"Mornin' Officer."
"Good morning, Officer."
"Morning, Officer!"
The men greeted him kindly as he walked past them and into the mess. He'd slept... not quite well, but not poorly either. It seemed his day of work had counteracted his nerves somewhat, helping him to get some shut-eye. Still, whilst he may have been a little tired he knew he'd be back to work soon enough, and he'd rather not miss out on breakfast all things considered.
"Good morning to you as well."
He did his best to respond to each of them as they passed, but some had already continued on with their day and likely didn't hear him. Ah well, at least most of the crew seemed to be friendly at least. Well, friendlier than they looked, anyway. They still looked like they'd cut him into bits for a pocket of change, but had the good grace not to disrespect a superior. Which was probably why they were all being so polite, to be honest.
He stretched a little as he came to the doors of the mess, glad that the ship seemingly had very lax standards about uniforms. Then again, he was working under engines and boilers anyway, so a pristine uniform probably wouldn't be anything more than a hinderance. He yawned a little before entering the hall, the smells of breakfast washing over him as he looked around. Very quickly his eyes were drawn to one gunnery officer, who was excitedly stood up and waving her arms to get his attention. Judging by the people sat around the table, he assumed that this must be the officer's mess. A familiar face gave him a slight smile as he approached.
"Good morning, Mr Haywood."
"The same to you, Mr Walker."
Talwynn rolled her eyes and gave an over-dramatic sigh.
"God, you two are acting dull. I'll tell you what, if you greet each other this dryly every day for the next five years I'll fire myself out of one of the sixty-eight pounders."
There was some good natured chuckling at that as a young boy carried over a plate of food to him. It felt odd to be the one being served food rather than the one serving the food, but he wasn't about to complain.
"Well Ms Trenholm, I dare say you needn't bother. We could probably fit you in one of the thirty-two pounders instead."
There was another round of light-hearted laughter as the young woman made an obscene gesture at the Sergeant that would have made Archer's mother reach for the nearest shoe or broom and begin chasing the offender with a thunderous scowl, but he found himself laughing alongside the others nonetheless.
"Come now, leave the lass be. She means well, even if she can be a prick sometimes."
Talwynn joined the mirth at that, the words "You're damn well right!" only slightly broken up by her laughter. If every day begins like this then I can't say I'd be disappointed, Archer thought to himself, mirth and a hearty meal seems like a nice combination to start a good workday.
And it was a hearty meal. Bacon and eggs with toast might not have been the greatest of meals, but it was more than sufficient for his purposes. There was tea as well, good and hot so he found, and he was most happy to be offered a cup. He'd been told to expect a lack of bread and fresh meat as they went out to the skies, but also that he didn't need to worry about sharing hard tack or salt beef with the deckhands and 'swabbies'.
"Any word on when we head out?"
Lawrence grumbled a response to the Sergeant, the two men seeming quite disgruntled at the mention of the captain.
YOU ARE READING
For Forty Weeks the Sunbird Flew: An Airman's Tale
قصص عامةThe Sunbird was an old vessel, and it showed. She was a patchwork of parts and materials, kept afloat seemingly by the determination of those who sailed on her and no small amount of luck. For Archer it didn't matter, for the Sunbird represented his...
