Nils had gave the pair a crude gesture by way of response to their send off, and wandered back down the dock to maybe go back to chasing gulls or something. He didn’t know, bloody well had the whole day ruined, hadn’t he? First the ship didn’t even leave, and then those sailors had a bit of sport with him. Yanking his hopes around wasn’t funny. He didn’t care that he’d been trying for pretty much the same on his end, just, playing the game at their expense instead. He only cared that it hadn’t worked out to him on top. Bah! They could take their poor liddle captain and his loose hat and send it all off spinning with the chaff. He’d no interest in chasing down a proper bit of lip from any creaser he went knocking the hat off of. 

Not that knocking hats off folks wasn’t, in and of itself, an amusing past time. Nils just figured he’d have to be knocking off a lot of tricorns before he found this one, specific captain. Didn’t even know what the blighter looked like, did he? And the risk of getting caught up in the garboil sure to follow such reaks wasn’t half worth it. They’d be sure to get his da involved. Changing tack, the dog’s bark caught his attention, and he figured he could find something a little more entertaining with the beast, though it didn’t look like a stray, not with the collar gleaming on its neck like that. 

Still, he didn’t much like black dogs, too many stories about them being unnatural. Old grims weren’t like to help you catch anything but your own death, so he’d heard. So, even though he might have gained something for his pocket trying to catch and bring it home, he was kicking through the garbage looking for harder bits and bobs to throw at it than anything that might be more interesting when the thing buzzed his ear and made him yelp in surprise. 

The thing, however, was worth far more than some gamey old dog and a few stones to throw at it. Especially when it zipped right up to those two sailors and started pestering them as bad as a beggar’s brat. Nils’ grin grew right out of his shock with a huge satisfaction as the beast kept after them and then even went after those on the ship. He laughed in glee, enjoying their plight, then gave a high, sharp whistle once he’d won his breath back and shouted over the commotion, voice still full of his initial mirth. “Ha! Pesker thinks your blighted ship’s no better’n a crab-skuit! Shows you what you lot know, giving ‘er fancy airs.”