Washed Up

by ambion

Snitches be Crazy

Flotsam was not actually the Captain’s candy. They’d conspired and, at the Captain’s behest misled the crew into seeing the narrative they expected to see.

He’d blurted the truth, in part, the first instant he’d got. Not intentionally, mind, but there’d been Patches, all concern for him and joy to see him; and there’d been the crew, inconspicuously filling the deck like the audience of a stage-play; Harpoon and her grim, steady poise; Charming Booty and Hard Tack and Scuttle, whispering in hisses and laughing louder than that between themselves; and others of the crew as well, the ones Flotsam hadn’t come to know the names of yet.

Patches had asked just what had gone on in there, and, well, he’d answered. “Pushups,” he’d said, in one part weariness, one part relief and one befuddlement. She pranced around him, surveying the damage almost. Flotsam for his part walked crookedly, in limps and stiff starts.

Harpoon, stiff and firm and more than a little scary in her own right eyed him over. “Pushups, aye?”

Flotsam, caught in a truth, bit his tongue and nodded.

The pegasus glanced to the rest of the loosely assembled mares. She glanced to the full, shiny eyes of multi-hued Patches.

Then, in seeming slow motion, to Flotsam’s terror and horror and confusion, the pegasus winked at him, a wide and exaggerated gesture intended for everyone to see.

“Pushups it is.”

“Yeah,” sighed he, not knowing what else he could possibly say and now frightful to think of revealing the gambit. He shuddered and Patches, lanky and light tossed herself against him to lean on. “Lots and lots of pushups,” he mused tiredly.

Ponies laughed throatily. Patches laughed too in that manner of one struggling to keep up with the adults, but it was clear to all that in her furtive glimpses between Flotsam and Harpoon and others still that the context was lost on her innocence entirely and that only made the rest of the crew laugh all the more heartily.

The atmosphere, tense like he hadn’t realized seemed to clear cathartically in that drawn out, coarse and phglemmy moment.

Only Harpoon didn’t laugh or snigger in some manner, but her smile was uncharacteristically impish and lingered there lazily.

And the miraculous bit, as it was to Flotsam, was that the crew began to disperse with their own conversations. He felt…oddly accepted.

He’d got a few painful knocks to his back and shoulders, meant as affection, and more than a few tail-curling jokes at his expense, all exercise-themed. Consensus about the ship was that many marathons would be run come the Mother of Mercy’s next readily anticipated landfall. That, and the hefting of weights. That admittedly made him blush.

He was the very lowest rung on the ladder, of course, at the absolute bottom of the heap, but it was their proverbial heap and he was in it with them now.

It was still an upgrade from being considered a trophy screw, at least.

The familiar pangs of a rumbling stomach were about the only thing that made sense to Flotsam. At least, he realized, the truth was his lie now. His and the Captain’s. But she still probably would be none too pleased with his blathering on.

Author's Note:

I openly confess: this isn't the chapter I wanted. But it is the chapter I needed to set up the chapter I wanted properly.

The next chapter will be, you know, good.

Comments

[crumbydev]

Don't be too hard on yourself! It was fine :-)

Looking forward to the next update.

[Harwick]

The story progresses! And I like the idea of him being so bad at upholding the deception that he actually reinforces it.

[Brony Tom]

Not the chapter we wanted, but the chapter we deserved.

In all seriousness, though, I thought it was fine. I always enjoy seeing this in my update queue. It's just so fun and simple.

[Strythio]

It's not a bad chapter. Might could have been attached to this upcoming chapter of yours, but it's not bad on its own. I think the jump from the captain's room to out on deck was kind of abrupt though, and that really is the only thing I can find off-putting about the chapter.

[Themaskedferret]

I think this chapter is good. You manage to take something that needs to be covered for the story to continue and make it stand on its own and succeed.

[djthomp]

Oh Shining.

I loved the little detail about Patches reaction to all the laughter.

[RadicalDishonesty]

I dunno what you mean about this chapter not being good. It made me laugh pretty hard.

[JohnIsOffline]

Hahaha. Good luck Flotsam

[Luminous Lead]

Haha wow, I can't wait for a slew of exercised-based innuendo XD I really like how this whole situation was handled.