fandomhighdorms | First Floor Lobby, Monday Morning [9AM FST Onward]

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First Floor Lobby, Monday Morning [9AM FST Onward]

Even on his best days, Archie found his clockwork workshop challenging. There was simply no way he would be up to the challenge today, though, not in this frame of mind. Being in his room didn't seem like an appealing option, either.

So, tired and haggard-looking, he took his latest ship model -- he'd gotten a bit ambitious and was recreating "Lucky" Jack Aubrey's HMS Victory on a small scale -- and camped out in the first floor lobby to work on it. People passed through here all the time; perhaps the coming and going would keep Simpson's apparition away.

He would be sorely disappointed in that regard, though.

::"Model-building, are we? Isn't that precious."::

Simpson was behind him, arms crossed as he stood and watched; Archie's fingers suddenly lost all coordination, and the piece of taffrail he was attempting to glue into place fell to the floor. "Damn it, Jack," he whispered. "Not here."

::"Seeking refuge in public places?":: sneered the apparition. ::"Dear Archie, the close quarters of a ship of war never deterred me before. What makes you think a common area like this would? Look around you, boy. Do you honestly think you fit in here?"::

"Better than you'd think, Jack," Archie snapped back, though his voice quavered with indecision.

Simpson let out a braying laugh. ::"Delusions, Archie, all delusions. You're a freak, can't you see that? An eccentricity, with your quaint ways and old-fashioned dress. No one would even take it amiss that you seem to be talking to yourself right now."::

Archie was about to snap off a reply when he realized that, in a sense, Simpson was right. This was Fandom, after all; what was so unusual about one boy talking to himself, given everything else that happened here? He buried his face in his hands and took the longest, slowest breath he could manage in an attempt to calm himself.

::"Well?":: asked Simpson impatiently. ::"Back to work, boy! I'll have none of this crying and snivelling from you. Go about your work, and act normal about it. I should think you'd have learned to do that by now."::

Numbly, Archie picked up the piece of taffrail and dabbed fresh glue on it, his hands shaking badly as he pressed it into place a bit crookedly.

A derisive snort. ::"Not good enough, boy. You know what happens when I don't find your work up to standards. I'll be watching you.":: Simpson settled into a chair, fingers steepled as he turned a lazy, unwavering gaze on Archie.

Hands shaking worse than before, Archie picked up the next piece of carved railing and his bottle of glue and set to it, his face flushed and sweat pouring down his forehead. Every noise, however minuscule, seemed to make him jump, and his eyes, when they weren't darting around the room, frequently lost focus. But he was too petrified to move.

[OOC: As established in plot guidelines, unless you are canonically able to do so you will not be able to see Simpson sitting in the chair. The post is open, though, for those curious about one very jumpy and terrified sailor, or for your general lobby use.]

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Veronica had heard Cally leave early to go to Pippi's pancake breakfast, but she hadn't felt like getting up yet. She'd been troubled with bad dreams, which she blamed on the ghost stories the night before.

When she finally got up, she decided to take a walk in to town before it started storming again.

She was surprised, however, to find Archie in the lobby. She figured he'd be at his workshop.

"Good morning," she said. "How come you're not at your workshop?"

::"Not at your workshop? Slacking off now, are you, Archie?"::

Archie shuddered, swallowed, and dared to look up at Veronica. "I'm . . . not feeling well," he managed. "I slept terribly, and I . . ."

Harsh scrape of a chair on the floor behind him as Simpson scooted forward, in anticipation of what he would say. Jack always had been particularly harsh on anyone who would dare implicate him for anything.

He swallowed again and shut his eyes. "I slept terribly," he repeated.

Being the type of person who frequently withheld information from people she cared about, Veronica immediately knew that Archie wasn't telling her the whole story.

She took a seat near him and gave him a concerned look. "Do you think you need to go to the clinic?" she asked, taking his hand.

He shook his head vehemently. "No, no. It's . . . the same old affliction. It will pass. It always does."

::"Archie, what's there to stop me from beyond the grave now?"::

Archie flinched again at the words and reached out for Veronica's hand. "It will pass, I swear it."

Veronica squeezed his hand. "If you say so. But I'm going to check on you to make sure you're not getting sicker," she informed him. "Were you feeling bad last night? Is that why you didn't want to go to the campfire?"

::"Campfire? Oh, come now, Mister Kennedy! There's no room for fun and games for an officer of the King's Navy! But then, you never were that fit of an officer, were you? Rotting on Justinian with the rest of us, watching Horatio surpass you by leaps and bounds . . ."::

Archie stiffened at the taunting but didn't respond to it. "I got tied up working on my clock project," he admitted. "I didn't want to fall behind in class today, but now it seems I'll be more behind than ever." He scooted a little closer to Veronica and squeezed her hand back, almost desperately.

::"Archie, really, I'm surprised at your taste. All those longing looks you cast at Hornblower and now this? Did she take pity on you because no one else would have you, boy? Damaged goods -- by God, she must be desperate."::

That was enough to make Archie spin around and glare daggers at Simpson, who merely smirked and raised a challenging eyebrow at him.

