Dante: The Boys Meeting
"I would like to serve, Sir, if Father will allow," Jack says distractedly, his attention obviously on the door leading to the other room.
His father might have had something to say about it, but right about then the door slammed open, and the two noisemakers showed themselves, brandishing light wooden sticks that might have once belonged to the kindling pile.
Keenan and Dante, mid parry and thrust, stopped dead as they saw the new bodies at their father's table. One was the unmistakable Prince Benedict, painfully thin compared to the more robust Gerard. Next to him, done up in formal castle clothes (that was still all put together, unlike theirs) was a young boy, somewhere around their ages.
Keenan dropped a hasty bow to Benedict, then grinned at the new boy. "Hello!" he said cheerfully. "I'm Keenan. That's my dad," he nodded toward Gerard. "Are you new here? Oh, and that's my friend Dante." He held out his hand toward the new boy.
Dante held back a bit, giving a curt wave to Benedict, but watching the other boy.
The blonde boy glances at Benedict, then holds out his hand and shakes it. "My name is Jack," he says simply. His voice has a hint of gravel to it, as if something were caught in his throat. "Benedict is my father," he says seriously, though there is a bit of a smile on his face.
Keenan grinned back. "Are you coming to live at the castle?" he asked. "I live here, with my dad." He inclined his head toward the room that he and Dante had just tumbled out of. "That's my room. I haven't lived here long, though. Don't let them make you take magic lessons, if you are coming to stay here. They're horrible." He nodded definitively.
Jack blinks, somewhat dumbfoundedly, by the rapid-fire chatter coming from Keenan. He wasn't used to talking so much. Particularly once he arrived at Benedict's house.
"I think I am staying at my Father's manor house," Jack explains. "And what's wrong with the magic lessons?"
[OOC: Darn it. Now I have to wait to see what the fallout in another thread is before Keenan can answer about magic lessons. Wrote myself into a corner with that one, didn't I? :-/]
Gerard stepped in. "They're just a little... a little... they're not for everyone." Gerard looked a little too pleased that this might be true regarding his son.
Caine snickered. "Aye. Instead, Kee here is going to start arranging protests for the protection of empowered animals."
[OOC: Oh, we can gloss]
Dante walked up, "Keen just isn't very up on concentrating that much. They can be pretty boring." There was a brief pause, as Dante looked Jack over, "y'know, for some reason I didn't picture your dad as having kids."
"I concentrate just fine," Keenan replied. "I just don't think it's right to capture and torture poor innocent creatures." He turned to glare at Caine, not caring that this was his uncle, and Dante's father, and that his father probably wouldn't be happy at Keenan for yelling at him. "And they're not animals," he snapped. "They are just little people, with families just like we have, and hearts and minds and how would you like it if I put you in a glass ball and poked at you and then killed you and pinned you to a board? Or if someone did that to Dante?" His blue green eyes held a challenge in them, and no matter how scary Uncle Caine tried to be, he wasn't likely to get the small boy to back down.
Dante tried to restrain a smirk until his name was mentioned. He stiffened a bit at that, and waited for his fathers reply.
Caine looked no more ruffled than if Keenan had asked him what flavor of cheese he was eating. "Among Amberites, the fate of being encapsulated, then eviscerated is rather rare. I don't think Dante has much to worry about." He looked at Gerard. "He still avoiding steak?"
"Just because it's unlikely doesn't make it either impossible or right. But you wouldn't care, would you?" Keenan demanded. "You wouldn't care at all if something happened to Dante, because you're a... a fat-arsed swab!"
"Keenan," came an unusually quiet Dante, "take it back."
Caine, who had been watching Keenan, shifted his gaze to Dante. As ever, it was tough to read, but he didn't seem upset about Keenan's comment-- rather, he looked intrigued by Dante's reaction.
Gerard just stared at his son, too shocked for even a quick bat at the back of his head. And Benendict... simply sighed.
Keenan frowned and pressed himself against Gerard's side. "I'm sorry, Dante," he said softly. "But he shouldn't make fun of me. Just because he thinks what I believe in is stupid doesn't mean I haven't got a right to believe in it." He looked Dante in the eye somberly. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or... or whatever I did. I was only trying to make a point."
Dante nodded, "salright. But do it again and I'll make sure everyone I run into eats steak for a while." There was a sly smirk with this last. "Maybe we can hit some vegetarian shadows on one of our trips."
[Jack want to respond here? React?]
[[ OOC: Sorry 'bout that. Lost track of the thread for a while. ]]
Jack just watched the interplay between the boys and their fathers and each other in shock. He glanced at Benedict, then back at the boys.
He didn't bother asking why they had to cut up animals for magical studies.
He decided everyone was getting far too serious.
He picked up two pieces of potatoes, one in each hand. He concentrated on them for a moment. The first one he tossed to the floor, appeared to be a tiny little cow, shaggy and brown, with a little bell around its neck. It gave off a high-pitched moo. The second piece landed as an animated carrot. It got up on its little legs, brushed itself off, then started chasing the small cow. The cow mooed and clanged as the pair ran towards Dante's room.
Jack just watched them go. Grinning.
Dante nudged Keen, "I think Jack just told us we've got the wrong tutors if magic is boring." He laughed for a while before calming down and adding, "but I'm just in it to help with the sailing... and stuff. Jack: Me and Keen take my boat out on the weekends for some fun, and we can squeeze up to two more on... if you're interested sometime, let me know."
Jack smiles widely. He moves to answer but stops himself, toning down the smile a bit. He looks at his father hopefully.
Keenan had knelt down to watch the tiny creatures as they scuttled across the floor. Finally he put one hand in front of the cow and the other in front of the carrot, scooping them up and examining them in awe, while keeping them far enough apart that the carrot could not torment the tiny cow. "Look, Dad!" he whispered, holding them up to his father.
"It's just a little cantrip," Jack explains. "It won't last long before they turn back into potatoes."
"Where'd you learn to do it?" Keenan asked.
"My mother met a witch when I was little," Jack explains. "She said I had the gift. So I started learning stuff from a lot of different people. Women, mostly."
"Master Lorius is a man," Keenan said, stating the obvious. "And he would never teach you how to do anything fun, I bet."
"I was told you have to...umm...adapt," he says, finding the word, "the boring stuff you're taught to do things that you're interested in."
"Well, I guess that would cut back on the studying," Dante thought aloud. He didn't seem particularly interested in the potato and carrot, paying more attention to his peers.
Benedict started to say something, but hesitated. He pursed his lips, watching as his son tossed off cantrips. "Mind your wounds," he finally said, with a touch of reluctance.
Caine and Gerard both studied the squirming carrot and potato, then looked at Ben. "You know something about the magic ladies that we don't?" Caine asked after a long pause.
[OOC: It's a carrot and a cow... until they both turn back into potatoes. icon_wink.gif]
"You've got wounds?" Keenan asked, looking Jack up and down quickly and not seeing anything.
"Yes, sir," Jack says to his father. "Do you think I could go sailing once I'm better?" He tries to keep his excitement under control, but his foot is tapping the air quickly.
[OOC: Jack and I posted at pretty much the same time, and since my response makes more sense after his, I'm re-posting it. icon_smile.gif]
"You've got wounds?" Keenan asked, looking Jack up and down quickly and not seeing anything.
Dante looked like he was trying to subdue his curiousity, "like claw and bite marks? That happens sometimes... I hear."
Benedict repressed an uncomfortable sigh. "It was in battle."
Dante straightened visibly at Benedict's words. "I'm sure he acquitted himself nicely on the field."
Keenan's eyes grew almost impossibly wide. "You've been in battle?" he asked Jack incredulously. "When? Why? Can I see the scars?"
Jack blinked, and remained quite still. Then he looked up at Benedic tenatively. He was unused to such undisciplined displays. He regarded Keenan sympathetically, because there was a certain animal that Jack would loathe to be hurt. But still, for this outburst there would be discipline.. perhaps even a beating.
Benedict, while he had a small frown of disapproval on his face, seemed far from surprised. He looked down at his son.
"We will discuss your reinstatement later... alone." He glanced at Keenan, then back at Jack. "Do you wish to discuss the battle yet?" he asked, a touch softer.
[OOC: brief explanation: I was unaware of how the board operated. I didn't realize that the thread had three pages. I had Jack literally respond to the fast-arsed swab remark- not the "do you have wounds" remark. I'm not going to edit or change it, but I thought explaining that would help]
Jack looks up at his father and nods solemnly. He turns to regard his cousins with blue eyes and a patient expression. "I was shot. Grapeshot from a cannon. I was hit in the chest and in the neck." He lowers his eyes to the table. "The Captain, my mother, was struck in the chest and she passed. That's when my father came to collect me."
Keenan's eyes went even wider. "Oh," he said softly. "I'm sorry." He reached for one of Jack's hands, to take it and squeeze it, to try and provide him some kind of comfort. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose his mum.
Dante blinked. "and did you learn to stay out of the way of grapeshot?"
Keenan turned and glared at him. "DANTE!"
He looked at Keenan, "well... what am I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry your mom blew up?' He was in a battle, assumably still learning. His mother died, so I figured it was one heck of a lesson. Maybe that's the most important aspect, so," he turned to Jack, "what did you learn?"
Keenan scowled at Dante, his own hand still on Jack's (unless he has pulled it away).
