"Oh for the love of..." She sighs. "Alright, let's get down to it then..."
Mal leans forward intently, green eyes leveling on the girl to add weight. "Let me be clear, Sasha. I have no intention of hurting or disgracing Ellie. Whatever it is you have in your head that we may or may not do will. Not. Happen."
With that said, he goes back to finishing his steak, "Also, good call on this place. This steak is good. Ellie, would you like to try a bite?"
"Whaaa?" Sasha looks genuinely confused by Andre's assertion.
"Why would I want to hurt Ellie, we're friends. Besides," she says reaching out to squeeze her hand, "she's cute. I was hoping she'd want to join in."
Closing her eyes, Sasha holds up her right hand and says, "I swear on my right pinky, I always respect a safeword!"
After the moment of solemnity has passed, Sasha sighs and leans back in her chair, looking out at the reflections of the red full moon on the rippling sea. "You know, I never realized having friends would be this serious, but I'm glad that you guys like this place. I always try my best not to get thrown out of here so let's make sure we tip well. Did you save any room for dessert, El? Theeey've. Gooot. Choooclate. Caaa-aaake!"
The bad thing is, you're really not sure what's worse. The fact that Sasha seems to be genuine, or that she thinks that her words were reassuring. In any event, for the remainder of your dining experience, she's a good bit more demure, although at least once or twice Lureene realizes that someone is playing footsie with her and that it's not Mal.
Sense Motive Checks:
Ellie nods at her 'husband', "Sure, I would love a bite..." said without much enthusiasm, as she was not really a meat-eater. However she had to admit the meat was exquisitely tender. She ended up eating more than she thought she would.
On the outburst from Mal, she lays a hand on his own, "Now, hun, you know Sasha is just playing around with you." She giggles, "Remember how I was, when you first met me??!"
On the announcement of what is for dessert, she swoons, "I want thirds, I just hope the staff here doesn't sing any silly songs when they serve it!"
Mal does his best to smile politely as Lureene eats more than he would have liked, "I'm glad you like it, Ellie." As she politely chastises him for his words to Sasha, his tone turns serious again, "Well, Ellie, playing or not, I just don't like minced words and unsaid meanings to go un-clarified. I'd rather things be understood… and they are now."
Mal finishes his food but declines the dessert. Give me a good piece of meat any day… that waify sweet stuff isn't even all that good.
When the server asks if they want anything else, though, he does order a steak just like he had, but this time to go... which he will promptly unwrap and give to Talvyra when they leave.
"Silly songs?" Sasha c0cks her head to the side, "Oh, well it is Lansday I guess, isn't it..."
She waves her hand to flag down your waitress and calls out, "Chocolate cake pleeeeaaaase! And no singing!"
The waitress gives Sasha a confused look for a moment before nodding energetically. She clears away the plates that are ready to go, notes Andre's to-go order, and returns a few minutes later. With a smile, she sets down three forks and a sizable slab of devil's food drizzled with raspberry syrup and a garnish of mint leaves on one side. Atop the cake, are a number of lit candles arrayed like the stars in The Sailing Ship (the current sign in the zodiac).
Sasha looks genuinely surprised and bursts out, "Oh wow! Happy birthday Ellie!"
As the waitress walks away, leaving you to your celebration, Sasha leans over and whispers, "I wonder how they knew..."
Upon seeing that Andre has declined to have any of his wife's birthday cake, Sasha shakes a finger at him disapprovingly, speaking with her mouth full "Doan chew know ish bad mannaws nad to haff a lease wu bite ov somewush birffda caak?"
Mal mutters, "And here I thought I was saving more for her." He looks at her with a dry stare, "I mean, apparently she's eating for two, right?"
"Andre..." Sasha rolls her eyes at him, "it's bigger than her head!"
Without brooking anymore arguments, she take the extra fork, carves off a small piece of cake, impales it on the tines and offers it to him as if it were a rose. "Honestly El, they can be big as bear and twice as tough, but men are such babies sometimes!"
Ellie smiles at her ‘husband’, ”Ohhhh, sweetie, this is such a surprise!” She cooes at him. ”Just a teensey bite, sweetie, its SOOO good!”
