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 Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:54 pm
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William messily flailed around as Z'ril grabbed him and tossed him back onto bed. The pirate cursed, coughed, and proceeded to be the worst patient ever as the nymph and he battled, the mythical creature naturally superior to a mere human though that was even more obvious in Will's current state. The pirate himself didn't seem to care for the closeness at all, too busy trying to escape what must be certain doom despite the nymph's assertions before Z'ril was effectively--and almost pleasantly--forcing the medicine down his throat. Will wondered if it was the fever that made those lips feel good in a small moment between the forced-ingesting for whatever-the-hell Z'ril was forcing on him, before sputtering and coughing once he could actually breathe again, glaring at Z'ril with a exhausted loathing of any and all things medicinal. The cheek pat really didn't brighten his mood either.
Will grumbled quietly to himself as he lay there in tired defeat, voice low and rough from his aching throat. "'Not that bad' he says ... You aren't the one that nearly got mouth-drowned by a crazy nymph trying to kill you with meds," he mumbled, blinking. Okay. Maybe the medicine was making him feel better. But the only reason he'd been awake in the first place was because he'd been feeling too miserable to continue trying to sleep. Well, at least now, he thought to himself, he could sleep off the cold. "Just cough an' point," he sighed at Z'ril's 'plight', eyes closing as he let himself enjoy the cool wash cloth on his head. "You're playing a mute, not a fish withou' lungs. He'll get it." The captain opened his eyes, glaring weakly at Z'ril. "Ya know this is mutiny," he huffed, "bloody stupid nursing mutiny. Don't do it again. Or I'll stick you with the pointy end of my sword, bloody nymph or not."
William slowly fell asleep once Z'ril had left to 'talk' to the old man, taking a sip of water before promptly passing out. The next time he opened his eyes, his head was feeling significantly less stuffy and throat almost not sore anymore. He streaked, blinking at the wet cloth still on his head, but figured it mus be freshly put on his head. He felt like he'd slept a long time, though that was nothing new to Will; he was used to sleeping off illnesses. He was, however, parched and starving. The captain sat up, guessing at how long he'd been out. Likely no more than a day at most, he assumed, considering he didn't feel lethargic like one who'd been very long abed. So he stood out of bed, stretching some more and coughing a little before moving to head out on deck.
Though, things had gone smoothly without William around and about. Bull had even taken extra time to start teaching Z'ril how to read the stars for navigation so the boy could take up a few of the shifts for steering the ship. |
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Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:31 pm
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Z'ril chuckled a little and glanced at the captain "I certainly hope it's the fun sword you're talking about… not the metal one in the corner." Z'ril silently put his hat back on and left the room to tell Bull what was wrong. The man seemed to understand and so began Z'ril's watch. He would make Bull and himself food, check on William, then back up to Bull. He had to dose William a few more times while the man was asleep and a few times he had just sat there and stared at the man. It was strange to have the captain just laying there and sleeping when he was usually so active. Z'ril replaced the cold wash cloth every hour so that it would stay cool and help with the fever.
When it seemed that William wasn't getting much better, and he was unconscious so he could fight, Z'ril used some of his ability to heal the other with the water. It wasn't the most practical thing, and involved Z'ril absorbing some of the illness, but in small amounts it was just fine and the captain wouldn’t even know. Just an hour before William woke up the next day Z'ril had been down to check on the man, already becoming tired thanks to trying to push the boat a lot and his little stunt while William was sick, and had been relieved that his fever was going down.
Z'ril was currently standing stiffly at the wheel when William came up, holding things steady while Bull got a bit of a nap, and he smile up at William. "Glad you're awake, Bull's down below… I need you to check something out for me alright?" Z'ril tied the wheel and then stiffly motioned the other over. "I had a bit of an… accident while you were sleeping before I knew you were sick." Z'ril turned around and painfully tried to lift his shirt and once he got it up his pale skin showed a horrifying motley mess of bruises. "I didn't think I hit the deck that hard… It shouldn’t be hurting like it is even if I did… I should be healed by now." Z'ril let his shirt fall and looked at William. "Please tell me it isn't that badly bruised." He of course had something for the bruises, again from the kind fairy he had met, but he wouldn’t be able to apply it himself when he could hardly raise his arms to steer the ship. |
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Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:01 pm
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Will gave Z'ril a rather displeased look, still quite miffed at the 'mutiny', but quietly raised both his eyebrows in silent surprise once Z'ril pulled up his shirt. "s**t, Zee. Your back looks like you got flogged with a flat board," he said lowly and roughly, throat still a little sore but much improved. "So how exactly did you hit the deck hard enough to do that sort of damage anyway?" Will stood there, clearly not leaving until he got told the whole story. When Z'ril did give him the low down, the captain laughed out loud. "Not much of a climber then, are ya? Not surprising. Well you know, the bruises do make you have a bit more of a human complexion, so long as ya ignore the greeny bits. But hey, what's a sailor without bruises now and again!"
