come_sailaway | Pirate Room Party

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Pirate Room Party

Who: Lucius Spriggs, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, and Stede Bonnet, and also you? Probably you.
When: Mid-way and through the end of the Battle Royale. Following this thread.
Where: Cabin 117.
What: Stede had a freak out and collapsed. He's not dead but out cold and accepting visitors (mostly).
Warnings: General Pirate Behavior, potential descriptions of glass related injury.

Getting Stede Bonnet to a safe location is a complicated affair for two reasons.

Reason the first: Lucius has very little upper body strength and so is relegated to carrying Blackbeard's big fuckoff knife and occasionally helping with Stede's feet.

Reason the second: they are currently on a barge of the damned and safe is an extremely relative term.

Eventually, they decide (or rather Lucius comes to the conclusion and offers) that keeping Stede in a location with a spare bed and access to assistance is best until he is up and about. For several reasons, this ends up meaning that the Captain will be stashed in Lucius's bed in his and Skulduggery's cabin. On the plus side, this means that there is a spare bed for use, on the negative, it means that the cabin will invariably be painfully cramped.

Starter for Blackbeard, Skulduggery, and eventually Watson:

Once they (Blackbeard) haul(s) Stede to the room and deposit(s) him on the bed, Lucius gives the Captain a sad, slightly pained look. He's been wearing that outfit for days. It looks awful, disheveled, and now it's got blood and glass holes, and both of those problems fall under Lucius's job description.

He sighs and starts to strip the Captain with the general dispassion usually relegated to those in the medical profession. They have two of those complimentary terry cloth robes and, in lieu of a dressing gown, it'll do. Besides, they need to see about the cuts and check for glass in his back--right?

Maybe Clarke was right, you know, after the bashing his chest bit. They ought to call a doctor.

"I don't suppose you know any doctors?" Lucius asks and casts a tentative look at Blackbeard as he strips off Stede's vest. "Er--Sir."

Ah yes, nailed the title.

Very professional.

General starter for reference:

Cabin 117 is absolutely, entirely overcrowded.

It feels like they're back on Revenge at least, insofar as Lucius is concerned.

Stede Bonnet has the whole of one of the beds. He's looking a bit grim and grey, and has on a chintzy Hawaiian shirt and a bathrobe on despite being tucked snugly beneath the covers. The rest of the room is varying levels of disheveled, both from the over-occupancy and the fact that the island horrors continued for a day after they arrived. Lucius has been sleeping on the couch and has surrendered the bed that technically belongs to his roommate to Blackbeard. It's been better than a day and Stede is still out, but he's not dead yet and the horrible music and sound effects have stopped, so there's some peace to be had.

[OOC: Please feel free to just barge in, or visit, or ding dong ditch. Whichever. If you're one who signed up to be on the crew, feel free to assume Lucius tracked you down to inform you.]

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"Maybe you should start with...say...food? Hm?" Lucius says as he stands upright and lets out a huff of a groan. He's not meant for this sort of labor. He misses Wee John, Fang, and Ivan. He's not about to complain, not when Captain already did, but he can certainly agree in his head.

"Some water?" he suggests and offers up the plastic bottle of water Ed had thrown at his head.

Now that he's awake and the razor edge of startled adrenaline has worn down a bit, Lucius actually finds himself more relaxed then before. Captain's awake, he's well enough to complain about Lucius's inability to (literally) hoist a full grown man, and now he wants a drink. If it weren't for the fact that his shoes are ruined and Blackbeard is going to murder him in his sleep, he'd be over the moon.

"Oh! But I do have some good news!" Lucius announces proudly and moves to the dresser.

He heaves out the top drawer and, with minimal fanfare, produces the clothing he'd stripped off of Stede when they brought him in. Thanks to modern laundry facilities and those little gel pods, he's gotten it all so clean it's almost uncanny. There had been enough little holes in his shirt, though, that it was faster to embroider a smocked pattern in the back then repair them all individually...so it's nearly a new shirt, as well.

"Between you and me I'd rather drown." He takes the water bottle and twists the cap off

-- and twists the cap

-- and twists

Oh forget it.

He flops back and turns his head to the side, preparing his face to look pleasantly surprised at whatever underwhelming good news Lucius has on offer.

He is in fact so whelmed he struggles for a second to sit up.

