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Favored sun - Hadama - 03-25-2025
It was not, perhaps, courteous, but Hadama was a busy man and in the hours after Sohalia had brought him a letter he had been even busier. He did not have time to walk through the city in a leisurely fashion, for there was more still to do after the meeting was over.
But he was still coming to beg a favor of the Ark's captain, and so he did not simply teleport into the captain's cabin. The Tidebreaker stepped out of the twilight shadows between moonbeams at the edge of the Ark's gangplank, emerald eyes as hard as the gemstones their coloration resembled as he inclined his head - briefly - to whoever was on duty.
"I have an appointment with your captain. He is expecting me," he rumbled, waiting only for the hint of permission to come aboard before heading for Jack's door, rapping lightly and again barely waiting for the sound of the captain's voice before he entered and shut the door behind him.
His thoughts were a dark tide behind his stoic poker face, but above all at their surface was a deep and abiding fear for Flora.
"Jack. Thank you for agreeing to see me so quickly."
RE: Favored sun - Jack - 03-25-2025
Hadama has a certain amount of sway on The Ark anyway, by dint of being one of Safrin's demigods and also Torchline's co-ruler, but the crew have also been informed to expect his imminent arrival. As such, the Tidebreaker will find his journey from gangplank to deck to the captain's cabin one that passes smoothly and without incident, and when he enters said cabin for the second time in as many weeks, he'll find Jack on his feet behind the desk, poring over a map.
[say]"Circumstances warrant urgency,"[/say] he says around the thin sprig of peppermint bark between his lips, almost chewed into a toothpick at this point. He marks a spot or two on the map before rolling it up and tucking it away, finally turning sharp blue eyes towards Hadama. [say]"I imagine we both know why you're here. Ain't sure what kind of favour I can give you, though."[/say]
RE: Favored sun - Hadama - 03-25-2025
He did not glance at the map. His eyes were for Jack alone - and, incongruously, the sprig of peppermint bark where a cigarette had once lived. It was a momentary observation but he spared no thought for curiosity as he lowered himself to sit on a nearby chest to avoid looming. He had done enough of that for one day, and he was aware that he came to Jack now as a man in need of a favor that could not be won through intimidation.
"I require a lie." Bluntly spoken, and his eyes flicked down to the pen Jack had been wielding at his entrance. "And a... I believe the term is 'patsy?'" There was neither mischief nor sly humor in his thoughts this time, only a genuine uncertainty over the correct word to use. "There is a backroom in the Hanged Man that Flora keeps closed. In it is a box on the second shelf near the window. It is now empty. It would would be... best... if, when she returns, she thinks that someone else took what it contained."
RE: Favored sun - Jack - 03-26-2025
Finding their positions suddenly reversed compared to their meeting in the Greatwood - with Jack on his feet and Hadama seated - the captain straightens fully, rolling both shoulders to release the perpetual tension living in them, and waits. He can't help the raise of his eyebrows even at the Tidebreaker's terminology - a patsy? - and takes the sprig of bark from between his lips. [say]"Why am I the one providin' the lie?"[/say] he asks.
[say]"I know that backroom well, but I ain't familiar with that box or what's inside it, so you're gonna have to give me a little more to go on if I'm gonna be takin' the heat for it."[/say] Tilting his head, he'd half expected Hadama to be asking him to go and fetch Flora from Stormbreak or try to make her see reason, which is no less a sore point, but it would at least feel like less of a curveball.
RE: Favored sun - Hadama - 03-26-2025
"Because she trusts you," the Tidebreaker said bluntly, his emerald gaze never wavering from the captain's poker face. Their queen. His co-ruler. Jack's partner, or at least Flora believed herself to be. It was enough for Hadama to put his trust in the captain. "And she will not trust me. Not when she returns."
As for why? Hadama inclined his head in acknowledgment, finally breaking the unintentional staring contest, at least for a moment. "It held a rose. And if I am to use it, I will need to get close enough to do so before she teleports away." She would need a compelling reason to think that he did not have the flower in hand.
And so here he was, asking the good captain to lie to his lover and risk her violet-hued rage in order to create the opening he would need.
Though the thought gave him a moment's pause and he tilted his head in slow consideration. "Though I am open to suggestions."
RE: Favored sun - Jack - 03-26-2025
[say]"I see,"[/say] Jack says softly, waiting for a few heartbeats before he finally sinks down into his own chair at last. No drinks tonight though, alas. [say]"So her letter to you was asking you to cure her? You'll have to forgive me - I'm not a mind reader."[/say] Hold your applause, please.
