Private Tales No Jackets

[Peyton]

Her nose wrinkled at the mention of water and she huffed quietly. "Sure, I'll let you pitch that one to the crew.." she snorted quietly, rubbing at her face until he mentioned the girl they were transporting and she blinked.

"I forgot about her...Sorry." her brow furrowed. She really hadn't been much use at all. "Let me get myself together and I'll get started on some work. I need to occupy my mind." she grumbled. Resisting the urge to crawl back into bed with another bottle was almost painful, but the thought of letting him down was worse.

"Vreek can look after her until we dock, I'm sure.." she looked up to press a small kiss to his jaw and got herself up, a hand pressing to her pounding head.

 

[Lucius]

Lucius nodded his head. "Yeah I'm sure he's fine."

Of course neither of them knew that in that moment the Crime Lords daughter was doing her best to braid the hair of some of the crew members. They had, surprisingly, taken a shine to the girl, though it was difficult not to with a tiny kobold who seemed sweeter than ice cream.

"I've tried to plot out as much as I could." He said with a quiet frown.

"But..." His voice trailed off. "I just don't know as much as you."

Lucius wasn't stupid by any means, but a navigators job was hard, even if you were trained for it. Peyton had talent and practice. That was what it really took to master a skill like that

 

[Peyton]

Peyton gave a weak smile at his words "Well if you did, I'd be out of a job." she answered, and busied herself with washing and dressing. She covered the scarring wound on her neck with a short scarf to match her jacket, and got to work pouring over what Luc had already mapped out.

Hours passed. Old maps and journals were strewn across the cabin, blue and gold paints and inks covered her hands and smeared on her face, and by the time evening came she was reclined against a barrel on deck, her eyes moving between the stars and the map as she added a few finishing touches before weighing it to the deck to dry.

She smiled at her work, grateful for the time it'd taken her and given her focus. The crew had given her the space she needed, offering her awkward waves and a polite 'miss Peyton' here and there, but it wasn't a secret that she'd been having some sort of mental breakdown and she was glad none had pried.

Chris and Ferg brought her over a cup of wine and a plate of bread and meat when she was done storing her tools, nothing more than a wordless smirk offered as they were handed over to her, and they each sat at either side of her looking up at the clear sky as she ate and drank.

 

[Lucius]

The days after that went quite quickly, quicker than Lucius had really expected.

He and Peyton spent some time together, the crew bonded, and everything ran surprisingly smoothly. It was a nice change of pace from all the chaos of the last week. The quiet sea surrounding them, no storms harrowing or coming down.

Lucius could have taken that peace forever.

They managed to make good time on their voyage as well. Their stolen ship was fast, faster than a ship of it's size had any right to be. More than once he heard the crew comment on how the Anirians really knew how to build their ships.

A three week journey to Elbion took only two, and on the crest of the fourteenth day Lucius stood at the wheel of his ship, resting a hand as he spoke to Peyton. "I've never been to Elbion before."

He mused, glancing up at the flag that they were flying on the main mast. It belonged to a merchant company out of Alliria, and was of course utterly false. They had forged documents to help with the ruse, but it still amused him.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton had managed to pull herself back out of the bottle, slowly but surely, and not without help from Lucius. She enjoyed the peace, enjoyed her work, enjoyed spending time with him and a good crew back at sea. She'd even taken a liking to the kobold they were transporting.

Peyton slipped under Luc's arm to rest her back against his chest as he sailed, her hands resting atop his as she enjoyed the sea breeze with a small smile on her lips. "Hm, we docked here when I was a child, I don't remember much of it, then again I stayed aboard." she smirked. She'd developed a few of dry land as a child and it'd stuck with her even now, she rarely set foot on it.

She gently guided his hand a little to the left as her eyes caught glimpse of a patch of coral that changed the structure of the waves at the surface.. "It looked like am impressive city though, from what I can remember.. We should see it within the hour." she arched a brow and looked up at the flag and the buffeted gulls, gauging the wind.

"Perhaps.. I might even explore it a little.." she bit gently on her lip.. "We'll need to restock anyway." her shoulder shrugged.

 

[Lucius]

He nodded his head using his other hand to softly wrap around her wist and grasp her hip. "Someone has to take her to the Colllege."

