Multipup

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

Creedy is out back, enjoying the cool fall breeze, the soon-to-be-gone green of the grass and the waving of the trees. A black cat has curled up near his feet, though there's no telling whose she is as her master isn't about and doesn't seem to be outside. He doesn't mind much, though. The cat gets scritched every so often in between bites of breakfast and he'll be happy for an interruption.

Cooper is inside at the bar having a drink. Of tea. And a good cold breakfast. He's not really the talkative type, but you're welcome to try.

Matt is in one of the booths, still working on a letter. He can't seem to get the wording quite right, or fit his meaning to a single page and it's driving him a little up the wall. For a man who used words so powerfully, he's beginning to wonder if this IS hell if only for the writer's block.

[ooc: mun has to attend meeting; back in an hour or so] BACK!

Comments

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He shakes his head with a rueful laugh.

"Not so much."

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"No?"

He leans over to peer at the letter.

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He shakes his head.

"No. This is for the men. I was hoping you'd agree to carry it to them for me, tell them you found it somewhere. There are some things to settle."

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Sharpe looks at him sideways, and nods.

"I'd be glad to, brother. You know I would."

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He nods.

"So I figured."

He smiles at Richard.

"You're a good man."

If occasionally misguided.

He does, however, put pen and paper aside to look at Patrick.

"And how're you doing then, young man?" He asks, holding his arms open.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Patrick smiles and scrambles over to his uncle.

"He's fine", Sharpe says with a grin. "Good and strong."

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He hauls Patrick up onto his leg and wraps an arm to keep him up there.

"Aye, that I can see. And his mother? And you, Dick?"

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine." Now the minor wounds from his last skirmish are mostly healed, anyway. "His mother... is on bedrest and light house duties only. Doctor's orders, no farm work until the child's born."

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He nods slowly, concerned.

"Have you had anyone from here to see her?"

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"Not yet. She seems fine, as long as she doesn't overwork herself. And Marie - the woman she has in to help her - and I keep an eye on her for that."

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He nods again.

"Right."

Then he turns to Patrick and smiles.

"Has your father showed you the game I showed him when he was your age, eh?"

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

He was about to say something about not wanting to rely on the bar too much, in case the door stopped working, but then Matt changes the subject.

Patrick shakes his head earnestly, whether or not he knows which game is meant.

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

"Well, it goes like this with your fingers and..."

Matt spends the next few minutes absorbed in showing Patrick the hallowed and all-important sport of thumb wrestling.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Patrick giggles madly, while his father looks on in amusement.

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He kisses the boy on the top of his head and plays a few rounds with him, showing him tips and tricks and all manner of things before taking a dive to great applause.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you'll not get out of playing that whenever I bring him to visit, now", Sharpe says, laughing.

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He chuckles.

"Of course not. That's the point, now, isn't it?"

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"To get him to pester for more visits to his Uncle Matt?"

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He rolls his eyes.

"To give us something to do, Dick."

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"Don't think you'll be short of that. He'll need a man of letters to teach him when he's old enough, for one."

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He snorts.

"A man of letters? I'm no schoolteacher, Dick."

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"But you write." He nods to the letter. "And I'll wager you learned before you were 22."

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He nods.

"Quite some time before. Ended up working for a printer for a time, though I didn't stay with him long. And a servant for a schoolmaster."

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"Then you're closer to a teacher than I, brother."

[trurabblerouser.livejournal.com]

He chuckles.

"Then you'll want me to teach him his letter then?"