Inhaling a slow breath and letting it out again, the captain offers Hadama an all too casual shrug after considering the full extent of his request. [say]"I can't,"[/say] he says simply. [say]"Neither can you. Neither can anyone. Flora wears a truth ring - she'll know right away if anyone is lyin' to her. Your best bet is to have someone steal her compass, but you'd have to be damned near invisible for that."[/say]
He sighs and slumps back in his seat, propping one boot against the edge of the desk. [say]"You ain't considered just shootin' it at her through a blowpipe?"[/say]
RE: Favored sun - Hadama - 03-26-2025
"Yes." It had never crossed Hadama's mind that Jack might be to read it, but it was an unwelcome reminder of the potential for it to happen, given certain purple proclivities. The time for worrying about that was - at least momentarily - passed. This was something that required swift action, which was, admittedly, not the Tidebreaker's usual forte.
He sat upon the chest without fidgeting, his eyes on Jack as he hoped for--
A truth ring.
He exhaled slowly, feeling his initial plans crashing down around him. Hoping, now, that Sohalia would not run into Flora before he did. "There is not enough time to hire a thief." The longer that she remained infected, the more chance that she would do something she would regret at the Family's behest. "And I do not think the Rose will fit in a blowpipe."
Though the thought of asking Melita to fire an arrow with the Rose attached to it at the Doubletake was unexpectedly appealing, after the decades she had shaved off of his immortal life with this particular move. "How close does she need to be for the ring to work?"
RE: Favored sun - Jack - 03-27-2025
[say]"Right,"[/say] Jack says slowly, furrowing his brow. [say]"And you got the vial she mentioned in my letter?"[/say] You know, Hadama, the few drops of blood that apparently make all of this worthwhile? As for the truth ring, he shrugs again. [say]"Pretty close...?"[/say] he says, unable to give much more than that. [say]"Never really bothered to get a yard stick and find out, to be honest. Why, you suggestin' I yell to her from the side of the ship?"[/say]
Because if that's the case, Jack hates to disappoint the Tidebreaker, but he'd rather not. Rubbing his eyes and pinching at the bridge of his nose, he sighs. [say]"Look, I ain't tryin' to piss in your ale, but there's a good reason Flora trusted you with curin' her and not me,"[/say] he says. [say]"Only other thing I can think is to have her loan her compass out to someone and then catch her without it. She's got this friend in the Greatwood. She calls him her ghost. She said he could use her compass before, but... I dunno. I've never met the kid. I'm sure there are others out there she'd lend it to."[/say]
RE: Favored sun - Hadama - 03-27-2025
"Mmh." He inclined his head briefly in confirmation of the vial, already seeking alternatives to his original plan. Although he did not like the thought of deceiving his co-ruler, it was likely that he would need to do so in order to get close enough to use the Rose...
Jack's uncertain answer was better than nothing, though the Tidebreaker only regarded the Captain with glacial outward calm. "No. But I was considering speaking to her from the water. And convincing her to join me. Preferably in a bikini." One without pockets for compasses to be casually tucked into.
The Captain's idea was also a good one, though Hadama frowned faintly and gave a shake of his head in ignorance over this 'ghost.' She had never mentioned such a person to him, and time was of the essence. "I see. Thank you. It is a place to start," he said slowly.
And a backup plan, if things did not go well on his first attempt.
The Tidebreaker took a deep breath and pushed to his feet, nodding to Jack coolly with gratitude. "Thank you for seeing me. I hope I will have good news for you soon."
RE: Favored sun - Jack - 03-27-2025
Raising an eyebrow at Hadama's bikini comment - because surely the Tidebreaker knows exactly what he's just fucking said and the sorts of implications it might have with this many years on land under his belt - Jack eventually lets out a long sigh and makes a vague there you go then gesture with his hand. [say]"Careful she doesn't keep her compass in her bikini for emergencies. Wouldn't want your hands to have to wander,"[/say] he mutters.
Rising back to his feet as well, he nods and is already turning to one of his shelves of scrolls and maps, clearly intent on going back to work. [say]"I won't be at shore for much longer,"[/say] he says. [say]"But I wish you the best of luck as well."[/say]
You're gonna fucking need it, he almost adds. But he has the impression Hadama already knows that.
~FIN