After Training (Pirates)

Persephone was very happy that the first day of training had gone well and currently she was relaxing on the beach of the private island that they had gone to with a roaring fire just in front of her, it had been boiling earlier in the day and she had enjoyed a swim in the crystal sea surrounding the island, but as night had decended it had become chilly, and they needed a fire to cook the food that they had gathered from around the island.

Humming happily as she lay down on the soft sand, her blanket stopping her from getting sand everywhere, or at least as much sand everywhere. It had been a good day, most of the girls had learnt the basics of sword fighting and they were going to advance tomorrow, she couldn't have thanked Russell and Eduardo enough for teaching them and remaining sane, the girls tested even her patience at the best of times.

Niomi had done a good job as well, she had been training the boys all day long how to aim and shoot with the cannons on the Sirius. Now they were all competant and just required practice to make them better at it, more efficient at reloading and still being able to aim well. It would be down pat by the end of the few days they had decided to stay here.

Already Persephone didn't want to go back, it was such a lovely relaxing place, there were no large bugs or horrible insects and snakes here, and yet the climate was so warm and lovely. She could see why Captain Morgan had reserved this island for when he had retired from pirating, it would be a really relaxing place she thought, with nothing but the sounds of the animals and the lapping of the waves.

Wondering where the boys actually were, she turned the meat on the spit over the fire, it was almost done and it was beginning to smell great.

Morgan was happy with the training progress of the men on board the Sirius. His men were now able to hit the broad side of a side with the broad side cannons on his ship. Seriously, it had been amazing how they'd managed to miss before but now their accuracy was improving. It wasn't anything massive seeing as it was only one day in but it spoke of changes to come.

He had over-seen the training of the men on the decks but he had gotten reviews of the sword training of the girls from Eduardo and Russell. Russell thought that they were all hopeless but Eduardo told him that together they could get the women into top shape. All they needed to do was to get them to work past the fact that both Eduardo and Russell worked shirtless. The women had spent more time ogling their chests than focusing on where the pointy ends of their swords were heading.

Morgan has made sure to help Nathan and some of the women from the Hydra in collecting the food that the island had to offer. It was a very good island to have settled on and the rabbits and sheep that Morgan had left here had multiplied enough to provide them with meat. Sitting down near Persephone by the fire he grinned a little bit,

"Good evening madam Peresphone." he greeted her with a jolly little smirk, "And what meat are we dining upon tonight my dear?"

Niomi had been tidying up the Sirius before she had left it for dinner, she had let the boys go early so that they could enjoy themselves after the hard work they had done today, and she was more than happy to clean it helped her clear her head. Eduardo had been different lately, ever since she had tried to see what was under his eye patch he had acted like he had hated her more than anything else. She really was sorry but he didn't seem to accept her apology.

Sighing lightly she had resigned herself to the fact that she was never going to be able to fall in love and it be without problems, but she had been able to feel better by spending more time with Elizabeth and Captain Persephone who knew about what had happened because she had told them as soon as they had all returned to the Hydra after the first mixer party.

All of the equipment was now cleaned and away including the cannons, Niomi wandered down the beach and hoped to try and find the captain, being on the Sirius and watching Eduardo training the other girls, and the other girls oggling him had put her on a downer, and the usually upbeat girl was quiet as she approached the two captains and sat down on the blanket next to Captain Persephone, laying her head in her lap without even saying anything.

"Hi Seph." she stated with a small sigh "Hi to you too Captain Morgan." Niomi greeted with a small smile on her lips before she snuggled her head against Persephone's leg as she relaxed slightly, it had been a long hard day and her muscles were aching like mad from where she had been carrying the boxes of cannon balls around and helping the boys to reaim the cannons properly.

Eduardo had been against the whole business of taking shirts off. Russell had the oh so smart idea of taking their shirts off to improve the focus that the women would show. Of course the women were more focused but only on their chests. It had been a disasterous idea and Eduardo had gotten very pissed off with the other man, to such a degree that he had decided not to be an instructor with Russell again. Let the guy get ogled on his own, he wanted to teach people how to fight, not how to orgasm from watching someone fight.

