Pushing at the boundaries. One hand at Jopson's bare shoulder still, the other continues on, up onto the curve of his skull, fingers spread out in his hair. Nearly petting him. He imagines getting a grip on it, and gently but firmly pulling him off the chair onto the floor. Would he give him the same look, wide-eyed and adoring?
"So this is what it takes to get my way with you."
Arguing and stubbornness hadn't worked. Shutting the door in his face hadn't worked. No matter how he tried, polite, then with increasing bluntness, his steward remained steadfast in his determination to do his job to its fullest. No half measures, no resigning himself to busywork and laundry and leaving Crozier to his own tidiness. It turns out Jopson is the quiet but relentless river and Crozier, bloody stone that he is, became worn down under the rushing of it.
Until now, and lo and behold, his first assertion — you're going right to bed — may come true after all.
"Mm, it is an excellent persuader, Captain," he mumbles against his forearm, splayed out in the chair with nowhere else to go. But does he mean the hand in his hair? The hand on his shoulder? The lashes? Difficult to tell, but Crozier could ask for anything and he would see to it that he received it. The temptation to lean back into the press of fingers and palm, to stretch across the man's lap, to sit at his feet and put his head against one thigh -
The strips of cloth on his back have gone warm, it's easy to tell, but he says nothing, only lets out a long, slow sigh. The hand in his hair will be the stuff of his late nights and dreams now, no doubt. Soon he'll be made to get up, he's sure of it. Make the hot water with lemon and ginger, serve it in a pristine and expensive china cup. Funny the things they do when out at sea, where money means little against the waves.
He fights it, the heavy pull of relaxation and sleep, but not all men can wage war against their own bodies. His is worn thin, adrenaline used up and drained. He mumbles something, though it's near unintelligible for the way fatigue pulls at him. Sounds something like you'll always have your way with me captain, all mush-mouthed and muffled into a pillow, lulled by gentle hands and gentler care. He goes quiet shortly after, his breathing beginning to slow and even out, the man nodding off, face and arms nestled together against the pillow while Crozier's hand sifts into his hair.
No surprise. Stress steals energy even more than labor, and adding onto it pain, it's a wonder Jopson made it to this hour at all. No doubt the others who were punished are fast asleep in their hammocks, or desperately wishing they were while in sickbay instead. Crozier keeps pace for a while, gently petting him, though he knows he won't ever reach a point where he's had his fill. Best to stop and begin to tidy up, and eventually, carefully coax the young man into bed.
He's got experience with this. A packed house with a dozen siblings, and then decades of living in cramped quarters, and a highly illegal affair with his fellow officer. With any luck, Jopson will experience the transition as a barely-there dream, and Francis will be able to lull him back to sleep once he's laid down. The sheet he drapes over him is soft (laundered by Jopson himself), and he's slow and careful about the blankets, which he knows may cause discomfort with their weight, but it'll be too devastatingly cold without them.
And now here he is, a captain with his berth occupied.
He could just sleep on the floor, but he's too far on the lapsed side of things to engage in self-flagellation. There's an empty bed in a private room, and so goes there, simple as.
(Early up, he only catches Dr Robertson in transition — All's well — Aye — The embarrassment got him more than the strap I think — Nothing serious on the rest — and is perfectly capable of looking after himself to get ready for the day.)
First bell. He closes the door behind him, not pointedly loud, but not timidly, either. That's enough of a lie-in, any longer and the schedule will threaten to run together, and also he thinks Jopson might work himself into an episode.
"Lad." Near the bed. He leans with an arm on the ledge above, his other hand gently touching his steward's shoulder. "Up with ye."
It’s true that the transition from the chair to the bed is one he won’t remember. Likely for the best, considering the sleepy way he’d all but leaned his head into Crozier’s shoulder as he stood up and attempted to get into the bed. But once down, he fell quickly back into an easeful sleep.
He sleeps deeply, and by the time Crozier leans over him he’s not much moved since he was put down the night before. Hair tousled, cheeks flushed with the warmth of sleep, Jopson sleeps soundly, unaware of the door and the ship coming to life above decks. The touch and the voice feel like a dream, like something he wants to lean into like he had the night before, except -
The night before. It isn’t night. There’s light, there’s sound, the smell of coals and fired wood. A knee jerk reaction he startles awake, sitting up with such a fury that he forgets the lashes altogether. At least until the pain of his sore, tightened flesh. It takes the breath out of him, dried out over the night from the cool air, but still fresh and raw. He winces, face wrenched up in pain.
“Captain,” quickly, panicked, a little breathless. “My apologies. I - I’ve never -“
Then and only then he realizes he’s not in his own berth. That the bed he’s in smells of rich spice, sweat, sea spray. He knows these quarters as well as his own- and he scrambles up out of the bed, hissing again at the pain burning down his back.
“I’ll make your tea immediately,” he scrubs at his face, starts looking for his shirt and jacket. Yesterday’s clothes. How unseemly. “Terribly sorry, sir, I don’t know what came over me.”
Captain voice. Probably startling, given the circumstances, but he wants to halt the potential spiral immediately. Once he's sure Jopson has settled and is looking at him—
"I made the choice to leave you be and I'm satisfied with it. The matter is closed. Proceeding with the day, you're to see the Doctor first thing for a salve of arnica on your back, and then be about your regular work."
That's that. His expression and tone clearly convey there will be no arguing, no fussing, or else he is going to be unhappy. Helpfully, however, he has already found Jopson's clothes for him, and he holds up the first discarded layer.
"You'll have to rate my performance," he says, as soon as he's managed to convince his steward to accept the aid into his shirtsleeves, which no doubt feels awful. And he will stand there like he's cornered a badger until Jopson cooperates, so. Pick your battles, kiddo.
One more thing, before he leaves. But he's going to see him dressed first, so that he can depart at once if it lands poorly.
Crozier halts him with the ease and confidence of a Captain. One syllable and he’s frozen in place, wide eyes blinking up to him for a moment before his body relaxes, before he takes a careful and proper stance to show his respect and attention.
And gentler, in a far more collected (albeit a little sheepish) tone: “My apologies. I’ve my wits about me now, sir.”
The shirtsleeves break some of that resolve - face twisting at the pain and discomfort of dry and tight injuries alighting down his back as he slips into them with assistance. It has to be far better than those who suffered the straps or whips alongside him - he’s had excellent care. That he’s being aided again by the Captain is something else altogether to worry about. Another burden on the man’s shoulders, even if this one seems to be taken by choice.
“Fortunately you do not seem to be a strangers to shirtsleeves, sir. Your skill is not lost in its disuse.”
A meager attempt at good humors as he smooths the front, carefully tucks it into his wrinkled trousers. What a mess he looks. Waistcoat next, then jacket, each layer bringing with it a new and special sort of pain. The knowledge he’ll have to take all the layers off again to be seen by the doctor is harrowing, but an order is an order.