"Hmm..." Alis sits cross-legged on the bed, a small pile of books beside her. "Well, from what I'm seeing, it should be possible for a being with any degree of fiendish blood in their veins to produce offspring with a human or another being with fiendish heritage. Listen to this..."
"Common wisdom has it that a fiend who mates with a mortal produces a half-fiend," that would be El, and a half-fiend who mates with a mortal produces a... tea fling. Am I pronouncing that right? Tea-Fling? Anyway, Tiefling conception is not quite so rigid, however. 'Tiefling' merely implies a creature bearing less than half fiendish blood... Blah, blah, blah... Ah ok! Two tieflings also produce tiefling young, though the pairing of a tiefling and a mortal is just as likely to produce a human as another tiefling. Now this is interesting... Even a full fiend and a mortal do not necessarily produce a half-fiend, as the fiend's dark seed may not full take — the unfathomable and often chaotic laws of the lower planes prove difficult to predict, and nothing is ever vertain where such magic is involved."
She claps the book shut and says, "So by that account, it looks like someone like, uh... El should have no problem at all getting knocked-up much less having a kid. But... another book I read here says..."
"Women who suspect they might be carrying a tiefling can have a difficult time determining the truth. Divination magic is notoriously unreliable when it comes to the unbo– Oh, that part is about determining if the baby you already know you're carrying is a tiefling or normal. That's a step ahead of what we care about. Now, listen to this...[/b] Tiefling babies, even unborn, possess other resistances as well. Traditional contraceptives seem less effective against outsiders. herbs and drugs used to induce miscarriages often fail to work. Spells require an experienced and powerful cleric in order to take effect. Expectant mothers also rarely survive more drastic methods of inducing a miscarriage... dah, dah, dah... In truth, fiends have no more desire to bear tiefling children than mortal women do. Gestation periods tend to be quicker for fiends, however, and they sometimes see the utility in having a tiefling child in the mortal world to act as a spy and informant. doot, de, doot... Birthing a tiefling baby is unexpected for some women, and traumatic for almost all. Soon after birth, however, a mother realizes that bearing this child was the easiest part. The real challenge lies ahead."
"Alright, so if she was pregnant, then not only would it be damn near impossible for her to lose the baby, but it should be possible to tell that she's carrying by now since tieflings develop faster than normal. Speaking of which, do we even know how old she is for certain? I know she's a lot younger than she looks."
Alis falls back on the bed, arms behind her head as she gazes up at the mirror on the ceiling. "You know... That bit about fiends bearing children into this world to act as spies? From all the pleasant things she has to say about dear old mom, that wouldn't surprise me. El also said that her mom told her she'd never have to worry about having kids. It could be that she's got some kind of a curse on her."
"Don't get me wrong, even if she gives the rest of us blondes a bad name sometimes, she's still sweet and I love her but... I get the impression, whether by choice or coercion, that El's lain with a lot of men. That make me think either: A. She can decide when she wants to be fertile or not, just like a mammal that enters estrus only when aroused. B. She's barren or still too young to conceive. C. Some outside force is or has interfered with her ability to conceive."
Lisa uncrosses her legs and springs back to her feet much more nimbly than a woman of her age should be able to. "Do you see anything I'm overlooking... Sarah?"
Priyya puts down her own book, hesitantly, an engrossing treatise on demon birth. "I can only think of one other possibility: her fertile periods are at incredibly rare and odd times - like plants that only bloom once. I wouldn't bet on that, but it is possible. I'm rather surprised her mother never spoke with her about this. Given their sexual nature, you would think this would be one of the first conversations they'd have." Priyya rolls off the bed and puts the volume she was reading away.
"I have only two other things to say..." She looks sourly at the bed, mirrors, and accoutrement. "The furnishings of this house of worship leave much to be desired... AND," she gives Alis a feral grin, "As her sponsor, how exactly are you going to tell Ellie what we discovered? Sucks to be you." Priyya is beside herself with amusement, perhaps the drugs haven't worn off fully.
