On A Violent Sea

Thaddeus Durant || 30 || They/Them/Their || Human || Doctor on the Cursed Serpent

[doctor-durant]

cleptaar·

As soon as they mentioned the captain’s tension, Magni couldn’t help but laugh. Of course, he worried for his friend, he could only imagine how difficult this must be for him, but that didn’t stop him from trying to make light of the situation. “ I doubt the permanently fish-tailed merman will be your trouble for too long. I’m sure our dear captain will kick him off the ship as soon as possible. I doubt I will be able to help you with your Kalix problem, though. “

“It’s gonna cause a full on domestic between him and Lyra if we’re not careful, and I don’t know that any of us need stormy seas onboard too,” Thaddeus offered, although there was genuine care behind their veiled callousness. “Nobody can help with the Kalix problem, except maybe some sleep. If he doesn’t stop avoiding that, he will get worse... maybe even keel over.”

[doctor-durant]

howlingargent

Jaina noticed how quickly the bottle was snatched from her hand, an amused grin crossing her features. She would likely have reacted the same way if the tables were turned. “Missing a wider variety of alcohol is more likely. The mishaps and surprises are…interesting.” It gave her plenty of interesting information. About what troubles to anticipate when it came to the Jewels, as well as the actions the crew might take in an emergency. A win-win if she ever saw one. “Life before being on the crew seems so boring. You all certainly know how to keep a girl on her toes.” 

Thaddeus stopped mid swig, turning to Jaina with a smirk of sorts. “You mean to tell me that you honestly miss the watered down ale in Westburgh? I could gag just thinking about it,” they remarked, feigning a shudder. “I could say the same about mine.” They couldn’t, entirely. A witchcraft charge following one around doesn’t exactly portray simplicity. “It’s a good thing that you enjoy your tiptoed posture then, that way it seems like less of an adjustment.”

[doctor-durant]

billie-cassidy·

Billie didn’t like how alone they were out here. A port like Westburgh had its drawbacks; they didn’t like pirates, for one. But at least it was populated and provided ready access to supplies. This was the sort of island you might maroon a man on. She narrows her eyes and scans the horizon, “I have learned that predictions are often unhelpful, on our adventures. What if the other merfolk have a way of tracking Arroyo to here?.” Billie released a heavy sigh, turning her face up to the sun, “I will feel much betteronce we’re back on the water, I’m sure.”

“Don’t go saying that too loud. Otherwise some fortune teller will find a way to hear you over the wayward winds and take up a quest to make you a believer in predicitions,” Thaddeus teased, wiggling their fingers and eyebrows in sync as they looked at Billie. “That or the merfolk will and we’ll definitely be fucked over.” They reached over to nudge her shoulder, offering her a small smile. “Hey, that will be the case sooner rather than later.”

[doctor-durant]

grimxintcntions·

Maeve’s eyebrows rose. “Are you joking?” Thadd always seemed to be joking - or at least, purposefully trying to get a reaction out of her, not that Maeve knew whether or not that was really true. “I’m stuck on this island helping make repairs to a ship. All of us are in a place of suffering. Not to mention that my way of joining the crew wasn’t exactly friendly or conventional.”

Thaddeus looked around, doing a little spin as they did. “Did I laugh? I don’t think I did...” They gave her a particularly innocent and overly exaggerated pout. “A ship that we all are housed by and that we all have to repair. Nobody is agressively injured and the ship itself isn’t ireparable. You make it sound so dire.”

[doctor-durant]

father-tobias·

“Ah but that would imply I want your attention. Which I do not,” he said matter of factly. Tobias chuckled, “he’s a popular one isn’t he? I guess since we’ve all been trapped together with the storm we’re all craving some new companionship.” Tobias cocked a brow. Of course he knew he had been one of the first people to outright say Arroyo was attractive– but he just figured he was stating the obvious. “I’m celibate, not blind– but I am celibate. And I’m a giver, let everyone else have their fun,” he smiled at Thadd. 

“Do you not? See I can’t tell the difference with all of that whinging and moaning,” Thaddeus remarked, an eyebrow raise accentuating their words as they glanced over at Tobias’ wounds again. “New lifeblood. New eye candy, sure. I can understand it, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t judge it.” They not so subtly snorted at the ‘giver’ comment, mind drifting in a rather unfit way. “Oh, nobody’s forever celibate except for the Pope, and even that I’d doubt.”

