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Post by Ladorak on Feb 21, 2012 15:05:22 GMT -5
((My post count is now the year of the Battle of Trafalgar )) "Hot you sssay?" Alleline asked, suddenly smiling to reveal all his teeth. "Ahhh... well then, sssounds like it'd be to my liking!" he exclaimed. "Mussst be rather unpleasssant for you lot but... for sssomeone like me, who'sss cold-blooded, I would feel right at home." Warmer temperatures helped his body out, and kept him from going into shock, which could occur if temperatures dropped too low for him to handle. "Would probably make me thirsssty though, yesss." he agreed, nodding. He occasionally used his tongue to lap up his coffee, though tried to be polite where possible and drink from the cup. He cut his pork with his knife, biting into the thick, leather like meat, his teeth able to make short work of it. It had a slightly salty taste from being preserved, but as this lot of meat was still relatively fresh, it wasn't too bad. The cheese was nice and soft as well, and not hard and stale like it would become with time. "Sssso Jisss Elle." he said, having of course known her identity from the party, having run into the group coming inside after he'd returned with Willard's glasses. "I hear you're Caden'sss hmm... ssssweetheart, I sssuppossse?" he asked, hoping he wasn't making awkward for her by stating it outright like that, but his upringing really hadn't reared him with the proper things to say in situations like this. He listened to the description of the battles they had taken part in. There wasn't much description imparted from either the mustelid or the rodent, which ultimately disappointed the lizard. He figured at least one of them possessed some literary talent, but either they were choosing not to put it to use, or were simply unable to, as he'd misjudged. No real description on either action, aside from they happened, and that was basically it. It was very thirsty work, from what he'd gathered. Probably the only thing worth noting here. Stay hydrated then. He supposed he'd just have to find out soon enough, whenever they came within range. He expected it to be quite loud. As he'd been hearing from the crew, the guns discharged about nine pounds of powder. He knew a firework was about a quarter pound... so he'd have to amplify that noise by four... then by three, then by three again. It made his brain hurt just thinking about it. He had not yet had a chance to receive more than quick training, and thus, was going to be brand new at this. Another thing he considered might make things unpleasant was the fact that they were going to be fighting to leeward... which meant their smoke (and the enemies' smoke) would be blown back into their faces. "Hmm... what posssition do I want?" he asked now, having had the question put forth to him by the mouse. The goanna shrugged indifferently. "I don't really posssessss no ssskill assside from the hard labor I had to do, nor do I have any sssort of ambition. I think I'll be content jussst being a regular ssseajack for the ressst of my life." he commented with another shrug. After all, ninety percent of seajacks stayed seajacks after all. "Don't need to move up no ladder. Have no ambition, asss sssaid... nor do I want the upper ressssponsssibility I'd carry if I DID get promoted. I know my level of competence, and at what rank I'd work bessst at. Sssidesss." he said now. "Can barely read, and can't write worth a darn, either. You generally need to be literate to my underssstanding to reach petty officer rank." "Asss for Sssscharnhorssst though, I think he isss a Gunner'sss mate... not trying to be. He had ssssome fancy military academy background after all... already knowsss how to fire a gun. Can't imagine thessse gunsss here..." he reached behind him to pat one of the large black twenty-four pounders that "sandwiched" their table in between them. "Are much different from the onessss he practiced with on land."
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Post by spender on Feb 22, 2012 0:43:43 GMT -5
"Oh yeah," said Spender. "Spen...durr. Hahaha. Hullo, Willurrd. I know th...that one! Ocean said it furrst."
"Hello," said Willard, and "Welcome" to the others. He settled down with his own food. "It's brown, not blue," he added to Spender.
He then tucked his head down, so that his fork would not have to travel very far. As usual, he'd gotten a bit of everything for himself, and focused on each item in turn, devouring all before moving on to the next. He wasted no time talking and less time chewing.
Spender dooked a little as he tried to get his fork filled. Piercing a slice of meat was easy enough. Turning it inward to his face proved a challenge. It was slow and his paw seized up halfway, began to shake and eventually dropped the fork onto the plate.