“Thank you, sir.” Quiet, but grateful - the light back in his eyes. For helping, for caring, for all of it.
An impressive resolve as he dresses, and the discomfort is just cost of doing business; Crozier can't let him walk down to sickbay without his clothes on, and won't be calling Robertson up for special treatment. A punishment it was, and a punishment it continues to be, even with this interference. The mission will tolerate no wasters, not even for an afternoon, and that includes those who bed down behind the mast.
Gratifying, to hear that. Thank you, sir. Not that he hasn't heard it countless times, but Jopson has degrees of meaning in his voice, and in his eyes. Crozier takes it seriously, when it asks to be.
There they stand. Francis lifts his hands to the young man's shoulders — not unlike the night before, but turned about — and looks at him. Serious but not grave. Taking the measure of him. After a moment, he mimics something else: knuckles at his chin, a touch that's too intimate, but that Jopson (Thomas, he reminds himself; bloody Englishmen, but at least he's not another James) has allowed before.
"I must be careful," he says, "about this sort of thing. Not all commanders are, I know."
But he is, and will be. He tips his steward's chin, strokes his thumb over a part of his jaw, feeling the start of stubble.
"In this, you and you alone have the final say. Think on it for a few days. If you answer me before then I won't hear it. You have to decide if you hate me for how much your back hurts, first."
Jopson fusses with his jacket, doing up buttons and picking a loose thread. It startles him when the captain lays hands upon his shoulders, wide eyes blinking up at him beneath lashes at first until he straightens at the seriousness etched into the man’s face. Always a serious man, Crozier, carrying himself with a confidence fit only for a commander and captain such as he is. But he knows the looks - the minute details in the crease of his brow or the turn of his mouth. Knows what line he stands behind based solely on the set of his shoulders when he speaks.
He blushes, a faint thing that mimics the evening before. He could answer now - could spill everything he’s bitten back for months and months now, but tamps it down. Listens, even if the giddy thing knocking about behind his ribs wants otherwise.
“I will give you my answer in a few days’ time,” he repeats, letting the man touch his jaw, his chin. “But forgive me, sir. I must admit it’s impossible for me to hate you for a punishment I earned honest.”
A slip of something less formal, more the man from a poor little apartment in London.
“The pain is merely temporary, after all, but it will not sour a thing. I am above all else honored all the same that I am your steward, sir.”
Honest, open warmth in his face, an adoration making the grey of his eyes shine. He reaches briefly to curl fingers around the man’s wrist, squeezing, intimate in the way his thumb swipes over his pulse point.
But it’s covered, this sweet gesture, as he tugs Crozier’s hand down, adjusts his cuff with a soft huff.
“The whole of the ship will know I did not dress you,” a soft but affectionate complaint. A smoothing of hands ofer the man’s lapel, then fussing with his collar. “But you made a valiant effort, sir. I’ll away to the doctor and return with your breakfast. Or tea at the very least.”
A few days, but he hopes the work of his hands may give a hint of his leanings.
Jopson is lovely, and handsome at once; masculine lines decorated with soft, painterly features. Crozier appreciates how put together he keeps himself, how closely shaved, how meticulously groomed, but he would like to see him shaken loose, too. Only a little like the tightly leashed exertion while being strapped— what would he looks like, flushed and shaking, without a need to contain himself?
Perhaps he'll find out. Jopson seems so certain, but he hasn't woken up in his own berth after accidentally rolling onto his back yet. (Speaking of his own berth, Crozier has left it with the sheets done up properly, inspection-tight good enough for any captain he's served under, but will it pass Jopson's? Hm.) He hasn't navigated his place in the crew after that display. He deserves time to think about it. Sit with it.
He palms over his steward's chest, as though checking his buttons. But the weight of it, and the expression on his face, hopefully silently communicates his appreciation. Not sure if he's ever made anyone feel honored.
"Your diligence is above and beyond," Crozier tells him, fond. "You could put a shine on the roughest stone."
A few days. Crozier removes his hands and steps aside, giving him implied permission to leave. At least his steward coming in and out of the captain's quarters is nothing remarkable; a regular occurrence, and perhaps Jopson looks unkempt today because he was beaten the night before. The world continues to turn, the ship continues to sail. They each have plenty to do.
They have plenty to do, indeed, but Jopson spends much of the day remembering the thumb at the edge of his jaw or the weight of a hand on his chest, his neck, in his hair. Ignores it to get his back looked at, the salve sticky, the smell strong, but it helps. He continues about his day, checking off the long, invisible list he keeps in his mind - supplies, laundry, cleaning, lunch, dinner, and so on. When it's time to retire for the night, he pauses when looking at his own bed. The sheets neatly tucked in, the pillow smoothed out, the quilt folded at the foot of the little bed. Not his work, but close. Militantly orderly in the way the sheets are turned down, waiting for him.
The sheets smell of Crozier, the pillow case of sweat and musk and spice. He slept in his bunk and gave him the Captain's room instead? He buries his face in against it, breathes deep, hears Crozier's words in his head: I must be careful. When he lets his own hand wander in spite of his fatigue, he imagines it to be the Captain's hand.
A couple of days pass without incident. A few of the men look at him differently, clap him on the arm and encourage him to sit with them. Some brotherhood and camaraderie built where it hadn't been before. Of course Crozier would be right. Even young Mr Chambers seems bolstered by some of the older seamen who have faced punishment for unruly nights.
The afternoon brings a nice ray of sun into the window of Crozier's cabin and he crosses to open the curtains, welcoming it, using the light to better assist hemming one of Crozier's newer shirtsleeves, the tail too long and ill-fitting. The light helps, but it's also warm despite it all, and he feels much like a coy housecat finding a comfortable place to relax.
"I did not appreciate your misplacement of the ink wells, sir," he murmurs, crossing one leg over the other as he starts up another set of stitches. "The bottom of the bookshelf isn't where they're meant to be and I'll be polite and not inquire how they made it there in the first place."
Little things out of place here and there, perhaps from the time lost but a day or so ago though he's beginning to suspect foul play.
"Captain Ross must have though I was mad for my running around when he requested use of one and I had to scour the room like a lost dog on the streets."
Not actually offended - far more teasing than anything. He's quite content where he is, actually.
Jamie visiting Terror is a delight, and they talk for hours; he thinks their lieutenants must be exhausted of listening to them yammer, half of it aborted sentences and cryptic exchanges as they know each other's minds so well. A dozen maps, of the shoreline being uncovered, of the stars, of magnetic patterns. Energized by the perpetual pastel day of the pole, they are in the great cabin, then on deck, then in the cabin, and on deck, and in the cabin for ages.
He is sure — has been sure for weeks now — that his steward noticed. That it's part of why he's felt able to tease him the way he does, and in turn, respond to the way Francis teases him. It's cheeky, very on the line of his professed I must be careful, to set Jopson up to have to grope for something on hands and knees in front of him and Ross, but he finds himself empty of guilt. A bit thrilling, actually. Particularly when Jamie asks him when they're alone, How's your boy getting you on, sorry, how are you both getting on, and Francis has to threaten to put a gag in his mouth, though of course that just makes him laugh, bright and brilliant like a bell.
