Sunrise

Posted on Thu Jun 6th, 2024 @ 1:38am by Ensign Evie Forde & Captain Ansel Benoit

1,421 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Trafalgar Roll
Location: Barn- Earth- England in 1805

Ans opened his eyes. He wasn't sure they were shut for very long, but then again they might have been as the sun was now starting to rise. He had made himself a makeshift bed next to Evie and had only intended to sit and think but nature had taken over. His respite was brief but much needed. He stretched and felt Evie stir beside him. "Morning," he whispered.

It had been a nice dream she'd been having but sadly all nice things must come to an end as she woke up with the stale smell of animal barn infiltrating her nostrils. Evie felt a presence behind her as words softly found her ears and she opened one eye halfway before closing it and saying, "Five more minutes. I'm not ready to face a world with no indoor plumbing." she pressed her body against Ansel's. As he was the bigger spoon on this occasion... would be for most occasions actually.

Ans chuckled. "Where is your sense of adventure? You don't smell any worse than the rest of us." He replied and then had to hold back a laugh. That wasn't actually much of a compliment. "But sleep as long as you can. I'm going to be waking everyone up in about a half hour. We have a little walk and we need to figure out how we're going to get on the ship."

"Adventure?" Evie turned to face him. "I am in 1805, dressed like a boy and am in a barn cuddling up to my captain who is more than happy to be my big spoon." she teased. "I would say I am on a pretty wild ride." she grinned as she tucked a stray hair back into place on his head.

"And I don't want to sleep, not anymore. Not when you are away and looking at me like that... even if I do smell like I belong in this barn." Evie placed her hand on his cheek.

"Hey!" Ans protested. "I'm the perfect gentleman. But I was cold and you were warm and besides, there are far too many people in here to get too serious. And I want us to get to know one another well. Go on actual dates that don't involve hay or sheep. And I want to introduce you to Tangerine and Clementine and bore you to death with stories of my nieces. If that doesn't impress you then I don't know what will." He meant to smile at the end of that speech but Evie had the most enchanting eyes. Suddenly he realized he was staring again and could see her point. He pulled himself up into a standing position and offered Evie his hand to help her up.

"I quite liked rolling around in the hay with you." Evie retorted as she took his hand. Rising from the ground she came up to just under his chin. "And I know you are the perfect gentleman, I wouldn't want to be seen by anyone else. Although I am interested in who Clementine and Tangerine are, and if they live in your fruit bowl I'll be very disappointed." she grinned. "I can also promise you that any stories you have of your nieces will be well received as long as you can put up with stories of my sisters and their children."

"Guinea pigs," Ans snorted. "Gifts from my nieces. You my dear are a flirt." He leaned closer to her. "When this is all done and we're back on the ship, I promise a proper show of affection." He quickly planted a kiss on her cheek. "And I really want to know everything about you." Despite having only gotten an hour or two of sleep he felt quite alive and excited about the future. As long as they didn't die a horrible death in the battle of course.

Evie giggled a bit at being called a flirt. A fact that may or may not be true in her own eyes but she liked Ans and felt her heart skip a beat and her stomach flutter a little when he looked at her, when he spoke to her. This kiss on the cheek forced blood to flush her face into a shade of light pink. "Well, I can't imagine there's a lot to do at sea before an epic battle than talk... I don't even know what I'm meant to be." she gestured at herself quite animatedly with her arms. "I mean sure I guess I'm there to scrubs the deck, and stuff like that." she shrugged.

He smiled. "I don't know what it will be like really. I've never been on a sailing ship and honestly this isn't a part of history I've studied extensively. I always found the world wars more interesting. But, I'm hoping it will quickly unfold and we can get to the bottom of things because like you I'd really like to go home."

Though Evie was a perfectly capable officer he was sure, he felt a twinge of regret that she was even going to be on the ship. How could she possibly pass for a man? He shuddered to think what would happen if she were discovered. He couldn't ask her to stay here though, she wouldn't listen to him anyway. "Promise me something," Ans began.

"I know a good bit about this section of history, but I'm a geek for learning and I've bored you enough with some of it already." Evie said with a little smile. "Wars catch the interest of many because of their intensity and their impact on societies and worlds."

Evie could see his demeanour change as she spoke. His mind seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at her. "Well, I can't promise you something I don't know of. If I can though you know I will."

"Just be as careful as you can." He said with a sigh. "This always seems to be my luck. I find someone I like they get transferred. I get close to my sister, she gets killed." He quickly pulled Evie into a hug hoping that no one would notice.

She could feel his heart beat quick and hard against his chest. The warmth from his body as he head rested on him and simply relaxed into the embrace. Evie closed her eyes and smiled.

Ansel's heart began to slow as he relaxed. "Well luckily you would have to approve my transfer once I get by Commander Foster... but I don't plan on doing that." She somewhat made audible from underneath him. "If I promise to be careful then you need to as well." She arched her head upwards.

"I intend to live forever." He mumbled. " I have something else to live for now. And I have two nieces who have me wrapped around their little fingers. I can't disappoint them. And two guinea pigs," he huffed out a laugh and put his hand on her hair, curious how it felt. "It will be okay."

Evie's knees felt a little weak as Ansel's warm hand touched her head. Thankfully though she'd controlled herself enough to avoid the obvious dip in her height with the bending of her knees. "Yes, well we wouldn't want Tangerine and Clementine to be without their father now would we?" she laughed a little before placing her hand on top of his at the side of her head. "And you can't know that. This time was hardly health and safety conscious." she gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Yes I can. I'm incredibly stubborn. I need to go. " He began to pull away from her. "I'm sorry," he said, for everything that had happened, even if it hadn't been his fault.

"Well, I am getting that impression." Evie said shaking her head in regards to his stubbornness. She pulled him back a little as he pulled away and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Stop saying you're sorry. This is not your fault and you can't be apologetic in front of the crew. Go be my captain." she grinned and slapped his behind to get him moving.

Ans jumped and spun around, his face turning scarlet. He didn't say anything however and got out of there as quickly as he could with doubts already flooding his mind about taking things any further than a gentle let down. He must have lost his mind.

---

Captain Ansel Benoit
Commanding Officer
USS Victory

Ensign Evie Forde
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Victory

 

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