Skyrun

Chapter 8; Being a cabin boy is not as much fun as it sounds.

When Liam awoke the following dawn, Sinclair was standing over him, an icy frown on his handsome face.

"Are you planning on waking up today, Hawk, or should I simply let you sleep in?"

"Well, I am rather tired."

"Oh, you're tired,"  Sinclair mocked, turning to the other pirates who were up and about, putting away their bed rolls. "Did you hear that, you lot? Hawk here is tired."

It was a simple enough statement, yet at Sinclair's words they all began shouting jeers and laughing profusely as if it were the most hilarious thing they had heard all morning. 

Simply wonderful.

And as if that were not horrendous enough, even Sinclair smirked at Liam's expense before going serious once more and barking, "Tell you what, how about I give you a reason to be so tired? Now get up!"

Growling, Liam scrambled out of bed, not wanting to argue-- they would probably throw him overboard for that-- and followed Sinclair to the upper decks.

There, it was already bustling with life; Tophsy and Raven were manning the rigging, Burn was coiling rope, and Spyglass was up in the crow's nest, keeping a lookout. Meanwhile, other crew members rushed back and forth as Captain Valentine shouted out orders, stopping when she saw Liam and waving him over.

Reluctantly he came, nearly running smack into Burn in the process-- who then growled profusely at him till the boy muttered a quick apology and scurried over to where the captain stood. From there, he tried his best to give her a charming smile in the hopes that she would like him enough not to send him to work with Sinclair.

Knowing his luck, giving her a smile might just make her think he wanted to duel again.

Thankfully, however, she mentioned nothing of sword fighting and instead clapped him heartily on the shoulder, exclaiming, "Morning, cabin boy Hawk! Liking life on my ship so far, eh?"

No. Liam wasn't. But he certainly was not going to tell her that. Instead, he did the wise thing and merely shrugged, keeping the smile plastered to his face.

Smiling back, Valentine looked to Sinclair. "This one's mine for the day, Sin."

The pirate raised a perfectly arched brow. "Planning on teaching him another lesson or two?"

Liam swallowed nervously.

Yet the captain only rolled her eyes. "I were only going to show him around the ship, is all. Maybe show him what most cabin boys here do all day." 

"You mean besides being useless pieces of--"

"That's enough out of you, Sinclair." Valentine said, though Liam could tell she was amused. "Oh,  go yell at someone else for a change, why don't you? I know that always tends to make you feel better."

Nodding solemnly, Sinclair did as he was told, casting Liam one final glare before taking his leave.

It was then that Valentine slung and arm around Liam's shoulders and gave him a tour of the ship, pausing every now and then to flirt with one of the crew members and making the boy thoroughly uncomfortable before they moved on.

Still, it was better that working, he supposed.

"You're a cabin boy." Valentine explained as they walked past several other pirates-- who, at the sight of the captain with her arm over Liam's shoulder, whistled cheekily and jeered at the boy. Still, despite all that, Valentine only winked back at them, a huge grin plastered on her face for a moment before she turned back to Liam, continuing with her speech. "Thus, you work below-decks. You'll coil rope, you'll clean whatever Sinclair or I tell you to clean, and you'll keep things moderately neat. And, if you're good, I'll have you swab the deck or man the rigging up here with Tophsy every once in awhile as a treat. Understood?"