where he thought it was. He had followed Wellard's line of sight before making the comment and had a good idea that Wellard had not been thinking of sailing. He allowed himself a slight smile.
"You should concentrate more. Your mind had wandered. What if something were to happen if you were so… distracted in future?" Horatio had not intended his words to sound suggestive, but they had somehow ended up like that. Probably it was the sight of Archie attending to the cannon that was having this effect.
Wellard swallowed. The Lieutenant seemed to know what he had been thinking. That must be a warning – he knew what the Articles of War said about such things, in fact could recite it off by heart. He was being given a warning, for which he mentally thanked Mr. Hornblower. "Aye sir. It will not happen again."
"See that it does not."
******************
Horatio slid into Archie's cabin to find him sitting on the bed, nose buried in a book. He looked up at Horatio then went back to reading again.
"I thought you knew all your erotic texts by heart."
"No harm in revising once in a while."
"What are you actually reading?"
"Poetry." He saw Horatio's expression. "Clean poetry. Well, unless there is some hidden meaning to all these descriptions of rustic scenes I am missing. Anyway, all you think of are sailing and sex."
Horatio had put his arms around Archie. "You are excellently qualified on both counts. And I'm sure your rustic poetry is well supplied with haystacks for rolling in…"
"Which we have none of here. Oh dear, it appears I must abstain until we reach England once more…"
"I think a straw mattress will suffice."
Archie lowered his voice. "Horatio, we will get careless. People will suspect. I… We… You will not get to be Admiral of the fleet if you end up strung from a gibbet."
Horatio smiled and kissed Archie. "Care and discretion you will have, love. Ah, which reminds me. You have a new admirer."
Archie made a play of yawning. "Oh, how tiresome. Yet another one. Horatio, they were probably looking for you and got lost. You do not seem to lack for people falling at your feet."
"So you should count yourself lucky then."
"I was about to add, attention which can make you insufferably vain."
"I am hurt."
"Liar. Who is this supposed admirer? The Captain? Dr. Clive? Some other ravishing member of the crew?"
"M'man Wellard."
"Oh…"
"Probably the only other member of the crew who comes anywhere near ravishing. Although I feel he is decidedly un-ravished…"
Archie squirmed round to look Horatio in the eye. "Are you suggesting…"
"Suggesting? I do not think that any officer in his Brittanic Majesty's Navy would ever suggest that a brother officer should go and relieve a junior officer of some cumbersome innocence, in contravention of the Articles of War. Do you?"
"No of course not. Nor would I think any officer in the navy would consent to the idea of inviting another officer to join in once said innocence had been discarded?"
"Nay sir, of course. Not a proper thing to do, especially not in the wardroom."
Archie grinned. Horatio had evidently been thinking on this. "And no good officer would be heard to say that if conversation did not cease and action not commence he would have to take matters into his own hands…"
Horatio got the hint.
************
Having conceived of such an idea to bed Wellard was one thing, actually finding the means to carry it out was another, especially on a ship where the Captain would probably shoot crew members on sight for inappropriately brushing past each other in narrow corridors. Archie's first move had been to try and find if Horatio had been right. This had the side advantage of indicating to Wellard his interest, although the way Wellard broke any eye contact so quickly worried Archie slightly – he seemed so guilty, perhaps he thought that Archie suspected him in the worst way…
Archie was in a quandary. Wellard was far too timid to make any move in his direction, but what if he was mistaken? Would the advances of a senior officer be taken by one such as him to be an order? Archie in no way wanted to take unfair advantage of Wellard – fair advantage, well, that was a different thing altogether. Or worse, was this nothing more than a little hero worship; the slightest hint and he would be up before the captain, his life at stake.
This indecision had not escaped Horatio, who cornered Archie in the wardroom. "I cannot help but notice that Mr. Wellard seems as innocent as ever."
"Horatio, its not as easy as all that. I don't want to, to… I don't want to rape him."
Horatio looked at Archie, stunned. "What?"
"What if he did not think he could say no to a senior officer? That would be as good as rape. I, I could not."
"Archie, I am sorry. I never meant…"
"To remind me? No, I am fine, I assure you, and I think you are right about Mr. Wellard, but the practicalities are somewhat difficult."
"You have always shown an admirably firm grasp of practicalities as far as I am concerned."
