RP Pirates of the Hard Nox 2

Leo’s jaw was clenched along with his fists as the Bone Witch appeared, accusatory and threatening within the span of a few breaths. That was how it had been between them, King’s old pet considered him as much a wild, reckless animal as so many others had. She had collared him before, and now she seemed intent to destroy him completely.



Emryk didn’t give him time to respond, to loose the poison that sat on his tongue. Leo met his amber gaze as steadily as he could as the Baron loomed over him and inundated him with the bass of his anger, the volume of his worry. When Emryk’s finger pushed firmly against his chest Leo’s eyes widened slightly, but he might have been stone otherwise. The tears that had clouded his vision had fallen away in Emryk’s lecture, the fog of the mead cleared a touch as he realized that Naveen wasn’t likely to have been the reason behind the Doctor’s absence.



When Alys spoke, when she moved closer Leo expected his end. Of the entire crew it would be easiest for her to accept that he was a monster. He was fairly certain she had already come to that conclusion before. He might have even accepted it, might have let her saw through his neck with that dagger she held. But her words, while spoken in a colder manner than they might have if not for his own barbs, were a hope. A way out of this mess.



The conversation turned to the suspects from the ball, and Leo began to grin as Ciaran spoke of his experience with them. Always the level head, he urged camaraderie against what amounted to another crew and another ship. Juniper appeared in the doorway, though Leo could only tell by the scent and their voice with so many bodies crowding the confines of Lucien’s cabin. It was overwhelming, his enhanced senses taking in the information of so many all at once. The tension in his body grew tighter as Caleb turned away, threatening to snap at the prospect of imprisonment again. When he did move, at Caleb’s call to arms, it was unnaturally quick.



Slipping between Caleb and the wall, Leo shifted to the opposite corner, his escape cut off by the mass of bodies around the door but the space that simple change allowed enough for him to escape the press of their heat. The room spun lazily around him, and he leaned back against the corner for the stability. ”I’m going to kill Naveen, and King. For what they have done, for what they might still do. For what they are. You want to cage me, contain me? Fine. You want to kill me? All right, but after I am done.” Freed from the Baron’s shadow Leo attempted to meet Juniper’s eyes.



”If they are of any relation to King I will kill them too.” He turned to Caleb then, the grin faded and an uncharacteristically serious expression in its place. ”We can get Emer back and you can lock me up until its time to face the Truth Teller.”
 
And just like that, there was a new emergency to distract the crew from the old one.

"Hm." Hester shifted, slightly, making room for Juniper in the doorway. The pyromancer seemed like they needed the support of the doorframe more than she did. Emer being missing was pretty disastrous. Without her around to protect Pris, there was no telling what would happen to her. She'd been hoping that the wisewoman would take the girl and abandon ship; if she were dead, or as good as... She needed to find her.

But this problem couldn't be left unresolved. Whatever his protestations to the contrary, Leo was a dangerous idiot. And there was no telling what sort of control Naveen had over him as his sire; the books she'd read were unclear on the details of how that bond worked.

Oh, speaking of. Caleb had approached her while she'd been thinking. And he was, apparently, thinking along the same lines she was. That was something, at least. She spoke up, making no effort to keep Leo--who had pursued the new captain in order to reaffirm his commitment to killing Naveen, apparently--from hearing.

"I could work the Jotunn's spirit into a trinket--an earring, perhaps, or a bracelet. Or a collar, I suppose, if you want to be especially on the nose about it." She blew a sigh out through her nose. "I'd be able to observe him through it, and trigger it to release the spirit upon him at will. If you like, I could also give you a token that would let you do the same--though you'd risk some bleedthrough, especially if you want it done quickly. And if he ran into another necromancer, they might be able to send it back down the link at you. Or trigger it manually. I doubt most of the Truth Teller's crew could pull that off, but the Good Captain himself certainly could."
 
It seemed like Sky had a busy night; wearing her face to instigate a fight with his very own captain. Alys locked away the knowledge, meeting Ciaran's gaze with a slight nod. Something bloomed in her chest from that tiniest of interactions, practically invisible to anyone else. With both Leo and Juniper - people she'd considered her friends - somehow angry with her, for reasons she didn't quite understand, it felt nice knowing someone still had her back. Someone who had more of a reason to be upset with her than them. After all, she had locked him in a room with Caleb.

Then, as if they knew her mind had drifted to them, if only for a second, Juniper appeared with information, avoidant as ever. Information that had Alys looking to meet Caleb's gaze. Someone who claimed to have Sol's blood running through his veins - now that they could leverage. But he remained immersed in a whispered conversation with Hester.