Some humor, too, when he finds out discipline has been just as lively on Erebus. It's going to be a maddening push the whole time over these long years, he thinks, but he likes it. Doldrums kill men. Better to be alight, aflame, kinetic.
"He thought you were as sharp-eyed as any crow in the nest," Crozier says. Working on the log book, for now, Ross and his seconds packed away back on the other ship. Comfortable with just the two of them left, and the door closed. "Finding it as you did. Probably one of the mates tucked a stray one there when the boards were being mopped."
Sure.
"You were listening close about some of the figures, I noticed. Would you care to join us tomorrow when the light's lowest? It may be dull, fiddling with all the weights and lines in the water, but the demonstration makes sense of it, I believe."
Speaking of the light, Jopson looks beautiful there, haloed by it. An enjoyable thing to observe, simple in its pleasure.
The little pot of ink made its way there with some purpose, though the idea that one of the mates tucked it away is nonsense. Particularly when Jopson minds the cleaning of this place like a hawk, and with clear instruction to boot. He raises brows at Crozier, a hint of I know you're up to something in all of it, but it's light. It's been a lovely day tending to Captain Ross and Crozier both - the air in the room warmer and lighter whenever the man comes round. He's seen and heard plenty in his time working with the men, and knew enough even in the beginning to buffet the door against any intruders.
Crozier laughs, bright and open, and there's nothing left to think or discuss. His captain is happy - brilliantly so - when Ross is around, and so in turn he's happy as well. He could sit here in the sun sewing and tending to the tidiness of the room for the rest of his days, talking like this, like the sea isn't roaring outside, like they're on solid ground, far, far from the troubles of England.
"Mm?" A blink, he looks up. "I apologize, sir, I don't mean to eavesdrop when you have guests. I rarely understand what you and the others discuss as it is, but - ah. Yes, I'd like to see it."
The things the men in this room dream up and discover will always seem utterly magical. The way some of the men draw the world around them, the way they twist numbers to make the skies make sense, and now this - weights and lines and other tools to uncover even more. He feels a bit silly, mending shirtsleeves when they unveil truths about their seas and their lands.
"Do you have any books on the subject?"
Magnetism. The sea. The sky. The heavens. Whatever it is they're digging into. He will never be an officer, a commander, a captain, a scientist, a skygazer - nor should he be, he was never meant to be. But to understand something that fills Crozier's eyes with wonder and excitement, to watch all of the men at the table chatter excitedly - it might be nice to understand a sliver of it.
A snort, for the storyteller accusation. They both know Crozier detests telling stories, especially his own; they seem alike in this way. Happy to be private, live now, without ghosts manifesting while they're still here.
"You aren't eavesdropping." Crozier makes to stand, putting away his pen nib. "Even if you were on the other side of the door, you wouldn't be."
Because it's his job to listen, but really, he's in the room, and the notion of stewards (or any servant) having to go deaf and blind while their employers (never their betters) go about their business is lunacy. He supposes he'd understand going elsewhere mentally, daydreaming, during a miserable job, but he can't imagine it out of Thomas Jopson.
A small, real smile, for the accepted invitation. Happy about it. And happy to pick out a book for him, too. Erebus has a more impressive library, in terms of numbers of variety of subjects, between the naturalist's collection and the options for pleasure-reading for the crew. But they have a fine one on Terror, too, and the bookshelf in the great cabin holds a number of miserably dry educational tomes. He considers, but quickly— a notion already, and so he finds it quick enough. Star navigation, because it offers a solid introduction to the concepts that build magnetic theory. The way the Earth moves, and the way the Moon and the Sun pull the tides, and the mapping of it all.
"I started hereabouts," he says of the book, moving to join his steward on the bench along the windows. "Granted it's not riveting prose."
"I do my best to stay out of matters that don't involve me, to middling success, sir."
A small smile, but he watches the man move about the cabin, along the shelves of books. Something about Crozier demands attention - perhaps the line of his shoulders, his posture, the air of him. He's impossible to ignore and even now he forgets his sewing work, watching him travel the lines of books. Forgets it further when the man joins him on the bench in the sun - this close the blond looks like strings of burnished gold.
He sets the shirtsleeves aside, careful to tuck the needle into a pin cushion, and reaches for the book. Flipping through its pages, testing the feel of them. In far, far better shape than his worn and tired Dickens.
"It caught your interest didn't it? It can't be terribly dull, then." Another little tease, pleased and bolstered by the Captain's attention. "The only book I have is a Dickens - Pickwick Papers. I'll say anything would be a refreshing read. You likely saw it when you were in my berth. It looks like nothing more than worn sheafs of paper. This is luxurious in comparison."
A glance down to the book, the fine hardbacked cover, the delicate ink on the pages. A very neat, orderly little thing - nothing at all like the little ha'penny serials he would buy when he was younger when his father would shoo him off to have a little bit of fun. Simpler times, certainly.
When you were in my berth. Caught, and that too is pleasing, to be so aware of each other, and find no objection.
"You're at liberty to peruse the library as any sailor," he notes. "Though I can't speak to the tastes of the donors."
Crozier is not a big contemporary fiction reader, surprise. Adventures read a bit odd to him, living as he does, and fantasies and romances lean into class issues too much to win any goodwill. And so, science journals and Greek classics, for him. Some people might accuse him of being snobbish, and that's fine.
"Science is all about making order of things. Understanding the madness of the living world. I suppose that's what made me curious— that any bit of that could be possible at all. And still we only know raindrops. I am empty, next to the men we've brought along to do studies of the plans and animals. Just a man making notes. And yet it's interesting."
Or else he wouldn't be here. And he thinks, maybe, Jopson might find this perspective interesting, too.
Edited (minor wording change to sound more sailory ) 2025-10-31 04:21 (UTC)
"I don't often find myself with a surplus of time to read, but I do on occasion before I sleep. This will be a welcome change."
A small gesture to the book, where he runs a hand over the cover again, smooth and carefully crafted. Jopson wondered about the world when he was younger, when he was starry-eyed and youthful and not yet hindered by the sharp edges of the world. He might have enjoyed this then as much as he enjoyed learning his father's craft. A sponge, waiting to soak up any knowledge someone might offer him.
"And I am empty next to you, sir," he smiles a little, turning to look at him a little better, knocking his knee into the older man's. "Will this book aid in making sense of the madness we face? I think about it sometimes - that we all woke up and chose to sail face first into the blistering cold. For great discovery, of course, to put a man's name on a piece of land, but it's right mad when you think about it."
There's noise up on the deck - men hooting and hollering, a bell ringing somewhere, signaling the men to break. He rather enjoys the sounds of a merry, busy ship.
