fic: retrace the stars. aubrey/maturin

title: retrace the stars
pairing: aubrey/maturin
archive: .: marginalia :.
disclaimer: i own nothing. o'brian is spinning in his grave.
notes: for starfishchick's birthday, oh so belatedly. unbeta-ed, so if there's anything glaring, by all means let me know. considering how much of it was written after 2am, i imagine there -are- things :)

The wind has shifted; now it blows across
our path and rises from the black west, now
the air has thickened into mist. We cannot
hold out against it, cannot keep on course.
Since Fortune has the better of us now,
Let us obey and turn aside where she
has called. I think the faithful shores of Eryx,
your brother, and Sicilian ports are not
far off, if only I remember right
and can retrace the stars I watched before.

Virgil, The Aeneid, trans. by Allen Mandelbaum

A modern translation, naturally. Stephen had memorized The Aeneid in Latin.

( just over 500 words. which for me is a goddamned novel. )

(also posted here)