OOM: Pearl Repairs

[politestpirate]

The sky is cool, grey, and occasionally misting, but that just means when you are working hard you can keep warm enough.

And there is certainly plenty of work to be done. The deck of the Black Pearl has been cleared off, with debris and pieces that are large enough to reuse stacked carefully. All over is the gleam of cut and exposed wood, the splintered edges cut and smoothed in preparation for patching sections. One mast has been cleared of charred and torn sails and rigging, the canvas and rope set in one area to work on before it can be sent back up.

One of the current priorities, however, is fixing the stern section of the ship, the back wall of the captain's cabin, that took some of the worse damage from the kraken-

Scottish autumn nights can start to get chilly, afterall.

Party thread style, slowtimes more than welcome.

Comments

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"... The whole lake was made by magic, sir?" Wellard blinks, and eyes the water beneath the Pearl as if it suddenly might decide to cease to be.

"Um. I don't quite think that was a... solution anyone here has thought of, sir." If because most of the people who knew about ships do not know magic, and the few that know magic, do not know about ships. He shakes his head.

"Or, the attacks were on the people first, instead of the ship."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard gives Archie an amused Look.

"And not like there's a lot of time, with working on repairs and whatnot."

[prone-to-panic.livejournal.com]

Archie eyes him.

"Believe me lad, there's always time."

He may be smirking, just a little.

[merrimanlyon]

'To the best of my knowledge, this lake is magical in origin -- and designed to resemble an area of rural Scotland,' Merriman explains. He too glances down at the water beneath his feet, and gives a slight and non-committal shrug. 'Such a change would of course have to be authorised by the proprietors of Milliways, naturally. But with any luck, we will not have to resort to that kind of alteration.'

His thoughtful expression darkens to a near-scowl as he considers Wellard's last statement.

('After you, or her?')

'That would seem to be the intent,' he says, rather quietly.

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard rolls his eyes. (This part of the teenage attitude may be deliberate. Maybe.)

"If you say so, sir."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"... Let's just hope it does not decide to stop being magical any time in the near future." He mutters quietly, then glances back to Merriman.

Wellard nods quietly, running a hand over the section of railing nearest himself.

"Need a hand up when you're done, sir?"

[merrimanlyon]

'There is little more to be done for now, save to speak to Captain Sparrow and hear his thoughts on the matter.' Small, gentle ripples spread out across the surface of the water beneath Merriman's feet as he walks toward the rope rigging that hangs down the side of the boat. He puts a hand on the rigging, but does not start to climb just yet.

'How goes the rest of the repairwork?'

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"Well enough- we've been getting the rigging and sails down to work on them- A good portion of them were torn or burnt. One of the yardarms is cracked all along the length- we'll have to see somehow about replacing it."

He smiles a bit wryly. "Then quite a lot of work to the gundeck and captain's cabin, and some places on the deck and railing up here.

"All in all, its going well enough, though I quite know how much we'll be able to get done before winter- though some we can at least do from the inside of the ship."

[merrimanlyon]

'Ah, yes,' Merriman says, his expression turning pensive again. 'Winter. Another matter to consider, as far as water temperatures go. But we have some time until the weather is cold enough for the water to reach the freezing point.'

He studies the rigging for a moment, then looks up at Wellard. A wry smile hovers at the corners of his mouth. 'No need to pipe the side, at least. Though Captain Sparrow did so, the first time I came aboard -- he seemed to find the situation amusing enough to warrant the formality.'

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard chuckles quietly. "Certainly sounds like Jack, to do so for an East India Commodore on board a pirate ship- even if both of those aren't quite the case here."

No piping then, but Merriman does have a hand offered to him when he reaches the railing.

[merrimanlyon]

Merriman could, if he chose, make a point about it being an East India Commodore on a former (if reluctantly and temporarily) East India vessel. But that piece of news is not exactly his to relate. The effort of climbing is a good enough excuse to keep silent, and Wellard's extended hand is accepted with a nod of gratitude.

'Even with all that remains to be done,' he says, looking round as he dusts off his coat, 'there has been a definite improvement. Quite a lot of hands have been at work here.'