"Horatio…"
"Although, I suppose that the use of the wardroom is somewhat new. As a sensible officers we should scout out the ground first."
"I believe I am admirably acquainted with the inside of the wardroom."
"Yes, but use in action is often different, and requires a more thorough survey."
"You are proposing to see how the ground stands up in action?"
"Often everything is different under fire…"
"Oh just shut up and get over here!"
Horatio did as he was told, and straddled Archie as he sat in a chair pushed out from the table and began to kiss him. This was not Archie's plan however, and he stood up, and, without breaking the kiss, pushed Horatio back so he was lying half on the table with Archie atop him.
"Mr. Buckland se-" Wellard stopped when he saw what was in front of him. He though he would swallow his tongue were it not for the fact that his mouth had become so dry as to make this impossible. The same effect was apparently making his breeches shrink.
"Yes Mr. Wellard?" Archie had no idea what he was doing. Neither he nor Horatio had thought to move.
"M-m-m-m-Mr. Buckland told me to deliver these papers to the wardroom before I went off duty." He put them on the table. He was blushing so hard he felt that his face was going to burst into flames.
"Which means you are now off duty?"
Wellard nodded.
Archie looked at Horatio, who grinned.
"Care to join us?"
********************
Mr. Buckland was savouring the air on deck, while the Captain was dining with the doctor.
"I say Mr. Hornblower, Mr. Wellard does seem to have bloomed as a member of your division."
"Sir?"
"Look at him. Quite the young officer. Much in your model eh, Mr. Hornblower? And when he came aboard as timid as a mouse."
"I certainly think he has gained much experience on a ship such as this."
"If he keeps on like this he will soon be joining us as an officer in the wardroom Mr. Hornblower."
"Undoubtedly sir…"
oHo
Story notes: Set immediately before 'Mutiny'. Very slight mention of rape.
Feedback: Please tell me if you approve of how I'm utilising these officers!
Wellard was staring into space. Rather, this was the impression he was trying to create, of the officer, not needed at the moment, maintaining alert watchfulness. What he was actually doing was scrutinising Lt. Kennedy, trying to memorise each feature, whilst offering up a silent prayer of thanks to whoever it was designed the naval uniforms. They left just enough to the imagination to make things... interesting. Wellard was letting his imagination wander when he was startled.
"A fine day Mr. Wellard."
Wellard knew he had jumped at the sound of Hornblower's voice, and tried to recover himself. "Ah, um, yes, a good day for sailing . Looks like it will freshen later though."
Horatio was slightly impressed. That hadn't been a bad recovery, if Wellard's mind had been where he thought it was. He had followed Wellard's line of sight before making the comment and had a good idea that Wellard had not been thinking of sailing. He allowed himself a slight smile.
"You should concentrate more. Your mind had wandered. What if something were to happen if you were so… distracted in future?" Horatio had not intended his words to sound suggestive, but they had somehow ended up like that. Probably it was the sight of Archie attending to the cannon that was having this effect.
Wellard swallowed. The Lieutenant seemed to know what he had been thinking. That must be a warning – he knew what the Articles of War said about such things, in fact could recite it off by heart. He was being given a warning, for which he mentally thanked Mr. Hornblower. "Aye sir. It will not happen again."
"See that it does not."
******************
Horatio slid into Archie's cabin to find him sitting on the bed, nose buried in a book. He looked up at Horatio then went back to reading again.
"I thought you knew all your erotic texts by heart."
"No harm in revising once in a while."
"What are you actually reading?"
"Poetry." He saw Horatio's expression. "Clean poetry. Well, unless there is some hidden meaning to all these descriptions of rustic scenes I am missing. Anyway, all you think of are sailing and sex."
Horatio had put his arms around Archie. "You are excellently qualified on both counts. And I'm sure your rustic poetry is well supplied with haystacks for rolling in…"
"Which we have none of here. Oh dear, it appears I must abstain until we reach England once more…"
"I think a straw mattress will suffice."
Archie lowered his voice. "Horatio, we will get careless. People will suspect. I… We… You will not get to be Admiral of the fleet if you end up strung from a gibbet."
Horatio smiled and kissed Archie. "Care and discretion you will have, love. Ah, which reminds me. You have a new admirer."
Archie made a play of yawning. "Oh, how tiresome. Yet another one. Horatio, they were probably looking for you and got lost. You do not seem to lack for people falling at your feet."
