Thread: Ardent

"You've always been such a smart one..." With that statement she scoffed a little, pulling the smoking stick from her mouth. "Hm.. maybe smart isn't the word. Tactical maybe." Musing on her words she walked beside Cas thinking to herself, I can only imagine how these past years have made that very trait grow stronger.

Taking another drag, Deryn admired the architecture inside the Ardent, reaching out to touch the carvings etched into the moldings. Something about the style tugged on her memory but she couldn't quite recall where she had seen them before. This elf was really taking a liking to this ship, living on it for a while wouldn't be a problem for her at all. "It just dawned on me, now that I've got you... you can give me a better run down on all the dirt I need to know, hmm?" Certainly Cas would know some things that not even the shadiest taverns of Cann wouldn't.

It wasn't long before they came upon the dining room, it was smaller than she had imagined but maybe it was for the purpose of forcing closeness with the crew. In her eyes a crew was much like a family, and the best way to work together is to have that closeness. Oddly enough; Deryn didn't mind closeness... and could easily win over a crowd if she so pleased but she'd want to play things differently here, find out what Cas has to say and then work with that. "Oh, and any way you can get me a seat at the Captains table?"

The unusual pair moved down the hallway, the shorter of the two scoffing at the offhand compliment. "And you're a very good pilot, apparently. Maybe you can teach Aerodar a thing or two." With a sidelong glance at her old friend, Cas took a moment to stop and marvel at how easy it was to fall back into her old self. Even with Fortinbras, or Aleta, idle chatter was rare. With that thought, the elf's eyes softened. She'd missed the ship, yes, and Fort especially. Aleta, yes, but even the others...infuriate her they might, yes, but...

Cas took a long drag outside the dining room, licked her fingers, and snuffed out the glowing tip of her joint. Exhaled. She glanced at Deryn as they entered, leaned over, and said a little more quietly: "Might want to put it out." Cas was quick to flick her own into a nearby ashtray. She wasn't sure yet whether or not she'd mind the captain or any others seeing her with it--it wasn't as if it was against some rule. She worried the captain might think her a hypocrite, perhaps--she did after all still wish him off the damned things even as she took it for herself--or that she was less than at her best. Regardless, Cas had little plans of smoking much of the stuff: she'd needed it these past two years.

Now, at best? Maybe as an occasional treat. "Sometime, maybe. We'll see."

The dining room was as of yet mostly empty--the first shift crew was busy with their work, her own second shift still getting settled. A few shipmates whose names she had either not bothered to remember or whose faces she did not know lingered here, laughing amongst themselves over a pint or two.

Cas shook her head at Deryn's request as she took her own, uninvited seat beside the captain's own. As it had always been. "Just sit," she said with a vague wave of her hand and leaned back in her chair, half-content and wrapped in the familiar lingering sugar-sweet scent. She smiled and plucked a strawberry from the center of the table, and then another--ah, the perks of arriving early.

Cain had been the easy one to meet; now the realization dawned on Alcy that she was about to meet everyone else, having to face the crew on her own. Being young was always treated as an advantage on land, but on a ship it made Alcy quite anxious. Even though Alcy had a spunky demeanor, she never let it show until she was comfortable with someone. Cain had just made himself very easy to talk too, and she sincerely hoped her was going to be at the dinner.

After dropping her stuff off in her room, Alcy saw other crewmembers headed in the same general direction. Assuming that was where dinner was, Alcy followed. The twenty year old gunner was quiet on the walk to dinner, trying to blend in and looking for Cain but not seeing him yet. He must've still been directing the ship. She sighed, knowing that the way luck worked she wasn't going to see him for a while. She'd have to face this one alone. And so, Alcy made her way to the dining room, coming in a moment after two elves, one the short one that was apparently the captain's evil cat. It brought a grin to Alcy's lips, remembering Cain's amusing comment.

She walked in, looking around at the dining hall. No where near the expansive banquet hall she'd been expecting, but this seemed more suited to the way the Ardent's crew lived and worked together. Alcy supposed it was time to get to know her family, though the poor girl had absolutely no idea where to start. There weren't many people in here yet, but Alcy failed to recognize any of them. Lovely.

"You got it." A playful salute was given to Cas before grabbing a chair and promptly swinging it around to sit backward in it. Resting her chest on top of the back of the chair, she wiggled a bit to get exactly comfortable. "I didn't expect this kind of food on the ship, Gregory..." Stopping a second she grabbed a strawberry before elaborating between sweet and juicy bites. "...Gregory was this gorgeous scholar I was boarding with not too long ago, he told me that all I was going to get were eggs and pickles!"

The way she gestured so widely, and laughed with such a jolly smile, you would have never known these two were just at a stand off. It was just like old times, Cas and Deryn could be tussling around in the dirt for hours over bragging rights and before the fight even ended they would stop bloodied up and bruised laughing hysterically not even remembering what they were fighting about in the damn first place! Maybe it was best Deryn hadn't noticed how easily Cas was putting her in a relaxed mood, if thoughts of her family finding out about their chummy attitude snuck into her brain it would just ruin the evening.

Looking over that big bowl of berries once more she scanned it for the fattest of the lot, snatching it up quickly and pressing it to her lips. Something seemed to distract Cas from the delightful snacks, intrigue turned Deryn's neck to face the direction of her stare in time to meet the looks of a well shaped female entering the room. In a hushed voice she leaned over to her friend, bringing the berry away from her lips to speak, "Ey, look at those lost doe eyes hm? You gonna show mercy or unsheathe those claws of yours?" A low snicker erupted from her, examining the girl from afar. It was obvious she was a new addition to the crew, much like Deryn... bringing about sympathy for her. "I really don't want to see her get snatched up by some dirty old man and have to suffer through that all evening."