William took a walk around the deck, leaving Z'ril to steer as he double-checked things to make sure everything was ship-shape. It looked like between the old guy and nymph, things were doing alright on the small vessel. Not top-shape, but as best as could be expected without a full crew to man the masts and properly scrub everything from top to bottom.
((Super short. I am ashamed D: )) |
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Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:27 pm
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"What did i tell you about getting into my business," Will said, but knew Z'ril was right. He was already starting to feel tired, despite the invigorating salt air. Stretching his legs felt good as he walked the deck, but he knew he would need to get back to bed sooner rather than later. By the time he came back around, the nymph's news about their new arrival time had him raise an eyebrow, secretly impressed. The old Sea Cow was making the time of a ship quite a bit bigger than her thanks to Z'ril. William sighed through his mouth, not trusting his nose, when Z'ril spoke up again. "Sure," he volunteered, taking the wheel while the nymph stiffly walked below decks like the massive bruises were nothing more than an inconvenience restricting his movement. The guy's got grit, even if he looks like a girl, Will thought to himself, before Z'ril returned.
Captain Alyen took the offered biscuit slavered with what looked to be a bit of fish in the middle of it like a impromptu sandwich. William took it and ate it down one large bite at a time, glad for the feeling of something solid and digestible going down to his empty stomach. "Later? Come on, Zee. The ship can take care of herself for a few minutes. Get the wheel tied down and come on," the captain ordered, marching off to his cabin. By the time Z'ril arrived, Will was already looking through the cabinet where the nymph had stored all the vials of tonics and such. He was rummaging about, a look of slight surprise on his face. "How much of this junk did you buy?" he exclaimed. |
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 12:37 pm
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Z'ril glanced up at the there when he said that the ship would last for a while on it's own and he nodded. The once blond helped the other with tying off the wheel so that the ships coarse didn't change, and then he followed the other down to the cabin. Z'ril watched him go through the cabinet with a small smile on his face "You may think it's not that important but people work better when they are healthy. I got as much as would be needed for this little ship in case something happened. I just wanted to be sure." Z'ril stood up and stiffly leaned around the other to pull out a jar. It was very large but was big enough to get the contents inside out. Z'ril went back over to the bed and sat down with his back facing the captain and carefully pulled off his shirt.
"Try and be a little gentle? I don't need the bruises getting worse." Z'ril breathed out heavily, his body shuddering a little, and when William started putting the salve on Z'ril bit onto his shirt. It hurt like hell to have the other touching it but Z'ril knew that it would feel better once the other finished. Soon though Z'ril stopped focusing so much on the pain and instead at the feeling of the others hand on him. Those rough and callused fingers rubbing at his back a little, his mind drifting to the barely there memory of the other hold him, and he felt his cheeks start to heat up. He could feel those fingers dance just around the edge of the bruise, over his sides, and just barely brush against the un injured skin.
Z'ril took a deep breath and as soon as William was done he was pulling his shirt on as fast as he could. "Thank you." He said quickly and then almost ran from the cabin. He couldn’t very well let himself get excited like that, not at all, he knew that once a nymph started they didn't really stop, it wasn't in their nature, and Z'ril didn't want to start anything like that with William. The other man certainly didn't want to start anything with Z'ril so there was no point in even letting that start. |
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 9:48 pm
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Will rolled his eyes at Z'ril's stash of--in his opinion--too much goddamned herb juice but took the jar the other grabbed. "Don't you worry your pretty little head," the pirate said, chuckling and sitting close so he could easily slather the junk onto the nymph's back. The captain got to work, noting Z'ril tensing up and knowing it must hurt like hell to get the stuff rubbed down onto the very tender-looking bruising. He kept quiet though, rubbing the concoction onto the bruises without applying too much pressure, not that bad a guy. Sure, sometimes he wanted to give Z'ril a damned good punch to the face or five, but the nymph was too pretty to really rough up. Maybe. Besides, sometimes Will wondered whether punching of ******** was the option he'd rather have when it came to the blond (currently disguised brunet). Rubbing the salve lightly onto the other's multicolored skin, Will couldn't help but wonder at the slick softness and the warmth of the other's body. It made his lust stir slightly, warmth gently growing and thoughts of just how much the long-haired male looked like a more-than-beautiful woman from the back. Will wondered if ******** a male nymph would be just as good as ******** any human woman when Z'ril was quickly struggling into his shirt and fleeing the cabin like a bat out of hell.