Sighing a little bit, he pulled on a shirt and made his way over to the fire where dinner was being served for the captains and the more important ship mates. He glanced at Niomi, laid across her captain's lap, before looking away almost immediately. Pulling out a bottle of rum, he began to drink from it rather heavily.

He hadn't forgiven Niomi for what she had done. She had over stepped her boundaries, the only boundary he had bothered to set up and she had deliberately ignored him just to satisfy her curiosity. He knew that he wouldn't stay mad at her forever, or even for very long. But right now he was too angry. Angry that she had betrayed his trust by promising not to look and then ignoring the same promise within the same day. It infuriated him to no end. He nodded to the group,

"Captain Morgan, Captain Persephone." he greeted before he glanced at Niomi. He paused for a moment before offering her the bottle of rum, "Good evening Niomi... you look tired, how was your work today?"

Elizabeth had been wandering about the island on a small walk, she was collecting a few ingredients for a meal she was planning to make for Niomi, she was infuriated at that slimy bastard git from the Sirius for hurting her like that, she could understand where he was coming from having a problem like his herself but for gods sake! It was Niomi, she was excitable and it had been something she had done when she wasn't thinking clearly, she'd apologised and he still hurt her like that.

Niomi was someone who put her love in someone immediately, and Elizabeth hated the fact that her caring and open nature got her hurt so often. Thats why she was going to step up and protect her even more than she had been doing, no way was that guy getting past her again!

However, she had a very nice time with Nathan that night, she understood his fascination with the game Five Finger Fillet and she had shared one of her own passions with him, darts, they had played together until she had heard the other crew members leaving. It had been an enjoyable night and she had found herself opening up to the guy a little bit more, and was eager to see him again. Although she would never admit it out loud.

Approaching the group she saw that Persephone's man, and Niomi's former man were already there with their counterparts and she glared at Eduardo before sitting next to Niomi and taking her hand in her own, setting it in her lap she gave it a small massage;

"What a useless crew of men, allowing you to lug around boxes of cannon balls like this without assistance, just this once I'll give you a little massage to help." she smirked before glaring at Eduardo again "I suggest you keep your alcohol to yourself."

Then, ignoring the man she turned to the Captains and nodded; "Nice to see you again Captain Morgan, and Persephone, do you know where Nathan is?"

Nathan had to admit that being on this island had become a lot more fun since the crew of the Hydra was there with them. It was a lot more fun tending to the animals and gathering ingredients when he knew that he was going to be able to compete against the mysterious cook of the Hydra. Elizabeth still said that the cook didn't want to meet him but that was okay, they were having fun being rivals and they didn't have to meet for that to continue.

Of course his relationship with Elizabeth had taken a turn for the better when he had taught her how to play Five Finger Fillet. She was surprisingly good for a beginner, so far only knicking herself with the knife a half dozen times. She had introduced him to darts as well and it was definately a fun game, even though she beat him every time. Which, when she had no depth perception, was rather impressive.

As he made his way over to the Captains and the ship mates he noticed the tension even as he carried over the top of a barrell that he had begun to use as a serving tray. This one had some fresh tuna steak, some lamb shanks and some salad. He placed it near the fire for people to pick at,

"So... I'm guessing the tension still hasn't come down?" he guessed with a nervous chuckle before turning to Elizabeth and presenting something he'd worked very hard on... a shrimp cocktail, "Hey Elizabeth, do you think this is good enough to beat out your cook for once? Took me ages to find a glass to make this too..."

Persephone smiled lightly as Morgan appeared beside her, it had been strange having their first kiss together that night and since then they hadn't spent much time together because they had both been travelling on their respective ships, now they were here though they could spend more time together and see if they still felt the same way they had done before they left for the island.

