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 Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:18 am
There was a long pause from Mal in response to Varun’s comment. “Clearly,” he finally said, “you don’t know me very well if you think that I don’t do stupid stuff any more.” Actually, he figured that he did more stupid stuff now than he did back then. The main difference was volume; he was stupider then. Now he just did more stupid things because he was more creative and better at getting out of trouble. It was all a game. It used to be that he did things because he was desperate. Now he did things because he felt like it.
Actually, that brought up a good question and one that had been niggling at his mind lately, such as within the past few minutes. “How’d you do this anyway? I mean, become a pirate and all that.” This seemed like a safe enough topic. Things were too damn depressing and Mal didn’t need to add to the doom and gloom of the whole ‘going to a funeral’ thing. Another name would have to be chipped into the wall. It was one of the few traditions Mal went with.
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:30 pm
You can label us a consequence, "Oh, I ne'r said ye 'idn't do anythin' stupid - ye ended up on 'at other ship, after all," said the pirate with a smile. "I 'ust meant that 'ack 'en, ye had an excuse."
Varun tilted his head back when Mal asked about how he started doing this. Ah, one of his favorite subjects...fun thing to reminisce about, really. Good subject change, too. He took a moment to mull the words around in his head, sipping on rum as he did so. Not like it was a complicated subject, one that needed a few minutes of pondering before being divulged. No, he just liked thinking about it. Kinda funny story, to him.
"Me 'ather as a 'irate. Damn 'ood one. Me and me 'other didn't 'ow until 'e took us on the ship one 'ay, and 'rom then on...well, 'other didn't 'ike it. 'Ought it was wrong. I, on 'e other 'and, 'oved it. When he 'ied, I 'ook over the ship an' made a 'ame for myself. 'Urned one boat into 'everal."
He failed to mention that he was probably among the youngest pirates to be made captain of such a large ship. And the youngest to gain a fleet. Ah, well, he'd probably be the youngest to die, too. Of how much you have to learn.
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:44 pm
Mal mentally inserted the syllables that, for some reason, Varun seemed unable to say. Maybe he was allergic to them or something. While etiquette wasn’t one of Mal’s strong points, he figured he shouldn’t comment on it just because it didn’t really matter that much. “Well, come on. I needed a fast way out of Xuan and the captain was willing enough. I sure as Hell wasn’t going to try flyin’ or goin’ over land.” Actually, that brought up a good point about the return trip. He hadn’t quite planned that far.
While they were getting all chummy and stuff, he figured he might as well ask about something else.
“What about your mom? She still around?” Alright, so maybe his newly discovered family had made him a bit more curious about the pasts of other people. More likely, he just felt like talking about something that wasn’t too depressing. Although if Varun’s mother was dead, maybe it could be depressing. Eh. The man had his alcohol; it was doubtful that he would get too depressed.
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:49 pm
You can label us a consequence, " 'Unno."
Well, it was the truth.
"She 'as captured 'uring a raid. 'Old her 'ot to get involved, I did - 'er own fault. 'O, more an' likely she's 'ead. If she's 'ot, well, 'ood luck to 'er."
He said it with a smile, and it wasn't a fake one. Why be upset over it, after all? He was taught that family was important, but, in the end, a liability. He didn't like liabilities. She made herself one, and she paid the price. That probably made him heartless...not like he ever claimed to have a heart. He cared, he just...didn't care enough, s'pose. Of how much you have to learn.
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:10 pm
Varun’s lack of emotion confused Mal for a little while. Sure, he hadn’t really cried for his own mother---honestly, he was unsure if she was alive or dead---but he had always attributed his lack of tears because he hadn’t really known her. Varun, on the other hand, had been raised by this woman. Clearly, the man had been hit in the head too many times. Well, it wasn’t any of Mal’s business. “That’s too bad,” he said, mostly because there wasn’t much else to say.