"Hahaha." His smile fell a little. He reached out to his coffee. Willard grabbed his wrist before Ocean could. He finished what was in his mouth.
"Hold on... it's hot. You'll want to wait."
"O-kay," said Spender. He picked up the fork again, this time with the meat already facing him. Delivery into the maw was successful. Spender: 1 Breakfast: 0
He then proceeded to plant his elbow on the edge of his plate and flip the entire thing onto the table, splattering everyone else's meals.
He smiled stupidly at them. "Ahahaha."
Spender: 1 Breakfast: 47
"Okay," said Molly, smiling tiredly. "I'll wait until then." She felt too exhausted to say much more. She buried her head again when her mate had gone.
"Tally..."
"Yes, Molly."
"Go eat something."
"Yes, Molly."
Crawling over the stoat jill, Tally slipped to the ground and padded over to the door. She creaked it open slowly and poked her nose through, though her eyes focused on the floor in front of Ladorak.
"Mister Kapitan," she said. "May I haff some ekks and cheese?"
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Post by Carrow on Feb 23, 2012 11:03:39 GMT -5
Selvis nodded, miling a little himself as he heard Alleline's rather enthuasiastic response. "Ah, but of course. I had momentarily forgotten that you lizards are cold-blooded creatures, but then again I have only been up for twenty minutes or so, so I hope you can forgive me my little slip," he apologised, coming over quite bashful all of a sudden. "Heh, that works out well for you, though - while the rest of us are most likely going to be sweating buckets down here in a few hours, you'll probably be quite comfortable," he said with a small wink.
Carrow knew himself that he hadn't exactly been forthcoming about the details of the battle. He didn't know if he'd disappointed Alleline, but wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case, because the truth was that he felt himself to be rather inadequate at describing things - it was never something he'd been very good at. While he was observant, to a certain extent, the mouse often struggled to put into words what he had seen or experienced, and today was one of those times. He remained silent for the moment, instead focusing on his food.
Selvis, meanwhile, knew he'd come up quite short as well, but that wasn't for the same reason as his mouse friend; he just found it quite difficult to convey what exactly being in a battle was like. Besides, he wasn't too sure what else he could say. It was something that needed to be experienced, and he didn't do well when it came to painting pictures with words, especially when they concerned such an intense experience as a naval battle.
Carrow had finished his meat by now, and his ears perked up a little as he heard the goanna respond to his question. Well, at least one of them possessed the ability to go into detail about things that concerned them. Elle did too, but she wasn't the kind of creature that said too much except when she really needed to. The field mouse felt that he was becoming a little more like her in that respect - after all, there were some times when he could be rather quiet and not say much about things.
Alleline sounded like he accepted his lot in life, and was fine with doing what he considered his best, and the rodent couldn't find fault with that. After all, every now and then he still needed to be convinced that he had a chance of making Quartermaster. The goanna seemed a little dismissive of moving up the ladder, but he'd lived enough of a life already that he could afford not to be ambitious; Carrow got the sense that he was content with whatever he could get.
"That's quite understandable," he replied to Alleline. "No creature ever wants to feel out of their depth, of course, and I'm sure you'll do well with being a regular seajack - it's better to concentrate on something you know you can be good at, rather than flying too high and having the sun burn your wings, so to speak," he said with a small smile, referencing a popular Greek myth that he'd been told when he was younger.
"If you'd like, though, I could maybe give you some assistance in learning to read and write? Only if you want it, of course," he suggested. "I just figure I could maybe be of some help if you'd like me to be. Just a thought, really." Carrow didn't have a problem with either of those things - he considered himself to be best at reading - but it was his speaking difficulties that kept tripping him up, both his stammer and his difficulty in fully expressing how he felt sometimes.
