sure///

---------

It had been a full week since the run in with O'Malley and her ship. While they still had many non-perishables on board, people were getting restless and antsy, which was never a good combination. Plus, it would also give them some time to make sure the ship was still sound.

A day ago they had finished crossing the Whale's Graveyard, and although they hadn't run into many problems, there were a few instances of whales bumping and scraping against the ship, and the last thing they needed was to find a hole in the ship in the middle of the Trench.

So, the ship was currently was docked at a pirate-run port, and the crew was split between grabbing more goods, and checking the ship. They had decided to stay in town for the night, so everyone would have the chance to take a break in town.

Magdalene had decided to take this opportunity to stop at a tavern and get a good, fresh meal. There was a tall mug of ale in front of her, which was half-full, and Magdalene was silently listening to the other pirates sitting down at the table next to her while she waited for her food to be finished.

As per her usual routine upon entering a port, Carwen donned her land clothes. They were simple this time, as she wouldn't be going out of her way to impress anyone or try to manipulate someone. The outfit merely consisted of an off the shoulder, cream colored chemise with long sleeves. To pull the long dress together, Carwen wore a black underbust corset. It was one of her less girly outfits, and could honestly be considered 'work' clothes, especially in a pirate-run port.

Carwen did her rounds of the ship before leaving, making sure everyone knew what they must do while in town. After that, Carwen hopped off the ship with Northcliff at her side and went through the town. She spoke to a few other captains, (all of which were shocked that she was working together with Magdalene Backstabber) asking about the dangers in the surrounding waters but never quite giving away where exactly they were headed off to. Carwen was pretty smart regardless of what face she had to put on in order to get the information she needed.

Once all that business was in order, Carwen headed over to the tavern, hungry for a good meal. Of course, it took her much longer to get there than she'd originally anticipated due to the amount of people who wished to speak with her. Many were curious as to how she'd ended up working with Magdalene, and in reply Carwen would only smile and give a very vague, unsatisfying answer.

By the time Carwen arrived at the tavern, she was ready to eat, drink a little, then pass out, but then her eyes landed on Magdalene and she felt Northcliff nudge her arm a little. The touch made her swivel her head to glare at him but he merely raised an eyebrow in return. They exchanged a silent argument, but Carwen knew she'd be losing before it even began.

Her behavior when O'Malley had been passing by their boat hadn't been ideal, she knew that, and it had been annoying for Magdalene to deal with, and she owed the other captain an apology. The problem was, even though she knew all those things, her mind was hardly willing to apologize. It had already been a week and Magdalene hadn't even spoken about it, so why bother apologizing? But deep down Carwen knew Northcliff was right.

So with a deep groan and one last glare at Northcliff, Carwen walked on over to Magdalene (who was still taller than Carwen even whilst sitting down) and pointed to the chair next to her once she knew she had the other woman's attention. "Is this seat taken?"

Magdalene was an avid reader. She would read all types of novels, and her first stop had been at the towns bookstore, where she picked up the largest novel she could find.

So, sitting at her table, the mug of ale half drank, she was also hunched over a book.

Then, the pixie that Magdalene saw too much of showed up, and Magdalene was closing her book, knowing that this was something she should probably put attention into.

Still, Magdalene raised her eyebrows, and made a pointedly looked around the tavern, where people purposefully were not sitting around the potentially foul-tempered pirate captain, as even if they didn't know who she was, her large stature and glower shooed people away. "Yes, I have tons of people waiting to sit beside me, because I am extremely popular and lovable" Magdalene deadpanned, rolled her eyes, "Sit down, you're attracting attention."

The captain took a large sip of her ale, and raised a hand to the bartender, holding up two fingers, then pointed to her mug, signaling for him to bring over two new glasses of ale.

"So - I imagine you aren't here for a friendly chat."

The word was punctuated by the click of the glasses being set down on the table, before the waiter buzzed off.

"I am always attracting attention, thank you very much," Carwen sniped before taking the seat beside Magdalene. She'd just been about to order a nice glass of water when Magdalene ordered her ale instead. Carwen wasn't one to complain though, so she took the glass of ale greedily into her hands, yes hands plural. Having tiny fucking pixie hands in a very human world was quite annoying at times.

