Private Tales The Stuff of Fairy Tales

[Selene]

"Does what help?" She echoed, thinking perhaps she was rusty for a moment and misunderstanding. It wasn't her first language but she was surprisingly fluent at it. It helped that the lands bordered Vel Anir and she had one or two tutors from that area before.

Underneath the robe she began to untie and undo the scrappy remains of her outfit of before. It was not as if it provided her any warmth, and soot and mud were caked into it, rubbing against her legs.

She would have never done something so improper at home, but years away made her lax and there was something a little enticing about pushing to see how far she could drop manners in front of Neride.

 

[Gal]

“Knowing my name,” she said, canting her head to the side.

It was dark. Dark enough perhaps that Selene thought night would shield her from the black eyes across the table. The only illumination was a thin strip of moonlight pooling on the bed, the rest of the cabin wrapped in the comfort of shadows.

So she watched, and held her tongue, and smiled.

 

[Selene]

"A bit," she admitted, the cloak flashing open so she could duck out of the collar. There were no candles, so she truly didn't expect to be seen. And even if she was, this appeared to be her room too now and Neride had given her no place to change. It felt harmless to her, the woman oblivious to the grin across the table.

"Beasts become pets once they're been given a name," she teased, quoting a something from her tutors. She pulled the dress off her entirely, holding it out and throwing it away.

She smiled a little at that, listening to it fall to the ground.

"You're not what I expected," she admitted.

 

[Gal]

“Beasts,” Gal echoed, another hook to her smile that Selene wouldn’t see. “Is that what you think I am?”

She would not be wrong, then, but the blonde kept talking, and her smile kept growing. “And what did you expect? Peg leg? Eyepatch?” She imagined herself as the stereotypical picture of a pirate landlubbers so often painted. It nearly made her snort. “That I drink the blood of virgins?”

Not exactly drink, and not exactly virgins – could hardly afford to be that picky on the high seas. But those sharp teeth certainly weren’t for chewing on grass or looking pretty.

 

[Selene]

Selene laughed, the motion so foreign to her she nearly stopped short in shock. She shook her head, forcing that hitch of a thought out and staying in the moment.

"Yes, exactly." She grinned to herself, nuzzling deeper back into the robe. "Although," she added, an afterthought. "Perhaps not the virgins. Unless you go for the teens. There's not a man out there that hasn't used a woman before. Though I'm disappointed you don't have a bird."

It was nice to talk again. Oh so nice to exchange words...

 

[Gal]

Red lips twitched in the darkness. For all the coin this slip of a thing could bring her, it was exciting to bandy words with someone who hadn’t spent their whole life at sea for once. Wasn’t much new to talk about after you’d exhausted the – admittedly broad – topics of rigging, sailing, and robbing merchants blind.

“But there’s plenty of women who’re taught that waiting for that man will make them… mm, what is it? Purer? More appealing? Stupid reasons, I’m sure. At any rate, they make for many… qualified candidates.” She snorted. “A monkey, if I had to choose. At least they can fetch things.”

 

[Selene]

Selene paused, squinting through the darkness. "Woman?" She echoed, her heart rapidly speeding up.

 

[Gal]

“Yes, women,” Gal said, hardly keeping the grin from her voice. “Told you I don’t give a damn who tickles your fancy. Life’s too short to waste it worrying about who you fuck.”

 

[Selene]

Selene blushed brilliantly, the color masked by the darkness. Silence descended from her, the woman replaying their interactions in her mind to try and catch the pirate before her in the proper light.

She opened her mouth to talk-- paused-- then tried again. "As I said-- that was nothing. Curiosity. Nothing more. I like men," she insisted, her voice edgy. Not because she was afraid of the woman now that she knew her preferences. On the contrary, she was slowly growing more comfortable around her, strangely enough.

She just didn't want to risk another incident. Another thing that could backlash and send her back into a tower. It wasn't worth it. For either party.

She abruptly stood up, her chair scrapping across the floor. "I think I drank too much, I'm feeling faint, I should sleep."

 

[Gal]

“Of course you do,” Gal nodded, all smiles and understanding. She rose from the chair for the last time, moving around the desk so swiftly it surely betrayed her keen sight – or at the very least her familiarity with the room.

She tugged the unsteady girl to her feet and led her through the dark without stumbling once. “I’ve only the one bed, I’m afraid. But you won’t mind sharing, will you?”

 

[Selene]

“Um...” Selene flailed ever so slightly, off balance in the dark with the warmth of the drink rolling through her. She hit the bed with her knees, guided by the patch of moonlight shinning across it.

“I’ll be fine,” she mumbled, crawling onto it. “I’m just going to sleep.”

She fumbled with the woman’s blankets, her heart slamming rapidly in her chest. Adrenaline burned through her, poignant and strong.

How she was going to fall sleep like this, she had no clue. But she shimmied under the blanks, hyper conscious of the woman moving around her.

“Long day,” she reasoned, an ineloquent good night.

 

[Gal]

The pirate herself was in no rush. She’d not worked particularly hard today, having avoided the dragon altogether. There had been no fighting on her part either, and the hired crew of Urahil’s ship gave little trouble to her men.

All in all, it had been an easy catch. Whether or not it would translate into easy money, however… that remained to be seen.

Gal sat down at the edge of the bed as Selene got comfortable under the sheets. Or gave the appearance of such, anyway – the nazrani could hear her heart hammering still. Earlier, she’d have bound the girl to the posts and had her fill. But then she just had to go and show a spine of steel; bare her claws, reveal a will.

