Chapter Five

Weeks continued to pass as the Surprise made her way up the coast and Tom found himself becoming more and more accustomed to Olivia's presence. However, as he became closer to her, it was odd that he should become more uncomfortable. He hated that he could not help his feelings towards her, and never being one who could judge a woman's mood, he had no idea if she had the slightest of warm feelings in return. Not that he would act upon them, which would surely only bring trouble. But, there was the matter on when the Surprise returned home, and if she was still with them, he could pursue her then, or at least attempt to do so.

However, her future was most uncertain. He had questioned the Captain earlier of what should be done with Miss Corin. Captain Aubrey apparently had not given much thought to the matter at the time, and had not given a clear answer. There was a small part of Tom that dearly hoped she would return to England with them. She was not really much trouble, aside from occupying the Captain's cabin, which she would often leave for lengths of time to allow the Captain his privacy and use of them once more. Olivia was also some small help to the Doctor. While not knowing a great deal about complex medicine she could wrap bandages and knew a surprising amount about how to tend small injuries, sprains, cuts and so forth, and would sit with patients to provide comfort and company. Olivia had told him she was happy to assist the Doctor, "At least now I have something to do besides sitting around going off into my own little world and singing all day." She had said. "I was going positively crazy." While doing her small work in sick berth, she still had plenty of time to converse with Tom, which found he was quite glad she did.

Tom was reflecting upon all this at dinner with the Captain, Doctor, Captain Howard, several other offices, and of course Miss Corin. The conversation around him grew quite jovial as the evening progressed. They had recently traded with some natives, who had given them a great supply of a quite interesting native beverage. Quite strong stuff actually, which they decided must be made of corn somehow. Olivia appeared to be quite fond of it, declaring it tasted (if you could indeed call the sensation that) much like a native beverage from her home or made nearby, "moonshine". She had downed several glasses of it, and her mood was increasingly bright and her laugh increasingly loud. Of course, that could be said for most of the men as well, but in Olivia's case it was much more evident. He had lost count of how much exactly she had drunk, but he was sure she was pushing her limits.

Toasts were being made, and on a night like this there could be several. After one Olivia, being clearly relaxed by her drink made a comment as she poured yet another cup. "You know, I have a cousin, a really boring girl really, she just sits around and tells me how inappropriate I am, who says that alcohol is the root of all evil, and the source of all sin, and that I will burn in Hell for my sinful, evil ways, of drinking and dancing and singing on the Sabbath." She said quite seriously. "Of course, this may be because people can't stand to speak to her unless they've had a few drinks, and the last time I saw her I told her she could kiss my-"

"Miss Corin, I do believe this is another one of your stories that goes too far." Tom interrupted, not liking where she was going with this story, and sure she would never speak so freely if not for the drink.

"You didn't let me finish Tom!" Olivia protested. "She could kiss my bottle of scotch! Maybe then if she were drunk she might have some personality to speak of."

It was not so much her story as the absurd exasperations in her voice, and the idea of an extremely proper woman getting quite drunk, and of course the fact that Olivia was quite drunk herself, as were the rest of them, that the group found quite amusing and the walls echoed their laughter. They Olivia wished the best of luck with that particular project, toasting her poor cousin.

Tom was torn between amusement and worry over Olivia's alcohol induced behavior. He had to admit it she was quite interesting to watch when drunk, but it worried him that she was continuing to drink even though she was clearly already under its influence. Olivia seemed to not know her limit for the drink, as the others had stopped drinking long before her last cup.

Finally, the meal was over, the table cleared, and they all bid good night to a very unstable Miss Corin, who shook their hands quite gravely thanking them for a lovely evening, which would have been quite charming had she been able to separate her words rather than them all coming out in one long slurred sentence. Tom suspected that she would have a rather nasty headache in the morning and would be in a much more foul mood because of it.

Unable to find any rest that night, he decided to take the air on the quarterdeck. It must have been quite late, and he liked how peaceful things could seem on a calm night such as this. He was quite happy and serene standing in the cool night air, watching the dark waters sweep past, until a fast moving object lodged itself around his neck, an object smelling strongly of alcohol.

"Tom! How lovely to see you this evening!" It cried. "Fancy meeting you here!"

