milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Sharpe is in the bar, Matt's letter securely in his pocket, working a Security shift and hoping to see a few people he needs to talk to.

You're welcome to come and chat whether you're one of them or not, though.

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"Aye well, I can't see that I blame her, really. I'm certain Svava will go rather cabin-mad eventually. I don't look forward to that day..."

"She'll have the bar, though. More people to talk to."

"Aye, she will, and I hope for her sake that it won't be too hard for her. Well, for my sake too, really."

"She'll be fine, lad", Sharpe assures him. "In all of it."

"I do hope so."

He fidgits like the soon-to-be father that he is.

"Rachel said it was a girl. A baby girl. A little daughter..."

He's still completely boggled by this.

That gets a real smile from Sharpe.

"A little girl, eh? Thought of any names yet?"

"Nothing definate yet. I don't want to curse the poor thing with something awful like 'Archibald'.

"I'd hope you wouldn't call a girl Archibald, aye", Sharpe returns, deadpan.

He shrugs a little bit.

"It's be Archibald the younger, anyway. We'd have to call her 'Junior'."

Teasip.

Oh, that's the game, then? It's on.

"Not such a bad name, Junior."

"I'm sure Svava would come around eventually. After she stops insisting that the child should have some lovely, poetic name. More practical, 'Junior'."

"Definitely. And there's nowt wrong with recycling names, is there?"

"Oh no, not at all. People have been doing it for centuries. It's a good thing, really. Otherwise no one would ever be able to spell anything properly."

"Most men I've known've been named after someone", he agrees.

He nods agreeably.

"Or something. Though I fail to see the wisdom in naming a child after a piece of furniture. A flower or a bird, perhaps. Unless you were very drunk. Then you run the risk of having your child hate you forever."

"...you never knew anyone named after a piece of furniture."

"Well I won't lie to you and say I knew a chap called 'Rubbish bin' or anything..."

"I'd hope not. What were you talking about?"

He shrugs again.

"Knew a chap called Lamp once. He went by his surname mostly."

Sharpe cracks up.

"You know, Harris never would tell us what his first name was."

Archie grins, he won.

"Ah, well then. It was either something dreadful, or something that'd already been taken perhaps."

"I'd vote for something dreadful. I should've checked the enlistment rolls, but it never seemed that important."

"As long as you had something to call him, I suppose..."

"Absolutely. And surnames were the rule for most of us anyway."

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