Lucius glanced down at the young Kobold who was currently on deck playing some stones with Vreek. The two had taken to one another quite well over the last two weeks, and he was sure the little Goblin was going to hate seeing the girl go.

She had been surprisingly quiet, and even helpful at times. He wondered if she wanted to be a pirate, but the thought was quickly dismissed as he thought of her fathers ire.

Best not test that ground. "We can send Vreek and a few others while we explore the city."

Being Captain had to have some privileges.

"Maybe we can find a book about what's happening to me." He thought out loud.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton pulled in a deep breath and let it out with a nod. She'd been through far worse than a walk through a city, she could handle it, with him by her side she could handle anything. Her fear of captivity, of shackles and servitude was associated with land. At sea, she felt safe. But being a pirate on dry land was never safe.

She nodded at his plan and smiled, tilting her head back to rest it on his shoulder. "Perhaps we will. Maybe we should go to the college, you might find someone there who might know." her brow quirked.

 

[Lucius]

A shiver ran down his spine. "No."

For some reason the thought of going near the college made him feel incredibly uneasy. He knew that Elbion was not Vel Anir, but the thought of being anywhere near other mages made him...feel incredibly uneasy. Like they were going to see him as a curiosity rather than a person.

"I don't think I want to do that." Lucius told her softly, rubbing his thumb gently over her skin before offering her an explanation.

"The less people know the better." His voice lowered. "Besides, I don't want to be looked at by a bunch of mages."

The thought alone made him queasy.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton nodded in understanding, sensing that he felt as uneasy about that as she did about the idea of wandering the city in the first place. "Alright.. So the library then." she nodded firmly. "I can do that." she agreed with a long sigh and tilted her head back to press a kiss to his jaw.

After a while, land was called, and the hazy vision of the city drew closer and closer. The deck hands rushed about, readying the ship for docking, and Peyton got herself dressed and emotionally prepared for dry land. She dawned a new jacket of black and dark red, and a matching red scarf to cover her scarred flesh.

Vreek and a few others were instructed to safely escort the young kobold to the college, and she along with Chris and Ferg assigned another group to a list of necessities to restock the ship with.

 

[Lucius]

Lucius had never quite liked the gray stone of cities.

He had grown up on ships and in Alliria. The former had always been his great love, the latter was his second, at least as far as places to live went. There was something far brighter and more cheerful about the buildings in Alliria.

Maybe it was just the sun, the architecture, the warmth, but he couldn't really place a finger on it. Elbion felt...cold to him, even though it was a fairly warm day. "Lets find something to eat first, then library."

He frowned.

"Or a book shop." Either one would work he supposed.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton nodded in agreement and slid her hand into his, entwining their fingers to make sure he wouldn't be letting go, at least until she started to feel a little more stable on ground that didn't move under her feet. It always made her feel uneasy. She took a breath as she stepped off the gangplank and she gave a slight shudder as she drew her eyes up over the looming city.

They walked for a little while before she tilted her head toward a tavern that had tables and benches outside. Despite the slight nip in the air she felt she'd feel a little more comfortable if she could still feel the sea breeze on her skin and see the docks. Meals and drinks were ordered, and quickly brought to the table by a pretty elven girl, and Peyton's throat cleared as her eyes seemed to linger on Luc for a little longer than necessary. The girl smirked and wandered off with a glance over her back at the captain, and Peyton put a dagger on the table.

 

[Lucius]

"I don't think we're going to get into a fight here." Lucius said, entirely oblivious to the advancements of the Elven girl.

His focus was more on the inside of the tavern.

Every city had it's own style of drinking place. Alliria was all about open air and letting people flow in and out. Teth was tighter, more enclosed. It seemed that Elbion liked to style itself almost like everyone was friends with everyone.

It was odd, and for some reason Lucius had expected to see more mages. Instead though he only saw the usual fair of taverns. Drunk workers, tavern maids, and a few gamblers on the far side of the room. "I guess even a city with a mages College is still a city."

He mused out loud.

"It's not Teth though." Lucius said with pride clinging to his voice.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton snorted as she sipped at her ale and licked her lips as she sat it down, still glaring after the elven girl.. “Maybe not you...” she muttered and stabbed a fork a little more aggressively than necessary into her chicken.