"Oh thank God for that. You must have been beating it for hours." Or however laundry was done, he didn't know. "Quick. Get me out of this... and we need to find a night shirt somewhere... my kingdom for a fine fabric. Or at least a decent one."

He makes precisely no comment about how long he'd spent cleaning all this and, instead, just drinks up that awed, appreciative look as he moves to lay out the jacket and trousers on the bed. They wouldn't be needing those, at least not at the moment. The undergarments and shirt, however, were probably called for.

"I'll look around, I saw some promising fabrics in the spa rooms," Lucius tells him as he shakes out the shirt and moves to help Stede out of the awful one he'd had to put him in. It's excruciatingly routine, unbuttoning one shirt and helping his boss put on another. He doesn't even flinch about it except, of course, when he stops to take a look at his back again, just to be sure they won't need another bandage.

He's healed up well enough, the little cuts all settled into little pink marks, and Lucius says nothing as he helps him tug on a proper shirt.

"Thank you. You have no idea. I'll--" Give you a raise? No he couldn't do that could he. Best not to bring it up right now.

Coward.

Yes, yes he is. Maybe when he can actually walk on his own. He shivers at the cold air and looks down frowning at the bandage.

"What...? Oh no, I didn't get stabbed again did I?"

He doesn't remember. Just the endless loops. Endless. All those pointless deaths. All that pain. Not being able to look away for a moment as the music wouldn't stop playing and it was going to keep happening over and over and over

"No--no, you didn't," Lucius assures him quickly. He's close enough that the way the Captain freezes, the way he starts to breathe too fast, all of it is readily apparent. He'd been like this when Lucius had left him to find Blackbeard--just on the edge of a panic attack--and the fact that he can lapse back in again so quickly is worrying. Lucius stays bright and easy, rubs a friendly hand on Stede's back, and just starts talking.

It's much easier now, without all the screens blaring death.

"This one's my fault, I'm afraid--went to help you and got glass all over everything. Broke a bottle, and just left it around where anyone could slip on it." He's lying through his teeth but it's truth adjacent. "Almost ruined your good shirt, thank god Roach showed us all how to do that neat little back stitch with the v-thing, you know the one. Saved the shirt, quite frankly.

"Blackbeard helped get you up, of course--good upper body strength, that man," Lucius says and, really, he has no idea what he's saying, but he'll give Stede something to focus on while he sets his shirt to rights.

"I did all the undressing and, well, dressing though. I know how modest you are, Captain. You'll have a few scars, but nothing dreadful. Might be a good template to get a really tough tattoo atop? Either way, I'm sure this shirt will be far and away more comfortable than the other one--"

It's much longer too, having been made in the proper posh style where you wrap the damn tails around your legs to protect your equally posh trousers. It wasn't as long as his nightshirts, but it would fall to his knees easily. His modesty would be well intact if he just wanted out of those swim trunks and was tired of Lucius assisting. Which was just as well. He had no desire to jostle the man around like a sack of potatoes while helping him into proper breeches.

"You know, that reminds me! He had a brilliant idea, Blackbeard, that is, when we were heading back to pop in and chat with you, he told me I ought to fetch you a charcuterie board. I never did, on account of the glass and the bar fight, but that sounds like a lovely idea now, hm? With some claret?"

Lucius' nattering helps, though it's the touch that startles those horrid images from his mind. He blinks, feeling a bit like a drowning man. He takes a breath. Then another. Smiling a bit at the tattoo. That reminds him of... He touches his arm...

"Oh now that's fabric. I was afraid I was going to get hives." His voice is faint but at least he can see the room. He lets out a breath and then a soft laugh.

"Ed did? He suggested a charcuterie board? That man is full of surprises." But he's not really that hungry. "I'll just have the water, please." He hands the bottle for Lucius to open and leans back on the pillows.

"I would have liked to see that fight. I bet it was amazing. Did you take notes? General impressions? Oh..." He rests a hand on Lucius arm. "Please tell me you got a sketch."

Lucius opens the bottle and is, actually, uncharacteristically quiet at that last request. He has several, not including all the ones he balled up and tossed in the bin. He hands the opened bottle back and decides, carefully, to go with:

"Of the fight? Didn't have a pen and paper at the time. Sorry." He huffs and takes the awful Hawaiian shirt and folds it out of habit, setting it aside.