"So we follow an empty, mad Captain into the sea over and over again. It makes for a very grand story. One I would very much like to read when I am between tasks - well, assuming you stop putting holes in every piece of cloth you own - it's right impressive."
Knee bump for knee bump. Empty-headed, and so good company.
Crozier laughs a little, just a barely-there chuckle. Jopson's right, it is mad. Has always been, and he had known it to be so when he first set foot on Hamadryad, a lifetime ago. It had thrilled him as a boy. It still thrills him, even though he's also found great solace in the brutal order of navy life. Sailing is madness, and a sailor must be a stone in the face of it.
And ordered madness goes on, above them. Around them. Perhaps in here, too, fraternizing far too familiarly. Keenly aware of each other.
"Madness follows its like," he teases. "You're darning socks while floating."
Jopson is literate, skilled, diligent. He doesn't have to work on a ship. They're all loons, out here.
"We learn about humanity while we learn about our world. Technicians, we are, while some men see it as the search for God, and others see it as the search to disprove God. No business of mine, all that. And yours— I'm sure I've got at least some trousers that are unholed."
"You certainly don't want me pulling ropes," he murmurs, laughing at little. He enjoys the work, even if some men frown upon his position here. Laundry, sewing, cleaning, dressing, so on, so forth. "And I think darning socks is more useful in this weather. I refuse to be responsible for the loss of your big toe, sir. Only because I don't think I'd hear the end of it."
Pleasant, all of this. It makes it easier to ignore the pain in his back, the way twisting to look at the man hurts in a new way today as the welts begin to ease and heal. Perhaps if he had a job elsewhere, he'd not have scars or welts but would instead be cold and miserable somewhere else. He'll take the lashes. For this? The ship, his captain? He'd do it again, no questions asked.
"And the only trousers that have survived the times and trials of Captain Francis Crozier would be the ones you're wearing now, sir." A reach, cheeky thing, at the fabric over his thigh where he pinches it, pulls it a little. "I've put patches in all the others so it will be a little more difficult for you to ruin them so quickly."
He smiles, hand drifts away, and he rises, moving to tidy up the table, setting the book in perfect alignment with the corner so he can free his hands up, place a few things back in their places.
"I think next we're landed I will spend my own shillings and pounds to restock your wardrobe for our next leg." Things he may or may not have done before. Who's to say.
Crozier's hand touches his as it withdraws, an incidental, maybe-accidental tease. Oh, hm, dashing away, out of reach. He considers following him, but for now, he stays where he is and watches as Jopson tidies up. So still, when he waits to be called for, but always ready to be in motion. Swift and graceful.
"I'm a sailor."
As if this is enough to explain the state of his clothes— and it is. He may not have the laborious shifts of an able seaman or caulker, but he works. He takes to the rigging when he needs to, he goes to shore on the ice, he hunts, he digs up curious rocks, he walks the deck, every day, every night. But, he demures,
"I have not previously had such attention to my wardrobe. You started with a backlog. And I can only thank you for your care."
Perfectly content to wear his uniform if it's clean and not mind anything past that. He's paid fairly, even generously, and he could wrap himself in luxury if he chose. But he finds no joy in it, and finds better uses for his pay. More practical things, and the excess sent back home. No use for fine shirts, or multiple coats. He gets on. But lately he's been getting on a bit better, because he's had someone who looks after him.
Now, he does stand, and goes to closer observe Jopson's work.
"If you do, I will expense it. It would shame me otherwise."
“Goodness, sir, I hadn’t the slightest that you’re a sailor. What a remarkable accomplishment.”
Cheeky little shit he is. Jopson smirks, knowing and a little playful as he carefully organizes the papers on the desk, then the books, then the writing utensils. Everything has its proper place, one he carefully replaces them to even with Crozier up and drawing closer.
With him, Jopson has never thought twice about nearness, accepting the easy presence of Crozier floating lazily in the sea of his periphery. Some of the books go back to their shelves, others with active notes go to Crozier’s desk, where he leans over the edge to place the documents. It helps that it turns his body into long lines and all strong limbs.
“Let me finish tidying and I’ll ring for some tea for you. Perhaps something a little sweeter today to indulge in the stars.”
He wins himself a very light pinch to his elbow. A bolder man might have tried for his rear (and he is often plenty bold), but they're still being friendly. Jopson has yet to award him with his decision, and Crozier means to keep to his word. The younger man has the say in it.
His steward really is very attractive. He could have his pick of men inclined to it, on the ship, and even among those who usually aren't. Crozier's ego is warmed to know he's in the ranking, even though he knows full well how to pull other men. Easier than women, though he's cautious about who he'll gamble the ruin of his reputation on. Men above his station are safe, mutually assured destruction; molly boys eager to be taken sternly in hand, the other end of that spectrum, safely anonymous.
Jopson is something else.
He likes him.
"As you say."
A lilt of teasing in his voice. Crozier has come to learn there's little arguing with him, but honestly, he likes this. Tea and stars. If Jopson doesn't think to get himself a cup, too, he can share in his commander's.
"Finally you show some sense," he muses, rubbing at the pinched elbow with an easy sort of smile. "I do know what's best for you. Well, so long as it's your tea and nothing else."
He fusses about the room a little more, righting chairs at the great table, wiping the table down with a cloth, even turning everything on the captain's desk to neat, straight piles. Only when he seems satisfied with the state of the room and his sewing is folded and tidied to the end of the bench he sighs. His turn for an elbow, but he squeezes it instead, fingers lingering there until his walk past him draws him away altogether and out the door.
He makes polite conversation as he travels down to fetch a hot kettle. Returns with all the trappings for Crozier's tea. He makes the usual cup, meticulous and with nearly scientific precision, but at the very end he stirs in a dollop of honey. A treat for a colder day, but a good bolster for being out just past dark to keep his good health.
It's incredibly satisfying, caring for someone else. No less someone that occupies his mind majority of the day as it is.
"Here you are, sir," he slides the saucer across to him. "In good preparation for this evening."
He doesn't linger overlong, instead shrugs out of his jacket, hanging it on a coat hook. he rolls his sleeves up, but it's obvious in the way he moves that his back still stings, a little stiff as he begins to dust the shelves and the mantle. It's performative more than anything, his cleaning - the place is remarkably tidy from days of attention. Instead, it's more that the captain has something to look at and agonize over while he has his sweetened tea.
His choice, the man said. He made his choice what feels like eons ago, but he'd been punished with distance before the lashings. Now he means to gently punish his captain with nearness.
Crozier doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but a little is just right, and it's bracing for the cold. A nod of thanks and he accepts the cup, holding it a bit just to enjoy the warmth as it comes to consumable temperature. Whilst doing so, he leans a bit against the heavy desk table, still solidly in place. The sea has been cooperative this week, with no need to hook in the ropes.
Jopson cuts an attractive figure, and since he's only pretending to clean, he must not mind an audience. Crozier observes him, accepting the performance and appreciating it— not that the act of cleaning holds any sway. But his stewards his handsome, and well proportioned, and deserving of an admiring stare while they have enough privacy for him to get away with fixing him with one.