After taking a large sip of her own ale, Carwen straightened up trying, (and miserably failing) to be at least half as tall Magdalene was. "Well actually I wouldn't call it a 'chat,' more of an apology." Carwen paused, taking another sip of her ale. She needed a bit of alcohol in order to actually properly apologize to someone. "Look, I'm sorry for the whole O'Gally shit show the other day. You don't need to tell me how bloody stupid I looked, I am more than aware. I just wanted to apologize for wasting time arguing with that stupid arse." And with that Carwen took another big sip of her ale.

Apologizing was hard.

Magdalene shrugged, making a noncommittal noise, "Eh, it didn't bother me too much. It was entertaining, if I'm being honest, and didn't set us behind."

The first mug of ale was finished and pushed to the side, with the second being easily pulled forward, although it remained untouched, "So while my ego has been wonderfully inflated by that apology, it wasn't needed," Magdalene paused, "Unless you needed it, in which case, I accept your apology, blah blah blah - we cool now?"

With Carwen's short temper, it didn't take much for her cheeks to flush red with anger or frustration. Magdalene's words happened to do just that to her. She didn't quite like being called someone's entertainment but as long as the whole stupid apology thing worked then she wasn't too angered by it.

"While I personally didn't feel as though I really needed to say it, Northcliff wen on and on about mutual respect and immaturity and blah blah blah in your terms so I supposed I should do it if only to get him off my arse." Carwen shrugged and practically inhaled the rest of her ale. Despite her small stature, she wasn't affected by such a large amount of ale, and she knew her limits well enough.

"Anyways, now that we are done with that. I was wondering, does your crew ever have any bloody fun? They're always wearing a moody look, as do you. I don't mean anything by it, I'm just wondering if you all ever sing or hire a bard or something." Carwen's crew was quite a cheerful lot most of the time, and often had a bard or two aboard. It was different to see such a solemn group of people onher ship, and she couldn't figure out if it was because they were on her ship or if they just were boring people.

Magdalene hadn't been sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't for Carwen to be calling her crew boring. It startled a laugh out of her, "Bulls and balls, hell yeah we have fun. They are just pissed that they aren't on our normal ship, and that we've had two back-to-back excursions, with little time to see their families in between."

Magdalene took a swig of her drink, downing a quarter of the cup in one go, "We normally do music nights every few days, or when the sea is calm and no one is busy," Magdalene's eyes glimmered in the low light of the tavern, "I play the fiddle, and M'jard and Kye sing."

It quite surprised both Carwen and a few others in the tavern when she'd somehow managed to make cold, calculating Magdalene laugh. To be entirely honest, Carwen was quite proud of herself, especially since she'd been expecting her to say something along the lines of, "it's none of your bloody business so shove off you annoying mouse." Thankfully, that had not happened and she'd been spared the embarrassment.

"Well, if that's the case then why don't we have a music night soon? It might even lift the spirits of those aboard, and it might even pull a smile from that sour crew of yours." Carwen grinned and winked at Magdalene before taking a large sip of her ale. To be entirely honest, she'd been looking for some fun as well.

"Did ya bring your fiddle? We have a few aboard but Northcliff might grow jealous if you have more talent than he does." One of her quartermaster's secret talents was playing the fiddle, odd for such a large man, but he had an undeniable talent for it.

Magdalene leaned back in her seat, nodding along with Carwen, "Music night sounds good with me. And my crew smiles, you ass. They are tired, that's all. Over half a year at sea without being able to see one's family does that. ... And yes, I did bring my fiddle."

It didn't take long for Magdalene to finish the rest of her drink, and she patted the cover of her book, "I'm heading out then, if we have got this settled," the pirate fished a few coins from the pocket of her pants, and set them at the table, "Your drink is paid for."

To be entirely honest, Carwen had drawn a lucky lot in the crew department. Most of her crew had either no family, or one that they didn't care about much. They mostly comprised of runaways and outlaws, meaning that they truly had nowhere and no one to return to once a journey was over.

Birds of a feather flock together, as the saying goes.

"I suppose it would," Carwen agreed, "and good thing you brought your own fiddle. I'd rather not have to steal one from Northcliff's collection." At the mere idea of stealing (more like borrowing but it was one in the same to Northcliff) her quartermaster's fiddle Carwen shivered a bit.

By the time Magdalene finished her drink, Carwen was already ordering another along with a real meal. The smells coming in from the kitchen alone were enough to make Carwen's mouth water. As Magdalene got up to leave, Carwen looked up at her with a cheeky grin. "Why thank you Magdalene, I appreciate it. Have a fine evening." And with that Carwen was back to focusing on her incoming food.

____
Ts?