The Three somewhat amigos
Luro and Caleb were walking side by side through the ship, a bright grin on Luro's face as he seemed to be surprisingly invested in their conversation, his hands going up in the air on occasion every time Caleb seemed to respond to whatever came from him. Caleb seemed a tad bothered by their conversation, though any on the ship that knew the eccentric carpenter would more than likely realize that since he wasn't checking his watches every few minutes he was invested in the conversation himself. At some point Luro had pulled Caleb aside and pulling out his notebook had been trying to figure some things out with the man's help.
"I see I see that makes sense," Luro said. "I wondered if I could use as an alternate source."
"It is possible though it takes some preparation before it can be used," Caleb said.
"So by using that kind of material…"
"You can alter its properties slightly yes, your calculations were just off here."
Luro nodded and made some slightly changes to the words written on his page, though after a moment he stopped and slamming the notebook shut turned and slammed both his hands on Caleb's shoulders.
"Ow," Caleb said staring at up at Luro.
"Can we be best friends!"
".....we aren't already? You've been surprisingly invasive this whole time for us to be at a stranger's level."
A bright grin was the only response from Luro before he turned and noticed a familiar figure nearby, releasing Caleb he waved to the person before beckoning them earlier.
"Jack! Caleb and I were going to get a drink come with us!"
"I wasn't going to drink, they serve drinks other than alcoholic there."
"I'm getting rum! Jack come with us!"
Jack smiled politely behind a half-smoked cigarette as Seliria appraised him. After her stunt with the captain, the Stardusk cook was inclined to trust his counterpart as far as he could throw her, but at the same time believed her apron might speak some of the truth. Despite her biting cold demeanor, he sensed no genuine animosity. Like always, Jack hung back and observed as Caleb explained the Pandora room before the crew filed out. Though disappointed, Jack nodded in understanding as Seliria choose Alicia to help with the cooking.
The Junkers circled the rest of the crew after they left the kitchen. Jack watched disappointedly as Zilia managed an escape (he, too, had hoped to check the library after some exploring) and was surprised to find Runali also slipping away. With Caleb preoccupied by his hyperactive underlyings, Luro distracted by Caleb, and Kadi and Sara off to their own devices, the cook decided to amble nearby with CP as company.
He did not get far before he heard Luro calling him. Jack looked up from a clipboard he was holding near a work table. CP, nesting on top of his head, nipped at his ear for moving. Bird and cook blinked at Luro, then at Caleb next to him. "Alright."
Joining them, the cook seemed to recall the clipboard in his hand. He smiled and handed it to Caleb. "Oh, by the way, I found this on the floor. Looked pretty important so I thought I ought to return it to you."
Luro grinned hearing Jack was going to accompany them and CP was coming as well, having personal times with friends, especially with drink on hand were how proper pirate memories were made. Walking over he put his arm around Jack's shoulder Caleb being pulled along before making his way to the tavern, he had memorized its location having stopped by there himself earlier, though he wasn't really sure how to open the door, thus his need to grab Caleb. Seliria had informed him she was busy when he found her so he had to depend on the Carpenter instead as the Junkers had run off somewhere.
"Hehe this is going to be great, I gotta add a tavern to the ship sometime...I wonder if Alicia and Sara would be okay without rooms for a few days…"
Caleb didn't seem all too enthused to be accompanying, granted there was a good chance his face was stuck in that expression, as he had yet to smile or show any interest in anything outside of his machinations. When Jack brought up the clipboard Caleb took it with a nod and looked over its contents, he read it for a moment before writing something down and setting it back on the work table.
"It's someone else's…and that calculation was off a little…thanks for pointing that out," Caleb said.
Once the group reached the spot Caleb pressed the indent in the wall and the moment the door was open Luro sprinted inside waving to the bartender before quickly ordering drinks.
"Perhaps we should take a seat, I'm not sure what Makachi wants but he quite adamant about visiting here."
"I'll have ten bottles of rum and something for my friends," Luro exclaimed to the man.
"…is he generally inebriated in some fashion…you're not going to drink that much correct?"