William shook his head, taking a moment to screw the lid back onto the salve jar before putting it back in Z'ril's little stash of nonsensical medical things. The mighty pirate then flopped onto his bed and took the nymph's earlier advice: resting a bit more. But thanks to his body's wonderful strength Z'ril's medicine and attention, William woke up feeling even more improved a few hours later with a different sort of reason to stay longer in bed. The captain rolled onto his back with a low grumble, reaching out and grabbing a fresh handkerchief without even looking for it before seeing to his 'problem' after loosening his belt. One wonderful perk of being a captain: private quarters and plenty of chances for private time with his own right hand. The return of health and rather tantalizing nymph good looks had really reminded him of the sore lack of women on his ship. It was a sore lack on most ships, and for good reason. Sailors were salty, lusty men who often had to go weeks to months without any sort of warm, soft touches from the fairer sex. A woman would just be a constant tease, a constant temptation.
A temptation Z'ril was somehow turning into as Will closed his eyes and saw the other's smooth, inhuman skin. The captain grumbled, but soon had his thoughts on that blond whore from before, knowing soon he'd have one more dirty handkerchief to wash. |
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:14 pm
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Z'ril went back up on deck to hide away by the wheel of the ship, easily untying it and fixing the course for the small amount they had drifted. Z'ril knew he couldn’t let something like THAT happen, he could let himself fall to lust, because once he did he was sure that would be his only goal later when he found his new home. Z'ril didn't want to fall to the same curse that his sister nymphs always did, feeding off the lust and humanity of other, he didn't want to sleep with a random man or woman if they so decided to drink from his waters. Z'ril wanted a simple life and once the lust started he would not be allowed that and would have to draw others to him so that he could get his fill on that dangerous sin… or never find another home. If he stay out of water, never went to another lake or back to his own, than he would not have to worry.
Z'ril sighed heavily and leaned on the wheel a bit. William was NOT worth that, the pleasure was not worth it, and certainly the man would have no idea what he was doing with another man and what pleasure that would be brought would only be brought because of Z'rils own body. Again William was certainly not a man that was worth that much trouble, or pain, or heart break. The blond could only imagine how many hearts a man like William had broken in his years, how many whores he has stung along only to leave and never go back to that port. The thoughts reminded Z'ril so much that this man was a pirate and while he was helping Z'ril it was only because there was profit to be made and the threat of death.
Z'ril let William sleep for a while, thinking over many different things while steering the ship, but after a while he knew that it was time for the other to come up on deck. Z'ril tied off the wheel, making sure that it stayed it's course, and then made his way down to the captains quarters. Z'ril made no thought to knock before entering, he never really had before, but when he stepped in and saw the captain his face instantly turn bright red and he covered his eyes. "I AM SORRY! I had no idea you where-, that is- I mean- IT'S YOUR TURN TO STEER!" And with that Z'ril fled again, blushing like the virgin he was. Well he certainly hadn't been expecting that when he had walked into the captains quarters, although honestly who would, and he was sure he looked a fool with his sputtering and stumbling. |
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:47 pm
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William was breathing to his own rhythm, feeling himself on the wonderful edge of that ocean of pleasure all human beings knew ... when he was startled half to death by a certain nymph's blasted yelling. Very few other times in his life had William ever felt like stabbing someone ... but this one had to nearly reach the top of that list; even above damnable Kyd taking his ship and his crew. Of course he didn't just want to stab Z'ril with his sword, oh hell no, his other 'sword' just had to remind him of that at the delightful red graced the nymph's cheeks. William cursed and groaned to himself when Z'ril fled yet again, leaving him nearly blue-balled for a few moments before getting back into the rhythm and soon getting rid of the present problem without much else besides remembering the nymph's childish embarrassment. For a tempting damn flirt, he sure acts like a vi-- ... wait. No. William thought as he cleaned himself up, before laughing. Oh, this is just too good. Could he really be ...?
