Some Varied Drabbles

[groundcontrol]

Hi all,

Since I've last been on the forum back in December, I've unfortunately suffered an injury to the head. Nothing all too serious, nothing that won't heal, but frustrating nontheless. I write a lot, even more so off the forum than on, but in light of current events I've had to rest from any projects for a while (and believe me, I have many, some with deadlines included). As a matter of reaqquanting myself with having creative thoughts, I thought I'd turn to the lowkey yet enjoyable realm of drabbles on here. So please, bear with me if these little stories end up making little sense outside of my garbled mind  I'll get there again I promise. 

Rather than resurrect a long dead drabble thread I once had, I opted for a fresh start. I'm not entirely sure where this will go, as this little snippets will be more for my own sake and practice than anything. Anyhow, enough of my monologue (I wouldn't blame you if you skipped it  ), and I hope you enjoy!

 

1. Horatio Hornblower (ah, where would I be without this series?), M, allergies

Set during The Duchess and the Devil. Knowledge of the film might help this make sense, but there are no spoilers.

 

Horatio’s heart leapt in his ears as Mariette lead him, warm palm in his, to her bedroom. He’d never been in a woman’s bedroom before, and from the moment he stepped in the threshold the whole world seemed off. His stomach tensed in an odd spasm of pleasure and fear, and for a moment he thought he might be sick. The bed in the corner, its sheets rustled and so obviously slept in, a desk with a dusty book upon it, the pot of flowers upon the windowsill…

Horatio tensed, and Mariette squeezed his hand, wrongly guessing the reason for his hesitance. “Come,” she said softly, pulling him toward the bed and, unfortunately, the flowers as well. “I know it is small, but we can fit.”

Horatio nodded, watching the flowers out of the corner of his eye as though doing so could make them vanish. Then Mariette’s hands were on his neck, on his shoulders, pulling him into her and all resistance seeped from him like ink.

His lips met hers for a moment before he was forced to pull away. All he saw in the briefest of moments before his eyes clenched shut was the hurt and confusion swimming in her eyes. 

“Hehh’TCHHH!” There was scarcely time for Horatio to make a fumbling grab for his handkerchief before the next one came. “Hh’nggh! Hihh’ngxt!”

The hurt in Mariette’s eyes instantly melted to pity. “Horatio,” she murmured, brushing away a stray curl and feeling his forehead in one fluid motion. Her touch was as soft as her voice. “Are you ill?”

“No, it’s--” he tried desperately to say more, but it was no use. “Hhh’ISHH! Ngh! Hehh’CHH!” He tried his best to stifle his sneezes, to no avail. He sniffed, wiping his streaming nose on his handkerchief as Mariette hummed another sympathetic syllable.

“Flowers,” he choked out, and pointed to the offending pot. 

Instantly, Mariette’s hands flew to her mouth and she scooped the pot from the windowsill.“Oh, poor thing, you should have said something earlier!” She disappeared into the hall with it, and Horatio held in a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t want… to disturb--Ehh’HSSHH’uhh!”

Mariette came back and sat down beside him on the bed. Her fingers found his curls again, dancing through them in a way that soothed his headache. Against his will, he felt his eyes drooping closed.

“Maybe you should lie down for a while, no?”

When Horatio looked hesitant, she pushed his head gently toward the pillow, adding, “And I will be right beside you.” Horatio sniffed lightly, well aware that his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, but he allowed himself to relax into the bed, Mariette’s slender frame tucked beside him.

 

2. And now--Victor Frankenstein? His is a name I haven't seen on the forum eek   I tried, as best I could, to write like Mary Shelley, which was probably too great a task to ask of myself at any point, much less now, but it was good mental exercise and great fun  

Frankenstein, M, illness

Set very early on in the book. Perhaps more to come?

As happened whenever I moved houses in my youth, I fell ill shortly after my arrival at Ingorstadt. The combination of new climes, new faces, and a new setting had always proved too much for my constitution, and so, as I should have expected, I spent the first few nights of my newfound independence huddled beneath blankets, shivering in abject misery.

On that first night of my illness, when the raw throat conveyed itself into the hot and cold flashings of fever and a rather unpleasant fullness in the head, I found myself brooding as only a seventeen-year-old is capable. For the past hour I had been straining my eyes over the lines of a book, I remember not which, with naught a glimpse of any success. My handkerchief, by then, had already become sodden with use and I was in too sour a mood to bother cleaning it.

