|
Post by Carrow on Apr 20, 2010 15:38:12 GMT -5
Cerinus smiled a little to himself when his pine marten friend neglected to mention the bullying ferret as a candidate for mess cook. He hardly knew the creature at all, but something told him that such a beast wouldn't exactly be appreciative of having to do such a thing - having to do menial chores full stop.
The mouse nodded in a satisfied manner when Caden responded to his request. Well, they certainly had the time to manage such a thing, but finding a suitably private area would be an entirely different matter. He told himself that he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
He tucked into his meat, and found that it tasted saltier than it normally would, but then again he supposed things like this had to be done to keep the food fresh. It certainly wasn't unpleasant, something he could get used to with a little time. He smacked his lips appreciatively. This was more or less a full meal!
"Mmm, this is good," he said in between bites of beef, alternating with sips of water. He found that the level of liquid in the container was diminishing rather rapidly as a result of all that salt. Oh well, he thought, continuing to eat, a look of great relish upon his face as he did so.
Soon, he had polished off his meat. It was unusual for the long-tailed field mouse to approach a meal in such a way (dealing with any meat he had been given first), but he was starving. The level of water in the container had now dropped to halfway as he moved on to his peas.
He took a heap up in the spoon he had nearby and swallowed them, chewing a little before doing so. They were rather sweet, possessing a sort of sugary kick that he wasn't entirely accustomed to. It definitely agreed with him though, as he was making impressive headway. He was certainly more suited to the peas than Caden.
He stopped for a moment, addressing the group. "How's everyone finding their food? Hah, I didn't actually think it would be this good - you know, after all the things we heard about vittles on board a ship!," he exclaimed with a chuckle, taking another sip.
There was something Cerinus always did when eating, however: he always saved the best for last, and this was of course why he had been saving the cheese. He began cutting away at it, taking a slice here and there, and nibbling his most favourite of edibles. This particular cheese had a very nice taste!
He continued eating, nodding again when Caden mentioned how they might meet up for their planned talk. He was looking forward to speaking to him in private, because he needed to open up to somebeast about the things that were troubling him, and his friend was as good as any creature.
|
|
|
Post by spender on Apr 21, 2010 21:33:46 GMT -5
Spender had a singular view on foodstuffs. It rarely mattered what it looked and felt like in his mouth, because the way he saw it, by the time it went down his throat it looked like throw-up anyhow. And talking during meals was a pointless endeavor that only made food cold. The purpose of a meal was to shovel as much food as you could down your face in the shortest amount of time possible. The "winner" got to get desert first.
There were only a few globs of cheese-oatmeal left on his plate, and his beer pooled around on the table where his frantic dipping splashed it out of the mug.
"I fink," he said, not bothering to wait until his mouth was entirely empty, "Mr. Whiteyface should do it forever, if'n he wants t'do it so much. Alls I know is, I'm not gonna."
He flicked a tiny chunk of cheese at Caden, miraculously managing to bounce it off the pine marten's nose before it landed on the floor.
"Shucks, 'm not gonna eat that," he muttered. "You touched it wid yer face..."
|
|
|
Post by Carrow on Apr 22, 2010 13:48:51 GMT -5
Cerinus watched all this treatment in silence, scarcely managing to contain a gasp when Spender made the comment about Caden's fur. Resorting to snobbery now, are we? he thought bitterly. Is there absolutely nothing you won't resort to? I've seen the way you look at us two. I'm a pathetic, weak little mouse, and my friend is a freak, right?!
He glanced down at his paws and saw that they were trembling, indicating that the most unfamiliar of emotions was starting to build within him - that of rage. Who the hell did that ferret think he was? The mouse hoped there and then (and he would have prayed at some stage if only for his lack of belief in some higher power) that the mustelid would do something that would lead to one of the higher-ups aboard Agamemnon cutting him down to size.
Something told him that sooner or later this would all come to a head: Carrow or Caden versus Spender. Now was not the time, especially not on their first day out, but nonetheless the rodent was sure that he had had it up to the neck with the bully's attitude. Could he not see that they would need to get along?
