"Full house."

"For fuck's sake, how do you keep doing that?"

"Luck," the big man grumbled, "he's got an endless amount of bloody luck."

Archer shook his head, grinning. Things were starting to ease up again now, and as a result there was plenty of time for the officers to relax with their favourite, and at times it seemed only, pastime.

"I'm afraid it simply isn't so," the captain replied to his grumbling Gunnery Officer and Sergeant, "I'm just capable of tracking what's been played and what hasn't. It comes rather in handy for games like this, as I have noted previously on our many voyages together. It's hardly my fault that none of you have yet thought to take heed and learn the skill for yourself."

Talwynn rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath, and Archer just about caught the smirk on Lawrence's face and the glint in his eyes as he continued.

"Now now, it's most unbecoming to whisper in the presence of your Captain. Would you mind awfully if I asked you to repeat yourself at a more audible volume?"

"Yeah, I said 'go fuck yourself and die in a hole'."

The Owens both snorted, as did Archer.

"Are you certain that's what you said? Because I'm fairly certain it was-"

"Fine, I said I'm going to miss you, you arrogant twat."

Lawrence shrugged while smiling.

"I didn't hear the last bit the first time around, so I assume you're adding that on at the end. Either way, I am pleased to hear that you enjoy my company. You needn't fear though, my continued presence aboard the Sunbird will continue at least until we reach the palace. After that I may continue with the old bird, or remain by the side of the prince here. I have yet to decide."

Talwynn looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean, you haven't decided? I can tell you exactly where you'll end up, even if you don't know yourself yet. You'll stay in the palace, mark my words. I'm rarely wrong, Lawrence."

The man chuckled mirthlessly.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. We will see, when the time comes. Nonetheless, should I leave, I'll miss you as well."

Talwynn snorted with laughter.

"Hah! I knew you'd miss me! Who's gonna keep you on your toes while we're apart, huh?"

She turned to Archer.

"You'd better do a good job at pissing him off if he stays in the palace, sky-chaser. It wouldn't be right if there wasn't someone with him I could trust to make sure he went mad."

Archer smirked back at her.

"I'll do the best I can, don't worry. We've quite a ways to go until we reach Albion, but for now lets just enjoy the fact that we're all here. That, and the fact that one of us is bound to beat him at cards at some point tonight."

She raised her bottle of beer at him in a toast.

"Hear, hear! To toppling the captain's cards!"

The rest of the table raised their drinks in salute, with the exception of Lawrence himself.

"God, you're all insufferable sometimes. Why have I put up with this for so long again?"

Talwynn leaned over the table and roughly ruffled his hair.

"Aww, you love us all really!"

Lawrence swatted at her hands, but his assailant would not be easily swayed. In his ensuing annoyed flailing, he managed to knock over the walking stick that had been leaning against his chair. Talwynn looked down at it with a guilty expression as it made a clattering noise, and moved not just to stop ruffling Lawrence's hair but also to pick up the cane.

"Oh, don't worry about that, it's no bother for me to-"

Talwynn waved away Lawrence's protestations.

"Neither is it a bother for me to pick it up. Come on, when have you ever been able to convince me not to do something if I've got my mind set on it? Never, that's bloody when. Now stop fucking winning at cards if you wanna pay me back."

"If you want him to lose just force a few more drinks down his throat. That worked at Three-Streams."

Talwynn placed a hand to her chest in mock hurt.

"And you did this whilst I wasn't there to enjoy it? How dare you deny me the enjoyment of watching drunk Lawrence!"

Archer shrugged at her a little sheepishly.

"To be fair, you were there at the start, but you got distracted quite soon into the night. I don't know if you remember, but there was the two women and-"

Talwynn cut him off with a wide grin, looking far too much like the cat that got the cream.

"Oh, trust me I remember exactly what distracted me that night, and no offence to any of you but I do not regret leaving you all for one second."

The sergeant laughed at that whilst his nephew faked a retch, making a gagging noise. As for Lawrence, he just rolled his eyes.

"Of course you do, and somehow I'm not surprised in the slightest. I may not have been entirely conscious for most of that night, but watching you tell Archer that you 'could get the courtesans to leave him be for the rest of the evening' was amusing. How very noble of you it was to sacrifice yourself like that and save our mutual friend from any further advances."

"Yeah, it was a fucking noble sacrifice. I got my monies worth as well, don't you worry about that."