The mouse started consuming his cheese, and his ears flattened back against his head a little as Alleline mentioned Scharnhorst, and the mouse blushed. Oh, of course - he remembered now. The zorilla had told him the exact same thing only a couple of days ago. Why couldn't he focus? It was probably to do with the upcoming battle, in which he would be working in quite a different context to what he'd been used to. He needed to get his head together, it seemed.
"Ah, yes, you're right - he did tell me some things about his military background and upbringing earlier in the week. Things just seem to keep slipping my mind this morning. It's not that I can't concentrate, more that I just need to take my mind off the upcoming battle. I'm not overly nervous about it, I just... seem to be a few hours ahead of the rest of you in that respect," he admitted, swallowing some more cheese and trying to get off the subject. "From what I can tell, you'd be correct again - it'll be interesting to see how he does. As for you, where are you going to be on the gun crew?," he enquired.
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Post by Ladorak on Feb 23, 2012 12:03:15 GMT -5
As the deck rolled a little under his paws, Ladorak calmly ate his meal. There was no sense in worrying about the future. He would always ensure he went above and beyond what was required in everything he did, and that included combat. If Hotham couldn't accept that, then that was his loss.
He was still adjusting to the monocle, but he found that, for once, this trinket actually had a real use. All those rich blokes who wore it simply for fashion would be far better served with spectacles, but in this instance, as he couldn't see out of his right eye, the monocle was both practical and stylish. It certainly made him look more dignified than any of his peers!
A creak sounded from the door, and Tally came out of his sleeping chambers now. The ermine smiled at her, and motioned for her to take a seat at his round table. "Ah yes... of course. I'll have some ordered at once. Steward!" he called out, the young lad standing at the door snapping to attention. "An order of eggs and cheese, please."
The steward nodded, and shuffled out the door to place the order with Ladorak's personal cook. There were three tiers of cooks onboard. The Captain was served by his own, then the Lieutenants had theirs, and finally, everyone from warrant officer on down was served by the regular cook. The regular cook stuck to a fairly routine schedule, but the other two could cook whatever the officers on board could afford out of pocket. Ladorak had made certain to purchase fresh bullocks and hens before departure, as well as a few hogs. They were all oinking, mooing, and clucking away in the pen near the sick berth on the upper gun deck.
"It should be ready shortly." the ermine informed her, smiling at the rodent as he continued working on his own meal. About fifteen minutes after the steward had departed, he returned, with Tally's order.
"I wasn't sure if she wanted coffee or water so... I gave her water." he said, placing the plate and cup down in front of her. Ladorak pushed some cutlery over to her, not of course using the wooden plates and utensils that the rest of the crew dined with.
"There you are. Eat up." the ermine Captain said.
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Ocean had known from before this that Spender had an intellect to rival cardboard, but watching him "combat" his meal (for there was no other way to describe it in the ermine's mind) was just... borderline pathetic. How would he survive out here?
He was in fact going to snap his paw out to catch Spender from drinking his coffee, but Willard beat him to it. Well, well, quite a team their mess made, wasn't it? The noisy chatter and occasional guffawing from a crew member somewhere nearby blended well with Spender's dooking. It was just part of the atmosphere of a busy warship.
Ah... THAT was more like it! No more fussing over how to get the meat into his maw. Maybe things wouldn't be quite so bad...
He'd spoken too soon. With a great upheaval, food went flying everywhere, splattering the table and causing a stain on the albeit heavily stained wood. Scharnhorst was lucky. He just got the pork on his plate. Ocean however, had oatmeal and cheese.
"Wonderful..." he muttered. At least he could eat the oatmeal... and that everything else was solid and easy to pick up and replace. He began doing so, placing the cheese back onto Spender's plate. Scharnhorst delicately pawed the pork over, as if he were worried about getting burned from it.
"Looks like you're going to be cleaning part of this up." Ocean said sympathetically to Willard, who was after all, their mess cook this week. "I'll help if you want... it's enough you have to do the dishes." he sighed, and bit off a good portion of his cheese.
"Rather bad turn of events." Scharnhorst muttered.