"Spender, leave it," he murmured to the ferret, holding up his paws placatingly. "It's honestly not worth it. It's only our first day together on board, and you're looking to destroy things between the four of us when we've scarcely even begun. I know you're probably just going to ignore this, but for the love of all seasons, could you not get some perspective, just for once?"
The long-tailed field mouse gave an exasperated sigh as he returned to nibbling the remainder of his cheese. It's like talking to a bloody brick wall, he thought resignedly. He could almost predict the reaction this would receive from Spender: either some attempt at a put-down, or simple rudeness. By Hellgates, he thought, strangely worried about the antagonistic creature, if he doesn't grow up soon, life on board is going to break him in two - and it'll be nobody else's fault but his own...
|
|
|
Post by Ladorak on Apr 23, 2010 0:39:04 GMT -5
Caden tensed up upon hearing whiteyface. Mmm...wasn't as bad as freak but...still. If only he didn't have pink eyes...but no, white fur was extremely unusual for martens. He bit into his slab of cheese, chewing it with force and imaging Spender's head being shoved between his chompers, his incisors biting down and gnashing into Spender's skull as the ferret screamed in between bites....
But no! What are you thinking Caden?! If Ladorak knew what was going on within your head.....he'd tan your tail. Well OK...Ladorak had never spanked me but still....he knew from where these thoughts came from. Helandria.....AND mom....mom....Helandria always said you were violent and never took no for an answer and ground every beast that crossed you into the dust.....
He closed his eyes, feeling a little...dizzy as the alcohol began to hit him. He felt something impact his snout, and his eyes reopened and glared at Spender, rage burning deep inside...though it may have been difficult to detect. His eyes darted down to where the piece of cheese lay on the ground. Clutching tightly to his rum, the marten raised the mug to his lips and started quaffing, chugging the sugary beverage down in one swoop. Not the best to do for one risking becoming an alcoholic. Setting the mug down heavily upon the table, he looked across at Spender.
"Yeah well...that's why I offered." You stupid cad. What? Did you think I offered because I wanted YOU to do it? How about I reach across the table, grab your whiskers, and sock you in the eye. Then proceed to slowly smash your head against the table and....no...no...NO! Stop it Caden! You're not like that! You're not like your idiot mother....and you're most certainly not like Helandria....that sorry excuse for a governess.. It was HER face he wanted to be beating in.....and quite possibly even....Nuori...but he quickly suppressed these thoughts.
No sense in getting mad at Spender for...whatever it was he was doing. Making stupid jokes, he guessed. Ugh...his head was really spinning now...he probably shouldn't have downed that alcohol like he had. He'd heard that eating a lot of food could counteract the effects, so he started back at his meal with renewed vigor, attacking his meat in order to put food into his stomach and lessen the alcohol. A full stomach should easily balance a half pint of alcohol. Jeez...think about Elle, Caden. You're supposed to be a gentlemarten...not some roguish brute who'd smash a bully's face in.
Getting himself composed as best he could, he sighed, only shaking his head at Spender. "I offered because I figured you'd never do it. Not like you'd understand my reasons for volunteering anyway." he finished his meat off, and managed to gag the peas down. The oatmeal was the only thing left, and he slowly worked on that in order to get the meal wrapped up so that he could move on to his leisure time...which he was quite looking forward to....if not a bit stressed at the same time.
|
|
|
Post by spender on Apr 25, 2010 3:40:58 GMT -5
Spender blinked and leaned back. What had gotten the mouse all up in a tiff? Spender hadn't called him Whiteyface. And the only destroying he was doing between them was on his own plate. Sometimes the silly mouse just baffled him. Not get some perspective... honestly. If he didn't want Spender to, he wouldn't! Fine with him! He didn't even like perspectives. Apricots he was fine with, though.
"Y'know, this could use some apricot," he said thoughtfully, swirling the last glob of disaster around before licking his plate clean. He tackled his pint next, gulping it down in fits and starts. Amazingly, very little of it splashed onto his clothes. When it came to quaffing, Spender had learned from some of the best.