"Well, that's assuming her mother was actually a succubus and not 'something else'. She hasn't really talked about her a whole lot, but from that vision she had after the incident at the playhouse, I get the impression El's mother is a lot scarier-looking than some soft, pliant plaything. And yeees, you crazy old bat," Alis sticks out her tongue at Priyya's continued goofiness, "I'll talk with her about it, but I should probably do a reading or two first. In any event, this has no bearing pun intended on her costume. She made that bed and she's going to have to lie in it."
"Speaking of which," she hops up and down on the mattress a bit and nods knowingly, "there's a reason the beds are so firm. They don't really expect the ah– worshipers to really be getting a lot of sleep while the priestesses perform their missionary duties."
She hops to her feet and looks expectantly at the giddy old black woman, "Ready to go get some dinner? I'd imagine you're ready to eat a sacred cow at this point, aren't you?"
"I could definitely eat but don't you have your half-pint guest to entertain? I wouldn't want to ruin your BIG date with my old lady crotchetiness."
"Huh– Oh! I completely forgot! Well you'll just have to get over it... or not. After all, it would be inappropriate for a dignified and married woman such as myself be left unsupervised after dark with a man other than her husband."
She winks and holds out a hand to help you back to your feet. "In otherwords, you're not getting off that easy, Sarah!"
Sarah accepts the inevitable with little grace. "Fine. But if he starts calling me a cougar again, cover or no, I'm popping him right in the mouth. There is only so much mockery Sister Sarah Udas will tolerate."
"Fair enough. I'd prefer that outcome to seeing him crushed to death by falling boulders anyway. I wonder if he's scratching much right now... Anyway," she laughs, heading towards the exit with you, "I procured some healing supplies while you were out so we should be good-to-go."
On your way out, you are not entirely surprised to see that a number of sailors from the White Pearl have decided to offer... tithes at the House of Lyria. A few of them seem surprised to see Lisa and Sarah leaving together, but the ill-advised cat-calls of one man are swiftly silenced by the crack of a whip and a high-pitched admonishment from a girl half the man's size.
By the time Priyya and Alis reach the ship, Sasha, Mal, and Lureene have long since finished dinner. They find Gelik just beginning to wander down the boarding ramp when they arrive.
"Ah, I thought perhaps you had forgotten your way. I was just heading out to let you know we are staying in port tonight. Something about a red moon making the sailors randy or some nonsense. In any event, our good Captain seems to be getting along famously with our newest passenger. It's like my father always said, 'Gellik, son, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for!' Ah... well then shall we be off? Your daughter and that decidedly not quiet woman sang high praises of an establishment call the Gran Marlin. Sounds a bit fishy to me, but their tale has lured me in so-to-speak!"
Sarah casts a flinty eye on the gnome, "Keep talking like that and you'll be in for some punishment of your own."
Alis winks, "Now, now, no need to be short tempered, Sarah."
Gelik gives a good natured laugh and hops about with his dukes up pretending to take offense.
"It will be just a moment longer, fine sir. Sarah has a patient she needs to tend to and then we'll be on our way."
She then reaches into her bodice and removes a small, ornate vial containing a pale liquid that seems to glow with its own inner light. Before Gelik can make another joke, Alis preempts him, "No suppositions about the source or composition of that vial's contents or you'll be nursing a black eye!"
Gelik snaps his fingers in defeat. "Damn, breasted er– bested again!"
Sarah takes the vial with thanks and heads off to check on her patient.
Priyya leaves Aerys' room marveling at the efficacy of the potion Alis was able to obtain. From fever and shakes to smiling and sleeping peacefully in just a few moments. Incredible. Priyya gives a small sigh of satisfaction and heads back on deck determined to be a pleasant dining companion as a small repayment for Alis' generosity. As long as I don't beat the gnome senseless, it'll all be OK.
After relieving Aerys of her increasingly delirious state, and receiving a powerful hug of gratitude that no words could express, 'Sarah' rejoins 'Lisa' and the comedically-inclined Gelik. Following the sound of singing and town-members who did not arrive on the White Pearl, the trio soon find themselves dining in a U-shaped booth at the Gran Marlin Café in full view of a stage adjacent to the bar where local bards and other entertainers take turns giving performances to the applause or laughter of those assembled.
