The Nature of the Serpent

Musetta watched him come out of the water. While she heard his words, they barely registered in her mind as he walked toward her. He wasn't even doing anything more peculiar then normal, and it want the first time she'd seen him naked, but it was definitely making an impression this morning. Musetta didn't mind, but she couldn't really think either.

As he started to camp with the food, she realized she needed to stop watching and follow. "The fire, right," she said as she quickly stood up and followed after him. It was unusual for him to have made food. Why had he done so? Was it because of last night? Musetta quickly shook her head of the thought. It was going to keep pestering her until she remembered clearly!

Moving over to the cold fire she tried to catch the tinder on a spark, and not look at Aias, but her eyes kept glancing back over to him. As their cook fire started to grow she sat back. "About last night..." What, what could she say? "Um... I don't really remember falling asleep, and..."
 
He sat down started arranging the packages on the shirt. "It was nice." he said grinning at her. "You were so stressed about the boat I wanted to do something for you to relax." he pulled the laden shirt over to her spot so she could take over. "Not that I wouldn't have if you were not stressed, I mean." he looked away going red. He was really self conscious about his singing.

"If you want me to do it again you just need to ask, I hope you slept well." this last part was mumbled as he hugged his knees. "I hope it was alright, I don't do it a lot, even back home, and who is here to..." he trailed off purposefully stopping before he started to glow.
 
Well she sure wasn't feeling stressed about the boat, but wait, what did he mean? He was self conscious which she would somewhat expect from him, but was that because of something they did or not? She felt no less confused then before.

Absently she took one of the bundles, most of her attention on the naked man on the wrong side of the fire. Dragging her attention to the bundle before she accidentally burned herself she realized that it was fancily done. "Um, why don't you get your pants while I grill a few of these, hm?" Maybe once he was not so horribly distracting she could actually think instead of just react!

Looking back over she smiled. "And thank you, for everything. I just hope I... Well, you're happy with me."
 
He had already stood to get his clothes when she looked back and he nodded. "You're a caring a sweet person, I envy those who will get to spend time with you when you go." he turned and and without realizing the connotations his words could have he started heading back towards the beach adn returned quickly slightly less naked. "I keep forgetting that clothes are normal." he said "It must be a hassle having to put them on every day. I was a man once with so many clothes on he looked like a jellyfish with frills and fins everywhere all yellow and shiny with purple and red." it had been the leader.. captain of the ship that had sunk the other one. "He was always shouting an pushing people around. I don't think his crew liked him very much."
 
Musetta smiled, but then what he said sank deeper. He thought she had a lover aboard her ship? Not only was that far from the truth, but she didn't want him to think she was only enjoying his company until something better came along!

she didn't get a chance though as Aias changed the subject once he came back to the cook fire. The way he described the man made her think of a particular captain she knew. He was not exactly a friend, but he was someone she had dealt with more then once. She was glad to not be on his crew, but he had done her a service once and so she could not hate the man. "I think some people wear cloths, and others are worn by their cloths. Ready to try breakfast?"
 
That confused him. "Worn by their clothes? Them on the outside." he thought about this and furrowed his brow. "I do not think I would enjoy that very much. I already don't like the way this rubs against me and the holes are hard to do. I don't think I would enjoy wearing too much." he looked down at the waistband of his pants and pulled on it, it was slightly too big for him but not terribly so.

"I won't forget them again if it makes you uncomfortable when I do. I am just not used to them." he offered her a small smile to make sure he hadn't accidentally offended her, or tried to make sure.
 
Musetta realized he wasn't getting the joke very well, but maybe it was better to leave it alone. After all, he wasn't use to a lot of social things. When he brought up his pants she shook her head before thinking. "It's not that. It's just," and for once it was Musetta that was blushing. "Well you're very distracting. How am I suppose to get any work done if I'm looking at you all the time?"

While her tone was joking, Musetta found herself wondering why it was such a true statement. She knew why, and it was unexpected. The idea of having a physical relationship didn't much bother Musetta, but it was more then his nice body she found attractive. Dropping her eyes she picked up one of the little seaweed wrapped morsels and took a bite.
 