Sighing, Gal cursed her own curiosity (and the pipe, always the pipe), then began the arduous work of unlacing her tunic. She folded it over the chair, the trousers following soon after. There was no space for shame in the cramped hold of a pirate ship, and what few wandering hands had made their overtures were taught early on that they were unwelcome.

A knife could be surprisingly articulate when wielded with skill.

The nazrani padded barefoot over the rough wooden planks and slipped under the covers, eager to soak up the heat of another body. “Sleep well, mārama.”

 

[Selene]

Sleep did not come easy to Selene. Once her racing thoughts subsided and the pull of the drink lured her under, it was the crashing of the waves that brought her jolting to, time and time again, reminding her that she was not in her safe, stagnant tower anymore.

She looked worse for wear come morning, deep set bags under her eyes and a pained expression as she sat up, clutching her head. The night had given her a plenty of time to think, and as she blinked against the morning light reflecting off her ravaged legs ... she knew what she needed to do.

Maybe. Vaguely.

The seed of a thought was there.

She glanced around for Neride.

 

[Gal]

On the contrary, Gal had slept like a contented cat next to a fire, and woke with the dawn as pleased as can be. She relieved the frozen man at the helm for the clarity of brisk morning air, delighting in the simplicity of the open sea as long as she could.

Her problem would no doubt awake from their slumber with a pounding headache and march out on the deck with a new set of demands.

If only Gal had enough wine to ply her with.

 

[Selene]

Selene emerged from the cabin wrapped firmly in the robe, her appearance straighten out as best she could manage. Her fingers had struggled to pull her hair back into a braid worthy of public eye, and for the first time in years so found herself worrying about her complexion.

It was strange.

She tried to brush these old concerns from her thoughts as she padded barefoot across the planks, her feet sore and dirty from the brambles of yesterday. She came to Neride's side, silently taking in the sight of the deck and all movement of men crawling out from their hammocks to man it.

"How long until land?" She asked softly, her voice rough.

 

[Gal]

She heard the door groan open behind her, heard the bare feet pad across creaking planks. Her lips tugged up at the corners as Selene came to a stop just shy of touching her.

“Which land?” Gal asked without taking her eyes off the horizon. They were making good time for Cerak, spring winds fair across their starboard. Her Ladyship keeled to the left, sails strained taut as they cut across the waves on a broad reach.

 

[Selene]

Selene raised a brow, looking at Neride with slight grumpiness. "The one you are taking us to." Her ill-health seeped into her tone, mildly agitated and all around uncomfortable and hung over.

The wind whipped up around them, tugging the strands she had so carefully braided out to dance around her face. She shoved them back, bucking as a wave near clean knocked out her knees.

 

[Gal]

“Relax,” Gal drawled in answer, that smirk pulling wider. “Easy knees, light on your feet.”

“As for land…” Her hand left the helm to encompass the glinting blue sea. “A week if the wind stays true. Longer if we catch a storm on the way.”

They’d probably make landfall somewhere on the way, replenish their reserves of water and food. But then Selene didn’t need to know that.

 

[Selene]

Selene huffed, making a noticeable effort to match the woman's stance. "And then you need my decision?" She glanced up at her, a slight tension in her expression, braced for the pirate to go back on her word.

Last night didn't make much sense to Selene in the clarity of the morning light. She was sure the wine had befuddled her thinking, and somewhere along the way she had been caught believing the pirate was something better. But that surely couldn't be the case. There was a game to be played here, there always was. She just needed to figure it out.

 

[Gal]

Gal hummed her assent, eyes narrowing for a moment as she focused on something in the distance.

“Well,” she began absently, rolling the wheel in her grasp two points to the right. “You’re welcome to give me an answer sooner. Waiting… ain’t exactly my strong suit.”

 

[Selene]

Selene's breath caught in silent amusement, nodding slowly are she continued to study the pirate. After another moment she looked away, content for the moment about her circumstances.

"I want to see the make of this man that is suppose to be my husband." She crossed her arms over her chest, her resolve filling her. She opened her mouth to explain more ... then closed it again, realizing that explaining herself might not only be hard, but a bad idea to boot.

It was best to play ones cards close to her chest. Her life in Vel Anir taught her that.

"Can you arrange that?"

 

[Gal]

Black brows climbed a bronze forehead. Finally Gal flicked her eyes to Selene, a curl of amusement to her red mouth. “Of course.”

She turned back to the wheel and grinned. “If he can outswim a Black shark, he’s probably worth fucking.”

 

[Selene]

"We are not sticking him in a shark pool," she chastise, lowering her arms from her chest.

"You won't get any money that way," she snuffed in addition, walking to the railing and looking out across the swath of the sea before her.

"...Best you say nothing on your promise, though." She took a deep breath in and out, then glanced back over her shoulder. "I can't play the damsel if he knows my intentions."

That steel was back in her eyes, that determination to have control and maintain it.

 

[Gal]

“We,” she corrected, gently, “aren’t doing anything. And I didn’t promise you anything either.” Her tone was kind enough for the words, her smile fixed in place as she met that pale gaze.

“Play the damsel?” She held back a snort, bit her lip instead. “What for?”

 

[Selene]

Selene merely smiled back, not buffeted at all by Neride's corrections. "Welcome to my world, pirate. Weapons aren't daggers. They're words."

And she was not going to return empty handed.

She pushed off the railing, doing a bit better job at catching herself as a wave came crashing past. "I want to see him."