"General impressions I can jot down, certainly."

Stede notices a bit but doesn't think much of it. Boy must be tired. Ready to go to...wherever he does when he's not here. Stede accepts the bottle and takes a sip.

"I'd like to see it... Whatever you can get me." He looks at the door, wondering if Ed is going to return tonight. The thought makes him wince. He cares for him. He does. But he doesn't have it in him to pretend... that nothing happened.

It's horrible. He knows it but...

"Lucius..." he lets out a breath. "I think I'm going to just sleep for tonight. For some reason I can barely keep my eyes open. Go out and...enjoy yourself. Find something entertaining. I'll be here in the morning. And when you see Ed... If you see Ed, let him know..." He takes another little sip. "Well... you know me... I prefer to sleep alone."

Edited 2022-05-19 04:11 (UTC)

With skillfully comedic or perhaps just ironic timing, Ed's finally gotten himself sorted out after disposing of Lucius' shoes over the side of the ship (he wonders if items cast off the ship will make reappearances like deaths or if the shoes will be lost forever) and has returned to the room. He figures they should probably send Lucius for food for Stede and then they could sit up and talk, or Stede could rest and Ed and Lucius could resume the now familiar vigil with far less worry.

They could just all...pretend Lucius saw nothing.

Ed opens the door and steps into the cabin.

He is miraculously already asleep as soon as the door starts to slide open, covers up to his chin even back turned. Who knew he could drop off that fast? Don't mind the snoring.

This hadn't been a recurring nightmare of his, but it will be from this moment forward. Lucius just watches Stede fall asleep and then turns, slowly, to stare wide-eyed at Blackbeard who has just entered the room. Blackbeard, whom he is supposed to...let know...that the Captain wants to sleep alone. He lets out a pitiful, hysterical sort of laugh that chokes out after a second and can feel his stomach drop further. It's somewhere in the bowels of the ship, now.

"Hi---" he says and draws that syllable out until it's the thinnest sound he can make and steps ruefully into Blackbeard's path. Again. How...how many times is this now? And given how livid he'd been a minute ago--threatening to chum the waters with his corpse? Oh, this is, a great, great situation.

Lucius feels very faint and looks like he's about to either pass out cold or start crying.

"Captain--uh--said he'd like some...quiet--" Lucius manages sounding quite strangled. All it will take is a quick movement or some harsh language and he's just going to collapse into a sobbing heap. "Aloneifthat'salright?"

Lucius looks like he's going to be sick as he delivers the news that, somehow in the brief time Ed's been away, Stede's decided to...what, ban him from the room tonight? Maybe he feels sick too, now. Maybe they should both just pull a Stede and pass out for several days, see how Stede likes that.

"The fuck?"

He can't even hide the confused hurt behind a proper rage. It's just...hurt and he doesn't really understand what he did. Is it the kiss to the forehead? Stede did that to him first, days ago, so he thought that would be...okay? Was it not? Were the hugs not good? Is it that Lucius saw? It had been Stede who said 'nothing' happened, so denying the events certainly isn't Ed's mistake here.

He takes Lucius by the arm and pulls him into a far corner, near the door and away from the bed. In a harsh whisper, he demands to know, "Why the fuck-- Am I in the dog house?" And he assumes, of course, that Stede would have told Lucius. Stede's all about talking things out, isn't he (the hypocrite) but mostly Ed has started to think of Lucius as 'Stede's confidante.' "Bastard's not even actually asleep. He can't be. I haven't been gone long enough."

But, of course, if Stede actually wants him gone... well, he'll go.

Lucius makes a choked noise as he's dragged into a corner and stares, wide-eyed, as Blackbeard leans in and demands answers. Answers that Lucius, most assuredly, does not have. Why--why in the fuck did he turn on the light? Damned electricity--he'd never be in this mess if he had a candle!

"I--I don't know," Lucius pleads quietly and can feel himself tearing up. The sleep he had just woken from, to this whole clusterfuck, was the most and deepest sleep he'd had in nearly a week. He's so tired and he's been stretched so tight with worry and constant fear that this is just too much for him. He's not generally known for his bravery and he doesn't have the reserves to keep faking it. Not in the face of cool, tough, badass people (or Stede who actually needs emotional support and can't possibly provide any at the moment).