"We're having some rabbit tonight, the best I can cook seeing as our chef refuses to leave the ship.." she stated with a sigh "Although Im sure that it will suffice for the six of us, unless Nathan brings something delicious with him.

As Niomi rested her head on her lap, and called her by her nickname, Persephone knew that she was upset about Eduardo and she hummed softly at her as she stroked her hair, she knew that Niomi just needed calming down and reassuring, maybe she should try and move on from the guy, it was obvious that he disliked her after what she did, which Persephone could in a way understand.

"Well I have to say your boys are making an improvement Morgan even if they are wearing this one out, and despite the fact that their hormones confused them for the first half an hour, our girls made some progress too, this teamwork lark seems to be working." she grinned lightly.

When Nathan brought his food over, Persephone looked at Elizabeth and smiled knowingly, ah it was fun to observe these things, it was nice though...maybe Nathan could help heal Elizabeth after what had happened to her, despite her eye being healed she had emotional wounds that still were fresh.

"I'm not sure about that, but, I'll let our cooks representative have the first taste." she grinned.

Morgan smirked a little bit as he sat down near his confidante, and perhaps more, Persephone. She was fast becoming the best friend that he had ever had and the feelings he was beginning to feel more and more each day were less about friendship as time went on. He grinned a little bit and looked at the rabbit before nodding,

"Well it looks delicious. Seems like your best is very good to me." he told her honestly with a grin before chuckling slightly, "Nathan probably will though... just to show off now that he had access to lots more ingredients."

Morgan glanced at Niomi as she rested against Persephone, so obviously still devastated about the fight with Eduardo. He was sure that the fight would blow over in time given Eduardo's nature but he still couldn't help but sigh a little bit at his ship mate. Thankful that the conversation didn't head that way he chuckled a little bit,

"Yes they're actually firing the cannons without losing fingrs, it's a massive improvement actually." he joked a little bit before smirking a little bit, "Well you could go meet up with Enrico if you need a massage Niomi, he tells me you two know each other. And he's good with massages, might be good for your tired muscles."

He chuckled a little bit when Nathan brought the extra food and gave Persephone a little nudge as if to say 'told you so'. Rolling his eyes a little bit when Nathan took out a shrimp cocktail he sighed in a dramatic fashion,

"When did you find time to do that?" he teased his crewmate, "You been skipping chores and passing them onto the recruits again?"

Niomi looked up when she was spoken to by Eduardo and she was about to take the rum off him and answer his question when Elizabeth interrupted and stopped her, to be honest she was kind of glad, she didn't really want to talk to Eduardo if he was being this mean to her about what she had done. She supposed that not everyone was as open as her though, and it was a big overstep what she had done, even though she'd apologised profusely afterwards.

Blinking up at Elizabeth as she gave her a hand massage Niomi merely directed her gaze to the floor and muttered quietly; "Yeah, Lizzie's right, I don't really want any rum right now, so you can keep it."

When the Captain told her that she could go and see Enrico, Niomi smiled happily and perked up a little bit, as if by magic the man himself appeared around the corner and headed his way over to them, they had been friends when they had both lived in the same port and they had often went to play in the water and look at the ships together when they were younger.

"Hey Ni." he grinned, rubbing his hair as he looked down at her, frowning lightly he sighed "You still feeling down? Come on, this isn't the little Ni I know, let's get you back to normal."

With that Niomi squeaked happily as he picked her up by her waist and tossed her over his shoulder with a playful laugh, unable to stop herself from laughing she kicked and flailed her arms and legs to try and get him to let her go. She didn't really mind though she wanted him to take her to one side and make her feel better, she enjoyed teaching him the most today she had to say;

"Oh no! What are you gunna dooooo?!" she cried out happily

"Imma throw you in the briney deep Niomi!" Enrico laughed.

