Tudor MercWench Smith

A shadow crossed tudor's face as Dorian filled in the gaps of informtion. With a sneer, the hands that had been hovering over the pistols now flexed and grabbed the wooden stocks. Without a word, but leaving no one in the room in doubt of her intent, she spun quickly, shoving Armand out of her way as she stormed through the doorway, a murderous gleam in her eye.

The cutter, along with most of the crew who had been ashore on liberity already stood waiting on the warf when Tudor and Armand arrived, other crew members seen closing the distance. Gossip abounded amongst the crew as the cutter made it's way back towards the ship. "The Captain's gone missing . . . looks like a struggle . . . Muller is missing too . . ." Tudor's mind was racing at top speeds as she absorbed every word being said, and before the cutter had come to a full stop, she was half way up the rigging and on the deck, not noticing Armand following closely behind. After a quick inquiry of one of the crew members, Tudor headed towards the Surgeon's ward in search of the Quartermaster. "What's happened?" She asked with out greeting as she unceremoniously entered the room where to Doctor and Mr. Lasseter were sharing a drink. Her whole body was tensed and her hands rested near to the pistols she had at her belt.

I would go - but I prolly can't - not legal and I think ye'd have to be to get in . . . I promise I wouldn't drink . . . too much

Yeah - most of anything I need to carry around while working @ the fair gets shoved down me corset. Money, cell phone and the like. No one can see them and no one is going to even try to steal them from me!

Armand was escorting Tudor out of the cantina where they had been drinking, in a quest for the stables, when Tudor's ears pricked up, much like the horses they were going to find. Her head quickly snapped to the bay where the Watch Dog sat anchored, and she noticed a diffrent flag flying. "The signal flag is up . . ." She said, squinting to see in the distance. "Something's wrong." She turned to look at her companion and with silent understanding, they both started running towards where the cutter had been tied off earlier.

Tudor smiled as the quatermaster stood from the table. "Me, cause trouble?" She hid the impish look. "But sir, I've never caused any trouble in my life." She said with ease, her sarcasm coming back to her after months of repressing it. She could easily blame it all on the booze later. After the quatermaster was gone, Tudor looked at Armand. "I think you had promsied a horseback ride?"

"Nothing - but I am a quick study . . ."

"T'is not cowardice . . . mearly caution." She laughed at the sly, mischevious look he shot her. "One does not attack before one knows one's enemies." She laughed at her words, thinking how silly they sounded. "Once all angles are assessed, then move in for the kill." By know she was in a fit of giggles as no one on the crew had ever seen before. "But I'm a defenisve commander. Wait for them to make the first move." She took his tankard from in front of him, her own empty and took a swig. "I have set the challenge, and know I wait for the attack."

She smiled a little. "What I mean to say is, at least on a battlefield I know my right from my main gauche . . . whereas in lo . . in other things, I turn into a bumbling, blushing idiot who barely remeber her own name and trips over things just by looking at them." She blinked twice. "I'm not sure I know how the two sides are in one person. I . . . I don't know . . ." She paused and looked at Armand intently. "I don't know." She said pointedly, a double entendre layering the words.

She took a deep breath and looked at his hand covering hers. "Of course. Looking back, means turning your back. Never turn you back . . .what's done is done, and there will be no changing it . . ." She paused and swallowed. "It's just that . . . I don't know . . . life is easier in the books, I think. In the books and on the battlefields . . ."

She smiled as he left, not noticing Armand's distraction. "He seems very nice. A kind man, I'd say. . . though he would want a rumor like that to get around I don't think." She said with a small laugh, and for the first time since coming ashore, she got up the courage to look Armand straight in the eyes. The glint in the grey eyes unnerved her, just a little. "I . . ." She tried to continue speaking, but then realised words were no longer capable of coming out of her mouth. She looked at him qizzically, not breaking eye contact, and her hand slowed almost to no movement . "I . . ." She tried again to no avail.

Tudor nodded kindly to Antoine. "My french is passable Monsieur. And you are very kind." She prayed that Armand would not notice that her posture was much straighter since she felt his arm brush past her shoulders. "I learned philosophy with some of the greatest minds on the continent." She continued to speak. "But I simply claim as I find . . .I . . ." She felt the old habit of nervous talking coming on and so silenced herself quickly, and allowed herself a glance at Armand, trying to gage his expression. She couldn't read him, and it bothered her. What was going on behind those grey eyes? Just to see if there would be reaction, she started to gently trace patterns on his thigh.