Looking down he found it was indeed Olivia that had attached herself to him, and he quickly unwrapped her arms from his neck, trying his best not to laugh, and hoping that no one saw that. "Miss Corin, I do not believe it wise for you to be up here tonight." He told her, supporting her bending knees with a firm grip.

She looked at him vaguely, her voice strangely higher than usual. "Up where?"

"On the quarterdeck." He replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm on the quarterdeck? No way!" She cried in surprise, looking around, laughing quite loudly. "Wow! I am!"

"Yes, you are, now come along. You ought to get back." He said, taking her arm to steady her, as her usually quite confident steps seemed to be anywhere but straight.

"Tom, Tom, Tom," She said as they walked. "How'd I get here?"

"I am assuming you walked." He replied, still trying not to laugh as she stumbled and would have fallen if not for Tom's grip on her arm, "Although that is difficult to believe." He commented wirily.

She giggled idiotically, "No silly! I mean like, here here. Like, one minute, I'm climbing right? Then whoosh! I'm in the freakin' ocean! And it's a big ocean man! I'm talking huge! Millions and billions of fish just swimming around, you know, being fish! And like, you guys find me, and I'm all 'whoa dude, how'd you find me?' And you guys are all, 'how'd you get here?' And I'm all, 'Shit. I don't know.' Do you know, you know?"

Tom had only a vague idea of what she was saying, and was more concerned with leading her back to the cabin without her falling off the ship. "No. I do not." He said, nodding to the rather amused marine guarding the Great Cabin as he opened the door.

"You know what I think?" She said as he helped her through the door, for she could barely walk. "I think it was a wizard." She whispered to him.

He blinked in surprise, and burst out laughing. "Oh really?"

"Hell yeah!" She shouted rather loudly in his ear causing him to cringe. "Oops. I meant to whisper." She said, laughing drunkenly. "Hell yeah!" She whispered in his ear.

"A wizard. Of course." Tom looked at her with amusement. "Well, goodnight Olivia. I suggest you sleep." He told her, turning to leave.

"Yeah, okay, that sounds good." She said. However, she followed his steps.

Tom turned and stared at her. "Where are you going?"

"To bed." She replied.

"Which is that way." He said, pointing.

Olivia laughed, "Oh my! I'm lost!" She said, turning a bit too quickly and falling. "I've fallen and I can't get up!" She said with manic laughter.

Tom held back a sigh, torn between amusement and annoyance, and helped her to her feet. "All right Miss Corin, this way."

She held onto his arm until they reached her cot. "Wow. That's not far at all is it?" She said with amazement.

"Think you can manage?" Tom asked, still trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, I think so." She said quite seriously.

"Goodnight, Olivia." He said, turning to leave.

However, she caught his arm, falling forward as she did so, needing to be caught and steadied once more. "Tom! Wait!"

"Yes?" He asked, making sure she was steady on her feet before letting go once more. However, this did not work because she leaned against him as soon as he let go.

"I gotta tell you, Tom, I wanna tell you." She slurred, patting him on the back. "You, you're a great guy."

Chuckling, he attempted to steady her, which became another failed attempt. "Why thank you Miss Corin."

"I mean it! You're like, great, you're nice, and a guy, and nice, and um.... um... nice, and a stand up guy!" She said, swing her arms up in emphasis and falling backwards, needing Tom to catch an arm and pull her forward. "And I'm a fall down girl." She said, falling against him.

Tom was not quite sure what to say in reply, and he felt his face grow hot once more. "Well, thank you again, I suppose." He managed as he attempted to steady her again.

"See? You're so great! And I'm so drunk!" She declared.

"Yes, you are indeed quite drunk." He agreed.

She leaned against him once more, her arms attached around his neck. "But in the morning I'll be sober, and you'll still be wonderful." She said with a sigh.

"We shall see." He replied, knowing full well in the morning she would have quite the headache. "Now, you should rest."

"Before you go, Tom, you are totally the best guy I've ever known. Like, they don't like, make them like you back home, like, really." She said. "And I see now that I'm totally falling in love with you, which is like, totally weird!" She continued, her words running together. "But for some reason, totally right."

"Olivia-" Tom started, but his words were quickly interrupted. Olivia stood on her toes, fell against him, and kissed him square on the lips. Not just a peck mind you, a full kiss. Tom was completely shocked and found himself returning her kiss, tasting the alcohol on her breath. He knew he should not be allowing this to happen, especially since she was completely drunk, but he did not care about propriety at the moment, he loved the way she felt in his arms and despite her dull and drunken state of mind he found himself cherishing the moment.