"So you should count yourself lucky then."
"I was about to add, attention which can make you insufferably vain."
"I am hurt."
"Liar. Who is this supposed admirer? The Captain? Dr. Clive? Some other ravishing member of the crew?"
"M'man Wellard."
"Oh…"
"Probably the only other member of the crew who comes anywhere near ravishing. Although I feel he is decidedly un-ravished…"
Archie squirmed round to look Horatio in the eye. "Are you suggesting…"
"Suggesting? I do not think that any officer in his Brittanic Majesty's Navy would ever suggest that a brother officer should go and relieve a junior officer of some cumbersome innocence, in contravention of the Articles of War. Do you?"
"No of course not. Nor would I think any officer in the navy would consent to the idea of inviting another officer to join in once said innocence had been discarded?"
"Nay sir, of course. Not a proper thing to do, especially not in the wardroom."
Archie grinned. Horatio had evidently been thinking on this. "And no good officer would be heard to say that if conversation did not cease and action not commence he would have to take matters into his own hands…"
Horatio got the hint.
************
Having conceived of such an idea to bed Wellard was one thing, actually finding the means to carry it out was another, especially on a ship where the Captain would probably shoot crew members on sight for inappropriately brushing past each other in narrow corridors. Archie's first move had been to try and find if Horatio had been right. This had the side advantage of indicating to Wellard his interest, although the way Wellard broke any eye contact so quickly worried Archie slightly – he seemed so guilty, perhaps he thought that Archie suspected him in the worst way…
Archie was in a quandary. Wellard was far too timid to make any move in his direction, but what if he was mistaken? Would the advances of a senior officer be taken by one such as him to be an order? Archie in no way wanted to take unfair advantage of Wellard – fair advantage, well, that was a different thing altogether. Or worse, was this nothing more than a little hero worship; the slightest hint and he would be up before the captain, his life at stake.
This indecision had not escaped Horatio, who cornered Archie in the wardroom. "I cannot help but notice that Mr. Wellard seems as innocent as ever."
"Horatio, its not as easy as all that. I don't want to, to… I don't want to rape him."
Horatio looked at Archie, stunned. "What?"
"What if he did not think he could say no to a senior officer? That would be as good as rape. I, I could not."
"Archie, I am sorry. I never meant…"
"To remind me? No, I am fine, I assure you, and I think you are right about Mr. Wellard, but the practicalities are somewhat difficult."
"You have always shown an admirably firm grasp of practicalities as far as I am concerned."
"Horatio…"
"Although, I suppose that the use of the wardroom is somewhat new. As a sensible officers we should scout out the ground first."
"I believe I am admirably acquainted with the inside of the wardroom."
"Yes, but use in action is often different, and requires a more thorough survey."
"You are proposing to see how the ground stands up in action?"
"Often everything is different under fire…"
"Oh just shut up and get over here!"
Horatio did as he was told, and straddled Archie as he sat in a chair pushed out from the table and began to kiss him. This was not Archie's plan however, and he stood up, and, without breaking the kiss, pushed Horatio back so he was lying half on the table with Archie atop him.
"Mr. Buckland se-" Wellard stopped when he saw what was in front of him. He though he would swallow his tongue were it not for the fact that his mouth had become so dry as to make this impossible. The same effect was apparently making his breeches shrink.
"Yes Mr. Wellard?" Archie had no idea what he was doing. Neither he nor Horatio had thought to move.
"M-m-m-m-Mr. Buckland told me to deliver these papers to the wardroom before I went off duty." He put them on the table. He was blushing so hard he felt that his face was going to burst into flames.
"Which means you are now off duty?"
Wellard nodded.
Archie looked at Horatio, who grinned.
"Care to join us?"
********************
Mr. Buckland was savouring the air on deck, while the Captain was dining with the doctor.
"I say Mr. Hornblower, Mr. Wellard does seem to have bloomed as a member of your division."
"Sir?"
"Look at him. Quite the young officer. Much in your model eh, Mr. Hornblower? And when he came aboard as timid as a mouse."
"I certainly think he has gained much experience on a ship such as this."
"If he keeps on like this he will soon be joining us as an officer in the wardroom Mr. Hornblower."
"Undoubtedly sir…"
oHo