Besides, Leo jumped in again, bargaining to go when he had nothing substantial to offer, apart from unpredictable vampirism. Alys scoffed, looking to him. "You haven't been here long, and I don't think anyone here was privy to the type of relationship Lucien had with our late captain. But I'd wager they had some sort of twisted understanding, something resembling trust between them. You just proved that you can't be trusted. Not one person in his room holds an ounce of trust towards you. You didn't even care that Emer was gone a moment ago - coming at me instead, threatening a little girl," she spat out. "You're not coming."
 


Emryk reacted to the new information with an expression of mixed confusion and exasperation. His eyes went to a far corner of Lucien's quarters, snout curling into a grimace as his hands balled into fists and tightened with barely contained ire. "Of course." He muttered, giving a sardonic scoff of breath from his nostrils and nodding. "It seems that the world is keen of taking advantage of my kindness, today." A hand managed to uncurl itself long enough to adjust his necktie before returning to his side, and he closed his eyes, nodding again. Leading him away; making conversation to distract him. Yet another betrayal of trust to add to the list. The Baron squared away the thoughts of what he'd do when they found the Cloud Cutter and looked to Leo, the full brunt of his rage shining in the pits of his eyes for a moment before his snout turned into a scowl and the tempered ire faded into paternal, almost condescending disappointment.

"I do not have the time nor the patience to fully explain to you how foolish you sound." He stated simply, crossing his arms. "Of all the things you choose to take away from this, you go with that? It would be in your best interest to learn something, anything else from your mistake." His gaze hardened as he turned away, at that, looking to Alys and placing a hand upon her shoulder to make eye contact with the quartermaster.

"Thank you." He stated, looking to Ciaran next. "I mean that. More than you could know. I'll stalk around the port for a bit; see if I can find the ship myself. If you happen to remember what it looks like, do let me know." And then he was gone, footsteps rumbling out of the navigator's room as he looked to Juniper and regarded her with a reserved, gentler expression.

"You should get rest. You look weary." Another step by her, and then he looked over his shoulder. "And drink water, if you don't wish to be sick in the morning." That was the only compassion he could spare her before he left, fist trembling as he stalked along the topside deck and off of the ramp into the night.

 
“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” Nessa muttered in the gloom of the women’s quarters, Yume for her part didn’t stop ‘looking at her like that’ as she hung down from the hammock above, but she did turn her head away, her ears drawn to a different sound. Nessa was still a moment longer, before, with a sigh, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and slid to her feet. Nessa wobbled on her feet, slightly, before her yawn and stretch brought a faint chattering sound from Yume.

“Yeah, yeah.” Nessa said, as she peeled her unused dress from her shoulders. The vampire dressed, sluggishly. Her dress returned to her bed in a crumple as she pulled on a simple pair of tunic and trousers, with a dower black cloak over her shoulders. Nessa didn’t bother changing her earrings, they didn’t match, but the effort of sorting through her jewelry for something that did left her feeling exhausted. Yume gave what Nessa took to be a judgmental sort of chattering as she turned towards the door, but when she shot the bat a look as she turned away, Yume’s big eyes simply stared back at her innocently so Nessa raised a hand to wave goodbye.

“I’ll cut you some apples once I get back.” Nessa said, which made Yume’s ears perk up as she crossed out into the hall.

Nessa stalked down the corridor, pale as a ghost but only half as loud. She took the stairs up to the deck and the muffled sounds of several people talking, two at a time until she slipped out onto the deck. The air felt clammy, which Nessa thought was fitting for the city that air steeped in, and she lingered between the gangplank and the stairs up to the officer’s quarters, one to the voice and the other to the sound of footsteps vanishing into the night.
 
Leo’s gaze fell to the floor as Alys spoke, though his jaw clenched again as his fingers curled and uncurled with her words. He didn’t raise his eyes throughout Emryk’s rebuke either, hair loosened by his drunken cavorting upon the cabin floor obscuring his expression. He expected the flames to rise in his chest, the alcohol to fuel the rage that he had felt for so long. The fire was absent among the swirling emotions he felt, though.



”You trusted me until you found out what I had done.” His voice was as low as his gaze, clearly spoken through gritted teeth. ”And knowing that you think that I would ever hurt Pris?” Leo’s body trembled, and though his eyes were dry there was something of his pain reflected in the angry glare of his gaze. ”I tried to protect you, everyone. You caged a vampire who was very clearly our enemy, and I wanted to remove that threat.”