Suddenly, she stopped, and pulled away quickly, staring at him in surprise. "What the Hell'd you do that for?" She said, and pulled back her fist, swinging with all her might at his face.

It all happened so quickly poor Tom had no time to react and her punch clipped him on the nose sending him rearing backwards. He was lucky, for she was quite drunk and off balance and had in fact been aiming for his jaw but missed. Such a hit would have sent Tom to the Doctor for surgery due to his old wound from the sword slash. He stumbled, but managed to keep from falling, gripping his nose and feeling the blood begin to run. He was not sure if it was broken but it certain hurt something awful.

Olivia blinked in surprise, as if she was not aware of what she had done. "Oh. I started that." She said vaguely, before crashing to the floor and falling into a drunken slumber.

Tom stared down at her, still in complete shock. Slowly, he approached her, not sure if he really wanted to out of fear of another drunken punch. She was fast asleep on the floor of the cabin. He imagined if he lifted her into the hammock she would merely fall out of it again, so he covered her nicely with a blanket, glaring, for while he truly wanted to be completely angry and storm out with no regards to her, he could not but help being filled with joy. She had kissed him. Oh, she had punched him also, but the kiss was what occupied his thoughts at the moment. He could not help but wonder if she had meant what she had said, or if it was completely brought on by alcohol.

He paused, touching his nose and wincing with the pain. It hurt, but he did not believe it was broken, or at least, he hoped it wasn't. It was however, bleeding, and he fetched a rag to attempt to stop it. He wondered how exactly he would explain this new injury. Telling the Captain or Doctor that a drunken woman punched him would certainly not do. Fortunately, it had stopped bleeding, although still quite sore. He sighed, leaving to retire for the night, the rag still in hand in case his nose began to bleed once more. A terrible headache had come on him and he needed to think. Olivia had once again managed to completely confuse him and he had no idea what to do now. He laid quietly, his mind turning circles, his nose quite sore, and miserably dreading tomorrow.

A/N: Aww... she kissed him... and punched him mwahahahaha. And she got wasted hehe. Go drunken Olivia! Oh... note to people underage: Drinking is bad. Don't drink. That part of the note is for people under 18.... For people over that age (cough my fellow college students cough) If you drink, drink responsibly. And never drink and drive. Ever. And don't binge drink. That's bad too. Kills people. Okay, just covering my bases. This author does not support alcoholism in any way (looks at empty bottle on desk) Um... let me rephrase This author does not support OVER use of alcohol in any way... a drink every now and then legally bought by people over 21 (or 18 depending on where you live...) is perfectly okie-dokie. Thank you. I hope no one is offended in any way by my drunken character. But I'm sorry... it's rather amusing to me.

Eldarwen99: Whoa... you reviewed like within the hour I updated chapter four.... Wow. Thanks for the review. Hope that update was quick enough for you.

PsycoPixie: Thank you, thank you, my updates aim to please. Keep reviewing m'dear!

Gaeriel Palpatine: Yay emotion! Thank you for your wonderful review I'm touched I brought you near tears! How exciting! Pullings and Olivia are cute aren't they? Hehe he's such a puppy, you just want to hug him and take him home and give him treats. Hope you enjoyed the drunken fun!

Kayla: Wow. I'm glad you like it. is flattered Hope you continue to enjoy it! Thanks for the lovely review I was positively blushing. I hope they continued to be in character as the story goes on..... I tried anyway! ( Thanks for the lovely review, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Sillytigerlily: Is the tension built enough for you in this chapter? I love how stuff comes out when people are drunk, it's amusing. The question is... what will she remember? Mwahahahaha. I'm cruel. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the review!

Angel of the Night Watchers: Thanks for the review, yes chapter four was sappy, I know, but I like sap every now and then. Just to warn you, while this chapter is funny, they aren't all going to be funny. Where's the fun in NOT torturing characters hm? Am I foreshadowing here? I'll stop. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story anyway (

Please review! I love reviews! They make me happy! They really do! Just ask Mr Bimbo the man who lives in my finger..... whoa I have watched Muppet Treasure Island one too many times this week.... isn't that right Mr Bimbo?