Ocean wasn't sure which was worse. Cruel and stupid Spender, or just stupid Spender. Probably the former. At least he wasn't getting himself WILLINGLY into trouble anymore. Accidentally... sure. However, he had a clumsiness to match, and that in particular might get him booted off the ship before long (for how often did a normal jack trip over his own four paws AND tail? Even the dumbest of the dumb on the ship knew how to walk, after all).
"It's all right. At least it's mostly salvageable." Ocean finished resetting Spender's plate, and smiled at him, nodding. "There you go mate, good as new." he said, nodding. "Except for the oatmeal. Can't fix that, I'm afraid." he had spooned what he could back onto Spender's plate, and had managed to get probably two-thirds of it back where it belonged, and the rest well... that was a bit of everywhere.
He needed more coffee, and quickly reached for his cup, downing a few healthy gulps before setting it back down.
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"Hmmm... never really had much of an interessst in becoming literate, in all honesssty." the goanna admitted, waving a clawed hand. "My parentsss are both dead sssso... no real family otherwissse, and I wouldn't be writing to my matesss back in Aussstralia, sssuch asss it isss." he explained, flicking his tongue out.
Tearing into his pork, the lizard hungrily attacked the meat, making inroads on it and gnashing down as if he were attacking a creature much smaller than himself. "Have to sssay... food'sss a lot better here than I remember it being... but then again... no ssstopsss from Aussstralia to Cape Town, after all." he leveled his fork at the mouse to emphasize his point.
"Terrible ssssituation... being monthsss on end without fresssh food." he chomped down on some more of his cheese. "Funny though... we're ssso clossse to our enemiessss... yet no fighting asss we leisssurely make our way over to them." he smirked. "It'ssss almossst unreal."
"I'll conssssider it though." he finally got back to Carrow's question. "We'll sssee."
He paused now, as Carrow asked him what role he'd be filling on the gun crew. "Loader, from what I've been told. I'll be learning from her." he pointed his fork in Elle's direction now. "Asss I hear ssshe'sss sssstudied under Caden." he winked. He'd be filling Caden's role, switching off with Elle every so often, and Ocean would be filling in for Carrow. Speaking of which, Ocean was thinking of having Spender as his assistant sponger, as that way he'd be relatively out of the way of messing things up, and would be kept to fairly simple tasks.
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Post by bookity101 on Feb 23, 2012 13:50:33 GMT -5
Beyond returning her mouse friend’s broad smile as she dug into her meal, Elle had not really paid very close attention to the conversation the other three were having. Thus she was deeply contemplating the proper way to dissect her meat while finishing off her coffee when Alleline’s question was posed. In her surprise she inhaled her still hot coffee then tried to not choke on it.
“His Sweetheart?!” In her surprise, her voice squeaked as she attempted to let her brain catch up with her tongue. “Well… We haven’t really talked about it…” The female beech martin was sure that if her companions could see past her facial fur that her cheeks would be bright red and more than likely her hers were the same shade.
“Everything has been a little crazy since Christmas, though I guess… I mean, well I suppose so. Yes, I guess.” Elle shrugged her shoulder at the goanna as a small smile graced her features as she remembered the fact that there was little left to hide from her commanding officers as the Captain had ok’d her staying on. Her relationship with the majority of her crewmates either did not care or did not find out about who she is. She was happy, and that was enough for her.
Elle settled back to listen to what the goanna was relating, and her two friends responses to what was being said. She was able to finish up the remainder of her breakfast and sat nursing her cup of coffee while the guys spoke. Coming to the end of her coffee, she decided to get a refill. Slipping away from the table she refilled her mug. She returned to the table just in time for the goanna to reveal he would be working under her. One eyewhisker quirked upward as Elle slid into her seat, wondering if he would continue to tease her throughout their working relationship… not that she minded that much, she would just have to find a way to keep him from holding all the cards in the game as it can be said.