He plunked the mug down and grinned. "Ooh, listen t'this..."
The ferret cupped his paws over the mug and placed his muzzle between them. He seemed to stare at the table for a few seconds, before his eyes widened and a gurgle rose in his throat; then came the most magnificent belch. Spender quickly waggled his claws, letting the sound bounce around inside the mug before escaping in a wobbly, trilling noise.
A table away, some other young sailors clapped and hollered.
Spender grinned up at the others. "My da' says that's 'ow he used t'attract gulls at sea."
He eyed their mugs. It was too late to ask for their meat - why hadn't he thought to ask for some, for later? He hoped they would be allowed to have snacks, at least - but maybe if they weren't going to drink everything, he could offer...
|
|
|
Post by Carrow on Apr 25, 2010 6:46:36 GMT -5
Cerinus surprised himself with what he did next. The mouse actually smiled at the ferret, a slight twinkle in his eye as he regarded the stubborn creature. He was actually beginning to warm to him, despite everything - though it would take a heck of a lot before he actually admitted it to anybeast.
He wasn't sure exactly why this change was coming over him, but he figured that if Spender wasn't going to budge on his position, the rodent would just have to shift on his. Meet him halfway, sort of. Sure, he wasn't exactly the most likeable of ferrets, but Carrow realised that his efforts to reason with the bully weren't getting him anywhere.
So he decided to roll with the punches. He was under enough stress at the moment already, so why take the option of heaping further misery upon himself by always complaining about Spender's actions when he knew he wasn't even going to receive a response? To Hellgates with that, he thought.
"He used to attract gulls with that, you say?" His eyebrows rose slightly. The display, as vulgar as it had been, had been impressive too - and the long-tailed field mouse evidently wasn't the only one who thought that way, judging by the reaction of some of the other sailors.
OK: complaining and protesting doesn't work, so I'm going to try a different approach, offering him an olive branch of sorts. What I said to him also applies to me, of course: we can't be sniping at each other when we're going to be together for the next couple of years. The youngster's brown eyes fell to his mug. It was still about a quarter full, but his thirst had long since been quenched. He was just polishing off his cheese too, having had quite a good meal - it was by any creature's standards, but it was a lot better than what he'd become used to.
He placed a paw on the handle and raised it. "Here, Spender. You can have the rest of my water if you want. I'm in no need of it now, and there's no sense in letting it go to waste. So I leave it up to you." He placed the mug in the middle of the table, smiling at the mustelid again. Dirty tricks were not his forté, and though he would have loved to get one over on the ferret (say, by spitting in the mug or something similar) he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want to antagonise him. Spender was about two years older than the Dibbun after all (at least, that's the way it seemed, though he certainly didn't act like it) - as well as quite a lot bigger. It wasn't worth having his life on board made into a living hell as for as the ferret was concerned. Cerinus, being the shy and retiring type that he was, had been a target for bullies at school, and he knew only too well how such things worked: a game of oneupbeastship.
|
|
|
Post by Ladorak on Apr 25, 2010 23:25:24 GMT -5
Caden did his best to fight off that spinning feeling in his head, and scrunched his nose up when Spender burped into his mug....followed by a rather interesting sound that came out afterward. Ugh....disgusting! But....the sound itself was actually pretty impressive, and in spite of himself, Caden felt a tad envious at this display. Why can't I do something impressive like that?....and wait! What's this?! WINNING points with Carrow? Carrow come on! Whose side are you on anyway!?
The marten slumped a bit on the bench, feeling just a tad inadequate when it came down to things. He started to scowl as Carrow pushed his mug of water, offering it to Spender. Great...now he's extending the ferret an olive branch? Just what was with the mouse now? But then again...shouldn't Caden at least try and be nice to Spender? Ladorak had something about that....what was it?
He shook his head, trying to clear it as the Purser started calling for all plates to be washed and stowed away as the hour for dinner was drawing to a close. Oh yeah! Spender had cried or something cause he felt left out, and Ladorak had told him to be nice to the ferret and supportive. Ugh...I really HAVE to be nice to him? But Ladorak had mentioned how upset he was...so maybe it wouldn't hurt.
