24th May, Morning - Deck

"No, I haven't told them yet.. n' I can still arrange for such a garment if you'll have wanted to play with it." He answered and hoped he sounded serious even if he was indeed teasing his friend. He did not mind, though perhaps his parents would. "I am from a nice family like mine and I have chosen ter talk with you. Now tell me, should Mr. Leat have wanted to talk with a mere Tar? Mister Bush with a midshipmen in anything but formal manner? Even if, would I have wanted to? You don't be trying ter come out of talking to me, ye silly lobster. You've made the mistake of talking with me fer t' first time, now all you is, is stuck with it. Like it or no!"

He chuckled though knew that there would be much telling and writing that his parents might be ready. He was, but they were set in their ways and so needed not to know all. He did not feel ashamed of his friend, not really.

"Hmph.. I have two." He raised the other so that Thompson could see it. "It'd be an awful thing if I hadn't." He murmured and turned it infront of him. "I just.. ain't used to.. smackin' n' still seeing you grin."

"Well, you'd best tell 'em soon afore tellin' 'em will give 'em a proper scare," Thompson said and looked at de Guarde's other hand. "Well, so you do have two of 'em. An' I know that was jus' a bit of fun an' you didn't mean it for anythin' else. An' I like talkin' with you, an' all. Don't think I ever said as I didn't." He grinned at the boy. "You's all right, Mathew, really."

"George. If you want I can write them that in my next letter, but really... I don't suppose it should change much, and should it, I will make it so that it won't. If others can bring their friends home, why could I not? " He shrugged.

"Good, I did mean it fer fun, not fer something bad. N' you's alright too George. You know that yeself.. but I'm telling it too, that i'm glad I've ..started talking to you even if the time was the worst possible.. and I'm not sure If i've yet said thank you for arrangin' that my Tar slops were arranged quickly. So... thank you."

"I was only sayin'. It's up to you what you tell your folks - I won't make you say anythin' you don't want to. An' I know you din't mean it for anythin' bad - I've had enough times where I've bin hit for real that I know the diff'rence."

He shrugged, smiling. "Was worth nearly gettin' in trouble with Mister George to help you out. For sure, I know I'd've wanted someone to do it for me, if I was in your shoes."

"Oh, don' ye think I'd be 'shamed of you. I ain't. My friends might have different views on life, but then.. there's things worth ter make an exception for." He withdrew his hand and though he had an urge to briefly tug at his sleeve he instead clasped it down on his knee.

"I don't think I'd be strong enough to hit you so that it would count. " He smiled and brushed his hand over his forehead as if moving strands away from it. He knew there were none, the hair held fast how Thompson had fixed it.

"It took lots to do it for someone you didn't know that well. Your kind.. it's rare, you know George?"

"I didn't think you'd be 'shamed of me so much as... as what I am an' where I come from," Thompson said simply, resting his chin on his knee. "It didn't take lots at all though. I s'pose if I'd thought 'bout it, I wouldn't have done it, not after... after Cob had bin at the gratin'. But all I saw was a young lad who was real upset, jus' had his whole world turned topsy-turvy, an' I couldn't not try to help, a bit."

And it had only been a bit, too. He remembered feeling a little glad that the boy had been disrated and couldn't hurt anyone else as he had Cob Chase, but equally, all he'd seen at the time was a young boy who looked completely lost and totally crushed by events he couldn't understand.

"You's George Thompson, n' ye came from Chatham." He answered with a grin. "There's no doubt 'bout that." And then his grin waned a little and as he listened he knew he was lucky that Thompson hadn't thought too much on it and that he had seen him, not as a spoiled middie, but just as a boy. The sort that was afraid, lost and yes, thought he would probably not have survived the first day, let alone a week.

"Well.. sometimes not thinkin' too much on things n' listening ter yer inner sense is better. Well, for me it was at least. " He smiled and looked around them. "...t' day before was fun. .wasn't it?.. For you I mean." As if he didn't know what happened or wasn't there. He didn't want someone who did not know overhearing and thus jeopardizing his way to the shore.

"Day before? Oh. Yesterday." He gave a shrug, though he was grinning. "It was pretty hood, aye. Got in a bit of a fight with a bunch of soldiers, though. Ended up havin' to try an' dodge their provosts - they's a bit like the master-at-arms, 'sponsible for discipline an' all that stuff." He glanced at the lad sitting beside him. "You want to try stayin' away from fights and all that sort of thing when you get ashore later. Try an' keep your good character with the captain, see."

"No fights, no startin' them, no finishin' them.. no takin' part in them. Got it." He looked more worried about the mention of the fight. He remembered hearing about it the day earlier, he remembered the provosts looking for them but there were no master-at-arms trying to get at them.