“Is that so Jal Alleline?” Elle settled into her seat, taking a sip of her drink before looking to the goanna again. “Well then, if we are going to be working together then you perhaps would like to hear a little bit more about the confrontations themselves.” She looked down at her cup, swirling the liquid inside as she continued speaking. “It is going to be hot, like the guys said, but you pointed out that that will not bother you. It will also be loud- probably louder than anything you’ve heard before. The guns will be going off, and the officers will be yelling. It gets really confusing extremely quickly so you have to listen carefully to be sure you are hearing the right orders… Most of all keep your head down. We don’t need more beasts in the sickbay for any reason.” A smile and a wink accompanied this last statement before she turned her attention back to her drink.
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Post by Carrow on Feb 24, 2012 10:47:30 GMT -5
Carrow frowned slightly as Alleline mentioned that both his parents were dead. He swallowed some more of his cheese, his countenance taking on a sympathetic look as he reached across the table, patting the goanna's hand as he met his eyes for a moment. "Your parents are dead? I'm sorry to hear that," he said softly. "I'm an orphan as well," he revealed to the monitor lizard. It seemed he was discovering more things he had in common with his new messmate.
He sat back, a thoughtful look crossing his features as he refrained from getting back to his food for a moment, content to just sit and let Alleline speak, and what he had to say piqued the field mouse's interest considerably. He listened as the reptile told him a little about how things had been for him on a previous journey, but Selvis was even more intrigued by all of this talk. He'd almost finished his meal at this stage and was quite tempted to order seconds, but he was going to wait until he'd asked Alleline something before polishing off his food.
"Australia... Cape Town... wow," he breathed, smiling a little. "These are all places I can't be certain I'll ever get to see, and somehow I think I probably won't, even though I can't tell where we're headed from one month to the next, but that sort of thing comes with serving aboard a ship, and I don't particularly mind that anyway, as I believe it just makes things that little bit more exciting!," he exclaimed.
"If you don't mind, could you tell us a little more about your experiences?" the longtail enquired, his smile widening. "I always like hearing about where others have been and what they've seen; I think it's because I love travelling that much," he said with a contented sigh. "We could perhaps swap stories if you want," he suggested. That sounded fun.
Carrow nodded slowly as Alleline commented on the situation the ship and her crew now found themselves in. "You know, now that you mention it, I don't really think that's something I'll ever fully get used to. It looks to me like it'll be a few more hours before we engage the enemy, but the fact that we still have to go about our daily routine in the face of what's to come... yes, I completely understand what you mean. It's like the calm before the storm," he murmured thoughtfully, finishing his cheese and starting on his vegetables.
The monitor lizard then addressed the rodent's question again, and he smiled. "That's just fine: if you want my assistance, I'll be glad to help, but if you don't, I won't be disappointed or anything. I understand your situation, after all, but if anything changes, please be sure to let me know," he told Alleline before resuming his meal. He was still smiling as the goanna revealed the position he would be taking on the gun crew. "Ah, loader! I couldn't really have guessed, as I wasn't sure what you'd be suited to, but I'm sure you'll do quite a good job with that. Good luck out there today," he said in a softer tone of voice.
Selvis's ears twitched curiously as he heard whom the goanna would be studying under. "Oh, is that right? You'll be studying under Elle?" The weasel grinned. "She'll teach you well, I bet - she worked rather well with Caden in our first battle against the Melpomene, and they made a great team. A lot of time has passed since then, and I'd like to think most of us are all quite confident in our roles at this stage, so you'll do fine with her, I'm sure!" He couldn't help but smile at the beech marten after he'd said this.