Jack looked at Keenan and gave him a sad smile, and squeezed his hand back. "Thank you," he said quietly.
He turned his Dante, his expression very grave. "Yes, I learned something. But what I learned won't matter to you anyway. You don't really care."
Dante looked back, but his expression was blank, "alright, Jack. Offer still stands about the boat. Anytime you feel like sailing, let me know."
"And when you do..." Caine took a peach off of the tray, and unsheathed his left hip dagger. "I would remember this, Dante: You've inherited my sharp tongue, and it is within my rights as your sire to take it back. Is that understood?"
He made an all too purposeful slice with his dagger into the tender flesh of the peach.
Keenan frowned. He didn't like when people fought. "Hey Jack, want to see what I've been working on? It's a model of one of my dad's ships. It's only about half done, but..." he shrugged. "You can see it, if you want."
"Yessir," Dante responded quietly to Caine.
He turned to the other boys, and watched.
Benedict squeezed Jack's shoulder lightly. "You may go, if you wish..." He looked at the map spread between Gerard and Caine. He said nothing, but it was apparent he expected to be told what the conflict was.
Jack looked up at his father, and then back at Keenan and Dante. This type of setting was very strange to him. He was accustomed to being quiet in the presence of adults, unless he had something meaningful to contribute. He did play- but only during structured times and in a structured manner- shore leave.
But he reckoned, maybe his father's way were different.
"I would like to go sailing still," he said tenatively to Dante, "After I've mended. If you'll still have me."
And to Keenan he grinned just a little. "Sure!" he said in response to the invitation to see the model, with just a note of excitement (approval from his father already given). He pushed himself away from the table carefully and got to his feet with some care.
Keenan stayed close to him, concern writ large across his expressive features. As they went into Keenan's room, he glanced around to make sure that no one, especially Dante, could overhear, then whispered, "You mustn't mind Dante. He doesn't really know how to care. He never learned, because I don't think his parents care much about him."
[OOC: He really would have made sure that that couldn't have been overheard... there's just no way on a message board to keep it from being seen by those who wouldn't hear it and still keep it in its proper place in the thread. :-/]
OOC: Not a prob.
IC: Dante looked up at the only ones remaining in the room with him... the adults. "With your permission, I would remove myself."
Caine nodded, popping a slice of peach in his mouth.
"Try to only knock over the cheaper decorations."
With that, Dante drew himself out of the room, closing the doors behind him.
[OOC: Oh... didn't mean for Dante to go away. I was thinking more along the lines of Dante went into the room first, or Keenan and Jack were few steps ahead and Kee was whispering so Dante couldn't overhear. Oops. :-/]
[Yes... is Dante leaving, or is he following to Keenan's room?]
[OOC: he'll follow]
Keenan's room was smaller than Jack's, but he couldn't tell if it was the walls, or the amount of stuff packed into the room. There were toy ships and tin men and a few things that appeared to be wood carved puzzles. Swords, mostly wooden or dulled, were stacked in one corner, along with some scaled down padded armor.
katie wrote: Keenan's room was smaller than Jack's, but he couldn't tell if it was the walls, or the amount of stuff packed into the room. There were toy ships and tin men and a few things that appeared to be wood carved puzzles. Swords, mostly wooden or dulled, were stacked in one corner, along with some scaled down padded armor.
Keenan wrote: Keenan stayed close to him, concern writ large across his expressive features. As they went into Keenan's room, he glanced around to make sure that no one, especially Dante, could overhear, then whispered, "You mustn't mind Dante. He doesn't really know how to care. He never learned, because I don't think his parents care much about him."
Jack looked Keenan in the eyes and nodded quickly, but said nothing sensing that Dante was only a few steps behind them both. The expression suggested that maybe they could talk more about it another time.
Surveying the room, Jack's eyes widened. "It's a nice room," he said with a touch of awe. "Does everyone have rooms like this?" Those blue eyes pass over all the toys, and he smiles in spite of any attempt to be serious.
He looks back to Keenan a little excited. "Where is your model?"
Dante tried not to crowd the room, still feeling a little uncomfortable, but he did look about the room a bit. It had changed since the last time he'd seen it, mostly by the force of a biological tornado.
"Dunno," Keenan said as he went to one of the shelves. "About the rooms, I mean. I haven't seen anyone else's rooms." He very gingerly lifted down a rather large model ship, and set it on a small table that was strewn with stuff. "See?" he said as he moved his hands away. "I'm still working on it, but the hull is all done, and I've got most of the deck. The rigging is going to be the hard part, I think. I have to if Mum has any scraps of silk about I can use for sails..." He suddenly looked up at Jack. "Sorry," he said softly. "I didn't mean..."
Jack blinked his eyes at Keenan's remark and fixed his solemn eyes on the model. For an instant there is a tiny struggle for control of his features, but then he nods, his composure intact (challenged only for an instance).
"It's very well done," he replies, indicating with a finger to the deck and careful not to actually touch it. His brows furrow as he assess how the model is being crafted. Jack has never had the time, space, or presence of mind to do anything like this, and it looks fun. He wonders if he could build his ship.. or rather the ship where he grew up.. His mother's ship.
"It's alright," he adds almost as afterthought, "you can't fault yourself for having a mother." He looks up. "What is your mum like? What does she do?" He glances back at Dante, wondering about his mother- trying to include him in the conversation.
"My mum's name is Martha," Keenan said. "She runs a tavern down by the docks called Martha's Mariners, but most everyone just calls it Martha's. She makes the best desserts in all of Amber; even better than the ones at the castle! You could come meet her some time if you wanted. I go down to visit a lot. And she wouldn't even make you do dishes!" Keenan grinned. Noticing Jack's glance at Dante, he adds, "Dante's mum's pretty famous around here, isn't she, Dante?"
Jack grins at Keenan's description of Martha. "Sure!" Jack was not so removed from his youth that dessert failed to appeal.
He looks at Dante, wondering what the other boy will say about his own mother.
"Vinta Bayle," he replied... as if naming her would help remove the stigma that she had bore him, "supplies wine to the castle on request. Many think that the wine is pretty good."
Keenan smiled. "You know what, Jack? I bet we could get stuff so you could make a model of your ship, if you wanted. And Dante, you should build a model of the ship you want to have when you're older. We can all work on them together. It's a really fun thing to do when the weather's bad. Whaddaya think?"
[OOC: And believe it or not, I had had the idea of Jack building a model of his mother's ship even before you mentioned it. icon_smile.gif]
Dante seemed to cheer up a little, "sure. I know where there's plenty of silk for the sails and rigging, and I'm sure we can get some wood."
"Sure!" piped up Jack looking a little excited. He looked at the two other boys, "Can we do it now?"
He hesitates. "I mean.. how do we get started?"
"Well first you'll need to draw up a plan of what the ship looks like. That way we can figure out how it'll go together," Keenan said knowingly. "Then we get the wood and stuff, and we put it together."
Jack nods solemnly, but then brightens. "My room has a desk and some paper- and an inkwell. We could get started right away.."
He grins, "And you could both meet Chester!" He looks at them both to gauge if they're interested.
"Who's Chester?" Keenan asked curiously.
Dante, who had been looking into the distance, shook himself. "I'm game," he replied with a shrug and a smirk.
[Want to cut back to Ben's Manor? That's where Chester is...]
[For some reason, thought that Chester was in Castle Amber... Dante would... hold on...]
Dante looked at Jack, "you have any brothers or sisters? People that drop in from time to time at your place?"
[OOC: Sorry for the delay, it's been the extended weekend for personal problems and illness. I screwed up clearly. I read the background too quickly, and I missed the transition from Ben's Manor to Castle Amber, at the time I wrote that I thought Jack and Ben resided in the Castle.]
Jack's cheeks colored, "Well, we would have to go to my father's manse to see Chester. He's my friend.. my pet. Would your father's permit you to come over?" He still asks the both of them.
Then he adds to Dante, "Oh yes," with an enthusiastic nod, "I have a sister now. Her name is Lillith."
He adds with solemn confidentiality, "She's one of the most beautiful ladies I have ever seen."
"I bet my dad would let me come," Keenan says. "What kind of animal is Chester? A dog?"
"I can go," Dante said with an uneven grin.
[OOC: Katie- let's take these young men on a field trip to Ben's manor?]
Benedict's manor was much more rustic than Dante's home in Begma, where his mother's hand had made certain that they were always ready to dazzle whatever potential buyer might happen by. It was, however, larger than Keenan's home by the docks, a place made even smaller by the presence of a bar in her first level. It was quiet, deathly quiet, with even the servants shuffling about and talking in undertones.
There was one intruder into the silence, and that was Chester. Chester, having realized Jack wasn't about, and that all the windows were done up to keep him in, had scampered to the kitchens. He took up residence above the grailing holding up the pots and pans, lying in wait until the cook's back was turned. Then, it would leap down, grab up a handful of whatever the cook had been cutting, and scampter back to safety. Each time, the cook realized what had happened, and cursed the creature.
"Money my arse," he growled. "More like an expensive rat crossed with a theif..."
Dante crossed the threshold and noticed the silence. "Dude!" but then he felt an oppressive air strike him, and even he cringed at the slight echo from his word.
"Chester's a monkey?" Keenan squealed. "Wow!"
Jack grinned from ear to ear, and nodded vigorously.
"Come here Chester!" he called, holding his arms outstretched for Chester to leap down to his protective arms.