Waltzing lazily out of his cabin, William was looking a lot more content as he strolled out on deck, going over to the wheel and quietly untying the wheel as Z'ril had left it before looking around. Looked like the nymph had made himself scarce. But on such a small ship ... nobody could hide forever, let alone a few hours. So, Will just stood there smirking and waited. Soon, Bull was on deck and sharing advice on weather, wind, and such, William calmly bantering back. Soon, time dragged on to dinner, when the nymph had to deliver some grub. It was Bull's turn to steer and William was grabbing both Zee and his dinner, bringing both to his cabin without allowing the 'mute' a single word of protest. Once they were alone, Will pulled Z'ril down to sit next to him as he ate, sitting across from one another at the cabin's small table with only two chairs to go with it.
"You know, we humans have this thing. It's called 'knocking,'" he chuckled, eating his dinner, oddly cheerful and courteous. That could only mean bad things to come. "You know ... one would think a nymph would laugh at such a sight. Not blush like a virgin whore at her first time on the job." Oh yeah, he'd pegged Z'ril and wasn't about to let the nymph weasel out of it. "You know what happens to virgins on ships? Hell, men and women virgins? Well, they sure as hell never manage to stay that way. Half the sailors at any port are lusty or rapists or both at once." |
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:12 pm
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Z'ril ran across the deck, stormed through the crew quarters below deck, and hid himself away in the cooking area to the mild complaints of a groggy Bull. He didn't even want to look at the captain after what he had just seen because he was pretty damn sure all he would be able to do was blush. Z'ril sat in the "kitchen" of sorts and just waited out the time, trying to be as scarce as possible, but when he heard Bull start waking up he knew that he would need to provide a meal not only for the old man but also for the captain. It meant that most likely he would be confronted about bursting in on William which was not something that Z'ril wanted.
Z'ril decided to take his time with cooking the meal, put it off a bit so that he wouldn’t have to face William, but after a short while he knew that he had to go up and face the music. Bull needed to eat , and so did William, and Z'ril needed them both healthy and happy so that he could get to a new home. Z'ril sighed heavily as he served up the food, a thick soup instead of something whole, with fresh fish and a few other things in it. Some of the greens they had, that needed to be used up before they went bad, went into the soup and when Z'ril presented it to Bull the man seemed rather happy to have something that wasn't just a well seasoned fish.
Of course when Z'ril was grabbed the Brunette had to restrain himself from making a noise, or protesting, and in the next moment he found himself back in the captains quarters with William and sitting across from the man as he ate. Z'ril stared at the other, watching him carefully, and tried not to seem to nervous. Of course that plan flew right out the porthole when William began to speak, his tone teasing but obviously know that he had caught Z'ril red handed. Z'ril bit his lip, looking away from the other, and let down his hair so he could run his fingers through it.
"Alright, alright, you caught me. I am a virgin. But is it so hard to guess? I am 78 years old and had been trapped on that island for fifty years… I wasn't even really old enough for my own lake when I wound up on that island." Z'ril leaned back in the chair, a sigh leaving him. "Plus once a Nymph has sex they develop a taste for lust, it becomes like a drug, they need it and they need it bad. Some Nymphs can break out of the urge but it takes a long time and help from others. When they taste it they can't get enough and they need a fix every short while. They draw people in and drain them of their lust, have sex with them, then send them on their way. I never wanted to be like that, to crave lust and sleep around with people I don't know and don't care to know, you may be happy to do so but I am not. I wouldn’t have any help if I tried to stop, not in the past or now, so I would be stuck forever searching for lust." Z'ril sighed heavily.
