Chapter Text
“Sir! I-It’s not funny!” the young man wailed upset, his sobs increasing and though Francis struggled to cease the laughter he did, but that didn’t mean he was able to hide the entertainment in his blue eyes as he handed Thomas the blankets which he immediately used to cover himself.
“Shh, I-I’m sorry lad… it’s just… it.. I’m sorry Thomas.”
“W-What am I going to do!? This.. Th-This… oh god the men! What am I going to…”
All at once Jopson’s voice froze mid sentence and that did raise alarm for both the men until he burst into a mess of hysterical inconsolable sobs.
“O-Oh God!! W-What… my family… what am I… oh no! I-I can’t… oh god why!?” the steward shrieked between hiccups and gasps for breath as he buried his face in his hands.
Captain Crozier swallowed, all amusement seemed to vanish as he finally took in the situation in its entirety.
Jopson had been fine yesterday, no doubt patience with his captain running thin, but fine none the less.
Then this morning he’s woken up with information that something had happened last night and now Jopson had a pair of ears reminding the captain of Fagin, the cat aboard Erebus… and a tail to match it.
Not only was it unfathomable but it… would the condition last?
“Dr Goodsir, how many people know about this?” Crozier asked rubbing the steward’s back in attempt to console the hysterical lad if he could.
Mr Goodsir’s own ears perked at the title the man used to address him and he blushed faintly looking up from his notepad. “Um.. yes, that would be you, Lieutenant Little, and myself.”
“Little!” Crozier called, to the door he realized now exactly why Edward had been standing idly outside the steward’s bed cabin, to keep watch and not let anyone enter.
A soft knock and the door slid open a crack. “Here, Sir.”
“I want this to remain at the utmost secrecy between the three of us, it will not leave this room until we know what the hell this is. No one is to know unless I give specific orders.”
Edward nodded glancing at poor Jopson who was a mess atop his bunk.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good, I will, however, request that you go retrieve Dr McDonald. Keep the details vague, we can explain them when he gets here.”
With that the other man shut the door and Crozier turned to poor Jopson who was still sobbing brokenly.
“Here, let me see lad.” he sighed softly as he lifted the blankets enough that he could see the sleek black tail that swished ever so slightly.
Jopson didn’t respond, too burdened by his panicked thoughts to do anything as he took the appendage into his hands delicately.
By the gods it was soft! He couldn’t believe how fine the fur felt on his palms,
“I-Is it bony?” Goodsir asked with nothing but fascination by what had occurred since last night.
Crozier looked at the main with a wry smile, “No… Doctor… it’s soft.”
Goodsir let out an undignified snort, before cheekily reiterating his question, “NO, Sir, I meant does it feel like it has bone in it? Like a cat’s tail.”
He had not been expecting soft spoken, timid, Dr Goodsir, to be capable of such snark and he couldn’t help but laugh softly.
“You my good man, need to have a sit down with Terror’s Ice Master when he is able.”
Henry blushed but he didn’t say any more, instead looking at him with that question still hovering in his eyes.
Francis hm’d softly, running his fingers up the length of the mysterious tail, placing a reassuring hand upon Jopson’s shoulder when he shifted the blankets so he could see the base that protruded from his lower back.
He gave the thing a couple firm squeezes between fingers, trying to feel for anything beneath the midnight black fur, he could, hard bony ridges covered in thin skin before the fur started.
When he squeezed too hard, Jopson gave a shout of pain and his hand came back with a fierce punch aimed at his face, that had given captain barely enough time to reach up and stop the fist with a large, weathered, calloused hand.
Blinking in surprise he forced his temper back in check, if it had been anyone else besides Jopson, especially in his state.. he would have taken offense and made sure that disciplinary action was enforced for a sailor even daring to strike his captain.
“Shh, I’m sorry Thomas.” he reassured the lad gently.
Jopson’s eyes were huge, his mind catching up with the actions that had been caused by reflex. “O-Oh… captain… I’m… I-I..”
