Open Chronicles What Was Beneath

[Lucius]

"I get it." Lucius said as he put a gentle hand on Peyton's shoulders.

Though he's spent a good chunk of time on the Concordant, Lucius had bounced from crew to crew for years before eventually landing on the ship. He knew what it was like to not trust those on your ship. Knew what it was like to sleep with one eye open.

You always made one or two friends, always had someone to joke around with, but rarely did you feel truly comfortable.

An odd pang of guilt struck his chest. Of he'd been stronger before, of he hadn't been so weak he might have been able to protect her. Stop her from seeing the harsh realities of men like Sol. Fingers on his off hand tightened into a fist, and he reminded himself that Peyton wasn't some innocent farm girl. She was a pirate, and didn't need protecting.

Just a little help. "Rather our own ship than some strangers."

He told her with a smile.

"Besides, the faster I can get my own cabin and away from your snoring the better." Lucius joked with a smirk.

 

[Peyton]

She sighed and nodded as his hand rested on her shoulder. She knew he would get it, but it didn't mean she wasn't being crazy. A good crew took a long time to build, she finally had two men back in her life that she knew she could trust and she was way ahead of herself planning on stealing a Galleon that required eighty to a hundred men to crew efficiently. She doubted there were that many men in Arethil that could be trusted at all.

"Right." she agreed, and returned his smile, but her mouth fell open as she lifted a hand to shove at his chest. "MY snoring?! Kress!! At least I bathe every couple of days, do you know how difficult it is to get man sweat out of bed sheets?!" she grinned, but reached an arm out to hug him in mute thanks for helping her feel better about her her psychotic ambitions.

 

[Lucius]

His arm looped around her in a gentle squeeze. "I'll have you know many women think I smell fantastic."

Lucius assured her.

"A mixture of the sea herself with the scent of a true man." Besides, bathing at sea was a waste of resources. Fresh water was hard to come by and one just had to wait for a proper storm before washing off. Out here in the north seas that was fairly often...at least he was pretty sure.

Keeping track of that sort of thing wasn't really a thing that came to him easily.

He would never have made it in a true navy.

As they stood on the edge of the ships railing Lucius couldn't help but smile. This morning he had been dreading going back to sea, dreading the nightmares and fearing what he might do. Yet now, now he had another friend back, they had a plan, and things were looking better than they had in half a decade.

Despite himself Lucius was starting to feel excited.

 

[Peyton]

“Is that so!? Well clearly most women have serious issues with their sense of smell.” She laughed under her breath and then wrinkled her nose at the thought. “And I don’t need to know what most women think of you, keep those stories to yourself.” She smirked.

She could see that he seemed happy and his smile was infectious. She hooked her arm though his and leaned on the carved, wooden railing to watch as the horizon came toward them.

“Well.. here goes..” she sighed producing an ornate flask of rum and taking a swig before passing it to him with a grin.