Slacking off in the Sun

"..Oh..it's not fer t' work's sake." He shook his head quickly. "Sum'body else should worry about that. It's fer...yeself. Jus' to try it. To see if you can. It's a lot better n' holy stonin'. You must agree to that!" He peeked at Hales to see whether he was permitted to grin, or whether he was better of just keeping a calm, composed look on his face.

"To try it."

"To try it? Would you?" He arched a brow, gazing at Hales curiously. He brought his hands back away from the railing and rested them on his slops.

The boy made it sound like a game.

"I am not a sailor," Hales said. "And I do not care to be one."

"Yes. An' I'm not tryin' t' make you one." He smiled. "All I'm wonderin' is.. if you'd like t' see if you can climb. Ain't nothin' more n' that. Jus' fer fun. Got it?" He waved his hand. "Can't be teachin' you to be a sailor, when I'm there abouts being taught that myself. "

"No." What part of the word didn't this boy understand? It hardly mattered that the lad was in much the same position as Hales.

"A'right." He gave the mast a last glance. "...I'um sorry." He murmured and felt defeated. "..it ain' ..a good life on a ship. Specially like this." He did not elaborate further but hoped Hales might guess what he meant.

"Being on a ship at all is undesirable," the footman replied shortly.

"...I used to think that 'bout bein' a Tar...I still do. A little but.. fightin' it only ...only makes you miserable. Fightin' makes you a stranger an'..." He frowned. "Nevermind." He said and tugged at the sleeve of his shirt, right at the cuff. He had begun doing that earlier, appearing nervous again.

Hales simply shrugged. So what if it did? He had no interest in getting to know any of these men.

"Yet here you are," he observed pointedly. "A sailor."

"..A former midshipman." He corrected him. "...an acting marine drummer." He added. "...a lad." He pointed at himself. "...A Tar is what others call me, wot' t' officer sees me as. I choose t' learn things in t' tops because I like climbin' n' t' freedom t' heights give you. It's closest t' flyin'. " What else could he say. "With Chase.. I dun' need t' look over m' shoulder all t' time. "

He paused then: "Why do y' hate t' ship? Couse o' her men? Why?"

Whatever else the boy might claim, he enjoyed this life. That much was apparent.

"I have no love for the sea." Nor, it felt, did the sea have any love for him.

"Some 'ere jus' respect it, n' some fear it. Some like it fer what it is suppose t' represent. Adventure, open..... we are not tied to the land as others are.." It was a busy place yet without friends it was as lonely as if there was but himself on board. He knew that much. But what he was slowly learning was, that it took two, to have company and the effort of both.

"Some jus' wait ter get int' the next tavern and hope all t' sea will bring is t' money t' spend there." He shrugged. "Ter be on t' ship you dun' need t' love t' sea beneath it...jus' bear in mind that it's there." And there he could just shut up again. He was being philosophical, or just... probably Hales did not appreciate a brat such as himself telling him any of the. De Guarde frowned.

The sea was always there, that much Hales was certain of. It had no problems telling him that. Like now. Being on deck was making him queasy. Or maybe it was only his nerves.

His fingers curled tightly around the rope of the hammock nettings. Tolerance of the sea was obviously what this boy was trying to impress upon him. Not a chance.

"You'm.... not a right colour." he noticed that the man had changed a shade or so since their arrival on deck. He blinked and considered what suggestion he could offer him that might ease his qualms. "Um.. sometimes i heard it helps if yer keep yer eyes gazin' at t' horizon... I mean. Ter feel better." He paused wondering if he had been out of bounds at suggesting that Hales might not feel himself well for that reason.

"...You do .." He dared add." Get wot they'm call .. yer sea legs. After that.. you'll have trouble findin' yer land legs, once on land." He chuckled and then, as if afraid he had overstepped his boundaries, shut into a serious silence.

Sea legs. He had those, in a sense. Walking about the ship was now possible without stumbling, anyway.

"Indeed," he grumbled, choosing instead to squeeze his eyes shut.

"That'll make it worse. ..That or tryin' ter concentrate on one thin' a close thing...Mind,.. I was fair fortunate in that.. I didn' get so much trouble with it." He smiled shyly. "Look.. try it. Look at t' horizon.. couse it's real far. Aye?"

He was a boy. Boys always had an easier time adapting to new situations.

Hales willed himself to open his eyes all the same. Maybe if he gave a little, this lad would go away.

"Now.. t' 'orizon." He murmured, while he himself peered over the railing instead, watching the white foam distance itself from the ship, and the dark depths that concealed the sea's bottom. He thought he saw a fish jump out, flip in the air and fall back into the dark depths.

He looked up and searched the sea and the sky for any birds that he could guess the type of. The clouds too came under his scrunity. "Better?"

Or maybe not. Hales looked briefly at the horizon, then dropped his gaze to the trailing bow wave. Was it better? It was hard to judge. Not good enough to stop his stomach churning, anyway.

"..that'll make you more ill." He reasoned noticing Hales staring at the wave. "Do it when you'll have yerself at ease with t' motion o' t' ship." He would go when he felt like it or rather when he would be needed to do his duty again.

"You're awfully better aware of what works for me than I am," Hales quipped, some of his annoyance with everything sneaking through.

"Not you. ..Every human being... wos' jus' trying to be helpful any'ow." He scowled at Hales. "Suit ye'self." He scoffed and turned to look at the water again.

There was no use in replying to that. The boy could take his being 'helpful'. Hales gripped the hammock netting and tried to ignore the unease in his stomach.

Perhaps things could just not work. New people, old Tars, perhaps trying was really just his way of failing with flying colours. He sighed and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. There. Another fish jumped out of the water just to dive back in, a length from where it first appeared. No matter how far it tried jumping, it would never overtake the ship and always fall only further behind. He closed his eyes, unaffected by the movement of the ship.