A dirty business

"..but.. ought I forget wot' I was born as... jus' because of this?.."And then he was silent and he nodded faintly when asked about a prank. There were some pranks, and jokes and such. He knew of them. On the ship even, amongst the midshipmen. Though few would've been called light hearted, possibly.

"..I know wot' ye mean .. 's just. " He sighed. He could not explain it to Thompson. "I'm tryin' alright. ..I could've had Oxley reported for all this.. n' ye see I didn't. ...We tripped, I said. N' I kept it that way." He looked near fiercly at Thompson - as fierce as one eye could look. "Wosn' only because o' protectin' meself!" And then he was quiet again.

(OOC - so sorry!! ._. but this middie needs to have his hand rest ..so it goes completely well. And needs rest hisself too! See you tomorrow!!)

"I know that. An' thank you f'r it, 'cause I don't reckon it was easy to make your mind up to do that. I don't think Oxley knows how hard you'm findin' it, though, or he prob'ly wouldn't've done it. And that's why I need to talk with him, an' I reckon he'll want to 'pologise to you. But I don't want you throwin' it back in his face, 'cause he don't find it easy to say sorry, not really. An then mebbe you should keep away fr'm each other in future."

Thompson couldn't see the two boys getting to be friends, not after such a disastrous introduction to each other, but stranger things had happened, especially where boys were concerned. But that was in the future - weeks ahead if it ever happened at all, probably, and Thompson was more concerned with the present.

(OOC - Night! See you tomorrow!)

"We'um on a ship, not t' larges' one at that. N' he's a drummer boy. Ain't easy not ter see a marine up close 'ere. Unless they'um injured n' stayin' in t' sickbay. N' even then.. well, " He shook his head with a frown. "Ye'um really going ter talk to him, n' have him apologise?" He asked at last. It was what he demanded from Oxley himself, and recieved only more scorn.

"If'um he means it.. then I'll think 'bout it. "

He smiled more brightly then. "...N' thanks fer comin' down 'ere, George. Mus' a been hard with t' injury there. " He looked thoughtful then smiled :" Oh, you still know how ter sign yer name? Ye haven't forgotten, have ye?"

"I think you should apologise to him as well, acause you shouldn't've gone for his wrist. And it's only fair. But yes, I will talk with him."

He grinned. "That's all right, lad. Haven't seen you in a bit, like. Wasn't so hard to get here, neither. Gettin' back up is goin' to be the tricky bit." He nodded at the lad's final question. "Aye, I 'member how to sign me name. Might be a bit slow with it, 'cause I ain't used to it, but I c'n still do it. An' thanks f' showin' me how."

"I only went fer his wrist 'cos he's.. like 17 n' I'm me own 14. I'm neither as strong as him nor as tall. 'twas evening t' odds..." He paused for he had now openly admitted it was a fight and not a trip. "... ah.. well, yer know." There wasn't anybody listening in on them, so if he'd said it to Thompson he could trust the man.

He smiled again: "Ah, You should just practice more. Practice , practice, practice. S' like drill. Ye do it more often, n' ye can do it finer, faster. " He looked thoughtful :" ..Hm.. Would you want ter.... learn more than jus' yer name?"

"Shouldn't have started fightin', then, neither of you. But howsomedever, you did, so you should both be prepared to say sorry to t'other one." Boys - it would have been strange if de Guarde hadn't had a fight by now, but why pick one with Oxley, who was both taller and stronger than him? That didn't make sense - unless it was de Guarde who'd started it, which Thompson thought was the most likely thing to have happened.

He nodded. "I'd like to learn more, aye. That'd be real nice, that would."

"Hmph." He was still a young one by some aspects, and being a stubborn little Tar was perhaps one of them. Even the reactions he had sometimes would have no adult to do them. Whether that was good or bad?

"I'um offerin' ter teach you then. "

"You should, you know." Thompson spoke gently. "How would you like it if you apologised to him and he didn't apologise to you back? Like you said, it's a small ship. You won't be able to keep away from each other all the time, and won't do either of you any good gettin' eaten up inside 'cause you resent each other."

