The bell has been raised from its watery grave...

[birdlife]

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[freminui]

The mage pauses in his reading, brows arching as he glances up at Grey.

"... Are you gonna keep interrupting me?" he asks, tilting his head to one side, shifting his feet and making his hips sway lightly.

[loihtija]

There seems to be a storm cloud hanging over the captain's head and he stares at Midnight with a tightening jaw.

"Read."

Does he really have to do that with his ass? Shaking it like some god damn hussy...

[freminui]

"I'm trying to, but someone keeps interrupting me," Midnight shoots back, that familiar irritation prickling up again.

[loihtija]

Grey quiets then, but the irritation seems to roll over him like the storm raging outside. It takes quite a bit of restrain to keep asking again if the mage is done. His foot taps against the floor, constantly, tap tap tap, then his fingers get into it as well, rapping against the table. Tap, tap, tap.

[freminui]

Not lifting his eyes from the script, the mage reaches out and puts his hand over Grey's fingers to get them to stop tapping.

"You're not even a mage, why are you getting so restless in a storm?" he sighs, lifting his eyes from the journal at last.

[loihtija]

Grey's not restless because of the storm. That's the simple truth of it.

He yanks his hand away and stands up, walking to a window even if that's a bad idea in a storm that could break the glass.

"Just read," he says. "Or maybe you can't concentrate after getting plowed below the deck."

[freminui]

Midnight rolls his eyes and takes his rejected hand back, resuming reading as he mutters, "Might clear your head to get plowed."

[loihtija]

"Pass," Grey mutters to the window. He'd rather keep it in his pants.

But he can't help but think about it when the silence yawns between them again. His mind springs up images of the mage on the table, wondering how he looks when he's about to come. Would he get flushed? Would he drive himself down on the cock filling him?

His jaw is bit so tight together that it's a marvel no teeth are broken...

[freminui]

Once he's done reading, Midnight hums in thought, glancing at the maps instead, fingers following the courses that could be taken, remembering what stories are associated with which location.

"A couple of these could be promising," he murmurs, thumb resting at his lip in thought as he scans the map. "The most obvious routes are just deathtraps, but right here, I think is actually a hidden path..."

His finger strokes over the thin, barely-there path that seems to be nothing more than a tiny gap between two island.

[loihtija]

Relieved that the silence is gone because it bears nothing but uncomfortable thoughts for him, Grey returns to the table the moment the mage starts to talk. He bows over the maps and stares at the charts, making calculations.

"We could attempt that with the right kind of wind," he says quietly. "You think you can handle whatever ghosts we might encounter on our way?"

He swipes a few wavy locks behind his ear as he glances the mage from the corner of his eye.

[freminui]

"Spirits, not ghosts," Midnight corrects, previous irritation supposedly forgotten as the storm continues to gently drain that excess energy from him, the warm laziness from post-sex doing the rest far too easily. He's even flashing Grey a sly, bright grin and wink. "Might be some mermaids, actually, seeing as how the stories speak of 'mournful music of the damned'. Sirens, maybe?"

[loihtija]

Grey nods. He doesn't care what they are, as long as they get through them without a problem.

"Mermaids..." he sighs. "All of you lot will be lost with those vixens with how horny you are without any sirens to sing you a little song." There's not so much judgment in his tone of voice now. It's not that Grey thinks sex is somehow a bad thing. In his experience sailors are much easier to deal with if they have frequent exercise for their nether regions.

"You have anything in your sleeve in case your predictions come true?"

[freminui]

"I was gonna suggest you just offer them your seed, actually," comes the flippant response, though Midnight's now focused on something else, staring at Grey curiously. "Are you a eunuch?"

[loihtija]

His seed? Grey's brows arch at the suggestion, then he's left blinking at the mage with that bizarre line of thinking.

"What? No-- What?"

How did this happen?

"I do possess a dick," he says slowly, too baffled to feel angry. "Why would they want my seed?"

[freminui]

"You can be a eunuch with your prick still attached," Midnight points out with a tiny quirk to his lips. "I was suggesting your seed in particular since you don't seem to be spending it, much. It would be... 'potent', for them. Mermaids generally only go after sailors for their seed to reproduce- didn't you know about this?"

[loihtija]

"Right," Grey huffs and shakes his head. "No, I'd rather not have any children around this part of the world." There's some decency still left in him. Plus, his best friends are descendants of such unions. He'd rather not go there.

His eyes narrow at the mage and finally he bites out: "There's nothing wrong with my dick. But no."

[freminui]

The mage looks mildly unconvinced, because it's clearly odd to him that this captain supposedly has nothing wrong with his dick, and yet he's not making use of it and instead grousing at Midnight for getting his jollies off with the crew.

"... Are you married? Is that why you don't use it?"

[loihtija]

They should be talking about the map and the ghost stories, not about Grey's dick and definitely not about his marital status.

There's a new kind of furrow to his brows, one that looks half sad, half irritated.

"If you must know, I was married."

[freminui]

"... Was?" he repeats, just a bit more cautious, now, because he's used to irritation and occasional surprise on that face, but not sadness.

[loihtija]

"Yes." Grey's chin rises up as if he's trying to keep himself from spilling. But eventually, after rolling his eyes with frustration he says: "She's dead."

[freminui]

Midnight falls silent at that for a long moment, then, quietly, "I'm sorry."

After another pause and some thought, though, he frowns and asks, "... Is she why you're trying to get to the underworld?"

[loihtija]

"Partly yes," Grey replies with a small shrug. He turns around to lean on the edge of the table. Apparently they're going to have a talk now. It would have happened eventually.

"The mage who killed her also took my brother's skin," he continues. "It's a multipurpose trip." There's anger behind that statement, old and bitter.

[freminui]

Ah.

That answers a good deal of unspoken questions.

"... And now you don't trust mages," he surmises, leaning back and crossing his arms.

[loihtija]

"Would you?" Grey asks, arms folding over his chest. He stares at Midnight straight in the eyes. Would you trust a sailor if one had killed the person you loved?

[freminui]

The mage just stares up at him wordlessly, dark eyes sad and knowing.

"No. And... it would take a lot to change it," he answers quietly.