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BOAT FROM SARN - AFTERNOON
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Piper has more or less claimed a section of the upper deck as territory for herself. Not on purpose, mind, but as there's not much to be done up there and it's occupied by a bunch of perpetually unhappy looking teeth, claws and scales, a number of passengers have voluntarily opted out of visiting. Not that Piper minds too much. It makes for a wonderful basking spot, laying on her belly in the middle of the deck, her tail slowly shifting from side to side in contentment.
Gareth strides along on the swaying deck, clearly quite at home on the rocking vessel as he moves with a practiced ease. He's gotten a few odd glances here and there from his outfit alone, but folks seem at least content that he's not sunk the ship or called in a tailing vessel to loot them. He catches sight of Piper relaxing and decides to head over to say hello. "Hey there, lass. Sun's treatin' ye well, then?"
Piper turns her head slightly toward Gareth, one eye locking on him as an apparently satisfied hum escapes her. "Some. Need it. Rocking is nice lying down. Not so nice standing around." Her tail shifts opposite to the sway of the ship.
Gareth chuckles as he goes to lean against a nearby crate that's been lashed to the deck, his own tail completely still even with the deck shifting beneath his feet. "Aye, it's nice when tryin' to get some sleep. I'm guessin' ye don't sail all too often?"
Piper lets out a low grunt, lifting her head to speak a bit easier. "Right. Ships aren't built for me. Most, anyways. Not the doors, they are fine. The pantry." She grins.
Gareth laughs a bit, grinning in turn. "I hope this ship's got enough to keep yer stomach happy. Orela's not too far, but bein' hungry at sea's never fun."
Piper nods, sighing a bit before she pushes up from the deck, swinging her legs around to sit up. "Looking forward to it. Light stock, but fast ship." She dips her snout a little. "Fast might not agree with me."
Gareth tilts his head curiously. "Really, now? Faster ships pitch less in the waves, ye know. Or is it somethin' other than the waves that causes ye problems?"
Piper chuckles a bit. "Don't like the feeling. Moving forward too quick. I like the back of ships, doesn't look so fast." She levels her look at Gareth. "It's my weakness. Least it can't be used in fights."
Gareth nods, understanding. "Ahh, I see, that's fair. I guess I'm only really accustomed to it since I've been on the seas fer... decades, now. Veteran sea legs and all that." He gives Piper a friendly smile, "Not that bad a weakness, all told. Anyone that wants to stand and fight's goin' to drop anchor anyway."
Piper nods, her tail shifting opposite the ship's roll again. "Sure, of course. Can still walk. Just vastly uncomfortable." She tilts her head a bit. "Decades, though? When did you start?"
Gareth scratches his chin for a moment, just getting rid of a bit of an itch. "Eh... about 20 years ago, give or take a bit. Was on the crew o' a few ships durin' that time, but stayed on the last ship fer about 15 o' those years."
Piper nods, humming with a slight hiss under the sound. "Mh... Was a child when you started. Concerning."
Gareth laughs and grins. "Why, thank ye kindly, lass. Didn't think I'd looked that young, still. Nah, I started when I was about 16. Wanted to go me own way in life, ye know?"
Piper chuckles her three gutteral notes, nodding. "I meant me. 16 is still young though." She pauses, then asks, "Your own way? Home was that... Boring?"
Gareth chuckles. "Ahh, gotcha." He pauses, then shrugs, "Not exactly borin', no. Just... didn't think the merchant life was all too engagin'. Couldn't see meself doin' that fer the rest o' me life, anyway."
Piper slowly grins as she thinks about it, giving Gareth a look. "Piracy is just being a merchant with fighting, ay?"
Gareth 's smile grows at that. "Ahh, thinkin' like that would make ye get along great with one o' me good friends. He says the same thing whenever we get to talkin' about it." He nods, "I suppose it could be, and I guess that's why I was the quartermaster o' the last ship I was on."
Piper nods sagely, visibly relaxing as their conversation goes on. Half her motion sickness certainly comes from thinking about it constantly, so the distraction is appreciated. "Let the others hock goods? Well played. Not sure how much I appreciate being compared to a pirate. I'll accept it, I suppose."
Gareth hums. "Mmh, let the captain argue fer the best prices, then I handled distributin' the pay to the rest o' the crew. Maybe less a merchant and more a banker, o' sorts." He grins again, "And to be fair, bein' compared to a pirate's not always a bad thing. Hardy, adventurous, sociable... we've got a lot o' good qualities!"
Piper nods. "Scoundrels mostly in name. Mostly."
Gareth nods in turn. "Mostly, aye. Ye have some truly nasty rabble out there on the seas, o' course, not goin' to deny that. Main reason I'd switched ships so often within those first five years."
Piper nods, settling a bit as she thinks back. "James had stories. Runt got booted from the military. Became a bounty hunter, you know that. Did all kinds of work though, like you here. Protecting that pair. Rumors of some Vamas merchant expecting a pirate attack. Rich guy. Was moving ore, I think. Would be hard to move between ships, no?"
Gareth tilts his head, thinking for a moment. "If it's that one merchant I think yer talkin' about, aye. Ore's a damned hard material to move, much less sell as is. Usually easier to move the stuff between ships after it's already been smelted."
Piper nods again, crossing her arms comfortably. "Ay. Was raw, and loose in the hold. James was suspicious. Well, they were attacked middle of the night. He gloats about fighting them off. Dead quiet. Pitch black. No ship."
Piper hesitates, correcting herself. "Gloated."
Gareth listens to the story, his brow slowly furrowing. "Hmm... no ship in sight, eh? Could have been some folks from beneath the waves. Piracy's not just fer us surface-folk, after all." He hums, another small smile on his muzzle, "Heh... however long it was, it was definitely a story he kept close. I heard o' that one straight from him, when I'd met him at Respite."
Piper blinks at Gareth, nodding after a moment. "He liked you, then. Good."
Gareth hums and nods. "We got along well enough, aye. Nothin' quite gets a bit o' camaraderie goin' than enjoyin' a soothin', warm soak in the main pool o' Respite's bathhouse."
Piper seems to think for a long moment before laughing, patting her knee. "Runt was getting pretty old!" She reduces to chuckling. "Bones too dry."
Gareth laughs again. "Aye, he was complainin' about the heat doin' that when we'd first started talkin'. I don't blame him, either. I thought I was boilin' when I first arrived at Respite with me huntin' partner, until me coat changed."
Piper looks to Gareth, smiling after that bit of laughter. "Ay? Mph... I did hear it was desert. Makes sense. You're from Vamas, ay? Not much heat that way."
Gareth nods, smiling as the conversation carries on. "Aye, Vamas is pretty cold all year round. Aephix, best as I can tell, is about as opposite o' Vamas as one can get."
Piper settles into a decent mood, attention on Gareth in a slightly less casual way, as if she's taking careful note of what he's saying. "Telle me more. Like to know everything about destinations."
Gareth leans a bit more easily against the crate, taking a moment to adjust his gear to sort of cushion his back against the hard wood surface. "Well, let's see... I'm guessin' ye already know a bit about Orela, what with those gauntlets ye've got. As fer Aephix, well..." He starts to tell Piper about the general conditions about the continent as far as he's aware, including the one main entry along the near-inhospitable coastline, as well as the forests and desert deeper inland. As the two converse, he also goes into a little more detail about Bairnell's Folly and Respite Falls, telling her at least the parts he's familiar with.