"The only other option would be to never return to a lake. To give someone my Vial and basically spend the rest of my life tied to them and only having sex with them. As soon as I either deviated from them or returned to the water it would be over." Z'ril crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't want that and I don't know of anyone who would ever be willing to spend the rest of their life with me so a virgin I shall stay. Thank you for the warning though… I can protect myself should the problem arise, I am a Nymph after all… I just hope it never does." Z'ril sighed and stood, heading for the door. "Anyway I will go give Bull some company since it is his shift again… I may need to sleep tomorrow so just… be ready." And with that Z'ril put his hair back up and left the cabin. |
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:37 pm
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William slurped at the soup, eyebrow raising as he learned more about nymphs than he'd ever thought of knowing. Addicted to lust? Huh. Will let Z'ril go peacefully without a snarky comment, looking deep in thought as he finished off his soup. A virgin nymph on his ship and likely to be screaming tomorrow night. Well, at least the weather wasn't stormy. That was some blessing at least. And Z'ril wasn't going to jump men's bones just for the hell of it, so any teasing was just that: teasing. William would be lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed; the thought of ******** the nymph had crossed his mind once or twice. Or more, if he was being truthful to himself, but Will was a good liar. He wasn't about to admit that much when ready whores were just roughly a week's sailing away.
So, the night passed without much incident. William grouchily took his own shift the next morning, far too huffy at getting woken up to possibly be ill any longer, sailing the ship. The pirate smiled a little to himself as the day wore on, even when it was clear Z'ril was drooping a bit. The captain would figure a way to deal with that when the time came ... but something else caught his attention much more readily. He did a double-take, looking out on the great blue expanse surrounding them. He pulled out a pocket telescope and gazed out onto the horizon, before frowning. Not a deep frown, just an annoyed one. A trader ship, far forward of them and coming closer. Not because it saw their little ship or cared, but because this was likely not too deserted a trade route.
"Frenchmen," William huffed, pocketing his telescope again after seeing the flag the large trader flew. How disappointing. A big fat merchant vessel and all he had was a tiny ship with a tired virgin, an old man, and himself. "Oi, Zee! Come over here!" he called out, still at the wheel. "There's a ship coming along our path. She's likely to ignore us and keep on sailing past, so just act natural." He hoped the trading vessel would just sail on past. He didn't have the time to stop and chat and try to do bloody 'civilized' nonsense. Like talking or explaining why he was sailing such a low-manned ship to a large port with no real items to trade within her hull. |
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:09 am
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Z'ril was lively through most of the night, trying to keep Bull company and trying to also reassure him that Z'eil was very much used to staying awake. It was hard during the times that Z'ril would find himself growing exhausted but he was easily able to shake himself awake and keep on moving. When morning came Z'ril woke William and then went to go make food for the two men so that they would be able to keep up their strength. The day for Z'ril was kept up with a lot of Z'ril being exhausted and trying to stay awake while he did his chores. It wasn't easy but he managed to get it done, just trying to stay awake so they wouldn’t have to worry about his screaming.
Z'ril was leaning on the railing when he was called over and he quickly moved over to William. When the other mentioned the ship Z'ril grabbed the telescope from the others pocket and took a look himself. "Well from what I can see they have no reason to stop for us." Z'ril handed the spyglass back. "If they stop then just tell them we are heading to port for a pick up. Smaller crew bigger pay out to each man. Plus the intention of picking up better men then the ones you had before." Z'ril leaned on the railing, close to William, resting his chins on his arms and staring at the ship he could barely see in the distance.
"If you want I can try and gently nudge them in another direction. I can't promise I will be to successful and if they stop… ill just go down to cook. They would have no use talking to a mute anyway." Z'ril sighed. At this point he didn't look like he was drooping, he looked straight out exhausted, he even looked almost sick. He didn't have any of the glow that he used to when he first met William and it was certainly because of the crappy sleep. Z'ril pushed himself up, sighing and moved to go down and cook. "I'll trying and nudge them away, if I can, but no promises on that one. I don't want to have to stop so some idiots can have a chitchat. Obviously not a pirate vessel so the use of them stopping is out of my comprehension." The tone was rather biting, and more than a little brought on by the lack of sleep, But it sort of fit Z'ril in a way. Instead of the rather passive aggressive way he said things it was just blunt distaste.
Z'ril ended up down in the bowels of the ship when they were stopped. He was sitting on one of the barrels of water and staring up through the cracks in the floor. When he heard the voices he sighed and then he heard Bull join in. Z'ril leaned back, closing his eyes, and listened to the voices. There was one voice in particular he listened to and as he listened to it he felt more relaxed and less on edge. Z'ril stood after a few minutes of listening to the talking and carefully crept his way up so he could see the Frenchmen who had stopped. Z'ril came up, holding the bucket to clean the decks. He almost dropped his bucket when he saw a young Nymph he knew rather well. Unfortunately it was only because she had tried to kill him a few times. Z'ril had been seen by the Frenchmen, waved and pointed to his throat signaling he was mute, and hoped he could get away without being seen.