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Post by Ladorak on Feb 25, 2012 0:55:10 GMT -5
((My post count is the year of the Battle of Friedland, my absolute favorite battle in the Napoleonic Wars. )) "Well... heheh, might want to talk about that then." the lizard winked at Elle. "No sssenssse in letting that sssit, after all. Life'sss far too ssshort for that sssort of thing." He chuckled. He turned to look at Selvis now, as the weasel wanted to hear about his travels. Oh his travels... unpleasant for the most part as they were. "Well... Aussstralia isss a nice fine ssslice of hell. Hot, barren, and you break your back farming it and trying to get the land to ssspit ssssome form of sssussstenance back at you after all that. Eh... Sssydney ain't much to look at." he shrugged. "Mossstly a den of gamblersss and drunksss. The interim governor wasss usssing alcohol asss currency before I left." he rolled his eyes. "Certainly didn't help the ssssituation." He thought for a moment now. "Rather enjoyed Cape Town. Mordenzer colony... very friendly there. I'd go back if I could... but well, it'sss a long way, and on the other ssside of Africa. If you ever get a chance to head down that way, ssstop there at the Cape of Good Hope. You won't regret it." "Hmmm... I enjoyed Rio de Janeiro asss well... which was our stop after hitting the doldrumsss... or about to enter them, depending on which way you're traveling. It'sss a traditional colonial capital, and a very pleasssant place. Weather isss fantassstic." he exclaimed, smiling now to show off lots of his teeth. "I would've ssstayed but... can't sssspeak a blasssted word of Portuguessse." he said, shaking his head. "Can't very well get a job without ssspeaking the language. Though I DID almossst end up ssstaying." "Tropic, but it doesssn't get abysssmally hot like Aussstralia doesss. Ugh... Ssssydney is a terrible 115 on sssome daysss in the sssummer. Mosssstly in the 80s in the sssummertime. in Rio." he hissed. "Of courssse... I had to get usssed to the ssseassssonsss being reversssed sssouth of the Equator. It wasss winter when we arrived there on the way back... but even then, winter doesssn't typically fall below the 60s." he chuckled again. "After that... didn't really ssstop anywhere except in the Canary Islandssss. Ferlusssanianssss don't mind taking care of Welkinite ssshipsss after all." he said, looking right at Selvis. "From there, into the Mediterranean and here I am. Jussst reverssse it for me going to Aussstralia, except I left from Welkin." "Let'ssss sssee. I hated the doldrumssss... an area of no wind between Africa and north Brazil. Terrible and hot. You're jussst ssstuck there for weeksss... waiting for the wind to blow. Boredom and worssse can ssset in. Have to ssstock up in Rio or the Canariesss before you hit them." he advised. Breakfast was starting to wind down now. Alleline had all but finished his meal off during his stories, and was looking at his messmates. "If you're all done, I'll get the platesss into the wasssh and you can begin hoisssting up the table. I'm ssssure we'll have to er... what'sss the term? Clear for action, sssoon isss it?" he asked.
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Post by spender on Feb 25, 2012 4:41:15 GMT -5
Willard sighed as well.
"I'll do it alone... don't worry."
The weasel finished plying Spender's fruit off his his own food. When this was cleaned up and returned to the ferret, he shifted over to the edge of the table, almost supporting his plate with his free paw. He ate the remaining bits even faster now.
It probably wasn't immediately clear to the others—after all, two of them didn't know him and the third kept his distance so much that Willard actually jumped the other day when Ocean had talked to him—but the weasel wasn't behaving normally. He hadn't been since they'd left port. Sure, he'd been excited to get back to the ship once they left Florence, but once actual sailing had begun, he'd started to quiet down, tuck into himself.
His mess was certainly not helping. Spender's amnesia and loss of physical prowess was akin to a death. No one knew, but when Willard first "met" the renewed ferret, he'd gone to his room and cried for three hours. But then, Willard cried for every death on the crew, not just every time Spender seemed like he'd done it. Then there was Ocean. The stoat might have started at least talking to him again, but there had been no forgiveness yet. How many times did he need to apologise? Oh well; Ocean hadn't exactly been the most grateful in the first place, when Willard tried to take the blame for the match-barrel disaster. And then there was Scharnhorst. While he had nothing against the zorilla personally, he simply had to wonder: how many other ships in Welkin's Navy took on so many foreigners as crew?
He wanted to ask, to get to know why Scharnhorst had chosen them, this ship, out of all of the fleet that had been in port. It was not important why Ladorak had accepted him (or Spender). But at the same time, the interest just wasn't great enough to bother getting into a lengthy conversation with someone who would just end up hating him.
