A few hours later, after the whole business with Horst had been seen too and Nicki had seen the other ship off, he dismissed the crew to their usual posts and went to go have a rest. He opened the door to his quarters to see Jozo sitting at his table with his feet propped on and a smirk on his horse like face. Nicki frowned and closed the door, turning away briefly to hang his coat on a hook beside the door. "Wha's it this time Jozo?" he asked.

Jozo grinned and removed his feet from the table with a loud clunk. "Well, captain, I have some interesting news for you. Turns out your old friend, Andrew, might be keeping secrets. Caught him trying to hide something earlier." Nicki sighed and went to sit opposite Jozo. The man was far too preoccupied with gossip. Besides, Nicki knew Andrew much better than Jozo ever cared to. He knew Andrew was the most honest crew member of the ship, besides Barnaby.

"An' what'd ya think this thing is tha' Andrew was hidin'?" Nicki asked, half his attention on a spot on his shirt. Must of gotten there earlier during breakfast. Jozo leaned forward toward Nicki. "An animal, most likely a small one," he answered in a low voice. Nicki sighed and looked up at him. "An' what'd ya want me ta do 'bout it, eh?" So what if Andrew was keeping pets. Nicki saw no harm in it. Jozo frowned at his answer. "I want you to look into it, that's what. It must be of some value if he's taking so much care to hide it."

"Simmer down Jozo, I never said I wouldn't. Don' dog me 'bout it either though, understand?" Jozo rolled his eyes in exasperation, but agreed. He then stood and stomped toward the door. "Find Andrew an' tell 'im ta come 'ere," Nicki ordered before Jozo could leave. Jozo turned back with a smirk before nodding and continuing out. Nicki sighed again and put his feet up on the table. Keeping Jozo happy was like dealing with a child, an extremely obstinate one at that. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for a replacement next time they had to make port.

Andrew was on her knees in the back of the sleeping cabins, dripping rag in hand. Currently she was cleaning the floor so it was less dirty after having straightened up the piles there. The mess that some of the pirates in the crew decided to keep had passed over her head years before, getting used to it. Sitting up she rinsed out the rag, not that it did much.

As the crew was quieting above as the guest ship left she had moved to the front of the room. She smiled having gotten that much done, and barely anyone had come in yet so she had actually gotten it to be really nice in there. Not the horrible sty that it was before she had come in. Picking up the bucket and the rag she headed back to dump the water with the rest of the cleaning water. In the room she rinsed the rag again and slid it over the edge of the basin. She would probably have to clean more later. But right now she figured she could at least go check the ropes now that the deck was more clear.

Up on deck Andrew nearly ran into Jozo, who grinned wickedly at seeing her. "Found you. Captain wants to see you in his quarters." The man looked absolutely pleased with the notion as well.

Andrew looked over at the robes and shrugged to herself, I'll finish them later, need to stay away from Jozo and he is just going to sit up here and pester me if I don't go. "I'll be going ta see 'im now than." She turned and headed below deck avoiding being around Jozo for very long. Knocking on Andrew's cabin door she called out. "Jozo said ye wanted to see me."

"C'mon in," Nicki called. When Andrew had stepped in and closed the door, Nicki smiled and stood to greet her. "Jozo's said yous' been keepin' secrets, but don' worry 'bout it. Tis common knowing he be full o' bullshit anyways. Ja like a swig?" Nicki said as he held out the bottle of rum he kept on his table.

Andrew had been holding her breath without realizing it and she let it out with a laugh, "Sure captain. I'd love some." Somehow she had been expecting to actually be in trouble of some kind, but this was a much bigger relief. She smiled and walked over to the table to join him. Taking the bottle from Nicki's hand she touched it to her lips and took a swig. It always had a very strange taste but it still tasted good. That doesn't even make sense to me! But it's true. She thought to herself.

"I been thinkin'," Nicki began as he paced around the table, "Next time we's in port, you an' me finda ta sauciest yon' wench in all ta place an' have a night wit her, eh? Be kinda a, comin' of age present for ta both of us." Nicki finished by grabbing the bottle and taking a quick drink.

"Oh yeah of course captain!" A wench! What!? Do I have to get her drinking and make her think something's happened. I can't possibly do that!Andrew resisted the urge to get up herself and start pacing. It was hard to do when she wasn't sure how she was going to get out of this with so many things changing all at once. She rubbed her head in exasperation without meaning to. "Ya think they'll still go fer that? Me being just a cabin boy I mean."

Nicki laughed, bending over double and spilling the rum on the floor. The alcohol was already having an effect, he had been drinking it since early before she had even woke. "Me things they'll thing we ta be ta best lookin' bastards evar ta come ta port, tha's what." He laughed again and swallowed down the last bit of rum. He lowered the bottle and looked at as though it were some strange creature. Then he looked back at her and grinned crookedly.

"Wenches be easy mate," Nicki said as he stepped awkwardly towards her, "They's sleeps wit any slimy git tha passes 'em coin. They's fun ta just play wit too. Me hear's Jozo say they's giggle when ya pulls down...," he reached out for her shirt as he spoke, grabbing it and pulling the front down low. His voice trailed off as he stared blankly at her bound chest.

Andrew watched as her captain moved around his cabin, spilling rum and getting even more drunk than he was before. She jumped when he started walking towards her as he tried to talk about how to get wenches. She took a step back and stumbled but didn't fall as his hand closed on her shirt and lowered it. She gulped as he stared at her chest. "I...I... uh, I can explain." DO I lie, or just give it away that I'm female. Maybe I could say I got cut and I had to wrap it and it ....bumped? Her eyes were wide and her breath caught as she watched him, fearing the reaction. Females were bad luck.