"I want you to meet my cousins.."
"And maybe we should get you away from cook for awhile.."
Once Chester is down, Jack will proudly display him to Keenan and Dante.
Dante glanced from Chester to Jack, "that's pretty cool. Where'd you get him?"
"He was a gift from my mother," Jack explains. He does not become particularly remorse again, since the topic has already been brought up and taked about. "I guess it's kind of obvious that she didn't go in for a lot of things that kid's like.. But she let me have a few things."
"I had a few toys," he admits. "And we saw a man selling monkies at a market.." He adds hastily, "Chester is what they call a spider monkey. Anyway- I wanted one really bad, and there were no other children on board so she let me have him. Had to train him though; but judging how he's behaved when I was gone, I don't know how good of a job I've done."
Jack waves his hand and conjures up a small piece of fruit and holds it out to Chester to lure him into his arms.
Dante looked at Keenan wit a slight smile... almost of the "I told you so" variety, but not quite. Then he returned his attention to Jack and Chester, "does Chester know where the ship-building materials are in this house?"
Chester let out a little shriek... Not much in the way of an answer. Indeed, there was the general impression that he was demanding another slice of fruit from Jack's empty fingers.
Keenan reached out a bit nervously to scratch the monkey's head. "Sorry, Chester," he said. "I don't have anything for you."
Jack's brows furrowed slightly. "Chester," he admonished, However he quickly conjured a bit of bananna. He didn't offer it quite so freely though, coaxing Chester to come down (lest Cook scold them soon) and into his arms first.
Chester gave one last shrill cry to the cook, then lept to Jack's arms. It shook a fist, but not before taking the banana and stuffing it into his mouth. It eyed Keenan and Dante with some curiousity, especially the still shining buttons on their jackets.
"Hi Chester!" Keenan said cheerfully, reaching out again to stroke the monkey's fur. "How are you today?" Of course he didn't expect an answer, but it was only polite to ask.
Dante's eyes were upon everything, particularly signs that... someone else had been about.
Jack gave Chester a light squeeze. and introduced the monkey to Keenan and Dante (as was only polite).
"Come Chester, I better get us out of here before we all end up in the soup." With a nod to Keenan and Dante, he gestured to the exit.. Freeing Chester to seek whatever mischief he might (as long as it wasn't high tailing it right back to the kitchen!)
"Whatchya looking for Dante?" he asked curiously as he guided both boys (and hopefully spider monkey) back towards his large room.. with it's desk and writing materials- to be used for ship designing.
For a moment, Dante looked as if he'd been caught at something... but only for a moment.
"I thought I smelled something, like fish, and was wondering at it's source," he shrugged. "No big..."
Keenan gives Dante a strange look, but doesn't question. "So where are we going?" he asked.
Jack gives Dante a strange look. "We left my father back at the Castle," he murmurs. "If you're curious about my sister- it's okay to ask..."
He turns to Keenan, "My room.. My new room! It's got a big desk, and lots of things to write and draw with. You said we needed some plans before we started to build the ships." Jack is clearly enthused about the project. "Then we can get some materials and make 'em!"
"Oh, okay!" Keenan says cheerfully. "Will you tell us what it's like to work on a real ship?" he asked. "I've never really been on one. We've just got The Daunting, which isn't very big."
"Dude! We were just in the kitchen, and if you spend enough time at sea you get kinda sensitive to the smell," Dante replies, "not that I'm not curious about your sister, but I'll be blunt when I ask, right Kee?"
"Now let's check out your room."
"Right," Keenan said cheerfully. "He would. Even though he's better about not saying things he's not supposed to than I am." He gave Jack a sheepish smile.
Jack nodded to the others boys. He didn't smell fish himself, but then it occured to him that he'd smelled the sea for almost his entire life and he probably wouldn't notice it.
He quickly wondered if *he* was the one that smelled like fish. Feeling a little self-concious, he concluded that these two wouldn't care that much if he did.
He started walking towards his room.
"A big ship is a lot of work. Everyone has a job to do, and everyone has to do their job. That's why discipline has to be kinda stern. When you're on duty there isn't a lot of time for lollygagging. When someone gets hurt, they find himself different that they can do. Everything is ranked, and everyone has someone to tell 'em what to do, and follow up to make sure they do it. Except the Captain- but even she had the Admiral.. Except the Admiral isn't always around. When you're off duty, a lot of sailors tell stories. Some shoot dice, write letters, sing songs or drink their rations."
"It's mostly a lot of hard work," he concedes, "but it can be kind fun when everything is going right." He looks at the other two, "That probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Jack looks faraway. "I kinda miss it right now though.. I don't know what I am supposed to be doing anymore."
"So we'll build some ships."
He opens the door to his room to admit them both in..
His room was tidy, more from the lack of clutter to mess things up than any over-dilligent servants. The desk, the bed, the chest before the window were all shut up, and adorned with only the occassional creature comfort. His mother's sextant rested on the windowsill.
Chester lept off of Jack's shouder, jumping and skipping to his make-shift hammock pinned in one corner of the ceiling. From there, he watched the boys with curious, sometimes wary black eyes.
"I think I'd like to work on a big ship someday," Keenan says, looking thoughtful. "I don't mind working, and even if it's hard, it sounds more interesting than scrubbing dishes. That's what I do at my mum's, and I help clean up tables and stuff."
"I know I'm going to work on a big ship someday," Dante started as he entered the room, amazed by its tidyness.
"Should we divy up the work, or go at it in sequence together?"
"Let's go at it in sequence together," Jack replied, "That way we can all work on a ship, and have one at the end. Instead of trying to divide it up."
"You do get used to hard work Keenan," Jack explained as he moved to open a window a crack to let some fresh air in the room. "In a good navy, you work your way up. No real sailor has any geniune respect for commissioned officers. But then, even a cabin boy or girl gets more respect than a landlubber. The difference between landsmen and sailors is the real dividing line. Beyond that things are negoitiable with skill, hard work, and a little luck."
"And nothing's wrong with scrubbing dishes.. I've done that before," he admits.
He'll walk to the desk and pull out some papers and writing tools. "Why don't you start Keenan, since you have more practice at this.. You too Dante.. I'll watch for a bit till I see how you draw it.."
Dante knew almost immediately what type of ship he'd like to build, and had seen plenty of pictures that might help him get the look right. He turned to Jack, after having a fair amount down on paper, "you got a bit of string and a pin... maybe some cork, so I don't mess up your desk?"
"Not that I know of," Jack replied with a frown. He looked up at Dante, not wishing to disappoint his cousin. "A pin and some string should be easy to find.. but cork.."
"Let me try this..."
He waved his hands then and concentrated. If he could make a cow out of a carrot, surely he could conjure some cork, a pin, and some string.
Dante looked briefly annoyed. ~What kind of people don't have cork lying about?~ But he recovered, trying not to totally alienate Jack.
[OOC: After a quick online communique with the GM..]
Jack conjures the required cork, pin, and string.. and hands them deftly to Dante.
"There you go!" he says brightly. "Faster than trying to find it in a strange house."
"Show us what you got Dante," he prompts the other boy.
Keenan's eyes widened, impressed. He had been showing Jack how to go about starting a plan for a ship. He didn't feel the need to start another one himself, when he had a perfectly good ship half-finished at home.
Dante presents his paper. "I was going to do the rigging next, and sails. The cork, pin, and string can be used to get the curves right." The drawing lacks in organization, but is remarkably accurate.
Jack peered over Dante's work, noting silently to himself that it was pretty good. The other boy obviously knew something about sailing himself.
"That's great, Dante.." he exclaimed.
Jack sat and started to scrawl at the paper, under Keenan's careful guidance (listening and appreciating his input). He also drew upon some of his own observations about things he wished had been different on his mother's ships, and trying to modify it.
"Hmmm.. What do you think?" he asks Keenan.
Keenan's forehead crinkled up in concentration as he looked over the drawing. After a few minutes' scrutiny, he grinned at Jack. "Really good!" he said. "I think it'll work, and it won't be too hard for a first one." He looked over at Dante. "Are you done with yours? If you are, we can get started!"
"Kee! I'm surprised at you! We need wood to start, and tools to carve. We've neither, at the moment." As he spoke, his attention glided over to Jack.
Keenan rolled his eyes and made a face. "I know that," he said. "I'm not stupid, just because I'm younger!" He folded his arms over his chest. "I only meant that if you were both done with your drawings, we could go get the stuff we needed for the next step!"
But if you know how it goes so well, why don't you take charge?, he thought, only just suppressing a scowl at Dante.
"Gimme some credit," Dante responded. "Have I ever given you grief over your age?"
Jack's brows knitted with concern at the dialogue happening between his two newly met cousins. His eyes shifting from Dante's remark to Keenan's shift in body language.
Jack didn't want them to fight. There was a brief urge to say something- but he didn't wish to incur either of their irritation by appearing to take sides. He wanted them all to get along.
The question came to him then (the tools and wood momentarily forgotten), "How old are you guys?"
[OOC: this is a rewrite of the original post. Gave it some additional thought]
"Ten," Keenan said. "How old are you?"
Dante, seeing that Jack has the floor, waits patiently for an answer before giving his.
Jack bursts into a grin. "Twelve. I'm almost 13.. just a few months to go." He looks to Dante for his reply.
