skylarking

Billy grabbed his arm. "Half a mo', mate, where you going?"

"Got to go play servant to one of these here Army officers. Seems the Captain's invited 'e to dinner with him." He smled at the sailor. "Don't let it stop you havin' fun, though. Just 'cause you're missin' one Jolly."

Chase grinned, not minding at all the loss of his purloined cap. "Happy servantin', Georgie!" The topman called. Other men echoed his farewell with catcalls of their own. The Marine would be missed but every man in the gathering was glad it had not been them to be called away.

Thompson grinned wryly as he headed away from the gathering of seamen and Marines. He'd miss them, while he had to stand behind someone's chair and look smart, instead of being able to have fun skylarking. There'd be other tmes for that, though.

He hurried to the Marine's berthing area and reluctantly exchanged his off-duty jacket for his red coat. He wasn't going to need a hat either, so that joined the rest of his things in his sea-chest. He hurried aft to where the other men who'd been pressed into service were waiting.

Much later, when things were quieting down on deck, they saw the pair of midshipmen and young Stenhouse heading to the leeward rail just forward of the quarterdeck.

"Uh oh, looks like someone can't hold his drink," chuckled Ned Torrington. "Nor his food! Thar she blows!"

"Hush Ned," Billy whispered, for he had recognized Mister De Guarde.



[OOC - I don't think De Guarde's servant had a name yet, (did he?) so I'll make him Johnny Stenhouse who had a cameo appearance on the Berry. Or the Sparrow. I can't remember now.]

The dancing and merriment were, for the most part, over. Many seamen had begun driftin back below-decks in search of some quiet so they might sleep, while others remained topside and entertained themselves with jokes, story-telling, or wood-carving. Chase himself was content to perch on the larboard deck rail despite his heavily-bandaged torso and simply listen to the conversations going on around him.

Like the others still on deck however, he had of course seen Mister De Guarde reappear topside and subsequently empty his guts over the side. Thus it was, when Billy Barrow had shushed Ned Torrington, that Chase had said, "Serves the blaggard right, it does!" and offered a grim, merciless grin to give his words more significance. He didn't care if the young midshipman disgraced himself, as long as De Guarde learned to recognise his own place in the ship's hierarchy.


OOC - I apologise if there are any errors in this post or future posts from me. My "A" key seems to be sticking and it is a bit of a chore to post when I have to constantly go back and make sure that everything is dress right dress. *embarrassed*