The thought makes him pause, and a faint but noticeable tension sharpens the lines of his face.

'Do you know who else is working on repairs to the Pearl?' he asks, carefully. 'Or what they happen to be working on, for that matter?'

[mercurialist]

"Ahoy there!" Mercer calls back, grinning. He twirls the blade Jack gave him and saws through a particularly stubborn bit of rope. "Come to give me a hand with all this?"

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"Just cleaning up the debris helped quite a bit." Wellard glances at the ship, then back to Merriman with a curious look.

"Myself and Mr Kennedy, of course. Then some others here from the bar- some I've known before, some I've only met on board. Miss Elda, Mrs Tam, Miss River, a Mr Crowley..."

He bites his lip. "Mr Norrington, from Captain Sparrow's time. And a Mr Inigo Montoya, also known as the Dread Pirate Roberts, sir."

[prone-to-panic.livejournal.com]

Archie is immune! See how his good nature is not phased by teenage attitude!

"I do say so sir, aside from cloistering yourself off away from any of them, you simply have to angle for one that you like to spend time with. Pretty doesn't hurt either."

He may wink. Perhaps it is Wellard's imagination.

[prone-to-panic.livejournal.com]

"I do what I can. Got a bit tired of belowdecks, thought I'd try for some air."

He finally climbs into view and loops his leg around one of the ropes, assessing the damage and the progress both. Also the whistler.

"Though I see no one's mentioned why it's not a particularly good idea to whistle on a ship such as this, have they?"

He grins good naturedly.

"Name's Archie Kennedy by the way."

[merrimanlyon]

Merriman nods slowly, making a mental note of the names. When Wellard mentions Norrington's name, his jaw tightens.

'James Norrington,' he murmurs. 'The former Naval officer. And from what I have heard, a rather key player in the sequence of events that led to Captain Sparrow's arrival here.'

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard gives Archie a Look. (The red cheeks ruin it, really. And the trying no to laugh. But mostly the red cheeks.)

"If its escaped your notice, there do happen to be some helping on the ship here, Mr Kennedy."

[prone-to-panic.livejournal.com]

Archie glances around as if he hadn't noticed, then back to Wellard with a mock-pitying look.

"Well then lad, I'm sorry, but you're doomed."

The act is rather ruined by the fact that he breaks into a wide grin a moment later.

"What about that Hannah lass? She's agreeable enough, if a bit on the thin side..."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard looks at Merriman with no small bit of concern. "How so, sir? I- I do know that he lost his ships in the hurricane we were in. He was trying to catch the Pearl."

He sights, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "He had nearly gotten us a time before, off of Tripoli, and that's when we figured out how to use the Astrolabe to get from place to place. Then after everything, when we were heading back to the Isla de Muerta, that's when the hurricane hit, and we had seen his ships before."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"Hannah- Miss Hannah? I- I do not think she's come aboard the Pearl, Mr Kennedy." Wellard blinks, then glances at him.

"At least to be here like some of the other ladies are."

[prone-to-panic.livejournal.com]

"Well, If you're going to limit yourself that way..."

He gives Wellard an incredulous look.

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"I... Um. She and I talk often in the bar." He rubs the back of his neck.

"Though I've quite told her about the Pearl and about the trip... And she's helped me a bit when I was working on my own ship."

[prone-to-panic.livejournal.com]

Archie beams, satisfied, to a degree.

"You see? I thought she seemed an agreeable sort, and I'm sure since she was interested in your model, she wouldn't object to your showing her what a real ship is like."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"Ah- the flying one I'm building. She helped with piecing the keel together."

Which, size-wise, could be debated as to being a boat or a ship, but the term is 'flying ship'... English is just a funny language.

Wellard bites his lip, looking out over the Pearl.

"... Though with everyone else that's come to see the ship, it should certainly be alright for me to bring her.."

[prone-to-panic.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure Jack wouldn't mind. Especially if it means there might be another hand helping out."

He grins again.

"He is a pirate, after all."

Which means that Wellard may need to run interfearance once or twice.