#calendar verse

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Calendar Verse: Fishing

A preview for @linguini17 ’s prompt of “the boys go fishing”.

I don’t know why, but my brain immediately set this about two years after the current Calendar Verse timeline, so the boys are a little older here than they are in the main series.  

'Are you sure that Herc said this was okay?' Martin asks, struggling to manoeuvre the heavy toolbox of kit as well as his and Arthur's fishing rods. 

 'Of course I am,' Douglas replies, rolling his eyes as he slows down for long enough to reach out one-handed and take the box from Martin, before his brother can protest. 

 'It's just… Well, he did make me promise not to try without supervision.' 

 'You'll have supervision,' Douglas objects reasonably. 'You'll have me. I'll supervise you, and you'll supervise Arthur, and no one has broken any promises. Okay?' 

 'Who's going to supervise you, Douglas?' Arthur asks, swinging his empty bucket - the most equipment he had been entrusted to carry by himself - and cocking his head to one side as he waits for his oldest brother to answer. 

 'I don't need supervision!' Douglas exclaims, stopping dead in his tracks and spinning to face Martin and Arthur. 'I'm fourteen. I can go fishing any time I like. I don't need to ask.' He is not, in point of fact, nearly as offended as he sounds, but it suits him at the moment to have his brothers think that he is. 

 'You did ask, though, didn't you?' Martin narrows his eyes suspiciously, looking for a moment altogether too much like their mother for Douglas's comfort. 'You did say you'd asked.'

 'Yes, I asked, okay? But only to make sure you two were allowed to come as well. I didn't need to ask for me.'

 'Wow,' breathes Arthur. 'I wish I was fourteen.'

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Calendar Verse Prompts

Thank you @prettybirdy979, @unionjackpillow, and @linguini17 for your prompts! @linguini17... I haven’t started yours yet but I do love it and I will get there. @prettybirdy979 and @unionjackpillow... I hope you don’t mind that I kind of combined your prompts (and that the Calendar Verse hijacked them even though they weren’t really for it... I might still do something else too, non-Calendar Verse). My brain just immediately mashed them together. I can’t guarantee when I’ll finish it as I don’t know how long it’s going to be - but here’s a preview so you can see I’m definitely working on it! ;-)

This ficlet is set in the July before “September” of the Calendar Verse: Martin’s sixth birthday and his first visit to Duxford Air Museum, in one.

Getting involved with Carolyn Knapp-Shappey had been, if Herc was entirely honest with himself, something of an accident. Falling so quickly, completely, and irrevocably in love with her had certainly not been part of any plan; neither, under any circumstances, had he counted on gaining her three young sons into the bargain. 

Less than a year ago he had been comfortably a bachelor, and though by all accounts he had largely outgrown most of the weekend pursuits of his youth, still his Saturdays would have been deeply unlikely to involve celebrating the sixth birthday of a child he is finding it increasingly difficult not to think of as his own son. More improbable still would have been his evident enjoyment of this activity. 

Yet here he finds himself, one of a small handful of similar groups making their way slowly into the Duxford Air Museum, with varied enthusiasm. 

A little blond girl with racing cars on her T-shirt, Martin's age or thereabouts, is pulling her mother along with stolid determination, while a group of awkward looking teenagers shuffle in looking defiant and ill at ease, all carrying scuffed notebooks and chewed pencils. 

Arthur is bouncing up and down with excitement beside Herc, but this is not necessarily unusual behaviour in Carolyn's youngest child. 

Douglas looks so flatly disinterested that it almost cannot be genuine. Herc notices his eyes lingering on the large information panels that line the foyer somewhat longer than probably needed for someone actually indifferent. Herc decides it is for the best if he doesn't draw attention to the fact; Douglas is noticeably cooler towards him than the two other boys at the best of times. 

Martin is beside himself with awe, and they aren't even through the main entrance yet. 

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So. My brain is sliding into a Cabin Pressure fix. And I’m trying to make more time for myself to be creative - writing, knitting, colouring, whatever - because I enjoy those things and I have not been in a good place mentally lately so it’s a whole Thing to try and drag myself up again.

Anyway. What I’m saying is, I’m open for ficlet prompts (although I can’t promise responses will be speedy) and also maybe sort of no guarantees working on a certain series again. For those who might be interested.

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"You make me so happy" in Calendar-verse please? :D

Thanks for the prompt. Anyone else who wants to send one… Choose a pairing and a line from the  Super Sappy Lines Prompt List! 

[The Calendar-Verse is a series of Cabin Pressure fics wherein MJN are an actual family. Herc is Carolyn’s new husband; Douglas, Martin, and Arthur are her sons.]

Soo… This is where my mind almost immediately went for this prompt, but it is probably going to seem like you’re missing a fair chunk of information. Like how on Earth this situation arose in the first place. All I can say is: Spoilers. 

In deference to the fact that she does not actually want to hurt him, just to make a point, Carolyn waits until Herc’s eyes are fully open before she slaps him. Just on the arm. His good arm. 

‘Ouch,’ says Herc mildly. ‘That hurt.’

‘No it didn’t.’ Carolyn’s voice would be stern if it weren’t for the way it trembles on the final word. She finds, to her consternation, that she is rapidly blinking back tears.

‘It hurt a little,’ Herc insists, though not seriously. He smiles gently through the bleariness of having only just regained consciousness. ‘Don’t I even get a ‘hello’?’

‘No you do not,’ Carolyn snaps. She adjusts her position in the chair and Herc notices for the first time Arthur’s sleeping form in her lap. He is curled around with his knees tucked up under his chin and his thumb in his mouth. Herc glances around, but does not see his other two step-sons anywhere.