Cas glanced at her unexpected companion with something less than approval at the way she bandied about compliments and insinuations regarding this man. By the way Deryn spoke, somehow she doubted the man was anything other than human. "Only on the first night..." she began, watching Deryn bite into her strawberry. "And sorry, boarding with?" she finished with a somewhat colder edge to her voice.

The eyes in question belonged to the girl she'd seen Cain chatting up earlier. Eyelids drooped just enough to narrow her gaze, a slow smile clawing its way up her face. Glancing at her old friend, she smiled.

"Regardez-moi."

It was, indeed, an especially rare treat that stood before them. Lost doe eyes, indeed. The Ardent was not the sort of ship that was likely to carry many of her type. Their scientific financier two years ago had been a rare treat, one Cas had been sure to take advantage of. Her cat's smile grew at the memory of the boy-man tumbling around in heels and gods knew what else. Grew a little wider than most on the ship would find a comfortable sight.

She smiled, motioning for the girl to come closer and raising her voice if she did not. "Come here, girl. What's your name?" Girl was something of an...overstatement. The 'girl' was likely over twice Cas' own age.

The way the two elves had looked her over was quite disconcerting, especially the way Cas gave her a grin that held very foreboding news. When someone wanted to make friends they smiled, when they wanted to find a toy, they smirked. But. Alcy needed to make friends, and she supposed the best way to remain safe from Cas's apparent claws was to be friendly with her. So, Alcy had no choice but to pretend like the grin was a sweet, sweet smile.

But, if the elves thought they were getting some barely tainted delicate flower, they were in for a surprise. Growing up in the slums and having been the only female on a crew before, Alcy wasn't exactly flower material. She could handle her own, and she could smirk evilly just as well as Cas, though at the moment, Alcy simply smiled. She needed to push aside what Cain had told her about the short elf.

"Alcy" She said with a smile, reaching the two elves. Alcy took their greeting as an invitation to sit down, and so she did. "I'm a new gunner on here, though I am not new to gunning." Alcy grinned a little, she knew here way around a gun quite well-both a handgun and a ship's guns "And who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

Cas watched Alcy with amusement and curiosity, pleased that the girl had decided to step forward. Mercy, or claws? The elf leaned forward, half-eaten strawberry held between the tip of her fingers. Her cheshire's cat smile widened.

With faux friendliness that would have made her own mother wince, Cas extended her free hand to shake the girl's. Only to have her expression falter slightly when the girl declared herself a gunner. We don't need another gunner. Hand still extended but fingers now a little slack and curled, Cas would cant her head and raise the pitch of her voice almost imperceptibly.

"Gunner?" The edge of her lip twitched at the girl's answer and her uninvited seat beside them. The captain's hiring of other gunners had always...been something of a pet peeve. It did little to endear the girl to her.

At the thought of the captain, Cas glanced in the direction of his empty seat and back--a reminder to behave herself. Perhaps she would show mercy. For now. Tonight was a night for good first--well, new--impressions. Cas could be patient. She would play with the girl another night. Decision made, the elf looked to Deryn and motioned vaguely at Alcy, ignoring her question for the moment.

"Laisse tomber," she muttered. "Je ne suis pas d'humeur à le faire." Forget it. I'm not in the mood.

Glancing back at Alcy with an expression less amused and approaching apathetic, Cas briefly pondered her change in mood before wasting no time at least putting the girl to use. "Cas. I am your superior. You should bring me a drink from the cabinet. Nothing alchoholic." Somewhat frustrated with her own indecision, Cas finished her strawberry.

After shaking her hand, Alcy was able to figure out quite quickly that Cas was not pleased with her. Now that, that was something that really irritated Alcy. Don't just decide to dislike her because she happened to be the same position. It wasn't like Alcy was the head gunner, she was only there to be a gunner when Cas couldn't (or from what her personality seemed like wouldn't). Where was Cain? Alcy could use another table at the moment.

"Yes. A gunner. I have the best record of anyone that applied in Cann." Alcy said, smiling sweetly, doing it just to aggravate the elf. Clearly Cas was jealous of the fact that there was another gunner, and this thought made Alcy's smile turn into a smirk nearly as vicious as Cas's. Even though Alcy wanted to make a good impression, now would be her only chance to teach Cas that she wouldn't take pointless disrespect. Alcy was on the precipice of a very important decision- listen to her four foot tall superior or establish herself as someone who wouldn't take trouble.

And then the elf so rudely demanded that Alcy get her a drink. And she no longer feigned a look of quiet amusement. Her face showed indignation. At that moment Alcy's decision was made. She didn't like Cas, and she had no respect for her because, no matter how skilled someone was, treating someone like that made them completely ineligible for respect. Call it Alcy's biggest pet peeve. She very much wanted to refuse the drink , but was fairly certain the elf had enough pride to make a scene if Alcy did not do as she say. And so, Alcy stood up, but looked down at the elf with a very indignant expression, her 5'6" height towering over that seated evil cat of the Captain.

"You are my superior when it comes to gunning, and ONLY when it comes to gunning. I will not take your shit, so please, take your attitude elsewhere. I will get you your drink, but not because you told me. I will get it because I don't trust you not to make a scene if I refuse. You may hate me all you like, but you will not ever be able to say I am weak." Alcy said quietly, where to others it would look like little more than a passage of words between 'friends'.

And with those words, Alcy went over to the cabinet and pondered the drinks, finding something decently alcoholic but not enough to where it would be tasted heavily. And then for herself, she grabbed something much stronger. She'd need a drink to deal with that cat. Alcy walked back over to Cas's table, setting it down in front of the elf.