The woman wasn't in chains, was obviously not a slave, and she was wearing the same guises as Z'ril. Z'ril had thought he had gotten away but in one moment he was scrubbing the deck and the next he was getting a heeled shoe to the side. The force was enough to send Z'ril sliding a bit and his hat falling off. In the next moment he was kicked in the face and grabbed by the hair. The woman was screaming at him calling him a disgusting half breed, yanking his head up as Z'ril did nothing but grip at her wrist and wince as he looked up at her. Blood trickled down Zrils chin and she got a few more hit's in before she was pried away from him, one hand from Z'ril's throat and the other from his throat. Z'ril sat for a moment, just staring at the ground and regulating his breathing before he grabbed his hat, put his hair back up, and wiped at his mouth before continuing to clean. The only good thing was that the incident made the Frenchmen rather confused and pissed at the woman. Z'ril just scrubbed away, keeping his head down, and ignored the growing bruises. He still had the horrible big one on his back and now he had many more.
After a few minutes of scrubbing Z'ril sat back, wiping away stray tears, and swallowed thickly. He heard the Frenchmen leave, not even paying attention to what else was said, and then he carefully stood and went to the captains quarters. Z'ril sat down on Williams bed and silently cried as hed pressed at the bruises on his neck to make sure nothing had been seriously injured. |
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:53 pm
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Will frowned when Z'ril dug into his pocket without a word of warning to grab his telescope, frowning at the seemingly oblivious nymph until the other gave the item back, putting the item back into said pocket before chuckling at Z'ril's advice. Really, had the nymph forgotten he was talking to a pirate? He knew nearly all the tricks in the book, even if the thought of dealing with a Frenchie was less then appealing, especially a apparently rich French merchant, judging by the ship on the horizon. Though, as the nymph went on suggesting he 'nudge' the other ship, Will couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and look over the wilted form of Z'ril with more than a little bit of disbelief. Frankly, the nymph didn't look like he could nudge a drop of water, let alone a whole ship. The captain rolled his shoulders in a noncommental shrug, keeping his hands on the wheel at Z'ril's bitter finishing words, though the captain didn't blame the nymph. Hell, Will himself knew what it was like to be grouchy when one was low on sleep.
"French merchants of this caliber tend to be jackasses because they can," William commented, "and any merchant with enough money and old rich blood in him will be a horror to interact with for any period of time. Which is why I so enjoy killing them instead," he said as casually as a man talking about his preferences of wine types. Soon enough, Z'ril disappeared bellow deck and Will couldn't help but mentally groan as the French ship changed course, definitely seeing their small vessel and coming over to poke their long Frenchy noses in business that didn't concern them. Bull dropped anchor as Will tied the sails as the french merchant vessel flagged them down, one man waving an actual flag as the ships drew near to signal the desire they stop.
William and Bull stood at the railing as the large ship dropped a small boat to row on over, getting the two vessels close together too risky a thing to do at sea and so far from port. Soon, a--you guessed it--Frenchman was pulling himself up on deck, before helping ... a woman up with him? William internally bristled at the absurdity of having any sort of female aboard a ship and was internally wondering just what sort of foolish frog was on his old Seacow but smiled his best smile anyway. Appearances were always more important than the truth when it came to dealing with long-nosed men such as this Frenchman.
"Welcome aboard. I'd offer you a seat or something to eat, but I'm afraid both would be quite lower fair than what you're used to. I'm captain Alex Williams." A simple change of the name. Not too different from the truth, but also not too close to it either. It was days like this Will thanked his mother for such a commonplace name.
The French captain sniffed, looking around and pulling out his handkerchief as if to protect himself from the common filth as he ever-so-gently wiped some sweat from his brow. "What is your cargo?"
Not even giving his own name, the git, William thought before launching into the story he'd created that was pretty close to the truth, Bull interject from time to time to confirm things. The old salt was quite the good actor, Will reflected as the Frenchman's gaze flicked to the side.
