Where Murphy reached skyward, Mehmet made up for in shoulders. He leaned his head back, inhaling deeply. This was the clearest his nose had been since childhood. It was wonderful!

… Then he got a fresh whiff of the fish market and coughed. Alright. That was one plus side to not being able to smell.

“Starboard and port, right?” Mehmet answered.

Some of them were not going to make it back to shore, probably. Might be him. Bon voyage!

He was going to crush those bastards. He did not know who those bastards were, but he was going to crush them. More importantly:

“Everyone, listen to Mr. Benjamin!” he called out, dressed far too finely for this kind of operation.

Mr. Benjamin was going to painstakingly direct them all on how to crush those bastards for him.

Okay, so the smell of fish was a whole lot stronger the closer one got to the sea.

Or was it the other crewmates?

Edwin had at least made an attempt to look sailor-like, but it ended up looking more like a rich man playing pretend, with his colors too bright and his fabrics too clean, too tidy.

He called out an encouraging “woo!” and clapped his hands.

Benny puffed out his chest as he was going to prove to Zechariah how skilled he was. This was his element, even with a bunch of fools, they could sail a ship!

He eyed the newcomer and frowned. He looked like a child playing dress up as a sailor, wearing such things when Benny stuck to his dark neutral attire, keeping it simple. "Come on, let's get it prepared! You all know what to do right?" He didn't dare say that to his boss, but as he looked at the clueless crew, a sinking realization struck. None of them looked like they knew much about sailing, they didn't even look tough. Did he really just hire a bunch of pretty men?!

At least the men were eager to try. He approached Tristan and showed him to tug on the loop, without doing jt for him as he answered Mehmet. "That's right. You're standing closer to Starboard. Where is the bow and stern?" He said expectantly as he looked over towards him. His large, heavy hand came upon Tristan's shoulder to give him an encouraging gesture as he walked to check over things. Every spot on the ship he knew by heart and the boat had been prepared earlier that morning.

"Don't forget, you need to hold on tight when you untie the sails, they are heavy and will want to get away from you if you're not careful. Do any of you need gloves?' He asked as the idea their hands weren't as callused as his suddenly popped up in mind.

"Lory!" she replied with equal excitement.

There was something exhilarating about being on a ship with all women - well - "Hello, Chéri," she greeted. Was it a woman? Well, anyway, there was something exhilarating about being on a ship with all women and about being an expert.

She smiled smugly when her cousin called her smart. She didn't feel smart these days and it was no use to her anyway. Except now. "I'll show ye 'ow it's done, Miss. 'Ere... Ye wanna wrap this side around 'ere twice before tucking it back in from the left." And she went on to show the knot. She did not remember feeling this happy in a long time.

Christine had to admit, while she adored the sanctuary of her shop, being out in the warm sun with a salty breeze surrounded by people she liked :beautiful women, Chéri, and her ward/maid. She nodded a greeting and flashed a sweet smile to the one called Lory and welcomed her and waved cheerfully towards Chéri before refocusing on the knot.

"Ah, thank you. That is so complicated..." she laughed embarrassed. "I'm glad I have such capable people here. We will show the lot how good we can sail!" She wanted to raise them up, and hoped they made it across at least, nothing would be more humiliating than ending up in the water.

Ben wouldn't have bothered about competing if it weren't for the fact that there was money to be won. He knew how to sail alright, and he had raced for shore on an approaching storm more times than he could count.

The boat was prepared and Ben had taken his position and was now observing the competition. His face soured when he spotted Lory and her little Diamond Pony friend. A prostitute ship? The organization should have banned them. Shouldn't let women compete anyway. It was hard work and potentially dangerous.

He frowned when he spotted Ellie Russell. Did her family know she was participating? Did they know the company she apparently kept? He would warn her parents as soon as the race was over.

He looked over at Tobias and his team. Tobias didn't know much about boats. He didn't know about the others.

His face soured even more than before when he spotted that ass. And the other ass. And what was Noah doing with them? Ben had half a mind to call out and even let Noah join his team just to avoid him falling pray to... Huh... that man looked like Tobias...

He shook his head and turned his eyes back to Lory's boat. His jaw dropped. No! Oh no! That wasn't happening. "Alice! Alice!" he roared across the harbour. "Get off that boat! Now!"

Tobias's hands were calussed from heavy labour, but the ropes were still coarse on his hands. Still, he communicated an "I'm good," because this was totally the time to show off.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn by Ben shouting his wife's name. He looked up, followed Ben's eyes and... left his post.

What the hell.

"Alice!" he joined the shouting while he leaned on the hull. "Get off of there!"

Though Mehmet’s hands were calloused from all the times the gloves chafed in his work, he did nonetheless have said gloves tucked away in his pocket. He doubted he needed them as much as the other two, but something (cough “I’m good” cough) told him he should put them on anyway as an example and so he did.

When one of them started hollering at another boat, he looked between Murphy and the only fellow darker than him in the boat.

“Which is the stern!” Mehmet called back to Murphy, if only for something to distract from whatever interpersonal strife was unfolding across three boats.