To work to be worth it is hardly an agony.
"Come and taste if this is to your liking," he says, and it's more of a coax than an order. Holding the teacup out. He's taken a drink already. "You squirrel away your own preferences too often, while you note mine as sharp as any of the scientists we're to weigh down."
And then he may go back to showing off how nice he looks in his vest.
It isn't all performative - he takes time to arrange the books on the shelves by order of surname, but it's an unnecessary and fruitless task. Someone will come to borrow a work and throw it all out of order once again. But it's a nice, mindless thing, pleasantly existing under the captain's scrutiny, listening to the sounds of him shift his weight, sip the tea, breathe.
Looking over his shoulder, he raises his brows.
"If it is to your liking, then it is to mine, Captain," he muses, a little cheeky as that is what a steward should say. He considers him, the teacup extended, and sighs. One day he'll find a way to say no to this man, but it is not that day at all. He crosses to the table, leans a hip into the edge, takes the cup from him. It's warm, that alone draws a small, pleased little smile.
He looks at Crozier over the cup as he sips from it, not blinking until he swallows, then his eyes flutter shut, enjoying the warmth and the sweetness. "It's a good cup of tea. Is it not to your liking, sir? I can make it less sweet, if you prefer. The honey that Captain Ross brought is far more rich than I am used to."
He steals another sip from the cup before he offers it back to him.
"I'll keep that one and make you another, half the honey this time, if you prefer."
It's Jopson with the sweet tooth - hardly exposed to such things back in London, it's a welcome luxury when he's allowed any sort of sweet or decadent thing. One day he'll even try drinking chocolate - but he'll have to buy chocolate first and that is a coin purse he leaves to last when saving his shillings.
Pretty. It is his mannerisms that make him so, because he is otherwise perfectly masculine; but he wonders if anyone else gets to see him like this. Surely some do. How often? Jopson is good at his job and keeps himself to the peripherals, out from underfoot, and purposefully unremarkable, no matter that he draws the attention of his charge so easily. Crozier wants to touch his chin again, follow that smile, the obvious delight. Perhaps another time.
"Hmm."
As though he needs to test it once more, he takes a sip. Not much in these decorative cups, but that's fine. Keeps it from going cold in this weather if you drink it quick enough.
"I like it for today." Maybe that's a part of the ongoing struggle of his life. Diverse tastes. There's how he usually likes it, but he doesn't hate deviations now and again. (Hah, deviant.) "But why don't you make one up to your own tastes, so that I know? And we'll split that one, too. I can read to you a little about the dreary art of measuring stars, if you like."
They are just messing about, now, doing that thing he should hate and wasting time. But they are living beings here on the ship, as well as professionals. A bit of time can survive the abuse.
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"So this is what it takes to get my way with you."
Arguing and stubbornness hadn't worked. Shutting the door in his face hadn't worked. No matter how he tried, polite, then with increasing bluntness, his steward remained steadfast in his determination to do his job to its fullest. No half measures, no resigning himself to busywork and laundry and leaving Crozier to his own tidiness. It turns out Jopson is the quiet but relentless river and Crozier, bloody stone that he is, became worn down under the rushing of it.
Until now, and lo and behold, his first assertion — you're going right to bed — may come true after all.
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The strips of cloth on his back have gone warm, it's easy to tell, but he says nothing, only lets out a long, slow sigh. The hand in his hair will be the stuff of his late nights and dreams now, no doubt. Soon he'll be made to get up, he's sure of it. Make the hot water with lemon and ginger, serve it in a pristine and expensive china cup. Funny the things they do when out at sea, where money means little against the waves.
He fights it, the heavy pull of relaxation and sleep, but not all men can wage war against their own bodies. His is worn thin, adrenaline used up and drained. He mumbles something, though it's near unintelligible for the way fatigue pulls at him. Sounds something like you'll always have your way with me captain, all mush-mouthed and muffled into a pillow, lulled by gentle hands and gentler care. He goes quiet shortly after, his breathing beginning to slow and even out, the man nodding off, face and arms nestled together against the pillow while Crozier's hand sifts into his hair.
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No surprise. Stress steals energy even more than labor, and adding onto it pain, it's a wonder Jopson made it to this hour at all. No doubt the others who were punished are fast asleep in their hammocks, or desperately wishing they were while in sickbay instead. Crozier keeps pace for a while, gently petting him, though he knows he won't ever reach a point where he's had his fill. Best to stop and begin to tidy up, and eventually, carefully coax the young man into bed.
He's got experience with this. A packed house with a dozen siblings, and then decades of living in cramped quarters, and a highly illegal affair with his fellow officer. With any luck, Jopson will experience the transition as a barely-there dream, and Francis will be able to lull him back to sleep once he's laid down. The sheet he drapes over him is soft (laundered by Jopson himself), and he's slow and careful about the blankets, which he knows may cause discomfort with their weight, but it'll be too devastatingly cold without them.
And now here he is, a captain with his berth occupied.
He could just sleep on the floor, but he's too far on the lapsed side of things to engage in self-flagellation. There's an empty bed in a private room, and so goes there, simple as.
(Early up, he only catches Dr Robertson in transition — All's well — Aye — The embarrassment got him more than the strap I think — Nothing serious on the rest — and is perfectly capable of looking after himself to get ready for the day.)
First bell. He closes the door behind him, not pointedly loud, but not timidly, either. That's enough of a lie-in, any longer and the schedule will threaten to run together, and also he thinks Jopson might work himself into an episode.
"Lad." Near the bed. He leans with an arm on the ledge above, his other hand gently touching his steward's shoulder. "Up with ye."
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He sleeps deeply, and by the time Crozier leans over him he’s not much moved since he was put down the night before. Hair tousled, cheeks flushed with the warmth of sleep, Jopson sleeps soundly, unaware of the door and the ship coming to life above decks. The touch and the voice feel like a dream, like something he wants to lean into like he had the night before, except -
The night before. It isn’t night. There’s light, there’s sound, the smell of coals and fired wood. A knee jerk reaction he startles awake, sitting up with such a fury that he forgets the lashes altogether. At least until the pain of his sore, tightened flesh. It takes the breath out of him, dried out over the night from the cool air, but still fresh and raw. He winces, face wrenched up in pain.
“Captain,” quickly, panicked, a little breathless. “My apologies. I - I’ve never -“
Then and only then he realizes he’s not in his own berth. That the bed he’s in smells of rich spice, sweat, sea spray. He knows these quarters as well as his own- and he scrambles up out of the bed, hissing again at the pain burning down his back.
“I’ll make your tea immediately,” he scrubs at his face, starts looking for his shirt and jacket. Yesterday’s clothes. How unseemly. “Terribly sorry, sir, I don’t know what came over me.”
