Juan couldn’t walk right now, and yet he wasn’t stunned. All he was, all he could be, was defiant of the constraints of his own body. In a way, doing nothing was doing everything to him. But he quickly regained a sense of sense, and put his head up. “Food. Do you have food?” A simple question, but not one a person could trust coming from someone they didn’t know. For all the crew knew Juan was a cannibal, and while that was only a one time thing, he still liked the air of mystery around his circumstances. And if he could get his hands on some citrus type fruits (they had nothing like that on this island) he might regain a semblance of sanity. He might even begin to remember what he was doing and where he was, miracle of miracles that would be.
(Juan, critter/person extraordinaire. More critter than person at the moment lol.)
"I can't say." Inez answered. "I guess she just doesn't hate you a lot?"
Inez turned, having heard Juan. This was expected. "I've got it!" She called, already making her way to the pantry. It was still unclear what Juan was. Some human-bird-metal… person? What he was didn't really matter at this point. Inez glanced over the shelves and crates for a few seconds, then grabbed whatever came into view. It was a fruit of some kind, common enough. She'd seen it everywhere. It would be good for now, she thought, returning.
(whatever she just grabbed is up for interpretation lol)
(Juan, critter/person extraordinaire. More critter than person at the moment lol.)
(Have him figure out Pyria for the crew then XD)
"I can't say." Inez answered. "I guess she just doesn't hate you a lot?"
(Nah, she just kinda acknowledges his existance; sine the coconut isn't a shiny thing it's a peace offering more than a token of friendship)
Pyria muddles around up in the crow's nest for a while before leaping down once more, waltzing right up to the man with metal wings.
She looks him in the eyes for a moment, and tilts her head, sniffing him.
"Get him citrus." she says shortly, disappearing in a flash of dark teal fur into the depths of the ship, rummaging around for various chemicals.
The Captain was trying to shake off the thoughts that were surrounding him, schemes layered upon schemes, but utterly useless without initial action. Some part of his brain must have been paying attention because he could recognize that a conversation had happened. His head had jerked in the groups direction when Juan spoke and with an effort he drudged up that the man was talking about food. Inez, bless her heart, had skittered off to find some. Probably. He'd tuned out everything else, it wasn't important. Probably.
He stared hard at Juan, the wings were fake.. But he still had nubs on his back that the metal attached to, a characteristic that were nonhuman. Perhaps a better give-away was the feathers scattered around the sides of the mans face, a bit like hair. Avian, definitely. There was something there.. A forgotten thing that annoyed Silver-Tongue, staying just out of reach of his thoughts. Screw it. The man they'd picked up was a chimera with avian traits. That would do for now. The Deceit had atleast half a dozen of them. Popped up like wildfire in illegal bands. The Captain himself had been mistaken for one a few times, much to his ire.
Pyria waddled into view and Axel swore his blood pressure spiked into unhealthy levels. The friend sniffed Juan and announced 'Get him citrus." The Captain narrowed his eyes to slits, opening his mouth a fraction, the tip of his tongue sliding into view for half a second as he breathed in. He grimaced at the taste of unwashed bodies, sand, and salt. Whatever Pyria had smelled eluded him. Their new friend Juan was bird-like. But they had no way of knowing his tastes. Perhaps he was a carrion bird rather than a seed eater.
The Captain looked up again when Inez returned, holding a small fruit. A little sweet lime. He cocked his head to the side, giving the scene his full attention now, crossing his arms as he watched. His eyes flitted from each crewmember like anxious birds…. Where the hell did Kavo get a shard of coconut? Mysteries upon mysteries..
Juan devoured the fruit, eating every last shred of peel and not caring much about the taste. He licked his lips and looked up at all the people staring at him, it would take a minute to digest but he was already feeling better if only because he wasn’t so hungry. He could even feel his voice coming back, and he moved to stand up. Once he stood, albeit on shaky, malnourished legs, he spoke. “Hello. Eh… I don’t know why I’m here or who you all are, but I…” even his vocal mannerisms sounded increasingly sane, yet he wasn’t fully there.
Inez watched Juan devour the fruit. Even if his quick movement made her flinch, she was no stranger to the effects of starvation, and this response wasn't too uncommon. It gave her a bit of nostalgia for her hometown, even if it was a bit of a strange thing to be happy about. There was a lot of unexpected familiarity in Juan. She smiled. Her grin was always one or the other- mischievous and mocking or a genuine warmth. Sentimentality aside, the recruit was now functioning, as far as Inez could tell.