He shook his head, “It’s okay… that was my fault, we just need to figure out what we can do for you that’s all.”
A knock on the door indicated Edward’s return and Jopson whimpered softly, he was so utterly humiliated.
It felt like he was just a spectacle.
Dr McDonald, slid the door open and averted his eyes for a moment when he realized Jopson was in a state of undress, as comical as it was since the man was a doctor for goodness sake.
“I-I’m covered, Sir...” Jopson uttered weakly.
The doctor cleared his throat and turned his attention back to him and like, Little and Crozier’s initial reactions, the fair haired doctor was left staring in surprise.
“Goodness...” the doctor managed eyeing the abnormal ears and the tail swishing against the bed clothes.
“Ohh...” Jopson groaned nervously hiding his face in his hands again to which the captain tried to rub his back in attempts to soothe his nerves.
Edward slipped into the cabin as well, informing them that below was clear besides Mr Diggle of course, everyone else was on deck tending to the damage done the previous night.
“Thank you Edward.” the captain spoke giving the lieutenant a grateful nod.
“Sir. Is there… anything else I can do?” Little asked, wetting his lips with his tongue.
“Yes Lieutenant, I would like details about what happened last night.”
All three of the other men looked at Jopson expectantly.
“I-I don’t… I don’t remember! I-I was on dog watch and … that’s that’s it!” the poor steward cried.
“Easy son, deep breathes. We’re all just as baffled by this… situation.. as you, but panicking isn’t going to help the matter.”
Jopson looked at the doctor like he’d gone mad.
“Not panic?! How can I not panic!! I have a god damn tail!” the boy shrieked, swatting at Mr Goodsir’s hands when the man tried to inspect the infernal thing.
The poor man absolutely could not help himself and Crozier couldn’t help but find it rather amusing how Jopson had to keep fighting curious hands off.
All the sudden poor Jopson’s face went as white as the snow outside, and he grabbed at the front of the captain’s shirt as he swayed uneasily.
Things were starting to get unbearably loud, he could hear the grating of wooden planks above as the men traversed them above deck. He could hear Mr Diggle humming in the galley. The groaning ice sounded like cannon fire.
His eyes were starting to burn, everything was too bright. It hurt awfully!
“I-I… Sir.. I don’t…”
“Thomas?” Francis asked urgently, cupping the boy’s face in two large hands.
Surprise struck the captain’s face though as he stared into his eyes, the pupils had narrowed into a slanted line within the irises belonging to them giving them an almost… cat like… appearance.
Dr McDonald and Mr Goodsir closed in on the two of them, McDonald was palpating around his neck and the back of his head, while Goodsir was trying to look into his eyes that were now roving uncontrollably with dizziness.
“Mr Jopson, are you still with us?” Alex asked softly, moving his finger in front of the boy’s face.
“Y-Yes... everything it’s too loud… and.. my eyes hurt..” he uttered freeing his face to bury it into the captain’s shirt to shield his burning eyes.
“Would it be possible…” Edward began but he trailed off, not knowing if he was actually providing something useful to say or not.
Dr McDonald looked at him curiously, “What’s on your mind Lieutenant?”
“Well I… do you think we could just… I don’t know…” Edward made a gesture with his hands imitating a knife on a chopping board, not really wanting to say the words.
“What, cut it off?”
Edward nodded and this was when Mr Goodsir spoke up, trying to offer something, anything really.
“Ah.. of that I would be hesitant Dr McDonald… Captain Crozier and I have found the appendage to be.. rather sensitive, and it also consists of a multitude of vertebrae.”
The lieutenant blinked, “Verta-what?”
“He means his spine Edward.” Crozier answered quickly.
Dr McDonald reached up to the ears on top the steward’s head, inspecting them carefully with an uneasy captivation.
“It was… I remember lights...” Jopson whispered softly voice coming muffled against the captain’s chest.