"There you go" She smiled sweetly, just to aggravate her more "And no worries, I have every intention of being perfectly civil to you when we are working together, but unless you intend to treat me better than you just did, I think it would be best for us to go end our conversation here." Alcy smiled one more time, and then walked off to an empty table, unafraid to sit alone in here. After all, nothing could be worse than sitting with the Captain's Evil Cat.

And with that thought, she took a nice long swig from her strong drink.

Ms. Seingalt glanced up at the new gunner, her apathy swiftly giving way to returning annoyance and amusement. Oh, how the two seemed to go hand in hand. Her brow quirked at Alcy's self-declaration regarding her skill, quirked higher at her outburst, and finally the elf simply shrugged. The girl had bristled oh-so-defensively, put her foot down and made some grand heroic stand against the bored elf. Cas' brow quirked only higher, amused smile slowly returning.

The new gunner had assumed much. She'd had humility carved in her face--mostly. Not the cruel elven humor carved out, though.

She shrugged her tiny shoulders and plucked another strawberry to nibble upon. "I don't disagree," she said in answer to Alcy's so-brave little declaration of worth. "Nor do I hate you, mon porc-épic." Nevertheless, she cast a glance Deryn's way and watched with amusement as Alcy retrieved her drink, not knowing that Cas probably wouldn't make a scene this day. First--no, new--impressions and all.

The elf nodded distractedly to Alcy as her drink was placed in front of her, still mulling over the conversation in her head. "Thank you," she said automatically, two words which from these lips that might have left most in the Ardent crew eyeing her with well-warranted suspicion.

These past two years had left her unsure of herself. She sipped the drink absently, pondering whether to laugh at the girl for turning all a-bristle, or not being afraid of an elf. New impressions, Cas. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, glancing towards the captain's seat.

The gunner did, after all, remind her a little of Aleta...Cas sighed, leaned back in her chair, and with her hand and voice bid the girl return. "Let me apologize. You should have a seat," she said, in the most unpracticed of voices.

It was much like introducing a new kitten into the home of a long lived cat. The kitten being played by the girl introducing herself as Alcy, and the cat being played by Cas. As the scene played out before her, it was clear that the part of owner was being played by the Captain and the current thoughts boiling in her friends brain were along the lines of, Why do we need a new feline in this house? I'm not enough? What makes this kitten so great? It was amusing none the less, watching the two of them giving sad attempts at being civil. Cas had indeed changed over the years, the elf she remembered would have had Alcy on the floor the moment she finished the first sentence of her bold speech.

When the young gunner departed, Deryn faced the table and hunched over the back of her chair. It was quite surprised to say the least, and if it wasn't for the reserved manner that Cas was acting in Deryn would have probably been on her feet in an instant. Instead she reached for a small load of bread at the center of the table and broke it in two, placing one half on her friends plate and before stuffing her face she let out a long drawn out whistle to indicate how awkward the situation truly was to make light of it.

It wasn't long before Alcy returned, the drink accompanied with a scowl to match. Deryn continued to keep herself occupied with the fluffy and flaky hand full of bread thinking to herself, Man... who is the cook on board? I could fill up on this alone. But as she chewed, her throat became clogged and she couldn't help but choke on the nickname Cas had just bestowed on the girl, mumbling under her breath like an echo. "mon porc-épic." Accompanying the statement with a laugh she drove a fist to her chest trying to relieve herself and knock free the chunk of bread in her airway.

As if this night wasn't full of enough surprises, words never spoken by Cas to anyone flowed into the air. A shocked face drew her attention to her friend, who seemed to be... serious. "Wow, now I'll vouch for her there. I've never heard an apology from her and she ripped three ear rings out of me... and then kept them!" With that she slung an arm over her friends shoulder and pat her back.

"mon proc-epic" What had that meant? Alcy, having not been around elves enough to need to learn their language, had no idea what Cas had just called her, but for the sake of keeping her temper from getting the best of her again, Alcy chose not to ask. She didn't want to hear something extremely offensive and have an outburst. Perhaps if they were somehow on good terms, Alcy would ask her later. She continued walking back to the table.

"You're welcome..." Alcy said, fairly apathetically and more out of habit than desire to say it. Alcy went to leave, but found herself, much to her suprise, called back by the elf as soon as she had taken her own seat. She looked over at the elf table quizzically, wondering why Cas was calling her back. That elf was a piece of work. Very, very confusing.

But, Alcy decided to give the elf a second chance to make a first impression. Perhaps Cas has not meant to be so harsh and Alcy had overreacted. Though she didn't want to admit that. And so, she picked up her strong drink and walked back, taking the seat once more she had taken before.

"Thank you for apologizing." Alcy said, the bravado from earlier moments gone in her confusion. She looked at Deryn, nodded at her statement. Alcy felt compelled to apologize too, though mostly the glaze over the earlier moment. "Look maybe I overreacted. Its a bit of a hot button for me." Alcy said, referring to Cas's decision to instantly be abrasive. Her attention turned back to Deryn. "I didn't catch your name" Alcy said, trying to change the subject.

Cas was beginning to grow more impatient as the night wore on and the dining room did not grow crowded in turn. She turned the nub of a strawberry over in her fingertips once, twice, and a third time. She wondered what sort of trouble was the rest of the crew getting in, and she stuck here with the world's largest porcupine and a woman who was a little too close for comfort.

She glanced at Deryn, shrugging lazily and leaning back in her chair and returning the cup Alcy'd brought her to her lips. Maybe it was the lho-seed--in fact, Cas did not suspect otherwise--but annoyance and impatience was beginning to fizzle away into a faint, vague contentedness. Cas leaned back in her chair, sipped her mystery drink, and watched the door.