“Hello. Eh… I don’t know why I’m here or who you all are, but I…”
Inez waited for Juan to finish his sentence.
Kavo watched as Inez got the creature some fruit. He'd asked for food, and Pyria had doen the sniff test nad proclaimed he needed citrus.
His vitamins and nutrients are obviously way out of whack. the Karcaon thought to himself. Hopefully he'll become more normal once we feed him and get him on a normal diet.
The Captain was watching the whole affair with laser focus. Kavo wasn't sure if the man was on guard, or angry, or just plotting. The helmsman made sure to plant his feet, so that if anything did go down, he was ready.
The creature spoke, after wolfing down the fruit, and Kavo glanced at him.
"You're here because you called for help. We were on a route that took us past you, and heard cries for rescue. So here you are." He kept his voice even, polite, not wanting to provoke this thing. If it began to regain its mind, and decided to try to attack, he hoped to be able to nip that in the bud by just being nice.
Didn't always work, but it was worth a try.
Juan just nodded. “Thank you. You have no idea my condition when you found me, how bad it was. Even I only remember bits and pieces since my medication ran out.”
He realized he was naked tip to teat to toe, and shivered in disgust. “Have you anything I might wear in the meantime until I can repay you kind folk?” Admittedly he was sucking up a little, he didn’t want to get murdered if these people were perhaps unfriendly or worse, pirates, and especially so they’d not expect it when the Avant went running the moment the ship hit dry land.
(Oh boy, let's see if I remember how to write for Axel!)
The Captain listened with narrowed eyes, watching the strange transformation of their even stranger guest. His gut told him not to trust it, like most things he saw. He hated it, he distrusted it, it was strange and new and fascinating. So he wanted it. How did it work, how could he control it. How could it be his.
The castaway was obviously insane, and no amount of acting skills could keep Silver-Tongue from recognizing his kith. It was something in the eyes that couldn't be replicated.
This is an opportunity. Echoed the little voice in his thoughts. You can use this. How convenient is this? A crew member with a built in off switch. A literal fruit dangling over his head. As long as you hold the reigns. Axel smiled, barely hearing Juan's request. It slid past his ears, and with a fluid motion, he removed his black and gold jacket, showing the white ruffled shirt hidden beneath. He tossed it at the avian man, his smile widening as he moved.
He looked like a child presented with a particularly shiny new toy, one he couldn't wait to tear apart.
"That's 'fer now. We'll getcha somethin' more.. Fittin' soon. Now, as the Captain of this motley crew, I'd like to welcome yah aboard!" Taking off his hat, the Captain gave a sweeping bow, the feather waving.
"Name's Captain Silver-Tongue, don't wear it out. Yer on The Deceit, or what we lovingly call her anyways." He didn't use the ships full name, it was bad luck. It woke her up.
Inez picked up on nothing unusual. She stepped aside from Juan as Axel gave him his coat. Like the other members of the ship, she continued to observe him closely; He still seemed a bit shaken up, but that seemed normal considering his recent return to sanity.
Clueless, the girl still wasn't sure why people referred to ships like they were women. It never crossed her mind to ask. As far as she could tell, they were not living, but inanimate. Should she start talking about The Deceit as if it were a person, she wondered? Was it disrespectful otherwise? God, this is confusing..
Inez brushed her confusion aside, the subject of her thoughts switching to whether or not she should properly introduce herself. It felt weird to now, after what had just happened on the island. But an introduction would push it aside.
"I am Inez," she said, without her usual loud volume, trying to avoid startling Juan again.
(I'm noticing that I need to get used to writing for Inez again too, you're not alone haha)
Pyria watches all this unfold: Jaun's sudden transformation from insane to sane, the captain's agreeability towards the shiny bird man, Inez's newfound quietness - she takes all this into account before trotting forward and squinting at the - in her opinion - rather uncomfortably large pigeon.
"Pigeon man feels better now?" she asks.
Juan was having a hard time registering things, but he definitely heard Pyria call him a pigeon. “Dove, thank you very much.” As if there was a large evolutionary difference, but he still liked to point it out. He shimmied into the coat, wearing it backwards as he didn’t want to ruin it or mangle his wings trying to get it on. “Well, thank you, Captain.” he said, voice shaky and discomforted.