"I'm 13," Dante answered... almost embarrassed. "Have been for a few months."
"We're all different ages," Jack offers (also satisfied having found out what he wanted to know). "It doesn't matter Someone has to be the oldest."
"And remember Keenan," he offers to the young boy in order to be concillatory, "You were the first one to build a ship."
"Come on," he says changing the subject, "let's get back to building our ships. Kee- what kind of wood do we need?"
Keenan giggled. "He's old," he said.
Jack grins at Keenan's giggle. Quite by accident. For Dante's sake he tries to bring it back under control fast.
Dante sticks his tongue out, "and I've got," he concentrates, but only for a moment, "fly honeys. All out in my crib. I think."
Keenan's forehead furrowed. "Aren't you a little old for a crib?" he asked. "And what are fly honeys? Wouldn't it be honey flies? Like... flies are attracted to honey?" He looked at Jack, clearly expecting the older boy to explain this to him.
Jack is wide-eyed and mystified. He looks back at Keenan and then at Dante, and back to Keenan. He just shrugs...
..but after a second he narrows his eyes trying to understand. All thoughts of boats have left his mind, as it seems it has with the others.
"You mean bees, right? When you get older you're allowed to keep bees for the honey, and you build their hive out of your old baby crib... is that what you mean?"
Dante pursed his lips, "I don't know. Heard it in a deep shadow. I'm pretty sure it's impressive."
Keenan shrugged. "All right. If you say so. I think it sounds silly, though, and it doesn't make any sense."
[OOC: After tonight (March 22) I'm going to be gone 'til March 30, at Ambercon, so don't expect any replies from me. See ya when I get back!]
[OOC: Have fun.. I'll be missing my second ACUS in a row. icon_cry.gif But I'll be back in '05! icon_smile.gif ]
Jack shook his head as Keenan finished speaking. "No- wait.. It doesn't make sense.. But.."
He fixed his eyes curiously on Dante. "What did you mean about that other part?"
He let the question hang in the air for a second before adding.. "About listening in the shadows? That did make sense either, but-" And either boy can practically see the wheels of Jack's mind turning. "But- it was supposed to... Make sense I mean."
"It meant something to you, didn't it?" he added to Dante.
"About deep shadow? Like when you take the boat out for a little over a day, cruising behind one of Amber's trading vessels until the water turns silver and you can only guess at whether it's day or night, and you step out of the twilight and into a tavern, tuck yourself into a corner and just listen to the sounds that people make when they think they aren't being watched?"
Dante shrugged, "yeah, I guess that was supposed to make sense."
(OOC: What's an ACUS?)
Jack's brows furrow as he tries to make sense of it all.
"Like going to a country so far away that the people there have never heard of where you came from? Except you did it in a few days.."
He frowns. "Like when I came here."
Dante looks at Jack, quizically, "sure, I guess. I don't know about your trip here, but the rest is right. Don't tell anyone, though."
Keenan bounced impatiently from foot to foot. "Can we get back to the ships now?" he asked. "We gotta go find wood and stuff!" He smiled charmingly at them.
[OOC: ACUS is Ambercon US, or just Ambercon.
And I think this thread has pretty much petered out... do you agree? Or is it just me?]
[OOC: Yeah, although I was interested in writing out whether Dante could get away with stealing someone's silk underwear for the sails. Not that he had someone specific in mind icon_wink.gif]
[OOC: Lol! Well, we can continue for a bit, so you can do that, if you'd like. I was mostly just making a general statement of how the thread seemed to be winding down. I don't want to stop you if you've got something in mind! icon_wink.gif]
[OOC: or we could assume that it goes off with very little hitch. Dante pretty much had it down to "oddly curved squares of silk," seeing as how he figured neither of his companions would appreciate his efforts. All he'd have to do is break away from the group for a little, find a certain room, and use a pocket knife (of course he's got a pocket knife) to achieve desired effect. We could take that as read or start another thread right after he sneaks back... whatever works.]
[OOC: Sorry guys, this was my fault. I was having a problem in real life, and I needed a few days. I should have said something.
As for the thread.. I think it's a riot! Don't cut me out! I think a panty raid is just what this almost 13 year old boy needs! This is the life experience where a boy raised among men finds out that there are actually naughty boundries! Whoohoo! icon_twisted.gif I never meant Jack to remain eternally 'pure as the driven.
Post coming up.]
Keenan wrote: Keenan bounced impatiently from foot to foot. "Can we get back to the ships now?" he asked. "We gotta go find wood and stuff!" He smiled charmingly at them.
"Right!" Jack nodded emphatically. "Carving and whittlin' knives should be easy. There might even be a workshop on the gounds where the caretakers keep the manse in good nick. But what about silk for the sails?"
Dante slowly nods, "I could find some, but we need someone," and he gestures covertly at Keenan, "to grab the wood from the workshop."
"I can do that," Keenan said with a shrug. "Just... Jack will have to tell me where it is. And I won't steal it. But if I told them why we needed it, they'd let us have it, right?"
Jack looked between Dante and Keenan. Finally to Keenan he explained. "I think so. I promise I will accept any discipline for it if it comes up. My promise to you. Just tell them that you are Lord Ben's nephew Keenan. And that I sent you to ask for the wood to build model ships with. That's the truth so they shouldn't have any problem with that."
He looks Keenan in the face. "Do you think you can do that Kee?"
"Keen can do it," Dante replied, "it's not like it's hard, and it's honest. Give him the directions and lets head out, 'kay?"
Jack glanced at Dante one more time... a certain knowledge passing between them.
"Okay Keenan," he started.. And then Jack proceeded to give him instructions on how to get to the Manor's workshop.
Keenan nodded his understanding and went haring off through the corridors of the manor, intent on his destination. He was, after all, on a mission.
Dante watched Keenan disappear down the hall before turning to Jack: "okay, which one of these rooms belongs to your sister?"
Jack's pulse pounded in his chest and in his neck. "Ummmm.."
He was torn, because Lilith was (after all the most beautiful woman in the world besides his mother) and he wanted to please her. She was his only family besides his father.
Except that he had two cousins that were boys and Dante was almost the same age. Temptation won out at last..
"We're just looking for rags and scraps right?" he asked cautiously, as they peeped out the hallway. But without waiting for an answer he indicates how to get to her door.
[OOC: Took a small liberty, suggesting that Jack knows which one it was. If the GM indicates I don't know, I will happily edit this post]
"Well, of course... we wouldn't want things she was actively using," Dante smiled broadly. "Don't worry... worst thing happens, I'll take the blame." Dante hushes as he approaches the door and tries the knob carefully, but with the quickness that comes with adrenaline.
Jack walks quietly behind Dante. He knows that they're not doing anything bad, but he still can't figure out why he's nervous and guilty already. A plan's is a plan though, and he's not going to lose face in front of Dante now.
He's even more silent when hushed. And the darling blonde hair boy demonstrates that he's spent a lot of time among grown-up men, as his demeanor notwithstanding- as he sets about "jiggering." That is- he acts as the look-out and begins to think up an emergency 'distraction', in case some 'authority figure' abruptly turns the corner.
With a minimum of fumbling, Dante opened the door and slid in quickly, gesturing to Jack to enter quickly.
And so Jack does.. Taking one more glance behgind him down the corridor as he quickly pulls the door closed behind him.
Now he knows he's taken another step over the line. The guilt at war with curiousity and excitement.
Dante inhales the smell of babe... oh yeah. His heart is racing as he looks about the room, considering the dresser the longest. "I think this'd be the best place for silk," he says finally.
And... indeed it is... There are dresses, shirts, scarves... Things that should be scarves but are used as shirts... Unmentionables...
"I think she'd get the least use from these," Dante says holding up something that, were it actually on a woman, he'd feel it in his toes, "not alot of silk though." He frowns and digs a little further through the unmentionables.
Finally he holds up a few items, "this oughtta do us for silk. Might have to stitch some together."
What he held up, though was, scarves... hankercheifs... enclousures for bonne nez. No underwear, no bras... Nothing of that kind.
Jack's eyes are wide.
"Okay," he exhaled. "Good enough. Let's get the devil out of here before we're caught!" he whispers urgently. He covered his mouth because a fool's grin was creeping across his face- despite the fear he thought he should be feeling.
katie wrote: What he held up, though was, scarves... hankercheifs... enclousures for bonne nez. No underwear, no bras... Nothing of that kind.
OOC: Sorry, read too much in. Thought we were doing that whole pre-teen mischief thing to a higher degree. Post amended accordingly.
Dante looks deep into the drawer, seemingly disappointed. "There seem to be some items missing. Did you have some guys over doing this kinda thing before me?"
"Uh huh," Jack swears. His eyes still wide. "But I haven't been here that long."
"Maybe she's got them hid." He covered his mouth again. "B-but.. We shouldn't be doing this. She's my sister!" But this approach-avoidance conflict of adolscent sexuality curiousity is plain on his face.
Yet it's the professional sailor in him that asserts itself. "And when we try to explain that this is just for silk for model ship sails, we're going to be flogged for just thinkng anyone is that stupid. Just find something and let's get out of here Dante!"
"'Kay. Got 'em!" Dante gestures with a skirt.
Jack sighs with relief. Calming down, he takes a deep breath. "Alright.." he whispers. "Now let's go." He'll walk quietly to the door and place his hand on the knob, turning it very slowly..
