It’s an interesting question, and one that hadn’t quite occurred to even ask Raju, but of course it might be different elsewhere. The Netsilik tended to mind their own business when it came to sleeping with the same sex. Caribou hunts were isolating, lonely. Men would comfort each other, and women would do the same.
But he’s Irish. He had a man flogged for it, though to be fair there’d been a fair few aspects to that whole incident. There’d been nuances to romancing a man - on the ships it was a punishable offense, on the ice it wasn’t likely to be enforced. England versus the wider world, always England versus the wider world.
It’s a mood killer, but Raju asked.
“Gibson lives with Hickey, as man and wife would,” he starts to explain quietly. “Lieutenant Irving found out about the affair before we abandoned ships, and condemned it openly. For men in the Royal Navy it could be punished by the cat, repeated offenses by death. In England…it was the work house, or death.
“Gibson is still terrified about retribution, even now, even after I’d reassured him. That says it all, doesn’t it? Here in this wilderness, no law, barely a community, he’s still afraid to be seen.”
He frowns softly. “I’ve never lived openly, I’ve never thought to. Those…inclinations stayed locked away, even with the Netsilik, even here. Especially here. My men are here. The captain doesn’t have romantic entanglements, it just isn’t done.
Which isn’t to say that I didn’t feel those things for you, or want them.”
no subject
It’s an interesting question, and one that hadn’t quite occurred to even ask Raju, but of course it might be different elsewhere. The Netsilik tended to mind their own business when it came to sleeping with the same sex. Caribou hunts were isolating, lonely. Men would comfort each other, and women would do the same.
But he’s Irish. He had a man flogged for it, though to be fair there’d been a fair few aspects to that whole incident. There’d been nuances to romancing a man - on the ships it was a punishable offense, on the ice it wasn’t likely to be enforced. England versus the wider world, always England versus the wider world.
It’s a mood killer, but Raju asked.
“Gibson lives with Hickey, as man and wife would,” he starts to explain quietly. “Lieutenant Irving found out about the affair before we abandoned ships, and condemned it openly. For men in the Royal Navy it could be punished by the cat, repeated offenses by death. In England…it was the work house, or death.
“Gibson is still terrified about retribution, even now, even after I’d reassured him. That says it all, doesn’t it? Here in this wilderness, no law, barely a community, he’s still afraid to be seen.”
He frowns softly. “I’ve never lived openly, I’ve never thought to. Those…inclinations stayed locked away, even with the Netsilik, even here. Especially here. My men are here. The captain doesn’t have romantic entanglements, it just isn’t done.
Which isn’t to say that I didn’t feel those things for you, or want them.”