Lorelei smiled calmly back and kissed Aliana's forehead. “Don't worry, love. They've already welcomed you as part of our family. They know how important you are to me.” she assured before moving back over to the bed. With practiced ease, she put her weapons belt back on and grabbed her hat and the tray, though she left the water on the nightstand. “Let's go.” she grinned, walking back over to Ali, happy to help her get her sea legs.
"I hope you only said good things about me," Aliana teased as she remained in her place ready to grab onto the wardrobe if she needed to. She watched Lorelei with a smile and grabbed onto her lover once Lori was in arms reach. Aliana held onto Lori's arm as she mentally prepared herself to deal with the crew, and hopefully not see her kingdoms flags waving in the distance. She smiled up at Lori, "Let us go then."
“Of course! What else could I say?” she smirked back, kissing Aliana's cheek when her arm was grabbed. The Captain let out a soft breath as she unlocked her cabin door a lead her lover to the deck. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to strong, almost harsh, sunlight after being inside for a while. But in that moment, Lori caught a familiar short low whistle. She smiled faintly and looked up as her first mate walked up to her. “Yes, Jax?”
“Cap’t. I feel I owe you and t’e Princess an explanation.” the tall sailor started, giving a brief polite nod in Aliana's direction. “Apparently, some of t’e crew took advantage of t'e escape and took some of t’e fancy food t'e king was planning ta serve.”
“I had a feeling the slice of cake wasn't the end of it.” Lorelei chuckled.
Jax smirked slightly and shook his head. “No. T’e boys grabbed a fair bit. Charlie may not have ta cook much more.”
Aliana cuddled up into Lori as they exited the cabin and onto the main deck. She shied away from the bright sun into Lorelei for a few moments until her eyes got adjusted. a smile was on her face when Jax approached and she laughed when Jax told them about the actions of the crew, "Honestly, I appreciate them doing that. At the very least the food will not be wasted."
Jax smiled back at the Princess and gave a small nod. “Aye. Nor will it be on this ship.” he confirmed. “T’e Cap’t and Charlie have strong views against wasting good food.”
Lorelei chuckled softly and shrugged. “After the way I grew up, you really can't blame me. Plus on any ship it's important to make what you have last as long as you can.” she added.
"I have to agree with both Lorelei and Charlie about the food," Aliana commented with a polite smile. She looked up at Lorelei when her lover spoke, "And I think it is wonderful you think that way Lori."
Lorelei smiled softly at Aliana as she spoke before kissing her forehead. “Thank you, Ali.”
Jax gave a surprisingly soft chuckle at the couple. “Charlie will like that about you, Princess. But I can see I’m interruptin’ so I’ll get back ta my work and let t’e two of you be.” he smiled, giving a small salute before walking off. “Welcome aboard t’e Siren’s Song, Princess. Nice ta meet you.”
"You can call me Aliana," she said quickly before Jax walked off. Aliana didn't need to be addressed by her title on the ship, only by her name. Aliana took a slight step away from Lorelei and glanced back at Lori, "Shall we go meet the rest of the crew?"
Jax gave a brief gesture over his shoulder, showing that he heard her request, and continued on.
“Aye. Let's go.” Lori nodded. “What do you say, we take this back down to the kitchen and you can meet Charlie. And Tommy, most likely.” she suggested, lifting the tray slightly to show her point.
"That sounds wonderful," Aliana replied having seen Jax's quick gesture. She stopped moving to let Lorelei take the lead since Ali didn't know where the kitchen was.
Lori nodded and lead Ali towards the stairs near the center of the deck. “It's down two sets of these stairs. The first is where the crew sleeps and where the canons are.” she explained as a bit of a tour. “The kitchens are the next level and below that is the main storage and the brig. Not that we really have a need for it but…” she shrugged.
"I see. You have no need for a main storage?" Aliana asked as she followed after Lorelei. She wanted to know as much as she could about Lori's new life, before Ali could fully join her.
Lorelei raised a brow at Ali, hoping that had been a joke. “No silly. We have plenty of need for storage. It's the brig we don't use much.” she clarified with a gentle smile.
"Oh, what is a brig?" Aliana asked with a light blush on her face. The question hadn't been a joke, but she did assume there was some other place they stored most of their goods.
“Ah!” Lorelei nodded, remembering that Aliana was still learning the terms of a ship. “Sorry, love. The brig is… basically a small prison. We only have two cells and, like I said, we don't use them much, fortunately.” she explained.
"Oh, then it is most definitely a fortunate thing that the brig is not used that often," Aliana nodded along with Lorelei's explanation. She let out a little sigh, "I have much to learn, do I not?"
“Aye.” Lori nodded. “But I’ll teach you. Anytime you have a question or don't understand something, just ask. I’m here for you.” she assured.
“Though there have been times when we've all been tempted to throw both the twins in for their mischief getting out of hand.” a feminine voice laughed. “Come on in, you two. My kitchen is always open.”
"I know," Aliana replied with a loving sigh. Her eyes opened wide when a voice that wasn't Lori sounded in the area. She figured it was Charlie, given the mention of a kitchen, and then looked back to Lorelei, "Shall we enter?"