Dante, anxious to go, peeks around Jack as the door opens.
His father might have had something to say about it, but right about then the door slammed open, and the two noisemakers showed themselves, brandishing light wooden sticks that might have once belonged to the kindling pile.
Keenan and Dante, mid parry and thrust, stopped dead as they saw the new bodies at their father's table. One was the unmistakable Prince Benedict, painfully thin compared to the more robust Gerard. Next to him, done up in formal castle clothes (that was still all put together, unlike theirs) was a young boy, somewhere around their ages.
Keenan dropped a hasty bow to Benedict, then grinned at the new boy. "Hello!" he said cheerfully. "I'm Keenan. That's my dad," he nodded toward Gerard. "Are you new here? Oh, and that's my friend Dante." He held out his hand toward the new boy.
Dante held back a bit, giving a curt wave to Benedict, but watching the other boy.
The blonde boy glances at Benedict, then holds out his hand and shakes it. "My name is Jack," he says simply. His voice has a hint of gravel to it, as if something were caught in his throat. "Benedict is my father," he says seriously, though there is a bit of a smile on his face.
Keenan grinned back. "Are you coming to live at the castle?" he asked. "I live here, with my dad." He inclined his head toward the room that he and Dante had just tumbled out of. "That's my room. I haven't lived here long, though. Don't let them make you take magic lessons, if you are coming to stay here. They're horrible." He nodded definitively.
Jack blinks, somewhat dumbfoundedly, by the rapid-fire chatter coming from Keenan. He wasn't used to talking so much. Particularly once he arrived at Benedict's house.
"I think I am staying at my Father's manor house," Jack explains. "And what's wrong with the magic lessons?"
[OOC: Darn it. Now I have to wait to see what the fallout in another thread is before Keenan can answer about magic lessons. Wrote myself into a corner with that one, didn't I? :-/]
Gerard stepped in. "They're just a little... a little... they're not for everyone." Gerard looked a little too pleased that this might be true regarding his son.
Caine snickered. "Aye. Instead, Kee here is going to start arranging protests for the protection of empowered animals."
[OOC: Oh, we can gloss]
Dante walked up, "Keen just isn't very up on concentrating that much. They can be pretty boring." There was a brief pause, as Dante looked Jack over, "y'know, for some reason I didn't picture your dad as having kids."
"I concentrate just fine," Keenan replied. "I just don't think it's right to capture and torture poor innocent creatures." He turned to glare at Caine, not caring that this was his uncle, and Dante's father, and that his father probably wouldn't be happy at Keenan for yelling at him. "And they're not animals," he snapped. "They are just little people, with families just like we have, and hearts and minds and how would you like it if I put you in a glass ball and poked at you and then killed you and pinned you to a board? Or if someone did that to Dante?" His blue green eyes held a challenge in them, and no matter how scary Uncle Caine tried to be, he wasn't likely to get the small boy to back down.
Dante tried to restrain a smirk until his name was mentioned. He stiffened a bit at that, and waited for his fathers reply.
Caine looked no more ruffled than if Keenan had asked him what flavor of cheese he was eating. "Among Amberites, the fate of being encapsulated, then eviscerated is rather rare. I don't think Dante has much to worry about." He looked at Gerard. "He still avoiding steak?"
"Just because it's unlikely doesn't make it either impossible or right. But you wouldn't care, would you?" Keenan demanded. "You wouldn't care at all if something happened to Dante, because you're a... a fat-arsed swab!"
"Keenan," came an unusually quiet Dante, "take it back."
Caine, who had been watching Keenan, shifted his gaze to Dante. As ever, it was tough to read, but he didn't seem upset about Keenan's comment-- rather, he looked intrigued by Dante's reaction.
Gerard just stared at his son, too shocked for even a quick bat at the back of his head. And Benendict... simply sighed.
Keenan frowned and pressed himself against Gerard's side. "I'm sorry, Dante," he said softly. "But he shouldn't make fun of me. Just because he thinks what I believe in is stupid doesn't mean I haven't got a right to believe in it." He looked Dante in the eye somberly. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or... or whatever I did. I was only trying to make a point."
Dante nodded, "salright. But do it again and I'll make sure everyone I run into eats steak for a while." There was a sly smirk with this last. "Maybe we can hit some vegetarian shadows on one of our trips."
[Jack want to respond here? React?]
[[ OOC: Sorry 'bout that. Lost track of the thread for a while. ]]
Jack just watched the interplay between the boys and their fathers and each other in shock. He glanced at Benedict, then back at the boys.
He didn't bother asking why they had to cut up animals for magical studies.
He decided everyone was getting far too serious.
He picked up two pieces of potatoes, one in each hand. He concentrated on them for a moment. The first one he tossed to the floor, appeared to be a tiny little cow, shaggy and brown, with a little bell around its neck. It gave off a high-pitched moo. The second piece landed as an animated carrot. It got up on its little legs, brushed itself off, then started chasing the small cow. The cow mooed and clanged as the pair ran towards Dante's room.
Jack just watched them go. Grinning.
Dante nudged Keen, "I think Jack just told us we've got the wrong tutors if magic is boring." He laughed for a while before calming down and adding, "but I'm just in it to help with the sailing... and stuff. Jack: Me and Keen take my boat out on the weekends for some fun, and we can squeeze up to two more on... if you're interested sometime, let me know."
Jack smiles widely. He moves to answer but stops himself, toning down the smile a bit. He looks at his father hopefully.
Keenan had knelt down to watch the tiny creatures as they scuttled across the floor. Finally he put one hand in front of the cow and the other in front of the carrot, scooping them up and examining them in awe, while keeping them far enough apart that the carrot could not torment the tiny cow. "Look, Dad!" he whispered, holding them up to his father.
"It's just a little cantrip," Jack explains. "It won't last long before they turn back into potatoes."
"Where'd you learn to do it?" Keenan asked.
"My mother met a witch when I was little," Jack explains. "She said I had the gift. So I started learning stuff from a lot of different people. Women, mostly."
"Master Lorius is a man," Keenan said, stating the obvious. "And he would never teach you how to do anything fun, I bet."
"I was told you have to...umm...adapt," he says, finding the word, "the boring stuff you're taught to do things that you're interested in."
"Well, I guess that would cut back on the studying," Dante thought aloud. He didn't seem particularly interested in the potato and carrot, paying more attention to his peers.
Benedict started to say something, but hesitated. He pursed his lips, watching as his son tossed off cantrips. "Mind your wounds," he finally said, with a touch of reluctance.
Caine and Gerard both studied the squirming carrot and potato, then looked at Ben. "You know something about the magic ladies that we don't?" Caine asked after a long pause.
[OOC: It's a carrot and a cow... until they both turn back into potatoes. icon_wink.gif]
"You've got wounds?" Keenan asked, looking Jack up and down quickly and not seeing anything.
"Yes, sir," Jack says to his father. "Do you think I could go sailing once I'm better?" He tries to keep his excitement under control, but his foot is tapping the air quickly.
[OOC: Jack and I posted at pretty much the same time, and since my response makes more sense after his, I'm re-posting it. icon_smile.gif]
"You've got wounds?" Keenan asked, looking Jack up and down quickly and not seeing anything.
Dante looked like he was trying to subdue his curiousity, "like claw and bite marks? That happens sometimes... I hear."
Benedict repressed an uncomfortable sigh. "It was in battle."
Dante straightened visibly at Benedict's words. "I'm sure he acquitted himself nicely on the field."
Keenan's eyes grew almost impossibly wide. "You've been in battle?" he asked Jack incredulously. "When? Why? Can I see the scars?"
Jack blinked, and remained quite still. Then he looked up at Benedic tenatively. He was unused to such undisciplined displays. He regarded Keenan sympathetically, because there was a certain animal that Jack would loathe to be hurt. But still, for this outburst there would be discipline.. perhaps even a beating.
Benedict, while he had a small frown of disapproval on his face, seemed far from surprised. He looked down at his son.
"We will discuss your reinstatement later... alone." He glanced at Keenan, then back at Jack. "Do you wish to discuss the battle yet?" he asked, a touch softer.
[OOC: brief explanation: I was unaware of how the board operated. I didn't realize that the thread had three pages. I had Jack literally respond to the fast-arsed swab remark- not the "do you have wounds" remark. I'm not going to edit or change it, but I thought explaining that would help]
Jack looks up at his father and nods solemnly. He turns to regard his cousins with blue eyes and a patient expression. "I was shot. Grapeshot from a cannon. I was hit in the chest and in the neck." He lowers his eyes to the table. "The Captain, my mother, was struck in the chest and she passed. That's when my father came to collect me."
Keenan's eyes went even wider. "Oh," he said softly. "I'm sorry." He reached for one of Jack's hands, to take it and squeeze it, to try and provide him some kind of comfort. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose his mum.
Dante blinked. "and did you learn to stay out of the way of grapeshot?"
Keenan turned and glared at him. "DANTE!"
He looked at Keenan, "well... what am I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry your mom blew up?' He was in a battle, assumably still learning. His mother died, so I figured it was one heck of a lesson. Maybe that's the most important aspect, so," he turned to Jack, "what did you learn?"
Keenan scowled at Dante, his own hand still on Jack's (unless he has pulled it away).
Jack looked at Keenan and gave him a sad smile, and squeezed his hand back. "Thank you," he said quietly.
