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"It's quite a field," Wilde commented, looking at the chart with his hands clasped behind his back and his blue eyes tracking across the posted warnings so far, "if it does extend that far, we may have to change course or slow down."
Murdoch looked over the Chief Officer's shoulder at the chart and nodded. "Seems that way, doesn't it?"
"Yes..." Henry looked over at Moody, who was standing back. "Have you gotten any more in?"
"No sir," James answered, shaking his head.
"Maybe that'll be the last of them," Will pondered, standing back himself and crossing his arms in front of him. "Any more and I think we'd best tell the Captain."
Wilde nodded, turning his back to the chart and leaning on the table. "Mr. Moody, you and Mr. Lowe will check for ice warnings at the beginning of your shifts." He looked at Boxhall, who had been reading over Moody's calculations. "Mr. Boxhall, you're in charge of charting every warning we recieve, and reporting it to the watch officer."
"Aye, sir," Boxhall answered, perhaps a bit absently.
Nodding, Murdoch grinned and walked out of the chartroom and back to the Bridge with Wilde. "Think this could be trouble, Henry?"
"I don't know yet, but it well could be." Henry paced for a moment, frowning. Lightoller was the Officer of the Watch, but Wilde rarely had an easy time sleeping on the Titanic, so he stayed around for lack of anything better to do. "We could do no worse than keep a sharp eye on it, though."
"I think so too. Seems like we're being pushed as it is."
"Oh, you have that feeling too, do you Will?"
Murdoch nodded, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. "I think we'd do well as it is, but she's only just been put out and at these speeds?"
"I don't know." Wilde shook his head, stopping for a moment in his pacing to rub his eyes. "I still feel it, dammit, and it's driving me crazy."
"Well, don't let it get to you too terribly much, Henry." Will gave him a good pat on the shoulder and looked between the two. "Well, gentlemen, I think I'll be off for a while."
"Sleep well," Henry said, forcing a smile.
Lightoller nodded in agreement. "And sweet dreams, Will."
The First Officer touched his hat with a grin and made his way to his room as Horatio finally ventured back onto the Bridge.
Lightoller looked at him, face immobile, but a definite sparkle in his vivid, ice-blue eyes. "Have any more encounters with The Coffee, Mr. Lowe?"
"No, sir," Hornblower replied, blushing somewhat. "Not recently."
Wilde smiled in earnest this time, though it wasn't a big one. "Learned a valuable lesson, did you?" the Chief asked, trying to keep the chuckle from his voice.
"Quite, sir," Horatio cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed by the fact even though The Coffee really hadn't been to blame.
Henry nodded. "Well, you're to check for ice warnings at the beginning of every shift, in case Mr. Moody hasn't informed you."
"Yes, sir, very good, sir."
"I suppose I'd best follow Mr. Murdoch's example, in that case," Wilde said, resolving himself to try to sleep for the few hours he had left until the shift was over and his would begin. Very quietly, he commented to Lights as he walked past him, "Keep an eye on him, Mr. Lightoller."
Lightoller nodded, touching his hat. "Sleep well, Chief."
Frowning at the fact that whispered words had been passed between the two men, Hornblower put his hands behind his back and turned to look over the bow of the ship. A moment or two later, Moody walked onto the Bridge, looking fairly worn out. Lowe... or Hornblower in this case... was on duty, and Jimmy could have technically gone to bed, but he couldn't very well leave Horatio fend for himself when the seniors were acting that suspicious. He nodded to Lightoller. "Sir."
"Mr. Moody," Charles replied, not taking his gaze from where he had set it on the blackened horizon.
Horatio nodded to James, offering what smile he could before gesturing for the Sixth Officer to join him outside the Bridge.
James nodded as well, and slipped off to Starboard, waiting until they were out of earshot before asking, "Are you all right?"
"Quite," Horatio replied, putting his hands behind his back once again. "Just worried that the seniors are suspicious."
"I think they are," James said, softly, leaning on the railing, "but if we're lucky, they'll be more concerned with the ice warnings and it won't be made an issue."
"They strike me as men who could worry about both sufficiently. Is there anything I can do to be more like Mr. Lowe?"
The Sixth Officer thought for a moment, now that he had reasonable time to do so. "Well, for one, don't be quite so quick to follow orders. I mean, follow them quickly, just not that quickly..."
Nodding, the older man committed the suggestion to memory, knowing for sure that it would come in handy.
"Might be good to keep in mind that you've been on the water some fourteen years now, but only fifteen months with White Star." Moody frowned slightly. "That you ran away at fourteen and signed aboard a coastal schooner as a Ship's Boy, that you're not really afraid of much of anything, and that you certainly aren't known for being tactful."
"Sounds like a role much better suited for Archie," Horatio muttered, looking around with some nervousness.
"There you go," Jimmy chuckled, shaking his head. "Act like Archie would, but with your own natural leadership skills, and you'll have Harold Lowe."
"I shall certainly try my hardest."
"And do try to be a little more Welsh." Moody winked, knowing that it wasn't an easy feat. "Harry's not half as formal as you are, even on duty, and 'shall' isn't a word he uses all that often. It would be more, 'I'll do what I can'."
Hornblower nodded, mentally cursing himself for feeling like he was a midshipman back in Spithead once again. "I think I can do that."
James gave him a worn smile, patting him on the back reassuringly. "I know you can, Horatio. Just takes a little bit of acting."
The acting-Fifth Officer smiled and nodded at the kind gesture. "Why don't you get some rest?"
"What, and leave you here to battle off the seniors?" Moody smiled. "Only if you think you can handle it."
"I'll just steer clear of them as much as I can, and pretend The Coffee's given me amnesia the rest," Hornblower snickered lightly. James had explained just how bad the noxious brew was earlier, and though it sounded odd, it seemed like a half-way reasonable explaination if it really was that bad.
Moody nodded, grinning back. "Well, then I suppose I'd better make use of the three and a half hours I've got left. If you need me for anything, come and get me." The younger man nodded, formally and kindly. "All good luck to you, sir."
"Sleep well, Jimmy." Horatio grinned, nodding.
James bit down the urge to call him 'Horry', a nickname that would in the future likely haunt the other man, and walked back to his quarters. He left his uniform laying on the floor in amazing disarray when he changed into his nightclothes, and then crawled into his bunk. Just before he fell asleep, he said a silent prayer for Horatio and himself to make it through, and for God to watch over Archie and Harry, wherever they may have ended up, and then he was out.