"Passion must always be proved, gentlemen." Tudor said with a quiet smile. "For many's a man who claimed passion, yet had none. Or worse still, claimed none and had much." She barely even looked at Armand, focusing her attention seemingly on Antione, but with an unsure slowness, she gently ran her fingers up the side of his leg closest to her own under the table, her hand coming to a rest at his thigh. "As for loyalty, tenacity and valor," She said, not daring to look away from Antoine for fear of seeing Armand's expression, "They need not to be proved, just witnessed."

excited - going to my first real rock concert with my crush tonight. So doubly whamy of excting right there. I haven't seen him in three months so, I can't wait to be able to spend time with him! He's on a train to my house as we speak. EEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!!

Tudor laughed gently. "I spent a year and a half in frace. In both North and South, and the only diffrence I found was the accent." She quipped quietly looking into her mug. She then looked up mischeviously. "You'll both have to prove to me that you can live up to your reputations." She smiled at Antoine, but then looked questioningly at Armand, almost a challenge in her features.

"Who said I wanted an Angel? Tudor said quietly, with a furtive glance at Armand. "Armand-Gabriel, eh? I like it . . ." She refocused her attention on Antoine and smiled coyly. "So he's a savage? That's quite an allegation to make towards a friend. You'll have to enlighten me as to why you say such things if I am to decided which region has more merit."

It was amusing to Tudor, the animation she saw between the frenchmen as the drank and reminisced. It was such a diffrence from the always proper Armand she was used to seeing. She had only seen glimpses of another side of him in some of their ship board conversations. It was a jovial mood that pervaded their table, and she was glad for such pleasant company, even if she did get the feeling she was the odd man out. So she continued to sip her drink, wishing she could let loose instead of carefully gaging her intake, and pretended that she couldn't understand what they were saying when conversation gravitated back to their native toung. The mood quiteted as Antoine asked a very carefully worded question of Armand. "You said that you have had no news from Chateau de la Dore' Soliel as of recent?" Torn between respect of privacy and fear of being rude, Tudor decided to try and not listen to their conversation, and just continued to sip her drink, wishing it was stronger.

While her glances in ever which direction may have looked only like a frantic attempt to recover from sensory overload due to new sights and sounds, but in reality, there was very few details that were missed by her flitting grey eyes. Sadly the one detail she did miss was the man in the distance, who was eyeing up Armand quizzically. She nearly leaped a foot into the air when she heard the the Doctor's Steward's name being called. Tudor watched amusedly as the stranger was recognised, and the warm reception he recived, wondering if there were going to be introductions.

With whispered apologies to the Quatermaster, Tudor sat herself back down. She pretended to not notice Mr. Lasseter's pointed looks, between herself and the frenchman next to her. She listened to the orders for the leave, then waited patiently as the crew unloaded.

Why am I like this? was the only thought that was running through Tudor's head as she sat in stiff posture as the cutter closed the distance between the Watch Dog and the shore , not looking at Armand. She was entirely uncapable of relaxing around him, so instead she tried to fill her mind with chores she needed to see to once ashore. The cutter made it to the shore, and before it could even be tied off, Tudor jumped up out of her seat.

Just as she reached the deck, Tudor heard the Quatermaster call for the cutter to load up. She picked up her pace and hurried across the deck and started the climb down into the smaller boat. She was all but descended when a choppy wave passed by and threw her off balance, making the final decent alot quicker then she had planned on. Luckly, she ran into something stable, that helped her regain her footing. "Sorry -" She said brightly then looked up to see Armand smiling down at her

It would have taken any normal person hours to file away the sea of parchment that was waiting for Tudor in the ward room. But with an efficency of speed she cleared the mess away. With even more speed she threw a few items into her gunny sack and headed topside once more, hoping the cutter would be ready to take her ashore.

Tudor smiled seductivly, and this time the smile wasn't to hide nerves. "Perhaps things might change ashore?" She asked coyly, not taking her eyes from him. "For now, I must be sure I finish my chores before I go ashore, but for now let me asure you . . ." Once more she stood on tiptoe and returned the favour of wispering in his ear. " The favour is yours anytime you wish it." She then quickly spinned, while still on tiptoes, her hair brushing his face ever so slightly, and thn ran towards the ward room, as quickly as she could, one hand gently holding the ear his whispered into. She paused only once in her flight to look back to gage his reaction, then dissappered below.

"Merci, Armand." She said, then closed the distance between them and stood on tip-toe, placing a sweet peck on his cheek.

Tudor smiled, and nodded her consent to the Quatermaster, and watched as he left, avoiding looking at the man at her side. She blushed some more, and decided to be frank. "That was the only reason I asked. To see if you still wanted to go with me" She hesitantly looked at him. "I . . .You . . ." She blinked a couple of times, then looked at him again. "Usually I'm very good with words and not such a blundering fool as you see me." She explained. "I don't know what it is about you . . . either way . . . either way, I'll just shut my mouth now and stop confusing the life out of you." She said with bluster and a broad grin, trying to cover up her vulnerability.