"I don't think they'd overly appreciate it," Jack commented to Luro. He watched Caleb with the clipboard briefly, disappointed there hadn't been something of more interest there, but shrugged it off. He chuckled at Caleb's comment as he sat next to him. "Well, the man does have a way of making whole casks disappear overnight. I don't have the stomach for that."
Sitting on Caleb's opposite side, Jack ordered whiskey and rum while gazing around the tavern. He noticed, for the first time since they boarded the
Flying Minnow, it was quieter than other parts of the ship. The constant whirs and whizzes and hisses from the machinery that kept the ship in the air was a consistent buzz all around them. It was slightly unnerving. Sometimes, when the noises ceased to be noticeable, Jack forgot they were in the air and imagined the bowels of ship rocking to the waves. The gusts of wind helped with that-- as long as he didn't look over the rails or through portholes.
He took his cigarette and stubbed it out in a dish then smiled at Caleb. "So. How long have you been a Nova?"
Luro sat at the bar waving at the bartender and downing rum bottles before quickly ordering more, he seemed to have forgotten for a moment that he had come here with others, more than likely as he didn't have to pay for the rum and continued to order. It took him a few minutes before he remembered the others and quickly made his way over to the table setting bottles on the table before running back, grabbing more and repeating the process until there were more bottles than table.
"Guys the Rum here is free! Isn't that great!?"
A young man set Jack's drink on the table somehow finding space amongst the bottle and with a small nod moved away as Luro took a seat in one of the chairs. Luro started to lower the bottles only to stop seeing Caleb was taking notes only stopping realizing he was being spoken to.
"I've been with Nova for...1,825 days...twelve hours and...forty-seven minutes...I think," Caleb said. "I've known them for far longer however."
"Oh...that seems like a long time…" Luro said said looking over at Jack. "Jack hasn't been with us for that long...it feels like it though. We're best buds especially when he lets me wear his dreads."
"I'm afraid I don't know the exact date Jack...it was a rather...interesting time and I pay little mind to my time with them, it could easily be less or more...my apologies I don't have a real answer for you...I'd say just go with those numbers...it feels right."
Caleb stared at Jack for a moment before raising a hand, the young man returned with a glass with a red liquid in it, Caleb moved the glass closer to him and dropped a nearby cherry into it before motioning to Jack and Luro.
"Allow me to impose the same question back to you, your time with Stardusk as precise as possible."
Luro took one of the bottles into his hand and brought a hand to his chin, he wasn't sure he had the exact time with everyone but he at least knew one thing, which was enough of an answer.
"I've known everyone for years," Luro said. "Somethin' like that. Hahah just remembering the day I met the Captain makes me happy."
Jack raised his eyebrows behind his glass, curiosity piqued. "I don't think I've heard that story yet— you didn't try to kill her, did you?" He looked up Luro suspiciously, knowing by now the giant's odd need to fight everyone, not unlike Sara. He'd also heard snippets of occurred to his crew that went to the dream land in Undersea. He fervently thanked whatever divine being watching over him that he did not have to endure that particular hell.
Luro drained one of the bottles and with a content sigh went to grab another only to stop as Jack brought up the story, he blinked a few times and tilting his head at Jack shook his head.
"Yeah I tried to kill the Captain," Luro said with a bright smile. "That was my intention. I had been stranded on an island again. Since I was sitting on a throne in a wedding dress I probably just drank a little too much the day before."
"Define too much," Caleb said glancing at him.
"I don't know I don't remember...but then again I don't remember yesterday either," Luro said grinning.
Looking back at Jack he rested his cheek on his fist and grinned at him.
"I shot at the Captain's hand to get her attention on her boat as she passed the island. I was starving, thirsty and on the verge of death again. I wanted her ship...but I didn't shoot her. Still not really sure why. Anyway I got on the ship and Kai, Nolan and Ray were there, then I proved to the Captain that I purposely didn't shoot her. I joined and we agreed that I could kill her some other time."
Caleb took a sip from his drink and glanced over at Luro who was already working on another bottle.
"So you intend on killing Captain Lev at some point."
"Hm I'm not allowed, Captain made a rule I'm not allowed to kill unnecessarily," Luro said smiling. "No senseless murder, and Captain's the Captain so I have to follow the rules."