She returned her attention to Luc and watched the passers by with curiosity as she ate, a shrug given at his observations.. “Nowhere will ever be Teth but Teth.” She grinned. It was a fucking disgusting city in every way possible but it was home and she loved the rickety old dump.

“So.. What sort of book are we looking for? I mean... I doubt there’s a book called ‘help my boyfriend can talk to fish.’” Her head tilted.

 

[Lucius]

Lucius perked an eyebrow, shaking his head.

He was going to have to be careful with that. "Suppose that's right."

The City of Pirates held it's own sort of charm. An optimism that was hard to find anywhere else in the world. Something that most people would have been jealous of, or at least, that was what Lucius had always thought about it.

Teth had more freedom than any other city in the world. You could do whatever the fuck you wanted wherever the fuck you wanted. Just had to try.

"I mean..." He frowned for a moment. "I guess a book about...ocean...magic?"

His head quirked to the side. He wasn't really entirely sure.

 

[Peyton]

"You know.." she pointed her fork at him, her mouth half filled with chicken and potato.. "If you hadn't been doing all that shit, your magic might've come to you sooner.." she narrowed her gaze, and snatched the carrot from her fork. "Not that I'm not proud of you. You've come a long way." she smiled at him. She was never anything but proud of him.

"Hm.." she shrugged. "It's somewhere to start, I'm sure we'll find something somewhere." she assured with a nod and washed her food down with the rest of her ale.

 

[Lucius]

Lucius frowned a moment as she mentioned his use of Shade. He instantly knew that she was right of course. Shade was something that clouded both mind and body. His magic probably would have come into being months earlier if he hadn't used.

A part of him though thought that it wasn't such a bad thing. Lucius was not entirely sure how he would have reacted to his abilities without Peyton around. "Yeah."

He said softly in agreement, half spacing out at the thought.

Eyes briefly glanced towards her in consideration, and then his head shook as he decided to dismiss the darker thoughts of 'what if'. There was no point in reflecting in what could have happened if she hadn't dug him out of that gutter.

"I'm not worried." He said with a shrug. "I mean it's Elbion. This place is magic as fuck, right?"

Thats what he'd been lead to believe anyway.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton smirked over the rim of her ale before taking a long sip and nodding with a chuckle. “Magic as fuck.”

The ale was helping her ease a little at least,. Nobody seemed to be paying them any attention, and that eased her too. Pirates had a terrible habit of looking like pirates, and land dwellers were generally either wary of them, or wanted them killed or tossed in a cell for their lifetime of crimes. Simply being a pirate was a crime, but she supposed she and Luc weren’t exactly typical.

One who was paying them attention was the elven waitress who sashayed her way back to the table, boldly addressing Lucius and ignoring Peyton entirely.. “Hey doll, can I get y—” . Her hand was reaching toward his arm.

“No.” Peyton interjected sternly. “What you can get is ‘to fuck’, doll..” She jerked her chin insistently and settled a glare on her horror stricken face, her golden eyes daring the woman to argue. She didn’t, and Peyton’s attention returned to Lucius and the last of her ale.

“Soo bookshop?..”

 

[Lucius]

"Heh." Lucius shrugged at the horror stricken girl.

There wasn't really anything that he could say or do, or rather, there wasn't anything he was willing to say or do. A brief smile was offered, and then that was it from him. There was no point in addressing this with Peyton, nor did he want to.

It was...well not cute, but something like it.

"Bookshop." He agreed. "Though...I guess we'll just have to poke around."

Given that they couldn't really ask for directions anymore. At least he didn't think the question would be all that welcome.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton wasn't jealous, exactly, she had nothing to be jealous of. Nor did she feel she had the need to be possessive, she didn't fear him straying. She simply disliked the assumption that she could flutter her lashes and win the captain over simply because she was pretty. Then again, she'd never liked any women draping themselves over him even before he'd professed his love for her.. perhaps she was a little possessive...

She smiled as innocently as she could and cleared her throat, leaving a few coins on the table before rising from her seat and making a point of taking Luc's arm as they wandered up the street.

Elbion had a lot to take in. Many of the people were an odd sight, and here and there she saw people practising with their magic, levitating objects and creating flames in their palms and extinguishing them again. It intrigued her and made her feel slightly uneasy all at once.. "Magic as fuck.." she muttered quietly and halted at the doorway of a rather rickety looking bookshop.