‘I sent them to get snacks,’ Carolyn explains shortly. ‘Douglas was pacing.’

‘Oh,’ is all Herc can think of to say to this. Then, ‘How long have I been out?’

‘Long enough.’ Carolyn is scowling now. Herc tries, and fails, to look appropriately contrite.

‘I am fine, you know,’ he attempts to reassure her. 

‘You are not fine,’ Carolyn argues. She almost raises her voice, but manages at the last second to force it into a hissing whisper, for Arthur’s sake. ‘You feel fine because you’re on God knows how much morphine and it’s making you even more stupid than usual. How does someone who flies aeroplanes for a living manage to fail so spectacularly in a car?’

Herc reaches out clumsily to take Carolyn’s hand. He would have missed, but Carolyn moves just enough to make sure he doesn’t. She still looks furious, though.

‘I am fine,’ he repeats. 

‘People who are fine do not usually have to be connected to quite so many machines, or lying in hospital beds. They rarely have the number of stitches you do, and I’ve never seen one with bruising like that.’ She says all of this to their cupped hands, determinedly avoiding her husband’s face (where most of the currently visible bruises reside).

‘I will be fine,’ Herc amends gently. ‘Carolyn. Look at me.’ When she does, Herc is not surprised to see that her eyes are damp, and there are hectic patches of colour on her cheeks. He knows her too well to take her ire at face value. 

‘You could have died.’

‘But I didn’t,’ Herc reminds her. ‘I’m here; you’re here. I’m safe. The boys are safe.’

‘Don’t you ever -’ Carolyn begins, her voice seriously wobbling now. Herc squeezes her hand. 

‘You make me so happy,’ he interrupts. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I promise. Nothing is taking me away from you.’

They both know he cannot really be sure of this, but for now it will have to do.

‘Good. Because so help me God, Hercules, if you do anything like this again no amount of morphine is going to be enough -’

‘I know. I love you, too.’

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Before Carolyn meets Herc, what happens when she gets ill? Do the boys take care of her?

The occasions when Carolyn has actually given in and calledin assistance as a result of illness or injury can be counted on one hand withseveral fingers to spare. Apart from anything else, there are very few peoplein the world that Carolyn would trust with her sons, although whether for theboys’ safety or the potential babysitter’s is unclear.

In emergencies, Carolyn will reluctantly turn to hercousin Diana. Her sister is too foul to even consider, and neither of herex-husbands would be up to the task even if they agreed to it. (To get to knowCarolyn’s cousin Diana, who appears briefly in January, I thoroughly recommendthe 90’s sitcom Waiting for God.)Diana is not a natural caregiver, but Carolyn is not a natural patient, so itworks out well enough in its own way.

Until it gets to this point, Carolyn has four things onher side. One is her sheer stubbornness; usually nothing short of actualhospitalisation is enough to slow her down. The other three are her sons. Theyare, including Douglas, still quite young, and not always exactly effective when they try to be helpful –but they do try, and sometimes whenshe’s just miserable and under the weather or full of cold or tired – it’s enough that they are doingtheir best. She is very proud of them really, and they do know it even thoughshe is not the most emotionally demonstrative person in the world.

Douglas is already quite a good cook, and if all elsefails he can just prepare some tinned soup and a cup of tea. Martin can berelied upon to follow instructions in emergencies, and can usually be relied onto keep an eye on Arthur while Douglas takes over cooking/cleaning etc. Arthur…tries. Enthusiastically. He is an expert comforter, and throws himself eagerlyinto crafting quite elaborate Get Well Soon cards, but he is too young toreally do much else. He can provide some excellent hugs if called upon, though.

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/4 Fandom: Cabin Pressure Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Douglas Richardson, Martin Crieff, Arthur Shappey, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, Herc Shipwright, Karl (Cabin Pressure) Additional Tags: Family, Birthday, Kid Fic Series: Part 8 of Calendar Verse

Summary: In which Douglas dislikes secrets, Martin is having trouble in school, and Arthur is turning five.

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For Calendar verse, do the boys and Carolyn do Bonfire Night?

Yes! Arthur loves it, of course - allthe lights and colours! Douglas enjoyed it when he was younger, and will againwhen he is old enough to plan firework/bonfire-related mischief, but at the moment hecould pretty much take it or leave it. Martin wishes he could enjoy it, butfire and loud noises make him nervous. He tends to stick close to Douglas, whopretends not to be pleased. They usually stick to setting off small fireworks in the garden or going to a friend’s, rather than big public displays, because it’s hard enough keeping track of three small boys in a crowd by herself (even when Gordon was around he wasn’t much help) in the daylight; Carolyn has no wish to try it in the dark. Also, the fireworks are bigger and louder, and the crowds are just not manageable for Martin.

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What happened with calendar!Douglas and the cat? Does he ever get a new one?

Douglas was devastated when the cat died and through a combination of factors - a busy working mother, intermittent financial difficulties, a disinterested step-father (Gordon, that is, not Herc), and his own reluctance - has so far never had another pet. Arthur has asked for a dog many times. Or any pet really, but he’d most like a dog. Douglas rarely gets involved in these discussions; he isn’t sure if he wants a pet, and he isn’t sure why he isn’t sure. It might be interesting, but he wouldn’t know what to get. He is fond of cats in general, but it would be cool to have a dog and teach it tricks. Or a rat - he knows they can learn things too, and it would be good for scaring people. Martin is nervous of animals, but not opposed to the idea.

As for the future of pets in the Knapp-Shappey-Shipwright household… spoilers.