Caleb looked over at Jack at this arching a brow at him.
"Does everyone in Stardusk wish to kill Captain Lev...are you only holding back before of her 'no killing the Captain' rule?" Caleb said as he set his drink down. "You were found on Tilea correct... not an island?"
The cook covered a smile as Luro explained his first meet. Though a bit shocked Runali willingly agreed to let someone kill her, the whole situation seem to...fit, for Luro. It sounded ludicrous and Jack suppressed outright laughter. A million questions popped into Jack's mind; why was he stranded on the island, who was Kai and Nolan, why did simple rules keep Luro's overly-ecstatic trigger finger from taking the shot? Jack filtered through them and had chosen the first one to ask, seeing as it could provide the most relevant information, before Caleb chimed in. Jack started to grin- certainly not everyone had the blood thirst of Luro Makachi on
Lady Luck- up until it Caleb mentioned Stardusk finding him on Tilea. The corners of his mouth froze, and he carefully set down his glass before tilting back his chair and looking at Caleb.
"You seem to know a lot regarding the Stardusk crew," he said slowly, thinking of his words before speaking, "Considering it hasn't been that long since we reached Fourth Gen. Not long enough to get so much information, I would think. Why is that?"
Caleb seemed to notice the sudden change in Jack though Luro continued to drink happily. Stardusk were a certain kind of bunch, and the more he learned the more fascinating he found that they had managed to cause so much trouble. Some of their actions defined logic yet seemed to function just fine in the long run. He was already considering calculating the possibilities of their next venture and its success rates from what he heard, the very idea brought him an immense amount of joy, though his face remained the same bored expression.
At Jack's question Caleb stared back at the man, his eyelids lowering slightly, he set his drink down and folded his hands on the table, looking into Jack's eyes. Luro stopped drinking for a moment pretty sure he felt the air chill for a moment, his gaze moved to his two friends who seemed focused on one another.
"You did seem like the careful type," Caleb said keeping his attention on Jack. "I thought the answer would come naturally to you. You seem to like asking questions…why don't you answer your own by thinking about it….I guarantee you already know the answer. Take a moment and think about it and who you're with."
Caleb was one of the Worst Gen and though a tad eccentric one didn't reach this position without some manner of skill, and though he spoke in the same tone and bore the same expression, there seemed to be something else behind his words, something subtle, easy to miss if one wasn't paying attention. It was something Jack already knew the answer too and Caleb, a man who disliked wasting time, saw little point in answering a question he already knew.
"I see," Jack picked up his drink and sipped it. He had the urge to down it all but did not want to show his growing nerves.
I guessed as much, but it's better to have confirmation. Question is...who is it? Jack always preferred knowing what he was getting into, and was quite good at figuring that out. Until he met Stardusk, at any rate. They had such a knack of finding- or jumping straight into- dangerous situations it was impossible to gain any kind of bearings. Here, at least, he had time to observe and look. But it was onboard the ship of a Worst Gen and Jack still didn't believe he was on that list too. He was out of his league-- and it made him feel precarious.
Jack finished his drink and signaled the bartender for another. He re-addressed Caleb. "You're quite right, of course. But, as a former captain once said, it's better to confirm than merely assume. You never know what you could miss."
"Fine advice," Caleb said with a small nod picking up his drink. "…however…by the time you confirm…won't it be too late?"
Caleb took a small sip from his drink swirling the liquid in his glass as he eyed the liquid within it ignoring the weight those words could carry. He seemed to understand what Jack was doing or at least pretended he did, at the very least he remained silent since Jack already knew the answer there was little point in him talking about it.
He still couldn't get past how fascinating Stardusk were, he was being surprisingly entertained by such a simple conversation, he supposed it was the stimuli of new things that gave him this feeling.
"You guys are acting all weird," Luro said grinning. "This is supposed to be a party!"
"When did this become a party?" Caleb asked looking over at him.
"Eh it's always been a party! We got drink, the tavern and each other, thats a party in itself!" Luro exclaimed holding up one of his bottles.
Caleb blinked a few times and brought a hand to his chin, that was an interesting notion to say the least, though it seemed it didn't take much to get Luro in a good mood. Granted in their short time together he hasn't seen him without a smile on his face.
