Beach | Friday Afternoon

[long_memory]

Silver hadn't been lying when he told Flint years ago that he'd be happy never to see the ocean again. He wasn't very good at sailing, the sea had tried to kill him several times and quite frankly he didn't get it when people said it was beautiful or inspiring. But he was out here today due to some sort of longing for it. Well, maybe not for the ocean or the sand itself; probably more out of hope of maybe seeing the Walrus out on the horizon. He'd even take a dinghy containing Flint and/or Madi.

Remember when you only cared about yourself, Silver? Those were the days.

At least he had a cellular phone now to keep him from getting too maudlin, though he only had the slightest knowledge of how it worked. He'd have to Google about it once he learned that Google was a thing.

[Open!]

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[betterthanaplan]

Duke, on the other hand, would go nuts if he couldn't see the ocean again. And yet, which of them was the real pirate?

He wandered up, offering Silver a nod. "Hey. New guy?"

[long_memory]

To be fair, Silver kind of fell ass backwards into the whole pirate thing.

"How long will I have to be on this island before I'm not referred to as the new guy?" Silver asked.

[betterthanaplan]

Yeah, that made sense.

"Either until you've met everyone or we get another new guy," Duke said. "I think I was the new guy for about three months. Duke Crocker. These days I'm the boat guy. Or maybe the yoga guy."

Or, until recently, the angsty drama guy who threw his phone into the ocean.

[long_memory]

"John Silver," he said. "You have a boat?"

That topic he was at least familiar with, unlike whatever yoga was.

[betterthanaplan]

"I do," Duke said, nodding. "The Cape Rouge. Currently -- and for most of my ten or so months here -- the only boat in port."

[long_memory]

"That's a little odd, isn't it?" he asked. "For there to be so few boats on an island."

[betterthanaplan]

"It is extremely strange, yes," Duke said. "But that's Fandom in a nutshell. For instance, if you're who I think you are, you're a good 300 years in the future, right?"

[long_memory]

"...that I am," he replied. "How did you know that?"

How dare you know things about him!

[betterthanaplan]

“John Silver,” Duke said. “You’re still pretty notorious by my time. Plus, I talked to the guy you met when you first washed up on shore. And the squirrels around here are incorrigible gossips.”

[long_memory]

That...was a lot to take in. Not about Danny or the squirrels--that, weirdly, he wasn't surprised by. It was the whole...notoriety thing. It was only supposed to be temporary!

Little did he know said notoriety was more linked to a chain restaurant and harassing a little boy with a treasure map than by Billy Bones' whisper campaign.

"So what you're saying is that I shouldn't expect much privacy here?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Not unless you're willing to give a lot of rum away to rodents," Duke said. He gestured to the sand near him. "Mind if I join you for a bit? I promise not to put too much stock into the old stories I read about you when I was a kid."

Because of course tiny Duke had read Robert Louis Stevenson.

[long_memory]

"I don't mind at all. I could use the break from ruminating," he said, shifting his crutch out of the way. "I assure you I'm not as scary as the stories make me out to be."

No, he was scarier. He just couldn't admit that to himself just yet.

[betterthanaplan]

"If you're a real pirate, you're a hell of a lot scarier," Duke said, sitting down. "I've run into a few in my time. Been mistaken for one a time or two, too."

Such as when he got to this island and someone handed him a class called "so you want to be a pirate."

[long_memory]

"...you know, I can kind of see it," Silver teased. "You have the look of a few men on my crew."

The facial hair was all Captain Flint before he went through his grief makeover.

"You don't smell as bad though."

[betterthanaplan]

There have been some mighty fine improvements to ships in the last few centuries,” Duke said. “For instance, the Rouge has a very nice bathroom.”

[long_memory]

"With a shower and everything?" Silver asked. "I'm extremely jealous."

[betterthanaplan]

"Shower and all," Duke said. "Built it myself. She was an old fishing boat when I got her. Looks like she'll fall apart at the first big wave, but she's gorgeous inside."

[long_memory]

"It's the dodgy looking ships that last the longest," Silver told him. "The Walrus has been torn apart I don't know how many times and she's still sailing."

[betterthanaplan]

"The Walrus," Duke repeated. "That is very good name. You her captain? Or -- stories say you're a ship's cook?"

[long_memory]

"I'm her quartermaster. I was the cook, briefly," he said. "Captain Flint is who leads her."

And Silver was determined to keep it that way despite Flint's death wish.

"...the stories really say I'm the cook?" Come on, he was barely the cook! He almost killed half of his own crew by cooking a pig incorrectly!

[betterthanaplan]

“Well. They say that was the cover you used to get yourself onto a British vessel and then stage a mutiny to dig up Flint’s gold.”

[long_memory]

Silver huffed. "Now I know it's stories you've been reading. I did steal that gold, once, before it was buried. But I gave up my share of it."

[betterthanaplan]

"Stories are almost never as interesting as the real thing," Duke said. "Who'd you give it to?"

[long_memory]

"Everybody else split my share among themselves. Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Charles Vane, Max..." He didn't actually know Max's last name, but figured a brothel owner of her caliber deserved some secrets. "Flint got a share of it too, eventually, after I told him what I did."

While they were out on a date hunting for sharks, of all things.

"Of course now it's buried in the ground. Turns out the Spanish don't like when you steal their things."

[betterthanaplan]

"In my experience most people get cranky when you do that," Duke said cheerfully. "They all crew the Walrus too?"

[long_memory]

"No, no they're all separate. We just have temporary alliances when it suits us," Silver said. "How come you never tried being a pirate? Since you've got the look and all."

[betterthanaplan]

"Honestly? Smuggling pays better these days." Duke shrugged. "And I'm not super into murder."

[long_memory]

"Between you and me, I'm not really into it either," he said. "But I can see where smuggling thing can be appealing if you're looking to avoid that."

[betterthanaplan]

"Don't get me wrong. I've still had to brandish the occasional gun or sword. But for the most part, I'm sneaking in and out with no one ever knowing the wiser."

[long_memory]

"I understand. I used to prefer that as well, but I'm not so good at it these days," he said, patting at his bad leg. "Still, I do try to avoid fighting whenever possible. Death is messy and permanent."

[betterthanaplan]

"That it is."

Or, you know, it mostly was, in Duke's universe.

"So. What have you been getting up to on our fail island, then?"

[long_memory]

"I got a job at a bar." So hooray for a legal way of getting money! "And look, I got myself a cellular phone."

[betterthanaplan]

"You did! Those are extremely handy. I have several spares stashed away myself."

[long_memory]

"What do you use yours for?" he asked. "Eric said cat videos, Jaskier said pornography and, while I found both amusing in different ways, I can tell there's more to this contraption than that."

[betterthanaplan]

"Oh my friend," Duke said, leaning back with a smile. "There is so much more. For one, you can talk to people on it. That's actually the original purpose. But using the same thing that gets you those cat videos and porn, you can look up . . . basically anything you want to know."

Try looking up your name, Silver. Surely you won't regret it!

[long_memory]

The fanfiction alone would send Silver to an early grave.

"And it's all in this tiny little thing," Silver said, shaking his head. "Seems dangerous that anybody can have one."

[betterthanaplan]

"Not as dangerous as only a few people being able to have one," Duke said. "Technically all of that is scattered around the world on several thousand larger little things. That tiny one just knows how to talk to them and get the info when you ask for it."

[long_memory]

"That makes more sense, although I still don't really know how it's possible," he said. "Of course I feel that way about most things here."

[betterthanaplan]

"Man, I was alive when this was invented and I don't know exactly how it works."