Like the fish underneath it, The Venture never slept. It only rested when it got dark, with the men taking turns sleeping and manuvering the ship through the night. Jimmy's shift was almost over and up until now the night had been eventless so he took his book under his arm and started walking back to his and Mr. Hayes' shared cabin.

Not only did The Venture never sleep. It was never quiet either. It was constantly creaking, rattling and squeaking every time the waves hit it, and of course there was the never ending rumble from the engines. Jimmy, however, hardly noticed these sounds anymore. Through he could never sleep in the absence of them, all sounds out of the ordinary was as clear to him as a knock on the door to the rest of us.

He had to walk past the "ekspensive" cabins to get to his own and he always caught himself listening extra closely as he walked past Ann Darrow's door. Sometimes he could hear her rehearsing lines for a play she wanted to star in, other times she was just snoring lightly. Just as he was getting close enough to "accidentally" overhear something, another sound caught his attention. He wasn't sure what it was at first. It almost sounded like a grunt. He waited to see if it came back. Then something like a soft sigh could be heard and Jimmy quickly localised it: it came from Carl Denham's cabin. At first he didn't move. He hadn't known Mr. Denham for very long, but he had heard stories from the other sailors, which had made him more cautious around the filmmaker. Not that he seemed dangerous or anything. Jimmy actually liked him better then that Bruce Baxter guy he had brought with him. He just didn't dare to trust him. Not after those stories. Then another grunt could be heard, and then someone mumbling something. Maybe he was having a nightmare. Or just talking to himself. Apparently you couldn't be sure of this guy, and that made Jimmy curious. He tip-toed closer, and after making sure no one was watching he put his ear against the door. Something was defiantly going on in there. He could hear someone moving around, more grunts and mumblings. Finally an actual sentence was spoken.

"Slow down Preston..."

It was Denham speaking, so either he was talking in his sleep or his assistant was in there with him. Jimmy looked at the dim light coming from the keyhole. Instead of guessing what was going on in there he could just look for himself and get it over with. The problem was, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Then Preston said something

"Carl, you have to lift your leg a little..."

Okay, that was it. Jimmy had to see what was going on. Again he checked if anyone was looking and then peaked through the small hole in the door. What he saw startled him. Denham was lying naked on his side, one leg lifted in the air, with Preston behind him, and they were...moving. Jimmy hadn't known that many women in his life, but he knew those movements when he saw them. Carl made a grimace and told Preston to slow down again, whish he did. The younger man seemed to be working hard on making it as pleasurable as possible. At leaset for Denham.

Jimmy sat by the door, confused. That had to be the freakiest thing he had ever seen, and he had seen a lot. Two men? How was that even possible? Just as he was asking himself the question he realised the answer, which really didn't help his head the slightest. He had never even considered that possibility with a woman.

"Preston..."

Denham made a choking noise, and then everything went quiet. Jimmy gulped and got up to take a second look. Denham was now lying limply halfway on his stomach, but Preston was still moving a little.

Suddenly a big hand grabbed Jimmy's shoulder. He yelped and turned around to see Mr. Hayes. The ship's first mate forcefully dragged the boy through the narrow corridors of the ship, all the way to their cabin.

"What have I told you about spying on people?" He asked. Jimmy didn't answer put pulled himself free and ran over to his bed. Hayes could see the boy was bit upset, so he sat on his own bed and asked, "So, what did you see?"

"Nothing" Jimmy replied, not looking at the dark man. Hayes took his cap off and placed it on a hook next to his bed.

"I know what you saw Jimmy" He said "Because I have heard them too, through I didn't have to look to know what was going on..."

Jimmy blinked at him "How?" He just asked, but Hayes understood.

"I honestly didn't think I would have to explain this to you" He said "I thought you already knew"

"How should I have known?" Jimmy asked "You think I spy on people all the time?"

"No, but I thought you had seen something like that before"

"Where would I have seen that? You mean other people does that too?"

"Some people"

"Like who?"

Hayes paused. He wasn't sure if he should give any examples, as he wasn't the kind of guy who went around talking about other people's private lives. But he had a feeling Jimmy had to be able to relate his experience to something he knew, or things would just get worse.

"Haven't you ever heard Lumpy and Choy?" he asked. Jimmy gave him a strange look.

"They does that?" he asked.

Hayes nodded. "But it isn't normal, Jimmy" he added "It goes against everything natural, so don't ever try it yourself, okay?"

"Why isn't it normal?"

"It just isn't" Hayes said "And most people find it disgusting, so don't go around telling people about Denham and Preston, or Lumpy and Choy, even through everybody on this ship knows about it, because they could get in serious trouble"

"Then why are they doing it?"

Hayes closed his eyes. "Stop asking so many questions" He said "It is wrong and I have already told you why. Just please don't ever try it yourself"

"But-"

"No! Go to sleep"

With that Hayes turned out the light and laid down on the bed with his face against the wall. Jimmy did the same, but when Hayes was snoring lightly he was still awake, starring into the dark. He always got curious when he discovered something new, but this was extremely interesting he thought, through he didn't know why. Probably because it was forbidden according to Mr. Hayes, and no matter how much he respected the man, he had to find out more...