"George... you're safe from them , ain't you?.. they only work for t' army..n' you ain't that!" All said in whisper though, not wanting to allow any ears of the ship to hear of it. Not even if they'd remain quiet.

"Should be. Like you say, I ain't Army... though I think they saw me jacket, I dunno that they saw me hat. They ain't got no names, anyhow." He shrugged. The provosts knew that the fight had been between sailors and Army - and there was only one Royal Naval vessel those sailors could have come from. If they want to try to cause trouble, let 'em, he thought.

"Shhh though. Ain't nobody should hear you. " He pressed his finger to his lips. "Least a middie or someone.. Jus' keep behaving all well now on ship and.. well, stay out of sight.. I think. Though they couldn't really recognise you. 'twas dark yesterday n' anyway.. can't tell one marine from another.. them lot." He smiled. "Best we dun' talk about that! So, you on duty real soon? You's goin' to have drill or are you going to help out with us?"

"Ain't nobody here goin' to give another Terpsy away," Thompson said with a shrug. "Don't think they saw me, anyhow. I'm on duty later and we've prob'ly got drill or summat 'tween now an' then. Dunno, though. 'Pends what Sar'nt Quinn an' Mister Cartwright have in mind, o' course."

"No, but the officers might have ye in trouble even so." He touched his chin thoughtfully and leaned back a little, making sure he still held his balance. No sense in falling backwards, just because he misjudged his position.

He yawned and stretched and then covered his mouth. He hadn't slept all that well or much. "..Mm'.. You marines sleep any longer than us Tars?" He asked, not even thinking much about his question and whether he would know the answer already.

"Mebbe," he said. "Terpsy's officers ain't goin' to do somethin' like that deliberate-like, though. They ain't the sort who'd hand you over to the Army meek as anythin' without kickin' up a stink over it." He shrugged. "Depends on whether we'm on duty durin' the night. If we are, we get as much sleep as any sailor, an' if not, we get to sleep the night through. It ain't allus the same folks on duty all the time, neither, which makes it proper fair."

"No.. I guess they wouldn't. If anything they would keep it here, on board Terpsy.. and solve t' sort of thing." He touched his temple. "You sleep more than us on some nights then, n' t' same on others?" He inquired learning things that might never be needed when he was promoted and yet he was curious about learning.

After a moment of thought, and gazing around them as if evaluating the time they have spent on things and preparations and some other deeper thoughts of what they no longer needed or had. "..now that t' horses are gone we won't be wasting as much water on them.., will do so on any lifestock we might get...n' have. Need ter make sure our supplies are adequate, though we might be lucky not to need to do any blockage..too small fer that. But we could go off chasing t' French and if we do so, we should have enough water and food that a longer chase will not strain our supplies. We've had one escape us... and perhaps this time we might spot him again. Should be ready then!" He paused and grinned. "Sorry.. was... thinkin' aloud."

"Aye, we do. We don't have all the same sort of duties where it means we have to keep watch-an'-watch, y'see." He put the knife away and turned the model figurehead over, looking at it. "Well, we got more room for stores now them horses are gone. Which means we can be away from land for much longer. So... who know where we might end up goin'?"

"..Doubt it will be far. What with war going on. We're lucky not ter be too big, so we're not 'zactly staying put like a blockage...still, we might well be used for other errands , or chasin' around invisible foes... or if we're lucky... going along t' coast and setting food down in more places than that. Don't think we'll even take and prisoners." He stood. "...Though... 'nway you'll hate me fer talkin' that much..or yeself for listenin'.. now 'fore we're called to whatnots..is there anything ye'd be wanting to do. Not that'un you have much choice, n'all that."

"Blockage....? Oh, you mean a blockade - that's the proper word for it. Borin' old stuff, that, all beatin' up an' down in all weathers tryin' to keep on station. No, Mathew lad, Terpsy's a frigate. Too small for the line o' battle, we's the eyes of the fleet. We've got the best chance o' prize money bein' where we are."

He indicated the masts and spars towering above them. "You see a frigate under sail, Mathew an' she's got more sail for her size than a first-rate. Means we got more speed - our Terpsy fair flies when she's got her head an' a good wind in her riggin'."

"Said so, didn't I." He made a face and crossed his hands over his chest. "Hmph.. sure she does fly.. but she's not as strong as them big ones...fewer people too, dunno what sort of patronage Mister Bolitho can be ter t' middies and lieutenants."

He gazed up and studied the masts quietly. "What do you think we'll be sent to do?"

"Cap'n Bolitho's got connections, right enough. He's Post, ain't he, this here bein' a post ship. An' I served on big ships, aye an' small ones too an' I know where I'd rather be."

