Cornelius Hickey (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spotsalone) wrote2025-04-11 07:04 pm
spotsalone) wrote2025-04-11 07:04 pm
Entry tags:
angelo and the hickster's post-belle arctic adventures
angelo cr chart
mutineers cr chart...
timeline:
- arrival; late july, mutineers' hill
- tent chats; early august, temporary camp
- spotting the ships; late august, terror camp
- tuunbaq attack; sept 1, ice floe camp
- boarding terror; fellas it's gay; early sept, hms terror
- dog to dog communication; early sept, forecastle
- bark bark bark; early sept, on deck
- coat! and post-tozer debrief; early sept, angelo's cabin
- 🌶️; early sept, hickey's cabin
- the dogs are unionizing(?); mid sept, cargo hold
- tozer/captain stuff, look at them having an adult conversation; mid sept, greatroom
- little rescue mission; early oct, terror bay
- post-little debrief; early oct, hickey's cabin
no subject
But Tozer's frustration will die out quickly, and when this setup inevitably happens again, he'll be too exhausted to resist the temptation. His need to protect will take over, and... It feels good to try, even if it only sets him up to get bit.
Or maybe it's just that he can only stand to bottle these thoughts up for so long, and this isn't about Angelo at all.
He wants to ask if Angelo would make the same choice again, now that he's felt the reality of it. Tozer made a choice once, too. Instead, he follows suit and stands, dumping the fabric onto a chest. He squares to meet Angelo, though he keeps enough distance between them to avoid an outright threat. ]
And what would be the hard way?
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The risk of escalation is one he's willing to take. Better to have Tozer angry at him than to be seen as a charity case. ]
I work you to the bone, obviously.
[ As if he doesn't already. ]
There's only so much commitment I can bring to the cause before you'll have no choice to believe my heart's in it, no?
[ It's absolutely not the 'hard way' he was previously hinting at and he's counting on that being obvious to Tozer as well. But there's no need to be crass. ]
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It's a bit of a relief, though. As good as it would feel to hit something, Tozer isn't eager for a scrap. It'd be a waste of energy, and... Hickey would disapprove. Tozer is just starting to feel relatively secure about his position on the ladder.
That said: ]
I don't answer to you. I do the work because it needs done.
[ He nearly leaves it at that, but after a beat, he catches something he almost missed. ]
Which cause are you committed to, exactly?
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[ At least nominally. The actual reasoning behind the decision still sits strangely with Angelo now that he's really thought about it. Hickey is no philanthropist. There is something he stands to gain by saving some of these men.
Finally, Angelo turns back to the next crate. This one was unlocked and it opens with not difficulty but a loud screech. Soon the reason for the lack of security becomes apparent: it's empty. Whatever was in here was likely packed for the walk-out. No matter. Angelo lets the lid drop again. ]
I don't like you and you don't like me, but that makes no difference to this.
no subject
[ It's not new information, not exactly, but it's more obvious now than ever with that little spiel about his captain and the home that's been lost to him. It's sad, really... though Tozer wonders how much he'd care if the story weren't so familiar.
In any case, Angelo is right: Their personal feelings make no difference. He hauls another crate down from the stack and tries not to notice how heavy it feels. A year ago, he could've moved it with ease. ]
I don't question your commitment, Sauper. Cornelius wouldn't favor you if your resolve was worth doubting.
[ That's hardly the full reason—Angelo works hard and has every reason to champion their survival—but it is true. Tozer isn't sure how to define the trust he places in Hickey, but he wouldn't bring in another mouth to feed without good reason. ]
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Angelo grits his teeth. As usual, he wants to protest this assessment. It's not that he had nowhere to go, it's that he hadn't wanted to go to his other options - the element of choice is important. Should be important. Yet Angelo is the only one who seems to think it counts at all. ]
Glad you understand as much.
[ It comes out clipped, as he busies himself inspecting the crate Tozer's just brought in. They're luckier with it too. The actual contents of the box are largely useful, but they are padded in hay, and padding material is what they came down here for to start with. Angelo snatches a linen from their pile to use as a makeshift bag. ]
It seems to me that I've had a better reason for coming here than the actual expedition members.
[ Angelo's grasp on the geopolitical situation of the current day is still strenuous, but that doesn't make him any less fervent in his hatred of the British Empire. It's nice to hate something just on principle. ]
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At least you knew what you were signing onto.
[ He kneels to help Angelo with the linen, holding up the sides to keep the hay contained. For the moment, order is restored. This feels like a much safer topic of conversation. ]
The officers had some choice in the matter, and 'course they stood to gain the most from it. The rest of us only expected to be away for a year or so.
[ Even for the crew that did sign up of their own accord, work is work, and you take it where you can get it. Tozer heard Hickey make a case more than once that joining up wasn't truly voluntary, given the pay and prestige of a polar expedition is so much greater than the average voyage. Most among them are not here for the glory of it, the thrill of adventure, no matter how hard Sir John tried to push that narrative.
The argument worked on a few of their numbers, anyway. Mutiny became synonymous with freedom and free will. Hickey didn't need to convince Tozer of that fact. ]
Has anyone told you why we're out here in the first place? The Passage, and all.
no subject
To find a trade route for the Empire, yes.