"A valid point Makachi, I like that idea."
"Yeah! Let's have a toast," Luro said holding his bottle up. "To new friendships!"
Caleb raised his glass and tapped the rum bottle glancing over at Jack.
"Indeed….to new friendships."
The smallest grimace passed over Jack's face. He, indeed, heard that before. Always careful, sometimes he failed to act and made mistakes. Perhaps too many. Cautious and wary, Jack put on a wide smirk and raised his own glass to Luro's, then Caleb's. "A part indeed. To new friendships...may they never turn against each other."
"Yep! Unless we all have to kill each other for some random reason!" Luro exclaimed.
"That's a terrible toast Makachi but we've already started the process," Caleb said before lowering his glass and taking a large drink just as Luro did. A satisfied smile came from Luro and he laughed as he settled back into his seat, he was almost beaming at this point and with a content sigh he grinned at the two before looking over at Jack.
"Thanks for coming along Jack, you seem so distant sometimes so I've been wanting to invite you to a drink."
"Habits like this do build strange friendships," Caleb said with a small nod.
"Yep yep, when I was talking with Caleb about you he agreed you need some good old fashioned 'bonding' time."
Caleb looked over at Luro and arching a brow motioned to Jack with his free hand.
"Hm there's little need in telling Jack that Luro, he already figured out how I knew about him."
"Eh really? Wow Jack you're so smart. You knew I talked to Caleb about you, you're really good at that kind of stuff huh."
"Though I did just ask Luro to remind me of your names…he kind of went off telling me all manners of things…I've forgotten half of them though. Oh except that part about you fighting off an Octopus with your dreads, very impressive."
One of the Worst Gen Pirates was swirling his drink staring at the cherry inside of it, with a look of a man who didn't have a single care in the world. Similar to the redhead sitting next to him, there was a decent chance, a real good chance actually that Caleb took what Jack said quite literally and had no idea what was going on right now. It made sense that Luro who just moments ago admitted to wanting to kill his Captain to a fellow crewmate would think little of sharing anything about his crewmates with someone.
Caleb looked up at Jack at this and arched a brow at him.
"Hm you seem a tad tense Jack? Is the drink not to your satisfaction? You may order another if you wish."
Caleb took a drink from his own glass and checked one of his watches with a somewhat tired expression, Luro meanwhile finished the bottles on the table and was raising his hand ordering more as Caleb asked for a quick refill.
Jack kept wearing a smirk, eyes glinting, one hand on his glass swirling the remaining contents, as he listened to Luro and Caleb until the bartender came over with a new round of drinks. He reached up and took his from the tray. "Bring a second one too, if you'd be so kind. Extra whiskey," he asked the man politely. This one he downed it all in one large gulp.
Caleb was playing him. He was certain of it, and it left a foul taste in his mouth. All Jack wanted was a
normal pirate life on the sea. Cook food for the crew; attack a few ships; fight the Navy; and enjoy relaxing shore leaves at the most dingiest, rundown ports a crew could afford. Well, maybe not the latter but still preferable than to finding himself playing constant mind games with crews that posed significant danger to his own. Sighing, he smiled at Luro. "I fought an octopus with my dreads? Really? I must have blocked it out."
Maybe, just maybe, if he ignored the quip having many names and all the knowledge Luro supposedly had of him- which, the cook expected, was little in concrete facts- it would get forgotten. Maybe Luro could pull one of his crazy stories out and derail Caleb. Jack released a snort at himself. As if.
"How could you forget Jack! It was so cool, you ran out of the kitchen still in your apron and dove into the sea. When you surfaced you threw the octopus on the deck telling us it was our dinner for the day," Luro said throwing his arms up. "Alicia was flexing her muscles at a nearby shark and Masu was arranging some flowers nearby, I remember it."
Caleb took a drink from his glass eyes shut apparently focused on his own thoughts before Luro stood up slamming his hands on the table. The sudden action caused Caleb to open his eyes and glance at Luro who motioned to Jack causing Caleb to look in his direction.
"I don't think Jack remembers, but he has to remember when he fought that whale for our lunch."
"…a whale for your lunch…intriguing."
