Libertymen Ashore, 23rd May, Oporto

Dyer pulled his hand away from Shepherd's mouth, deciding the drummer wouldn't try yelling again. "Hbim bretentin' ta de a Tar cause Tars biss tha detter lod," he said, grinning.

"Shut up your poor nose, Chicken, an' stuff some cheese down your neck," Chase teased as he handed his mate some bread with cheese.

"Thankee, Miss, mos' kind! Very most!" The boy grinned, made a real deep bow, near toppled over his very two feet and seated himself again. He arched an eyebrow at Dyer and murmured. "What 'appened to you?" He glanced at Thompson and felt amused at how most others, well all others were dressed in Tar's clothes, but only George was there standing out like a sore thumb with his red coat.

"Don't ye tell me ye want ter become a Tar, though... jus' as 'e... I THINK... wanted to say." He indicated the Tar in question. "We's best anyhow." he said so without even realising how he had condemned himself to being one of the Tars.

"You ain't," Thompson retorted, amused. "Why d'you think I'm stickin' with you? Just 'cause it's amusin'?" He grinned and took a mouthful of bread and cheese. He wasn't even sure quite why he was spending his run ashore in company with a bunch of Tars - and one lad pretending to be a Tar - but it was more fun, so far, than it would have been with McEwen, Lakey and Shriver and whoever else had managed to get permission to join the liberty-boat.

Shepherd shook his head. "Ain't a Tar, me. Got a better life wearin' a drum!"

The seamen chuckled. Chase grinned at Thompson and gave a half-bow from where he was sitting on the table. "Course it's amusin with us 'round. We ain't gettin' took for soldiers by our coats, are we?"

" 'Sides," Preddie added, "If you wasn't with us, we never woulda had that tidy bit of fightin' earlier!"

"Ye'd be bored stiff, you would, if ye didn't have us.. ter keep things all a' interesting. Like him there, firing broadsides of muck at them..... others." He was quick to omit the word even if the girl might not have understood anything of what they've spoken.

He giggled as he saw Chase bow, and clapped his hands, careful not to send bread crumbs all over the table.

"Wot'.. bit?" He asked looking at Preddie. He hadn't remembered no fighting, no. Not one that he'd seen any of them in, though he'd heard some squabble or other too.

"They must be blind as bats if they think I'm a common swaddy like they is," Thompson retorted. "Can't they tell I got me a proper hat? Not like them things those soldier wear on their heads. What's the use of them? Too high, too heavy, ain't goin' to keep the rain off..." He shrugged and took another mouthful of bread and cheesee. "Dis'n's awfoo goo, i' iss."

"Oh we had a bit of a disagreement with 'em," Preddie replied airily, helping himself to another hunk of bread.

Chase grinned. "Somethin' like that. S'a different way to spend our liberty though!" The topman cast a glance at Thompson and shook his head. "Ain't much better than us Tars, Thompson. Not chewin' your food an' all!"

"Dun' speak wif' you' moff." De Guarde scolded the marine, though he was guilty of the very same crime. He grinned gulping his bite down. "somebody's goin' ter be chokin' soon.. if ye lot eat like that." Again, it was rather odd to have the lad complain about something he was no better doing. Midshipmen were famed for their hunger, but as a
Tar he was no better, he just didn't feel as if he needed to eat in a certain sort of manner. Even so, he might've not be as bad as some of the Tars.

"Your disagreement ..ain't going ter get us all in trouble is it?" But they were safe here, weren't they?

"'S shooin'," Thompson said. It was the fact that he was talking while chewing that was probably what Chase meant - or rather, that he'd paused in chewing to talk. "Ain't nobody goin' to choke, lad. Ain't like eatin' hard-tack, arter all. "Ice chee, iss," he said, taking another bite. They might nt be doing exactly what they'd planned, but getting decent food was worth the slight adjustment in their plans, in Thompson's opinion.

Preddie shook his head in mock despair. "Ain't no teachin' Marines," he remarked.

"Most of 'em, anyway," Chase corrected. "Think we got a chance with young Shepherd here."

Shepherd made a face when Chase slung a companionable arm about his shoulders, but it was all in good humour.

"That disagreement weren't so bad," the topman added carelessly, breaking off another hunk of cheese for himself. "A couple lads got knocked down and their provosts came swarmin' in like it was a great big battle."

"By god there ain't no understanding a marine with his mouth full. N' I've no idea what you've jus' said either, George!" The lad grinned and turned from the chewing marine of to young Shepherd looking anything but a marine in his Tar slops.

"If he ain't careful he'll turn into a Tar sooner than he'll know to say what!" He smirked at the twin. Then glanced at Chase: ".. the provosts are trouble though, ain't they?.. 's.. aren't they the sort that think to arrest good people for silly things? The only battle they be fighting is the one against drunkards of their own side?"

"I said, I is chewing, an' it's nice cheese. Tars! You hafta talk the King's English to make 'em understand anythin'!" Thompson grinned. "Bloody soldiers don't know a friendly fight when they see one. All we done was stick up for ourselves an' suddenly they'm yellin' for our blood... or as near as dammit. Makes me happy I'm a Marine, them idiots do. Disgrace to a decent red coat, them." He brushed a few crumbs off his own red sleeve. "Reckon they'd have to hold onto the floor so's not to fall off it, an' that after one pint."

"Ain't that the truth," Chase agreed. "But they're soldiers, ain't they? Only good for marchin' 'round like mindless toys, an' all."

Taylor shrugged. "Maybe that's so, but they got their provosts onta us, which ain't no good for us!"

