THE SULKIEST NAVAL OFFICER.

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Good Mundane,

Glad though I am to be held in your high esteem, I am... concerned about your intentions for me.

Do not forget that I am first and foremost, an officer of His Majesties Royal Navy. I have a duty to my country and to my captain, and I cannot have you pursuing some alternate commission for me beyond the navigations of the heavens! Not any more than I could stand idle while you linger upon your indecision of my fate.

Will all due respect, you could offer me no landscape so wondrous as the sand and sea of the Indies, no adventure so great as the war on France, and no duty more honorable than my service to my country! I must insist that you allow me to return to it at once!

Now please, let's have no more of this talk. I wish to return at once to my ship.

Yours
Lt. Horatio Hornblower

Comments

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[Horatio inclines his head politely, almost as if he's trying to duck under the compliment.] I've been fortunate enough to know some very fine men, whose examples I can only hope to follow.

Forgive me for asking, but are you a seaman yourself? I fear I do not know your accent...

[negotiates]

[Modest too. It's almost endearing. Elijah smiles.]

I am not. [His accent is hard to pin down. It sounds mostly American but there's some English influence too. He's well-travelled and it shows.] I've travelled by sea, but as a passenger rather than a lieutenant like yourself. Still, I know how perilous the seas can be.

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[And lo, Horatio smiles back! Which is a rare treat since he's such a gloomy guy.]

Such journeys I think, can be a greater hardship on those who undertake them less frequently. Even after years, hard enough waves can have me keeled over with sickness.

[negotiates]

Yes, I've seen men suffering from sea sickness. Fortunately I've never succumbed to it myself.

[A pause.] Forgive me, I should introduce myself. Elijah Mikaelson.

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You must have a fine constitution for it then, Mr. Mikaelson. It is a pleasure to meet you.

[There's another duck of his head, this time taking the form of a small, courtly bow.]

May I ask what business you are in, that demands such journeying?

[negotiates]

Likewise.

[He nods in return.]

Property, mainly. I'm a landowner. It's a family business.

[It's sort of true. Not really. But sort of. The Mikaelsons do - or did - own a lot of property.]

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Ah, in America then?

[He leans forward, clearly interested.]

For all the places this war has taken us, I must confess I've never laid foot there, though I know I've lost a few Irish sailors to it's lures.

[negotiates]

[He's happy to explain.] Yes. We recently set up home in New Orleans.

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New Orleans?

[Horatio seems even more fascinated now, because this is like the only thing he knows about America.]

Were you there under French rule, or only since the Louisiana purchase? I think these must be interesting times for that quarter of the New World...

[negotiates]

[He did not expect so much interest, but Elijah did spend over a century in New Orleans, so...]

We first arrived under French rule, as a matter of fact. It certainly makes for an interesting culture.

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[Horatio is pretty notoriously incompetent at small talk, but Louisiana is the kind of current affairs matter that he can fake his way through neatly.]

Is there much thought on the war there? Or are you too far removed for any mind to be paid to such matters?

[negotiates]

["Current" affairs is probably stretching it a bit. Elijah thinks back.]

Considering the size and power of the British Empire, we certainly weren't too far removed. I assume you're referring to Napoleon, but the United States had its own conflict with the British.

[And he'll stop there, because he's not entirely sure what year Hornblower is from. The war in 1812 might not have happened for him yet.]