Dreaming in Silver
Partying Streaker
Over those two months, Sebastian was pleasantly surprised at how well Shasta adapted to her new surroundings. She fit into the crew like a magical puzzle piece that easily slipped in wherever needed. Luka and Drayven had soon worked out a system so at any point in time one or both of them were keeping an eye on her, with Luka taking priority as Sebastian had wished. Over time it became less necessary once the crew got used to her presence, but still either Luka, Drayven, or Sebastian were never far.
As many evenings as he could, once everyone had settled down and the only men left awake were the men on watch, the Captain sought out Shasta and her stories of home, and the more he heard the more he almost desperately wanted to go. The problem was, neither of them had a clue where her homeland was in relation to themselves, and Sebastian had to look after his crew; many of his crew had families or women to feed back home; they needed the money from prizes, not the exhilaration from exploration.
He hadn't asked yet how she came to be on that little rowboat two months ago; half the time he was afraid bringing up the memories of whatever happened would make her panic, and half the time the questions simply slipped his mind in lieu of others once they got going on her homeland.
The day after her arrival he'd made one of the young cabin boys around her size give her one of his shirts and a pair of pants to replace the garb she'd been donning for who knew how long, and for who knew how long before that. Some time after that, they'd gone to port for a few days to turn in a smuggler's ship and crew to the authorities, and Sebastian had given her a cabin boy's share of the reward and he and Damian (young Damian was always under strict orders to stick close to the Captain while on land) had escorted her on a small shopping trip.
Finding convenient living quarters for her was a bit more of a hassle, and it was while striving to sort out this problem that Sebastian decided he finally understood why the general unmarried female was not often welcome on any ship. For some time she had been bounced about between Drayven's little sleeping space, a nest down in the galley, and on warm nights they'd even tried simply putting her out on the deck when Luka was on watch. In the end, Sebastian had decided to move into the main sleeping room with the rest of the crew and Shasta got his cabin during the night, though he often opted for the more solitary open deck instead.
Now, with the ship sailing along at a good clip just north of Damian's own kingdom's waters and far east of the coast, Sebastian entered the Captain's Cabin to find Shasta at the mirror, leaning close to the glass and pulling her aside to inspect the roots. "That would be a rather common part of the human anatomy called your scalp, and I sincerely hope you're not searching for lice," he remarked as he crossed the room to his desk to open a drawer and pull out some paper, setting it on the desk in preparation for his monthly parental updates. He caught sight of the red roots she was inspecting though, and came over to peer at them himself. He'd never taken care to notice before, but now she was pulling her roots apart and analyzing them so intently, it was hard not to notice. He leaned over to look more closely at his short friend's hair, and lifted a long strand between his thumb and forefinger and asked, "What's with this?"
