i've seen dark before

Sohalia

In Harper's care, Sohalia's injuries had been healing. Though her left eyebrow would carry a scar for all her days, her eye was no longer black and blue, or even yellow and green. It had healed back to its normal pale, peachy color, leaving no sign that she had ever been injured. So, too, had her split lip healed.

The majority of scars that Soh carried from her ordeal were internal. She'd been in Torchline for a few days now, and the urge to stay longer was strong despite the worries she held about being away from Stormbreak for so long. Her shop and home lay abandoned in the wake of The Incident, and though she knew she couldn't stay away forever, she could at least stay for a few more days. After all, she could use the time to produce a few maps of Torchline. It wasn't any different from any of her other excursions. Right?

So on this particular morning, she wandered down to the Miana Pool, fully intending to sit and sketch the area in her journal. Perhaps she could even find some interesting flora and fauna while she was there. And perhaps that would be enough to still her mind, to allow her to forget - if only for a little while.

if all of the days have no more light and all of our dreams are lost tonight

i want to taste you again

She's wrapped up in her own thoughts enough that Jack is confident he doesn't have to really do discretion, which is good, because there's something he needs at the bottom of the Miana Pool, and his sweet-talk game is lacking. Having appeared a few metres away from where Sohalia is waxing lyrical about not going home and finding seaweed to sketch, the captain is already shedding his shirt and shoes and ensuring anything of value is also out of his pockets.

One might expect him to worry that someone would take his belongings, but first of all, really?, and second, there's no one around but pensive-map-girl anyways. And so, once he's confident there's no paper or other perishables on his person, he takes a dive into the pool - and if he splashes Sohalia, well... he splashes her. What of it?

like a secret or a sin

JACK

Sohalia

In past times, Sohalia would likely not have noticed the stranger until he was upon her. Since The Incident, however, she had grown rather more wary, and so the man was able to get quite close before she noticed him, he was not quite as close as he might of been when she eyed him warily from the corner of her eye. She shifted subtly to ensure the dagger on her hip was firmly in place before trying - and failing - to return to her sketchbook. Her attention was squarely on the man who had come to join her. Particularly when he began to strip down; it was then that Soh began to panic. But the man appeared to have far less interest in her than she had in him, and he merely dove into the pool, splashing water all over Soh - and her sketchbook - in the process.

Now, very little in life made Soh angry. In fact, she was perhaps one of the easiest people to get along with in all of Caido. But her sketchbook was precious to her and, aside from that, contained the work that was her livelihood. And so it was that a look of utter dismay crossed her face and a surprised, upset, "Hey!" left her lips. She regretted drawing attention to herself as soon as she said it, of course, but she couldn't help but frown at the ripples where the man have dove into the water, trying very hard to swallow the lump in her throat, feeling as though the stranger had doused her very best friend instead of a simple notebook.

if all of the days have no more light and all of our dreams are lost tonight

i want to taste you again

He doesn't hear the Hey!, of course, but the prickle of anger spikes through the water as if Sohalia is spear fishing. Jack notices, of course, but doesn't care. Busy beneath the water, he doesn't emerge again for what feels like quite some time, and when he does break the surface, it's with a small sack pinned between his teeth. Swimming to shore and hauling himself back up onto the rocks, he checks the bag for holes or damage and sets it beside him.

"What?" he wants to know with a raise of his eyebrows, raking his wet hair back from his face. "You sit next to a pool, odds are good you're gonna get wet." Scoffing and swiping the water off his face, Jack takes a moment or two to catch his breath before grabbing up what he's pulled from the bottom of the Miana Pool, starting to untie to the top to peer inside.

like a secret or a sin

JACK

Sohalia

Unaware of her new companion's abilities, Soh pursed her lips and waited for the stranger to surface, dismay evident on her pretty face as she examined her journal. Already some of her lines and notes were beginning to smudge, and several pages were sticking together. She tried to carefully separate them, flapping them back and forth in the air to try to dry them, and only succeeding in tearing one page and accidentally folding another back on itself.

When the man surfaced and swam back to shore, Soh couldn't help the glare that she leveled at him, especially when he had the audacity to suggest that it was somehow her fault. It took her a moment to speak, as the angrier she became, the more she wanted to cry, but when she did, there was a low hum of resentment in her voice. "You're telling me you couldn't have jumped in anywhere else?" He could at least apologize!

if all of the days have no more light and all of our dreams are lost tonight

i want to taste you again

The fury and indignance crackle outward from Sohalia like a small display of fireworks - to Jack, anyway - and he doesn't bother to hide the sly smile on his face as he examines the whatever it is he's collected from the bottom of the Miana Pool. "I could've, but I didn't," he drawls in response, glancing back up towards the irate stranger and the sad, stuck-together pages of her book.

Leaning back on one hand, still soaking wet and stripped from the waist up but for scars and tattoos, Jack doesn't need to make a show of looking her up and down, but he still does it, blue eyes raking over her. "You ain't from Torchline, are you?" he continues, tying a knot back in the bag and setting it to one side, before rifling through his pile of clothing for a cigarette and his matchbook.

like a secret or a sin

JACK

Sohalia

The man's continued refusal to offer so much as a hint of an apology rankled, and Sohalia looked back down at her journal, her brows knitted together in a frown and her cheeks flushed with anger. She set it gently aside, leaving it open in the vain hope that the sun would help to dry the pages and that her notes would still be somewhat legible afterwards. When she looked up again, it was to find the stranger looking her over in a way that made her entirely uncomfortable, and she crossed her arms over her chest defensively, suddenly tense. She was beginning to regret having ventured out at all, particularly to somewhere remote where she was, yet again, alone with a strange man.