[doctor-durant]

pxndemonium·

For once, Alistair wasn’t the one with the drink in his hand. He’d come looking for - well, something, but whatever it was slipped from his memory as he encountered a very inebriated Thaddeus. “There might be plenty left, but you look like you’ve had enough.” They looked increasingly unsteady on their feet, and Alistair figured they’d probably been clutching that bottle for a while now. “I won’t need to tell Jax if you stumble around like that.”

“Never enough and never too much,” Thaddeus corrected, wagging their finger at Alistair. The next comment made them look about themselves, though, doing a sort of slow spin. “I’m perfectly in tune with my... senses and capabilities, I’ll have you know.” They held out the bottle again, narrowing their eyes a bit so they could properly see their crewmate now. “A little booze on an evening off won’t kill anyone.”

[doctor-durant]

kalixus·

     It was begrudgingly that he stayed put , feeling pathetic was not a forte of Kalix’s.  His breathing had grown thin , painful if he tried to take a deeper one. Upon looking down , he found deep bruises and burns along his torso from being thrown around with his lifeline.  He looked up at the doctor , finding the other’s sly expression far more annoying than he should have. 

     Kalix couldn’t answer , he simply glared at the doctor for a moment before looking down at his hands.  He knew that if he spoke , he’d sound as ill as he was.  He was dizzy and incomprehensive , shivers came in heavy waves , and he wasn’t sure whether he was sweating or not.  It was obvious that he wasn’t well , but his logic had gone with the waves —— nothing came to mind as he tried to silently scheme. 

     Simply looking up at them , he spoke softly —— trying to keep himself from another coughing fit.  “  Thadd ,  ”  He looked at them and shook his head , knowing very well how pitiful he was coming across as he was practically begging.  “ — don’t make me sleep.  I’ll do anything , anything but sleep.  Please.  ”  His habit of napping seemed lazy to most , though for him it was a mere coping mechanism for what would come if he fell into a deep slumber. 

The Kalix before them was some sort of husk of the man Thaddeus knew as the helmsman. While they had experienced fever’s and illnesses firsthand, they never recalled reacting so poorly to it themselves. Perhaps Kalix hadn’t been properly sick before, though that was unlikely given his post. He just seemed so... pitiful. “I’ve told you before that avoiding sleep will make you sick, so you’ve already dug yourself into a proper hole where that’s concerned,” they pointed out, setting down the supplies they brought before crossing their arms across their chest.

“So, what? You just expect to magically get better without allowing your body the proper rest it needs to recuperate? I’m no sorcerer, and I don’t think there’s magic capable of such things even if I were one.” Thadd’s words weren’t particularly pointed in that moment, but they certainly weren’t soothing. If anything, they were showing just how exhuasted the doctor was with this seemingly nonsensical avoidance of sleep that the crew seemed to share.

[doctor-durant]

athena-thadd·

“Thank you Thadd…” she said though her heart wasn’t in it. “I took something from Maeve’s house,” she explained. “Jax didn’t know till word reached him through others. He was upset, rightfully so, even if I wasn’t intending to hide it from him it just slipped my mind…” It was hard to explain why her actions were such a slight against the captain. Not without first explaining that she was a sorcerer and the item she had stolen was Charles’ grimoire. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes Thadd,” she told them. “I see them as mistakes but I… I don’t know what Jax sees them as.”

Thaddeus’ mind momentarily drifted to their own actions in Maeve’s house, but ripped their focus back to the present just as quickly. This was about Athena. “He can’t honestly expect us all to recount everything we take on heists. Hell, I know that Adeline stole someone’s ruby gauntlet once and never reported it to the Captain. Not everything is his business,” they reasoned, still confused as to why stealing something that wasn’t even his would irk Jax so much. “You worry he sees them as betrayals?”

[doctor-durant]

grimxintcntions·

“I love it, actually.” She didn’t get many things that had a strong ginger flavor very often, but when she did, she loved it. Suddenly less apprehensive, she opened the vile and sniffed it. “I was expecting something way worse. I think I can handle this,” she chuckled, taking a dose of the concoction. The texture was awful, but at least it didn’t taste like death. “Urgh. Do you think that means I’ll be less likely to feel sick during the next storm? If I can survive this one, I should be able to survive them all.”