Leo stood straight, and pushed the hair back from his face. ”I have been accused from the moment you returned from your ball. Let’s not pretend there was any trust here.” He couldn’t stop himself from looking to Caleb and Ciaran, the two who actually had offered a modicum of trust in that cabin. ”But locking a vampire up is what got us here, and if you don’t trust that my drive to kill Solomon King and his ilk is stronger than the will to hurt my friends,” Leo turned his eyes back to Alys, though he didn’t meet her cerulean gaze. ”Then kill me, and learn from our mistakes. I’ve already spent a lifetime in a cage. I would rather not spend the rest of eternity in one.”
 
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"I am well, thank you," Emer said firmly - politely - as she stabilized herself on the counter and slipped off the bed. The floor was cold. Closing her eyes, she drew a breath, then put on a smile. Simple. This was simple. Someone was injured, and she happened to be here, and she was capable of helping. That was enough.

Opening the door, she came face to face with the man as he moved to pass. He certainly seemed like he needed a medic - his face was pale and waxen, drawn tense with both fatigue and pain, and both his - tattered dress? - and his pant leg were slick with blood. He'd tied a makeshift bandage around the wound, but the cloth was in a losing battle.

"Come here. I promise you will be fine," Emer tutted, moving in beside the man. "Lean on me. The more weight on your wounded leg, the more blood you will lose."

She glanced back at the blind woman. "Do you have a proper clinic, or shall we have to soil your poor bed?"
 
The care shown by the Baron was nearly enough for them to break down. The whole night, ever since the bath, had felt like hell. Juniper was only just now realizing they'd been running mostly on adrenaline, and it was catching up now. Between the exhaustion creeping up on them and the splitting headache that was starting to form, they were ready to rest, but they'd decided to get involved in this mess so that wasn't a feasible option at the moment, especially with Leo being as... strange, as he was at the moment.

Emryk passed, and the changeling made a silent plan to get some water, a plan that held its place in their mind for roughly twelve seconds, forgotten as Leo again went on about... something about cages. Juniper groaned, loudly, and slumped more against the doorframe. "Leo, just- shut the hell up. Please. They're trying to be nice and cut you a fucking deal so they won't have to kill you. We've all made mistakes tonight," they said, giving a pointed glare in Caleb's direction, with a bit more intensity to it than they intended, "and we're all a bit upset. Just- cooperate. Please. I don't want to have to do something drastic."
 
Caleb scoffed at Leo’s proposal. He was going to kill King and Naveen? After letting the second escape in the span of a few hours? He didn’t bother acknowledging it further, Alys had already done so, speaking for everyone in the room when she told him he wouldn’t be joining them. Caleb fished his pocket still packed in jewels to capture a golden bracelet, placing it on Hester’s gloved palm.

“Do it. I don’t need one.” He turned the back of his hand to her, the one that contained the mark he had been left with. “I have enough of King in me to offer him more leverage. A curse, isn’t it, Leo?” Caleb asked, in hopes he would share whatever it was Naveen had told him, while stepping away from the doorway so Emryk could walk out in visible defeat.

To look for the Cloud Cutter by himself when they weren’t aware of how much power they held was a foolish move, but he knew nothing he said would’ve stopped the baron. If Emer was still alive… No, she was still alive. She was alive, and wouldn't have to wait long to be brought back home.

Caleb inhaled deeply. There was no time to waste and Hester's trinket was a good precaution, but not enough. He couldn’t help but wonder… What would Sinead do, had she been there? The obvious choice wasn't on the ship, otherwise he would have shown up already to complain about the commotion happening in his room. It pained him to think of the other option, the one he hated but was also the best to assure his crew’s safety.

“I’m going to get us on air. This may get bloody and we’ll need an easy escape.” Caleb said, glad that Mal had appeared when they did. Four arms were better than two in some circumstances. “Mal, lock Leo up in one of the crow cages and keep watch. We’ll deal with him later, getting Emer back is our top priority. Juniper, go with them.” He looked from the changeling to the vampire. “Light him up if he tries something. Anything.”
 
This is an edited and reposted section, some parts may be familiar

The mansion did not burn down. Aamir was not sure if he felt like this was a good thing or not. Oh, of course it would have been a tragedy if everyone were killed, but on the other hand, he wouldn't have minded watching the place burn. On the other hand - one was allowed as many hands as they needed if one was a ship's captain - the wine would have burned with it, and it was really quite excellent wine.