[ When they've filled the linen up, he takes the ends back from Tozer to knot it into a proper bag. It doesn't entirely escape him how easily they can work together without exchanging orders, when it comes down to it. It's not the first time it happened, but he's never been in a state of mind to notice before. ]
So the core can exploit more colony residents for their labor in order to have easy access to more goods.
no subject
With the linen tied up, Tozer hefts it over to their pile and stands again to extra another crate. Maybe this is the key to their getting along, then. They're more amicable when they're moving and working. ]
Careful, there. Some among us may take issue with such a statement.
[ Especially from an outsider. It even pricks at Tozer a bit, though he doesn't disagree. What does Angelo know about England? What right does he have to judge it? Flawed though it is, it's still the only place Tozer can call home. That must count for something. ]
Is that an opinion you formed yourself?
[ It sounds like something Hickey would say, if not in those exact words. ]
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Of course it is.
[ Angelo is not keen on self-reflection and checking his biases, so the idea that it is a premature and ill-informed one doesn't even cross his mind. ]
The British Empire is not history's only Empire. I grew up in the colonies, under the yoke of the Federation. It's all the same shit.
[ In truth, his family had been fairly wealthy merchants when they were still alive. Angelo hasn't truly been born into the oppression he describes, merely assimilated into it. But these are like-wise self-reflections he is not prone to. ]
no subject
Britain exists in your history, then? You're... from the future?
[ Somehow, he hadn't considered that possibility. Angelo's presence in general is a lot to wrap his head around, but there's something more disconcerting about him being from here but not at the same time. Does he know what happens to them, then? To England? In Angelo's world, all of them must be long dead by now.
Except Hickey, apparently. That may be the most disconcerting piece of the entire puzzle. ]
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[ He'd kind of been hoping that Hickey had already covered this in his summary of the castle, but... actually, he should be glad that he didn't. It means Hickey is truly honoring his conditions, down to the letter. His past is his own to share, even the details that do not matter. ]
Your Empire hasn't existed for hundreds of years in my world. Don't ask me if that means I'm from a future or the future, I understand that as little as you do.
[ Fucking Ish and his weird complicated magic shit. Angelo has not tried particularly hard to make sense of it, but it does give him a headache anyway. ]
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That's... disorientating.
[ Tozer pries open another crate. His fingers are nearly too stiff to function anymore. They best be done with this soon, though he wouldn't be surprised if Angelo conjured up some reason to keep them working down here for longer, just to make good on his earlier threat.
Whether or not Tozer would go along with it remains to be seen. For all his defiance earlier, he's not one to refuse an order just to prove a point. ]
And what will you do, should we survive this? You may still think yourself an outsider on this ship, but we're a forgiving sort compared to London.
[ He says it with genuine concern, already falling into the habit of helping again, but he expects Angelo to take it as an insult regardless. ]
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[ And neither does Hickey - even if they weren't set to leave this world whenever Ish provides the next opportunity for it, if there is one place they won't return to its that. Angelo's questions about Hickey's past have always gone nowhere (quite unfairly, he thinks) but the fact that there's nothing left for him in Britain had been made abundantly clear. ]
And some things about the world never change. People are people. I have enough experience that I'll get by fine.
[ If anything, it'd be easier to vanish into the anonymity of some city, somewhere at the other side of the world, than it is to try and integrate himself here with this small group of people already all-too-familiar with each other.
Angelo glimpses into the crate that Tozer has painstakingly pulled open for them and huffs. It's soap. Something they hadn't been in danger of running out of anytime soon, but it's always good to have some more. The scent is rose.
Like the soap that almost got him killed, once.
He'll get by fine, yes... ]
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Where else would Hickey go? Surely he's not going to let Angelo part ways—even if he may have promised to do so.
Tozer almost lets the comment slide by, but then, Angelo wouldn't have brought it up if it was a secret. ]
You're not going to stay with Cornelius?
[ It takes him an extra beat of hesitation to figure out the best angle for prodding. ]
I'd expect he would object to that plan. Is this going up?
[ He kicks at the crate of soap. They don't need it, but Angelo is rather obsessed with cleaning... ]
no subject
Of course I'm staying with him.
[ The defensive rebuttal is out before he fully takes in (with some appreciation) that Tozer has clocked that Hickey would not let him go either. They're a set now, inseparable. It's for the best that everyone sees that plainly. ]
You came all the way up here and you still think all roads lead to London?
[ Really, he does wonder where he and Hickey will end up at the end of it all. They'd promised to go to Angelo's world, but that prospect feels even more foul now that they've had their fights.
Angelo shuts the box and gives a belated nod. And then after a beat of consideration: ]
Yeah, we'll take it. We've gotten enough for now. Let's grab what we got and move up.
[ God knows they're both freezing. ]
no subject
I didn't have a choice to be here. None of us marines did.
[ It feels important to make sure Angelo knows this. He's not eager to dwell on it, though. Tozer nods in return, and then picks up the makeshift bag of hay to toss up to the orlop.
But he pauses again, jaw working as he considers something. ]
You've got it wrong, by the way. I don't dislike you.
[ Tozer isn't going to dwell on that, either. Instead, he hauls himself up the ladder so that Angelo can start passing him crates. There's work that needs doing. ]
no subject
Is that so.
[ It's not a question, not really, just a flat acknowledgement that he's heard what Tozer said. Angelo finds the content too hard to believe. He is easy to dislike. It's something he's been aware of for a long time, and consciously made his armor. At the castle, that armor turned against him. Here it seems to serve no purpose one way or another, it just lingers between himself and the crew. Angelo doesn't mind. He has no desire to form bonds.
So he just grabs the crate of traitorous soap, and gets to work. ]