[There's a long pause. That's one hell of a question.]
[Somewhere behind the sapphire and ocean blue eyes he's remembering the Boer War, and the children and the --]
[Under-resourced.] No, I -- [His mouth is dry.]
[No one's ever asked that. A slight headshake.] I was a writer for that though. [A thick swallow.] The things the government did there were monstrous. Inhumane. [This truth thing is out of hand!] Not just to the Indians, though they got the absolute worst of it, but the soldiers were often not even properly trained in firearms and not seen as living people, just numbers! [He bites back a small biting snarl, it's not like him at all! He's always had problems holding back, but even on this, he can either freeze up, or just toss out something glib and careless!]
[But the Lieutenant seems to be having a moment too, so he siezes on it to breathe deeply and try to steady himself.]
[A laugh!] Oh, aye Lass, that I am. Rebel, trouble, Dad's problem child. But I'm not even the worst. Will got kicked out and he still causes problems. He's going to give Comte a heart attack one of these days, but luckily I'm a Doctor and then he'll be glad I'm on hand. [Maybe. Probably won't matter, greater vampires can't die.]
[Power cells? What HAS she been in?!]
If you know about time travel, then you know the answer too, hah! Righto! Let's get the lead out!
[He doesn't quite run, but it's definitely a bit of a brisk walk as he carefully puts some distance in. Too bad the flowers aren't that easy to escape!] Right, what's a nice soldier like you doing time traveling to hellholes like that?
I can ride horseback, of course, but I prefer cars. Started racing them in the future. That's a wrong sentence. In my past, but I was just in a Time Slip, Sebastian called it. So it was to my past. Another 10 years for cars to really get popular. I love sports, but I was too big to be a jockey, race horses. And we're a couple hundred years out from cavalry being terribly common. After Japan showed how to use guns against cavalry, the potential took off. And in the French Revolution, mousquetaires and cannons played a much bigger role. Armor wasn't going to save anyone: the French used mob rule and cannons. Wild time.
I wrote a lot of stories about that too. I definitely preferred them, but they didn't catch on so well. I tried charging five times higher for my most popular one, and that didn't deter anyone either. I priced my political ones as low or free, and yet... [Gah. He's NEVER this honest! Just an annoyed huff!] Have you ever been on a horse? Or seen cars, or dare I say: air travel? Any favorite sports? Are there many female soldiers in your unit? You're the first I've met. Though I quite fancy that nice blue uniform. [Something something, same as with Rose: makes the mind wonder about what's underneath. Every damn time.]
no subject
[Somewhere behind the sapphire and ocean blue eyes he's remembering the Boer War, and the children and the --]
[Under-resourced.] No, I -- [His mouth is dry.]
[No one's ever asked that. A slight headshake.] I was a writer for that though. [A thick swallow.] The things the government did there were monstrous. Inhumane. [This truth thing is out of hand!] Not just to the Indians, though they got the absolute worst of it, but the soldiers were often not even properly trained in firearms and not seen as living people, just numbers! [He bites back a small biting snarl, it's not like him at all! He's always had problems holding back, but even on this, he can either freeze up, or just toss out something glib and careless!]
[But the Lieutenant seems to be having a moment too, so he siezes on it to breathe deeply and try to steady himself.]
[A laugh!] Oh, aye Lass, that I am. Rebel, trouble, Dad's problem child. But I'm not even the worst. Will got kicked out and he still causes problems. He's going to give Comte a heart attack one of these days, but luckily I'm a Doctor and then he'll be glad I'm on hand. [Maybe. Probably won't matter, greater vampires can't die.]
[Power cells? What HAS she been in?!]
If you know about time travel, then you know the answer too, hah! Righto! Let's get the lead out!
[He doesn't quite run, but it's definitely a bit of a brisk walk as he carefully puts some distance in. Too bad the flowers aren't that easy to escape!] Right, what's a nice soldier like you doing time traveling to hellholes like that?
I can ride horseback, of course, but I prefer cars. Started racing them in the future. That's a wrong sentence. In my past, but I was just in a Time Slip, Sebastian called it. So it was to my past. Another 10 years for cars to really get popular. I love sports, but I was too big to be a jockey, race horses. And we're a couple hundred years out from cavalry being terribly common. After Japan showed how to use guns against cavalry, the potential took off. And in the French Revolution, mousquetaires and cannons played a much bigger role. Armor wasn't going to save anyone: the French used mob rule and cannons. Wild time.
I wrote a lot of stories about that too. I definitely preferred them, but they didn't catch on so well. I tried charging five times higher for my most popular one, and that didn't deter anyone either. I priced my political ones as low or free, and yet... [Gah. He's NEVER this honest! Just an annoyed huff!] Have you ever been on a horse? Or seen cars, or dare I say: air travel? Any favorite sports? Are there many female soldiers in your unit? You're the first I've met. Though I quite fancy that nice blue uniform. [Something something, same as with Rose: makes the mind wonder about what's underneath. Every damn time.]