Fort had seen to it that little lord Fauntleroy (or Randersvayne as the case may be) had been seen to his "state-room," no larger (though no smaller either) than any of the other, more permenant members of his flying family might lay claim to. If the silk-swaddled nobleman had thought that the captain might, of his own noblesse, offer his cabin at the stern of the Ardent, well, he might have sooner wrung gold-dust from a charcoal briquette. Fort stayed long enough to ensure that his backer and his hand-picked marines had been settled in the crew-cabin and the general barrack (as he was now referring to a shady little corner of the cargo-hold) respectively before he begged indulgence to "perform his captain-ly duties in preparation for launch.

By the Golden Throne. Tapdancing on eggshells had never been his strong-suit.

The dinner bell had rung insistently about twenty minutes prior, but Fort had needed a moment to himself in his cabin. A drink, mostly. But a drink required moments just the same. Dantymer's Dew, blessed by the Throne. A gift from ol' Sam. It settled the jangling edge of his nerves and braced his resolve. This whole journey had been attempted with fewer handicaps once before. No noblemen, no questionable marines, a full compliment, and a swift west wind. Here was to hoping that the new crew, the Ardent's new accoutrements, and the Queen's blessing would be enough to counterbalance the faults.

He couldn't put it off much longer, much as he might like to simply oil his bolter, have another drink, and sleep until they were well-underway. Captain-ly duties, after all.

Fort squared his shoulders, wincing as his back popped disconcertingly, and made for the crew-stair. He took the stairs two at a time, pulling at the cuffs of his doublet and ensuring that he did not look so haggard as he felt. The turns were instinctual by now, ducking under the low joist at the bottom of the stair without raising his eyes. It'd always been Cain's bane, not his. This was his boat. He knew, for the most part how to avoid her little love-bites.

Captain Fortinbras stepped through the door to the galley, gave the assembled women a once-over and moved to his seat without apology or explanation. Captains and Wizards. Never early, never late. To boot, he was not the only one that had taken his merry time in arriving to the dining room. He sat, leaning back in the heavy wooden chair and folded his hands in front of him, looking out over the spread that was already laid out.

"So, what have I missed?"

Cas was leaning back in her usual uninvited seat, captain's chair on the one side and girls on the other, smelling faintly of lho-seed and sipping the questionable drink which Alcy had very mildly spiked. The elf was not well acquainted with alchohol, indeed she was not acquainted in the slightest. Her bored and vaguely contented expression was plastered across her face, lids lowered just a little more than they might usually have been.

So when Fortinbras Carlyle stepped into the room, Cas quite uncharacteristically--lho and drink, of course--fumbled with her drink and snapped her chair back to a more formal position in which all four of its feet were fully on the ground.

"Capt--capt'in," she greeted him with, ducking into another long sip of mystery drink.

The rest of the hall had begun to fill a little more satisfactorily with minor crew members, a few of whom were in fact slacking off their shift and swiftly ducked out of the room at the captain's arrival. Cain was presumably decking it out with one of the newer pilots, bless them, their resident expert and mage nearly done settling into their quarters. Their medic...well, perhaps he was patching up some poor soul who'd suffered some minor wound as a result of Aerodar's little rocketing incident.

Cas, for one, found herself smiling in the captain's general direction with a mild buzz she assumed to be from the elves' little shared bout of lho-sticks earlier.

Fort watched a handful of junior crewmen duck to the task of shoveling their food up and tossing off the rest of their drinks. While Fort had never been a slave-driver to his men, never taken up the lash or any of the other punishments by and large attributed to the Captain's station, he was still something of a killjoy where crewmen were concerned. He was the Old Man of the boat, after all. And no one wanted to be swapping fart jokes while Daddy sat and watched sternly from a corner.

He let them duck out without comment, matching faces to names as best he could. Quite a few fresh ones, at that, to memorize. Would have to be after last time.

His attention returned to Cas as she stammered out his familiar title. She was close enough to smell the lho-seed smoke on her. Though not close enough to be sure that she had been the one smoking. Still, her unguarded smile had him puzzled.

There was just something damned unsettling about the little murder-sprite smiling like that. Her gunner's smirk as she pipped a target well beyond the range of mortal man, sure. Her little hate-fueled smile when dealing with Cain or Belo (or any Innate). Even her fixed and plastered make-shift smile of politeness when conducting delicate negotiations, or when Fort told her to relax and enjoy herself. Those he could deal with, had learned to deal with. This, well...

"Mmmhm," he offered arching an eyebrow and taking an apple from the basket near to hand. His right hand dipped for the dagger in his boot-top and he made to slice into the apple, pausing to gesture with the blade toward his elven gunner. "Who drugged Cas?"

The two were sitting in a pleasant silence, both probably lost in thought as Deryn took the time to tear off bits of bread to stuff her mouth with. It was actually rather enjoyable, the conversations of the indecent sort being sputtered about amongst the room were amusing to listen to and the food was more than delicious.

That ease was broken in a matter of moments when most of the idle chatter was cut short and her friend to her left tightened up. Cocking a curious brow, Deryn turned to see what the fuss was but before she had a chance to look back the Captain was already passing beside her and the situation was becoming all too understandable. It was then that she had realized she was still sitting in her chair backward and hopped out of it immediately.

"Captain Fortinbras." In an effort to show respect she gave him the proper salute and stood as tall as she could, which wasn't exactly tall, waiting for him to take his seat. He was an aged and experienced man as expected, you couldn't go running a ship like the Ardent without that kind of essence. At that moment Deryn noticed something, Cas had gone stiff but she wasn't as formal as thought she would be. They must share many memories... she thought, the elven woman finally sitting back in her seat properly this time. Following his arrival the remark he imposed about Cas was enough to bring a smile to her face, although she didn't want to outright laugh in respect for her slightly chemically imbalanced friend.