"No," she said shortly, trying not to let her nerves show. Fake it till you make it, right? But then her manners got the best of her, and she added, "I'm just visiting. I go back home soon." And nothing in this world would convince her to freely divulge where home was. The last thing she needed was some half-naked psychopath showing up at her door. She had enough problems to deal with without this man adding to them.

if all of the days have no more light and all of our dreams are lost tonight

i want to taste you again

The more her thoughts scream for an apology that - let's face it - would never come even if Jack didn't know how much it was annoying her, the more amused he becomes. He's grinning now as he puts a cigarette to his lips and strikes a match, taking a slow, decadent drag of it. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, you ain't my type," he rumbles in response to her folded arms (and the discomfort twisting in her mind), flicking ash onto the rocks beside him.

Half-naked psychopath is a new one, though, and if he wasn't so practiced at hiding his reactions, he might have barked out a laugh. "Mm, well maybe next time visit a less wet bit of the islands," he suggests, letting one leg hang from the boulder he's seated on, his toes trailing through the water.

like a secret or a sin

JACK

Sohalia

An apology was not forthcoming, and by this point, Soh was beginning to realize she shouldn't hold her breath. Still, the irritation lingered alongside her dismay about her journal and her discomfort at his state of undress and her general nerves about the entire situation. The result was that Soh was not having a good time.

Then he said something that gave her pause. Was she truly that easy to read? And she slowly unfolded her arms, busying herself with checking on her journal as she tried to figure out how he'd read her mind so easily. The journal was drying, and though the ink and graphite had begun to run together, most of her notes were still somewhat legible - enough, anyway, that she should be able to piece together what was lost.

"I'll visit wherever I want to visit, thank you," she said rather waspishly, and immediately felt bad for having snapped, even if he was provoking her. "I'm a cartographer," she added then, almost apologetically. "It's my job to explore."

if all of the days have no more light and all of our dreams are lost tonight

i want to taste you again

Any more fizzing and frothing from her mood and Jack is half convinced she's going to internally combust before him, and none of does a damn thing to wipe the smile off the captain's face. Taking another drag from his cigarette, Jack is prepared to pack the fuck up and leave her to stew about her soggy notebook when finally, finally, she says something worth hearing.

"A cartographer," he repeats, blue eyes flashing towards her again as if seeing her for the first time. "And where've you explored so far?" he asks with a tilt of his head. "I got a use for some up to date maps, if you've any goin'."

like a secret or a sin

JACK

Sohalia

Well, that got his attention, and Soh wasn't sure if she should be pleased or wary. It was with a combination of emotions that she raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes," she said. "A cartographer." She thought about pointing out that if he'd been so interested in her maps, he might could've avoided getting her notes wet, but as that seemed like a dead end conversation, she let it go. Besides, as much as the stranger might make her uncomfortable, he was apparently a potential customer. Perhaps she could salvage the situation.

"I've got detailed maps of the Greatwood, Stormbreak, King's End, and the Oerwoud," she said, ticking off locations on her fingers. "I've got a few smaller maps of the Climb, and I'm working on building my collection of Torchline. I've got trips planned soon for the Feverlands and Halo. I also take commissions, if there's anywhere in particular you need that I don't have."

if all of the days have no more light and all of our dreams are lost tonight

i want to taste you again

Customer is a long shot, but she's not exactly wrong, and it's with the sun already starting to dry off his hair and clothes that Jack hears her out, the cigarette set between his lips. "You should lead with that," he decides, as if it had been her own fault that he'd soaked her and ruined her notes, and she ought to have had a sign or something saying she was potentially of use to the captain.

"Oerwoud and King's End, huh. Must've been a bitch to map out." The other areas - Climb aside, because Jack has no interest in going there - are already populated, so maps might be of no shortage there. Exhaling a whorl of smoke, he leans back on one hand. "Call me Jack," he rumbles. "Sorry 'bout your notebook."

And there you have it.

like a secret or a sin

JACK

Sohalia

You should lead with that, he said, and Soh looked at him, exasperated. As though she was meant to be a mind reader, knowing what would make her interesting or useful to him. Still, at least he was treating her like an actual human, at least for the moment, and she'd managed to get a name and an apology. Her annoyance soothed for the moment, Soh offered a slight smile. "I'm Sohalia," she said. "And it's fine. I think it's salvageable." It wasn't quite the truth, but Soh was nothing if not kind.

She looked Jack over, wondering what kind of maps this kind of person might be interested in and suspecting that she might not want to know. "The Oerwoud took some time, but King's End was easier. I have a friend there who helped me."

if all of the days have no more light and all of our dreams are lost tonight

i want to taste you again

Mind reader - har, har. "Charmed," he rumbles now that they've exchanged names and niceities (or as close to it as the captain gets) - now back to the business of map making. "Don't surprise me - jungle's difficult to navigate," he says of the Oerwoud; the sentient vines can obscure the pathways even when it looks as though the way is clear, and that's without taking into account the number of flora and fauna trying to kill you.

King's End is interesting, though; Jack hasn't been able to sail inland too much to explore the place, but he visits the Boondocks very regularly. "Didn't know anyone lived there, other'n the odd farmer or unicorn wrangler," he drawls. "Ain't that where the refuge was built? For the war?"

like a secret or a sin

JACK