There was another round of laughter around the table at that. Archer was glad for an evening like this, one reminiscent of those they'd shared what felt like decades ago when he'd first boarded, but in actuality was less than a year ago. The night was a little more bittersweet, what with the fact that they were all coming to the end of their time together as a whole before they split into two groups. He knew it would be worth it though. They all knew it would be worth it. It felt strange to know that, through the butterfly effect sparked from his boarding at King's Cove, the crown prince was going home. Strange, but good. He'd set out to do something with his life, to see something of the world, and now he had. Oh, certainly, he hadn't fulfilled the five years of his contract, but then if he was by the side of the prince of Albion he couldn't really see anyone shunning him for not finishing his service. Not without incurring the displeasure of both the crown prince and the man they had both served under, anyway.

Lawrence seemed to be doing alright, and for that Archer was glad. Talon had been right, it seemed. The man was up and walking again, but not without the help of his cane, and he was certainly not going to be capable of running anytime soon. Still, the man had done his best to not let it get him down, and had done his best to not only captain the ship back to port but also to advise Archer on repairing those areas of the ship he had not grown familiar with. He couldn't repair them himself anymore, but he certainly could direct Archer until both of them were comfortable that they weren't at risk of falling into the sea because a crow-spanner had been mistaken for a crowbar.

As for Talon, he was... well, he was certainly doing alright. Archer wouldn't have said the man was doing well, but perhaps he was doing as well as he could given the circumstances. Going home after so long must have felt like a daunting task, after all, so much must have changed in the time he'd been gone. Not only that, but he was leaving behind his life of seven years, and potentially the man who'd stood by his side that whole time as well. It was to be a time of great change for all, but Archer knew that for Talon the change felt more like a tempestuous tumult. Archer didn't envy the man, not one bit, but he was doing the right thing. In time, this would all be worth it. He knew it to be true without any doubt.

"And your hand, Mr Haywood?"

He shook himself out of his thoughts.

"Nothing special, I'm afraid. Two pairs."

Lawrence nodded at him.

"Not bad, Mr Haywood, but as you said, nothing special. Even still, it could be worse. You could have a high card jack and still not be backing down."

The captain levelled a pointed look at Talon, and the rest of them followed suit as the man squeaked from behind his hand of cards.

"Come on Talon, you're the last one to place down your cards. The last two cards in the deck, no less."

Archer smiled as Lawrence spoke, realising what the man meant. The captain had tracked every card in the pack, and as a result knew exactly what Talon must have had. Judging by the embarrassed reaction, Archer reckoned he'd hit the nail on the head.

"Lawrie is right. High card, jack."

Talwynn raised an eyebrow.

"And you stayed in?"

Talon spluttered a little, indignantly.

"Well, I- well, yes, I suppose. I wasn't really thinking much on what I was doing, truth be told."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

The prince smiled at her and shook his head.

"Nothing of relevance at the moment, I promise. Just a few thoughts about home. Nothing much of substance, just aimless thoughts."

"Well, give some of that thought to the blockhead next to me, he still needs it after falling from that fucking ladder."

The corporal rolled his eyes as Talwynn grilled him, still not letting go of the time last week that Owen had bet some of the other marines that he could shoot a ball out of the air whilst climbing a ladder. He'd ascended a few metres up, fired a few shots with one hand before, in his frustration at not being able to hit the target, he moved his second hand to better hold his rifle steady, seemingly forgetting that said arm was the only thing holding him onto the ladder. The fall hadn't been serious or damaging, unless you counted the knock to the rifle and Owen's bruised ego, but either way it was still really rather amusing, especially given how much of a defence the man had tried to put up considering his frankly stupid actions. Some people really wouldn't ever admit when they were wrong.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"All right, we don't need to go on about that any longer. Besides, I happen to have heard a few rumours that you attempted to-"

"NOPE! We are NOT going there today, thank you very much Mr Blockhead. I might not be good at keeping secrets, but at the very least I'm not doing anything embarrassing in broad daylight where everyone can see me. Besides, whatever you're alluding to never happened so it doesn't need to be brought up."

The corporal raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know what I'm bringing up it never happened?"

"..."

"Ms Trenholm?"

The woman groaned in frustration.

"I really fucking hate you sometimes, you know that right?"

The corporal saluted at her with his beer.

"All too well, don't you worry about that."

Archer looked between the two of them in confusion. What exactly had Talwynn tried to do? He must have caught the corporal's gaze, for the man shook his head at him while chuckling.

"Sorry mate, but if she doesn't want me to say anything then I won't. I'm not a monster, after all."

"Is it something to do with a member of her staff, perchance?"

The corporal raised an eye at him.

"I can neither confirm nor deny your statement, Mr Haywood. I think you'd best drop that line of inquiries before she turns purple and launches you off of the forecastle at great speed."

Archer turned to look at Talwynn, and indeed the woman was a little red with embarrassment. He turned again to look at Lawrence, this time a questioning look on his face. Lawrence just shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

"Hey, I tried to cover for her. Not my fault she was determined to be as obvious as possible."