He turned his Dante, his expression very grave. "Yes, I learned something. But what I learned won't matter to you anyway. You don't really care."
Dante looked back, but his expression was blank, "alright, Jack. Offer still stands about the boat. Anytime you feel like sailing, let me know."
"And when you do..." Caine took a peach off of the tray, and unsheathed his left hip dagger. "I would remember this, Dante: You've inherited my sharp tongue, and it is within my rights as your sire to take it back. Is that understood?"
He made an all too purposeful slice with his dagger into the tender flesh of the peach.
Keenan frowned. He didn't like when people fought. "Hey Jack, want to see what I've been working on? It's a model of one of my dad's ships. It's only about half done, but..." he shrugged. "You can see it, if you want."
"Yessir," Dante responded quietly to Caine.
He turned to the other boys, and watched.
Benedict squeezed Jack's shoulder lightly. "You may go, if you wish..." He looked at the map spread between Gerard and Caine. He said nothing, but it was apparent he expected to be told what the conflict was.
Jack looked up at his father, and then back at Keenan and Dante. This type of setting was very strange to him. He was accustomed to being quiet in the presence of adults, unless he had something meaningful to contribute. He did play- but only during structured times and in a structured manner- shore leave.
But he reckoned, maybe his father's way were different.
"I would like to go sailing still," he said tenatively to Dante, "After I've mended. If you'll still have me."
And to Keenan he grinned just a little. "Sure!" he said in response to the invitation to see the model, with just a note of excitement (approval from his father already given). He pushed himself away from the table carefully and got to his feet with some care.
Keenan stayed close to him, concern writ large across his expressive features. As they went into Keenan's room, he glanced around to make sure that no one, especially Dante, could overhear, then whispered, "You mustn't mind Dante. He doesn't really know how to care. He never learned, because I don't think his parents care much about him."
[OOC: He really would have made sure that that couldn't have been overheard... there's just no way on a message board to keep it from being seen by those who wouldn't hear it and still keep it in its proper place in the thread. :-/]
OOC: Not a prob.
IC: Dante looked up at the only ones remaining in the room with him... the adults. "With your permission, I would remove myself."
Caine nodded, popping a slice of peach in his mouth.
"Try to only knock over the cheaper decorations."
With that, Dante drew himself out of the room, closing the doors behind him.
[OOC: Oh... didn't mean for Dante to go away. I was thinking more along the lines of Dante went into the room first, or Keenan and Jack were few steps ahead and Kee was whispering so Dante couldn't overhear. Oops. :-/]
[Yes... is Dante leaving, or is he following to Keenan's room?]
[OOC: he'll follow]
Keenan's room was smaller than Jack's, but he couldn't tell if it was the walls, or the amount of stuff packed into the room. There were toy ships and tin men and a few things that appeared to be wood carved puzzles. Swords, mostly wooden or dulled, were stacked in one corner, along with some scaled down padded armor.
katie wrote: Keenan's room was smaller than Jack's, but he couldn't tell if it was the walls, or the amount of stuff packed into the room. There were toy ships and tin men and a few things that appeared to be wood carved puzzles. Swords, mostly wooden or dulled, were stacked in one corner, along with some scaled down padded armor.
Keenan wrote: Keenan stayed close to him, concern writ large across his expressive features. As they went into Keenan's room, he glanced around to make sure that no one, especially Dante, could overhear, then whispered, "You mustn't mind Dante. He doesn't really know how to care. He never learned, because I don't think his parents care much about him."
Jack looked Keenan in the eyes and nodded quickly, but said nothing sensing that Dante was only a few steps behind them both. The expression suggested that maybe they could talk more about it another time.
Surveying the room, Jack's eyes widened. "It's a nice room," he said with a touch of awe. "Does everyone have rooms like this?" Those blue eyes pass over all the toys, and he smiles in spite of any attempt to be serious.
He looks back to Keenan a little excited. "Where is your model?"
Dante tried not to crowd the room, still feeling a little uncomfortable, but he did look about the room a bit. It had changed since the last time he'd seen it, mostly by the force of a biological tornado.
"Dunno," Keenan said as he went to one of the shelves. "About the rooms, I mean. I haven't seen anyone else's rooms." He very gingerly lifted down a rather large model ship, and set it on a small table that was strewn with stuff. "See?" he said as he moved his hands away. "I'm still working on it, but the hull is all done, and I've got most of the deck. The rigging is going to be the hard part, I think. I have to if Mum has any scraps of silk about I can use for sails..." He suddenly looked up at Jack. "Sorry," he said softly. "I didn't mean..."
Jack blinked his eyes at Keenan's remark and fixed his solemn eyes on the model. For an instant there is a tiny struggle for control of his features, but then he nods, his composure intact (challenged only for an instance).
"It's very well done," he replies, indicating with a finger to the deck and careful not to actually touch it. His brows furrow as he assess how the model is being crafted. Jack has never had the time, space, or presence of mind to do anything like this, and it looks fun. He wonders if he could build his ship.. or rather the ship where he grew up.. His mother's ship.
"It's alright," he adds almost as afterthought, "you can't fault yourself for having a mother." He looks up. "What is your mum like? What does she do?" He glances back at Dante, wondering about his mother- trying to include him in the conversation.
"My mum's name is Martha," Keenan said. "She runs a tavern down by the docks called Martha's Mariners, but most everyone just calls it Martha's. She makes the best desserts in all of Amber; even better than the ones at the castle! You could come meet her some time if you wanted. I go down to visit a lot. And she wouldn't even make you do dishes!" Keenan grinned. Noticing Jack's glance at Dante, he adds, "Dante's mum's pretty famous around here, isn't she, Dante?"
Jack grins at Keenan's description of Martha. "Sure!" Jack was not so removed from his youth that dessert failed to appeal.
He looks at Dante, wondering what the other boy will say about his own mother.
"Vinta Bayle," he replied... as if naming her would help remove the stigma that she had bore him, "supplies wine to the castle on request. Many think that the wine is pretty good."
Keenan smiled. "You know what, Jack? I bet we could get stuff so you could make a model of your ship, if you wanted. And Dante, you should build a model of the ship you want to have when you're older. We can all work on them together. It's a really fun thing to do when the weather's bad. Whaddaya think?"
[OOC: And believe it or not, I had had the idea of Jack building a model of his mother's ship even before you mentioned it. icon_smile.gif]
Dante seemed to cheer up a little, "sure. I know where there's plenty of silk for the sails and rigging, and I'm sure we can get some wood."
"Sure!" piped up Jack looking a little excited. He looked at the two other boys, "Can we do it now?"
He hesitates. "I mean.. how do we get started?"
"Well first you'll need to draw up a plan of what the ship looks like. That way we can figure out how it'll go together," Keenan said knowingly. "Then we get the wood and stuff, and we put it together."
Jack nods solemnly, but then brightens. "My room has a desk and some paper- and an inkwell. We could get started right away.."
He grins, "And you could both meet Chester!" He looks at them both to gauge if they're interested.
"Who's Chester?" Keenan asked curiously.
Dante, who had been looking into the distance, shook himself. "I'm game," he replied with a shrug and a smirk.
[Want to cut back to Ben's Manor? That's where Chester is...]
[For some reason, thought that Chester was in Castle Amber... Dante would... hold on...]
Dante looked at Jack, "you have any brothers or sisters? People that drop in from time to time at your place?"
[OOC: Sorry for the delay, it's been the extended weekend for personal problems and illness. I screwed up clearly. I read the background too quickly, and I missed the transition from Ben's Manor to Castle Amber, at the time I wrote that I thought Jack and Ben resided in the Castle.]
Jack's cheeks colored, "Well, we would have to go to my father's manse to see Chester. He's my friend.. my pet. Would your father's permit you to come over?" He still asks the both of them.
Then he adds to Dante, "Oh yes," with an enthusiastic nod, "I have a sister now. Her name is Lillith."
He adds with solemn confidentiality, "She's one of the most beautiful ladies I have ever seen."
"I bet my dad would let me come," Keenan says. "What kind of animal is Chester? A dog?"
"I can go," Dante said with an uneven grin.
[OOC: Katie- let's take these young men on a field trip to Ben's manor?]
Benedict's manor was much more rustic than Dante's home in Begma, where his mother's hand had made certain that they were always ready to dazzle whatever potential buyer might happen by. It was, however, larger than Keenan's home by the docks, a place made even smaller by the presence of a bar in her first level. It was quiet, deathly quiet, with even the servants shuffling about and talking in undertones.
There was one intruder into the silence, and that was Chester. Chester, having realized Jack wasn't about, and that all the windows were done up to keep him in, had scampered to the kitchens. He took up residence above the grailing holding up the pots and pans, lying in wait until the cook's back was turned. Then, it would leap down, grab up a handful of whatever the cook had been cutting, and scampter back to safety. Each time, the cook realized what had happened, and cursed the creature.
"Money my arse," he growled. "More like an expensive rat crossed with a theif..."
Dante crossed the threshold and noticed the silence. "Dude!" but then he felt an oppressive air strike him, and even he cringed at the slight echo from his word.
"Chester's a monkey?" Keenan squealed. "Wow!"
Jack grinned from ear to ear, and nodded vigorously.
"Come here Chester!" he called, holding his arms outstretched for Chester to leap down to his protective arms.
"I want you to meet my cousins.."
