#brassandblue

[wantsusdead]

terror christmas icons!

Size: 64x64px Undercut:

[honorhearted]

Arthur has requested an audience with Major Tallmadge. It is the day before Christmas Eve. (More men have volunteered for guard duty as of late. It is possible the reason for this is that Arthur has been knitting and stitching together stockings for his rotating sentries. It is possible no one has actually told the Major though, for fear that Arthur's (Anna-bestowed) sewing supplies will be confiscated.)

@brassandblue

Benjamin had never liked snow. It was cold, biting, miserable, and almost always brought about d.eath and contagion to many an unfortunate v.ictim. Now with the w.ar as a backdrop, and a general lack of provisions, it had also tacked on the very real fear of frostbite and churchyard cough. Any time he heard someone give that dry, rattling wheeze, Benjamin could sense their own mortality nipping at their heels.

D.eath was all around them.

And yet, in spite of that ever-present terror, the worst thing to endure was assuredly the slowness of December. Winter was a time of waiting. The men were granted a small reprieve from battle due to the extreme cold, but Benjamin found it to be a time of madness. There was no joy in being left alone with his thoughts – of spending more and more time locked up inside his own head.

Perhaps this was why Arthur had requested a moment of his time. Like it or not, the man did seem unnervingly in tune with Benjamin's moods, and he wouldn't deny that he needed a moment beyond his tent. It was rather lonesome on top of the unnerving quiet; many soldiers’ contracts had expired. This was a common occurrence – most had to be renewed every one to three years – and yet Benjamin was loyal to a fault. He intended to see this fight through to the bitter end.

"Lieutenant?" Cautious, he found the man huddled up in his quarters, his back presently facing him while he sat by the fire. Arching a brow -- what was he doing? -- Benjamin cleared his throat and added, "I apologize if I kept you waiting. I've been..." wallowing; yearning for home; opting for self-pity. "Er...I've been busy."

Moving over to stand alongside Arthur, he blinked down at the lieutenant's handiwork. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Have I been invited to a sewing circle?"

Despite the quip, he was genuinely awed by the man's progress. He didn't think he'd seen so many stockings in all his life.

[multipleoccupancy]

@brassandblue for TRM

There was an element to Moriarty that many would be wise to either never mention or overlook. The man for all of his grand and impressive capabilities had a certain penchant for the sensitivities and rules of what others would consider 'folklore'. Ever the opportunist and certainly one brave enough to take that step, Moriarty had for the past year been working on expanding the rail network in Europe for his own gains, but not without first informing and consulting with a particularly smoky and dangerous entity.

Respectfully the Professor had waited alone for his company to arrive, of course opting for the entrance of a rail tunnel, convenience for his business partner and in the relative if false security of the moonlight for himself. This was an informal meet up as far as Moriarty was concerned, while he would wisely grant the other the respect he naturally commanded, Moriarty himself was not worried. He knew he had done well recently with plenty of new lines between his factories and more than a few 'accidents' in their construction that would surely satisfy any unspoken quotas of blood between them. This was a very prosperous business for the pair of them, he was certain.

Wise enough not to turn his back to the tracks but still mindful not to look directly into the tunnel to allow his accomplice the privacy of his mysterious arrival. Moriarty stood side on to to tunnel, facing the tracks and a good six feet away from the rail. This time he waited excitedly with a roll of paper under his arm, plans to expand ever further, stretching the reach of both of them into the East and all the potential that brought with it.

[paralianprince]

@brassandblue continued from here !

[txt: idk some guy]: ok well the answer is O B V I OUS LY yes

[txt: idk some guy]: more important is my question. how awkward & awful would it be, hypthetically, for u to witness me openly weep. just wondring. asking for no reason

[tatteredxsails]

[imprvdente]

@brassandblue​ sent: “The world used to be a bigger place.” / Arthur @ Fish, Terror AU from: 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

Hidden away from the cold in the hull of the ship, Fish was sitting on the floor. Laying on the floor, actually. It helped with the pain on her back (a stupid fall on the ice, she didn’t want to talk about it). When Arthur spoke, she looked away from the ceiling to find his silhouette standing not too far from her.

“You talk as if you were here when the world was bigger,” she mused mindlessly, smiling at the thought.

“The world used to be so small for me, before. All I knew was the port, the brothel, the dirty streets. Now... I’ve seen so much of it. And here? Feels like the goddamn end of the world.”

[musclesandspells]

Closed starter for @brassandblue : Silna : Goodsir

Sometimes, she still struggled to look at his hands. It was too easy for her to remember what they looked like, covered in her father's blood. She had not understood anything he was saying to her at the time, but she had recognized the strain in his voice. The compassion. He tried, to help. Others around him only stood and watched, oblivious to what they were doing as her father died within the confines of their ship.

Ship. She knew that word now, knew what to call the hulking thing in their own language. She didn't have a word for it in her own. It was different than an oomiak, even larger. Made to hold many more people. Made out of an entire forest and twisted metal dug up from the earth. A ship couldn't be taken apart and carried over the land.