Dr McDonald looked at him intrigued, he had thought the man’s rambling last night just a sign of delirium. “Lights?”
“Yes… they had blended in with the aurora borealis last night...”
Little and Dr Goodsir glanced at each other disturbed, and finally it was Edward who cleared his throat, “Jopson… there was no borealis last night… it was a clear sky, but it did start snowing heavily on the last trek back here.”
Jopson looked up at him in alarm, “No! N-No that’s not possible… I… I saw it! It lit up the whole sky!”
Captain Crozier placed his hands on his steward’s shoulders, “Shh, lad. No one is accusing you of anything, and given the...” he trailed off when the young man’s tail brushed against his leg, “… situation at hand, I find myself with no doubts that you must have experienced something out of the ordinary last night. Deep breath, tell us what happened.. there be no judgments here.”
Poor Thomas sniffled, wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, “I was on the dog watch… the lights they were so bright, greens, blues, and purples… nothing out of the ordinary… but...”
Goodsir was scribbling things in his notebook and Dr McDonald elbowed him causing the man to blush and put the notepad and pen aside.
“Please, do speak Mr Jopson, we’re listening.” Alex offered with a sweet smile.
“I… I don’t know how to explain it… the blue parts of it… it seemed to come alive, and it… Sir, I watched it come down from the sky, it was… all over the ship it was lit up like a blue fire…”
He was trying to avoid their eyes, he knew a couple of them would likely have baffled features on their faces and he himself thought he was mad.
“S-Sir.. I swear it was like it approached me! It… it just hovered in a mass of light in front of me.. and I-I thought if I touched it… maybe it would go away… but… the last thing I remember was an intense pain in the back of my head… then waking up here...”
Thomas didn’t even look up he knew they were all looking at him like he was mad.
Bless Mr Goodsir, it was him who cleared his throat and spoke evenly to McDonald.
“Could that… have been the cause for his convulsions Doctor?”
Alex snapped from his daze at how absurd the tale had been and pondered the question over, in his head.
“Well… I suppose.. but normally that would attribute to a head ailment which we found none...”
Edward scoffed, “Oh come on, as if any of this is normal. We’ve been chased by a giant… well we don’t even know what it is… encountered storms without any warning, this can’t possibly seem THAT strange.”
Dr McDonald nodded, “That is true bu-”
A clicking noise could be heard from Jopson and everything went silent, Edward’s eyes went wide as he recognized the noise as the one he heard last night as he had bunked with the steward.
Captain Crozier looked down at his chest where the lad was slumped against him, he must have been overcome with exhaustion because his eyes were closed.
Dr Goodsir quickly grabbed his note pad and pen, leaning in closer to the captain before uttering in the softest of voices, “That noise… it’s coming from him?”
Francis didn’t know what to say he just stared down at the steward in surprise, this was getting weirder and weirder.
“S-Sir… he was making that noise last night...” Edward stuttered face red.
Dr McDonald leaned in closer too, his ear hovered before he boy’s shoulder as far to his chest he could get without waking him.
“It’s coming from his throat.” McDonald mumbled softly.
“He’s not choking…?” Goodsir asked suddenly.
“No… I...” Edward started but fell quiet again having to clear his throat before he could continue, “, I.. he was doing this last night… I um.. think he’s purring...”
Both Dr McDonald and the captain looked at him in quiet disbelief at the absurdity while Goodsir let out a rather… childlike giggle at the notion and how one of feline ears on Jopson’s head twitched as he slept.
All three men looked at the man who blushed eight shades of red. “I-I… sorry… this is just… beg your pardon captain… but ah… it is rather cute…”
~ X X X ~
In the end Dr McDonald had tried amputating the most unwelcome tail but it seemed to grow back, as was the situation with the ears.
This wretched place had cursed him, of that he was very, very certain.
It had been a week since Fitzjames’s Carnivale where they had lost, the three surgeons which thrust poor Goodsir into being constantly demanded of.