Alcy had been 'enjoying' the elven company- cautiously of course, when she noticed a silence descend upon the room and Cas completely change her sitting position, though Cas was being much nicer. Seemed the alcohol or the Lho must've been getting to her. Alcy saw the captain, in all his leader glory at about the same moment Deryn did. Copying the elf, Alcy stood up and saluted him as well. This was her first impression she was making, and she'd be damned if she screwed it up.

"Cap'n" Alcy said, smiling a respectful greeting at the man as he acknowledged him. He was an imposing figure- he actually made Alcy feel like he deserved her respect, something no other captain had done. When he mentioned Cas's possible drug induced state, Alcy couldn't help but grin softly, her eyes meeting the captain's. It was a confession of sorts, though not one that Cas or Deryn would notice. Just a small flash across her light eyes a grin on her lips.

Alcy hoped that small show of.... mischief wouldn't make the captain find her to be an immature nuisance. Cas had deserved it. She'd been a brat to Alcy and deserved a little.... loosening up. It would be the first of many things that Alcy did that the crew would notice but necessarily realize she'd done. If only Cain was here. She'd love to brag to him about her telling Cas off and then helping aid in her silly behavior. Where was he anyways? Napping on the wheel?

Enris opened the door to the dining room to see an odd sight. No one had started eating yet. Lucky. He thought they would be late, but seeing as how the two elves, the girl who looked too young and even the Captain were just sitting about, they were right on time. No one was speaking at the moment however. Did he accidentally barge in on something? Well even if he had, it didn't look to be too serious. The air in the room wasn't tense, it was relaxed, just hanging there.

He crossed the room, not even seeing if Barasa was still following him or not. He wasn't responsible for the man no matter how awkward he seemed aboard this ship. Sure he had helped him carry his bags, but that was just a nice way to get to know him. Barasa was a full grown man, surely he could pick out whatever seat suited him best, he didn't need help for that.

Enris nodded his head in polite greeting as he passed the Captain. One look at the man and it was obvious he was more than worthy to be captain of the Ardent. Enris got the feeling he was a fair but stern captain, not one to abuse his crew but not one to let them slack off either. Enris had seen captains harshly punish crew members for the most minor of grievances. Of course, Enris could do whatever he pleased (like standing up for said crew members). The captains that had employed him wanted his power but also feared it. They were afraid of upsetting him and then having their bodies move in ways beyond their control. Idiots. He would have made them jump off their own ship had they not been paying him. Although, they probably deserved worse. Those days, despite them being. . .interesting, were over. Good riddance.

He headed towards an empty table and sat himself down, dropping his satchel beside him on the floor. He leaned back in the chair, arms crossed. He hoped food would be served soon. He was starving.

The moment the door had opened, his sense of smell kicked in, a variety of aromas catering the atmosphere. He looked around curiously, taking in more of the vessel's innards as some of the crew members had already taken to their meals, some rushing, others lax and generally slow on satisfying their hunger. The room was fairly small compared to what he'd been accustomed to; both the passenger ship and the hall at the academy having been much larger in size. But he found it less impersonal despite the oddly quiet pause they'd intruded on. He gave little regard to it however, more so distracted by the view itself over the specific people occupying it. Most of them looked at home, if not comfortable or accustomed to the ambiance. Others looked almost impatient, such as the seemingly friendly Kerrian that had helped him out. He starred only briefly as Enris departed from his company, going off to find somewhere to sit. It all seemed to look natural together. Like something he'd visualized from reading storybooks as a child.

Caught once more by his impeding thoughts his lips quirked, teeth catching the skin inside his lower lip, not sure whether to frown or smile. Truth was, he was pretty sure he could get used to being there. Granted, with time and a bit of forced optimism. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to. Adaptable as he was, fitting in just wasn't a quota he could fill easily. Then again, this trip wasn't about making friends or being remotely comfortable. And while he certainly welcomed the idea, he had a job to do, something to accomplish. And these people, the men and women mulling about their business, whatever that consisted of had a job as well. He settled with that, stepping aside as another crewman walked in behind him, seating himself at a table half occupied without so much as a thought. He watched for a moment, the interaction between coworkers somewhat enlightening.

After his particularly distracted pause, his eyes finally lingered on a table occupied by the man he'd known to be the captain of the ship, a fairly young woman and two distinctly elven woman sitting with him, one of which he had recognized as being the one who caught him off guard earlier. He was genuinely surprised at the time, having not expected to be sailing forth with an elf at all, but to find that there were two of them. It was hard to fathom. Forcing his eyes away so as not to be caught starring, he moved further into the room, standing around awkwardly still. He hadn't known whether it would have been appropriate to address the Captain or not. He looked like a fairly decent man, someone, at the very least, who knew what he was doing, but that didn't help in his decision much.

Rubbing a hand along the back of his neck, his gaze settled on the food they had displayed on the tables, bowls of fruit and bread and other simplicities set out. Had he been on solid ground, he may have given into hunger. But the only thing that seemed to be hindering his stomach then, was the ongoing anxiety he'd been attempting to shrug off.

Giving the room one last glance, he moved over to an empty seat at one of the unoccupied tables closest to him and sat himself down, facing away from the food for fear of going green at the thought of eating it. Tentatively, he reached into his pocket, pulling out his notebook and preceding to ink in words nondescript and vague below his feeble sketch of the Ardent. Trying to distract himself, for all it was worth.

Captain Carlyle returned the elven aeronaut's greeting with a cordial nod and a polite baring of teeth in something that might've shared a common lineage with a smile. "Deryn. How are we liking the Ardent?"