Maybe it was their attachment to their ship that kept them there, stuck in the ice and waiting eventuality. If they could take it with them, pull it apart in its individual pieces... maybe they would be more inclined to leave this place. But it wasn't just the ship. It was everything inside of it.

She breathed out through her nose and turned her mind back to Goodsir, looking up into his face instead of at his hands and the drawings on paper that he was trying to show her. Her eyes searched his face, watching him speak.

[governmentofficial]

@brassandblue continued from [x]

They were sat in Arthur’s gardenside sitting room enjoying tea and biscuits. George was sprawled on the floor, tummy up, snoozing in the warmth of a sunbeam.

“Oh Mycroft… I’d take that as a compliment but I know that sort of thing vexes you. But… I might take it as a compliment anyway,” Arthur smiled fondly. After all, Mycroft still elected to associate with and even remain in a relationship with Arthur. That certainly counted for something–a great deal of something.

To be quite honest, perhaps it was a compliment. Mycroft really wasn’t sure. On one hand, it wasn’t. One of the reasons why he struggled to get his head around Arthur’s existence was, well, everything about him. He really did not make sense and, as fascinating as the result of that could be, Mycroft certainly had a preference for keeping the world as he expected it to be.

But, on the other hand, another reason why Arthur sometimes did not seem real was because he was so kind. Mycroft was not used to that. Which was not to say that he didn’t like it (he actually adored it), but it made him do a double take sometimes.

“You can take it as a compliment,” Mycroft decided, meeting Arthur’s smile with a small one of his own. “I think you deserve that.”

[tooxldtorememxer]

@brassandblue continued from here

Dundy’s eyes flicked between Harry and his phone before he pointed to it and opened his mouth but no words came out. The hand followed the same path as his eyes had, to the phone, back to him and back to the phone again.

“Well you don’t usually do that!” he exclaimed, pointing to the device. Then he stopped and his eyes narrowed at him. This was a trap, wasn’t it? And he had walked straight into it.

“I mean, you’re not glued to it like the rest of us. And I sure as hell have never seen you actually lock it!” maybe he had but he just hadn’t paid attention to it before. But something was different, it was almost like he could sense it in the air around them and it made his nose itch. Or perhaps that was just pollen. “And you’re..” his hand was in action again, moving in a circle while aimed in front of him. “Not this,” yes, he was absolutely pinpointing and nailing down his point here. 

Clearly. 

He blew a strand of annoying hair out of his face before he leaned a little closer, eyes still squinted as he stared at him. “I’m onto you. I will find out,” he hissed. He was determined to figure this one out, he liked to know what his friends were up to and this would be his new hyper fixation, like a game, for the next few days — maybe weeks.

[herstoriies]

"If that is the case, then-- I think it's terrible of them, not to have their ears open to you. But as for myself... I would happily remain your friend. I admit, it's for fear of losing that friendship that I've abstained from admittinig these things. It-- it's good, I think, to have a chance to express them behind a barrier of secrecy... but I would very, very much like to have tea with you, and I can't very well do so like this."

“Finally, someone who can see things from my perspective!” There is a swirl of ebullience and part exasperated relief in those words, “— I see. A valid dilemma.” Shame as it seems we already know each other I could not deduce your identity. “But, though the bonds of true valued friendship be tried by feelings of the heart, they should still stand strong and not be lost, yes? Yet so, what if the feelings are found to be mutual?” Is that a gentle flush to her cheeks? “In my humble opinion it is worthy to at least try, and if it shall assure us both, with the promise that our friendship shall not be affected.”

“P.S. Should you be inclined to join, I shall jaunt the cafe on Lombard-street for high tea on Sunday with my cousin Emmett. Otherwise I shall enjoy a cup while thinking of you & perhaps our next correspondence.”

[wantsusdead]

starter for @brassandblue

The captain inhaled as he reached the top of the staircase; the worn hardwood step creaking under his weight, preparing to face the ice cold of the main deck. Swinging open the hatch door, he stepped out into the open, feeling his breathing hitch as the freezing air hit his lungs. No matter how many times he experienced it, it always took his breath away; he only got better at hiding it. His exhaled breaths turned instantly into a cloud around his head as though he was smoking a cigarette. As cold as it was below deck, even in his own cabin, it was nothing compared to the outside chill.

He glanced around at the hands on deck, the men working faster as soon as they caught a glimpse of their captain. He nodded to them as they moved about the deck, and walked towards the bow, looking towards his vessel's sister ship several hundred yards away. The sun was low in the sky and he knew it wouldn't be long before they had no sun at all. One hundred days of darkness.

[honorhearted]

@brassandblue continued from (x)

The chipper yep! wasn't grating, per se, and yet it certainly wasn't welcome as Ben sat there amongst mounds upon mounds of paperwork. With his lips pulling back into a grimace, he rolled his eyes and dipped his quill back into his inkwell.