A sort of awkward silence entered the cabin, rifled through every little piece of paper it could find, and made things generally uncomfortable, at least for Mal. He was the type of guy who didn’t like silence much unless he was trying to kill someone or, more likely, break into some place. Then he liked it quite a bit. There were probably one or two other situations that he couldn’t think of at the moment. On the bright side, he had whiskey. Yay! He poured himself yet another glass. It helped get rid of some of the awkward silence anyway. Actually, it didn’t; it just made it easier for Mal to deal with.
“You ever think of doin’ any honest smuggling?” he asked eventually. The way he said it made it sound like he had an idea swirling around in his brain.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:30 pm
Pardon me, while I burst... Varun rather enjoyed silence. Certain kinds, at least. He rarely got it in the span of a day - there was always something to do. Commotion on a ship was always loud, regardless of the severity. Captain had to either start the commotion or end it, so he was always on the receiving end of quite a few yells and shouts and cheers and..whatever may come his way. So, this kind of silence was nice.
...kinda.
Mal probably thought he was strange for the way he acted regarding the subject of his mother. Ah, so that's why this was odd.
Subject change.
"'Onest smugglin'....'at do ye mean, exactly?" Varun asked, smirking a bit. And rise above the flame.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:31 pm
Honestly, Mal already thought he was odd. He simply didn’t let that get in the way. Strange people were pretty much the only ones he dealt with on a regular basis. Normal people bored him and a bored Mal was a dangerous critter indeed. Bored Mal tended to try to make things interesting, which usually involved removing at least one article of clothing.
“Y’see, I’ve got this friend. My friend has been havin’ a bit of trouble with the locals. Well, not really locals, exactly… see, Lynne served in the war. This means that lots of people in Synd keep an eye on her. This ain’t good for her business, which involves providin’ people with the stuff they need. She don’t trust local pirates to keep her goods safe, but she’ll trust me.” Actually, a better way to describe it would be that she would be mildly amused and follow along just to see where everything was going. She had always said that her main reason for following Mal was morbid curiosity.
“She deals mostly in herbs and the like. ‘S stuff that Paralene don’t like.” That lone should have told everything. Drugs, and lots of them.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:43 pm
Pardon me, while I burst... Varun let out a hearty laugh. "Aaaahh, 'at kind 'o smugglin. 'Ell, I'm usually not 'oo interested in 'layin 'eeper, but...what 'ind 'o profit am I to be 'onsidering."
He let his eyes wander to the ceiling as he spoke. Drugs, hmm? Never was a huge fan of them. Too easy to take a bit of the goods for yourself. Not that he wanted to...ok, well, he wanted to, but he needed to have a clear head to continue in his business. Drugs were more fun to smuggle, in his opinion.
Just....well, once again, he didn't like playing keeper. Especially of that sort of thing. Mal was his friend, though, so..perhaps. And rise above the flame.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:08 pm
“Not sure what kind of profits you’re lookin’ at. You’d have to talk to Lynne for that; she’s the one who deals with this stuff, not me. I’ll be seein’ her once we get to Synd anyway, so I’ll introduce you.” He would have to make sure that Lynne didn’t think he was dead. Again. It would be mildly tricky to get the drugs past the Paralenians who were patrolling the area, but Mal was good at getting things past guards. It had been his job for a long time.
If Varun decided not to do it, no harm done. Mal would just have to find another pirate willing to do it. While Lynne would never admit it, Mal was sure she was in some sort of money trouble due to the increased attention. And Mal always looked after his soldiers as best he could, even if he wasn’t there.
“You’re a good man, Varun.” He paused a moment to think about this. “Well, you’re alright,” he amended, deciding that that was about a good as a pirate could get. “You’ll like Synd,” he commented after a short silence. “Women always outnumber the men there.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:14 pm
Pardon me, while I burst... Varun lifted his glass, a keen look in his eye. "Thank ye, 'ut I'm only as 'ood as the whiskey."
"I've 'ad dealings in Synd, once upon a 'ime," he commented, flicking some hair out of his eyes. "Aye, the 'omen abound. As 'oes the Trade, or 'o I hear."
Well...a little of the Trade. Yes, capital letters. Varun could match with Mal's capitalization any way.