It was a dark, troublesome idea. It had not seemed so at first, when he told Ladorak he did not have or need friends... he had enough love to carry him through life, to survive in a world where he received none. But now it felt as if his reserves were drying. Something was off about the entire thing. Sailing... The break from it had been too long, perhaps. Given him too much time to think. And now the thought persisted, gnawing at him, eating away his love:
Was this really what he wanted to do the rest of his life?
The accident was a wake-up call for Spender to focus less on chatting and more on chomping. He didn't say another word—forgetting his "Thank yous"—and meekly accepted the remains of his breakfast. He abandoned his fork in favour of his paws, which helped things along considerably. His neckerchief bib caught what his tongue missed.
When his plate was more or less cleared, he reached out for a mug of coffee again—Scharnhorst's. He paused before touching it, looking to Willard for confirmation. Willard, long since finished licking his plate spotless, was staring away into space in the opposite direction, waiting for the others (mostly Spender) to finish.
"Danke, Papa."
Tally transformed into a little lady the moment she sat down. Once, the idea of using a fork made her hide under her chair in fear of a whipping. Now, she took the object with familiarity and command, and bent it to her will. To sit and eat with the Captain was a feeling of such pride! Her long little tail rose up and shivered delightfully behind and between her ears. Curiously, the tip of it was not skin-peach, but black and oily, as if dipped in ink. Which it had been. For today, and for forever, Tally was a stoat among stoats.
She arranged her slices of cheese into a smiling face and cut out the yellow from a fried egg, framing an eye with the remaining white ring. She held up her plate for Ladorak to see.
"Dis you. Dis vot Molly does. Nomnomnom..." The cheese mouth vanished as Tally licked it off the plate. She put it down, grinning, and picked up her fork again.
Uh-oh. Now she felt bad about poking the Captain's eyes with it...
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Post by Ladorak on Feb 26, 2012 19:26:42 GMT -5
It wasn't that Ocean didn't care anymore about Willard (for if that were true, he'd still be ignoring him), but it was more that the ermine had his paws full with Spender. It was Spender demanding constant attention all the time. He was like a kit again, but one that just wasn't developing at a normal pace.
It had admittedly given Ocean more purpose than he was used to outside his duties on the ship, but he wasn't completely blind to his fellow crew members either. Willard was definitely seeming a little... off as it were.
As the breakfast was progressing and eventually beginning to wind down (Ocean wasn't sure if he could eat another bite, thankfully), the ermine was considering perhaps helping his comrade out with the dishes. He gathered up his plate, and Spender's as well, stacking the cups on them, and bringing them over to one of the wash tubs with Willard. This wasn't out of the ordinary; it was expected for members of the crew to each bring up their own plates, but washing them was up to the mess cook.
"Willard..." Ocean paused as he dropped his plates into the sudsy waters. "You seem more... worn out and exhausted than usual. Is everything OK? Not pre-battle nerves, is it?" he asked, taking the moment to catch up with his brother-in-arms before attending to his duties on the rapidly approaching Forenoon Watch.
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Ladorak smiled at the mousemaid's calling him "papa." It was a word he didn't often hear from her, but it was slowly blooming, like a late flower. "Heh..." he chuckled at her demonstration of... him and Molly. "Yes... that's right." He said, his head every so often turning to look out the gun port at the Rosferian fleet. If only time could speed up... but there was work to be done first... and food to be consumed.
He decided to just slow his mind down (which was racing with about a million thoughts at once) and enjoy the rest of his meal. He ate leisurely, savoring the eggs (one of his favorite foods, mostly thanks to his heritage) along with the rest of his plate.