The evening starts off with a rather mediocre comedian and a lackluster guitarist who noticeably dampen the festive atmosphere in the place. When other performers seem reluctant to get up in front of what has become a rather inhospitable crowd, Alis decides to stir things up with a great performance of festive sea chantey that gets the establishment hopping again.
The poor mime who attempts to follow her quickly gets booed off the stage and Gelik is quick follow with an enjoyable comedy routine mocking religious and political trends in the world at large. The crowd, now favoring more lively performances, blows off a young fop attempting to recite rather poor poetry to a rather embarrassed lady in the audience.
Mercifully, one of the girls from the House of Lyria takes the stage next. While her performance is sensual, it would be a stretch to call it lewd. Even so, while it is enjoyable and skillful, it proves a bit too artistic to really get the crowd going.
What follows however is a memorable performance by a travelling string quartet hailing from Anzio, Malatesta. In fact, you are certain that you recognize their performance as one of the pieces from the second half of The Black Halo — the interrupted play you beheld back in Valehaven!
In the silence following their bold performance, a brave yet talent illusionist puts on a surprisingly good show in spite of the tough act he just followed. Finally, a vocalist playing a guitar, who shows talent but is a bit too nervous to perform well, stoically finishes an original work to muted applause.
At the end, the proprietors of the establishment, a grey-haired old gentleman and nigh scandalously younger wife, propose a 'show-off' amongst the evening's top performers! To the applause of the bar, the call 'Lisa', Gelik, the Illusionist, and the members of the quartet up to perform again.
Surprised, but not wanting to disappoint, the illusionist agrees and is relieved when he draws the longest straw. He chooses to go first. While his encore performance is certainly enjoyable, having already used many of his better spells and now being forced to improvise, it lacks much of the impact of his earlier showing.
Having drawn the next longest straw, Gelik begs off, claiming he's eaten too well and drank too much. Alis and Priyya share a knowing glance — evidently the gnome knows to quit while he's ahead. Alis however, knowing no such caution, refuses to back down. Cocky until the end, she 'allows' the string quartet to play ahead of her, much to their surprise.
The four musicians don't show the cocky older woman an ounce of quarter. The performance they put is so bombastic and powerful that it can be heard from the House of Lyria all the way to the White Pearl. By the time they are done, the crowd is blown away and it is only when Alis begins to clap that the rest of the patrons join in. The leader of the troupe, a distinguished looking man of about 40 casts a challenging gaze in Alis' direction, daring her to top them.
Back against the wall, Alis chooses to do something expectedly unexpected. She 'casts a spell' on herself that makes 'Lisa' appear how she must have when she was younger (i.e. she adjusts her hairpin), and requests to borrow the guitar of the second performer, who eagerly agrees. With a wink and a blaring strum on the instrument, she has hops up on stage singing and playing a raucous, bawdy, and totally shameless piece on what a Bad Influence she was back in her prime. However she doesn't stay there for long. Instead she struts and dances about the Gran Marlin, flirting with patrons, her instrument giving off a far greater volume of sound than should be possible for such an average instrument.
While the song and performance are too full of reckless abandon to match the finely honed polish of the prior performance, taking the complete opposite tack sets the whole bar to partying. A broad smile never leaves the bartender's face knowing that he'll have done well for himself tonight. At the end, she leans over to Gelik and cries out in the girliest voice she can manage, "You're too tired? You're not too tired!"
After the manic cheers of the audience finally die down, 'Lisa' and the leader of the quartet lock gazes. The older man's eyes steely while the incorrigible vixen's are playful. Light as a feather, she floats over to him and whispers something in his ear that renders a look of surprise on his face. After conferring with his troupe, the man nods and shakes Alis' hand who quickly runs over and whispers to the illusionist.
The four retake the stage, and with some help from the illusionist who in turn nods his head with excitement. Alis claps her hands excitedly just before complete darkness envelops the restaurant. As voices murmur over the odd development, a gentle light surrounds the quartet begin playing a tune that Priyya recognizes as the same piece performed during the intermission of The Black Halo — Le Fleurs du Mal. Clear as a clarion, Alis' voice calls out from the rafters and she floats gently down to the stage, her outfit and appearance altered once again to appear like an angel descending from Heaven...
