Cyrus,
You're trying to heal up Naomi after she fought an elf girl on your ship. Right now, you're in the corridor under the gun turret. Are you moving her over somewhere she could sit down or something?
Naomi,
The good captain and Lady Blackbird are both fussing over your wound here. But the captain is trying to apply some first aid.
Comments
"Let's getcha somewhere comfortable before we do anything, sound good?"
Cyrus gets his shoulder under Naomi's arm and starts walking her towards her room.
"So what happened back there? Saw ya push some kid outta the boat. Don't know who she was, but I bet I owe ya gratitude for that, Bishop."
I remain still as I can, awkwardly letting them examine the cuts I took and turn my arms this way and that. I have to bite my lip, though -- alright, so I've been poisoned. Fine. But I don't see how any of this is helping.
It's kind of a relief when the lady leaves us alone. She means well, but her hovering and worrying won't help much.
"That wasn't a kid," I grunt in answer. "That was an elf. Quickest fighter in the pit. How is it you know about poisons, exactly?"
It's not that I'm suspicious...it's just that I am. Somebody's gotta keep the lady alive and get her to her pirate prince...and these people, if they were smart, would get in touch with her father and have her returned for a pretty healthy profit, probably.
Cyrus lets out a bit of a chuckle. "Okay, Bishop, I get it. You've nothin' ta worry about. When yer in our line o' work, you tend to pick up bits o' useful knowledge here n' there. I can't say I'm an expert on poisons, but this one I know. An old crew member of mine got a nick of it when we got into a scrap with some raiders who wanted our cargo, once, out in one of tha mean parts o' tha blue. He almost didnna make it, and now I'll never forget this smell."
Cyrus is quiet for a second as he leads her down the hallway.
"But we're not gonna let it get even close to that, today."
Another pause, then he begins again, his voice dripping with curiosity.
"So... how'd you and Blackbird get hooked up?"
I'm satisfied with the answer he gives, so I give him a curt nod in response. I'm trying not to let it show so much, but there's a peculiar sort of stiffness starting to set in, a sort of an ache growing with it. The poison, no doubt; Hecate caught me pretty good with that knife.
His question surprises me -- and I think, for a moment, about giving him a lie. But, there'd be in no point. He already knows about the lady and where we're going, after all; my secrets are not so important as that.
I give him a sidelong look and a half-smirk. "Her father owns me. I'm meant to protect her. And keep her out of trouble, I s'pose, but not even all the Squids could do that." There's a fondness for the lady in my tone, as well as some admiration and pride. "That girl's got a knack for finding it. But I suppose you've figured that out already. She's sure made your life interesting, huh?"
Cyrus is leading Naomi into her room as she says that. He chuckles a little bit. "That's fer damn sure. If we'd known what we was gettin' into, eh Bishop?"
He helps her onto her bed and opens the first aid kit back up. There's a pause, then Cyrus breaks the silence, saying "You know, I've known a few folks who been 'owned' before. Don't seem pleasant. Most of 'em don't look at the daughter of their owner, who they's supposed to protect, the way you look at Blackbird. Nor talk about 'em with affection in their voice. Sure, maybe in front o' fancy folks, but you've had about half a dozen times you could have just disappeared since we been sailin' together. Yet here ya are, Bishop."
Another pause.
"There's somethin' about her, huh?
I settle down onto the bed, a bit more heavily than I had intended. I make a fist then open it and then squeeze it again, testing how far that stiffness has spread. Not too bad yet, but I can feel it, nonetheless.
My initial reaction is a look of distaste, like I'd swallowed a bug, as they say, and then, at the last, my face splits into a grin, and I give him a little chuckle. "Well, none of 'em have met my lady, have they? She's got a way, that's for sure."
My face softens somewhat, then, and I add, "S'way I see it, if anyone deserves to be happy, it's her."
I shift a bit, trying to see around his body as he starts to pull items out of the first aid kit. I'm curious: it's always been one of my most endearing traits.
"You ever been in love like that?"
Cyrus affects a pained smirk when Naomi asks that as he douses a rag with a few chemicals.
"Yeah, I been in love, Bishop. Went something like this..."
Cyrus drapes the wet rag over the cuts on Naomi's arm, sending an acidic shock through her body.
"Get in enough fights, ya can shrug off pain like that. Pain that would make most folk pass right out just makes ya wince and grit yer teeth a little. Fall in love enough times and, well, same thing."
Cyrus opens the kit back up and begins fishing around for some bandages.
"Don't know what I make a Blackbird n' the Pirate King." Cyrus gives an only half convincing nonchalant shrug. "Whatever she wants ta do, though. I'm just doin' what I get paid to do, after all. What about you. Ever been in love Bishop?"
I was prepared for the pain, but this is the painful sort, the kind that travels under your skin like it's eating through to your bones. I clutch the blanket hard to either side of me, greet my teeth together and close my eyes as it works its way into me. I try to imagine it chasing down the poison and purifying it.
"I never met him. By her account, he ain't a bad guy. But I don't know if he deserves her."
The cuts still feel tender and raw, worse now than they felt before. Whatever the Captain put on, it sure stirred them up.
"I think I might have been, Captain. Been thinking on that some lately," I answer grudgingly, unsure, at first, if I want to tell him the truth...but, when I start talking, the words just come out all on their own. "I killed her -- last person I killed in the pit. S'how I got the job protecting the lady." My hand presses over the trio of scars on my side. "The lady would have liked her. You think she's trouble on her own? Those two would have brought the whole empire to its knees in an afternoon."
Cyrus looks genuinely affected for a second, then lets it slide from his face.
"Well, I'm sorry ta hear the end of that there story, Bishop. Not surprised, though. Some of us just have a type, and some of us are just unlucky, huh?"
He pauses for a second, then begins to unroll the gauze.
"Though, if'n I've learned myself one thing in my life it's that bein' in love means lettin' go, at least fer folks like you n' me. People die, responsibilities get in the way, anger gets in the way... or propriety. I tell myself it makes me stronger, but mostly it just makes me sad.
Cyrus starts wrapping the gauze around Naomi's injuries. "You, Bishop? You're strong, it seems ta me."
I hold my arm out at that peculiar angle to make it easier for him to bandage it up. "Squids, Captain. You sure know your way around a girl, don'tcha? I think I'd be less depressed if you told me I was dying." I, for one, had no idea the Captain was such a creature as this: thoughtful, emotional, even poetic, one might say. I'm that way myself, or I used to be, anyway -- now, I tend to come across as too hard or too angry, and I can tell I'm doing that now, so I exhale softly and look up at him.
"Sorry. It's just that it sounds like you're giving up on it. And that's stupid. I'm sure you got your stories and your reasons, but if it's hanging so heavy over you like it is, you should do something about it. You got your qualities, Captain, but moping around's not winning you any ribbons. You like a girl? Do something about it. I'd rather throw myself into a fire than huddle alone in the dark."
Cyrus finishes bandaging Naomi up and stares blankly at her for a good few seconds. He then springs to his feet, leans in, kisses her playfully on the forehead and says "You're right, Bishop. Into the fire it is."
Cyrus then stands up and strides purposefully out of the room, looking for Blackbird.
If the fussing wasn't strange enough, the kiss on the forehead does it for me: I wrinkle my nose up and draw my eyebrows together in a comical look of utmost confusion.
"Guess it's the least I can do to repay you for saving my life and all."
But, really, I'm not at all sure what just happened...