"Well, it can't be because of you." Or, at least, not because of anything new Hickey did. And if Crozier was totally a-okay with peacing out and allowing all the men - including Hickey - to just exist here, then Billy can't imagine that changing without anything new to shake it up. "Since you haven't been trouble."

Purposefully echoing Hickey's words right back at him, but.. Billy supposes this much is true enough, even as he stares at the other's bruised face. Really, he's been positively surprised by how few problems Hickey has been causing for their little life here. Billy can't imagine the other has been doing something big that would somehow draw Crozier's attention, yet escape Billy's own.

.. then again, there is one problematic potential factor there, right. The one that involves--

"Or did you actively seek him out here?"

Babe, have you been harassing that old man again in a desperate attempt to get his attention?

There's only a beat before Billy asks: "About what?"

Because-- yes, of course he knows it's not that simple. The less Hickey says about anything, the more likely it is that there's actually something suspicious at the heart of it. Billy knows way too much about the other for Hickey to get away with this.

He's even good at making it sound very neutral and casual. Like it's just a regular question, rather than him absolutely being on to the other.

That last fact is actually kind of interesting. Billy may not have dug into what happened after he died, but that also meant he had no idea that Hickey didn't know everything either. It's definitely something he's mentally filing away.

"Something must have happened to make him give up."

That's the best way to sum up Crozier's current attitude from his point of view, anyway. A man who gave up, even though some of the other men here are still clearly desperate for his attention.

".. though not entirely," he adds. Maybe that's the strand he has to tug on to try and figure out why Crozier is now suddenly making things harder again. "When I first ran into him here, he did bother to ask me if I was still with you."

Mutiny-wise, of course. Billy is perfectly content with letting none of the other men ever know about the other way.

"He would not have done that if he did not care at all anymore about what is going on."

Too bad Billy already told him the truth, huh. Not the full truth, obviously, but it's exactly due to the same reason Hickey himself presents here too that Billy didn't want to lie about it. When there's no longer any convenient reason to be seen as just some victim here, it only reminds him of how sick and tired he is to be seen that way. Like he isn't perfectly capable of making his own decisions. Like he doesn't know what Cornelius is like better than any of them. It feels so condescending that it was actually kind of nice to be upfront about it for once.

But Hickey doesn't need to know that. Nor does he need to know Crozier came closer to guessing the reason for Billy's decision - familiarity, he called it, which.. sure, but it's a little more intense than that - than any of the others. They don't need to share everything, especially when it's got potential to only rile Hickey up at a moment when tensions are already high.

Hence why he just exhales, shoving aside the thoughts of Crozier and Jopson and Goodsir and - god, yeah, okay, the next one's going to need some more processing later - cannibalism.

".. Well, it seems things are safe enough right now."

No one ran over to get a shot in on Hickey as well. Maybe Crozier really didn't tell more people.

"So let's go back so I can put some ice on your face before it starts swelling." Especially when the evidence of the fight only becomes more clear on the other's face with each passing moment. "I don't want Jopson to ruin the nice view I get to look at each day."

See, Cornelius? There's even a compliment for you, and Billy isn't often generous with those. It's clearly because you're the pathetic little meow meow in this situation.

Billy at his side, indeed. If anything, it's like he's standing just a little bit closer to Hickey than entirely necessary after getting up and joining him. Because even though it seems things have thankfully deescalated, there's still a slight part of him on edge about this whole thing, anticipating more, anticipating worse.

"I'm sure you did," he remarks, nothing sarcastic about it. Even if he didn't see the fight, he has a few ideas about how it might have gone down with what he knows about both of the men involved in it.

And while Hickey's tendency to never back down can be a source of frustration and trouble, Billy can't deny that he's also entirely fond of the other's tenacity. There's something definitely attractive about a man who bites down harder in a fight. Enough to add: "Almost makes me wish I could have seen it."

He probably shouldn't encourage these things in Hickey, but whatever.

"They wouldn't," he remarks as they walk.

Hell, if anything, he thinks Jopson is the most likely candidate for round two. Little is like a wet dog even if he may be highly suspicious of Hickey, Crozier is - was? - weirdly distant, and Goodsir certainly doesn't seem like the type for a physical fight.

"I think there is more to fear from the other people in town here. I don't know what sort of connections Jopson may have made with the people here." And some of the people here are freaks. Billy doesn't care to know how they'd fight, or what else they'd pull. "Miss Frazer told me she would help us out though if people were to harass us."

It's true. He can even think of some more people who'd be willing to hear him out on this one, surely. Heartman, Raju-- They had expressed sympathy for him in their own ways. Maybe everything is a little bit more secure than Billy was worried about after all.

He silently ponders it for a moment as they walk, but then asks something else entirely when he speaks up.

"Who is this March?" Just curious! Maybe it can't hurt to at least get to know the guy if he's willing to stick up for Hickey. And Billy already knows Kieren, so that leaves March as the only unknown factor.

"Thankfully intelligence is not necessarily a requirement." Not when loyalty is much more important right now. It's not exactly like Hickey recruited the smartest men on the ships back home for the mutiny, after all.. Sometimes you just need the numbers on your side without worrying about quality, Billy gets that.

"Perhaps you should speak with Mr. Raju. He seems rather receptive to stories about those in charge not always making the wisest decisions."

And boy, do they ever have stories about that, huh!!!

Less tense, huh. At least Billy doesn't really need to ask about what kind of tense situation that was, considering tense situations really aren't all that rare here. There's been enough over the past two months already.

So rather than asking about that, he just slightly dryly points out: "You would call anyone a goody-two-shoes."

Well, maybe Billy would be the exception to that, but that's exactly part of why they're together in the first place, isn't it.