All the way back to the ship and for days following, Gelik boasts and brags on Lisa's behalf to all who will listen (and many who would prefer not to), on the operatic diva who has been hiding in their midst! For her part, Sarah was rather satisfied that she got to be entertained whilst enjoying splendid fare without having to engage in needless conversation...
"Weigh anchor an' hoist tha mizzen!"
You wake to Captain Kovack's booming voice and the sound of activity on the deck above you. Before you can even clear the fog of the past night from your skull, the crew has cast off the mooring lines and White Pearl is underway, sailing into the sunrise and the increasingly strong currents generated by the maelstrom hundreds of miles to the south east at the heart of the Silver Sea.
Given how early it is and how late many of you were up, most of you simply pull the covers over your heads and roll over. However, between the increasingly tropical weather, and an incessant knocking at the door to your cabin, all thoughts of sleep are soon left behind.
Who is knocking at this hour?!
Lureene yawns and puts her arm over her eyes, trying to recapture her dream. Ohhhh...it was sooo nice... Unfortunately, this proved to be impossible as the knocking grows in urgency.
She sighs and hops out of her bunk, grabbing her blue silk robe to cover up her body. She notes Mal and Priyya starting to stir as well, but Alis seens to be asleep still. Making sure her hairpin was securely fashioned, she moves to the cabin door. Trying to keep the irritation from her voice, she calls out softly, "Who is it?'
"Oh good, you're up! Hey, it's Sasha, can you come out and play?"
Lureene thinks, Figures, she would be an early bird. She opens the cabin door a crack, and replies quietly, "Good morning, Sasha! Just let me get dressed and I will be right out! What is the weather like?" Once Sasha has acknowledged her response, she closes the door, and looks for a suitable outfit from Momma's chest.
She picks a dark blue blouse of sturdy cotton, over a white chemise, along with a pair of black leather pants, tight fitting on her thighs. She spies a pair of black snakeskin boots, useful for navigating on the deck, and slips those on last. Finally, she ties her black hair back in her usual ponytail.
Once finished, she slips out of the cabin, allowing the others extra time to sleep in, and sees what mischief Sasha can stir up.
"Good morning, Sasha! Just let me get dressed and I will be right out! What is the weather like?"
"Dressed? Oh, good idea! Um... I think it's hot and wet with a chance of sea serpents or something. Be right back."
While still getting dressed, Lureene can't help but notice that the black leather pants she slips into seem to have a rather tight waistband. Looking in a full-length mirror, she notices that she's starting to get a bit of a bulge not far below her belly-button.
While in the middle of pondering this development, the knocking at the door resumes with renewed fervor. From the hammock next to her, Lureene hears a low growl and realize it is Alis', "Ellie May Bambiano... if you don't get her to quit making all that noise, your friend is going to be missing more than just her wits and her pinky. And you better not rip my pants..."
When Lureene finally makes it out the door, she finds Sasha waiting, dressed in what looks like a skin-tight black cat-suit over which she's wearing a close-fitting shirt of fine mithril links that she's hacked the arms and midriff off of. In her hand, she's holding her sheathed rapier.
"Oh, that's a cute outfit, can you move OK in it? Anyway, do you have a rapier or a sword you can borrow? Since your hubby always seems so worried about you getting hurt, I figured someone like saaay ME should show you how to not get hurt!"
Priyya snorts her laughter from beneath her covers. Being a servant of Alita, she's been up for some hours, reading in the dark.
Lureene wonders briefly about her sudden weight gain. As she realizes what it portends, she feels a sense of excitement mixed with dread. She has no time to dwell on it, as Sasha is asking her about having a weapon to take care of herself.
Remembering Alis' admonition to keep her spellcasting a secret, and also her new rapier is quite recognizeable as a weapon from Ilmarond, she decides to play dumb. She is able to find her old rapier, the one which she had carried all the way with her from her time in Kaledun in one of her other chests.