(Sorry Edward.)

"I--I--I don't," he stammers and, then promptly just dissolves into tears. He's being held up by his arm, boxed into a corner, caught for the second time before he could flee this awkwardness, and now he's just sobbing. It's really his last resort. He's going to get stabbed for it, but you know, maybe death will be easier than juggling all of this--he just lets his head pitch forward and starts crying big, nearly hysterical, childish tears into Blackbeard's beard.

Oh, no. Fuck. You know, usually when people are crying at him, it's because he's about to actually kill them and they're pleading for their lives, not because they're as stressed as Ed is and coping with it badly. And even then, they're not usually crying ON him. He's not even sure what to do. This isn't like with Stede where, ok, Ed still doesn't know what to do, but holding him is kind of magnetic. He doesn't feel that for Lucius. But, shit, now he feels kind of bad.

"Come on, mate, not in the beard."

Ed very awkwardly pats the young man's back in his best approximation of sympathy. It's not a hug, but it's almost something friendly, if you turn and squint.

"If he wants to be alone, let 'im." Whether he is right or wrong in this instance, doesn't matter. Ed's feeling a little petty and vindictive--towards Stede, not towards Lucius, who has been nothing but his ally during this whole mess of a week--and if he's being kicked out, he might as well steal Lucius and go do something more than mope about the deck like a lovelorn fool.

"Let's get wasted." They can bring Stede food in the morning, because they're still loyal even if one of them is being kicked aside. But they deserve a fucking break.

Was...was Lucius crying? God what had happened while he was out? It hurts a bit that Ed doesn't know... but why would he? And really why does it matter.

He winces as the door shuts behind them and waits a moment to make sure they're really gone before sitting up in bed. Had he done the right thing? No of course not he should have told Ed himself... it...wouldn't have gone well but...

Pathetic Nigel says from where he is now my the door. You don't deserve half of what he has to offer. You should be thanking him for the privilege of just associating with you but no, can't face anything, can you baby Bonnet? Just have to cry and run boohoohoo poor me. You make me sick.

Well, at least he is consistent in something. He stares at the spot Nogel had been and sees there is nothing there after all.

He supposes...from now on he'll be easier on Lucius. Ask him to do less. Just a little to keep up the pretext... and as for Ed...who knew? Maybe things had finished...and maybe that was for the best.

He spots a book among the flowers on the desk and pulls it into his lap. Handbook for the Recently Deceased. Morbid but he'll read anything to keep his mind off things.

...Only he can't get it to open...

He lets out a sharp breath that is part laugh, part sigh and stares at the place where the wall meets the ceiling. The room is more silent than he's ever heard it- but there is nothing to do but sit here

alone

Lucius nods along and tries his best to stop sobbing grossly into another man's (dread pirate's) beard. He lets himself be led out of the room and just follows after, barefoot, and fully ready to get wasted.

"Not at the club or the piano place, please," Lucius manages through sniffling and scrubbing at his face. He can deal with this--probably. He is distressingly fragile, at the moment, but he tries to buck up.

"I...don't know why he wanted us both out," he adds after they've walked a distance down the hall. He keeps it quiet, or as quiet as he can given the sudden stuffy nose he has. "I uh...sorry. Also. For the light."

Ed lets out a long sigh and attempts to look aloof and unaffected when he shrugs. Who cares, he wants Lucius to see. ...Who cares? Ed cares, unfortunately. He was gonna fuck it up sooner or later. Lucius just hurried it along.

“I think he’s spooked from this last week. I don’t know if he’s gonna do something rash.” Not hurt himself or anything, but push people away when he wants and needs them close. Maybe break off things irreparably. Ed’s been there many times and generally succeeded at the pushing away. That’s not a life for a man like Stede Bonnet. Stede needs people, and Ed selfishly hopes he gets to be one of those people again.

“Uh...” Since they’re apologizing now: “Sorry about your shoes. Threw ‘em overboard.” Should he offer to get new ones? Nah, the boy can do it himself. Nothing costs money, and Lucius has nothing but time on his hands now. “Thought you’d prefer it to going over yourself.”

There, that should draw the line back between them. No funny friendly business here. He doesn’t want to think that line is somewhat buffed out with the next question. Its just drinks.