Most people were likely to keep on going despite the difficulties. A little entertainment was all it was, but that was high society. Something to talk about. The Lady was probably thrilled. It would be declared a success, with lamentations for the curtains. Probably not so many lamentations for the people who'd gotten themselves hurt, but he doubted any of them were rich, so they didn't matter. He knew well enough how that went.

While the wealthy sorted out the relative value of life and draperies, he had a ship to get back to, and hopefully something of value there. He'd bid a quiet farewell to his helpers once they'd gotten the fire out, then pulled a traditional disappearing act, slipping out unnoticed in the commotion. It should have been impossible, given his attire, but when everyone was dressed up like a fool, no one noticed another fellow in motley.

The Cloud Cutter, when he arrived, did not seem to be on fire. This was beneficial. There was, however, a trail of blood on the deck. Aamir had two guesses as to whose it was, and he was putting all his money on the first one. This was a safe enough bet, as he almost instantly heard Sky calling for a medic. Aamir quickened his pace to catch up to the man before he did something stupider - the fact that he had already done something stupid was a given. Sky was an idiot, but he was Aamir's idiot.

He arrived outside the clinic, where Sky was on the floor, the Aos Gaotha woman was leaning over him, and Winter was presumably keeping as much sanity in the situation as possible, which was undoubtedly the most difficult task at hand. Aamir dropped the mask he'd been wearing on the floor and shrugged out of the tailcoat, rolling up his sleeves without another thought.

"My apologies, madam. I had hoped to speak with you in a situation where someone wasn't bleeding. It is what it is, I suppose. If you're willing to help, I would thank you. Your lad's safe, the fire's out, and I think Sky is probably the worst casualty of the night and it's likely he deserved it. Isn't it, Sky?"

The last to the man, with a wry sort of grin, something that had been tried too many times for sympathy, but was a sort of comraderie nonetheless.

"When we're both properly drunk, I want the whole story." Hopefully there would be time for that soon enough. "Do you want me to hoist him up on a cot or leave him on the floor?"
 
He was practically begging her for it, and yet he was granted warning after warning from the people around them. Alys’ jaw tightened, discontent evident, yet she didn’t dare object. As people started to move, following through on their orders, the fae dropped one of her glimmering bracelets onto the floor. Slowly, she bent down, pushing the skirt of her dress against her legs, away from the puddle of deep red. “You’ve made one too many mistakes - and you haven’t learned,” she found herself saying, voice below a whisper, loud enough for those vampiric senses to catch. “I would’ve done it, you know. Because you asked, because that’s the kind of friend I am.”

But she also knew how to take direction. Well, most of the time. Quite unlike him.

Slipping the bracelet onto her wrist, she straightened her back and found herself looking to him, lips pressed together, a shrewd look in her eye.

Oh, how quickly things changed. It might’ve scared her a little, had she not grown so accustomed to change, to betrayal, to cutting loose ends. Before, she would’ve done it for herself, for her own peace of mind, but now, it was for the people around her. For the role she was in. Maybe one day she’d need to be the bad guy and do the hard, right thing.

With one final glance, she began to weave out of the room, briefly stopping next to Ciaran. “I’ll join you in a minute,” she whispered, before sliding between the crowd lining the doorway, and crossing to the door just beyond them. It was about damn time to get out of this dress.
 
Mal had set the body on the table in the clinic, leaving it dangling undignified over the edges; it was a little too large to fit all the way, after all. Perhaps Emer would've set a stool beneath his head to prop it up, but that was something they couldn't tell even if she was here. Emer didn't work with the dead. Emer tried everything in her power not to work with the dead. It almost made them feel bad for desecrating the wisewoman's sanctuary like this, but they really had nowhere else to put him for the time being. The clinic was closer to the commotion than their quarters; they'd move him to the workbench once things were stable.

The state of the body left a lot of questions, but answered them almost immediately; the deepest parts of the neck wound could be found in evenly-spaced pinholes, the pallor of the corpse was consistent with rapid and total blood loss, and the lack of any other wounds on the body outside of the neck and wrist showed that there was nothing much of a struggle- odd, given the size difference between the pair, unless one had been supernaturally enhanced. They noted their findings down and slid the document back in their jacket, then left the clinic, making sure to leave the door open behind them.

They arrived just as the commotion was winding down, but they heard enough to confirm their conclusion- and to accept their command.

"I still have things to fix- and, thanks to the absence of our gracious janitor, to clean."

Reflexive argument out of the way, Mal continued.

