(sharpe's locket) ♖ video: open to all courts

[greenjacket]

(ACCIDENTAL VIDEO)

...Bloody hell.

[ the locket is propped open on richard sharpe's lap. it catches the lower half of his face and shows a steep-angled frame of one green-jacketed shoulder as he works: trying to transplant a second charm from it's own chain onto the locket's. why carry around two bleeding necklaces when they can be consolidated?

but the chain slips in his calloused fingers and he swears a second time. bugger. ] I should sell it. [ he talks to himself. ] Or else let Pat handle the fool thing. He likes talking. Talks enough for the both of--

[ again, something tumbles; slips; goes awry. sharpe drops another string of strong oaths. ]

╍ ╍ ╍

(PURPOSEFUL VIDEO, LATER THAT DAY)

Who in Caer Glaem's got some scissors I can borrow? [ he doesn't want to ask the damned fairies; don't make him ask the damned fairies. he'd rather the damned fairies didn't even exist! ]

And while we're at it -- [ huff ] -- speak up if any of you poor sods are British army. Either bloody court.

[ he can't yet decide if it will be a windfall or a disaster if he and patrick are the only poor bastards to find themselves absent without leave from their own army. a windfall if he finds some he can order around, he supposes. and a right pain in his arse if he comes across anyone whose rank exceeds his own.

and lacking in many graces, major richard sharpe fails to identify himself. he just sits and glowers at the locket with a scarred face and an impatient expression. ]

Comments

[greenjacket]

[ what sort of a damned question is that? sharpe thinks. not high enough would be his most honest answer. and although he's not one for softening his truths, he defaults to a more factual response: ] Higher than Captain and lower than Lieutanant-Colonel.

[ okay. factual and pedantic. ]

[tensed]

[ factual, pedantic and uninformative since gale does not know where a captain or lieutenant-general stand. his ignorance of which he decides to keep quiet. ]

good luck finding others

[greenjacket]

As it stands, England seems under-represented.

[tensed]

that seems to be the pattern
guess the kings dont want us too comfortable

why did i make him write that last tag it's like my brain is broken

[greenjacket]

And thereby proves himself to be like all the other Royal Majesties. [ look how unimpressed he sounds! so edgy! so childish! ]

I figured that was it pats your brain

[tensed]

i wouldnt know. never knew a royal before

[greenjacket]

Never met one. But I took his shilling and I fight his enemies, so I reckon that's a close and personal enough relationship right there.

[tensed]

you fight because you had to?

[greenjacket]

[ at first, perhaps. but sharpe knows better: he fights because he likes it. because he's good at it. because war legitimises strengths that might otherwise land a man in jail. ]

I fight because that's what I signed on to do. So, aye, in a way that's like having to. [ it's not like he could just quit. oh! now, he could. he could resign his commission whenever he wanted. but what would he ever be if not a soldier? ]

[tensed]

you still planning to?

[greenjacket]

[ stubbornly: ] It's what I know.

[tensed]

maybe its time for you to branch out
learn something new

[greenjacket]

Why? They brought me here as a soldier. They want me here as a soldier. They don't want me baking their bread or tanning their leather.

[tensed]

just because a stranger says youll do their dirty work for them?

[greenjacket]

A stranger who pays and gives me a bed and recognizes my rank. One who asked me here, mind you -- I weren't conscripted. I were asked.

[tensed]

[ if a text could convey dripping disdain. but he phrases it just deftly enough to claim no knowledge of the insult. ]

yeah good things happen to those who do as they’re asked

[greenjacket]

[ except as far as he's aware, good things do happen to those who complete great feats at the behest of their commanders. how else would he be a major, now? gutterborn as he was? ]

Good and bad things happen to every whoreson who bothers to do anything. And plenty who don't bother to do anything at all. I'll take my chances with their boons, mate. It looks more profitable like that.