“What’s your poison?” That could decide where they go, but the club, John’s and The Drunken Sailor are all out.

"Drinking my weight in red wine sounds ideal, at the moment," Lucius answers after a long silent think. He doesn't really care about the shoes, they weren't nice enough to defend before they were full of vomit. After? Eh. This ship is mostly carpet anyway and the parts that aren't are rather clean. He can meander and look for some later, when he's not having a stress crisis.

He's not sure if he wants to start sobbing or laughing at how absurd this situation is. Probably neither is a good idea, given all the current factors, and the fact that he's boarding an elevator with a man he fears as much as he respects him. Blackbeard did just admit to having chucked his shoes overboard as a surrogate, so maybe he liked him more than he let on? Not worth betting on but still a plus.

Better to be the devil's polite acquaintance something something in his path.

"Captain--" he's not sure why he's saying this. He wouldn't be saying it to anyone else...but in the elevator it feels like...maybe it's a small enough space to share it. "--he makes shit decisions when he's emotional and flustered, tries to prove his mettle. It's how we ended up chasing the English Navy and that whole...dinner debacle. So, you're right, but at least there's no warships to chase after and try to burgle?"

That's funny, right? He's trying to make a joke. Nevermind that he sounds absolutely atrocious.

Ed's not actually that fond of the elevators--it's a control thing, and he's not sure how they work, but he's uneasy about being stuck in one, or (god forbid) having one decide to fall--but he gets in because that's the fastest way to their destination and he's too bloody tired to mess with stairs.

He doesn't crack a smile at the joke, unless you count the slightly pained one, and then in the sanctity of this bloody metal box of a confessional, he admits in a roundabout way to being scared for Stede: "Think that makes it worse. At least with the warships, he had something to focus on. What do you think he'll focus on when this is over?"

The elevator dings a short time later to let them off at Deck Five where Topy is located. Seemed like the place for wine to Ed, not that he's that big on wine. But look, he can be accommodating, even to Lucius. And hell, as long as it's alcohol, it'll work. A nice bottle or so of red will eventually get him there same as some rum or whiskey.

"Knowing Stede Bonnet, I'd say it's even odds that he tries to fistfight god, or throws a very awkward get together for the benefit of the crew," Lucius answers before he can think better of it.

They step off the elevator and head toward their destination. Lucius trudges along and, despite being very poorly for the last week, he slowly starts to recover as they go. By the time they're in Topy, he's basically stopped sniffling. He's not sure what to say to Blackbeard about this whole situation so he resigns himself to saying nothing for a while.

Why not both? Fuck, Stede would attempt to fist fight the Captain, wouldn't he. Shit. They are going to have to keep an eye on him.

Ed's not sure what to say to Lucius either, and not just for his usual lack of social skills. He feels rung out and raw, and with their task of taking care of Stede now off their plates for the evening, he's useless and untethered. What are they supposed to do with themselves if Stede doesn't want them--

Wow, shit, okay. No. That is unbearably pathetic and he needs to be drunk now.

They get a bottle of red and are served with glasses because apparently this place isn't just going to give them each a bottle to drink straight from. Classy establishment. Ed pours himself a very full glass and Lucius the same, and raises his own in a toast.

There's a hint of irony to his tone, along with exhaustion and many other complicated notes of emotion that his limited palette can't or won't identify. "To the Gentleman Pirate--whose fancy manners don't include a fucking Thank You."

Lucius snorts a rude sort of laugh at Blackbeard's toast and can't help but crack a smile. He raises his own glass and then, with all the resignation of a man who has had very little sleep and quite a number of terrible frights, takes a very alarmingly deep drink of his wine.

It's very good wine. Better wine than he is even slightly accustomed to. Better wine than Stede keeps on board, even, which is a real shock. He stares at the glass, then his gaze drifts to the man across from him. He's wrung out and, as of this moment, has the excuse that his wine has hit him harder than expected. Never mind that it's just worked its way into his stomach a second ago.

"Thank you, by the way," Lucius says. He doesn't clarify what for, he'll let it mean the wine...no, that's too cowardly, even for him. "For...sharing watch."

He finishes out the glass in one throw back and then reaches to pour himself more.

"And I'm sorry."

This one he probably doesn't need to clarify.

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Pirate Room Party

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