The two finally got to the opposite side of the deck, Alfred receiving glares from every crew member he made eye contact with, Arthur being one of them. The door they approached had a small circular window inside, showing a dimly lit space. The wood on the outside had the words 'Captains Quarters' carved into it. Arthur pushed on the door, effortlessly opening it and stepping in. Inside was a large table covered in knick-knacks from a globe to a compass, and at the center was a map, solid and dotted lines of different colors covering it. Arthur stepped forward, Alfred trailing behind, his arm still firm on the shoulder in front of him.
"Get off." Arthur spoke, feeling the boy stiffen at the sound of his voice. "Eh?" He replied quietly. "Get off. There's a seat right there." Arthur repeated more aggressively, pointing at the barrel in front of the table. Alfred looked around that area a bit before carefully sitting on the barrel, obviously cautious to be sure he didn't sit on the wrong thing. Arthur just nodded and made his way to his own chair across the table, his heels clicking the floor as he did.
Alfred looked curiously around the room. There were a few shelves, covered in exotic looking treasures, the small amount of light in the room reflected against them, causing them saw a desk with only a quil, ink, and a few pieces of paper on. He guessed even pirates had to be professional at some point. And lastly he saw a large, very elegant bed, which coverings looked to be made of silk, it's color matching that of the Captain's red coat to a tee. It looked very out of place for a pirate ship. Alfred eyes glanced down at the map below and saw it was that of Europe and some of the Asian countries. There we're lines leading and trailing off into all different directions. His eyes widened in fascination. Had this ship really been to all those places? That seemed incredible to him.
"Like whatcha see?" Arthur chuckled at Alfred's stunned expression. "Aye, this ship has been almost everywhere in Europe and Western Asia. beautiful country, it is." Arthur spoke- more like bragging than a statement. "We're heading to Eastern Asia now, but before we do that..." Arthur spoke as he swiveled his chair around and dug through what looked like a worn out chest filled with salt. "Ah!" He exclaimed as he grabbed a cooked fish from the salt. He swung the chair back and threw the fish at Alfred, watching him fumble with it before he got a real grip on it. "Ya best eat up. You're as scrawny as a worm." Alfred inspected the fish before taking an extremely small and careful bite. "It's not like we poisoned it! Can't get much more than fish out here on the sea, so that there is a delicacy. More than a normal crew members rations." Arthur pointed to the fish, one eyebrow cocked upwards on his forehead. Alfred took another bite before Arthur spoke up again. "So I can tell by you're accent that you're American. What're ya doin' in England?"
Alfred swallowed the piece of fish in his mouth and took another quick bite. It wasn't half bad, but any food was good food to Alfred at this point. He had been eating stale bread, and any other scraps he could find for the past few months now. He gave what ever decent food he managed to find to his brother. He swallowed the second piece before speaking. "Me and my family moved here about a year ago." He took another bite. "My uh...my brother is sick you see, and we came to England because there was a doctor who said he could cure him...turned out just to be a con man..." He told the pirate with disgust in his tone. That bastard promised to make Matthew better, but all he did was run off with their money. Just thinking about it made him furious.
"Got tricked by the man, eh? Don't trust anythin' ya hear." Arthur laughed a bit. "So ya brothers sick, eh?" He said, but Alfred seemed too lost in his own thoughts to hear what Arthur was trying to ask. He took another deep bite of his fish angrily and he chewed loudly, his mouth open as he did so. "You're as hungry stray!" Arthur said loudly as he hit the table a bit to get Alfred's attention, and that it did, making all the red from his face when he was angry drain into a pasty pale color. "So ya brothers sick, eh?" Arthur repeated. Alfred just nodded. "What's he sick with?"
"The doctors called it...uh.." Alfred snapped his fingers trying to remember the name. "Ta...Tuberculosis." He said, carefully, trying to pronounce it correctly. Alfred took another bite of the fish. "After that things only got worse...thanks to that bastard, we had no money left. This." He glanced down at the now half eaten fish. "This is the first decent meal I've had in mouths..." He said more quietly, as if ashamed of his own poverty.
