Horatio looked up from the bread he was pulling apart and brushed the crumbs from his hands. "Mariette?"

"Was that her name?" His voice was soft, far away. "You never mentioned her, you know."

"It didn't seem prudent." Horatio looked up in time to catch his arched brow. "How well-received would it have been for me to inform you, in front of all the men who had been sitting on that bridge, that I was busy…"

"Busy." He hid his smile as Horatio clenched his jaw. "Had you ever…?" Horatio didn't answer, refocusing his attention on the bread. Archie's smile widened. "So she was your first."

"Unless you count the Duchess."

His eyes widened as he met Horatio's gaze. "And do you? Count the Duchess?"

Gathering his bread, Horatio smiled. "One should never discount the Duchess, Archie."

Archie returned his smile and took a small bite of his biscuit, watching as Horatio did the same. "I fear that the Duchess would have eaten you alive, Horatio." His smile stretched and his eyes danced. "In more ways than one."

"Archie!" Horatio laughed and ducked his head, his jaw firm. "The only capacity in which the Duchess ever had her way with me was in her deception." He took another bite of bread and met Archie's eyes. "Not that a gentleman ever tells."

"A true gentleman never has anything of which to tell." Archie finished his last bite and reached for his drink. "You're young, in the midst of war. She was lovely, desperate for a hero…"

Horatio's voice tightened and his eyes narrowed. "What are you asking me, Archie?"

"Nothing, Horatio." His voice was soft again, his eyes averted. "Nothing."

"Enough of my life goes bandied about the decks of His Majesty's fleet," Horatio informed him shortly, his finger tapping the table. "I will not be fodder for someone else's amusement."

"I did not ask for my amusement." Archie stood and brushed a salute. "Sir."

Horatio folded his hands behind his back, his fingers clasping his wrist. "Mr. Kennedy."

"Mr. Hornblower, Sir."

"All is well?"

"Fair wind and a following sea, Sir."

"Very good." Horatio nodded once, his lips pursing. "Mr. Ken…Archie."

"Excuse me, Sir." Archie turned slightly and offered Horatio a salute. "I have work to do."

Horatio's jaw tightened and he nodded again. "Very well. I wish to see you at the end of your shift then."

"Is that an order? Sir?"

"Yes, Mr. Kennedy." He snapped the words then ground his teeth together as he took a deep breath. "Consider it as such."

"Aye, aye." Archie turned away from Horatio, instinctively copying his pose. "Sir."

Archie removed his hat as he stepped into their quarters, his coat glistening with salt and sea spray. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Hornblower, Sir?"

Horatio sighed and shook his head. "What did I say? What should I have said?"

Archie hung his hat and removed his coat, untying his stock before unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. "I don't know what you mean, Horatio."

"Obviously I've upset you in some way." He spread his hands over the table. "Tell me what I've done."

Archie smiled and shook his head. "You've done nothing, Horatio. Consider it my folly."

"Blast it, Archie." Horatio stood up and strode the short distance to his friend, grasping his arms. Archie took a deep breath as heat suffused his skin at Horatio's touch. "I won't have this between us, whatever it is. We must work together and, beyond that, we are friends."

"It really is nothing, Horatio." Archie dropped his gaze to Horatio's hands on his biceps, his thumbs smoothing over the fabric. "Idle minds and idle curiosity. It was none of my affair, and I had no right to ask." He shrugged out of Horatio's grasp. "It is forgotten." He tilted his head at Horatio, a question in his eyes. "Is it not?"

Horatio's jaw tightened then released as he nodded. "Forgotten then."

Archie's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Forgotten."

"You never told me, you know." Horatio stared up at the ceiling as the ship's movement rocked them. "If you had a sweetheart back home."

"I did." He shifted uncomfortably, the movement catching Horatio's eye. "Once."

"What happened?"

"I was away too often and too long. She could not compete with the sea." Archie turned his head to look at Horatio. "There were…things." He shook his head and looked away, refusing to hold Horatio's gaze. "She could not forgive."

"Was she your first love?"

"Love." Archie sat up and eased out of his hammock, walking away from Horatio. "Have you been in love, Horatio? So desperate for contact or a word or a glance that it consumes you from the inside? So compelled by something, someone that your whole being is focused on them?"