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Captain voice. Probably startling, given the circumstances, but he wants to halt the potential spiral immediately. Once he's sure Jopson has settled and is looking at him—
"I made the choice to leave you be and I'm satisfied with it. The matter is closed. Proceeding with the day, you're to see the Doctor first thing for a salve of arnica on your back, and then be about your regular work."
That's that. His expression and tone clearly convey there will be no arguing, no fussing, or else he is going to be unhappy. Helpfully, however, he has already found Jopson's clothes for him, and he holds up the first discarded layer.
"You'll have to rate my performance," he says, as soon as he's managed to convince his steward to accept the aid into his shirtsleeves, which no doubt feels awful. And he will stand there like he's cornered a badger until Jopson cooperates, so. Pick your battles, kiddo.
One more thing, before he leaves. But he's going to see him dressed first, so that he can depart at once if it lands poorly.
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Crozier halts him with the ease and confidence of a Captain. One syllable and he’s frozen in place, wide eyes blinking up to him for a moment before his body relaxes, before he takes a careful and proper stance to show his respect and attention.
And gentler, in a far more collected (albeit a little sheepish) tone: “My apologies. I’ve my wits about me now, sir.”
The shirtsleeves break some of that resolve - face twisting at the pain and discomfort of dry and tight injuries alighting down his back as he slips into them with assistance. It has to be far better than those who suffered the straps or whips alongside him - he’s had excellent care. That he’s being aided again by the Captain is something else altogether to worry about. Another burden on the man’s shoulders, even if this one seems to be taken by choice.
“Fortunately you do not seem to be a strangers to shirtsleeves, sir. Your skill is not lost in its disuse.”
A meager attempt at good humors as he smooths the front, carefully tucks it into his wrinkled trousers. What a mess he looks. Waistcoat next, then jacket, each layer bringing with it a new and special sort of pain. The knowledge he’ll have to take all the layers off again to be seen by the doctor is harrowing, but an order is an order.
“Thank you, sir.” Quiet, but grateful - the light back in his eyes. For helping, for caring, for all of it.
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Gratifying, to hear that. Thank you, sir. Not that he hasn't heard it countless times, but Jopson has degrees of meaning in his voice, and in his eyes. Crozier takes it seriously, when it asks to be.
There they stand. Francis lifts his hands to the young man's shoulders — not unlike the night before, but turned about — and looks at him. Serious but not grave. Taking the measure of him. After a moment, he mimics something else: knuckles at his chin, a touch that's too intimate, but that Jopson (Thomas, he reminds himself; bloody Englishmen, but at least he's not another James) has allowed before.
"I must be careful," he says, "about this sort of thing. Not all commanders are, I know."
But he is, and will be. He tips his steward's chin, strokes his thumb over a part of his jaw, feeling the start of stubble.
"In this, you and you alone have the final say. Think on it for a few days. If you answer me before then I won't hear it. You have to decide if you hate me for how much your back hurts, first."
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He blushes, a faint thing that mimics the evening before. He could answer now - could spill everything he’s bitten back for months and months now, but tamps it down. Listens, even if the giddy thing knocking about behind his ribs wants otherwise.
“I will give you my answer in a few days’ time,” he repeats, letting the man touch his jaw, his chin. “But forgive me, sir. I must admit it’s impossible for me to hate you for a punishment I earned honest.”
A slip of something less formal, more the man from a poor little apartment in London.
“The pain is merely temporary, after all, but it will not sour a thing. I am above all else honored all the same that I am your steward, sir.”
Honest, open warmth in his face, an adoration making the grey of his eyes shine. He reaches briefly to curl fingers around the man’s wrist, squeezing, intimate in the way his thumb swipes over his pulse point.
But it’s covered, this sweet gesture, as he tugs Crozier’s hand down, adjusts his cuff with a soft huff.
“The whole of the ship will know I did not dress you,” a soft but affectionate complaint. A smoothing of hands ofer the man’s lapel, then fussing with his collar. “But you made a valiant effort, sir. I’ll away to the doctor and return with your breakfast. Or tea at the very least.”
A few days, but he hopes the work of his hands may give a hint of his leanings.
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Perhaps he'll find out. Jopson seems so certain, but he hasn't woken up in his own berth after accidentally rolling onto his back yet. (Speaking of his own berth, Crozier has left it with the sheets done up properly, inspection-tight good enough for any captain he's served under, but will it pass Jopson's? Hm.) He hasn't navigated his place in the crew after that display. He deserves time to think about it. Sit with it.
He palms over his steward's chest, as though checking his buttons. But the weight of it, and the expression on his face, hopefully silently communicates his appreciation. Not sure if he's ever made anyone feel honored.
"Your diligence is above and beyond," Crozier tells him, fond. "You could put a shine on the roughest stone."
A few days. Crozier removes his hands and steps aside, giving him implied permission to leave. At least his steward coming in and out of the captain's quarters is nothing remarkable; a regular occurrence, and perhaps Jopson looks unkempt today because he was beaten the night before. The world continues to turn, the ship continues to sail. They each have plenty to do.
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The sheets smell of Crozier, the pillow case of sweat and musk and spice. He slept in his bunk and gave him the Captain's room instead? He buries his face in against it, breathes deep, hears Crozier's words in his head: I must be careful. When he lets his own hand wander in spite of his fatigue, he imagines it to be the Captain's hand.
A couple of days pass without incident. A few of the men look at him differently, clap him on the arm and encourage him to sit with them. Some brotherhood and camaraderie built where it hadn't been before. Of course Crozier would be right. Even young Mr Chambers seems bolstered by some of the older seamen who have faced punishment for unruly nights.
The afternoon brings a nice ray of sun into the window of Crozier's cabin and he crosses to open the curtains, welcoming it, using the light to better assist hemming one of Crozier's newer shirtsleeves, the tail too long and ill-fitting. The light helps, but it's also warm despite it all, and he feels much like a coy housecat finding a comfortable place to relax.
"I did not appreciate your misplacement of the ink wells, sir," he murmurs, crossing one leg over the other as he starts up another set of stitches. "The bottom of the bookshelf isn't where they're meant to be and I'll be polite and not inquire how they made it there in the first place."
Little things out of place here and there, perhaps from the time lost but a day or so ago though he's beginning to suspect foul play.
"Captain Ross must have though I was mad for my running around when he requested use of one and I had to scour the room like a lost dog on the streets."
Not actually offended - far more teasing than anything. He's quite content where he is, actually.
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He is sure — has been sure for weeks now — that his steward noticed. That it's part of why he's felt able to tease him the way he does, and in turn, respond to the way Francis teases him. It's cheeky, very on the line of his professed I must be careful, to set Jopson up to have to grope for something on hands and knees in front of him and Ross, but he finds himself empty of guilt. A bit thrilling, actually. Particularly when Jamie asks him when they're alone, How's your boy getting you on, sorry, how are you both getting on, and Francis has to threaten to put a gag in his mouth, though of course that just makes him laugh, bright and brilliant like a bell.