Pyromaniacal goblin. Unpredictable swardsman. Nigh-invulnerable crabman. Now, an added avian asylum-escapee. And all under the command of Axel Silver-tongue, of all people.
Kavo gave an imperceptible shake of his head at the situation. Pyria looked like she wanted to see what Juan tasted like, Inez was already worrying over him like he was family, and the Captain was likely appraising him to see what kind of price he'd get. The Dove-man himself seemed to just want out. Like he was glad to be off the island, but was also going to bolt as soon as he was given the chance. It would be…. interesting to see what went down when they made it to port.
Speaking of which…
Kavo turned and climbed back up the ladders, scuttling quickly to his spot. He unlocked the wheel and the levers, and the Deceit gave a slight groan as she caught the full effect of the wind and he weights being shifted. The deck lurched, and the crew, most of whom had been staring, scrambled to adjust sails and get back to their work.
The Karcaon kept an eye on the horizon, where Harpsford Bay could be seen if you looked close enough.
He also kept an eye on the developing scene below. The risk of getting shot, stabbed, blown up or-…whatever Dove-man would do, was too high for him to ignore it.
The Captain's smile inched outwards as he watched Juan struggle with the jacket. Already they were posing a problem on how to dress them.
"Dove?" Axel drew out the word slowly, like he was tasting it, seeing how to felt, before cocking his head to the side. "How cute." He was going for a more light-hearted tone, but it wasn't his strong suit. The words hissed out almost like a snarl, framed by his sharp grin, it wasn't very light-hearted.
The deck lurched and the moment was broken, the Captains head shot up like a bloodhound as the crew got back to work. The bastards had just been watching instead of being helpful, it was noted. Maybe they wouldn't do their play on Thursday after all. Wait- No. He liked Theatre Thursdays. He'd figure something else out later. He waved a hand absently at his thoughts, like he was speaking to someone.
He glanced back at Juan, then at Inez and Pyria, then back at Juan.
"Well? What're y'all standin' around fer? Get 'im some clothes and food? I gotta figure out where to put 'im now." Silver-Tongue snapped irritably, suddenly annoyed.
(sorry just a question for the next responses and also out of curiosity, what time do we assume it is right now?)
(I honestly have no clue, I'd guess somewhere later in mid-day?)
(okay sounds good thank you lol)
Inez nodded without another word and started for the kitchen. As she made her way there, she shuffled through a few possibilities as to what to prepare. She was thankful that she likely wouldn't need to cook meat, since she was usually watched when using fire. It made her very restless, having eyes on her while she worked- If she trusted herself with fire, why couldn't others? But she did understand what even one mishap could lead to, Inez knew that much- so, reluctantly, she didn't fight it.
At least according to Pyria, Juan favored citrus. For once she trusted her, probably because they both were less than human. Well, a lot of the people on The Deceit were. But the fruit she'd gotten before worked just fine, so she didn't want to mess with that. Juan said he was a sort of dove-man, so Inez just assumed some fruit and other things in a bird's diet would work fine. If not, she would fix it. Though she hoped she was right, because she couldn't think of what else to do.
Most of the fruit Inez found was dried so it'd stay preserved. Would Juan mind that? Hopefully not, because usually all of the fruit was dried. Otherwise, he'd probably have to get used to it. She wandered around in storage areas and the kitchen, plate in hand, picking up things she thought might work as one might forage.
In the meantime, Inez contemplated what the captain intended with what he had been saying. He was acting erratically, but that wasn't saying too much. Erratically compared to what she had seen. His thoughts on the man seemed to keep changing. It was strange enough that he had asked her what she thought of it all. Unpredictability seemed to be a theme with Silver-Tongue. She had concluded that a few days after stepping foot on the ship, but it kept coming back.
The Captain snapped his fingers at Juan, then did it again, then a few more times, the annoyed look was still there. The ship needed to be at Harpsford Bay today. They'd made good time, so their little detour to pick up a castaway had barely eaten into their day, and they should still make it in time. He glanced at the sky, eyes skimming past the ship's flag, and then he grimaced.
"Someone ready the ship fer land! Make her presentable lads and lasses!" Axel shouted over his shoulder, his bad mood increasing at the oversight, they needed to swap out the name on the side of the ship, the paneling was false anyways, and change the flag. Anyone who cared enough would still recognize The Deceit, but some gold and fake papers greased the gears for officials to let them dock. Anything else was an inside problem.