"I'll set the contraption on him once he's in the cage- crossbow trained right on his heart. It'll keep better watch than I can, and I'll know if he tries to blind it. Plus-"

A four-armed shrug.

"-It keeps my hands free for more important matters."

In truth, they just wanted to see it succeed. Its first outing had been inconclusive, thanks to Leo getting in the way, so there was something almost poetic about getting it to complete its duties with the very same man who interrrupted them before. Not that they would want anything bad to happen with Leo- god, no. Given who they'd be keeping watch with, an incident like that would damage more than just the vampire, more than just the spider, more than just the crew- it would damage the Nox itself, and Mal would not be happy.

They turned to Juniper, gesturing vaguely at the miserable fledgling before them.

"Come on." They said, "I'll drag, you push."

Then, they reached for Leo; two arms reaching for his shoulders to keep him still, the other two for his wrists so they'd have something to pull. Though they knew their preserved corpse of a body was beyond unappetising to the undead, Mal still hoped the bastard wasn't hungry enough to try anything stupid.
 
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Sky hadn’t expected the first face he’d see would be an unfamiliar one. Not completely unfamiliar, for as she got closer, he recognized the one he’d seen dancing with the big lizard man at the ball.

She didn’t seem dangerous, small as she was, so the changeling obeyed, shrinking to her height to make things easier. The shift, the cells in his body moving increased the pain on his leg and he let out a rough grunt, closing his eyes.

“Are you a physician?” He asked, before Aamir’s voice sounded behind his back. He chuckled.

“You know it. I prefer the lady’s help, thank you. What’s your name?” He asked, as charming as one could be in such a state.
 
Good, good. Emer could deal with the bleeding then. For Winter’s part she had turned her mind to the what next, and for her the what next was making sure she had a sword. This wasn’t hard, she had plenty of swords and the one she wanted was housed in a cane that had a pleasant sturdiness to it. There wasn’t much else worth taking from her room, the cutter’d have what they needed, as long as they got there before Sky dripped all his life’s blood onto the deck.

“Clinic’s this way, door’s at the end of the way.” Winter said as she slid back out of her room. It was a short walk, and with some relief Aamir had caught up with them to take control of the moment in that velvety way he always did. This was good, because she didn’t have a knack for it, smooth talking. But, as long as Aamir had that covered then she could focus herself on what she was good at, which at this precise moment was keeping an ear out to be sure Sky hadn’t brought his troubles home with him.

“Sky, dear, please wait until after she’s sewn you up before you make her want to give you another hole.” Winter said. She also reached past Emer to gently pat him on the shoulder. Her smile was quick, there and gone.
 
"Hush," the wisewoman murmured, helping the wounded man into the clinic down the way. "I am Emer. Save your energy for mending, not for flirting, and - whatever that is you did."

She took the shift in stride. A newcomer entered behind them, offering his own hands. Emer gladly stepped aside, gesturing towards one of the cots.

"There. I would rather not have to kneel on these floors. Now."

Taking her knife, she began to cut away at the pant leg, dabbing away blood with her sleeve to examine the wound.

"I will need clean rags, a basin of water, a pair of pliers, and a needle and thread." She eyed the newcomer with a shrewd look. "We can have this conversation you long for after I save your friend's life. There are things I wish to discuss as well."

Taking a rag, she started to clean around the bullet hole, attention shifting - for a moment - to the woman. Her lip curled into a frown.

"I am not a fool, girl. Do not make one of me."
 
They were of half a mind to spit in Caleb's face. He'd said they'd do away with the cages, and that things would be different. Now, they were being told to put someone in them, and over the last few weeks, things had only been getting worse. They'd lost so much, and he hardly seemed to care. They were supposed to be here to recover, and he tried to shoot someone. Juniper didn't react to the orders. Leo's life was in their hands now, and there were no worse hands to have it in.

They stepped in behind Mal, though they hardly had to provide much help. As they walked, towards the cage, they stopped. "Mal, I can take him from here," they said, half swaying in the hallway. "Go tend to Ronan's body. I'll be fine."
 
Sky pressed his lips together, doing as the wisewoman said and saving up his energy. He didn’t protest when Emer passed him up so Aamir could put him down, closing his eyes again and feeling the soft touch of her sleeve around his wound.

“And a bottle of something strong.” He added to the Aos Gaotha’s list of requests. He’d been shot and stitched up before, and there was nothing like alcohol to numb the pain.

