Sailing Away (Everyone)

Glen follows Ka'Ri into the captain's quarters and examines the map carefully, trying to commit it to memory as much as he can. He waits and listens for Bruiser's answer to Ka'Ri's question, quietly studying the map while they talk.

"Um. Yes?" Sithani's face falls. "Is it not working?"

She hesitates, her own face falling. "I like you," she confesses. "A lot. I want to spend time with you. But, um. I'm not flirting back. I... thought it was only fair to let you know."

Bruiser leans against the table, looking down at the map with open amusement. "If you want current conditions: I can't. Been moored for too long. Pretty boy here said you needed someone who knows where Korogur berths his ship. That I do know. But I can't put it on your map; never had a head for drawing. I'll know when we get to the sea caves which way to go by sight and landmarks. Hope that's not a problem."

Ka'Ri smiles back. "Ah good," she replies, "that'll be better anyways. So, the trick will be finding the right approach."

She then looks over at Glen's face scrunched up in concentration as he looks at the map. "Ah, Glen, I appreciate the effort to help, but it's worth warning you that this map is about as real as a nob's promise. No point committing to memory something that's about 20% falsehood. We'll be relying a lot on currents, winds, and the guidance of your new friend here."

"Oh." Sithani is quiet for a few moments. "At least we still like each other though! That's not a bad outcome of this conversation. Er... just to clarify, because I know it's not always the same... are you not flirting back sex-wise, romance-wise, or both? Just so I know how to adjust my expectations."

Glen, still looking down at the map, flushes without looking up as Bruiser calls him 'pretty boy' - ordinarily he would look around, wondering to whom Bruiser is referring, but he has been around the pirate enough to know at this point. He does look up, though, when Ka'Ri tells him he's wasting his time. "Ah, alright. Makes sense. I'm sure Bruiser will get us there in one piece." He grins, both a Ka'Ri and at Bruiser. "Anything else? If we've shoved off, don't you both need to be out there... navigating, or something?" He looks befuddled by the ship and its operations. "I mean. I don't know much about the workings of ships, but having our guide and the captain inside seems... inadvisable?" He's mostly kidding, but he also doesn't know if they're somehow in danger without folks on the lookout.

Ka'Ri nods and opens the door for the two of them, taking the opportunity to smile shyly at Thimb on her way out. Once the immediate danger was over, she'd have to take her up on her date offer... which hopefully Hamish could help her out on a good itinerary... or Jarek.

She shook herself out of the daydream and made her way back to the deck, surveying the conditions and work and stepping in to help where necessary bringing down the sails for the open sea.

"Jarek, I could use a hand with adjusting these ropes," she called to Jarek knowing how awkward it can feel to have nothing to do on a ride and also how much stronger he was than her and probably most of the crew on board.

"And Thimb, let me know if you'd like to learn any of the ropes. I'd be happy to teach or show you anything you'd like," she said with a small, private, and probably innocent smile.

Glen tries to find an out-of-the-way spot on the deck where he can keep an eye out for danger. He sets his bow and quiver down beside him - not wanting to have weapon in hand should they come across other vessels, but still wanting to have it nearby - and settles in for the ride.

"I like rope," said Thimb mildly, oblivious to what she had just said. She then perked up, "I'm also not completely hopeless on a ship! I don't know the names of things, admittedly- but I am a Riptide! And I was told I at least need to know how to pull my own weight on a ship or I'd be disowned," she said it cheerfully, because she had never fully believed they would disown her should she fail to master the basics, but.... it had been a thing she heard early on in life with distressing frequency.

"I..." She pauses and blinks. "I don't know. I don't... I know that I'm not interested in sex?" She blushes slightly but soldiers on. "I never really thought about romance independent of that, but you're right that it's not the same thing. It sounds nice? But I'm, um." She clears her throat and lowers her voice. "I'm sort of... I'm not making this public yet? But I'm not, well..." She fumbles, swallows, and looks down. "I'm engaged," she blurts out quietly.

Sithani keeps her voice low to match Sunrise. "Well that's news. Congratulations, I guess? Is that appropriate?"

"Well then," Ka'Ri smiles sweetly but with a playful smirk. "Want to help knot me up... er, I mean, knot up my sails...?"

She then begins blushing furiously at her accidental entendre.

"Yeah, it..." She colors, smiling. "It was really sudden and unexpected? But i-it's good. It's very good, actually. Congratulations are appropriate, yes."

Sithani smiles back. "Then congratulations again. Can I ask who he is? Oh! And are we still on for the orkish-halfling fusion band performance?"

"Yes," Sunrise says fervently. "I mean. As long as you still want to, yes!"