It was only rumors. Actually, he was sure that they were wrong. Synd wasn't organized enough to manage that. Hell, even Varun wasn't. And rise above the flame.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:47 pm
Mal snorted and took another gulp of his whiskey. Swishing it in his mouth, he swallowed and shook his head. “Nah. The whiskey’s way better. It don’t mind bein’ in my mouth.” … He considered the comment and put the glass down. Ok… that was enough whiskey for one night. But, he would have to save that comment for Rem at a later date; it was just the sort of thing to make him blush up a storm.
“The Trade is alive and well in Synd,” Mal said bluntly. “S’ like most of Cambria; a good deal more confusin’-lookin’ than it actually is. The fact that Paralene’s watchin’ never stopped the Trade before. Won’t stop it now.” Actually, in some ways, it helped it. Women, as it turned out, were damned good at tempting men into doing stupid things and Paralenians were a good deal more gullible than Cambrians. Mal didn’t approve. While he enjoyed waggling his fingers at Paralene and everything, he didn’t like the idea of slavery. It simply grated against something in his soul, and that something was known as ‘Independence’.
Also, his spine. It grated against that too.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:53 pm
Pardon me, while I burst... Varun stared at Mal for a moment. MMmm...he should know better than to talk freely of such things. He hoped that he didn't do that normally. 'Specially not around Varun...he didn't need that kind of talk around him. Bad for normal business.
The captain laughed softly, taking the glass and bottle away from Varun. "Ye 'eed to be restin soon. I'll have ye 'orkin tomorrow." And rise above the flame.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:13 pm
Normally Mal flirted with people he knew would be entertaining, such as Rem. Or Kaisa, but that was an entirely different form of entertainment that would take a lot of time and effort because, honestly, that’s what made the outcome all the better. Mal’s hand twitched reflexively as Varun took away the whiskey, but he didn’t make any attempts to re-claim it. He knew himself well enough to judge when he’d had enough.
And since he was apparently drunk enough to hit on Varun, he figured that anything Varun said was a result of a drunken hallucination, especially the word ‘work’. Or ‘ork’ as it was. Clearly, Varun was saying something else and it just sounded like ‘work’.
“Where’m I sleepin’?” he asked. Yeah, that was a good question. He even managed to refrain himself from adding something like ‘with you?’. He was rather proud of himself for that.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 7:33 pm
Pardon me, while I burst... Varun caught the twitch, but was pleased to note that Mal made no further movement. Good. When it came to his own whiskey, the captain's word would not be questioned.
The man rose, returning one bottle to the desk in front of him and the other back to its place amongst the liquor on the wall. In response to Mal's question, the captain let out a soft, but shrill, whistle. The door opened and a head peaked in.
"Cap'n?"
"'Ere's still a 'unk in the powder store, 'orrect?"
"Aye, sir."
"See 'at our friend is mae 'omfortable then."
"But...cap'n, are ye sure?"
Varun stopped mid-step, glancing meaningfully at Mal....then lifting his eyes to the man at the door. "He 'an be 'rusted. See 'at my orders are 'arried out."
"Aye, cap'n." And rise above the flame.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:33 pm
While he was slightly tipsy, Mal wasn’t the sort to miss out on the significance of the powder room. Perhaps someone slightly less informed in warfare would be confused and assume that it was some sort of bathroom (apparently, some people thought of pirates as being very sophisticated and clean people), but Mal knew better. And he was touched, a little, by Varun’s trust.
“Wow. The powder room. I feel so warm and fuzzy inside, Varun. ‘S like eatin’ a kitten with a fever, only I don’t have to spend an hour hackin’ up hairballs.” Not that Mal had ever eaten a kitten, although there had been times in his life when he would have been desperate enough to devour one whole. Getting out of the chair, Mal clapped Varun on the shoulder cheerfully. “I owe you one.”
Of course, Mal planned on getting rid of that debt as soon as possible by making some sort of business between Aaralyn and Varun. That would take care of Aaralyn and get rid of the debt, all in one swoop. “Anyway… onto the powder room.”
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