"My nephew," William began to give the usual story for explaining Z'ril's presence on the ship while the Frenchman looked impatient as it was apparent there was nothing of any real value on this ship ... until the woman moved. All three men seemed equally shocked when the girl kicked Z'ril before laying the beatdown on the 'halfbreed', the Frenchy moving as quickly as his legs could take him with Bull being a bit faster (aged joints and all) to pry the woman off of Z'ril. Will watched Z'ril slowly right himself and silently get back to work like nothing had happened while the foreign captain argued very loudly with the woman in French, seemingly more intent on verbally asking the female nymph (that much was obvious now) what the hell she'd been doing, getting him to go through all this trouble for nothing of any worth.
Will was silent, ad focused on getting the Frenchman off of his ship. Though, the foreigner seemed only too happy to go on his own way, soon leaving with the woman. Will glanced at Bull, Bull glancing at Z'ril as the nymph marched to the captain's cabin without a word. The old one-eyed man then glared at Will until the captain sighed, letting Bull watch the ship while he went into the cabin.
"Well that was a bit more of a mess than expected," he commented, heading for the now-dubbed 'medicine cabinet' and getting the cream Z'ril had pointed out to him before for his back bruises, the man sitting on the bed next to the nymph. "Well, look on the bright side. No one is going to look at you like you're a sex object so long as your face looks like that," Will said unhelpfully, moving the nymph's hands out of the way gently to look at the other's neck.
"Hold still." William gently started getting the cream onto the bruises, ignoring the damp cheeks and story of tears left on Z'ril's face as an attempt at politeness. "If it makes you feel any better, now you have a good excuse to have screaming nightmares. I'll just tell Bull that woman traumatized you, and he won't ask any questions about it, yeah?" William carefully let his fingers massage the unknown healing stuff onto Z'ril's neck, carefully moving up to the face and taking care of the building black eyes there as well. "Close your eyes, I don't want this stuff getting into them."
Will worked on, sighing to himself and getting more of the globby cream onto his fingers before continuing. "You'll have to take off your shirt too; she gave you a good kick to the gut. Hell, you bruise as easily as a tomato. Lay down so I can get your stomached covered in this stuff properly." |
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 3:45 pm
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Z'ril was honestly surprised when William came into the cabin and he quickly wiped away the tears before looking up at the man and watching him move over to the cabinet. Z'ril couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him at the very poor attempt at trying to make him feel a bit better. Z'ril shifted as the other sat next to him and then the other was rubbing the cream into his skin and the pain was slowly dulling. Z'ril watched the other move, not saying anything, and sighed slightly as the other continued to speak unhelpfully. It was true that he now had a good excuse but he really wished he didn't have to have an excuse. He wanted to be able to sleep peacefully without all the screaming and crying.
Z'ril opened his eyes, grabbing the others wrist carefully, and he lowered the others hand. "Do you remember that taunting song I sang to you? That wasn't about humans… those were the words I heard every day from the other children" Z'ril sighed looking away. "It's worse than that. You think humans are cruel when they don't like someone… my race thinks I am disgusting. To them I am lower then dirt… all because my father fell in love with a human woman." Z'ril shifted his fingers on Williams wrist. "That woman you saw…she was one of the worst. She tried to smother me as an infant… she would constantly beat me black and blue and almost killed me to many times to count." Z'ril carefully reached up and touched his bruised throat.
"I often wondered if they were right while I was on my island all alone. I had no one and nothing but little trinkets that would wash up on shore. I had the displeasure of watching my father torn in half in front of my eyes by the water spirits who were supposed to protect my kind on the ocean… I still wonder if they were all right." Z'ril let go of the others wrist and rest his hand on the others chest over the pendant that carried Z'ril's life line. "Maybe they are right. I won't ever escape what I am. I can't be a nymph, I can't be human, I can't be anything. The only purpose I could ever serve is to be a disgrace to both races. I don't even know why I bothered trying to leave my prison…" Z'ril pulled the pendant out of the others shirt and stared at the lightly glowing vial.