Standing up and slightly tottering a bit, the albino offered a lazy smile. "Yeah....was pretty nice there mate." So long as you lay off the freak comments and don't tempt me to throw your head against the table I'll tolerate ye. Picking up his dishes, he started gathering up the dishes of his comrades as well, and took them over to the wash barrel.
Sudsy warm water met his paws as he dunked the wooden utensils and plates down into the basin. The warmth felt rather good on his fur to be honest, and Caden smiled in a bit of a silly fashion, letting out a contented sigh as he proceeded to scrub the plates, then tensed up as he felt a certain slime covering Spender's bowl. Well...just a quick wash and then I can go and join the others on leisure time.
He tried not to hurl as he felt the disgusting leftovers of Spender's oatmeal. How could he eat that stuff....much less save it for later?
|
|
|
Post by Carrow on Apr 26, 2010 7:49:19 GMT -5
Carrow smiled at Caden as his plate was taken up. "Thanks, mate. I'll see you in a bit, alright?" Then, the mouse lowered his voice, dropping out of the ferret's earshot. "That's exactly what I'm doing, by the way. We can both learn to tolerate Spender. I know that's a lot harder than it actually sounds, but, well, we're stuck with him so we may as well make the most of it.
"I'm on your side, still, just so you know. I know he's been giving you a bit of a rough time, but I won't hesitate to stick up for you if needs be. I've got your back, matey." This was quite ironic, of course, as the last creature who would have been expected to say things such as this was the wood mouse Cerinus Apodemus. He had always been the one who had to be supported, but now the roles were reversed, and the rodent was pledging his support to his best friend.
This made him feel quite good, and that smile was still there as he got up. Right, what to do now while Caden's cleaning up? Then, he felt a twingle in his lower back. Heh, well that's taken care of - time to do some stretches. I've been on my paws a lot more than off 'em today. That's going to be the case for a while, and I'll need to adjust accordingly. Here goes then.
He went through a quick routine, bending down to touch his footpaws and alternating with a series of windmills to get the blood flowing to all parts again. Soon, he was finished. Great, so I'm on leisure time now, he thought with a smile. I have been on the go all morning - we all have - so I think I'd be right in saying that we're never going to need this break moreso than we do today. I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling overwhelmed after all.
The Dibbun stood and surveyed the mess hall. So this is where most of the social activity would be taking place for the next while. The mouse had to admit he wasn't all that used to eating with more than one creature (Archie), but it was certainly something he could get used to. However, he noticed that Elliot had been a little quiet at table. Was something bothering him? Or perhaps he wasn't the most talkative type when there was food to paw - like Spender in that case perhaps?
Army marches on its stomach and all that, he thought, chuckling softly to himself. Caden must nearly be finished now - good. Soon we can get down to discussions. I have something I'd like to show him, in fact. He seems more than a little tense...
|
|
|
Post by Ladorak on Apr 26, 2010 11:54:42 GMT -5
Caden didn't have much of a chance to catch what Carrow had told him, mostly because of the noise along the gun deck and the near impossibility of being able to hear anything softer than a normal to loud speaking tone in here. That and he was feeling the effects of the alcohol, and couldn't barely focus worth a pence. He nodded, thinking he caught snippets of what the mouse said, but overall missing most of it.
Something about being on his side...whose side? His? Or....Spender's? The marten was turning this over in his mind now as Carrow did his stretches. So....it wouldn't make much sense to be on Spender's side, would it? But he wasn't entirely sure exactly what Carrow had said, and Caden hadn't been prepared for the mouse speaking to him as suddenly as he had in a low voice.
It made Caden's head hurt far too much to be pondering this, and he closed his eyes to make the room stop spinning and to try and focus solely on washing the dishes. The rum was good...but he'd really need to get himself used to this if it was going to become a regular drink of his at meal times.
Scrubbing his paws over the grimy plates, the albino reopened his eyes when he told himself he was all done. Yep...he thought he got all of them. Gathering them up and trying not to mix his up with anyone else's, he did a quick count to make sure everything was there. Hoping his count was right (he redid it three times just to make sure, as the alcohol wasn't helping any), he brought them back over to their mess and shoved each one into the rack above his head, where they would dry until supper was ready.