He laced his fingers together and put his hands behind his head, leaning back against the ship's side. "I dunno. Could be the West Indies. Could be... the South Seas. Or India... anywhere. I'd like it fine if it was som'ers warm, though. Me an' the cold, we don't get on too good, see."

"True.. but is he got connections for us...them. The middies and lieutenants?....If he got them.. in a way, it's bad for me. He can turn ter hate me, and there.. no way I'll ever become anything but what I am, know what i mean. Connections work both ways. For good and for bad."

He studied Thompson for a moment seeing him leaning back so. "We could bet on...where we might be goin'. ...You make a bet, n' I make one and once we learn 'bout it..or.. that wouldn't be legal would it." He dropped back down. "..How much time do we have till we need ter be going t' our duties?" He inquired, glancing again at his friend.

"I think it works that ev'ry officer makes his own c'nections. I don't really understand it all, me not bein' a gennelman an' all." He looked at de Guarde in concern. "You'm jus' a lad. He don't hate you - ain't no reason for that. Honest, there ain't. I think it's jus' he don't like that, well, the way you was when you come here to start with. Like the rest of us didn't much."

He smiled. "I don't worry 'bout where the ship I'm in is goin'. Ain't nothin' I can do to change it, after all. I jus' do me duty, like, an' that's the same whether I'm in the West Indies or on blockade off Brest." He glanced aft. "I think it's about five bells, summat like that. Which means there's another three bells - hour an' a half - till the end o' this watch."

"A while ago I'd have gone on a rampage hearin' anybody ever say that to me face ye know." He looked at his hand and the scar that was mirrored on both sides. On one it was perhaps just slightly longer than on the other, revealing where the wound had been begun and where ended. He traced his fore and middle finger across it absentmindedly and sighed.

"Now.. I know you'd have been justified." He looked up. "Still.. I hope you are right and that he won't nor does not hate me......" He grunted. "...Being a lad or not.. i am...was as close to being a full officer as can be. That is.. ..well you know what sort." He touched his brow. "..You're wise. People ought never to try.. n' go thinking and worrying about things they can't change. Easier to accept it, ain't it?... N' easier to have your mind on greater things sooner or atleast on those that summat can be done about. Like if there's trouble with the Tars, that's something you can change. You talk or you fight it out. But if there's something the matter with the lieutenant's decision ...or the captains even more so, it's best ter hold yer tongue , nod and hope that all will be well. "

He nodded as he thought about the amount of time that they still had. "Wot' about I get me writting things again, and I teach you some more? That is, unless you ain't wanting to do summat else or the work 'ere." He grinned. "Then I'll only exhaust you with me talk..." He blushed. "Which ..which is your fault, really!"

"Yeah, but you've more sense now," Thompson said, smiling. "An' a middy ain't a full officer, you know that. Or you wouldn't be where you are now, would you?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "Ain't wise. Jus' seen a bit o' life an' how it treats people, haven't I? If that makes me wise... well, then it does. An' you can't change other people. You can only change yourself. But you can show other people how they ought to be."

He ran a thumb over the partially completed model of Terpsy's figurehead. "We got time, ain't we? You go an' get your stuff, then, unless you'd rather talk with me. But that'd be just grand, learnin' a bit more writin' an' all."

"Nor would I be leading a long relationship with the gunner's daughter was a midshipman a proper officer , as officer like as a lieutenant. " He aknowledged and confirmed Thompson's words, shifting his position to feel more comfortable and have no muscle threaten to be stretched nor a cramp to hurt his concentration.

" Still, I seem to do so, without much trial. That is, meetin' the gunner's daughter without having a proper hearing infront of many first. " He observed the shaped wood, smiling, as he could make out the figurehead, so familiar to all that served on her. She was nice, and she would be even more defined under the hand and sharp edge of the knife that Thompson used.

"You can't change t' people unless they want ter be changed themselves. Is like you can't make a blind man see, though if he were to be convinced to attempt to open his eyes, and then see.. well.. I can't call him a blind man, though he was blind till he heeded advice and so convinced in his ways that he could see nothing else." He paused and laughed. "I hope I've not confused you there!" And then he jumped up and tugged at his slops gazing about them briefly. The captain he did not see, but was certain was somewhere aboard. Captain Bolitho that , though he loathed the decision he had made, he respected now that he understood his reasons.

Surely he would not have spoken out against the decision though, or said he doubted his reasons or his decision. It was a dangerous talk to expect let alone demand that his opinion was heeded by his superior.

He smiled. "I can still talk and teach you something new, which will benefit you surely." He said simply and rubbed his hand over his hair, making though sure he did not make a mess of it. "So's.. you wait here, I'll be quick." He turned to go, and glanced over his shoulder. "Practice rememberin' how to write your name while I'm away. You'll be questioned on it firs' when I'm back." He lowered his gaze to the figurehead. "She's real lovely, you know."