Fort's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly at Alcy's near admission of guilt; her guileless grin and brazen, mischievous eyes. His reprimand was well-thought out and just about to crease his tongue, painting the air between them blue. But he checked himself, letting it instead, as he had so many times, find its path instead through his nostrils as he snorted derisively. That simple, unassuming expulsion of breath might've spoke volumes, but he capped it with a small, tectonic shrug of his shoulders and proceded to lay into his apple with a precision that might've made a surgeon blush; cutting delicate slivers from the hapless fruit and transferring them nimbly to his mouth.

"Might be for the best, anyway."

Enris, his sullen-eyed Innate and Barasa with his querelous glance and faint smell of ink and parchment (skittish as a new-dropped foal, that one) made their way into the dining room by turns, hot on one another's heels. Enris dropped into a corner after a perfunctory nod that was met by a squint and a nod in return. Strange boy. But useful, to balance. He folded his arms and leaned back, waiting, it seemed, for the waitress. Ha.

Barasa, for his part, folded himself over a book at another nearby table, recently vacated by a number of junior deckhands. What it was that he was scribbling with that nib, one could only guess, but it buzzed at scratched like an angry wasp as he bent to the task with single-minded ferocity.

Fort paused in his slow slaughter of his apple, a lacewing crescent still clinging to the edge of the knife. "You gentlemen going to sit aloofly in the corner or come and join us for a bite to eat?" He gestured to the breads, grilled meats, cheeses, fruit and vegetables the lay along the trestle before him. "Or does sitting with the Old Man seem overly burdensome?" His lips split into a genuine smile.

Dinner was important, damn it. It had always been. Even when his mongrel children didn't get along; even when they gave each other threats and jibes and honest-before-the-Throne bullets in about equal measure. And it was still important.

It made them family.

Once the captain and the rest of the shift has assembled, a few cooks practically toss out some food haphazardly, too busy squabbling among themselves. Night has completely fallen now, and unlike the Ardent's last trip, no massive sea monsters from the seven hells are accosting the ship.

Truly he was a more amicable man than she ever thought he would be. Opening the air with casual discussion set her at ease. Loosening her shoulders and smiling back at him she was trying not to seem like she was so easily impressed.

"You run quite a remarkable ship, and from who I've met of the crew so far you have a keen eye to match." Granted it was true that she wasn't going to fall in love with every crew member she met, but hearing Alcy boast of her qualifications and doing her own research on a few "senior" members it was an all star list to say the least.

At that moment the thought popped into her head, What kind of skill does Cas possess? Strangely enough Deryn hadn't even discussed what her friends duties on the ship were, let alone did she ever see her in action. Making a mental note to inquire Cas on the subject later she took another modest bite of bread.

Soon Fort had began to address the men behind her, who up until now she hadn't noticed, almost certainly due to being so swept up in the eagerness to formally meet and greet the Captain. The dark haired Innate that she had crossed distant paths with among boarding the ship seemed content sitting by himself. At no fault of her own, her nostrils flared lightly as she quickly averted her eyes, almost as if to ignore the man. If there was one thing her mother taught her was that they certainly were not worth her time, and granted Deryn was far from "traditional" as her mother was there was still that prejudice that boiled under her skin. In her eyes, it would be more than appropriate to not act on pure instinct and besides something far more appealing had caught her interest.

There he was again, sitting so innocently with his nose aimed into the parchment of what she could only imagine to be one of his constant companions. Dark skinned prominent features and a distinct smell of a library. One thing leaving her home in Cann gave her was the ability, no... the privilege to seek the attention of men who were not of common elven taste. It was true, her heart would forever be drawn to what she could never have and at times guide her somewhere her mind had no intention of going but a combination of a desire to fill the seemingly unfulfillable void inside her and a love for the company of a well educated man would guide her to certain feelings.

But it was not only the eyes of Deryn who had fallen on the intriguing man, the suspicious sideways glance of her comrade were making their way in his direction as well. Well I'll be. Hmm.... It would certainly prove for a more interesting night if the new additions to the crew would all join together under the watchful eye of Captain Fort.

She had already managed to make a bad impression. What a shame, but Alcy would much rather have gotten the small harmless jab at Cas rather than made a perfect impression. Alcy was certain she could overcome the small slight in the Captain's eyes on her part. Besides, he was right-it was for the better. Cas just didn't seem to be very nice.

And the Lho seed, well that wasn't Alcy's fault at all. Most of the fault was on Cas herself, though there was no way to tell the captain that without telling Deryn she'd given Cas alcohol, and pissing off the evil cat's sidekick wasn't a very good plan. Alcy sighed softly to herself, sitting back down and casting her gaze around, not really paying too close attention to whatever the captain was saying to the others. She just wasn't quite comfortable around these people. All of them, except for Cain, had seemed to take a sort of distant dislike to her. Perhaps this crew wasn't as family like as she'd been hoping.

Or perhaps there just wasn't room for a twenty year old on this ship, no matter her skill level.

And at that thought, her gaze meandered around the room, trying to find the one person who hadn't taken a sort of disdain to her. But he still hadn't made his way down here. A bit of disappointment crossed her, and Alcy's gaze found its way to the Innate sitting by himself. She was fairly certain he hadn't had a very nice welcome. Elves weren't big fans of innates, and there were two on here.

Hearing the captain address the two, Alcy decided to help things along by going over and introducing herself to him. It seemed the nice thing to do, perhaps he'd be a bit nicer than the others, though she wasn't counting on it- it seemed the general default was dislike on this ship, and she wasn't expecting him to be any different, especially if the elves had been rude to him, that'd likely put him in a bad mood. Alcy stood up and walked over to Enris.