He fell silent. de Guarde's sudden offer made him blink in surprise. "You'd do that? I'd like it right well, lad, if'n you mean it."

"Well.. if he'um really , really, really mean it.. then..." He faintly nodded. His mind was right at the other that Thompson had said and there he smiled. "Lesse... I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. Not to you. Ye'um..."

He hesitated. " George, ye'um bein' me friend, it'd be cruel to tease ye like that. So , aye I'um an offerin' ye that and when ye have time I'll give.. well show it ter ye, but only if you do practice.. eh? So ye'um remember."

"It's a fine thing to have a friend, lad, ain't it?" He wondered if de Guarde would make friends with any of the other boys aboard. A boy should have friends of his own age.

"I'd like it right well, lad, an' I'll practise when I can. Have to find a slate or summat, though, I think. Mebbe a bit o' paper an' a pencil. Summat like that." He smiled. "An' thanks, for showin' me how to write me name. Nobody ever done that for me afore."

De Guarde nodded. It did feel fine to have a friend. Being able to talk about the troubles like this, he felt he could trust Thompson and that felt nice. There were things he'd still not go up and tell him and that night he'd gone up on his own, was perhaps one of the times not even he could have helped. But otherwise it felt better for sure.

"I'll get yer paper, n' if we stop at a port n' ye get leave I'll tell ye wot' ter by. Till then I can get you some... n' we'll just practice more on one piece, till no spot is free from ink." He nodded lightly: "..Oy... I didn't know it meant so much to ye, but....'s gladly done. George." He meant it, and as he turned again from the stallion he was smiling contently.

"Think t' horses should be excercised summat.. so their legs don't turn all stiff. 's bad for their health, not moving much n' so." He patted Copenhagen then ducked as the horse made a swipe at him. "Though.. I might think this one deserves it!"

"Just you think 'bout it a moment, lad," Thompson said. "Try to imagine that you can't write, can't read, nothin'. An' you've bin away from home for years, an' then someone offers to write for you, to learn you to read, even, to help you learn to write. O' course it means a lot to me."

He shrugged and looked at the horse de Guarde was tending to. "Them horses is only goin' to be at sea f'r a week or so, no more'n that. Goin' without exercise for just a week won't harm 'em none, and they'm likely goin' to get enough exercise when they land anyhow."

"Aye. 's hard ter imagine at first, but then thinkin' of it. N' t' way you said it. I guess I can see how much it means. N'...I'm real glad I can give you summat like that. Though I'm sure there'd be others who could do the same." De Guarde answered taking a step from the stallion.

"Even a week, no good fer them not walkin' at all. 's like with a human.. um.. ye be lyin' down all day every day. .. n' ye feel all weak when ye have ter walk for long? Like that.. just that them 'rent sitting or lyin'! Tenses up t' muscles with em I think. Well, no long harm aye, but they'll need ter be walked carefully till they remember how ter do it again!" He grinned. "Imagine a horse goin' down t' plank tumblin' jus' cos' he's forgotten how to move 'is feet!"

"There ain't bin anyone in six years who'd do that, lad."

He grinned, looking at the horse. "I think they'll make 'em swim ashore. Much easier an' safer all round, that." He shrugged. "I don't know nothin' about horses, really. Used to earn a penny sometimes, holdin' horses for gentlemen as went visitin' their friends in the Navy. Y'see, there was inns an' such up along the High Street, and the Navy officers used to take rooms there. An' sometimes their friends'd come visitin, an' we'd offer to hold their horses for 'em."

He shrugged. "They'd only do it if they was payin' a short visit. Other times the horses would go round to the stables. An' we used to get a penny or so for it. An' that's the most I ever had to do with horses."

"Well 's safer unless they drown.. if they do then.." He grinned :" Well then it sure wasn't safe!"

He looked curiously at Thompson as he explained his time with the horses. He, though a gentleman, hadn't personally had to do as much with horses as some. Still he realised, that he'd done more than Thompson and he'd learned more from taking care of the stallion and mares and watching the groom which had given a few choice words of wisdom also.

