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[fieryface]

Jamie has found a book. It's an old-fashioned book by the standards of most here-- printed in the 18th century-- but this being Milliways, it looks as new as the day it was first sold.

Inside is poetry.

Jamie reads it with a faint furrow in his brow, but whether that is due to confusion or dislike of the subject matter or from something else altogether, he is also quite absorbed by it, hardly looks up or seems to notice anything that is taking place around him.

O busy ghost, ay flickering to and fro,
That never art in quiet or in rest,
Til thou come to that place that thou came from,
Which is thy first and very proper rest...

[ooc: gonna be in and out, but I'm traveling and have some time to kill!]

Comments

[hangingoutwithcrows]

Does he notice someone plunking herself down with a cup of coffee and an almond pastry? Because here's a someone. "Good book?"

[fieryface]

Jamie nearly jumps out of his seat. "Christ, but you startled me!"

[hangingoutwithcrows]

"Sorry!" But she's kind of laughing, oops. "Didn't realize you were that into it! Whatcha reading, anyway?"

And do you want a piece of an almond croissant? Because she hasn't bitten into it yet, and she's breaking it in half to offer.

[fieryface]

"Oh, uh-- thanks?" Since it seems it's already too late to refuse, he takes it. "Sorry, I was just-- it's, uh, a poem? I'm no usually the poetry type, but..."

[hangingoutwithcrows]

"Neat! I don't read a lot of poetry either, but sometimes I think I should get more into it. Who's it by?"

[fieryface]

"Uh." He passes a hand over the open page. "I just found it in the library. It's by, um, my dad?"

[hangingoutwithcrows]

"...oh!"

She chews on her croissant and thinks about that for a minute. "Huh. Did you know he wrote poetry?"

[fieryface]

"I didn't-- I mean, people said that, but people say a lot of stuff about him, so, uh." He shrugs. "It's hard to know sometimes what's true."

And this had seemed less likely to be true, really. It seemed like something Meg would make up to make his dad seem more thoughtful, more talented, to balance out something else Jamie had overheard.

[hangingoutwithcrows]

....Huh. Had she known that his father was not-very-around? (Dead?) That his father was someone that people talk about a lot?

Well--now she does. And now he knows that his father wrote poetry! "What kind of things did he write about?"

[fieryface]

"This one's just a great long love poem." Whatever he was expecting, it definitely wasn't that. "Lots about God and nature and that."

[hangingoutwithcrows]

That doesn't immediately sound like an obvious choice for a love poem, but...right. Medieval. And Poetry in general. "Huh," she says again. "Can I see it? Or never mind, you don't have to, sorry." Kid doesn't need to share his dad's poetry. "When did he write it?"

[fieryface]

Jamie shrugs and pushes it over. It's in a book, after all, anybody could look at it. "He, um-- when he was in England."

[hangingoutwithcrows]

There's a whole lot of huh going on in Ursula's head as she reads the introduction. Starting with the whole King James thing. Because she's pretty sure Jamie never mentioned that. And so is he also a King James?

(There's also a certain amount of huh just from reading the old-style English lettering. Probably would have fhared the fame fate with moft of his other compofitions...)

"So...so this is about...is she your mom? And--wait, why was he a prisoner?"

She hasn't even got to the poetry part yet, sorry.

[fieryface]

Oh, he didn't think she would really-- he didn't think this through. "He was, uh, sailing to France and he got captured by the English. It-- they-- we were at war. I mean, we're always sort of at war..."

[hangingoutwithcrows]

Too late, Jamie, she's totally looking at the poetry your dad wrote about your mom. Or what someone else wrote about said poetry, anyway. But at least she has the good manners to put it down and listen when he's talking to her.

"Right--right, I knew...knew a little about that." Less than he does, though! Let's work on listening instead of just talking. "Wow. So he was there for a long time? And...he wrote this in England?"

[fieryface]

Jamie gestures vaguely at the book. "You know as much as I do."

[hangingoutwithcrows]

"Hm!" Ursula studies his face for a moment. She probably shouldn't pry. ...She's not very good at not prying.

"Who told you about the poetry? I mean, is that someone you can ask about--things?"

[fieryface]

"Oh, that's-- Meg, she's my-- I mean, she was my nurse, like, when I was a wee lad." Not anymore. Obviously. "She doesny like to talk about it much. She used to, if I really pestered her about it. But I canny tell if what she says is true. Not that I'm calling her a liar," he clarifies quickly. "Just that-- well, she wants him to sound good, don't she."

[hangingoutwithcrows]

"Did she like him? I mean--is she just trying to make him sound good for you, or because he's king or something, or--do you think she liked him?"

[fieryface]

"She liked him." Jamie's sure of that.

[not_his_pa]

William's looking for a warm place to sit when he sees the way Jamie's focused on the book. As he doesn't want to disturb someone else's reading, he tries to get a look at the title without bothering him.

[fieryface]

He does notice eventually: the book is laid flat on the table, so the title is hard to see. "Hello there."

[not_his_pa]

"Hello, I was curious what you were readin', it must be somethin' good," That's how he gets when he doesn't want to stop.

[fieryface]

"Oh, it's-- it's poetry." He adds quickly, "I don't read a lot of poetry or anything."

[not_his_pa]

"Oh, why not? I can tell you some poets if you want to read any," He's from an era where reading poetry is pretty normal.

[fieryface]

"I dinny think it's quite for me," Jamie says dubiously. Though he might feel differently if he weren't reading weird medieval allegorical poems, but oh well. "You read a lot of this stuff?"

[not_his_pa]

"Yeah, I mean I read books too, but love poetry like Whitman's. Why wouldn't poetry be for you? No one can stop you from reading it can they?" That's just wrong if they tried to do that.

[fieryface]

"No, it's no like that," Jamie says. "I just-- dinny like it much, I guess. Don't like sitting still."

[not_his_pa]

"Oh, yeah, I know how that can be. I don't know what I'd do if I had to spend my whole day inside instead of out ridin', tendin' the herd is work but there's space. I usually have a book with me."

[fieryface]

"You're some kind of--" He hesitates, suspecting he's about to get this wrong. "--shepherd?"

[not_his_pa]

"Cowboy, cattle rancher, my family's got a small herd."