Sinbad awoke to the sound of singing. It was an old sailor's song, a bawdy old sailor's song about a charming young sailor who bedded a willing lass in some port and made off the moment she suspected she was pregnant. Doubar hadn't sung songs like that in years! Not since they'd gotten a female crewmember in fact, what on earth could have possessed him to start them up again?

As soon as he'd thought of the question the answer presented itself in the form of a female voice starting up in harmony with Doubar. His big brother was very, very, subtly telling Maeve about the trustworthiness of charming young sailors once a girl let him into her bed. Sinbad was hurt; his brother didn't actually believe he'd take advantage of Maeve, did he?

Sinbad made his way out of Maeve's bed and out of her room- oh alright, he could see where his brother was coming from- and followed the song up to the deck. Doubar stood by the mast, cutting pieces of sailcloth while Maeve sat on the crossbeam patiently stitching the pieces over some of the more threadbare portions of the sail.

"So, no sailing today then?" Sinbad asked Rongar at the tiller, trying to sound pleasant but feeling chagrined because he- as captain- should be the one who made a call like that.

Rongar just shrugged.

"And the singing, how long has that been going on?" Sinbad asked.

Rongar put up two fingers.

"Two hours? How long did I sleep?" Sinbad asked, checking the position of the sun even as he asked. The morning was half gone. He must have been more tired than he thought!

Rongar clapped him on the back and wiggled his eyebrows, teasing the captain for going to Maeve's cabin in the night though secretly they all knew they'd just talked.

Sinbad just shot his friend a glare instead of trying to reply. He got back a wide smile.

"Doubar!" Sinbad jumped down to the main deck towards his brother. "How are the sails coming?"

"Morning Captain Sleepyhead," Doubar said. "Sleep well tonight? Comfortable pillow perhaps?" Doubar sweetly asked. He promptly got a balled up scrap of cloth thrown at his head.

"I'm not a pillow!" Maeve protested.

"I was trying to be subtle!" Doubar hollered up the mast.

"Well don't, it doesn't suit you!" Maeve told him.

This left Sinbad to set his brother- and everyone else, straight on what had actually happened that night. Maeve was very protective of her reputation- well you know, when she wasn't singing about getting knocked up by a sailor that is. "I slept very well, thank you Doubar. And that is all we did."

Doubar chortled. "I don't think you ever only slept with a woman since that one girl in-" Doubar was cut off by Sinbad's hand clamped over his mouth.

"Yes thank you," Sinbad tersely nodded. He should have known Doubar would tease him, especially after the whole secret-keeping thing Sinbad and Maeve had done about their relationship. He carefully let go of Doubar, keeping his hand ready in case his big brother needed to be gagged again.

"And you were only fif-" Doubar tried again, chuckling against Sinbad's re-clapped hand.

"I can't help it that I am irresistible to the ladies alright?" Sinbad protested, and he really tried to just feel chagrined, but really he was quite proud of his sexual history and that made him feel like strutting his stuff a little right now.

"Of course you can't," Maeve agreed from up top.

This surprised Sinbad and made him wary- she was usually the one to set him straight about matters of his over-inflated ego. "See something you like?" He winked saucily at his lady-love, uncaring about who saw. He was going to get teased anyway, might as well give them a good show.

"Yes, very much," Maeve purred, practically licking her lips as she looked down on him.

There was a trap somewhere in this but Sinbad couldn't see it. So like a brave man he walked right to his doom, curious about what form it would take.

"And because I like you so much, and because you are so irresistible, you will have to do all the resisting from now on," she said, batting her eyes at him even as she sat about three meters above him.

"Wait what?" Sinbad asked. Trap, sprung!

"Every time you get too happy to see me, I have to break it up. It's your turn now!" Maeve announced.

"Could we perhaps, talk about this in private?" Sinbad asked.

"No, I'm busy," Maeve said, her hands indeed full of sail, thread and needle.

"But resisting is the girl's job!" Sinbad complained.

"And now it's yours!" Maeve shrugged.

"Well then no one will resist, I think I have made my feelings for you perfectly clear," Sinbad said. He actually quite liked the idea of neither of them stopping when things got interesting.

"Oh I hoped you would say that! So I can finally have my way with you, and then you get to stay on shore with the baby while I sail off on your ship and have adventures," Maeve grinned at him.

"What? But… No!" Sinbad inarticulately protested.

"She's got you there," Doubar gave his little brother a hearty clap on the back.

Sinbad spluttered, wishing for the umpteenth time that he had fallen in love with a nice, normal, girl instead of this vixen! "You are a cruel, cruel woman!" He accused her.

Maeve just laughed at him.

"Oh please, can you two go back to keeping your relationship a secret?" Bryn asked, sticking her head out of the hatch. "I am trying to study here and you two are making a racket! There's a middle ground between complete secrecy and making a spectacle of yourselves, you know!" She slammed the door shut the moment she'd said her piece.

Sinbad, Doubar and Maeve shared a look. "What's up with her?" Sinbad asked. "I've never seen her so cranky!"

"I'd better go see what that's about. You two behave!" Doubar said, handing Sinbad the sailcloth he had been cutting.

"You might need this," Sinbad pressed a white square into his brother's hand. "To use as a white flag?"

Doubar grumbled and walked off.