Everyone's a bloody comedian, he thought. Finally, he offered, "I really don't think you want to know what I'm thinking. Seeing how I've been on the delivering end of a bayonet at close contact, I'm sure you can draw a few sound conclusions."

Despite the not-so-veiled threat, there was finally a hint of humor in Ben's tone as he worked, never once lifting his eyes from his various maps and reports. "Besides," he continued on, "it wasn't my aim to insult you, so much as to divert. Believe me: you would know if I was trying to wound your vanity."

"Just 'cause I'm asking you questions, doesn't mean you gotta answer, Sir."

The tension in Ben's shoulders softened somewhat, however slight. "I wasn't aware it was rude to make an observation," he said. "Most people in this camp don't strive to make friendships and connections. There's too much of a risk of..." separation. Death. Loss. "Well, friendships of our sort are fleeting at best." He shrugged, lifting his head to regard the other. "You can ask all you'd like, but I wouldn't recommend getting too attached to anyone."

It was bleak -- defeatist, perhaps -- but just last week, Ben had gazed down into the open, ruptured chest cavity of a fellow dragoon before delivering news of the man's death himself. The man's wife -- a camp follower -- had crumpled right into his arms, wailing and scratching at his coat. His loosened button still needed mending from the unintentional assault.

Clearing his throat, Ben leaned back in his seat and rubbed at his tired eyes, both in an attempt at unobscuring his vision and preventing any sudden tears.

[multipleoccupancy]

❝ i know you’re dying to say something to me. ❞ - Arthur @ Killian--Arthur visiting the US in an official capacity, thus besuited & not the easiest to approach ✨

Agent Beneventi in his capacity as an ASAC for Manhattan had gone to the reception to greet the British visitors. He appeared as a hard man, he knew he could certainly draw the eyes of the room by just being in there for his scaring but even he had noticed the tall blond official from the other end of the room who seemed to be something of a charismatic beacon. Which meant he was surprised that he had decided to prompt him for his apparent curiosity but he was not about to let it pass by either.

"Airs and graces are sadly not my forte," he explained with an almost shy smile. Put him in front of crime lords, judges or incomprehensible cosmic horrors without flinching, but some fancy reception he was far out of his depth for? He'd never been more uncomfortable. "So please forgive me if I seem impolite, but I will be honest with you sir, I haven't the first idea what it is I am doing here."

[paralianprince]

[A text from Arthur] Oi have you seen the Lord of the Rings? The Peter Jackson films. Can't remember if you have. Anyway I've got a 4K projector and the original extended versions on DVD.

[txt: idk some guy]: are

[txt: idk some guy]: you

[txt: idk some guy]: con

[txt: idk some guy]: CUSSED?

[txt: idk some guy]: ok tbh tbh this has been a v valiant attempt on yr part to impersonate my brother & lead me into a trap but im afraid tis all for naught i have seen thru yr ruse. he would never ask me suxh a silly question

[honorhearted]

"Ah." Awkwardly, Benjamin smoothed a hand over the front of his lapels. "Well...I could certainly inquire if Washington's physician has any such plants to spare. In truth, I've grown a bit weary of chewing bark like some bovine."

My health?

All at once, his smile faded. "I suppose that isn't such a strange request, given your profession," he allowed, "but...I don't really know. It's mostly just mild cramping of the stomach."

More like moderate to severe, but any word to Washington, and Benjamin feared he might be removed from the line of duty. That he couldn't allow to happen -- not when Abraham was on his own, and Caleb still so grievously injured. The thought left a low, acidic sensation in his gut, and drawing a hand over his mouth, Benjamin sighed while sinking down into the chair across from Harry. "It was kind of you to call, but I'm afraid I'm not the most delightful company these days. In fact, I strongly suspect one of my friends put you up to this visit."

It was likely Anna, if he had to guess, and although well-intentioned, the potential gesture made him rather nettled.

Harry nodded kindly and went to sit, chancing a glance at his surroundings but with the discretion of trying not to pry. He had been learning how to better apply his observational skills to military life--knowing the what and why and how of things could lead to a better understanding of those in his care, and thus, he stood a greater chance of successfully helping them.

"The willow bark?" Harry inquired as he settled in and folded his hands at his lap. "If so, I would recommend ginger, o-or even peppermint, if such can be acquired. Those can be steeped in tea, and I've tried to procure more ginger root for the men who complain of nausea. But--" he quickly adds, "we had no prior arrangements. I simply wished to speak with you, and to see how your health is faring."

[imprvdente]

@brassandblue sent: "Who did this to you?" / Thomas to Fish to find Fish injured x from: send  “  who  did  this  to  you  ?  ”  for  the  sender  to  find  the  receiver  injured  and  demand  to  know  who  did  it.

"Take a wild guess," grunted Fish, hand pressed against the gash on her flank. Blood kept flowing between her fingers, warm and sticky. She was panting, trying to control the beating of her heart, in a desperate hope to slow down the red stain growing on her shirt.

"This bastard Hickey tried to bite off more than he could chew," a grin managed to crawl on her lips, "ya' should see his state."