Violent candy

Calling her Raccoon without her make-up smeared across her face sure was a weird experience. But he couldn’t just not call her that. He’d just pretend he was talking to her inner Raccoon. It made him wonder why she wasn’t painted though. She didn’t look the same, but maybe that was the point. He sometimes tried to imagine what he would look like now, if his tattoos weren’t permanent and he could take them off whenever he wanted. But his tattoos were as much part of him as his distinct amber eyes. So he wondered how she was feeling right now. Exposed? Probably. Out of place too, if he had to guess. She didn’t seem as confident as he remembered her to be. But that could also be the fault of his intoxicated brain.

“But Romeo, I came here to run away from that God Forsaken place and live my life at sea,” She replied to his comment. This time he didn’t hold back his laughter. ”You? A life at sea?” He roared, drawing the attention of some people that passed by. ”Have you even been on a ship, Raccoon? Cause I doubt you’d voluntarily get on another one if you sailed all the way from Vanaheim to Rhoynar”, He continued, a bit too loud. He was unaware of the fact she was trying to hide her identity, therefore he wasn’t really careful of who might be listening to his words.

It seemed like she was in a much more depressed mood than he was. Or it was all fake and he was buying it. Which was perfectly possible. Normally he’d sense when someone was tricking or deceiving him, but at this point he didn’t even care to find out. To be alert, to stay on guard. He simply couldn’t. He had let go of that control. Hopefully that didn’t turn out to have been a bad decision. Anyways, back to dramatic Raccoon. “I just want to get away from it all, from the mad men that haunt that God Forsaken place.” She said. Romeo squinted his eyes a bit. ”You know, if you want to forget I got something that might help”, He then said with a grin. Alcohol! Of course. Because alcohol is a solution. Not that our dear Romeo was a chemist or anything, or smart in science, for that matter. But he knew it worked, so there’s that.

“And no, I came by horse. Looking for a ship, actually. If I had known I’d find you here I might’ve waited before I paid someone else…” She admitted, after which he looked at her a bit offended. ”As if I had done it for free”, He joked. She probably wouldn’t have paid that much though, but still. He had a crew to pay, so at least a small fee would be needed to keep them happy. ”Where do you want to go so badly that you are actually getting on a ship though?” He then asked, curiously. Though he looked around for a second. ”Hold on, don’t answer that. Let’s go somewhere more private”, He suggested. There were enough rooftops to sit on that were out of reach of curious eyes and ears.

As he remembered, she had never been drunk. If he remembered correctly, that was. His memory was kinda blurry. But it was his personal mission to get her drunk at least one day in the future. The near future, preferably. “And what could that possibly be?” She asked, a little suspicious. The grin on his face broadened. ”Rum, of course”, He replied cheerfully. He didn’t expect her to actually accept his offer, but he could always try. She probably wouldn’t even need much to get tipsy, as she had no resistance to it at all. He could easily drink a whole bottle by himself and not feel a thing. It was just how things went on a ship. Fresh water was hard to come by, so for long journeys the whole crew sipped liquor. If they found an island with a water source, then they could restock their water, but in the meantime they had to be thrifty with it.

So she hadn’t been on a boat yet, as he expected. But she would board one soon. She had hired someone to take her somewhere, apparently. And she thought she could get a free ride with him? Didn’t think so. “I paid him a few hundred,” She replied. Romeo chuckled amused. ”Yeah you’ve been scammed”, He said. He suspected she had paid him in advance, and would pay more when they arrived. She would be lucky to ever see the man again. He got curious about her destination though, but they shouldn’t be discussing that here. “I am not familiar with this place - where would you have us go?” She asked. Romeo looked around for a second. ”We could either go to the Shark, or we climb the roofs”, He suggested. It would depend on if she wanted to have a view while they were chatting or not. "The Shark has booze though", He grinned, as if that would make it easier to decide.

There were a lot of positive sides to alcohol. Generally speaking, he was more relaxed, less aggressive towards others, capable of having an actual conversation, no anxiety around strangers, his usual triggers were way down and he was in a much better mood. But there were also downsides, of course. Like how he tended to overshare. ”Do you think I’d be like this if it wasn’t for the liquor?” He replied to her words, his eyebrows pulled up in a questioning look. Oh how he would regret this. She had met him when he was in her territory, which meant he had been doing his very best to keep control over his emotions. He only remembered freaking out internally when she had demanded him to have his wound checked out by her doctor. But he hadn’t expressed that panic. Here in Brightwater Keep, he let go of that control much more. In this neighbourhood, people feared him for what he was capable of if something snapped.