As she was thrown into the water Niomi shrieked happily and she swooped her soaking hair back from her face as she paddled back to the mainland and ran around the beach after Enrico trying to glomp him in order to make him wet as well. Already she was feeling much better being with him.

Eduardo sighed a little bit in frustration. He was trying, in his own way, to begin to repair the relationship between him and Niomi by getting them talking again but then Elizabeth had barged in and completely shot down his attempt in her constant 'I know what's best for Niomi' attitude. When she answered for Niomi he gave the one eyed woman a dismissive look before glancing back at Niomi,

"I didn't know you could throw your voice Niomi. Could have sworn it sounded like Elizabeth was telling you what your opinion was there." he commented casually, giving Elizabeth a verbal burn there. When she backed up Elizabeth's decision he sighed a little bit and retracted his offer and the rum, drinking some of it himself, "Alright then."

When Enrico came round and began to frolic around with Niomi his first reaction was to stab Enrico through the throat with his sword. His second instinct was to leave. He didn't want to watch the woman he cared about being so happy with another guy after all. Only the look in Elizabeth's eyes, the sadistic glee that she was getting from watching him suffer, was why he stayed. He knew that it he left right now he would never hear the end of it.

So instead he just sat there stewing in his own jealousy and anger, each sound of playful laughter and splashing like a knife through him. He drank some of the rum. Maybe it would make this dinner time conversation more bearable.

Elizabeth decided that the man was not worth her time. She knew he was trouble from the first time she saw him and it had been proven right now that he had upset Niomi like that, he thought that he was all that and that she didn't know what was best for her friend, she knew what was best for her and this arrogant prick wasn't the man that she deserved to be with. She deserved the fairy tale romance with the castle and prince to boot.

The jibe, honestly made her laugh out loud at how weak and pathetic it was, but besides that she didn't respond she just smiled happily at the other members of the group, she wasn't going to rise to his bait, she was better than that, and she didn't want to make things awkward for everyone else.

Seeing Niomi so happy made her smile gently, if anyone knew how important she was to her, it was Persephone, and now actually Nathan.

"It makes me glad to see her this happy, I know she's missed her home as we all do, but, it's nice of her to have a FRIEND, from her own home town on the Sirius. Perhaps they can start to be FRIENDS again like they were when they were little." she stated with a small smirk, maybe the thick ass guy would get the message? Although she didn't hold out much hope.

When Nathan brought the shrimp cocktail to her, Elizabeth hummed and she ate one of the shrip, the sauce was lovely and tangy and the shrimps were cooked just beautifully. Although it was going to give her a run for her money she thought that it would measure up to a creation of her own making;

"Its good Drake, but, not that good to win outright." she grinned with a wink "I'll have to bring you some of our chefs cooking tomorrow for you to enjoy, you should settle on something you can both make well, and then see which is better." Elizabeth suggested with a small smile.

Nathan didn't like it when Elizabeth and Eduardo fought, they were both his friends and he hated to know that if he tried to keep one side from being hurt he would hurt the other side. It was a vicious little fact that meant he could only sit on the sidelines and watch as his two best friends took potshots at each other like they were doing now. He was honestly getting sick of it because he knew that it was only going to end up hurting Niomi the most.

He winced a little bit when Elizabeth mentioned Enrico. It was an open secret that Enrico had been friends with Niomi for quite a long time. He sighed a little bit when he noticed that Eduardo seemed to want to suddenly be anywhere but here.

Picking a piece of the tuna up off the plate and savouring it's flavour, he smirked a little bit when Elizabeth took the shrimp. She was like their cook's official taster it seemed. He smirked a little bit when she seemed to enjoy the flavour. It had taken him quite a long time. He laughed a little bit,

"Oh you would say that! You're a very hard woman to please Elizabeth but I think I've got what it takes to do just that." he assured her with a smirk before grinning a little bit, "Well I'd suggest something but I'm not sure if it wouldn't be too high above her skill level..." It was a joke and everyone knew it, "So what's your favourite dish by your cook?"