"Archie…"

"No, Horatio. She was not my first love. She was a girl I fancied myself in love with because she was beautiful and willing to promise herself to a boy who had promised himself to the sea." His smile curled with a sharp sadness. "I had not quite experienced love yet."

"But surely you loved her." Horatio gazed at him as he would the wind, a puzzle he was determined to master.

"Need, Horatio, and desire are not love." He held Horatio's eyes defiantly. "Just as duty and honor are not either."

"Archie," Horatio paused for a long moment. "I've obviously done or said something to offend you, and I must confess I'm uncertain of what it was. Is it Mariette? Are you angry that I…"

"Fell in love, Horatio?" His words were thick with scorn. "No. You did not fault on your duty, so what right would I have to be offended by you finding happiness?"

"Happiness? A few stolen kisses under the constant slice of the guillotine is what constitutes happiness, Archie?"

"In wartime." Archie bit out. "And a damn sight more than any of the rest of us received."

Horatio's furrowed brow drew tighter as he held his hands out to his friend. "What do you want from me, Archie? What is it I'm to offer in recompense for my…"

Archie's back straightened. "I want nothing from you, Sir. You owe me nothing."

He started to walk away, stilling as Horatio grabbed his arm and spun him against the wall. "Do not walk away from me. You are my only friend, and I will not have this between us."

"You cannot move it from between us," Archie informed him quietly before his lips parted on a bitter smile. "You don't even know what it is."

"Horatio!" Archie shouted from across the crowded room, waving a hand and gesturing him over. Horatio pursed his lips and moved through the mass of bodies, ignoring the brush of hands the reached out for the wool of his uniform. "And this, ladies," Archie removed his arm from where it was draped around the buxom girl on his right and reached for his drink, lifting it in toast to Horatio. "This is Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower. Have a drink with us, Horatio."

"I think you've had enough for both of us, Archie. Come away."

"I've just started, Horatio." He met Horatio's eyes defiantly as he took a deep drink. "You, on the other hand, could use more than even I could drink."

"We're to report to the ship at six bells in the morning watch, Archie."

"Don't worry, Horatio. Perhaps we could even get you drunk by then." He sighed and finished his drink, offering a sad smile to each of the ladies at his side. "I fear, my dear girls, that I shall have to beg your leave. Duty, you know."

"Surely you and your friend could stay a bit longer?" The girl on Archie's right ran her hand along Archie's thigh, smiling as Horatio inhaled, his face pinched.

"I regret we cannot, madam," Horatio stated firmly then looked at Archie. "Lieutenant Kennedy."

"Yes, of course, Lieutenant Hornblower." He smiled again at the two women then moved around to table to Horatio's side. He turned back and bowed slightly. "Ladies."

They both giggled softly as the two men turned and headed for the door, Archie stumbling slightly in Horatio's wake. They reached the door and Horatio allowed Archie to precede him outside, closing the noise of the tavern behind. "We've a room down the street." Horatio began walking, not looking back to insure Kennedy followed him. His back remained stiff and straight until Archie began walking, his footsteps echoing on the cobblestones. He caught up to Horatio and fell in step with him, their boots ringing out echoes to mix with the soft background noise of the crowd.

"I've a night off, Mr. Hornblower, Sir." Archie's voice was childish and surly. "As you so keenly pointed out, my duty is none of your concern for another several hours. I don't see that how I spend those hours is any concern of yours."

"It is not, Mr. Kennedy." Horatio stopped in the dark shadow of the alley next to a small inn. "However, onboard it is, and as such, I feel it is my duty to make sure you're fit for it."

Archie laughed softly, shaking his head. "Yes, Sir, Mr. Hornblower, Sir. And what of the rest of the men out carousing? Do you intend to haul them from their prospective beds so they will be fit for duty?" His laugh turned bitter. "Leave me alone, Horatio."

"Archie." He ducked his head and reached out for Archie's arm, his fingers closing over his wool coat, unleashing the thick smell of pub smoke. "I need to fix this."

"Fix what?" Archie's voice was cool and challenging. "Horatio?"

"Damn it, Archie." Horatio released him, holding up his hands in surrender. "Very well. Go back to your whores and your drink, if that's what you wish."

"What I wish." Archie raised an eyebrow and nodded once before lifting his hand to his hat and saluting. "Very well. A good night to you, Mr. Hornblower."

Horatio's face shuttered, his expression unreadable as he nodded. "And to you, Mr. Kennedy."