Axel looked at Juan again, scowling. He wanted to keep this new trinket, but he was never sure if they would go bolting off at the first sign of land. What to do, what to do. He snapped at him again, then jerked his hand back. The tall pirate looked him up and down, annoyed that his own clothes likely wouldn't fit him, unless they cut the ends off the pants to make them shorter. The Captain opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, his brow furrowing further, the joviality of before had evaporated, leaving him irritable at all the days responsibilities. Moreover, he didn't want to lose his shiny new toy, not to some civilian port town.
"Follow me." It was an order, if he was going to speak, he was going to do it without the blasted accent. The girl would find them eventually with food. He didn't concern himself with her inconvenience. And Kavo would steer the ship true, he had faith in that at least.
Juan had been zoning out, but the snapping brought his attention right back. He stood up slowly, but apparently it wasn’t fast enough as he was already being barked out by… who now? He didn’t know, but when he was told to follow, he followed. His sanity was slowly slipping, the fruit wasn’t enough, not concentrated enough. He grabbed onto the Captain’s hand and didn’t let go. His grip tightened. “Please don’t leave me.” he mumbled.
(petition to make Theatre Thursday real)
Kavo watched the crew hurrying to obey orders as the Captain went rapidly through-… 2? 3? differendt moods.
Inez hurried off to the kitchen, and Kavo decided that, first chance he got, he was going to go ask her what had happened on that island. For now, he needed to be right where he was. Harpsford Bay was notorious for the odd currents, and in order to get into port, he would need to keep on eye on a few key factors.
On top of that, they may need to slow down if disguising the Deceit took too long. He doubted it would, with the crew being as efficient as usual, but there was always a chance.
He watched as Silver-tongue marched the Dove-man off, and was mildly surprised when the new member of their entourage… grabbed Axel's hand??
Strange times indeed.
Axel had already been making his way below deck, his curly hair having worked its way free of its loose ponytail, still frizzy from the different kind of humidity of the jungle. As he was raising his hands to fix the stubborn curls, one of his hands was interrupted halfway through its ascent. His head snapped around, the other gripping onto the handle of Greed, the gun pointed at the potential threat before he could blink.
What he saw wasn't what he was expecting, instead of an aggressive stance, Juan was hunched over slightly, shuffling along after him. Instead of grabbing his hand to immobilize it, Axel found himself leading the avian man by the hand, the grip tightening. The eyes had backslid again, taking his sanity with it. The Captains lips drew into a thoughtful line, and he put the gun away,
“Please don’t leave me.”
Well now… Axel didn't shake off the hand. He looked pleased. This was something he could definitely work with. Silver-Tongue grinned, showing off sharp teeth, a predatory smile.
"How's a promise sound, Dove?" He tugged on his hand, leading him further down the stairs, deeper into the belly of the beast. "Stay by my side, and I'll never leave." He paused, showing a feral smile. "I've been told I'm a hard man to forget."
Juan didn’t know what to think, with the state he was in. “No, you’d be easy to forget.” still, he followed along. None of this felt safe, but if left alone he might cause harm to others on the ship and this Captain seemed, against all odds, safe. However, Juan knew better than to trust his senses, especially when they oh so often took advantage of him.
The Captain laughed softly, surprisingly not taking offense at the words, he shook his head slightly, amused.
"Bold words, Dove. We'll see if you mean them."
Axel tugged open the door to his quarters, smiling fondly at his dragons hoard of a room. It glittered, silks lining the walls and dripping off furniture, the warm light of the runes set in the walls made the shadows odd and unsteady. The room looked like it was ripped directly out of Arabian Nights. He tried to free his hand now, walking over to his desk, with its platter of fresh fruit, a seedling of an idea taking root in his mind.
He opened one of the drawers in his desk, laying out a fresh sheet of paper, unstopping an inkwell and dipping a quill in it. He scribbled for just a moment, before looking up, smiling widely at Juan. He moved the platter away, tilting his head to the side. Waiting to see if he got any reactions.
Juan moved around the room, sort of just drifting around aimlessly and without any real purpose. He let his hand slip away from the Captain’s, finding his way the bowl of fruit after looking around for a few minutes, not touching anything. He didn’t deserve to touch anything here. But the fruit tempted him so, akin to Adam and Eve if they even existed in this universe. Not that Juan knew who they were, being the polytheistic pigeon he was. He reached out, attempting to grab just whatever was closest to him.