The tables were in the process of being hoisted back up to the ceiling, ensuring they would be out of the way for gun drills or leisure time if the crew wanted to sit themselves down in between the cannons. Caden sighed, wiping his paws off on his pin stripe shirt to try and dry them. Walking over to Carrow, the albino gave him a slightly goofy smile due to the fact he was a little tipsy. "Alright....I think that's the end of that. Say why not head upstairs and out on deck? I really dun' wanna be down here when the bilge starts to smell again. We could stay out of the Starboard watch's way, or if...ye dun' wanna be outside we could hang out on the upper gun deck." he gave his suggestions, knowing there were plenty of places to spend one's down time on a ship. Any of the decks were open for crew use save for the holds and quarterdeck, and even the fighting tops were available for the crew's use if they so wished while they were on leisure time (and provided the opposite watch wasn't currently working aloft).
It was the start of the Larboard watch's "off" time now, and they were free from 1 to 4. At 4, supper would be piped, and all paws would once more come down here to eat their last meal of the day.
Captain Fugate had since emerged from his cabin, positively glowing (was it from his meal?) and more than happy to relieve the First Lieutenant of his watch so that the fellow could go and grab a bite to eat while the Captain took over.
"I want the main sails set now that we're out of the bay Mr. Clavell." the stoat Captain spoke to his badger Second Lieutenant.
"Aye sir." the badger nodded, noting Fugate's bouncy personality. He was probably just glad to be at sea again....or maybe having that rather noticeable jill on his arm did wonders for him...who really could say? The orders were passed along, and the Starboard watch got to work, scrambling up into the rigging to get the main sails set in order to ease the 12 year old ship into a more steady and solid pace as she continued bounding over the waves.
|
|
|
Post by Carrow on Apr 26, 2010 12:23:21 GMT -5
"Easy there, mate, easy," the mouse murmured, doing his best to steady his friend as it seemed that the pine marten's paws were unsure of themselves. "Yes, I agree, there are a lot of places we could go, but as I mentioned earlier, I'd much rather have a word with you in relative privacy - up on deck sounds good."
Hold on a second, he thought. It was a little on the noisy side in here. Had Caden actually caught any of what he'd said? Good grief, he thought, that wouldn't be a good thing. Better to be safe than sorry I think.
Making eye contact with the pine marten as best a mouse his size actually could, to let him know he was being spoken to again, because things hadn't really quietened down, he piped up. "But before we go any further, I'd like to set the record straight about what I said just there, heh," he chuckled, smiling at the mustelid, "Just in case you missed me there due to all the noise, it's best that I repeat myself. What I was saying was, it's best for us to try showing Spender a bit of courtesy. We're stuck with him after all, and I don't want any bad feeling between the three of us. So I figure that if we can tolerate him, at best, it'll be better for all of us. Even though we can still obviously stick up for each other if we're getting hassled by him - and I can see this becoming a regular occurrence; just a hunch I have," he commented drily, winking at the albino, "there's no sense in driving a wedge between us this early after all, is there? What d'you think?"
Cerinus ceased speaking then to hear what his friend might think about this plan of action. He was using his normal voice again - though it had to be said that the rodent was more of a softly-spoken creature anyways, but he figured that Caden wouldn't have much trouble now that every creature was beginning to file out. The mouse was all set to lead the way up to the deck, but he wanted to hear his mustelid companion's opinion on the matter first.
That twinge came again, and the wood mouse winced slightly. What in the name of all seasons was that doing there still? He did a quick check in his head as to what that might be. Indigestion, perchance? After all, by his own admission the youngster hadn't eaten that well in quite some time, and it seemed quite possible to him that he had rushed his meal through the excitement of everything that was going on. Oh well, he thought, discarding the notion that he was coming down with something. 's nothing serious, and I'll be fine in a bit with any luck. Some fresh air, and I'll be feeling a lot better, I reckon.
|
|