"Maybe you can spend some extra time at the shop this week so you don't end up too far behind," Veronica said, glancing in the direction Archie was glaring, but not able to see anything.

She looked at him again, still concerned. "There were a lot of people there last night," she told him. "It was fun, but the ghost stories gave me some nightmares."

"Ghost stories?" Archie repeated. He laughed a little bit, halfheartedly. "I could have told some good ghost stories."

::"The stories you could tell. And no one would believe you."::

He squeezed her hand again. "But not if it would give you nightmares. Are you all right?"

Veronica smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay. I didn't sleep great last night either though."

She leaned in to kiss him.

Archie moved closer, but --

::"Oh, for God's sake, boy!":: The chair scraped against the floor again, and Archie heard the sound of Simpson's knotted rope striking the table.

He pulled back with a jerk, his jaw clenched so tightly the muscles were twitching.

"What's wrong?" Veronica asked, surprised that he pulled back. He'd never shied away from kissing her in public before. "Are you mad at me or something?"

Archie stared at her, his bloodshot eyes apologetic. "I -- I'm sorry. I thought I heard something."

Veronica looked him directly in the eyes, her fear, confusion and concern plain.

"Please talk to me," she said. "You know you can. I'm worried about you. What's wrong?"

"It's . . ."

Suddenly Simpson was in his field of vision, sitting across from Archie and watching him intently. ::"You can't say it, can you? Go on, try."::

He shook his head and rubbed a hand across his forehead. "My brain is a bit fogged today," he said instead. "I'm hearing things, that's all. Truly."

"Maybe you should get some rest," Veronica suggested, reaching out and touching his cheek. It was half a gesture of comfort and half because she wanted to see if he was running a fever.

Simpson smirked and glanced pointedly down the hallway toward Archie's room, and Archie shook his head, leaning into Veronica's touch. "I don't think I could rest if I wanted to."

"Hopefully you'll sleep better tonight," Veronica said. "I have those herbal tea bags that are supposed to help you sleep if you want."

She started to lean in to kiss him again, but hesitated since he'd pulled away last time.

Archie shut his eyes against Simpson's mocking look and kissed Veronica anyway, a little more desperately and fiercely than he had intended; when he opened his eyes, the specter was gone, but not without a final warning.

::"Don't count on sleep; you haven't learned your place yet."::

Veronica was still touching Archie's cheek when she pulled away.

"You know what we need to do?" she asked.

"What's that?" he asked. The shaking in his hands was finally starting to subside.

"Plan our trip to DC," Veronica said with a small smile. "I think we both need a break from this place."

Archie glanced quickly around the lobby, but no sign of Simpson. He nodded. "I'd like that. Getting away would be a good idea."

"I'll start looking up hotels online," Veronica said. "And we'll have to decide if we want to go to the theater while we're there."

Archie forced a brief smile. "I'll start looking up shows then, shall I?"

"That would be great," Veronica said. "If you find one you want to see, let me know. I can use my credit card to book the tickets."

"I wonder if it's far enough away?" Archie murmured, reaching for her hand again.

"Far enough away from what?" Veronica asked, lacing her fingers with his.

Archie hadn't realized he'd said it out loud. "Bad memories," he replied. "They've been stirring of late."

"Were you having nightmares last night?" Veronica asked gently.

Archie raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "In a manner of speaking."

Veronica slid her chair closer and rested her free hand on his knee. "I'm sorry. I know what that's like."

Archie put his head against Veronica's shoulder. "I wish you didn't have to."

"I wish you didn't either," Veronica said, kissing his forehead. "But we can't change our pasts."

"That just leaves us with the future," Archie replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Burying his face in her neck, he added, "And making the most of the present."

Veronica stroked his hair with one hand and rubbed his back with the other.

"I think we've been doing a pretty good job of doing that," she said. "And we've already got plans for the future that we're both excited about."

Archie almost expected Simpson to make a reappearance here, but luckily he didn't.

"So here's to us, then," he said, sitting up straight and looking Veronica in the eyes. "To us, and to the future."

"I'd drink to that," Veronica said. "If I had a drink."

She shrugged and leaned over to kiss Archie again instead.

John locked his dorm room behind him, and adjusted the sling...and then took his arm out of it, flexing.

He almost didn't notice Archie. "Archie. Hullo."

Archie looked up and saw his classmate. "Hello, John."

"Nice model. You bringing it to the workshop today?"

::"Well, it is a rather nice model, at that,":: Simpson admitted grudgingly. ::"Enjoy it, boy, it's the only vessel you'll ever get to captain."::

Archie tensed visibly at the taunt and gave John a curt shake of his head. "Give my regrets to Agatha, would you?" he asked. "I'm afraid I'm not feeling well enough to make it in today."

"Sure. You okay?"

"Not at the moment." Archie looked up and past John toward Simpson, fixing the specter with a determined look as he added, "But I will be. It'll pass."

"Right. I'll see you at the next class, then. Lemme know if you need help." John does a little bow thing and starts to leave.

"I will. Thank you, John."

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First Floor Lobby, Monday Morning [9AM FST Onward]

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