"But the provosts don't know any of you or which ship yer come from?...Well any of us." He didn't know who all the provosts would go after. Perhaps he was safe seeing as he hadn't gotten into a fight just then, perhaps not.

"Shouldn' we be goin' someplace else quickly after we've eaten then?.. If they provsts are after us they might be comin' ter look 'ere next! N' it won't be no good thing if they do!" He grinned. "Proud yer can 'old your drink , George.. eh Thompson?"

"I dunno 'bout that... Someone yelled Terpsy's name out. An' unless they really as as thick as a coupla bricks, that'll put 'em right onto us. Least they didn't catch any names. Don't think they saw any faces, neither." He grinned. "Reckon we'm all right here for a bit longer. They didn't see us come in, after all... went chasin' shadows right past the door here."

Chase shrugged. "Maybe they'll get it, maybe not. Don't matter, long's we got this comfy mess t'ourselves fer now."

" 'Cept it ain't got any rum," Taylor grumbled.

"Mebbe not, but there's no provosts stompin' in to spoil everythin' either," Preddie countered. "An' that makes it worth it."

"Could send t' lass there ter fetch it from t' other tav'." De Guarde murmured, though he was the one least concerned with the lack of drink. Having drunk one that belonged to Thompson rather dry, and drunk his own, he was just getting to the point where the world was changing itself in his mind, and he was, for some reason or other, finding the life rather amusing and uncomplicated.

"Provosts ain't smart. they're landlubbers any'ow. Won't touch our ships not even with an oar.. um.. or a really long stick." Which, as he thought of it, made little sense or point, but he shrugged and looked at the mug disappointed. Thompson ought to have had more of that in the mug! Atleast the bread had been real fine and soft, a true bliss to the usual hard tack and to the food that not only seemed to lack a different taste but also that of recognition as to what they were eating at all. Tar's food could only have been worse.

"Lissen!" He suddenly exclaimed as if there was something, a provost or other sort of danger, suddenly at the door. Then after that moment he burst into giggles, for he had heard none or seen none. It was silly, childish but he was also somewhat drunk, so perhaps it was something in need to be forgiven.. soon?

Thompson wouldn't have minded being able to finish his tankard up, but it looked as though de Guarde had already emptied it for him. Ah well.

He shrugged ruefully at Taylor's grumbling, and opened his mouth to reply before de Guarde told them to listen. He froze, as did the others, and listened. He couldn't hear anything, and turned to look at the boy. "You'm goin' to talk yourself into a whole load o' trouble, you keep all-on playin' tricks like that," he said, and took the tankard from him, holding it out to the woman.

He couldn't speak her language, of course, but one of his old shipmates aboard Calypso had been Italian, and he hoped the two languages were close enough. "Vino?" he asked, hopefully. It might not be rum, but it would be something, even if it was only the thin sour stuff they called blackstrap.

"Aye, vino," Chase seconded, after satisfying himself that De Guarde's warning was nothing more than a falsehood. A glass of good wine would be the perfect cap to the bread and cheese.

"Once we're done, lads," Preddie said. "Mebbe we better see 'bout findin' the others, an' go on with havin' a proper liberty."

"Trouble?" The boy grinned innocently, not fazed by the warning at all, or what actual trickery could bring. He scowled as his mug was taken away, even if it was empty and it shouldn't have mattered. He blinked , perking to attention as he heard the order, right before he came to a conclusion that it was probably for Thompson himself.

"Wot's a proper Tar's liberty? "He asked as he spared a glance at Preddie.

The woman threw up her hands and rolled her eyes, but rooted for a bottle of wine. Thompson smiled gratefully at her and dug in his pocket before holding out a sixpence, which she took, muttering under her breath in Portuguese as she handed the bottle over. The only words Thompson caught were something about 'los Ingleses' and even that didn't make much sense.

He looked around at the others. "Anyone mind sharin' the same cup? 'Cause else you'm going to have to ask her yourself for another one. An' I ain't payin' for all you lot, neither."

Chase glanced at the others, then shrugged. "S'fine by us," he said. "We want to keep our coin fer later." The topman grinned at De Guarde. "A proper Tar's liberty, me lad, starts in a tavern, moves to a cat-house, an' ends in a tavern."

"Which we started out right," Preddie added. " 'Cept we ain't made it to the cat-house yet!"

"Don' mind sharin' me." Well, if the price for a mug of wine was a sharing of the mug, the boy, giggling and somewhat drunk, would not have spared a moment's thought to decide on it. He squinted his eyes and leaned on his elbows, turning his attention fully at Chase. Atleast for the time that it took to recognize and listen to his words.

"cat-house? What's that?" He asked not believing that a house full of cats was something that Chase or any of the other Tars would fancy. They had miss Emily, so it wasn't exactly as if they were missing her so much now.

Thompson grinned and filled the tankard, taking a swig before passing it to Taylor. He closed his eyes momentarily at Chase's description of a proper run ashore and de Guarde's question.

"No, lad. A cat-house is... Well, it's another name for a brothel," he said. It wasn't as though that wasn't exactly what he'd been planning to do himself, but he had no idea how de Guarde would take it if they took him to one.

"Brothel?" The lad paused a moment, and tried to speak the word again, for the first time his tongue had twisted a little and he'd made it sound quite odd. This time around he was pronouncing it perfectly and he grinned. He thought he knew about such a place, had been told it, but as if there was some great need to, he asked: "We's going there? That's t' ladies' .. t' lasses's house?"

Boy was that word hard to say. Lasses's.. or did he say it wrong? It did not matter. He leaned back.