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rikibethTitle: Lucky at Cards, Unlucky in Love
Rating: all audiences
Word count: 240
Pairing: Horatio/Archie
Spoiler warning: None
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not for profit
Summary/notes: An argument over whist and Shakespeare. Written on an airplane.
“You needn’t look so grim, Horatio. It was no more than a few shillings.”
“That’s not the point, Archie,” Horatio grumbled. “I fail to understand how you could have followed my play in such a fashion! Could you not tell that it was mathematically impossible, after the sergeant of Marines’ discards?”
“As a matter of fact, I could not,” Archie said, ruffled. Horatio was rarely impatient, but whist brought out his least appealing qualities. “You forget, Mr. Hornblower, not everyone has your facility with numbers.”
“But it was perfectly obvious,” Horatio protested.
“Perfectly obvious to you. A mystery to most.”
“All it requires is some application of memory, Archie.”
“My memory may not run to figures, but I’ll warrant it’s just as sharp as yours, Horatio,” Archie said. “It’s merely that my bent is for words. I’ll wager the price of our losses over again that you can’t recite four lines of Shakespeare together, even after all the plays I’ve dragged you to.”
A glint came into Horatio’s eyes. “That’s a wager you’ll lose, Mr. Kennedy.” His lips curved into an uncharacteristically wicked grin, and he recited,
“Doubt that the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love.”
Archie stared at him in astonishment. He seized Horatio’s face in his hands and kissed him soundly.
“Lose, Mr. Hornblower?” he spoke into Horatio’s ear. “I do believe I’ve won.”
Rating: all audiences
Word count: 240
Pairing: Horatio/Archie
Spoiler warning: None
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not for profit
Summary/notes: An argument over whist and Shakespeare. Written on an airplane.
“You needn’t look so grim, Horatio. It was no more than a few shillings.”
“That’s not the point, Archie,” Horatio grumbled. “I fail to understand how you could have followed my play in such a fashion! Could you not tell that it was mathematically impossible, after the sergeant of Marines’ discards?”
“As a matter of fact, I could not,” Archie said, ruffled. Horatio was rarely impatient, but whist brought out his least appealing qualities. “You forget, Mr. Hornblower, not everyone has your facility with numbers.”
“But it was perfectly obvious,” Horatio protested.
“Perfectly obvious to you. A mystery to most.”
“All it requires is some application of memory, Archie.”
“My memory may not run to figures, but I’ll warrant it’s just as sharp as yours, Horatio,” Archie said. “It’s merely that my bent is for words. I’ll wager the price of our losses over again that you can’t recite four lines of Shakespeare together, even after all the plays I’ve dragged you to.”
A glint came into Horatio’s eyes. “That’s a wager you’ll lose, Mr. Kennedy.” His lips curved into an uncharacteristically wicked grin, and he recited,
“Doubt that the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love.”
Archie stared at him in astonishment. He seized Horatio’s face in his hands and kissed him soundly.
“Lose, Mr. Hornblower?” he spoke into Horatio’s ear. “I do believe I’ve won.”