"Hi there, We haven't met yet so I thought I'd go ahead and introduce myself. I'm Alcy." She smiled at him, putting her hand out to shake his. She sincerely hoped he wasn't going to shove her off and be rude, because she was trying to be nice to him, and it was never good to reciprocate kindness with coldness. But Alcy was making too many assumptions.

"Might be for the best, anyway."

Words like these wiped the dazed smile from the elf's lips and replaced it with a more comfortable scowl. Cas was muzzled by the muddiness of her own thoughts and the presence of the captain who'd spoken the offending words, but that didn't mean she couldn't lash out at somebody.

She'd already decided that somebody was going to be either Alcy or the Innate when Deryn's act of picking up some bread and biting into it caught her attention. She recalled a particular...pet peeve of Deryn's, and even when in a good mood Cas was never able to resist pushing the older girl's buttons.

So while Deryn was deep in thought, Cas' hand shot out alongside an annoyed growl (though the annoyance had nothing to do with Deryn, of course), fingers plucking the roll away should her old friend not recover suddenly and grip onto it like a game of tug-of-war. Supposing no such thing happened--Cas couldn't help but notice Deryn's eyes on a scholar at another table, and found herself relieved they did not rest on any of her favorites--she immediately followed up by sinking her teeth deeply into it.

Happily chewing on the flaky and buttery treat, there wasn't much that could bring her out of her mood right now. But that didn't prove to be much of a challenge for little Miss Seingalt, feeling her gloved hand palming at nothing but air between her fingers.

Clenching her strong jaw, she closed her eyes for a moment, the swirl of dark smoky colors cloaking her lids. There really were only a few things that could really set the woman off, and we're talking one of her biggest pet peeves and that was snatching food out of her hand, off her plate or even sneaking it out of her satchel. Maybe it stemmed from her mother always on her case at a young age "moderating" her portions and eating habits. Her mother saw it as a favor she was doing for the over indulgent girl but in Deryns eyes it had to be one of the most annoying and rude things someone could do.

Slowly, her lids opened again, those dark emerald eyes gliding back to the direction of Cas. The girl was no doubt proud of what she had just accomplished and was basking in her glory, enjoying every bite of that crisp loaf with vengeance. A thick and pulsating vein was popping out the center of her forehead and becoming quite noticeable by the second, Deryn was generating her own stagnant enraged air around her.

With a swift hand she reached out and scooped up a fist full of Cas' dark locks of hair at the back of her head, tugging back enough to at the very least tug the girls chin upward. Her other hand was clenching the heavy steak knife that was laying amongst her tableware in front of her, "Drop it dog, or I'll be giving you a new bald spot."

The worst part was that Cas knew exactly what she had done, she knew about that little pet peeve of hers and acted upon it just to set her off. The girl was looking for a fight, and Deryn was sure to give it to her, a threatening smile on her face.

He was not in his usual restaurant location. His food would not be served to him, he would have to get the food. This realization was only reiterated by the Captain waving his hand at the food on his table, telling Enris to join them. His brain had momentarily forgotten where he was. All his movements and motions were all from habit. He came in, found a secluded table, sat down and waited to be served. It had been so automatic, he had forgotten he was on a ship going towards a dangerous journey. There would be no pampering here. As much as he enjoyed luxuries, he could do without. He would have to.

Mentally sighing, he prepared himself to rise and change tables when the young woman (there was only one young woman aboard) approached him with an outstretched hand in greeting.

"Hi there, We haven't met yet so I thought I'd go ahead and introduce myself. I'm Alcy." Her smile was nice enough, genuine enough. He could sense no ulterior motive behind her greeting. And even if he had, people with ulterior motives were worth knowing.

He smiled politely back and shook her hand in return. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Enris." His voice was pleasant and calm, not too overexcited but he didn't sound bored either. To be honest, he was a little surprised she had greeted him. Elf or not, most people avoided Innates. They feared their powers and feared what would happen to them should they accidentally misstep. It was rare (if it happened at all) for someone to willingly and calmly walk up to one and greet them as this girl had. She was either fearless or foolish. Either way, Enris had to admit it was a nice change of pace.

"You're awfully young to be aboard are you not?" He asked bluntly, curious as to her purpose to go on such a life threatening journey when she still had so many years ahead of her. "You probably get that a lot though." He added with a friendly smile to shave off a bit of the bluntness of his question. He normally didn't care if he was blunt or rude, but he knew how it was to be questioned constantly about your age. He got it quite a bit growing up, and over time it got quite tiresome. He figured a little courtesy of some sort was called for.

"Drop it dog, or I'll be giving you a new bald spot." Enris glanced over in the direction of those harsh words to see a very threatening situation. One of the elves, the older one it looked like although it was hard to tell an elf's age by looks, had grabbed the other's hair. Some kind of disagreement had occurred and the scarred one was paying the price.

"My, my. It seems those two like to play rough." He mumbled more to himself than anyone else.

Finally. A nice introduction. Someone who didn't sneer or order her around or glare at her for given an elf her rightful treatment. Someone saying something nice. It warmed her up inside much more than she let on. Maybe her missing Cain wasn't going to be the only nice person on this ship. Or maybe he was, and the innate was just trying to avoid a scene. Alcy was so damn tired of all of the questions. This crew, they weren't easy like the other crews. Then again, she was always the only woman on the other crews, so generally they were nice to her from the get go.

"I bet you've had about as fun a time getting to know the crew as I have." Alcy grinned, nodding to the elves, knowing that elves and innates didn't get along well. "First thing the smaller one said to me was that she was my superior and to get her a drink." She chuckled at the woman's audacity. Alcy was going to make an effort to keep a conversation with Enris for now, he didn't seem likely to pull a gun on her at any minute.