"Ever got bitten by one of em'? T' ones ye had ter hold n' watch while t' officers were 'avin' their time?"

Thompson shook his head. "No, I never did. I was pretty lucky, I think - some of they horses was nasty big brutes."

And of course his childhood was completely different from de Guarde's. He wondered if the boy would ever realise how lucky he'd been, and how different things could have been if he'd been born somewhere else, or if his parents hadn't had the money they had.

"I see. Well, ye sure were lucky. Or kicked fer that matter. Could break a leg if it hit right. Come ter spook him and.." He rubbed his hands together making a few steps from the horse. He leaned down, picked the shovel, removed some of the dung and balancing what he held carefully as he walked, dumped it into the bucket. He made a face at the smell.

The stallion shifted his weight on his feet, lifted his tail and it looked as if he was about to give more work to the boy, when all he did was a nice little release of air.

Smelly, but rather clean. Mathew raised an eyebrow at the sound and smell and scowled." Oy, ye. 's stuffy enough without you doin' it!" He turned to Thompson and bowed playful and grinned: "I Would like to apologise for our guest here. He has.. little to no manners at all!"

Thompson fanned the air in front of his face. "So I... smell. Rude thing. Don't you think you c'n come aboard any ship I'm on in future, Mister Smelly Horse!"

He watched the boy working for another moment or two before speaking again. "So, how are you findin' it, then?"

He broke in soft chuckles, perhaps even more like laughter at Thompson's addressing of the horse. Then the laughter died out.

"Findin' it?" De Guarde hefted the last of the horse shit and tipped it over into the bucket wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve. "Findin' wot'?" He asked.

Thompson grinned as he indicated the hold and the horses. "Not this, obviously. I meant, how're you gettin' on with Cob and the others? Have you talked with 'em yet? 'Cause I can't believe you spend mealtimes sittin' there in silence. That wouldn't be like you at all."

"You'd be surprised.." He shrugged his shoulders faintly and rested the shovel beside the wall. Then he turned to Thompson, the hay was there to be brought over and then the mares checked. It could wait a moment.

"..I've talked with Chase... he ..um he helped me with me mess cook duties. N'..Chicken, t' Tar .." He was trying to find the right words. "I'm copin'. There's some sailors that'd rather see me out of their mess as fast as they could throw me too."

"There's allus one or two, lad. An' if'n it's only one of him, he might put to shift his mess at the end of the month. Only, if you've got Cob and Chicken helpin' you, you'm in a fair way to gettin' to be accepted by the others." He nodded. "I reckon you'll do it, lad. I really do."

"..In a way..." He looked hesitant to admit it. ".. In a way I do want ter... I dun' know why.. but I do. But more I want ter be middie ofcourse. Nae' ye think any different!..."

"Though I'um doubtin' it'll be as easy, gettin' accepted that is. 'tleast we didn't have two new middies comin'." He looked seriously at Thompson. "If we did. .then um'.. even if I were like ye Terpsy want it, it would do no good a all. "

He touched the bandage on his eye. " Though ..Chase 's trying. I wos' watchin' ye see. N' I think he's puttin' his head on t' line.. sort of, against some o' his peers. Not always, n' he smacked me too! Bu'.. I don't know. N' ye do it too.. Well, do you? Does anyone give ye a hard time fer talkin' t' me?"

"I didn't say as it'd be easy, y'know. But sometimes, the things most worth doin' are the hardest things to do."

He nodded. "Don't make it too hard for him, will you? And you can't go through life never gettin' hit. I don't think the other Marines understand it, prop'ly. And Beech has had some things to say, but he ain't part of my mess, an' it's not like they see you all the time anyways."

"Ha.. George, ye'um tellin' t' wrong lad, that he can't go trhough life not being hit. Ye know.. I've ..well you know Johnson." He shook his head as if in disbelief that Thompson would not think of that.

"So, they'um not right for it, that ye talk to me?" He asked more curiously. He knew that the opinion of others weren't to high. Oxley was good to point it out, and even he wasn't the only one.