“Heh’ISSHH!” I shivered again, thinking back on the times in my youth when I had caught cold and been confined to bed, Elizabeth or Mother fetching cool cloths for my head and oils for my every ache. Unbidden, a smile crept across my countenance, for the briefest of moments.

“Hff’CHHH!” My jaw clenched again; gone were the days of such comforts, of a dear friend’s hand upon my fevered brow, a mother’s words lulling me to the twilight of sleep. Now, here, in this apartment, I was alone as I had never been. A cough rattled me down to the very bone, and I couldn’t help but gasp at the melancholy realization that no one knew of my misery, or cared.

How silly it was, that man had to be inconvenienced by illness, by melancholy!There were far better outlets with which to occupy the mind and the time required to use it. A thought, a fantasy, too strong for my poor addled brain to handle, seized me viciously all the same. How great man would be--how great I would be--if no time at all were wasted upon such trifling matters. 

“Hhh’NKGT!” Even through the pounding of my temples, my eyes drooped heavy with sleep. With a shaky breath I blew out the candle, and in the darkness, allowed my fevered mind to concoct dreams of such fascination and horror, of immortality and the metaphysical, that upon waking I found myself drenched with sweat for which my temperature was only partially responsible. The dreams I remembered not, but their feeling--oh, the damned yet sublime feeling--lingered still.

[queenie]

I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with a head injury— they’re no joke— but happy to see you back! Victor Frankenstein is PERFECT and I’m glad you brought it up. 

[Wig_Powder]

Hornblower fic?! Fantastic! And what a delightful little fic it was too. Horatio's self-consciousness is just right, and I am a sucker for hair-stroking/stoic guys being looked after by a woman, so this is perfect! Thanks so much for sharing!

(Though I do have to point out one tiny nitpick; Mariette is from The Frogs and the Lobsters/The Wrong War, not The Duchess and the Devil. Though the lady in that episode could have brought on a few sneezes herself, considering the feathers in her hair and (I'd bet) some pretty strong perfume...)

[groundcontrol]

6 hours ago, queenie said:

I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with a head injury— they’re no joke— but happy to see you back! Victor Frankenstein is PERFECT and I’m glad you brought it up. 

Aw thank you, I'm happy to be back as well  And I'm happy you enjoyed Victor Frankenstein as well. Something about lonely Romantic scientists eh?

3 hours ago, Wig_Powder said:

Hornblower fic?! Fantastic! And what a delightful little fic it was too. Horatio's self-consciousness is just right, and I am a sucker for hair-stroking/stoic guys being looked after by a woman, so this is perfect! Thanks so much for sharing!

(Though I do have to point out one tiny nitpick; Mariette is from The Frogs and the Lobsters/The Wrong War, not The Duchess and the Devil. Though the lady in that episode could have brought on a few sneezes herself, considering the feathers in her hair and (I'd bet) some pretty strong perfume...)

Ah of course, I knew that *facepalm*. Looks like I'm still a little muddled after all haha bear with me  That said, I'm glad you enjoyed it and who knows, now that you mention it, Miss Cobham might be a delightful device to use in future drabbles... 

[groundcontrol]

Back with another Hornblower drabble  Something tells me this thread might see a lot more of this, so I hope no one minds...

M, illness. Set during Mutiny, because I'm sure continuous watch takes quite a toll on a person...

“Archie.” Relief flooded Horatio’s voice as his friend took a seat beside him at the railing.

“Long night?” Archie asked by way of conversation.

Horatio rubbed his hands over his tired eyes with a bone-rattling sigh. “Time is only the half of it.” He broke off, his eyes fluttering for a moment before he brought a hand to his face. Heh’ngshh! Uhh...” He sniffed wetly, a sound which did not go unnoticed. Neither did the slight, yet congested clearing of the throat.

“You’re sick, Horatio,” Archie said incredulously, though he should have expected such a fate to befall his friend after hours upon hours of continuous watch and strain. He reached a hand out to feel Horatio’s forehead for fever, but Horatio turned his head away. 

“No need to check,” he said with a slight chuckle, “I know I have one.”

Nevertheless, Archie persisted and found skin that was far warmer than it should have been on this pleasant night. Archie shook his head. “You should be in bed.”