Lori smiled back, just beginning to lean in to give Aliana a kiss before sharing in the brief surprise. “Aye. Let's go in.” she nodded, sighing softly.
The galley was decently sized with a table just big enough for the entire crew to sit at, not to mention the actual cooking area. Which was surprisingly active considering how much food the crew had taken from the failed wedding. And the fact that it was just one woman at the center of activity. “Please take a seat. Can I get you anything?” Charlie asked as she turned to the couple. She was quite an attractive and surprisingly voluptuous woman with brown hair pulled back by a bandana and wearing a simple barmaid’s outfit and apron.
"Um, I do not think so. But thank you for your offer," Aliana softly replied seeing the mountain of food in the kitchen area. She stuck close to Lorelei as her shyness returned in full force. She didn't quite realize how big the crew was when Lori was telling Aliana about them earlier.
Lori wrapped her arm around Ali’s shoulders and set the tray on the table. “Don't worry, love. Charlie's one of the nicest people I know.” she assured, pulling out a chair for her.
Charlie gave a soft, friendly smile and a polite gesture for Aliana to get comfortable. “I’m sure that's other than yourself, of course, Princess. Or would you prefer Aliana?” she asked, kindly.
"Aliana please," Aliana gently replied as she took a seat in the chair Lori pulled out for her. She kept her attention on Charlie and the remainder of the crew, "I see no need for you to call me by a title that means nothing to me."
“Aliana.” Charlie nodded, smiling gently as she gestured towards the others. “It's nice to meet you. As the Captain said, I'm Charlie. The boy over there is Tommy and the others are Drake, Marcus, and Jacob.” she said pointing out each crewmate as she said their name.
Tommy looked up from the pot he was washing and gave a shy wave, brushing his bright red hair out of his eyes.
“Hello.” Jacob smiled. “Sorry for not waving or anything but my hands are kinda full.” he chuckled, gesturing to the onery rooster he was holding with both hands.
Marcus was the second tallest person on the ship and well muscled with dark sandy blond hair and soft green eyes, unlike Lori’s bright emerald shade. He and his skinnier shirtless friend were helping to organize all the food they had plundered. “Oh, hi! Didn't see you there.” he smiled brightly.
Drake simply nodded his head in greeting before whistling part of the familiar shanty.
"It is nice to meet all of you," Aliana gave the whole crew a shy wave and smile. She was repeating each of their names as her eyes wandered between all of them matching the name to each person. Aliana eventually decided to attempt to make conversation, "So do you all enjoy life on the sea?"
“Are you kidding? This is the best life any of us could have!” Marcus grinned causing Drake to make a soft sound that the crew recognized as him chuckling.
“It's certainly more of an adventure than what I thought I would get.” Jacob nodded. “I was just the son of a farmer before… I had to find a different job.” he admitted, clearing his throat slightly.
Charlie sat down across from Aliana and smiled softly. “Captian Lorelei pretty much saved all of us when she let us aboard and stay.”
“Charlie's exaggerating a little.” Lori blushed as she took the seat next to her lover. “I only actually saved two or three members of the crew before they joined.”
"Oh, but saving everyone sounds like something you would do, Lorelei," Aliana replied looking at Lori with lovesick eyes. She took solace in knowing that Lori hadn't changed since the two had parted. At least, not in any major way compared to how Lori was before. She looked back to Charlie and the others, "And I am glad she manged to meet all of you."
Lorelei blushed brightly at Ali’s adoring comment and shyly shrugged. It had just been the right thing to do, regardless of what the law of the land said. Though that was admittedly one part of being a pirate that she enjoyed…
“So are we.” Jacob almost whispered, speaking for the rest of the crew since everyone all knew each other's stories and how they ended up being part of this crew.
“We're all very lucky to be here.” Charlie agreed with a nod. “Who knows where we would be without Captain Lorelei and her Song.” she smiled softly, knowing exactly what would have happened to her.
"Who knows indeed," Aliana responded mirroring Charlie's smile. She knew that everyone there knew what would have happened if Lorelei hadn't come to her rescue yesterday. She turned her head and kissed Lorelei's cheek before turning back to Charlie and the others.
“I’m sure we all have a good idea of that answer…” Lorelei trailed off at the unexpected kiss. It wasn't unwelcome but it certainly caught her off guard. Though she gave a slight glare at Marcus when she heard someone give a playful teasing whistle.
Drake chuckled softly again and took an empty seat, feigning tiredness as he let out a sigh. He closed his eyes and made a few gestures with his hands which caused Marcus to scoff and cuff his tattooed friend on the back of his head.
“It was your idea to swipe the cake, dragon boy!” Marc pointed out with a brotherly scowl. “If we carried too much, it's your fault.”
“Should have made a bet on that.” Lori hummed thoughtfully as her earlier suspicion was confirmed and gently took Ali’s hand.
"I am grateful you swiped the cake if I am honest. It would have gone to waste if you had not done so," Aliana decided to chime in. She was unsure as to what Drake had communicated to Marcus, or at least she assumed the hand gestures were a type of communication but wanted to thank them. She gave Lori's hand a cautious squeeze hoping Aliana was doing alright.