But she didn’t know that. His words could confuse her, or she would just brush it off. Or it would get lost in the next subject. Which was her confession that she needed a boat, and that it cost her way more than she would pay a fair sailor. Even though those were hard to find in Brightwater Keep these days. “Can’t do it by the books, sadly,” She reacted after shrugging lightly. “And I’ll cut his throat otherwise.” She continued. Romeo inhaled sharply through his nose. ”I love how you say that so casually”, He admitted with his signature smirk around his lips. “I’m curious, so let’s head to the Shark.” She then said. The Shark it was. He gestured to follow him and turned around, feeling the gaze of several people burning on his back while he lead the way to his ship.

There were only a few crew members walking around on the deck. The others were probably getting drunk somewhere too. But he always made sure there were a couple of people left to guard the ship. The gangplank creaked when he climbed it. He nodded to the guard closest to him, who turned around and strolled away again when he noticed it was just the Captain. He didn’t even acknowledge his company, probably thinking she was just one of those girls he sometimes brought along. Romeo walked over to the door to his private quarters and opened it. It was an organised mess inside, the room was cluttered with various items collected on journeys to far places. ”Welcome aboard”, He joked, while closing the door behind her. There was currently only one candle burning, but soon he started lighting the others as well, so the room was more lit and they could actually see each other. He pointed to the comfortable couch, that obviously was not a part of the original furniture. ”Take a seat”, He instructed, while he went looking for that booze he was talking about earlier.

There was no place like home. The fun thing about living on a ship, was the fact that he could take it around the world and still have the feeling he was safe somewhere. A place to belong. The past few years had been a rollercoaster for sure, but he had finally settled. He was the one true captain of this ship. No one would take it away from him, and he was pretty sure he would die on these very wooden planks. He wouldn’t want to die any other way. Closest to his God and the ship he considered his dwelling. He was curious about Lexa’s opinion on it, but at the same time he didn’t want to know what she was thinking. She had proven to be pretty straightforward, which he normally would appreciate. But when it came to certain subjects, he didn’t want to hear a bad word about them.

Romeo welcomed her in his home, and immediately felt a bit exposed. This was his sacred place and he had given her the opportunity to see that. He could see that she was looking around with the same curiosity he had felt when she had taken him to Mother’s Watch. Meanwhile he was looking for that bottle he had been talking about. “Are you sure it’s… clean?” She asked, after he had instructed her to sit down. The man turned around and looked at the couch for a second. He slowly scratched his cheek, before nodding. ”Of course it is! I’m 99% sure I own this one for only a week”, He noted. Stolen from a rich trader’s house back in Navarre, if he was correct..

At the exact same village they had plundered some expensive wine, but as they were back in Rhoynar, their supply of rum was restocked as well. And he wouldn’t deny her a taste of the famous liquor. He pulled out a bottle, found two relatively clean cups and put them on the table. After that, he filled both almost halfway. He reached one of the cups over to her. ”I insist you try at least one cup”, He said with his signature smirk. The captain sat down and leaned back in the pillows. ”So, tell me, where are you going with a ship?” He asked, curious about her plans.

Having her in his private quarters, was a weird experience. Probably enhanced by his intoxicated state. It felt as if he was watching himself from a distance, while she was taking in the bits and pieces of information about him that were scattered around the place. Personal items that revealed huge parts of his journey. It was pretty clear he was the one that lived here. From treasures he plundered, to empty bottles on the floor, traces of his faith along the walls and signs of violence when he had lost his temper again. It was a chaos, the same chaos he felt in his mind all the time. As if a storm had raged through the cabin. But it was not a bad thing. His God had chosen this path for him and he was happy to follow. No matter what.

So for that same reason he actually had invited her in. To sit down and talk about her plans. Because he couldn’t believe that he ran into her just by accident. There had to be a reason and he wanted to find out what. She answered in riddles though. ”This is the right moment to be upfront and honest to me”, He replied, giving her a small nod as to encourage her to stop being mysterious. He took a big chug of the cup, downing it almost completely. ”What are you looking for and how far are you prepared to go to get it?” He asked. If he liked her answers.. He might just offer his help. And probably regret it in the morning, but that was sober Romeo’s problem.