Nicki let go of her and stepped back. He looked around the room in confusion, then lifted the bottle in his hand to squint closely at it. "...Musta had a lil' too much," he mumbled. He turned to wobble back to the table, flopping down in a chair and setting the empty bottle on the table with a hollow clunk. He leaned his head back, squinting up at the ceiling. Then he suddenly grinned, giggled, then choked and twisted over to vomit on the floor.

As soon as he let go she lifted her shirt back up to cover her chest. If he wasn't going to say anything more she was going to stay silent. Than her captain puked. Alexander made a face, knowing that she was about to have to clean that up. "Do you want me to run and get a bucket captain?" She was all official now that he had puked, and now that she had to hide even more.

Nicki staggered to his feet, trying to balance himself with the back of the chair. Vomit had dribbled down his front and he roughly swiped it off his face. He hadn't paid attention to her question. "Say, wha's those wraps for?" he asked with a slur, his bleary eyes staring into hers. "You's gotta injury, eh?"

"Not exactly captain." She cursed herself in her mind for immediately letting the truth slip out of her mouth like that. An injury could have been a great lie, that's what he even thought right away. Amelia you are an idiot! She bit her lip, not knowing where to go from there, and realized that she was self-consciously digging her toe into the ground in a nervous reaction. She gulped and stopped. "Though I suppose you can say that." They do hurt quite often.

"Shoulda have tha' looked at. Looks mighty swollen..." Nicki trailed off into a mumble and slumped back down into the chair. He fell sideways onto the table and closed his eyes, looking as if he had passed out.

Andrew gave a half smile, half grimace and glanced at the door. She wasn't exactly dismissed, but if the captain was really passed out, well that was basically dismissed wasn't it? "Captain?" If he didn't answer she'd run and get the bucket to clean up his mess at the very least, just in case she wasn't actually supposed to be dismissed.

Nothing but silence answered her from Nicki. He laid there like a limp, dead weight, drool pooling out of the corner of his mouth onto the table. His first time drinking hadn't gone as smooth as he had imagined.

Andrew left the captain's cabin quietly and ran down the halls back to get the bucket from the galley. She quickly grabbed a small amount of water since this bucket full would be dumped overboard, and grabbed the rag she had used that morning on the other poor stomach. Just my luck. She thought making a face as she quickly made her way back to Nicki's cabin.


(figured I'd keep this short if you wanted to have her run into anyone cause i can edit in conversations in my next post if need be. =] )

Barnaby was just heading back down to the galley with a pot he just emptied when he saw Andrew hurrying back and forth from Nicki's cabin. He stopped and grabbed the back of her shirt just as she was passing. "Been lookin' for ya, got more dishes ta clean down below." He then noticed the bucket and rag in her hand and let go of her shirt. "Cleanin' agin'? Whas happened this time?"

"Yeah, Captain threw up and I'm gonna clean it up since he didn't dismiss me yet and I'm not sure if he wanted me to leave or not." She managed to stumble that out in one breath very fast before realizing she hadn't covered her voice up. "Err, I'll come back down 'ight afta I clean up da capnn's mess." She gave Baranby a smile, the cook was awfully nice to her, even though he knew that Andrew was just a cover, and that she was in fact female. "I'd be glad ta help soon as I be done."

Barnaby raised an eyebrow and shook his head at her. He leaned in close to speak in a hushed tone. "Better ya get off at ta next port we make. Ya won' be able to keep tha' up long." He took the rag and bucket from her, tucking the whole lot under one huge arm. "Ya'll need help with cleanin' him up. Was waitin' for this ta happen since spottin' him snucking offa with a bottle from ta galley this mornin'." He turned to start walking the other way toward Nicki's cabin.

Once they were down there, Barnaby set the pot with the bucket and rag in it on the floor beside the table. He the went round behind the chair Nicki was still slumped in. The man reached forward and took of fistful of Nicki's hair, pulling the young man straight in the chair. A long line of drool stretched from Nicki's mouth to the table, and the vomit was starting to dry on his shirt. Barnaby held out his free hand toward Andrew. "Hand me ta rag."

Andrew looked at Barnaby with a nod, choosing to remain silent as she followed him back to Nicki's cabin. "Yes'ir." She said picking up the rag and giving it to the large cook. Her eyes settled on Nicki who, despite being a disaster from drinking looked even more innocent being passed out. "He'll fine like everyone else is who drinks right?"

"O' course. Rinse tha' out," Barnaby said as he plopped the dirty rag on the table. He picked Nicki up, the young man easily looking like a doll in the huge man's arms, and propped him up over against a wall. "Now stay by 'im just in case he wakes. I'll tend to ta floor scrubbin'."

Andrew rinsed the rag quickly after Barnaby asked her to and she wrung it tighter than she normally would have as he said that he was going to scrub the floor. "But dat's ma job Bornaby, ya sure?" She nervously walked over to him, thinking that the cook shouldn't be cleaning the floors anywhere. Despite the thoughts she was obeying orders and she held out the rag standing next to Nicki. Truth be told she did hate to scrub puke off the floor. She looked at Nicki who was still passed out.

"I'm sure." Barnaby took the rag and got down next to the mess and started scrubbing furiously. Nicki's eye's fluttered and he mumbled a bit, saying something about Andrew.