"Ah. I lost my best crew members to tuberculosis. The devils disease, it is. You're in a pretty shitty predicament." Arthur sighed, closing his eyes in remorse. "Lost me own parents to that disease. Before it was widespread. The name was scarcely known and they took me with em' to several different doctors lookin' for a cure. To at least put the name to the disease. I was ten at the time. Thirteen by the time my mum finally died. My father was devastated. Didn't eat for days. Ended up dying of what I call a broken heart." Alfred looked up at that, setting the almost half eaten fish on his lap. "I was taken into a crew. Captain Braginski was this ships old leader. I was only fourteen, nearly starved after a year on the lamb as a stray dog. The man nearly worked me to death."
Arthur kicked his legs up onto the table. "That was until he died of alcohol poisoning, the stupid bastard. Was hard enough to get alcohol in the first place, but to kill yourself with it?" Arthur laughed, re-living his memories. "Good way to go if you ask me. By the age of eighteen, I was running this vessel. Been running it ever since. And I will say, I'm the best captain that ever lived. My parents would probably be proud. Maybe even alive if I had ran this ship when they were sick. I could probably find a doctor easily." Arthur opened his eyes and saw Alfred starring intently at the floor boards. "Oi, what about your parents? Ya got any?"
"I-We did...My mother actually died on the ship ride over here. Three months on the same boat..it wasn't as bad as people said it would be, but...one day the food they gave us, was spoiled, really spoiled, probably had been sitting in the sun for a week." He told anger growing in his voice, Alfred knew his mother's death was completely avoidable, but those cheap bastards who ran ship didn't give two shits about their passengers. "A lot if people got sick from it...but she...was the only one who didn't make it." He put the rest of his fish on the table in front if him, his appetite suddenly gone. "And my father...my father had gotten a job trying to earn the money back that was stolen from us, one night, he was walking home, his hours we're terrible so it was about 1 or 2 in the morning. When...He got hit by a carriage...the horse..." Alfred choked on his own words. "The horse trampled him, killing him instantly."
"You've had a rough go, eh? Hope ya got someone back home to take caraya brother, cause this ships a one way trip to East Asia and you boarded it." Arthur said. He wasn't good at comforting, but more along the lines of straightforward. Alfred just looked down. "Whaddya say we look for a doctor in Asia while we're at it. I heard China's been struck hard with the devils disease. Should be a doctor or two there, huh?" Arthur tapped the table in thought, bringing boots back to the wooden floor of the ship. Alfred didn't speak. "Suit yourself. Ya want 'im to die, that's not my problem."
Arthur stood walking around the table to some books on the wall, searching for the one labeled 'Major Trading in East Asia'. "Oi, come help me look for a book would ya?" Arthur yelled behind him, but Alfred didn't move a muscle. Arthur spun on his heel to face the boy, his face began to burn with what he knew was irritation (he was known to have a short temper). He began to step toward Alfred, hand balled to a fist when a sudden loud noise brought him to a halt. Alfred's back arched with every gag and choke he made, clutching his stomach and dirtying the ground. Arthur's expression changed from anger to relief. He had decided the boy had been through enough -and didn't want to hit him- but his anger commonly got the better of him. His soles clicked and the floor creaked under his weight as he approached Alfred, patting the boys back as he continued to heave.
"Aye, the seas got the better of ya. Ya know you're cleaning that up when you're done." He laughed Alfred continued to retch, emptying his, just filled stomach. The back washed taste of the fish was bad enough to make him vomit again, but there was nothing left. Great. This jerk was probably going to scold him for wasting food. Alfred took a few deep breaths, as his stomach settled back to normal. He sighed and stood, searching the room for some sort of rag or towel. Luckily there was one half falling off of the chair, next to the desk. He picked it up and knelt down next to the pool of vomit he had made, and began scrubbing.
As he did, the Captain's words echoed in his mind. Did Asia really have a cure? Would there even be any point? Clearly the Captain had no intent of stopping the ship, so by the time they got there Matthew would be gone. Alfred shook his head in frustration and cursed himself for thinking so negatively. What did he know? Maybe a neighbor would notice Alfred didn't come back and check in on Mattie. That man next door, Gilbert, he seemed nice, maybe he would help. Then when Alfred came back with a cure from Asia, he would be a hero! Not only to his brother, but to anyone else suffering from the dieses. "Do you...really think they have cure there?" Alfred finally spoke up, as he continued to scrub the floor.