"Here's hoping." she shrugged, and stepped inside.

 

[Lucius]

"If there's anything I learned on Teth..." Lucius started as he looked up at the bookshop which appeared to be about on it's last leg. "The more it looks like it's going to kill you, the more useful the place is gonna be."

That was usually because on Teth the oldest establishments didn't tend to get refurbished.

Once a ship was added, there wasn't much one could do for it. Some had tried, but it generally took away a lot of the trust of those who wanted to go there. Pirates liked things to never change, Lucius was no different really.

With the same confident stride as always Lucius pushed open the front door of the shop.

Inside the smell was musty, broken bookshelves were lined with ancient tomes, and it didn't seem anyone was at home. "Hello?"

He called out.

 

[Peyton]

"Eh?!! Whosit?!" a flustered old woman came bumbling out from the back room, bedraggled and puffing on a pipe. She peered through her spectacles that seemed to do absolutely nothing for her eyesight.. "Oh, ladies, what can I do for ya?.." she smiled as she chewed on the end of her pipe sending tiny plumes of liquorice scented smoke into the air.

Peyton grinned and chuckled to herself as she approached the woman's desk and leaned her arms atop it. "Hello.. Uhm, we were hoping to find a book that has something to do with magic relating to the ocean and it's... inhabitants?.." she twisted her lips and glanced to Luc with a shrug. It was better than 'help my boyfriend talks to sharks..'

 

[Lucius]

"Ladies?" Lucius rebuked with a scowl, looking to Peyon for a few moments as if he expected some defense from her.

When nothing was forthcoming he frowned slightly, shaking his head and quickly deciding that it wasn't worth it. This was likely payback for having better hair than her. Something they both knew.

"Why not go to the College Dearies?"​

The woman said, Lucius shrugging. "Doesn't seem like something to bother em about."

"I'm just curious is all." A shrug ran over his shoulders, and for a few seconds the woman simply looked over them. After a moment she nodded, and began to shamble towards one of the book cases.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton snorted and suppressed a grin at Luc's irritation. She was too amused to argue, and frankly she didn't seem like the sort of old woman that Peyton wanted to get on the wrong side of. She cleared her throat and shot a half smirk to Luc before watching the woman curiously as she shuffled around, searching her shelves.

She picked one large, dusty tome bound in black, tatty leather with a trident on the front of it. She dropped the book onto the counter with a small plume of dust which Peyton sneezed at behind her wrist.

"If it's ocean magic you're after, it'll be in here. Was written by a powerful mage named Genevieve Laroux.. A pirate, she was.." her gaze narrowed as though she was speaking about something taboo. Peyton smirked. "Could raise and drain the oceans with her magic, caused tidal waves and put lands underwater forever.. Terrible woman, but veeeeerry powerful. Weren't nothin' she didn't know about ocean magic." she nodded and patted the cover of the tome, throwing up another cloud of dust.

"We'll take it." Peyton smiled warmly..

"Oh ho! Well dear I highly doubt you'd be affording such thi--" The woman stopped as Peyton emptied a bag of gold coins onto the desk and her jaw fell..

"You both have a lovely day.." she mumbled dreamily as she collected her fee.

 

[Lucius]

Not exactly what they were looking for, but a pirate mage? Well that was something worth reading about no matter what.

He wouldn't exactly describe his abilities as ocean magic, but at this point it wasn't like they could be choosy. Besides, there was always a chance that this Laroux woman would be able to tell them what the hell was going on with him.

Even if she had written it down for someone else.

"Will do." Lucius said as he waved a hand and gently pressed his palm onto the small of Peyton's back in order to lead her out of the small bookshop.

"Think it's a good idea to flash that much Gold?" He asked. "I've never been to Elbion, but back in Teth that'd get you shanked."

Criminals were everywhere, and while he had all the confidence in the world in himself and Peyton...he wasn't eager to get into another big fight.

 

[Peyton]

Peyton bit on her lip at his caution and her shoulder shrugged. “You’re probably right.. I didn’t like her assumption that we couldn’t afford a damned book.” she frowned gently. She took it personally, clearly, she had been a slave with nothing and she’d worked hard for what she had, she went out of her way to look and dress like she had never belonged to that life and one snicker from an old woman had her unravelling.

“Sorry..” she mumbled, tucking away her coin purse.