She follows Sasha out to the main deck, and speaks excitedly, "Sasha, I think that would be a wonderful idea! Andre is always worried about all sorts of unsavory people out there waiting to take advantage of a poor girl like me, and I know Momma won't be able to protect me forever." She shows Sasha the rapier and asks, "Do you have time to show me how to defend myself?"
She nods excitedly. "You bet, come on!"
Sasha walks a few feet away then stops and says, "Oh, right..."
Setting her rapier atop one of the crates, she bends over and reaches up to grab the back of the chain shirt. Bouncing a bit gets it to start sliding and in a single move, she whips it off over he head, catching it by the cuffs of the arms and flipping it inside out.
"Here, put your arms out and duck your head down..."
When 'Ellie' does so, Sasha gives her hands into the sleeve and then tucks her head thru the neck opening, but when she goes to stand up, the shirt gest hung-up on the curvy brunette's bust.
"Um," she raises an eyebrow and grabs you as if trying to size up fruit, "did you get bigger or something? I'd have sworn to Invidia this would fit better."
She sighs, shoulders slumping a bit, "Hold oooon..."
The slender red head kneels on the ground in front of you and with one hand pulling on the front of the shirt, she uses the other to tuck your breasts up into it until the mail is finally able to drape down, reaching nearly to your knees.
"Well, at least it fits over your hips. Can you move ok? The length isn't restricting your movement, is it?"
To illustrate, she gets into a wide-legged stance and squats down. When you imitate her, she puts a hand out indicating you should hold that position and then grabs your hips, shifting you around and checking to ensure there's enough slack for you to move. Finally satisfied, she says, "OK good, was starting to think I'd have to truss you like a gazelle. C'mon, let's go!"
With that, the lithe woman kicks her rapier up into her hand and takes off running for the stairs leading top-side.
Lureene follows up the stairs to the top deck, albeit slower than she is accustomed to. She had not worn metal armor before, always preferring the more comfortable feel of leather on her skin. Not for the first time, she regretted selling the armor Chivane had worn. That had fit her sooooo well, unlike this shirt. She also knew this would likely interfere with any spellcasting she would need to do. Well, she would just have to not cast spells, for now.
"Wait for me!"
Theme: El of the Tiger
For the bulk of the day, Sasha works Lureene over like a red-headed step-child executing trips, bullrushes, feints, and more. A few times, you wonder if Lureene is actually getting molesting, although Alis assures you that 'Ellie' is fine.
They do stop a couple times to eat, but only ever briefly and mostly to get their fluids back.
After lunch, the range of their movements expand and Sasha has Lureene trying to move past her without leaving herself open. Although you initially wondered if this was some sort of sadistic game, by the end of the day, you do notice that Lureene has gotten a good bit better at keeping her feet and evading the edge of Sasha's padding-wrapped blade.
At the end of the day, both of you drenches in sweat, Sasha lunges for Ellie with her arms open to give her a big hug and the shorter woman manages to duck out of the way. "Ah haha! That's good! See, I knew you weren't hopeless! C'mon we're soaked, let's go get out of these stinky clothes!"
Theme: Amazin'
Meanwhile, in between Lureenes shouts and grunts, Priyya notices that Aerys is back in action and handling the sheets with aplomb, easily doing the work of two men. The speed with which she reacts to the First Mate Dever's orders tells you that she's already anticipating what needs to be done and simply waiting on the word to do so.
Once or twice, she looks down to see 'Sarah' reading the epic she's been authoring over the past few years, and she breaks singing poetry that Priyya recognizes from the story. At one point, she swings by and gives Sarah a squeeze on the arm, dropping her surly facade a moment to give the old nurse a warm smile.
"I feel like a new woman thanks to you. I'll never forget what you've done for me!"
Priyya taps Alis' foot inconspicuously and casts her eyes toward Aerys at the lines, trying to get Alis to watch how well the girl works.
'Sarah' nods and smiles at Aerys' thanks, embarrassed more than anything else. "Off with you now! Sweet-talkin' old ladies isn't a job for the young. Besides, you've given me something to read, that's thanks enough."