"And maybe we should get you away from cook for awhile.."
Once Chester is down, Jack will proudly display him to Keenan and Dante.
Dante glanced from Chester to Jack, "that's pretty cool. Where'd you get him?"
"He was a gift from my mother," Jack explains. He does not become particularly remorse again, since the topic has already been brought up and taked about. "I guess it's kind of obvious that she didn't go in for a lot of things that kid's like.. But she let me have a few things."
"I had a few toys," he admits. "And we saw a man selling monkies at a market.." He adds hastily, "Chester is what they call a spider monkey. Anyway- I wanted one really bad, and there were no other children on board so she let me have him. Had to train him though; but judging how he's behaved when I was gone, I don't know how good of a job I've done."
Jack waves his hand and conjures up a small piece of fruit and holds it out to Chester to lure him into his arms.
Dante looked at Keenan wit a slight smile... almost of the "I told you so" variety, but not quite. Then he returned his attention to Jack and Chester, "does Chester know where the ship-building materials are in this house?"
Chester let out a little shriek... Not much in the way of an answer. Indeed, there was the general impression that he was demanding another slice of fruit from Jack's empty fingers.
Keenan reached out a bit nervously to scratch the monkey's head. "Sorry, Chester," he said. "I don't have anything for you."
Jack's brows furrowed slightly. "Chester," he admonished, However he quickly conjured a bit of bananna. He didn't offer it quite so freely though, coaxing Chester to come down (lest Cook scold them soon) and into his arms first.
Chester gave one last shrill cry to the cook, then lept to Jack's arms. It shook a fist, but not before taking the banana and stuffing it into his mouth. It eyed Keenan and Dante with some curiousity, especially the still shining buttons on their jackets.
"Hi Chester!" Keenan said cheerfully, reaching out again to stroke the monkey's fur. "How are you today?" Of course he didn't expect an answer, but it was only polite to ask.
Dante's eyes were upon everything, particularly signs that... someone else had been about.
Jack gave Chester a light squeeze. and introduced the monkey to Keenan and Dante (as was only polite).
"Come Chester, I better get us out of here before we all end up in the soup." With a nod to Keenan and Dante, he gestured to the exit.. Freeing Chester to seek whatever mischief he might (as long as it wasn't high tailing it right back to the kitchen!)
"Whatchya looking for Dante?" he asked curiously as he guided both boys (and hopefully spider monkey) back towards his large room.. with it's desk and writing materials- to be used for ship designing.
For a moment, Dante looked as if he'd been caught at something... but only for a moment.
"I thought I smelled something, like fish, and was wondering at it's source," he shrugged. "No big..."
Keenan gives Dante a strange look, but doesn't question. "So where are we going?" he asked.
Jack gives Dante a strange look. "We left my father back at the Castle," he murmurs. "If you're curious about my sister- it's okay to ask..."
He turns to Keenan, "My room.. My new room! It's got a big desk, and lots of things to write and draw with. You said we needed some plans before we started to build the ships." Jack is clearly enthused about the project. "Then we can get some materials and make 'em!"
"Oh, okay!" Keenan says cheerfully. "Will you tell us what it's like to work on a real ship?" he asked. "I've never really been on one. We've just got The Daunting, which isn't very big."
"Dude! We were just in the kitchen, and if you spend enough time at sea you get kinda sensitive to the smell," Dante replies, "not that I'm not curious about your sister, but I'll be blunt when I ask, right Kee?"
"Now let's check out your room."
"Right," Keenan said cheerfully. "He would. Even though he's better about not saying things he's not supposed to than I am." He gave Jack a sheepish smile.
Jack nodded to the others boys. He didn't smell fish himself, but then it occured to him that he'd smelled the sea for almost his entire life and he probably wouldn't notice it.
He quickly wondered if *he* was the one that smelled like fish. Feeling a little self-concious, he concluded that these two wouldn't care that much if he did.
He started walking towards his room.
"A big ship is a lot of work. Everyone has a job to do, and everyone has to do their job. That's why discipline has to be kinda stern. When you're on duty there isn't a lot of time for lollygagging. When someone gets hurt, they find himself different that they can do. Everything is ranked, and everyone has someone to tell 'em what to do, and follow up to make sure they do it. Except the Captain- but even she had the Admiral.. Except the Admiral isn't always around. When you're off duty, a lot of sailors tell stories. Some shoot dice, write letters, sing songs or drink their rations."
"It's mostly a lot of hard work," he concedes, "but it can be kind fun when everything is going right." He looks at the other two, "That probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Jack looks faraway. "I kinda miss it right now though.. I don't know what I am supposed to be doing anymore."
"So we'll build some ships."
He opens the door to his room to admit them both in..
His room was tidy, more from the lack of clutter to mess things up than any over-dilligent servants. The desk, the bed, the chest before the window were all shut up, and adorned with only the occassional creature comfort. His mother's sextant rested on the windowsill.
Chester lept off of Jack's shouder, jumping and skipping to his make-shift hammock pinned in one corner of the ceiling. From there, he watched the boys with curious, sometimes wary black eyes.
"I think I'd like to work on a big ship someday," Keenan says, looking thoughtful. "I don't mind working, and even if it's hard, it sounds more interesting than scrubbing dishes. That's what I do at my mum's, and I help clean up tables and stuff."
"I know I'm going to work on a big ship someday," Dante started as he entered the room, amazed by its tidyness.
"Should we divy up the work, or go at it in sequence together?"
"Let's go at it in sequence together," Jack replied, "That way we can all work on a ship, and have one at the end. Instead of trying to divide it up."
"You do get used to hard work Keenan," Jack explained as he moved to open a window a crack to let some fresh air in the room. "In a good navy, you work your way up. No real sailor has any geniune respect for commissioned officers. But then, even a cabin boy or girl gets more respect than a landlubber. The difference between landsmen and sailors is the real dividing line. Beyond that things are negoitiable with skill, hard work, and a little luck."
"And nothing's wrong with scrubbing dishes.. I've done that before," he admits.
He'll walk to the desk and pull out some papers and writing tools. "Why don't you start Keenan, since you have more practice at this.. You too Dante.. I'll watch for a bit till I see how you draw it.."
Dante knew almost immediately what type of ship he'd like to build, and had seen plenty of pictures that might help him get the look right. He turned to Jack, after having a fair amount down on paper, "you got a bit of string and a pin... maybe some cork, so I don't mess up your desk?"
"Not that I know of," Jack replied with a frown. He looked up at Dante, not wishing to disappoint his cousin. "A pin and some string should be easy to find.. but cork.."
"Let me try this..."
He waved his hands then and concentrated. If he could make a cow out of a carrot, surely he could conjure some cork, a pin, and some string.
Dante looked briefly annoyed. ~What kind of people don't have cork lying about?~ But he recovered, trying not to totally alienate Jack.
[OOC: After a quick online communique with the GM..]
Jack conjures the required cork, pin, and string.. and hands them deftly to Dante.
"There you go!" he says brightly. "Faster than trying to find it in a strange house."
"Show us what you got Dante," he prompts the other boy.
Keenan's eyes widened, impressed. He had been showing Jack how to go about starting a plan for a ship. He didn't feel the need to start another one himself, when he had a perfectly good ship half-finished at home.
Dante presents his paper. "I was going to do the rigging next, and sails. The cork, pin, and string can be used to get the curves right." The drawing lacks in organization, but is remarkably accurate.
Jack peered over Dante's work, noting silently to himself that it was pretty good. The other boy obviously knew something about sailing himself.
"That's great, Dante.." he exclaimed.
Jack sat and started to scrawl at the paper, under Keenan's careful guidance (listening and appreciating his input). He also drew upon some of his own observations about things he wished had been different on his mother's ships, and trying to modify it.
"Hmmm.. What do you think?" he asks Keenan.
Keenan's forehead crinkled up in concentration as he looked over the drawing. After a few minutes' scrutiny, he grinned at Jack. "Really good!" he said. "I think it'll work, and it won't be too hard for a first one." He looked over at Dante. "Are you done with yours? If you are, we can get started!"
"Kee! I'm surprised at you! We need wood to start, and tools to carve. We've neither, at the moment." As he spoke, his attention glided over to Jack.
Keenan rolled his eyes and made a face. "I know that," he said. "I'm not stupid, just because I'm younger!" He folded his arms over his chest. "I only meant that if you were both done with your drawings, we could go get the stuff we needed for the next step!"
But if you know how it goes so well, why don't you take charge?, he thought, only just suppressing a scowl at Dante.
"Gimme some credit," Dante responded. "Have I ever given you grief over your age?"
Jack's brows knitted with concern at the dialogue happening between his two newly met cousins. His eyes shifting from Dante's remark to Keenan's shift in body language.
Jack didn't want them to fight. There was a brief urge to say something- but he didn't wish to incur either of their irritation by appearing to take sides. He wanted them all to get along.
The question came to him then (the tools and wood momentarily forgotten), "How old are you guys?"
[OOC: this is a rewrite of the original post. Gave it some additional thought]
"Ten," Keenan said. "How old are you?"
Dante, seeing that Jack has the floor, waits patiently for an answer before giving his.
Jack bursts into a grin. "Twelve. I'm almost 13.. just a few months to go." He looks to Dante for his reply.
"I'm 13," Dante answered... almost embarrassed. "Have been for a few months."
