Xanthos was grinning while he busily cleaned the deck. He always felt best after a good bar fight, especially when there had been so many involved. The boy's fist was a little soar from a bad punch to a privateer's jaw. He'd have to get the captain to show him how to throw a proper punch again. If he broke his fist again, the captain would have his butt on a platter. The last time he'd broken it hadn't been too fun. During the healing period, he hadn't been able to fight back when they sparred so he was forced to play run away, and they didn't stop until the captain was sufficiently worn down. The matches had frustrated Xanthos to no end. He wanted to give Noir a good fight, and it just didn't feel like a "good" fight unless he was fighting back.
He went to the edge of the deck to dump his mop bucket's dirty water into the ocean. He saw the captain walking down the peer, towards the boat. Xanthos grinned. He'd already finished his portion of the deck and moved on to help the others with theirs. The captain would be pleased.
"Alright ladies and gents, cap'ains back!" He announced to his mates. "Best have somethin tah show fer yerselves!" Then he rushed to meet Noir, excitement wide in his eyes. "Cap'ain! D'you see the bar fight?! We got them privateers right where it hurts!" The boy walked proudly beside Noir. "Mosta the decks done. Got a few slow pokes finishin up, but they oughta be done any minute. We worked hard. Didn't want you ta catch us off guard if you came back too quick." He let out a boisterous laugh, grinning from ear to ear. Noir's crew knew him too well. "I was wonderin if you wanted me ta plot another course, cap'ain. I woulda done it fer you got back, but I didn't know where we're headin next."
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