Then her eyes dance for a moment. "Like I said. We're keeping it quiet for a moment. But between you and me?" Leaning forward, she whispers a name into Sithani's ear.

"Well, I can see the potential advantages for your interests you got engaged to who now?" The reality of the answer seems to have suddenly caught up with Sithani's initial social calculations. She puts her hand to her mouth to block any lip-readers on deck and mouths the name back at Sunrise. Regaining some self-possession she telepathically asks, <And it's not just the obvious advantages? Not that I'm meaning to insult your taste, I'm sure you've made a good decision, it just... it's kind of surprising? Shit, you can't answer me in silence, can you?> Running a hand through her hair she adds, "Okay, uh, we'll... can we talk about this some time when we're not whispering? Because, I mean, my favourite person apparently likes me a lot and also that is some prime gossip that I'm not actually going to gossip about but you have to tell me all about it later, okay? And, uh, wow. This turned out to be a surprising conversation."

Thimb, sweet, gentle, oblivious Thimb, did not notice the slip, and smiled benignly as she went over, "Sure! For obvious reasons I should be working on things down here though," she said grabbing a near by rope that put her at about waist height with Ka'Ri.

Hamish, from atop Elen, nearly asked the panther what his thoughts on locking a pair of people in a room together so they would just bang already were, but then remembered that despite his size Elen was just a baby and so only wondered to themself. Maybe Jarek would help. This was getting unreasonable.

Sunrise bites her lip and hides a grin. "I'll fill you in on everything," she promises in a low voice. "And no, it's not because of any advantages!"

"Excellent! And I'm glad you're apparently going to enjoy it!" Pitching her voice back to normal conversational volume, Sithani asks, "Shall we get back to the group now?"

On a good day with clear skies and a fair wind, it takes a full day to travel from the city docks to the southern sea caves. The last rays of the sun dip below the horizon as they approach, every shadow on the ship lengthening to swallow the deck and her inhabitants. They approach with deliberate slowness, letting the light fade behind them.

A small ship, unmarked save for her unremarkable port designations, faces danger approaching the illicit caves. On the one hand, she is easy prey for the pirates which are known to nest there. On the other, since the city knows pirates nest there, she might be bait. Either way, she will be watched and she may be challenged. Easier, therefore, to approach the caves at night and slip inside without being seen. Of course, there is the ever-present danger that the crew they hired might themselves be pirates waiting to turn on them and signal to their mates to descend upon them with all haste. For all these reasons, the atmosphere on the ship is tense and silent as they use the watery light of the moon to guide them into the dark maze.

Bruiser sits at the prow, holding an unlit ship's lantern in his hands. When the ship passes over the threshold of the caves and is no longer a sitting duck out on open waters, he lights the lantern and eases it down the front of the prow to light their way so they will not collide with any obstacles or run into a cave wall. Outlined beautifully in the golden light, he peers ahead into the darkness as Ka'Ri steers the ship. The crew quickly takes down most of the sails; though there is a strong breeze in the caves, most of their propulsion will be with oars from here on. Every few minutes, Bruiser raises his hand--outlined by the thin light--and makes a motion for Ka'Ri to turn or otherwise adjust their heading.

As much as possible, the crew is as silent as a pin.

Glen is restless during the journey. He eventually takes a spot up by Bruiser, both to keep an eye for trouble ahead and to be close to the healer in case something goes wrong. Elen sits silent and vigilant beside them.

Perception 16

Ka'Ri can't help developing a smile as she silently steers, following Bruiser's direction. She feels fully in her element and she can feel the excitement thrumming through her.

<It's quiet,> Sithani telepathically projects to her friends. <Too quiet. Always wanted to say that.>

People always seemed to expect Thimb to not be good at silence, what with her habitual rambling and all. There were however three easy tricks to keeping her quiet.

The first, and one she took care of herself, was food. If anyone doubted she hadn't stopped by the bakery and bought so much she had to make Jarek carry some of it they were fools. Snacks for all. The party, and crew members who's names she hadn't quite gotten, this Bruiser guy, maybe some tritons they passed on the sea if they liked muffins! Snacks. Can't talk with your mouth full after all.

The second was to keep her busy, which Ka'Ri had been doing as she scurried about the ship, looking to help when and where she could. She could hold her own but she was by no stretch of the imagination any stripe of sailor.

And the third was books. She had been able to help before, and glad to, but unlike the others she couldn't see in the dark, and lights were discouraged right now. So she sat with Hamish perched on her shoulder (They could see and told her about some of the nice rocks they saw) eating a muffin with more anxiety than muffin eating usually merited. She did smile a little at Sithani getting to say the thing, but knew she couldn't respond and took another chomp of muffin to keep herself from doing so.