Some humor, too, when he finds out discipline has been just as lively on Erebus. It's going to be a maddening push the whole time over these long years, he thinks, but he likes it. Doldrums kill men. Better to be alight, aflame, kinetic.
"He thought you were as sharp-eyed as any crow in the nest," Crozier says. Working on the log book, for now, Ross and his seconds packed away back on the other ship. Comfortable with just the two of them left, and the door closed. "Finding it as you did. Probably one of the mates tucked a stray one there when the boards were being mopped."
Sure.
"You were listening close about some of the figures, I noticed. Would you care to join us tomorrow when the light's lowest? It may be dull, fiddling with all the weights and lines in the water, but the demonstration makes sense of it, I believe."
Speaking of the light, Jopson looks beautiful there, haloed by it. An enjoyable thing to observe, simple in its pleasure.
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The little pot of ink made its way there with some purpose, though the idea that one of the mates tucked it away is nonsense. Particularly when Jopson minds the cleaning of this place like a hawk, and with clear instruction to boot. He raises brows at Crozier, a hint of I know you're up to something in all of it, but it's light. It's been a lovely day tending to Captain Ross and Crozier both - the air in the room warmer and lighter whenever the man comes round. He's seen and heard plenty in his time working with the men, and knew enough even in the beginning to buffet the door against any intruders.
Crozier laughs, bright and open, and there's nothing left to think or discuss. His captain is happy - brilliantly so - when Ross is around, and so in turn he's happy as well. He could sit here in the sun sewing and tending to the tidiness of the room for the rest of his days, talking like this, like the sea isn't roaring outside, like they're on solid ground, far, far from the troubles of England.
"Mm?" A blink, he looks up. "I apologize, sir, I don't mean to eavesdrop when you have guests. I rarely understand what you and the others discuss as it is, but - ah. Yes, I'd like to see it."
The things the men in this room dream up and discover will always seem utterly magical. The way some of the men draw the world around them, the way they twist numbers to make the skies make sense, and now this - weights and lines and other tools to uncover even more. He feels a bit silly, mending shirtsleeves when they unveil truths about their seas and their lands.
"Do you have any books on the subject?"
Magnetism. The sea. The sky. The heavens. Whatever it is they're digging into. He will never be an officer, a commander, a captain, a scientist, a skygazer - nor should he be, he was never meant to be. But to understand something that fills Crozier's eyes with wonder and excitement, to watch all of the men at the table chatter excitedly - it might be nice to understand a sliver of it.
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"You aren't eavesdropping." Crozier makes to stand, putting away his pen nib. "Even if you were on the other side of the door, you wouldn't be."
Because it's his job to listen, but really, he's in the room, and the notion of stewards (or any servant) having to go deaf and blind while their employers (never their betters) go about their business is lunacy. He supposes he'd understand going elsewhere mentally, daydreaming, during a miserable job, but he can't imagine it out of Thomas Jopson.
A small, real smile, for the accepted invitation. Happy about it. And happy to pick out a book for him, too. Erebus has a more impressive library, in terms of numbers of variety of subjects, between the naturalist's collection and the options for pleasure-reading for the crew. But they have a fine one on Terror, too, and the bookshelf in the great cabin holds a number of miserably dry educational tomes. He considers, but quickly— a notion already, and so he finds it quick enough. Star navigation, because it offers a solid introduction to the concepts that build magnetic theory. The way the Earth moves, and the way the Moon and the Sun pull the tides, and the mapping of it all.
"I started hereabouts," he says of the book, moving to join his steward on the bench along the windows. "Granted it's not riveting prose."
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A small smile, but he watches the man move about the cabin, along the shelves of books. Something about Crozier demands attention - perhaps the line of his shoulders, his posture, the air of him. He's impossible to ignore and even now he forgets his sewing work, watching him travel the lines of books. Forgets it further when the man joins him on the bench in the sun - this close the blond looks like strings of burnished gold.
He sets the shirtsleeves aside, careful to tuck the needle into a pin cushion, and reaches for the book. Flipping through its pages, testing the feel of them. In far, far better shape than his worn and tired Dickens.
"It caught your interest didn't it? It can't be terribly dull, then." Another little tease, pleased and bolstered by the Captain's attention. "The only book I have is a Dickens - Pickwick Papers. I'll say anything would be a refreshing read. You likely saw it when you were in my berth. It looks like nothing more than worn sheafs of paper. This is luxurious in comparison."
A glance down to the book, the fine hardbacked cover, the delicate ink on the pages. A very neat, orderly little thing - nothing at all like the little ha'penny serials he would buy when he was younger when his father would shoo him off to have a little bit of fun. Simpler times, certainly.
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"You're at liberty to peruse the library as any sailor," he notes. "Though I can't speak to the tastes of the donors."
Crozier is not a big contemporary fiction reader, surprise. Adventures read a bit odd to him, living as he does, and fantasies and romances lean into class issues too much to win any goodwill. And so, science journals and Greek classics, for him. Some people might accuse him of being snobbish, and that's fine.
"Science is all about making order of things. Understanding the madness of the living world. I suppose that's what made me curious— that any bit of that could be possible at all. And still we only know raindrops. I am empty, next to the men we've brought along to do studies of the plans and animals. Just a man making notes. And yet it's interesting."
Or else he wouldn't be here. And he thinks, maybe, Jopson might find this perspective interesting, too.
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A small gesture to the book, where he runs a hand over the cover again, smooth and carefully crafted. Jopson wondered about the world when he was younger, when he was starry-eyed and youthful and not yet hindered by the sharp edges of the world. He might have enjoyed this then as much as he enjoyed learning his father's craft. A sponge, waiting to soak up any knowledge someone might offer him.
"And I am empty next to you, sir," he smiles a little, turning to look at him a little better, knocking his knee into the older man's. "Will this book aid in making sense of the madness we face? I think about it sometimes - that we all woke up and chose to sail face first into the blistering cold. For great discovery, of course, to put a man's name on a piece of land, but it's right mad when you think about it."
There's noise up on the deck - men hooting and hollering, a bell ringing somewhere, signaling the men to break. He rather enjoys the sounds of a merry, busy ship.
"So we follow an empty, mad Captain into the sea over and over again. It makes for a very grand story. One I would very much like to read when I am between tasks - well, assuming you stop putting holes in every piece of cloth you own - it's right impressive."
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Crozier laughs a little, just a barely-there chuckle. Jopson's right, it is mad. Has always been, and he had known it to be so when he first set foot on Hamadryad, a lifetime ago. It had thrilled him as a boy. It still thrills him, even though he's also found great solace in the brutal order of navy life. Sailing is madness, and a sailor must be a stone in the face of it.
And ordered madness goes on, above them. Around them. Perhaps in here, too, fraternizing far too familiarly. Keenly aware of each other.
"Madness follows its like," he teases. "You're darning socks while floating."
Jopson is literate, skilled, diligent. He doesn't have to work on a ship. They're all loons, out here.