"We're all different ages," Jack offers (also satisfied having found out what he wanted to know). "It doesn't matter Someone has to be the oldest."
"And remember Keenan," he offers to the young boy in order to be concillatory, "You were the first one to build a ship."
"Come on," he says changing the subject, "let's get back to building our ships. Kee- what kind of wood do we need?"
Keenan giggled. "He's old," he said.
Jack grins at Keenan's giggle. Quite by accident. For Dante's sake he tries to bring it back under control fast.
Dante sticks his tongue out, "and I've got," he concentrates, but only for a moment, "fly honeys. All out in my crib. I think."
Keenan's forehead furrowed. "Aren't you a little old for a crib?" he asked. "And what are fly honeys? Wouldn't it be honey flies? Like... flies are attracted to honey?" He looked at Jack, clearly expecting the older boy to explain this to him.
Jack is wide-eyed and mystified. He looks back at Keenan and then at Dante, and back to Keenan. He just shrugs...
..but after a second he narrows his eyes trying to understand. All thoughts of boats have left his mind, as it seems it has with the others.
"You mean bees, right? When you get older you're allowed to keep bees for the honey, and you build their hive out of your old baby crib... is that what you mean?"
Dante pursed his lips, "I don't know. Heard it in a deep shadow. I'm pretty sure it's impressive."
Keenan shrugged. "All right. If you say so. I think it sounds silly, though, and it doesn't make any sense."
[OOC: After tonight (March 22) I'm going to be gone 'til March 30, at Ambercon, so don't expect any replies from me. See ya when I get back!]
[OOC: Have fun.. I'll be missing my second ACUS in a row. icon_cry.gif But I'll be back in '05! icon_smile.gif ]
Jack shook his head as Keenan finished speaking. "No- wait.. It doesn't make sense.. But.."
He fixed his eyes curiously on Dante. "What did you mean about that other part?"
He let the question hang in the air for a second before adding.. "About listening in the shadows? That did make sense either, but-" And either boy can practically see the wheels of Jack's mind turning. "But- it was supposed to... Make sense I mean."
"It meant something to you, didn't it?" he added to Dante.
"About deep shadow? Like when you take the boat out for a little over a day, cruising behind one of Amber's trading vessels until the water turns silver and you can only guess at whether it's day or night, and you step out of the twilight and into a tavern, tuck yourself into a corner and just listen to the sounds that people make when they think they aren't being watched?"
Dante shrugged, "yeah, I guess that was supposed to make sense."
(OOC: What's an ACUS?)
Jack's brows furrow as he tries to make sense of it all.
"Like going to a country so far away that the people there have never heard of where you came from? Except you did it in a few days.."
He frowns. "Like when I came here."
Dante looks at Jack, quizically, "sure, I guess. I don't know about your trip here, but the rest is right. Don't tell anyone, though."
Keenan bounced impatiently from foot to foot. "Can we get back to the ships now?" he asked. "We gotta go find wood and stuff!" He smiled charmingly at them.
[OOC: ACUS is Ambercon US, or just Ambercon.
And I think this thread has pretty much petered out... do you agree? Or is it just me?]
[OOC: Yeah, although I was interested in writing out whether Dante could get away with stealing someone's silk underwear for the sails. Not that he had someone specific in mind icon_wink.gif]
[OOC: Lol! Well, we can continue for a bit, so you can do that, if you'd like. I was mostly just making a general statement of how the thread seemed to be winding down. I don't want to stop you if you've got something in mind! icon_wink.gif]
[OOC: or we could assume that it goes off with very little hitch. Dante pretty much had it down to "oddly curved squares of silk," seeing as how he figured neither of his companions would appreciate his efforts. All he'd have to do is break away from the group for a little, find a certain room, and use a pocket knife (of course he's got a pocket knife) to achieve desired effect. We could take that as read or start another thread right after he sneaks back... whatever works.]
[OOC: Sorry guys, this was my fault. I was having a problem in real life, and I needed a few days. I should have said something.
As for the thread.. I think it's a riot! Don't cut me out! I think a panty raid is just what this almost 13 year old boy needs! This is the life experience where a boy raised among men finds out that there are actually naughty boundries! Whoohoo! icon_twisted.gif I never meant Jack to remain eternally 'pure as the driven.
Post coming up.]
Keenan wrote: Keenan bounced impatiently from foot to foot. "Can we get back to the ships now?" he asked. "We gotta go find wood and stuff!" He smiled charmingly at them.
"Right!" Jack nodded emphatically. "Carving and whittlin' knives should be easy. There might even be a workshop on the gounds where the caretakers keep the manse in good nick. But what about silk for the sails?"
Dante slowly nods, "I could find some, but we need someone," and he gestures covertly at Keenan, "to grab the wood from the workshop."
"I can do that," Keenan said with a shrug. "Just... Jack will have to tell me where it is. And I won't steal it. But if I told them why we needed it, they'd let us have it, right?"
Jack looked between Dante and Keenan. Finally to Keenan he explained. "I think so. I promise I will accept any discipline for it if it comes up. My promise to you. Just tell them that you are Lord Ben's nephew Keenan. And that I sent you to ask for the wood to build model ships with. That's the truth so they shouldn't have any problem with that."
He looks Keenan in the face. "Do you think you can do that Kee?"
"Keen can do it," Dante replied, "it's not like it's hard, and it's honest. Give him the directions and lets head out, 'kay?"
Jack glanced at Dante one more time... a certain knowledge passing between them.
"Okay Keenan," he started.. And then Jack proceeded to give him instructions on how to get to the Manor's workshop.
Keenan nodded his understanding and went haring off through the corridors of the manor, intent on his destination. He was, after all, on a mission.
Dante watched Keenan disappear down the hall before turning to Jack: "okay, which one of these rooms belongs to your sister?"
Jack's pulse pounded in his chest and in his neck. "Ummmm.."
He was torn, because Lilith was (after all the most beautiful woman in the world besides his mother) and he wanted to please her. She was his only family besides his father.
Except that he had two cousins that were boys and Dante was almost the same age. Temptation won out at last..
"We're just looking for rags and scraps right?" he asked cautiously, as they peeped out the hallway. But without waiting for an answer he indicates how to get to her door.
[OOC: Took a small liberty, suggesting that Jack knows which one it was. If the GM indicates I don't know, I will happily edit this post]
"Well, of course... we wouldn't want things she was actively using," Dante smiled broadly. "Don't worry... worst thing happens, I'll take the blame." Dante hushes as he approaches the door and tries the knob carefully, but with the quickness that comes with adrenaline.
Jack walks quietly behind Dante. He knows that they're not doing anything bad, but he still can't figure out why he's nervous and guilty already. A plan's is a plan though, and he's not going to lose face in front of Dante now.
He's even more silent when hushed. And the darling blonde hair boy demonstrates that he's spent a lot of time among grown-up men, as his demeanor notwithstanding- as he sets about "jiggering." That is- he acts as the look-out and begins to think up an emergency 'distraction', in case some 'authority figure' abruptly turns the corner.
With a minimum of fumbling, Dante opened the door and slid in quickly, gesturing to Jack to enter quickly.
And so Jack does.. Taking one more glance behgind him down the corridor as he quickly pulls the door closed behind him.
Now he knows he's taken another step over the line. The guilt at war with curiousity and excitement.
Dante inhales the smell of babe... oh yeah. His heart is racing as he looks about the room, considering the dresser the longest. "I think this'd be the best place for silk," he says finally.
And... indeed it is... There are dresses, shirts, scarves... Things that should be scarves but are used as shirts... Unmentionables...
"I think she'd get the least use from these," Dante says holding up something that, were it actually on a woman, he'd feel it in his toes, "not alot of silk though." He frowns and digs a little further through the unmentionables.
Finally he holds up a few items, "this oughtta do us for silk. Might have to stitch some together."
What he held up, though was, scarves... hankercheifs... enclousures for bonne nez. No underwear, no bras... Nothing of that kind.
Jack's eyes are wide.
"Okay," he exhaled. "Good enough. Let's get the devil out of here before we're caught!" he whispers urgently. He covered his mouth because a fool's grin was creeping across his face- despite the fear he thought he should be feeling.
katie wrote: What he held up, though was, scarves... hankercheifs... enclousures for bonne nez. No underwear, no bras... Nothing of that kind.
OOC: Sorry, read too much in. Thought we were doing that whole pre-teen mischief thing to a higher degree. Post amended accordingly.
Dante looks deep into the drawer, seemingly disappointed. "There seem to be some items missing. Did you have some guys over doing this kinda thing before me?"
"Uh huh," Jack swears. His eyes still wide. "But I haven't been here that long."
"Maybe she's got them hid." He covered his mouth again. "B-but.. We shouldn't be doing this. She's my sister!" But this approach-avoidance conflict of adolscent sexuality curiousity is plain on his face.
Yet it's the professional sailor in him that asserts itself. "And when we try to explain that this is just for silk for model ship sails, we're going to be flogged for just thinkng anyone is that stupid. Just find something and let's get out of here Dante!"
"'Kay. Got 'em!" Dante gestures with a skirt.
Jack sighs with relief. Calming down, he takes a deep breath. "Alright.." he whispers. "Now let's go." He'll walk quietly to the door and place his hand on the knob, turning it very slowly..
Dante, anxious to go, peeks around Jack as the door opens.
posted by Timmy @ 8:00 PM
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