"Oh... sorry. I didn't mean to distract you from your work. I know how much getting off of here means to you. That is why I help. Before you came I never tried to leave. If I don't live here, no one will." he smiled slightly looking at the plants. "Wouldn't it be a shame for all of this to go unappreciated." he reached over and picked up one of the uncooked bundles and started nibbling on it.

"Are you happy here?" he asked suddenly. "Are you okay with being here? I know you want to leave and I would never stop you but I want to know if you time here is good, or if you are unhappy. You won't be here much longer and I want to know. You seem... Hard to read sometimes."
 
At first she thought that he was just saying that to make her less uncomfortable, then maybe he wanted to act like he misunderstood but then she realized, he really didn't get what she meant. It was a bit of a let down for Musetta as she looked over at him while eating. The bundle was good, but her mind was on other things.

"Well of course I want to get off here. I mean we are more or less trapped." Musetta reached over and touched his hand. "But it is pretty here. I'll admit that. If the circumstances were different..." She shrugged then she smiled. "But I'm getting to take the best part of the island with me." The words were no more out of her mouth then she recalled the day Aias climbed the tree to get her the strange fruit, and later the warning he gave her about taking anything from the island. A warning she had been trying to forget. "Right?"
 
He looked at her and managed a smile. "The best part? Maybe." he thought about the treasure hidden in the island and closed his eyes with a sigh. "We shouldn't talk about leaving. We still have a lot to do before then and that includes today." he lay back to look at the sky his feet tucked underneath him safely away from the fire. "The boat, you have a way to fix it now?"

He wasn't looking at her on purpose, even though he had no idea why, her touch to his hand ignored and pulled away from. "We should concentrate on that, I just wanted to know if you were happy." obviously she wasn't.
 
Musetta continued to eat. She was watching him and she could tell he was not content. Not in the least. "Yes, I think it can be repaired now," she said softly. She wasn't sure what it was, but it did seem to be because of the conversation about leaving. Was he nervous to leave after so long being a hermit? Or was it because of what she thought before, that he feared there was someone else waiting for her. No matter the reason, she needed to let him know she wasn't going to abandon him.

"I've told you before, if I had to be here alone I would be miserable. I'm not only not alone, but I'm here with someone that is kind and understanding. You haven't made this barable. You have made this... unexpectedly nice. I'm sorry if I am not good at expressing that." She then moved to stand up. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you've become important to me in this short time, and nothing's going to change that."

Musetta turned to head to the boat. There was after all a lot still to do. She only hoped what she said was what Aias had needed to hear, because she didn't want him sad.
 
He sat up again and smiled at her. "We will always have each other, in memory at least." then he was leaning forwards to steal one of the bundles from the fire and burning his fingers, quickly putting it down and he started sucking on them. "Gee thoud ge.." he began before pulling his fingers out. "We should enjoy the island while we can. The nights with no boat to tend to. The fire, fires don't work on boats very well. We're lucky it is so warm." It's been a long time since I was on a boat that wasn't underwater."

He liked boats, he liked them for their quaintness, and that humans would go through all that work to avoid having to swim.
 
Musetta was happy to follow Aias' direction to enjoy the island a bit and not worry about the boat at night. She was probably just as effient as before, but far less stressed. Over the course of days she started to believe that her hazy memory of the night Aias sang to her was because she dreampt most of it. She was slightly disappointed, but mostly she was glad. That meant she could still do it right. But despite her ambition, she never got around to try to seduce her islandmate.

"Well, that does it. The test run around the island went well," Musetta said to Aias with a smile. "I still can't believe we are finally leaving. I almost didn't think we'd ever finish the boat." The pirate was positively giddy and gave the man a hug. "Think the faire weather will continue?" A storm right now would just be typical, but even if one came, they would just take the boat to higher ground and wait an extra day. Musetta was sure nothing could ruin her good mood.
 
They had just finished pulling the boat onto shore and thing were looking good for a launch tomorrow. Almost everything was packed and ready and slowly he hugged her back. "There will be no storm." he said. "We should sleep on the cliff tonight, since it our last one here." it was already getting on in the day and he was restless, he could feel the land beneath him being restless too. But he trusted it, and it trusted him.