"We learn about humanity while we learn about our world. Technicians, we are, while some men see it as the search for God, and others see it as the search to disprove God. No business of mine, all that. And yours— I'm sure I've got at least some trousers that are unholed."
How very dare you.
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Pleasant, all of this. It makes it easier to ignore the pain in his back, the way twisting to look at the man hurts in a new way today as the welts begin to ease and heal. Perhaps if he had a job elsewhere, he'd not have scars or welts but would instead be cold and miserable somewhere else. He'll take the lashes. For this? The ship, his captain? He'd do it again, no questions asked.
"And the only trousers that have survived the times and trials of Captain Francis Crozier would be the ones you're wearing now, sir." A reach, cheeky thing, at the fabric over his thigh where he pinches it, pulls it a little. "I've put patches in all the others so it will be a little more difficult for you to ruin them so quickly."
He smiles, hand drifts away, and he rises, moving to tidy up the table, setting the book in perfect alignment with the corner so he can free his hands up, place a few things back in their places.
"I think next we're landed I will spend my own shillings and pounds to restock your wardrobe for our next leg." Things he may or may not have done before. Who's to say.
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"I'm a sailor."
As if this is enough to explain the state of his clothes— and it is. He may not have the laborious shifts of an able seaman or caulker, but he works. He takes to the rigging when he needs to, he goes to shore on the ice, he hunts, he digs up curious rocks, he walks the deck, every day, every night. But, he demures,
"I have not previously had such attention to my wardrobe. You started with a backlog. And I can only thank you for your care."
Perfectly content to wear his uniform if it's clean and not mind anything past that. He's paid fairly, even generously, and he could wrap himself in luxury if he chose. But he finds no joy in it, and finds better uses for his pay. More practical things, and the excess sent back home. No use for fine shirts, or multiple coats. He gets on. But lately he's been getting on a bit better, because he's had someone who looks after him.
Now, he does stand, and goes to closer observe Jopson's work.
"If you do, I will expense it. It would shame me otherwise."
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Cheeky little shit he is. Jopson smirks, knowing and a little playful as he carefully organizes the papers on the desk, then the books, then the writing utensils. Everything has its proper place, one he carefully replaces them to even with Crozier up and drawing closer.
With him, Jopson has never thought twice about nearness, accepting the easy presence of Crozier floating lazily in the sea of his periphery. Some of the books go back to their shelves,
others with active notes go to Crozier’s desk, where he leans over the edge to place the documents. It helps that it turns his body into long lines and all strong limbs.
“Let me finish tidying and I’ll ring for some tea for you. Perhaps something a little sweeter today to indulge in the stars.”
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His steward really is very attractive. He could have his pick of men inclined to it, on the ship, and even among those who usually aren't. Crozier's ego is warmed to know he's in the ranking, even though he knows full well how to pull other men. Easier than women, though he's cautious about who he'll gamble the ruin of his reputation on. Men above his station are safe, mutually assured destruction; molly boys eager to be taken sternly in hand, the other end of that spectrum, safely anonymous.
Jopson is something else.
He likes him.
"As you say."
A lilt of teasing in his voice. Crozier has come to learn there's little arguing with him, but honestly, he likes this. Tea and stars. If Jopson doesn't think to get himself a cup, too, he can share in his commander's.
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He fusses about the room a little more, righting chairs at the great table, wiping the table down with a cloth, even turning everything on the captain's desk to neat, straight piles. Only when he seems satisfied with the state of the room and his sewing is folded and tidied to the end of the bench he sighs. His turn for an elbow, but he squeezes it instead, fingers lingering there until his walk past him draws him away altogether and out the door.
He makes polite conversation as he travels down to fetch a hot kettle. Returns with all the trappings for Crozier's tea. He makes the usual cup, meticulous and with nearly scientific precision, but at the very end he stirs in a dollop of honey. A treat for a colder day, but a good bolster for being out just past dark to keep his good health.
It's incredibly satisfying, caring for someone else. No less someone that occupies his mind majority of the day as it is.
"Here you are, sir," he slides the saucer across to him. "In good preparation for this evening."
He doesn't linger overlong, instead shrugs out of his jacket, hanging it on a coat hook. he rolls his sleeves up, but it's obvious in the way he moves that his back still stings, a little stiff as he begins to dust the shelves and the mantle. It's performative more than anything, his cleaning - the place is remarkably tidy from days of attention. Instead, it's more that the captain has something to look at and agonize over while he has his sweetened tea.
His choice, the man said. He made his choice what feels like eons ago, but he'd been punished with distance before the lashings. Now he means to gently punish his captain with nearness.
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Jopson cuts an attractive figure, and since he's only pretending to clean, he must not mind an audience. Crozier observes him, accepting the performance and appreciating it— not that the act of cleaning holds any sway. But his stewards his handsome, and well proportioned, and deserving of an admiring stare while they have enough privacy for him to get away with fixing him with one.
To work to be worth it is hardly an agony.
"Come and taste if this is to your liking," he says, and it's more of a coax than an order. Holding the teacup out. He's taken a drink already. "You squirrel away your own preferences too often, while you note mine as sharp as any of the scientists we're to weigh down."
And then he may go back to showing off how nice he looks in his vest.
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Looking over his shoulder, he raises his brows.
"If it is to your liking, then it is to mine, Captain," he muses, a little cheeky as that is what a steward should say. He considers him, the teacup extended, and sighs. One day he'll find a way to say no to this man, but it is not that day at all. He crosses to the table, leans a hip into the edge, takes the cup from him. It's warm, that alone draws a small, pleased little smile.
He looks at Crozier over the cup as he sips from it, not blinking until he swallows, then his eyes flutter shut, enjoying the warmth and the sweetness. "It's a good cup of tea. Is it not to your liking, sir? I can make it less sweet, if you prefer. The honey that Captain Ross brought is far more rich than I am used to."
He steals another sip from the cup before he offers it back to him.
"I'll keep that one and make you another, half the honey this time, if you prefer."
It's Jopson with the sweet tooth - hardly exposed to such things back in London, it's a welcome luxury when he's allowed any sort of sweet or decadent thing. One day he'll even try drinking chocolate - but he'll have to buy chocolate first and that is a coin purse he leaves to last when saving his shillings.
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"Hmm."
As though he needs to test it once more, he takes a sip. Not much in these decorative cups, but that's fine. Keeps it from going cold in this weather if you drink it quick enough.
"I like it for today." Maybe that's a part of the ongoing struggle of his life. Diverse tastes. There's how he usually likes it, but he doesn't hate deviations now and again. (Hah, deviant.) "But why don't you make one up to your own tastes, so that I know? And we'll split that one, too. I can read to you a little about the dreary art of measuring stars, if you like."
They are just messing about, now, doing that thing he should hate and wasting time. But they are living beings here on the ship, as well as professionals. A bit of time can survive the abuse.
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i'm gonna kms over my own weird typos
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