***

Alys left, followed by Mal, Juniper and their prisoner. Caleb followed, but instead of going down the stairs like most of them he went up, picking up his abandoned pistol laying on deck and putting it back on its holster on his way up to the helm.

“Untie the ropes and lower the sails!” He ordered some of the men, who didn’t know what was going on but had no problem following orders. The Hard Nox slowly made its way above the sea level, water dripping down the hull and the metal of the crow cages that should’ve already been unscrewed at that point. It was a good thing he didn’t do it yet, Caleb told himself, but he would. It would be the last time it’d be put to use and not for long, independent of what Leo's future might be.
 
"You most certainly won't be."

Mal stopped, keeping hold of Leo but relaxing their posture a little bit. Juniper wanted to be left alone, with the new prisoner, whilst in... this state. She was drunk, first off- and uncomfortable as well. Did she not want to follow the captain's directions? Did she not want to help him break his promise- the one he made to the crew, to her? Of course. Despite everything, Mal couldn't find themselves blaming her. It was a knee-jerk reaction from their similarly inebriated new captain. As the only sober person aboard this bloody ship, Mal would have to be the one to make the rational decisions.

They couldn't leave her alone with him; not whilst she was drunk, not whilst she was upset. If they did, then... the ship. Yes, she'd damage the ship; burn it to cinders whilst their back was turned. That was why they had to act.

"You're drunk, Juniper. You're not thinking straight- no-one is."

They sighed, picking up Leo and turning around.

"I'll keep him in the brig for tonight. It's not like I wanted a good night's sleep, anyway."

Juniper needed one more than they did, at least.

"I want you back down here at the crack of dawn, hangover be damned. We can discuss this when you're sober."

They began to walk away, but paused a few paces down the hall.

"If you, or anyone else gets sick from tonight, I'm afraid you'll have to come to me. With Emer gone, I'm about the only person here who's able to keep someone alive."
 
When the bilge gremlin put its hands on Leo he instinctively flinched, though his hands remained at his side. There was nothing more he could say, and in truth he was defeated in that moment. Overwhelmed by his own emotion brought on by the drink and by his own senses enhanced by his own decision, Leo simply let the patchwork creature drag him from the room with his feet dragging. Juniper, though tasked with guarding him, did indeed look worse for wear, and his eyes remained on them silently.



The ship lurched upward, perhaps a bit less smooth than Sinead would have managed but easily enough under Caleb’s guiding hand. The rush of the water that ran from the ship’s hull filled his ears as they waited. Juniper’s face was twisted in thought, and when they attempted to send Mal away Leo raised an eyebrow in response. It was a reminder, though the pyromancer might not have intended it to be so. The last time Leo had been bound for the crow cages Juniper had spoken out against it.



Of course Mal’s denial was as swift as Sinead’s had been, though a small acquiescence was made. As he was shifted on the creature’s back like some form of luggage Leo spoke up as well.



”You should do as Emryk said, Juni.” A small nod accentuated his words. ”Pris said she was going to cook some potatoes for me. You should find her in the kitchens and eat them yourself. I certainly won’t need it, and it would be best if she doesn’t come looking for me.” He offered a half hearted smile in an attempt to assure Juniper. ”I will be released soon enough, you will see.” If he sounded confident of that fact it was a well performed act. The ship was in disarray, the tenuous chain of command practically in tatters with the distrust that lurked in every shadowed corner.



”Don’t give them a reason to distrust you.” Leo’s look was pleading, knowing in some unfathomable way. ”Especially not for me.”
 
Their face fell to a scowl, for both of them. Some rational part of them understood what Mal was saying, it was reasonable and fair, but as a whole, they weren't rational. They were upset, angry even, and needed something to either go right, or to vent that anger into. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that was going to be the case. Thankfully, though, Mal offered an alternative, one that eased some of Juniper's anxieties about the situation. The cages weren't necessary, and they weren't going to use them ever again, even if Caleb was too scared to actually make the change. Begrudgingly, they nodded. "Thank you, Mal... I'm- going."

The changeling was stopped dead in their tracks only a moment later once Leo began to speak. "Don't- call me that. You don't get to call me that, after all of this," they said, venom creeping into their voice. They'd had half a mind to let him run, just a moment ago, but it was the only mercy they were going to give him. Naveen was gone, Ronan was dead, and both traced back to him. It would take time, and some grand displays of reliability and keen judgement, for that familiarity and trust to return. "You're fucking lucky I'm not a ruthless killer."

Juniper turned, once more heading for the mess. Water, and a nice nap, was all too tempting now.
 
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