“Atta girl,” Thaddeus encouraged, a grin on their face now as opposed to their typical smirk. They may enjoy teasing Maeve often, but she was finding ways to soften their cold and sarcastic edges in times like this. “Most people onboard have made more of a fuss about it than they ought to. Bottoms up!” Nodding in response to her, they turned back to their subtle tidying efforts. “This is practice just like anything else. You’ll get more used to it than you’d suspect.”

[doctor-durant]

arroyo-sin-pollo·

As he listened to Thadd explain, he could feel his head begin to ache. If it took this long for him to understand human naming conventions he was not looking forward to learning more about the ever-confusing human culture. “Ah a surname…” he began, “so you do not call it a disliking name… and it’s not even always used by people you dislike? Odd… why was I made to think it was? Why must humans make everything so unnecessarily complicated?” He nodded at their question, “Given the circumstances it doesn’t feel right to use my sister’s name, not after all our family and I have put her through.”

Thaddeus nodded, watching the way that the cogs seemed to turn in Arroyo’s head even just from the man’s expression. Delightfully thoughtful and yet still so clueless about human customs, it was endearing. “It’s more formal, if that makes sense. Your first name, Arroyo, in your case, is for personal interactions or acquaintances. Surnames are a bit more pomp and fuss than most people like to deal with, so I can certainly agree to them being unneccessarily complicated,” they noted with a chuckle. It didn’t help that they technically had two surnames to begin with, but that wouldn’t be something to trouble the redhead with. “Ah, so you’re electing to fall on your sword now? Noble enough.”

[doctor-durant]

billie-cassidy

Billie cracks a grin, “you’d faint at the sight of what I did to get my kicks when I was younger.” She tells them, chuckling to herself. It was true; though still fairly wild Billie had at least gotten better at weighing the relative danger of a situation. “Ah, give an inch and they run a mile.” She shook her head, “the trick is communicating through gesture and stare as often as possible.” Billie shrugged, “more useful than anything else, lucky for us having a doctor who ain’t a drunk.” She quirked an eyebrow, “you’d be surprised how often that happens.” She stood, clapping Thaddeus on the shoulder, “I should get going. I left Adeline cleaning cannons.”

“Oh? Try me, Billie. Now you’ve only caught my interest, so you can’t just leave me hanging,” Thaddeus reasoned, turning to her with an almost youthful excitement and anticipation. “Pretty please?” They finally backed off of the idea when Billie moved to a different subject instead tapping their chin thoughtfully. “I could be a drunkard, but I don’t like the look of that life from the view of Tobias, so I think I’ll remain a casual drinker in the meantime.” They nudged the master gunner’s side a bit, offering her another genuine smile. “Catch her lying down on the job, yeah?”

[doctor-durant]

billie-cassidy·

“It’s true, but don’t tell the others. Wouldn’t want to rufle any feathers.” Billie laughed, “burnt in magical fire no less, would really add some flair to the place, I think.” She’d probably just tosss the thing, not being much for sentiment. She shook her head, “you be careful of your ego, mind. Billie nodded, casting her gaze around the space. “Good. Last thing we need is to be down supplies on your end, knwojgn what we’re like.”

“I would love to ruffle feathers, but you’ve asked me not to so you have my word... as a doctor, I suppose,” Thaddeus declared, one hand over their heart and the other lifted up to swear on the statement. “Hey now, me and my ego have been doing perfectly well for ourselves thus far. So ha!” That, of course, wasn’t entirely true, but it would be in their mind for the sake of this moment.

[doctor-durant]

grimxintcntions·

Even Maeve’s blood chilled at the thought of falling off the ship. She shook her head slightly, the wind whipping her hair around her face. “Thank you.” It might’ve been the first genuine thing she’d ever said to Thaddeus. She wasn’t sure when the next time would be. “I- I just want to help. I feel so damn useless.”

Thaddeus squeezed Maeve’s hand atop their arm, a small smile on their face. “No need to thank me. It’s the truth. And you’re a part of us now, for better or for worse,” they half teased, an eyebrow wiggle accompanying their words. “It takes practice, like anything. Just take it as that and try not to fall to the waves, yeah?”