There had been a lot of work other than on the boat too, smoking fish to preserve it. Gathering fresh water, making sure their blankets were as waterproof as they could make them, but now it was all overand he offered a small smile. "Tomorrow we will leave, both of us."
 
"Yes," she said smiling up at him, then taking his hand. "Are you nervous?" Aias had been a great help in all of this, even if at first he was unsure what to do. Whatever he lacked in knowledge was of little consequence since he was a quick study. It made her feel that wherever he had come from, his people obviously must have undervalued him, since anyone with any sense would have picked him up to teach when he was younger, even if he had been an unruly youth.

Not that Musetta could imagine the mild mannered man as being a hellion as a child, though one never knew. Either way though, despite his years of isolation Musetta was sure once among people again he could pick up any lifestyle he chose. Musetta realized she was conflicted with that idea. On one hand she wanted him to stay with her, but piracy was not for everyone. Actually it wasn't for most and Musetta wanted him happy in whatever he did or chose to go. It was a bittersweet realization. She was helping him escape, but in the process she very likely was going to lose him.

"We can watch the sunset from the cliff," she squeezed his hand, but it was for her benefit.
 
He nodded. "We can, and no, I'm not. Nothing in the sea can ever hold fear. We'll be fine." he purposefully didn't say they would succeed. "If I never see this place again I will miss it. But I know it will only be found when it wants to." he walked towards the outcropping giving the boat another look back and then looking at her. "But you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. You won't be alone either. You've become important to me."

They reached the path where they had to walk in single file until the top and he stopped and turned to her. "Smile, you're going to see your people again, and get another ship, and have all the sailing you could ever want. You're going back to your own life soon."
 
Musetta snickered at Aias. "You are much more confident in the success of everything then I am. If you turn out to even being half correct I'll count myself fortunate." Of all the beauty of the island, and she could admit there was a lot, most of her attention was on Aias. "If once we leave, if you ever want to come back here, you should let me know." She wanted to promise him she would take him herself, but she couldn't. A captain without a ship was no captain at all, and until she had a ship she could only promise what she could do with her own two hands.

It was only the second time she had come up onto the cliff, but this time she planned on staying sober. "As far as prisons go, this place has its good points." It was a prison, but it had also been Aias' home, a duality that was difficult for Musetta. "It is much more comfortable up here then in the crows nest to look out at the sea.
 
Prison. the word felt like a slap in the face.

"Sorry you've been trapped s long." he said feeling like there was ice in his bowels despite the rest of her sentence. He felt like he was going to be sick. Why? What had he been hoping she'd feel. "At least you'll be free tomorrow, and no, you should never come back here." he pulled away from take the lead to the edge and hung his legs over, looking down at the sea.

"I don't know how long I've been here, I haven't counted how many times the light has gone. My people don't usually to that, it's not... it's tricky to explain, we just don't tend to notice when the sun sets, or rises, they're the same to us. We just sleep when we're tired and wake up when we're not." he trailed off, then looked down at the sea. An escape from the conversation was a short plummet and a swim away. "Where will you take us?"
 
Musetta found herself confused by his explanation. Confusion led to curiosity and that was dangerous. More dangerous the sitting on the edge of the cliff. Nervously she walked over until she was beside Aias, then sat, though she didn't hang her legs over the edge.

"I remember we were not too far out from the Port of Inglees. It's not one of my favorite places, but we could ride the current and there's plenty of fishing villages along the coastline leading there, so really we just need to find a bit of habitation. West by south west." They would have more then enough supplies she thought to make it to rugged coast of the Parfinee. A little more rustic then other places, but Musetta wasn't going to be picky. "Even once we get to a true seaport, Inglees or somewhere else, it's still could take time to find a contact that will be able to give us good information about what happened to my crew." Musetta sighed sadly, wondering if she would have a crew, even if some survived.
 
"You can trust the stars." he said. "But don't trust the island. It might not be where you think it is." he looked out at the setting sun. "Why do you think we haven't seen a ship?" he looked down at the water. "There are places that don't want to be found. Old places and things that don't have a place in the new world but still serve a purpose. I'm sure you know stories. When you leave this island you will never find it again unless it wants to be found." I know the sea, I will make sure we find where we need to go."

He sighed and stood. "I need to go somewhere, I'll be back soon."
 
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