"And yes, I get that a lot. I've just always had very good aim. I've actually been on airships for three years now. I know that's not very long, but its my life. Its better than running around in the slums getting propositioned." Alcy shrugged, quite at ease. She knew he was dangerous, but it wasn't like he was going to kill her on the first night. Besides, if she was friends with Enris perhaps Cas would avoid her. Now that, that was a very pleasant thought indeed. But then again, she did have to work with Cas. Perhaps she needed to play this more intelligently than just satisfying her frustration with the rude elf. But a polite conversation with Enris couldn't do too much damage.

"Yes... they do play rough. I intend to stay out of their way as much as I possibly can." he had said it softly, but Alcy had still heard it, she narrowed her light green gaze at the others before looking back at Enris. He was handsome. Too bad he was also at least five years her senior, probably more. Not to mention the part where his race was mildly terrifying.

The near-brawl fizzled away before you could so much as shout, "catfight!"--or elf-fight as the case happened to be. Cas' mood had swung to and fro, and it was not done swinging yet.

She'd yelped as her old friend snatched her hair and yanked, leaning well to the side in order to accommodate the pain. Without time enough to blink, Cas' hand had flown to her side and quick as quicksilver drawn a spare pistol, cocked it, pressed it into Deryn's side--and pulled the trigger.

Click. The gun wasn't loaded.

And so Deryn discovered Cas' new profession. An odd thing, for a girl who could barely hit anything with a bow. The gunner seemed not at all surprised, and instead began to laugh without restraint at the faux shooting, eyes watering and shoulders shaking, still hunched over and to her side.

Elven humor, perhaps.

Words put him at ease. They brought life to thoughts and ideas; solidified their existence in ways mental images and visuals couldn't. Even at their most basic forms. The scribbles he sketched in, pen tip scratching roughly against the thick bound paper, were void of extensive potency. Just simple and discreet. Looking defined nonetheless, cursive and steady. They were mild descriptions of what he'd seen, of what he had taken in from the moment he'd boarded to the moment he sat down at the vacated table in the dining room. He managed to abate the frequency at which his stomach was churning, his attention less focused now on the fact that he was in remotely unfamiliar territory and more so on the parchment in front of him. Yet, he remained unsure if eating would motivate anything but his gag reflex. For now, he wasn't going to chance it.

With a petulant sigh he looked up, dark set of eyes finding the wall opposite of him, the head of a crewman partly intrusive in his view until a voice called on his attention. He looked over, finding it's owner without much more than a guess, his expression pulling into something of a flustered wonderment, brows quirking together before steadily loosening, “Ahh...” He looked apprehensive for a moment before cracking up a skittish smile.

Closing the notebook, he cautiously rose to his feet once more, free hand anxiously playing with the frizzy nest of hair bunched up at the back of his head as he drew towards the captain's table. A few eyes upon him all the while, others more taken to the other Kerrian. Which he could hardly complain about, watching the young woman for only a moment as she went to introduce herself to Enris. He was not fond of excessive attention of any sort, so it came to a bit of a relief when one of the elves snatched away the others food, setting off something of an amusing display between the two.

His expression doused in a mixture of mild mirth and a somewhat tepid bemusement as he stood before them across the table, fingers curled around the spine of his notebook. With a brief glance to the captain, he nodded in something of an awkward display of respect, “Sorry didn't want to...” His words fell away however, the flurry between the elves becoming excessive – as was in their nature, drawing his attention back to them. Immediately he became unsure and wary as memories of old records flashed through his thoughts detailing on the basis of elven behaviours.

Before he could so much as process it, a pistol flashed into his vision, panic encouraging him to step back from the table, eyes widened, jaw and fingers clenched, one around the book, the other at his side. He heard the invariable click of the gun, but nothing to follow taking another long moment to assess what had actually gone on, panic and fear still stricken across his face as he watched the elf fall into a bout of unbridled hysterics. He starred, gawking. His fingers digging gracelessly into the pages of the notebook in his lap, parting the thick sheets.

With a shaky breath he looked over at the Captain, “Are... are they always like this?” He asked, stumbling over words as he fought for composure, the obnoxious thudding in his chest much to fast to fight off. As much as he had read up on elves and learned about them, the real thing was much more... unnerving.

He caught his lower lip between his teeth. Gaze once more settled on the elves.

Wizards had a sick sense of humour.

Astonishing, how quickly the tables were turned. It was only but a second ago that Deryn was sure she had the upper hand in the situation, fingers twisted up in her companions hair. But before she even had time to react, the end of a gun was being jabbed into her side.

Not many thoughts had time to rush into her head at that moment other than a gasp of surprise as a bead of sweat formed on her brow. Part of her hoped that the gun wasn't pointed at her with the real desire to kill, but she did know Cas and her temper could fly out of control.

Click.

Nothing, just the quick sudden burst of laughter bellowing from deep within Cas. All Deryn could do was stare for the time being, putting a hand on her head and leaning on her elbow against the table, keeping herself up and balanced as her jaw remained dropped. Soon the laughter became contagious, that was quite a convincing prank but the laughter was also mixed with delirious relief. "I had no idea you were that quick with a pistol, huh? What are you tryin' to do to me?" Her laughter dwindled and she playfully shoved at her shoulder, shaking her head. "You got me good, I've got to really watch out for you now!"

“Are... are they always like this?”

The question was directed to the Captain, but Deryn took it upon herself to answer quickly. "Not all the time hun, here... if you aren't too scared sit next to me." Her head nodded in the direction of the chair beside her, "I promise I won't pull a knife on that handsome face of yours." The comment most likely didn't help the situation but it was true she would appreciate his company, may it be now or later on.