[doctor-durant]

lance-not-a-lot·

He balled his hands into fists at his sides upon hearing the way Thadd referred to Kalix, “He’s not psychotic,” he spat, his jaw was tight and he took a breath to clear his head, “Have you ever considered he may have good reason for it? You should have seen the way he was the other night. Not only did he not want to sleep… he seemed scared to. Now you tell me, doctor, do you know what he might be seeing now that you’ve forced it on him? I certainly don’t and I don’t think I’d want to, based on how he acted. Maybe you shouldn’t be putting labels like ‘psychotic’ on your patients without context.” His voice had grown increasingly louder as he spoke to them, so much so it took even him by surprise. He furrowed his brow and blinked slowly, “I’m sorry. It’s been a long week.” He gave them an apologetic look as his hand mindlessly drifted to cover where the glow peeked through his shirt.

Thaddeus was certain their eyebrows were closer to meeting their hairline than they ought to be jus then, watching Lance with newfound surprise. “My apologies,” they replied dryly, not even feigning being actually sorry in the words. “And it’s not my job to keep tabs on why he’s not sleeping. I’m meant to keep you all in enough health to manage your posts, and I, for one, don’t think we need a helmsman passing out from exhaustion or some pitiful sickness he could simply sleep off if he negated his own insufferable stubornness. I’m not his keeper... apparently that job falls to you now.” Their tone over all was even, although they spoke quickly, each word being sent forth knowingly and with the confidence of a thrown dagger. “It’s been a long year,” they dead-panned. “You might think again before you snap at me just because you’ve gone all frayed nerves over someone other than yourself. Your problems, I can respect, but I think we both know that Kalix is grown and able to fight his own corner.”

[doctor-durant]

cleptaar·

“ Well, I once knew an old man who had been sailing all his life, and he always got piss drunk during storms. I once asked him why he would drink when he needed to be ready for whatever might happen to the ship or the crew, and he only said that it’s boring sailing through storms without rum. “ Magni told them, grinning at the memory of the old sailor. He sometimes wondered what had happened to the man since Magni left the crew. Had he drunkenly fallen overboard during a storm? Or was he still sailing? “ I sometimes wondered whether he drank because he was afraid of the storm, or maybe he didn’t care anymore, but now that I’m older, I can’t blame him. Who wants to sail through a life-threatening storm sober? “ Magni’s told them with a shrug before his face lit up when Thaddeus gave him something to do to help them. “ Of course! “ 

“I’d gladly have a drink with a man of that mentality, and I’d be inclined to agree apart from the possibility of needing to tend to injuries and all. I think Jax would throw me into the waves himself if I was bumbling about the ship like a common drunkard,” Thaddeus pointed out with a hearty chuckle. They even missed the shittiest of watered down ales on rainy nights; anything to warm you from the outside cold. “Nobody sane, I’d imagine. I’m sure everyone downs at least a sip of rum every so often to ease their nerves a bit. Liquid courage and all that.” They straightened up then, starting to walk off down to the stores, assuming Magni would keep pace. “How much do you want to bet our newer crewmates will grumble about the way the boat rocks in the storm?”

[doctor-durant]

jax-harper·

Jax barked out a laugh. “I’d never bring any sort of physician onto the ship without you checking them out first. I know nothing about…doctoring.” His attempt to heal Lyra’s werewolf bite was evidence that Jax didn’t even know much about healing magic. Pushing that thought out of his mind, he shrugged. “Maybe when we hit port, we start looking around for an apprentice or something. It can’t be that hard to find another doctor, right?”

Thaddeus joined in on the laughter, feeling how the action loosened up the tension in their shoulders considerably. “I should think hardly any Captain’s do, in fairness. It’s why you hire us out, after all. Don’t need to be bothering yourself with bandages and broken bones.” They nodded, offering him a small smile. “Fingers crossed it’s easier than I’d except.”

[doctor-durant]

father-tobias·

How long had this asshole been here? He raised a brow at Thadd. “Don’t you think if I were drunk I wouldn’t have so much bloody pain?” He shook out his hand some blood falling onto the sand. “Shouldn’t you be keeping busy with our new friend instead of… you’re not exactly supervising. Staring. That’s the word. Stop staring.” He returned to the boat, only to find that the nail he was hammering was now bent. With his good hand he tried to pull the nail out without Thadd noticing. 

“I’ve seen plenty of drunks still put up a fuss for the show of it,” Thaddeus replied plainly, arms still tucked across their chest as they looked at Tobias’ injury. “Our new friend is being visited by every person onboard, so there’s no sense in me sticking around for every second of my day. I’m surprised you didn’t find yourself taken up with fawning over him again today, Father. Shocking growth you’re exhibiting.”