Cooke looked between them all, confused.

"Okay, what happened?"

"You really don't know? You were in the mess that whole time, surely-"

"Assistant Engineer Archer Haywood, you will close your mouth this very instant or I promise you I will sew it shut and send you hurtling to the bottom of Gaul."

Archer went quiet and mimed locking his lips shut before throwing away the key. Annoying Talwynn was always funny, but he didn't have a bloody death wish. Even so, the rest of the night promised to be as fun as any he'd had, so he wasn't about to turn himself in for a broken nose just yet.

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God, he wasn't built for this. He wasn't lazy and had pretty good stamina, but dancing was fucking exhausting. He broke from Talwynn as the corporal set down his fiddle, breathlessly spinning back into his chair. His breaths came in pants and his legs felt like they were on fire, but by God dancing these jigs was fun.

"Alright there Archer? Looking a little worn out, if you don't mind me saying."

Archer snorted and half-turned his head towards the sergeant.

"And I should bloody well think so as well. Lord, I need a drink after that. I think that's the most exercise I've got aboard this ship, and I've hardly been slacking these last few weeks. Here, how's about you go and dance with her for a bit instead."

"Me? No, I'm far too old to keep up with her. Lawrence, you up for it?"

The captain just levelled a deadpan look at the sergeant, then gestured to his walking stick. Sergeant Owen looked genuinely a little guilty at that.

"Bugger, sorry about that. I didn't mean-"

Lawrence held up his hands as Archer patted the older man on the back.

"No worries, it'll take some getting used to for all of us, I think. Here, Talon, how's about you?"

Talwynn, who had given them half an ear of attention until now, almost spat out her drink in shock when Talon spoke.

"Of course! That sounds fun to me!"

"Hold on," she said, "but there's- I mean, I'm not exactly right and proper for a prince to be-"

Talon cut her off by taking her by the hand and leading her into a dance as the corporal started up another jig, though this time the laughter of the other officers formed a layer of background noise as the lively tune began to play.

"Come on Talwynn," the fiddler said to her as she began to move in time to the music, "can you imagine what the younger version of yourself would say to you if she found out that you turned down the chance to dance with the crown prince?"

Talwynn flipped him off with one of her hands whilst still managing to keep pace with the music, which was a talent all by itself.

"Well, I'm flattered you wish to dance with me, Ms Trenholm."

Lawrence snorted from off to the side at Talon's words, and Talwynn shot the half-drunk captain an evil look.

"Don't worry Mr Walker, I ain't encroaching on your territory or anything."

Archer broke out in laughter, and both of the Owens made noises as though they were watching the start of a particularly entertaining bout in the ring.

"Careful now Ms Trenholm, I'll not have the two of you start fighting over me tonight."

There was a certain measure of amusement in the prince's tone, matched almost exactly by the woman with whom he was dancing.

"Me? Wouldn't dream of it, royal boy. I've got no intentions of starting a fight I can't finish. Besides, you aren't my type. No offence."

Talon snorted again, as did Archer as he listened to their back and forwards. Even Lawrence seemed to find the banter amusing, not that anyone in the room could work out exactly what the fuck was going on between the captain and the prince anymore. They'd been close before, and people weren't sure about the status of their closeness then, but this was something different. They were somehow even closer now, but just as closed off. Not that anyone really wanted to pry; few were under the implication that a relationship between the two men would be without issues given Talon's status, and no-one really wanted to address that and break what little peace they might have had left. It wouldn't have been right, especially not on a night like this.

"None taken, Talwynn. Now come on, we'll have plenty of time for banter when the tune stops playing. For now, focus on not stepping on my toes and keep in time with the music!"

Talwynn threw her head back and laughed.

"Challenge accepted, little prince. Yourself as well; let's see who does the better out of the two of us."

----------------------------------------

Their dance had continued on for a good long while, the two of them getting surprisingly competitive when it came to who was the better at dancing. After a while they'd demanded partners to dance with, and where Talwynn had somehow managed to drag him up from his chair Talon was determined to get Lawrence to dance with him, even if it was slower and only for a little while. Unable to really deny Talon what he wanted, the captain had acquiesced. The corporal played something quite a bit slower than the tracks he had been playing previously, obviously wanting to accommodate a little for Lawrence and allow him to join in with the fun without feeling like he was somehow bringing the rest of them down, which would of course have been the last thing any of them wanted him to think. Nonetheless the dance had been short, especially since Lawrence had been more than a little shaky on his feet. Still, credit to the both of them, Talon had supported him wonderfully and Lawrence was able to see the dance through to its end. Archer hadn't done too badly for himself either, but he was tired and it showed. After a truce was called and a draw declared they decided it would be best to sit back down and just enjoy each other's company for a bit.

