Tiller Duty

[Rongar]

((this is connected from the thread from Rongar's cabin...))

(hope this is right!)

Well, at least the cool night's air would help his heart calm down.

He had been very nervous about confronting Sinbad about the incident a few days ago, but he also knew that Sinbad needed to find his outlet for all the emotions he had kept locked up since Maeve fell over board.

It had, to him, all come to head with Scratch himself, and Rongar hoped Sinbad recovered from it.

He still wondered who the lady in blue was. Since he couldn't talk, hand gestures and facial movements had come to mean and awful lot to him and his survival. When Sinbad and the lady in blue had rejoined the crew, Doubar looked a little white and his face seemed to twitch. Like he had recognized her, yet couldn't or wouldn't at that time explain who she was.

Not that, that bothered him. Doubar would explain first to Sinbad, as he always did, and then tell the rest of them.

All he had to do was be patient.

And he'd had a lot of practice.

As he reached the tiller, the new crewman, Kemal, eyed him with slight trepidation.

Rongar rolled his eyes and placed himself just behind Kemal, like he normally did to trade turns at the tiller, but the boy wouldn't let go.

He huffed, not in the mood to deal with him, and gave him a shove.

Kemal yelped and landed on the deck on his knees-hard.

He felt a twinge of guilt for what he did, but really, these dumb superstitions about changing duties where awful!

Especially, since most if not ALL the crew knew that those superstitions were very much real when dealing with Captain Sinbad and his legendary adventures, and not in anyway shape or form tied to things that happen to the duty roster.

And if, IF, anything did happen after this change....well he'd wager this months, next, months, and two months from now pay that the danger happened because of some dangerous monster, greedy sorcerer, Rumina even though they hadn't fought her since Maeve fell overboard, and Scratch himself and not because he changed the schedule without posting it or something idiotic like that.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad, after all the conversations that had taken on serious turns that day, did not really feel much of a motivation to add further thinking to that. He knew Rongar meant well, just like all the others but had the feeling that his head would explode if he confused it with any more thinking time.

Therefore, he did as he was told - the captain seemingly taking orders - and strolled around the ship for a while, leaving the tiller to Rongar, but he occupied his head with lighter things, even though of course they kept trailing back to what everyone had been tiptoeing about for the longest time. Shooting a glance over at the tiller he saw Rongar shove aside Kemal and chuckled slightly. These young ones and their superstitions.

After a while he had enough of strolling and standing around on his own made him feel restless and wasn´t anything he wanted right now. He stepped up to the tiller, but made no sign he was intending to take it from Rongar. "I´m looking forward to Basra tomorrow." he said, propping one boot onto the railing, a slight smile on his lips.

[Rongar]

Rongar turned his head towards Sinbad and smiled at him in greeting.

"I´m looking forward to Basra tomorrow." he said, propping one boot onto the railing, a slight smile on his lips.

Rongar's smile shined out through the night at the thought of a warm bed, dry land, and a chance to get some very, very fresh fruit.

He nodded and adjusted his stance, so he could still do his self-assigned duty and interact with Sinbad or anyone else that wished to talk.

He licked his lips and nodded eagerly as he visualized, bright red strawberries, plump pomegranates, and tart grapefruits just awaiting him in the local market place in Basra.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad looked over at the other man, chuckling as he understood. "Aye." he said, "that and some ale will do."

With all the gloominess of the past few days, it sounded like a good idea to have the crew enjoy their freetime on the markets or in the taverns ... or both, each to their liking.

[Rongar]

"Aye." he said, "that and some ale will do."

Rongar nodded and pulled his feet together.

He managed a slight jig-type shuffle and nodded happily.

He could wait to find a pub that allowed gay dances and cheery jigs.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad nodded, a broad smile on his face as he interpreted Rongar´s gestures. The other man was right. Dancing was another thing they could all need again. Or anything cheerful for that matter. He didn´t know how his crew felt about it but he knew he was in dire need of a change of scenery. He had always loved the sea, but the last few days its wide and endless spaces had given his thoughts a little too much oportunity to wander. Music, ale and a little bit of fun would distract these thoughts and hopefully make his heart a little lighter.

"We´ll make sure to stir up quite some party." he gave back with a nod, before his eyes drifted off a little, searching the sky and sea in a manner that could have been both thoughtful or merely a careful captain checking the surroundings. "...we can use some fun." he added, a little more serious, slightly annoyed about the fact that these last few words didn´t sound quite as cheery as he had intended.

[Rongar]

"We´ll make sure to stir up quite some party."

Rongar nodded eagerly at his friends futuristic prediction. He could see it now. The guys at a table while Bryn was at the counter ordering their drinks with Dermott on her bracelet.

Doubar with his hearty, land laugh chugs back his very first grog of the night, and pounding Firouz on the back as their friend enthusiastically introduced them to his newest invention. Firouz would sway forward and frown exasperatingly at Doubar because he knew his big friend was no longer really listening and would come pounding at his door come the very early dawn for a hangover potion.

Rongar came back to himself at the sound of slight wistful serious tone from Sinbad,

"...we can use some fun."

Rongar smiled encouragingly at his friend and nodded once more in stubbornness as he danced his modified jig again. Only this time he made a silly face and puffed his cheeks out and let one hand fly free for a short minute as he held it out like he was holding one of Firouz's caskets filled with gun power.

