Evander might have argued about the losing his lunch comment, only this was the one place where Alfred’s self-confidence was probably not misplaced and to which Evander had no knowledge to argue it with, nor a clever rejoinder. (As if he ever had one of those.)
He did rather hope that his stomach would stand this one, when it started moving. Even moored here he did not feel especially steady on it, and already his brother was pointing out potential deathtraps; the boom seemed like a design flaw to him, if Alfred wasn’t exaggerating. Still, he squinted at it, scribbled it down and moved on to the next bit, until his brother asked a very foolish question.
“Of course,” Evander said, with a furrowed brow and bemused shake of his head. “I assume these are important details,” he said, as if it even warranted an explanation. Surely Alfred would not have been saying any of this if he did not mean Evander to learn it. And certainly, he could try and file it away in his head, but then there was the danger that he would miss something important - and even if he never planned to use this information in sailing beyond today, he had at least committed to knowing it, enough to follow a conversation if Alfred and a Delaney ever got to talking. Once he had committed to doing something, after all, he was inclined to be nothing if not thorough. Mainsail, halyard... “Now, jib, is that j-i-b or with a g?”
He did rather hope that his stomach would stand this one, when it started moving. Even moored here he did not feel especially steady on it, and already his brother was pointing out potential deathtraps; the boom seemed like a design flaw to him, if Alfred wasn’t exaggerating. Still, he squinted at it, scribbled it down and moved on to the next bit, until his brother asked a very foolish question.
“Of course,” Evander said, with a furrowed brow and bemused shake of his head. “I assume these are important details,” he said, as if it even warranted an explanation. Surely Alfred would not have been saying any of this if he did not mean Evander to learn it. And certainly, he could try and file it away in his head, but then there was the danger that he would miss something important - and even if he never planned to use this information in sailing beyond today, he had at least committed to knowing it, enough to follow a conversation if Alfred and a Delaney ever got to talking. Once he had committed to doing something, after all, he was inclined to be nothing if not thorough. Mainsail, halyard... “Now, jib, is that j-i-b or with a g?”