His heart swelled painfully at the memory of Dr McDonald, he’d really helped him accept this change as something.. not necessarily something bad.
The man had been one of the kindest men aboard either ships.
Not many of the men knew about the… condition… he’d been able to force the ears to lay flat on his head.. with the help of ah.. tape.. so he may comb his hair over them, they were after all the same color as his hair so it was fairly easy to get them to blend, though it didn’t exactly feel very good on the sensitive extremities, but by god he had a job and a reputation to uphold.
Worst case scenario would be if the tape faltered and one of the ears perked back up. That hadn’t happened quite yet… wait, yes… yes it had and in front of Fitzjames of all people.
So yes the Erebus captain knew of his… condition.
A scowl crossed over his face as he recalled the situation man’s words,
‘What in the name of the Lord…??’
He jumped feeling fingers touching the ear that had sprung lose.
Both him and Edward just stared at the captain, who was quite wasted as it was…
‘Oh Edward… can we keep it?’
Blushing furiously at the memory he shook his head to rid himself of it.
His pupils, they found, would retract and dilate much like the cat’s on Erebus. When Dr McDonald actually suggested he pay a visit to Erebus to learn from the cat, he had thought the idea had seemed absolutely absurd, but in actuality his… feline… companion… helped him notice the patterns his own eyes would take on and he found that depending on the light and the angle at which he held is head away from it, he could keep them from retracting to a fine line.
As for the tail, he’d found he could just tuck it down a trouser leg, the hardest part was willing it to be still.
Quietly he made his way to the great cabin to help the captain get ready for bed as he normally did this time of night.
However, as soon as he opened the door he was surprised to be grabbed roughly by the shoulders, yanked inside and slammed against the wall.
A startled cry escaped him and was about to start trying to defend himself when he felt hungry, needy, lips pressing against his and brilliant blue eyes staring at his face with such longing.
When the captain parted from his lips he stumbled over his words, face red with embarrassment.
“Beautiful boy, you taste even better without the whiskey.” Crozier drawled low into his ear.
Neither one of them had dared speak of… that encounter until now..
It had been a very, very drunk night for the two of them, one of the few instances Thomas had actually allowed himself to indulge in drink, things had gotten rather… steamy when he came clean about his feelings and the captain… being in the drunken state he was sort of misunderstood that as just wanted to go for tumble.
When he’d confronted him about the incident the next morning he’d had his heart crushed when the man realized the whole meaning of the previous night, at the time he was still in love with Sophia Cracroft so he really couldn’t be angry with him, he was more angry at himself that he hadn’t stopped the drunken situation from escalating to the level it did.
Was this sincere this time?
“Captain.. I.. are you sure…?” he asked timidly.
His only response was those lips on his again and a set of hands working on his waist coat.
Jopson couldn’t help the way his eyes filled with tears, and though he tried to suppress it, a small sob escaped him.
Crozier stopped what he was doing and looked at him in alarm, “Thomas? What on Earth is the matter?”
“I just… I wish you… you had decided earlier… b-before I...” his hushed voice trailed off seemingly unwilling to continue.
It took a second, but eventually Francis got what he meant and a warm smile formed upon his lips as he reached up to the young man’s head, messing his part to pull the tedious adhesives from his hair, causing pale eyes to squeeze shut briefly at the burning sting of some strands of hair being ripped out.
Thomas felt the captain’s fingers rubbing tenderly against the feline ears atop his head and he blushed furiously. “S-Sir… please don’t...”
“These? Is that what you’re worried about? That I’d find them unappealing?” he asked curiously, his nails itching just so faintly behind the lightly furred sense organs.
A low rumble came from the back of his throat and Jopson’s rosiness intensified as he tried to push the hands away. “Please… it’s.. it’s humiliating Sir...”
Francis leaned in to let their noses brush together, “I’ve told ye before lad, I think you’re adorable.”