He himself nearly laughed at his representation of Doubar, and hoped Sinbad would at least give a short laugh at his imagination's version of Doubar's drunken jig...however right the imagination was, and once did.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad´s grin widened when the young captain gave a short laugh. He could tell the moor was attempting to cheer him up since it was not an everyday occurence that Rongar impersonated the rest of the crew just to get a laugh from him. But he didn´t mind, not now. They could all need a little fun as he had just stated.

"Yeah." he admitted, chuckling. "maybe we should all get drunk this time." Of course he didn´t mean that too serious. He was no drinker, had never been one and usually kept a watchful eye on his crew in those matters, too, but as he had thought earlier: distraction and a change of scenery were the key.

[Rongar]

Rongar sent a wink back and turned most of his attention back to the tiller and the direction of Basra.

He was still keenly aware if Sinbad still wanted to talk, but for now he focused on the sea before him to keep the Nomad on coarse.

[Sinbad]

Staring at the open sea, Sinbad noticed that he was more tired than he wanted to admit. Ever since their little and unpleasant encounter with Scrath, nights had been short and he had gotten only three of four hours of sleep each night. He had tried to keep that secret from the others to keep them from worrying (not too successfully by the looks of it), had stayed in his cabin tossing this way and that with sinister thoughts and a hurting heart torturing him and not granting him much sleep. He could deal with that, he had told himself. He was a grown man, he was stronger than allowing a little lack of sleep pulling him down. However, staring at nothing but far reaching, dark waves, blurring into the nightly air, he had to blink a few times to try and stay focused. He raised a hand to chase away the dizziness, but it only worked to some extent.

[Rongar]

Rongar turned to his friend and captain in concern. He looked...well...he looked off.

He grew more concerned as Sinbad placed a hand on his head. He seemed to gain a few moments of strength from that movement, but it wasn't helping.

He wanted to do something, but he knew he had already 'cared' for Sinbad more than he had in a long time. Sinbad wouldn't appreciate the care...unless it came from Doubar.

He shook his head, Doubar wasn't here and he couldn't go search for him.

Also, if he suggested so much to Sinbad, he might get upset, and he didn't need that on top of not feeling well.

He sighed and planted his feet once more. He'd drop the tiller in a second, and leave the Nomad to its fate, if Sinbad truly fell, but for now, he'd keep a good eye on him AND the waves.

[Sinbad]

From the corner of his eyes, Sinbad noticed that the other man was watching him and also concluded that the sigh Rongar gave was most likely directed towards him. With gestures and things like these being the only means of communication his friend had, the captain knew he would not use them by chance. Still, he decided not to comment on it, because he was weary of his crew watching him like he would break down any moment.

"You know..." he said, turning a bit again, one hand in the ropes, "you don´t have to insist on taking over the whole shift. I´m starting to feel bad robbing you from your well deserved sleep, my friend." He managed a grin that was even an honest one. He knew he was at a point where getting to bed could only result in being knocked out for a whole day. Better to keep going till they were in Basra - if the place turned out more peaceful than Dermott´s cryptic vision suggested.

[Rongar]

Rongar grinned back at Sinbad and shook his head as his eyes closed.

He bit the bottom of his lips and shrugged with a shot nod.

He removed a hand from the tiller while holding it close with his torso's weight and other arm, and waved it towards the cabin.

He kept his hand there for a short time and then waved his hand towards himself once more.

He pointed at himself and Sinbad and nodded once. He held up one finger facing himself and than placed two fingers towards his friend.

After that he tilted his head, with his free hand under his head, and closed his eyes.

He'd sleep later, if Sinbad would only get some rest...anyways he possible could...

...or more importantly ALLOW himself to get.

[Sinbad]

For a moment, the captain had to resist the stubborn urge to roll his eyes at such insistance, but he didn´t, deciding to keep what little pride he still had right now which he felt was not much after his crew had decided to strip him of quite some of his emotional defences - with good intentions, that was for certain, but still.

"All right." he said, raising his hands in defeat. "But that means next couple of night shifts I don´t want to see you out here." His tone was slightly humourous, but he knew Rongar would get their meaning anyways.

[Rongar]

"All right." he said, raising his hands in defeat. "But that means next couple of night shifts I don´t want to see you out here."

Rongar grinned lightly and nodded.

Now THAT was an order he could follow without arguing about it!

Not that it really mattered now, they'd be in Basra in a few short hours, and he could get all the fresh fruit, clean clothes, warm bath, and warm bed linens that he wanted...and a good, long, refreshing nights sleep on top of it too.

That was the best part of coming to port...dry-dock sleep!

He loved the Nomad and the sea, but humans weren't made to naturally survive on the waters of this earth; humans were made for land survival.

No, the waters belonged to the giants in the sea such as those things that Firouz called whales, macro-squids, and other such animals.

Getting his land feet back would take about half a candle's turn, but still...it'd be good to have the rocking out of his system by the time they got to the taverns!!!

He smiled once more at Sinbad and nodded in agreement-yes he'd sleep a LOT more on nights after this one.

He quickly removed his right hand, fisted it, and placed it over his heart.

The Romans called it the Seal of Loyalty and Unity. It was created to show men's loyalty to those that commanded them.

He used it to show his promise was made and would be kept.

That is...if Sinbad did as well; which he knew his captain would full fill; just to keep them all off his back about it later on.