day 7 on the bird ship

[goingtobeunwell]

[Somebody caught himself an old walkie-talkie from dredging the atmosphere. He thinks about how to test it, staring at the little speaker with a wide smile on his face. Finally he decides to press the button, and with a laugh exclaims:]

He's alive! James Fitzjames is alive!

[More laughter, joyful to the point where it sounds like he's sobbing. The walkie cuts out a couple of times before he speaks again.]

Ironic, it's just...ironic. He was my deal. Ah, well, it was a little more convoluted than just that, but the bloody Admiral could have warned me he was just out there in the universe, traveling on a ship that's half-bird, half-fairy garden.

This -- this bloody place. This whole thing is just...

[He cuts out for good, clearly at a loss for words. Is it bad? Is it good? Who knows any more.

Crozier's found mostly up on deck, helping with the nets and turning the spit for the fish. When he starts feeling better he gets himself up the masts and onto the makeshift ratlines, at ease high up in the air despite being:

1. an older man
2. previously laden with lead
3. one-handed

He spends hours watching the feathered-sails and moving from rope-to-rope and mast-to-mast. He doesn't see any canvas beneath, which disturbs him more than he wants to admit. This ship would need some sort of avian biologist instead of a sailmaker to keep her parts in order.

Other times, of course, he's in rooms that aren't his own. He hasn't even tried to find a space for himself.]

Comments

spam, baby!

[kingsroads]

[ There's a smile on Strange's face as he watches Crozier climb the masts. One day, he climbs up as well. Granted, five years of experience on the ship has made it so that he's better at climbing than he normally would be, but it is still very obvious that Crozier's climbing circles around him. ]

How are you so good at this? [ he laughs, as he climbs up to meet Crozier. ] You were practically bed-ridden a few days ago!

[goingtobeunwell]

[Jonathan Strange, as Crozier's come to find out, has been Fitzjames' dear friend whilst he's been here on the Brig. And yes, there's still an initial recoil knowing that this is a friend of James Fitzjames, and he anticipates having to put his fingers in his ears from time-to-time, but he's found Strange to be a perfectly lovely man.

If not a little vexing at times.]

Deathtoll's subsided some. [He looks down at he's joined by the magician.] And I've been doing this since I was a boy.

[kingsroads]

I noticed that some, [ Strange points out, as he finally makes it high enough that he and Crozier are on the same level. ]

Do try not to strain yourself. You might end up having to pay my settee another visit!

[goingtobeunwell]

I don't know you well yet, Mr. Strange, but I can guess having someone to talk to wouldn't necessarily sour your mood.

[He leans a little on one of the ropes, making room for Strange on the mast.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange clambers up before sitting next to Crozier. ]

I'm afraid I'm a notorious conversationalist. If I may admit, that's one of the reasons I'm quite glad for our new arrivals, yourself included. I suspect that those on the Brigantine are already tired of my stories.

[goingtobeunwell]

Mn. Have you taken a punch from one of us yet?

[He knows a few people in particular who might try to take a swing at the magician.]

[kingsroads]

[ He gives Crozier a sheepish little smile before admitting, ]

I have. I don't blame him, though. I know it can be...hard to adjust to a new place.

[goingtobeunwell]

That's gracious of you.

[And bless that apparently hard head of his. There'll be more punches to take.]

There are a number of us that would rather hit first, ask questions after.

[kingsroads]

Which is probably why that number of you were brought to the Brigantine in the first place, [ Strange lightly teases. ] Hopefully some of you lot can learn to pause for a moment or two.

[laszlo]

[Oooh, a familiar voice! Laszlo hasn't heard too many of those lately.]

You found your friend here, on this ship?

[goingtobeunwell]

[Ah, the English vampire! He didn't speak to him much on the Barge, he was always rather amused by him.]

I did, James Fitzjames. What luck, mn?

[laszlo]

[Here's to more interesting conversations about porn! And surprisingly, he'll refrain from asking why anyone with the surname Fitzjames would name their child James.]

I should say! It's not so strange for the admiral to choose two people who know each other, but it does seem a bit more unusual that two separate admirals did.

[goingtobeunwell]

Does seem odd, doesn't it? And to be on the same ship as him, knowing as we do now that there's likely dozens upon dozens of them out there--

Well. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

[laszlo]

Naturally not! Sadly, it seems as though I however, have lost my wife.

[goingtobeunwell]

Oh.

[There's some real emotion behind this response:]

Oh, my deepest condolences.

[laszlo]

Thank you! I'm holding out hope that she'll eventually turn up here, or that things get back to how they were before... somehow.

[goingtobeunwell]

I hope that you'll be reunited with her, one way or another. It seems cruel to be parted now.

[adaptiveimmunities]

Shaun has been a novice on the Brigantine for a few weeks now, so he'd more or less gotten his feet under him before all the new people showed up. He likes climbing the masts to try to see if anything useful is turning up in the nets, but he doesn't generally seek out company. He's a little surprised to see the older one-handed guy climbing like he's done it his whole life, and even more surprised when he calls out to greet him. "Hey, new guy."

[goingtobeunwell]

He doesn't expect anyone (save the magician) to climb up into the non-rigging with him, but he's pleasantly surprised when he turns and sees a younger man calling out to him. He waves with his non-hand.

"Hallo! Enjoying the view?"

[adaptiveimmunities]

Shaun has always been a bit reckless, and finding out that not only is death not permanent, but his chances of randomly amplifying and turning everyone into a zombie are basically nil here has only made him more so. He likes climbing and the view you get from up high.

"Definitely." He grins back. "How about you? Must be a little different from what you're used to." He assumes the Barge was very different, sure, but this guy is probably used to real ships.

[goingtobeunwell]

"There was usually a sea," he calls back, chuckling a little to himself. "Less vast expanse of space and perpetual blackness. Have you been here long? As a resident of this ship, I mean."

[adaptiveimmunities]

Yeah, Shaun had definitely pegged him right as an actual seafarer. He shrugs, exaggerating the motion a little to make it more visible. "A few weeks before all of you arrived. Long enough to get settled, I guess. How about you? How long were you on that Barge?" He's talked to Maggie. He's got a pretty good idea of what it was like.

[goingtobeunwell]

"Ah, about a year proper," he tells him, neglecting to mention the whole year-on-Flotilla mess. It's just too much to shout across masts.

"Francis Crozier. You are...?"

[adaptiveimmunities]

"Shaun Mason." Crozier. Why does that name sound familiar? It's not like he's made any kind of study of ancient seafarers, but something about the name sticks in his head for some reason.

Wait.

"...You're an explorer, right?" Sometimes trivia sticks in his brain, and this is one of those times. "They named a crater on the moon after you."

[goingtobeunwell]

Shaun Mason also sounds familiar -- did he not make an appearance on the Barge once? But before he can ask Crozier's smacked by the realization that he's been...

Recognized?

"I am," he says, looking flustered. "But I doubt it's the same Crozier."

There were six others with his name, after all.