"I really am my father's son…" Z'ril very easily pulled the pendant from Williams neck. "I guess I caused you pointless trouble. I certainly do hope you get your ship back." Z'ril stood, pendant in hand, and headed for the deck. This wasn't a spur of the moment thing. This wasn't one beating, this was years and years of being treated like nothing, being seen as nothing but an item, and being left alone to live a life he didn't want. This was years of nightmares, years of tears, years of wanting it all to end but not know how. This was the culmination of pain normally felt by people over a lifetime and yet Z'ril had felt it in his supposedly "young" years. It was pain and fear, loneliness and trepidation, it was being away from everyone and everything. Z'ril really had nothing to live for when it came to this world, he was outcasted by everyone and everything, even humans only saw him as some item to sell. The lack of sleep didn't help at all, only making him less able to think clearly, but for the large part Z'ril was just done. He was tired of being alone and being rejected. He was tired of it all and he had brought his troubles onto someone else which really was the last straw. He should have just lived his life alone.
Z'ril stopped for a moment, remembering the moments he had with William, all the arguing and frustration but beneath that Z'ril had always felt a bit fond of the man. He was gruff and rude, mean at times, but Z'ril knew that somewhere under all of that there was a good man. Z'ril's mind flashed back to when he had his nightmare that fist time and he had opened his eyes to find himself being held by William, even if it was for the others own sanity, it was the first tie in his life anyone but his father has shown him such kindness. Z'ril stopped for a moment, looking back at William, "Thank you… I need to say thank you." |
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 7:04 pm
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The captain paused when Z'ril gently grabbed his wrist, raising an eyebrow at the bruised nymph and wondering what the hold-up was. William blinked at the sudden turn to the past, and soon the nymph was just laying down a summary of an unhappy life story, his unhappy and rather unfortunate life. William had heard many a sob story in bars and on ships, though it was Z'ril pulling out the pendant and then pulling it off and clearly thinking about doing something very stupid. Something that could and would likely not go unnoticed by the deckhands on the French ship still not stopped too far away or by Bull who was still out and ready at the wheel.
The captain was on his feet and quickly following behind the apparently-suicidal nymph, taking the moment the nymph stopped to catch up and grab the other's hand with the vial in it, frowning heavily at the other. "What you need to do is get back into my cabin," he said, the two of them just outside the doorway and thankfully out of Bull's earshot, "and get some rest, screaming or not. Z'ril," he went on, forgetting to muddle up the name like he usually did or use the nic name he'd made up for the nymph, "you and I made a deal. Do you understand? You got me off that island and I'm getting you to a lake." Nevermind that if Z'ril offed himself on this ship, bad luck was sure to follow. Like most sailors, William did tend to take superstitions a bit more seriously than most land-going men would. And letting the nymph kill himself just seemed like a ton of bad karma Will didn't want or need right now.
"You're exhausted and just got throttled," Will went on, using his 'sensible and soothing' voice like he did when dealing with drunks who were on the edge of starting a fight; usually with him. The captain was also trying to worm the vial out of Z'ril's hand and hoping the other wouldn't notice this as he spoke. "Besides Zee, nobody really fits in the world. That's why you have to carve you own space out in it; make your own way. Screw what your race thinks; as far as I can tell most of them are horny bitches anyway. Look, just let me fix you up and--"
A yell from the French vessel had Will's attention diverted ... and then held there. One of the many men on the other ship was looking down at the stretch of water between their two vessels, and with more coming to look by the second. Will could see why. In the space between the ships, the ocean waves were broken by a bobbing eel-like head and serpentine body as a creature floated there, looking up at the two ships in turn with curious eyes. Now, William had heard as many of Bull's stories as Z'ril had, and identified the thing at once based on the old man's tales and other accounts: a leviathan. Only ... it was quite a bit smaller than the stories painted it to be: about as long as the Seacow as Will could see from snout to tailtip, with big eyes and acting almost like a dolphin: just looking up at the vessels and apparently curious. When the little leviathan neared the French ship, however, it paused, and seemed to grow frustrated before turning away, and William realized the merchant vessel's resident nymph had probably turned the beast away using nothing more than some strong water currents below the surface.
But the creature's scales reflected like little bits of colorful rainbow along the slick hide as it neared the Seacow, clearly meeting no such resistance. Or, not enough of it to be pushed away. The thing had arms like a lizard, Will saw as it hung into the side of the ship with thick curved claws, a forked tongue licking the air as it investigated the wooden side of the ship. Bull was walking back from the wheel, edging towards the entrance to the below decks and looking pale before he saw Will and Z'ril, motioning the two to also get out of sight before they became snacks. |
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