ITT: We Are All Pirates' Revenge

Victor follows the raccoon over to the corner.

"So... erm... nice to meet you," he says, grinning awkwardly. "What did you want to ask me?"

(Ira lets out a belly-laugh upon realizing how embarrassed Kauri seems to be.) Kauri, playing pretend is nothing to be ashamed of! Even at your age I was still doing that with my own toys and stuff.

Ezekiel sits down on a crate, crossing his legs and arms as he squints at Victor. "Who is after you," he asks simply.

"Well, I..." Feeling nervous again, Victor avoids making eye contact. "I'm in trouble back in my hometown... they think I k-killed someone... but it wasn't me, I swear," he adds.

"Yes, I'm certain...at least, I'm only certain of me being certain in you being certain, not simply in you being certain, but that's neither here nor there."

Laughing to himself, Ezekiel adjusts himself a little on his makeshift seat, trying to make sure the lining plank of the crate isn't digging into his keister. "Now as of the matter of being framed for something you did not do, I would like to put forth my credentials to help you. Most of the others on this ship do not know this, and I'd rather not want it to get out out of fear for my own safety, but I am a privateer of the local court, of significant prestige and sway I should add!" He flourishes his words with pointer to the heavens before settling back down.

"And," he continues, "if introduced to the right authorities, I would like to at least assist in...getting them off your ass."

Despite Ira's attempts to console him, he's still embarrassed about it and is twiddling his thumbs. "R-Really…?"

Yeah! (Ira chuckles.) I had a small toy dragon named Koko that I used to do everything with. Sometimes my friend- (He pauses a bit, seemingly stopping short of actually name-dropping said friend, before continuing.) ...my friend and I would pretend he was the teacher over a school with us and some other toys as the students. He was a cool teacher...

(Ira sighs a bit before looking to the cannon.) So his name is Splooshy, eh?

"Mr. Splooshy," he insists, gesturing to the MR. part of the engraving.

Oh, right, MR. Splooshy... (Ira chuckles.) How do you do, Mr. Splooshy?

Kauri stares at the cannon for a bit. "… He says he's doing fine. He's excited to be setting sail again."

Heh heh, me too, Mr. Splooshy, me too. (Ira chuckles.)

"Oh... you could do that?" says Victor, surprised. He was not sure it would be quite that simple, but he still appreciated the raccoon's generous offer. "If you could help me with that when the time comes... I would be very grateful, sir."

"Excellent." Ezekiel smiles...in time, maybe he can sway Victor away from the crew and to his own.

"Now," he stipulates, "I don't want any word of my occupation getting out to any more of the crew. Otherwise, you and I, and especially I, would have quite the ruckus on our hands..."

"A-all right, I won't tell," says Victor. "Well, if it's all right, I-I'll be going now..."

"Yes, it's quite alright." Ezekiel hops off the crate and starts walking back towards the rest of the crew...

Breathing a sigh of relief, Victor walks over to the area where he had heard the dragon and the young boy talking, next to one of the cannons.

(Ira notes Victor coming over.)

Oh, hey! Victor, right? (Ira greets the fellow reptile.)

"Yeah," he says. "Sorry, I didn't catch your names earlier..."

Oh, name's Ira. (Ira tells Victor, reaching out for a handshake (er, clawshake).) Nice to meet you. The kid's name is Kauri.

"Nice to meet you, Ira," says Victor, shaking Ira's claw. "You too, Kauri. And thanks again for your help earlier... I would probably have drowned if it weren't for you guys."

Melvin, getting bored with steering, looks around. "Tom? Where is that boy..."

Melvin steps away from the wheel and starts to go belowdeck. "Tom? Where are you? I'd like ya to steer for me, for a few minutes."

Melvin hopes Duane is still in the captain's quarters.

Edited by DrNoPuma on Mar 21st 2019 at 11:50:33 AM

Melvin would find Tom still working on the flintlock he'd purchased earlier, now planing down a short piece of timber to be used as a replacement for the section of the barrel that seems to have blown out. When he hears Melvin call out, however, he stops what he's doing and stands up for the captain's arrival.

"Yes, of course. I'll handle this more later. What direction should I take us?"

With that said, Tom nods and moves back up to the top of the deck as soon as he has a response from Melvin. It wouldn't do to be sailing the ship without knowing where to go.

"We're going northeast, so just keep us in that direction please."

Hey, any time, pal! (Ira says to Victor.)

"Roger"

Now at the helm, Tom grabs ahold of the wheel and focuses his efforts on making sure their travel stays on course. In the moment, he may tack port or starboard to better catch the wind, but he keeps note of how far he goes off course to correct later. He hopes they'll tell him when they've reached their destination, if they even do so today.