Inside, Priyya is emotionally churning. Thankfully, she is quite adept at smothering her Aasimar aura and locking down her emotions.
Lureene smiles at her new friend. Truly, it has been a long time since she has made a new friend, well except for Alis and Alexis. She thought of them as more like sisters. She notices Priyya talking to Aerys, and suddenly realizes that below her iron exterior, she also is a wonam who she counts as a true friend. Her childhood had not really lent itself to forming close relationships, to say the least.
She also thought both Andre and Sarah would approve of her new training as well, since spellcasters were favorite targets for enemy melee combatants. She knew Darfar was far from safe.
"I think that is a wonderful idea, Sasha. I just hope I can find something else that still fits, ha ha!" she laughs.
Alis nods at Priyya's nudging. "She's a natural, there's no doubt about it! I wonder how she'd do at relaying orders to an entire crew..."
Looking back from her musings, she asks, "By the way, what are you reading there? You haven't been able to take your nose out of it until since you started!"
Below deck, Mal hears the giggling of Sasha and Lureene out in the hallway. A door opens not far away and then closes muting their voices. With all the women having gone top-side early today, he had the good fortune of being able to concentrate fully on his crafting without interruption.
He had yet to actually ask Priyya or Alis what they got up to last night, but even he could tell that they were in high spirits. At least he could trust Priyya to take care of things in his absence...
Priyya smiles and pats the book. "This is Aerys' other talent. It's a work-in-progress about character and will. It's quite a fine read, surprisingly delicate from a woman with a seemingly coarse exterior... not that I'd know anything about that kind of dichotomy."
Further down the hallway, Sasha pushes open her cabin's porthole and give a sigh of relief when the air starts to freshen up.
"OK," she says, "now bend over at the waist, and lean forward. You're trying to get some slack in the chainmail so you can grab it just above you shoulder blades and pull it forward. Once you get it moving, it'll come right off — well, provided your boobs don't get in the way again. Just watch you don't snag your hair on the links!"
Cognizant of the pin in her hair, Lureene is extra careful and manages to wriggle her way free of the shirt without any trouble. When she stands up, she finds that Sasha has already finished stripping down. You catch a glimpse of a tattoo inked in red covering Sasha's back, however her wavy red tresses are covering most of it. Before you can figure out what it is, she turns around to face you.
"Hey, you did great," she says, giving you a big hug, "I don't suppose you guys have a wash tub in that big cabin of yours, do you? If you do, do you think Andre would mind if we took a bath back there? If the captain would stop the ship we could probably go for a swim, but he seems pretty intense today, don't you think?"
"This is Aerys' other talent. It's a work-in-progress about character and will. It's quite a fine read, surprisingly delicate from a woman with a seemingly coarse exterior... not that I'd know anything about that kind of dichotomy."
"Oh yes, nothing at all," she winks, "and I just learned how to play the guitar day before tomorrow."
She watches with amusement as 'Ellie' and Sasha scamper off below deck. "No running, you two, you'll knock someone over! Don't forget to soak your feet in some of my bath salts dear, they're liable to be tender after all that fancy footwork..."
Priyya who is Sarah watches the two young women scamper off below decks. She says quietly, both to herself and Lisa, "I worry about that girl."
It isn't clear to which girl she is referring.
"Yes, Momma!"
Lureene realizes Mal is busy at work doing his crafting, and would prefer not to be interrupted. Still, she should be able to get the washtub out of there without interrupting her 'husband'.
She knocks quietly on the door in the prearranged signal, and when his voice echoes, "Who is it?", she responds, "It's me, sweetie, may I come in? I won't be long." Once the door opens, she slides in and notices he has already resumed his crafting work.
Silently blowing him a kiss, she moves quietly to the bunk, and pulls the washtub out from underneath Alis' chest, trying not to disturb him any further. Also, she pulls some bath salts from Momma's private stash. Unfortunately she noticed him jerk in surprise when she scraped the tub against the top of the bunk.
Closing the door behind her, she easily carries the washtub to Sasha's cabin, saying "He is not feeling well today, and just needs some time alone. I am sure he will be OK later."