"Course they do." Arthur replied, cringing at the awful smell that the vomit had left in the room. "Asians are smart. They've invented all kindsa stuff." Alfred nodded skeptically at that. "Anyway, it's worth a shot, yea?" Arthur's fingers brushed over the books. They were scattered about. No one ever really bothered to put them in alphabetical order, nor did anyone really care. "Hey, kid, can ya read?" He asked over his shoulder. Alfred nodded in response. "Come over here."Arthur motioned to him with his finger to get closer. "But the mess-" Alfred began. "Forget the vomit, I'll pick it up." Arthur said. A shudder went through him as he said the words. He knew a Captain shouldn't have to go through the trouble of cleaning a slave's mess. Hell, if it was anyone else he probably wouldn't have, but there was something about this boy he liked. He could relate to him, maybe? Maybe... "A-are you sure?" Alfred asked.
"Ask again and I'll change my mind." Arthur spat. Alfred's face went red with embarrassment and he stumbled to his feet. 'Still got land legs', Arthur thought as Alfred tripped over to him, using everything near him as support. He ended up using Arthur's arm to pull himself up next to him. Vomit got on his expensive velvet cape-coat, but strangely enough, he didn't care. "Put these in alphabetical order." He commanded. Alfred stared up at him before nodding. Arthur ripped his arm away from Alfred's grip, causing the boys face to turn a light shade of red. Alfred quickly clung to the bookshelf for support. "sorry" he muttered. "Don't mention it." Arthur cringed at the sight of his ship's floor before kneeling beside it.
Alfred began sorting thought the books, keeping one hand on the bookshelf for support. He turned his head back and saw the Captain, actually cleaning up his mess. He furrowed his brow with confusion. Why was he being so nice to him? Alfred thought that pirates we're supposed to be evil and selfish, kind of how the Captain was acting a short while ago. But...he was actually...not that bad a guy. Maybe this whole situation wouldn't be so bad...maybe. Alfred quickly turned his head back towards the books when he saw the older man start to stand back up. He shuffled thought them, most of them we're about Geography and Trading, but there we're a few ones that we're unique. The ones that most caught his eye we're the copies of a few Shakespeare novels.
They we're old and worn out, as if they've been read through dozens of times. Alfred grinned seeing his favorite one there. Romeo and Juliet. Alfred wasn't sure why it was his favorite, he usually didn't like sappy love stuff. But something about those star crossed lovers made Alfred want to read it over and over again. Even though it ended badly, he liked to think that they meet up again, somewhere l in the after life. Alfred sighed contently, the memories of the book flooding his mind with good memories.
Arthur stood behind Alfred, watching over his shoulder as he flipped through the pages of Romeo and Juliet, the yellow paper making slight cracking sounds as he went. He smiled as he watched Alfred carefully run his hand along certain paragraphs as if he was touching the face of someone he loved. "Romeo and Juliet was my favorite book when I was younger." Arthur finally spoke up, causing the boy to jolt up in surprise. "R-really? Why?" Alfred spoke slowly as if he was choosing his words as carefully as he could. "Oh, I dunno. I actually hate most romantic tales, but this one... Maybe it's forbidden love. Makes me think of myself." Arthur also chose his words carefully, making sure not to reveal anything about himself. Who knew what this kid would do with that information? He's had enough spies in the past. "Aye, I read that book over and over again. When I was sad I would read it to make me happy, and when I was happy, I would read it for entertainment. I've probably memorized the entire thing by now." He laughed and patted Alfred on the shoulder before taking the vomit covered rag out on the deck to do God knows what with it.
Alfred watched the captain leave the room, smiling. He had no idea that the man had such a soft side. Deep beneath that hard, swashbuckling exterior, maybe there was just...a sentimental old man...maybe. Alfred let out another sigh and returned to his book, he had stopped on the page where Romano was comparing Juliet to the sun. That was one of his favorite parts, he could probably recite it word for word. Alfred read the page over a few times before closing the book. He wondered if the Captain wanted him to follow him out or not. He shrugged and placed the book on the shelf, as much as he wanted to take it to read himself, he didn't think stealing again would be the best thing to do. Alfred walked to the door cautiously, only stumbling once or twice, he was starting to get the hang of it, and opened the door stepping out into the ship's deck.