Currently Archer was half-listening to some tale of absurdity from when the sergeant had been his nephew's age, and alongside his brother had ended up being arrested in Occsa. Oh, and somehow they'd managed to break out and get lost in the wilderness.

In a single night of drinking.

"-and then I pulled him out by the arse-end of his trousers. Would that I didn't; the bastard things came off in my hands when I pulled him up, and he walked around without a care in the damn world. That's why I refuse to take any of that fucking spiked shit the Occsans like. You won't catch me knee-deep in a swamp again, that much I can tell you."

"God uncle, do you really need to tell that story?"

The older sergeant laughed loudly.

"To embarrass your father? Abso-fucking-lutely I do. You should be ecstatic to hear me grill your old man; I was when my uncle told me the stories of his father."

Archer raised an eyebrow at the man. Well, the eyebrow was already raised as a result of the ridiculous story, but now it was more curious than incredulous.

"Your family has a long history of service in the marines?"

"Yep!" The corporal began. "The eldest inherits the farm, the next two go into the navy. If something happens to the eldest then the second leaves service and takes up the farm. Any other siblings can make their own way in life."

"So you have a brother in the service?"

The corporal nodded.

"I do indeed! No idea where he's stationed, but he was doing well when I caught up with him on leave. My old man was a navy boy, as you know, but he left the service to tend to the farm when the eldest of his brother, and uncle's brother as well, done his leg in."

Talon frowned a little.

"I hope he's alright!"

The sergeant smiled at him.

"Yeah, no need to worry about my brothers. They're doing fine, both of them. The eldest ain't doing half bad, even if he can't walk without a cane, but he's happy enough as he is. There's plenty can be done even if you've got a bad leg, and no mistake."

Archer did his best not to compare the injury of the sergeant's brother to his captain's, what with the fact that Lawrence hadn't actually been injured in his leg but rather his side, but he couldn't help but steal a quick glance over at the man to make sure he wasn't doing too badly at the moment. If his facial expressions were anything to go by, he was simply enjoying the tale that was being spun.

"This one's father ain't doing bad neither," the sergeant continued, "but with that many kids it's no wonder he made sure to cart the boys off to the services."

"Not Arthur though!" The corporal proudly broke in. "My little brother's off to medical school! He'll be helping out them lot what get sick, he will!"

Archer couldn't help but smile as the two men recounted happenings in their family with such warmth. The Rickards may have seemed a military family, and to an extent that was certainly true, but it was nice to know that not only were they accepting of those who walked different paths but actively supportive and proud of them. If nothing else, then it confirmed what he already knew about the Owens; they were fiercely loyal to their friends and family, no matter what path they took. It was a nice thought.

The rest of the night passed in a bit of a blur, but the end would always stick with him. He wasn't even sure who'd started singing first, but as they all raised their glasses in cheers someone began crying out a rendition of auld lang syne.

"Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and auld lang syne?"

Archer and the others joined in for the chorus, every one of them knowing the song as intimately as they did their own minds. He loved that despite their starts in life, all of them were here. They were farmers and career soldiers, aetherborns, servants, equals. Those who had started life as the lowliest of street rats now shared drinks and an evening of rest with the most prodigiously gifted of royals. They were here, together, singing the same words to the same song.

"For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne!

We'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne!"

He couldn't help but break out in mirthful laughter as they sang, the feeling that he was someone that mattered, that he had done something that mattered, filling him. He'd set out to see the world and find his purpose, and though he may not have seen as much of the world as he would have liked he'd certainly found purpose with his friends, and of the two that was far more important.

Eventually the song trailed towards its end, the lamps about the room burning as low and dim as possible but the spirits of the people singing never higher.

"And there's a hand my trusty friend!

And give me a hand o' thine!

And we'll take a right good-will draught,

for auld lang syne."

Archer added his voice to the chorus once again, his soul warmed by more than just the alcohol. These here were true friends, and no matter how long passed or how far they travelled apart, he knew that they'd all take one another in without question should ever the need arise.

"For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne!

We'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne!"

The end of the song was followed by every man and woman present making to cheers their drinks, and then there was a great deal of downing as each of them cleared what they had left in their glasses. When Talon pulled the cup from his lips, slowest of them all, they all cheered wildly. The kinship they all shared was a bond forged through adversity and fire, and as such Archer's mind held no more fears at their parting. Their paths may all have led in different directions, fate may conspire to see them all apart, but they'd always be with each other one way or the other. They were everything to one another, and that was all Archer needed to know to be at peace with the looming end of their journey.