“Tell Sawyer that, I’m sure he’ll relieve me of duty s-straight--Ahh’tschhh!--straight away.” At this, Horatio reached into his breast pocket and withdrew his handkerchief, sniffing all the while until he had unfolded it. He pressed the cloth to his nose, wiping it but stopping short of blowing. The wet sniffle he gave as he lowered it showed that he had restrained not for lack of need but rather out of an attempt at politeness. Archie knew that had Horatio been alone, he would have allowed himself the relief. 

It was when Horatio gave a small, raspy cough and shuddered slightly, hugging himself, that Archie could bear it no longer. “This is madness, Horatio. It really is.” He looked around, then lowered his voice. “I--try to get some sleep. Right here. I’ll keep a lookout right beside you.”

Horatio’s eyes widened in horror. “Archie, no--heh’tchhoo! Heh’ngghh!” He closed his eyes for moment as he lowered the handkerchief, then grinned ruefully. “A tempting offer, I’ll admit. But I can’t. I have my orders, and I’m bound to obey them.”

They sat for a few moments in silence, but Archie noticed that try as Horatio might to clench his jaw, his shivers were too powerful. The sight of his friend so ill and with no relief in sight made Archie’s heart flutter with sympathy. That damn Captain Sawyer and his damn “creative punishments”!

At long last, Archie spoke. “Come a little closer then.”

For the second time that night, Horatio’s eyes became saucers. “I beg your pardon?”

“Though you may forget, I’m capable of observation too.” He smiled and inched closer to his friend. “You’re shivering, Horatio. A little extra body heat never went amiss.”

Horatio looked around to ensure they were alone, before scooting over to close the distance between them. Archie could feel his body trembling against his, and he put his arm around Horatio’s back.

“Archie!” Horatio hissed.

“Oh, shut up and get comfortable, will you?” 

Reluctantly, Horatio shifted and allowed Archie to readjust his hold on him, but even then Archie could feel the tension melting as his body’s desire for warmth won out over his mind’s desire for decorum. He sniffed and coughed and struggled against eyes determined to flutter shut. Archie simply sat beside him, his mind already drifting to fantasies of how to bring their merciless captain to task.

[queenie]

This is adorable. 

[groundcontrol]

On 2/17/2018 at 10:20 PM, queenie said:

This is adorable. 

Thank you for your always prompt replies to my little bits of fluff  

[Wig_Powder]

I may not be as prompt as Queenie, but I enjoyed the new fic too! Sneezy, vulnerable Horatio is always a joy to see, especially when that vulnerability appears in flashes through his general stubbornness. And I agree, Mutiny is a prime episode for Horatio to fall ill. Though I've always imagined it happened after the infamous bathing scene, considering he was thoroughly soaked before being sent off to a (probably cold and damp) hold...

I'm so happy there's another Hornblower writer on here! If you're inspired to write more, I'll definitely read them!

[groundcontrol]

On 2/23/2018 at 7:33 AM, Wig_Powder said:

I may not be as prompt as Queenie, but I enjoyed the new fic too! Sneezy, vulnerable Horatio is always a joy to see, especially when that vulnerability appears in flashes through his general stubbornness. And I agree, Mutiny is a prime episode for Horatio to fall ill. Though I've always imagined it happened after the infamous bathing scene, considering he was thoroughly soaked before being sent off to a (probably cold and damp) hold...

I'm so happy there's another Hornblower writer on here! If you're inspired to write more, I'll definitely read them!

Why thank you!! You've pretty much summed up the reason I love to write Horatio. I will likely be writing some more Hornblower fics in the future, so it's good to know I'll have someone who'll enjoy  The sentiment is likewise; we can never have enough five can we?

And I do agree, poor Horatio is soaked, stressed, and cold so many times, but especially that bath scene. Perhaps that'll make an appearance soon

[sauce]

Victor Frankenstein. Oh my GOODNESS. .////. 

[groundcontrol]

4 hours ago, Pirka said:

Victor Frankenstein. Oh my GOODNESS. .////. 

I'm glad you enjoyed. His character lends itself well to sick fic, doesn't it? The obsessive, work-til-you--drop type....

[sauce]

On 4/30/2018 at 10:12 PM, groundcontrol said:

I'm glad you enjoyed. His character lends itself well to sick fic, doesn't it? The obsessive, work-til-you--drop type....

Absolutely. And the writing itself was very good as well! 

I admit lately I’ve been addicted to the show ‘Frankenhole’ so I found this by looking for that; it was a more than pleasant surprise! o///o