Once I Was

[Ethan Black]

Birds of a feather flock together. She even patted him on the shoulder. Ethan raised an eyebrow. But the smirk was there. "What, do you expect me to start squawking?" He questioned. It was another tease. Especially for that little pat. That had certainly done it.

She laughed enough to tremble. Ethan joined her. It was great to see. She was actually relaxed. She insisted it wasn't that dirty. That there was a certain charm. Ethan snorted in reply. "I think that's just the fumes from the murk getting to you, Erika." Was his answer. The ship didn't need to sparkle or shine, but it sure kept disease down.

He paused. Thought. He almost looked like he was actually considering something. But the twinkle in his eyes gave it away. "Do you think we could buy a bunch of buckets and scrape all the gunk into them? We could fire them at other boats, or use it for interrogation. I assure you, that would be effective."

[Erika Smith]

"I don't expect it, but it would be amusing," she replied simply with a shrug. She saw little point in lying and although the truth probably wasn't the thing Ethan wanted to hear, it was what he'd have to deal with - regardless of whether or not he liked it.

Once again the brunette punched the man's shoulder, her head shaking. "You're an idiot," she mused. The idea was amusing, sure, but not exactly the kind of thing you wanted to do if you wanted to be taken seriously. She didn't want the Black Dagger to be known as that ship.

"Remind me not to put you in charge of interrogation."

[Ethan Black]

She didn't expect it. yet it would be amusing. Ethan chuckled. He could easily agree. "It would. Which is why I won't. I can't make things too easy for you." Another tease. yet it was true. She was his captain, and his friend. There was a lot she could get from him easily. Not everything, but much.

She punched him again. He rubbed the spot. She called him an idiot. He only chuckled and smirked. "Or maybe I'm just far too smart for you to understand and see the goo in my ideas?" He replied without missing a beat. He understood why she'd react that way. She wasn't going to put him in charge of interrogation. Ethan rolled his eyes. "Well don't come cry to me when we don't get all the information we want."

[Erika Smith]

The brunette had to smile, but even she knew that it couldn't be all fun an games. Sighing, she turned her gaze forward, staring towards the dim lit city behind the window. Her brow furrowed briefly before she once again shrugged her shoulders. "We shouldn't stay in port for more than a few days," she said silently.

It wasn't as if they could. Not only because of the cargo they were supposed to deliver, but because of the noble girl they'd managed to get their hands on. It would only be a matter of time before people figured out that she was gone and started asking question. The sooner they got away from Goldcrest, the better it would be.

"When did things become so complicated?"

[Ethan Black]

She smiled. Yet it faded. There was a sigh, and the mood grew heavy. Their fun had unfortunately ended. She spoke the obvious. They couldn't stay in port for long. That was an understatement. With all their cargo and their "guest," he understood. "I know. The moment our second guest comes, we should shove off." It was sound advice. One she undoubtedly already knew.

Her brow was furrowed. He could tell she was thinking. Pensive. Stressed. It came with the territory. Yet it didn't mean he liked to see it. She spoke. A question. When had things gotten so complicated? Ethan thought. Considered his words before answering. Finally he shrugged. "I'm not sure the exact moment." He admitted freely. "But there's a lot of things we can pin some of the blame on. Yet there's no one source. I just think that right now the world is caught in a 'shit storm,' for lack of a better word." He smirked again, but he was honest. "So many things are just happening at once."

[Erika Smith]

She nodded in agreement. He was right. The sooner, the better. She was going to heed that advice. The less time they spend around and the more they focused on the mission at hand, the less suspicion would fall upon them. At least, that was what the young captain hoped.

She often wondered why she'd been put in charge. She was young and inexperienced - much younger than a lot of the crew members. Though, she supposed it didn't matter. Not anymore. Here she was and she couldn't very well throw her found responsibility away. Even if it didn't make much sense.

Smiling the brunette nodded. The smile was devoid of happiness, though, and instead was somber. "Yeah," she replied. She had little else to say about the topic. And she felt the urge to change it. "We'll let the others know in the morning that they should start getting ready." She paused and then smiled. "Well, once they're sober, anyways."

[Ethan Black]

She nodded. Understood. She was smart. That much he knew. Yet she was young. A fact not often taken into consideration. A fact even he could forget. But she'd done well so far. He trusted her. A fact that should shock him, yet didn't. She had proven herself worthy of that. he couldn't say that for most.

There was a smile. It was devoid of the happiness of earlier. Empty in comparison. It was easy to tell the difference. They would let the others know in the morning. That is, once they were sober. A smile returned to Ethan's lips. She wanted to change the subject. He was more than happy to follow. "Maybe we should have them clean the ship. I'm sure the stench would sober them up in only a few minutes." it was half joke, half serious. The task would help kill time.

[Erika Smith]

"Yeah?" she smiled. She figured it was amusing and it would have been a suitable punishment had the crew run off without her permission. She had to keep that in mind for later use.

"Be careful about the ideas of punishment that you give me, Ethan," she reminded him. "I might just have to use them against you." Now that sounded far more amusing than the idea he'd given her. Then again, she seemed to find pleasure in besting him - in more ways than one.

[Ethan Black]

She smiled again. That was a plus. "Well it's better than having them run off and drink themselves into a stupor or waste all their money on gambling. It'll make them actually productive." It made sense to use the time they were in port. It could be a punishment two. Down two birds with one stone. The ship could certainly use the cleaning.

She warned him about making punishments. She might have to use them against him. Ethan snorted. He saw the twinkle of mischief in her eyes. She would be fine punishing him like that. "And that's precisely why I behave and don't go off without orders to drown myself in drink." He was grinning again. "I wouldn't want to give you the satisfaction of punishing me."

[Erika Smith]

"Exactly," the young brunette agreed. Besides, given the fact that they usually didn't stay in port for this long, she didn't think the crew would feel anything but grateful for the free time they actually got. People could always choose to stay behind, but somehow she doubted they'd want to miss out on this kind of deal with Trevor Marin of all people.

Arching her eyebrow at him, the brunette shook her head. "You call this behaving?" She had to snort at the idea. He never behaved. Perhaps in the traditional sense of the word, which she supposed he could argue for, but the fact still remained; Ethan Black was a sassy little shit.

[Ethan Black]

Exactly. She agreed. It had made sense to him. And clearly to her too. Yet it was good for the crew to have some free time. Most of it was spent at sea. Even with his love of the open water, sometimes dry land couldn't be beat. That's why it was much appreciated when they reached it.

She arched an eyebrow. He called this behaving? She snorted. He grinned cheekily. "Trust me Erika. If I wanted to misbehave, you would know." It was a mix of taunt and tease. But true as well. If he chose to make trouble, Erika would know. He could raise hell if he so wished.

[Erika Smith]

"When you do, don't drag other people down with you," she said simply. She didn't fear that Ethan would turn against her or even cause any trouble that would lead to any major damage. She trusted him enough to know that if he ever had any issues, he'd come talk to her and they could resolve things like civilized people.

Stretching her arms, the brunette issued a sigh. It was getting late and it seemed as if the two of them didn't have any plans for how to spend the nights. Perhaps that was for the best, though. Maybe the two of them being rested (and not hungover) was the better option for what was ahead.