Horatio opened the door at the first knock and stepped back, his jaw clenching tightly. Archie's glance moved over Horatio's shirt and breeches before he reached up to remove his hat. "Don't look so damn smug." He set his hat on the bureau and unbuttoned his coat.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Mr. Kennedy."

"As I am equally sure you do, Mr. Hornblower." He folded his coat neatly and draped it over the ladder-back chair beside the door. "Surely, if we are to be so focused on our duty tomorrow, we had best get to sleep."

There was a long silence as Archie stripped off his stock and waistcoat, watching Horatio with bright, probing eyes. "I had never," Horatio cleared his throat and cast his eyes at the ground before pressing his lips together and lifting his gaze to Archie's. "I had never kissed a…," he frowned and inhaled sharply, releasing a loud breath, "a woman before."

"I find that no small wonder, Mr. Hornblower."

Horatio ignored him and tucked his arms behind his back, catching his wrist in one hand as he turned and walked toward the window, staring out at the smooth water. "Is that what you wished to know?"

"I only wish to know what you tell me, Horatio." Archie watched him open his mouth to speak before interrupting. "A courtesy I'm sure you would be just as eager to repay."

Horatio tilted his head in acquiescence then turned his back to the window to face Archie. "Was it love? I cannot say. It certainly did not meet your description. But love, Archie," he bent his head so that Archie could no longer see his dark eyes, "as I have seen it does not consume you. Duty, loyalty, honor. They consume you. They own you. Love…love denies them that."

"Is there no honor or loyalty or duty in love, Horatio?" Archie shook his head. "You did not shirk any of those qualities you hold so dear. That consume you. Would you, Horatio, do you think? For someone you love?"

"I have nothing without my honor and duty, Archie." He reached out and touched Archie's chest lightly, fingers warm through the linen of his shirt. He glanced at the ground then up to Archie's eyes. "Any love I had would be nothing without them."

Archie reached up and clasped Horatio's hand with his own, pushing Horatio's palm flat to the hard beat of his heart. They stood there, silent and unmoving for a long moment before Archie's soft voice breeched the quiet. "There is honor in service, is there not, Mr. Hornblower?"

Horatio's lips trembled slightly as he opened his mouth. Closing it rapidly, he nodded. "There is, Mr. Kennedy."

"Then, Sir." Archie's hand tightened for a moment before he released Horatio's and stepped back, his head bowed slightly. "That honor will be mine."

The faint granulation of dawn began to thread through the dark night as Archie sighed and turned over, careful not to disturb the shared covers that draped across Horatio. He shifted, tucking his arm under his head and watched as a rough furrow faded to smoothness on Horatio's brow. He reached out, his fingers stopping short of their mark as he clenched his hand into a fist and lowered it to the bed between them.

Horatio's eyes opened, widening and then relaxing at the sight of Archie. "The time?"

"We've hours yet." Archie's voice was thick with lack of sleep. "You've no need to waken."

Horatio's brow furrowed again. "You've not slept at all." It was not a question, though Archie shrugged in response. He sighed and shook his head. "Archie."

"I'm fine, Horatio." He managed a smile.

"About our discussion…"

"Horatio." Archie reached out and touched his finger to Horatio's lips, quieting him. He closed his eyes for an instant and exhaled slowly before opening them. "I may not show the promise of the finest of His Majesty's service." He brushed his thumb over Horatio's lips before grimacing slightly and pulling his hand away, "but I am quite clear in following orders."

"I gave you no order last night, Archie."

"No, you did not." He nodded his agreement. "But your meaning was very clear, as clear as if it had been shouted from stem to stern."

Horatio tilted his head, his expression falling into tormented concern. "Archie."

"However, I have found that, despite how we may differ in what we view of love, there is surely friendship we can agree on."

Relief flooded Horatio's face and ripped at Archie's heart. "Yes. On that, Mr. Kennedy, we most definitely can agree." He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. "I would be most pleased to always count you as my friend, Archie."

"Then it shall be done." Archie reached again, instinct and desire winning out as his fingers brushed Horatio's parted lips once more. He jerked his hand back with Horatio's loud breath and drew a tight smile across his face. Bells tolled in the distance and Archie pushed the covers back and slipped from between the sheets then moving over to the window. "Three bells on the morning watch, Mr. Hornblower." He looked over to find Horatio watching him with sad intensity. "Duty calls."