"Yeah so here's what happened, first it was all Kadi's fault we lost it."
Luro went into a long detailed story about how Kadi dropped a platter of their sandwiches over the side of the ship as he was wearing two eye patches for some reason. It seemed he was trying to be more Captain-y then the Captain which apparently happened on occasion since they both wore eye patches. Jack seeing his hard earned work being eaten by a whale dove into the water, and that was when the whale pulled out a cutlass seeing Jack approach, but that didn't stop him, a cutlass wielding whale wasn't enough to stop Jack Kunal. It was a ferocious battle, Alicia couldn't join because she was too busy flexing to a school of fish nearby, and Masu was weaving on the lower deck. The Captain was busy doing Captain stuff and Kadi was lamenting over his actions earlier, Luro wasn't allowed to fight whales in that part of the sea so he couldn't join in.
The story went on Luro describing the grand battle of the two, Jack being thrown back onto the deck of the ship a few times, but he rose up determination in his eyes, his dreads hovering behind him as his real power came forth, he dove back in wielding eight cutlass, two in hand six in hair and fought the whale, using his techniques from fighting the Octopus and eventually the whale returned the sandwiches and swore to fight Jack again one day.
"That's what happened," Luro said nodding.
"I see," Caleb said with a small nod. "Hmm so a whale merman took your sandwiches and Jack fought him, that's no small feat."
"I know right!" Luro said. "Jack's like the eight strongest person on the ship. He's pretty good."
"What was the technique he used again?"
"Oh the eight sword technique, it was Octo-Arts Stance Seven, it's one of his ultimate techniques. He can only uses them once a day due to the strain on his body."
"I see I see," Caleb said writing it down. "Fascinating, so his dreads function as other hands."
"Yeah! He even eats with them on occasion, but we're all used to it!"
"Right right."
By now, seven empty glasses stacked in front of Jack as he wobbled on his chair's back legs and twisted a newly-rolled cigarette between his fingers. He stared up at the ceiling with increasing astonishment to Luro's tales. Not a single recollection of experiencing, or hearing, one crossed his mind. But Luro spoke with such conviction, the cook remained uncertain to if it hadn't actually occurred. Until he mentioned Jack eating his hair.
"Excuse me," Jack interrupted, setting his chair on all fours to look at Luro, "I do not
eat my own dreads, thank you very much. Do you know how long it takes to regrow these?"
Caleb looked up from his book at this and looked over at Luro for clarification, at that Luro blinked a few times before shaking his head and pointing to Jack's bangs.
"Whoa I didn't know you could eat them too Jack. I just knew you ate with them. I guess if you're eating with your hair you must take bites on occasion."
"This has been extremely educational, this venture was worth the time used."
"Right! I told you so!" Luro said with a grin.
The table itself was full of empty bottles and even Caleb had a few glasses in front of himself at this point, there was red in Luro's face as he stood up and started recounting another tale as Caleb took notes.
Shaking his head, Jack downed the rest of his drink and whistled for CP. She glided from the tavern's rafter and resettled on his shoulder as he followed Luro and Caleb out of the tavern.
*****
The captain blurred with new blades and a born determination Jack hadn't seen before, and he watched admiringly as she danced with Alton. It was hard to say if the Nova captain, or either of them, were holding back but the spectacle recalled memories of Thorn's matches back on Harbor Island.
She's almost as good too, having just start wielding those ring blades...I wonder who'd win, Jack thought with a puff of his smoke. Maybe it was the buzz from the drinks, but Jack felt a spark of pride for his captain.
Jack turned to Luro, curious what the giant thought. He clutched at his long sleeves with tight knuckles, an odd look on his face. Jack frowned. "Luro? Are you al--"
The giant exploded with glee, cheering on the captain, proclaiming his need to kill even more now. Jack stepped back. CP took off, startled by the excitement, and decided to settle in a calmer place on Alicia's shoulder. The cook slipped a knife back up his sleeve, cocking his head to one side as Luro asked what he thought. His own mind went back to the moments in the tavern with Luro and Caleb. Jack looked around until he spotted the Nova's shipwright next to Seliria.
"Well my friend," Jack said dryly, "it's certainly been a fascinating journey."