Nodding at his servant when he was finished, the steward quickly cleared away his utensils and plate, taking Tally's when she was done. Ladorak downed the rest of his coffee, and pushed his chair back to stand up. "The Forenoon Watch will be starting soon." he said, glancing at his pocket watch before snapping it shut. "I'm just going to check on Molly before I head back outside again." he moved to the door to his sleeping chambers, and knocked before opening it. "Dear, I'm about to head to work for the Forenoon Watch. I'd say another two hours or less, from what I saw out the gun port. We should run into them about three quarters of the way through the watch. Are you doing passably at least?" he inquired.
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Post by Carrow on Feb 27, 2012 19:42:34 GMT -5
Selvis hummed thoughtfully as Alleline outlined his experience of Australia to him. "Ah, yes... it doesn't sound all that pleasant, especially when you describe it in those terms. And really?" His eyes widened as the lizard mentioned the interim governor using alcohol as currency. "Hmm, well, that really could only have exacerbated the drinking problems most of the others had, of course - hardly a sensible move. I can certainly see why you don't exactly have the fondest memories of the place," he said with a soft chuckle.
The conversation lightened a bit as the goanna turned to his memories of Cape Town and Rio, and Selvis found himself nodding quite enthusiastically as he listened. He'd finished his meal by now, having clearly been famished, and was now finding that he was quite full. The extra rations had done the trick. The lizard's words were more than enough for him; a kind of dessert, in a way, and he was finding himself becoming more drawn into the goanna's tale as time went on.
"You mention that you almost stayed in Rio de Janeiro? I'm not entirely surprised by that, as from what I've heard about it, it certainly does seem like a wonderful place. Portugese and Ferlusanian have some things in common, so I'm sure I'd be passable if ever I were over there, but it looks to me as though that would be unlikely. It's a shame, as from what you say of the place it sounds like I would enjoy it rather a lot," he said, a smile still on his face.
"I'm sure it was difficult getting accustomed to the reversed seasons - I'd be completely clueless about that, I have to admit. I like to have my summers hot and my winters cold - I might not be able to deal with the change if I ever go south of the equator," he admitted, shaking his head a little. "I'd still be thinking in north-of-the-Equator terms, and that's not maybe," he said with a chuckle of his own. His mouse friend, meanwhile, was quiet; the only sound that could be heard from the mouse was chewing and swallowing, and occasional slurping of his coffee.
Selvis was steadily making his way through his own mug of coffee at this point, having mostly neglected it in favour of his food - he was rewarding himself with it, as he had a fondness for it by this point. What made it all the more surprising was that he had never been a regular coffee drinker before he'd joined up. He caught Alleline's comment about Ferlusanians taking care of Welkinite ships, and his eyes sparkled. "Ah yes, they don't now, but our two nations have quite a history. I'm glad my countrybeasts treated you well, though," he said, smile growing.
The weasel shuddered a little as Alleline mentioned the doldrums and the stifling weather conditions that he'd had to face whilst there. The longtail was accustomed to heat, sure, but only to an extent, and from the way the goanna described the dead heat that he'd had to put up with, it sounded like even he would have had a hard time getting used to it. "That sounds... well, I'm afraid it seems to me like I can't even imagine that. I mean, the most I've ever dealt with has been in the very low hundreds, I think. I can't quite get my tail around that, but I haven't been there, and I hope I never will," he told the reptile honestly.
Carrow had listened intently to the conversation between the goanna and the weasel, figuring that Selvis had asked the monitor lizard enough questions without him jumping in there as well. He probably would have asked most of the same things anyway, so had been happy to listen, as he enjoyed hearing about Alleline's experiences no matter what. The mouse had been starving, and as such there was nothing left on his plate at this stage.
The rodent nodded when the goanna asked if they were going to clear for action soon. "Yes indeed, we are. We're not all that far off engaging the enemy, in relative terms. We'll have to start clearing for action once we get, oh, I don't know, within two hours' distance of the enemy. I think it was something like that the last time we were involved in one of these, so we should start doing that in a little while. I'm done here, so I'm ready to start hoisting the tables up when everybeast else is finished," he told the lizard, standing up and stretching a bit, mug of coffee in paw as he drained its contents before setting it back down.
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