[SE] I wore the crown, I sold the lie

VESPER

Vesper’s brow lifts at the sharp burst of laughter, the sound rough enough to scrape against the quiet. He supposes he shouldn’t be surprised—not with how spectacularly things had fallen apart with Flora — nor with the fact that they were having this conversation surrounded by cold wood and snow instead of sun-baked sand. Still, it catches him a little off guard, and he studies Jack sidelong, the bottle’s dark glass reflecting both their faces in the lamplight.

As Jack talks, Vesper’s expression shifts; confusion first, then something heavier. His brow furrows as the words higher standard sink in, the meaning twisting in slow. Knowing when someone’s upset, when they’re lying, when their thoughts betray the opposite of their mouth...it'd seem like you were responsible for something, wouldn't it? For acting, or pretending not to, either choice a trap.

"Right," he mutters, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, the gesture tight and self-conscious. "Never told anyone about it yet. If I ever need to say something, I just say I know shit ’cause I’m a demigod." The shrug that follows is all false ease, the kind that tries to make small talk out of a confession.

When Jack mentions keeping it from her, though, the real weight lands, having not considered this particular aspect of it before. He could see, though, how it'd come across as having withheld information, rather than it bein' a secret he was willing to share. Vesper pauses halfway through reaching for the bottle, blue eyes narrowing before he exhales and mutters, "Fuck’s sake." He takes a long drink, the rum biting down his throat before he sets it aside again with a thud.

Glancing over, he raises a brow, dry humour glinting through the weariness. "You got any suggestions, then? Aside from never leavin’ the Ark again." His voice dips into something sardonic but quieter underneath, an edge of genuine uncertainty threading through. "Can’t exactly tell her what’s wrong, an’ I sure as hell can’t fix it without doin’ that."

And it's all my fault that I'm still the one you want
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

"Good cover," Jack says, the compliment stark in its honesty. "I kept all my magic a secret for a long time to save explainin' anythin'. Havin' Safrin's backing is prob'ly all the excuse you need for as long as you need it, though." And he'll never say it, especially not right now when his mental walls are all reinforced steel and barbed wire, but he's quietly glad that Vesper hasn't had the learning curve he'd been dealt when it came to reading minds.

Not that it hasn't been fucking difficult regardless but, well, Jack didn't have Jack back then to explain shit, put it that way.

"Mmhm," he drawls his agreement, perhaps wisely putting the cork back in the bottle as Vesp sets it down once again. It's already half empty, and it's too good to be used as a wallowing sort of drink.

"There goes my best option." He scoffs - never leaving the Ark again has suited him fine in a lot of cases, after all. "I could tell her you died," he suggests, not bothering to hide the crooked grin this time. "Or you could just... not see her again." Listen, don't expect noble answers from your villainous father.

we've gone way too fast for way too long
and we were never supposed to make it half this far

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

VESPER

Vesper nods faintly, thumb tracing one of his rings in slow circles. "I thought about sayin’ I can only read minds within a foot or somethin’, if it ever came to that," he drawls, tone casual enough to sound like the thought’s no heavier than smoke. "Keep most of the truth to myself without makin’ it sound like I’m listenin’ to everyone breathin’." A shrug follows, loose and unconcerned, though there’s a flicker of wry self-awareness in his eyes. "But it feels like even that would be more trouble than it's worth."

Jack’s crooked grin earns a quiet scoff, Vesper folding his arms over his chest, sweater bunching at the elbows. "You’ve met Colt. Ain’t a chance she’d take that. She’d ride one of her horses straight up the gangplank just to tell me off." His smirk tugs crooked for a moment, genuine enough to soften the words, before it fades into something quieter, more private.

Truth is, it would be easier; lettin’ it all drift off into silence, leavin’ her to the stories she’s already told herself. But he wouldn’t do it. He likes her, cares quite a bit about her, though not the way she seems to care for him, and that imbalance hums in his chest like a bruise. He doubts there’s even time to ever reach even ground, not with how quick her thoughts set tripwires and red flags over otherwise sunny afternoons. It’s like tryin’ to build somethin’ steady on a tide that keeps pullin’ back just as fast as it comes in.

And it's all my fault that I'm still the one you want
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

"Mm, it would," Jack agrees without needing to give it too much thought. Even within a foot or so would change the dynamics of every future conversation, putting people at length knowingly or otherwise. And the worst part is that Vesper would know they were doing it, know all the things they think on purpose when they assume he's out of range. The captain wrinkles his nose, opting not to think about it more than that.

"Yeah, well," he says of Colt, stretching his arms above his head and rolling to his feet as if to keep his feet and legs warm, since the rum is doing the rest of the work in his chest and belly, "last I checked her horses can't run over water or fly, so if it comes to it we'd cut loose an' leave it at that."

Vesper's silence is the thorny sort that suggests a lot of unpleasant decisions being made in the background, and when Jack speaks next it's not without its bitterness, because the suggestion hits very close to home indeed. "Could send her a letter," he mutters. "Somethin' to keep, somethin' to set boundaries." And then they could cut loose for a bit to avoid her ruining the Ark's deck with one of her ponies.

we've gone way too fast for way too long
and we were never supposed to make it half this far

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

VESPER

Vesper nods, slow and wordless. He hadn’t thought it through the way Jack clearly has—hadn’t seen how even a small truth like that could twist everything sideways—but he’s lived long enough to recognize the shape of a mess before it happens. Some knots just don’t need more tangling.

When Jack stretches, the motion drawing his focus back, Vesper exhales through his nose, a faint huff of laughter ghosting past the sound. "Ark’s already moved once on account of one blonde," he mutters, shooting the captain a sidelong, appreciative look. "Ain’t lookin’ to make her do it again." Still, he does appreciate the offer. The humour in it fades quickly, though, replaced by the quiet weight of something more deliberate. Whatever happens, he decides, the Ark stays clear of it. No hiding aboard, no letting his shit spill over into the ship that’s been good enough to take him in.

At the mention of a letter, his fingers still against his rings, blue eyes flicking up, but not to Jack. He remembers the flash of that firestorm mind, the pieces he’d caught even without trying, one of which had been Flora’s letter, the way it had burned hotter than any blaze. His shoulders shift, restless, and he nods without looking over. "Maybe," he says finally, the word quiet but steady. "Then I could head north for a bit. Go to the Grounds or the Greatwood like we talked about." He shrugs, playing the thought off like it’s casual, but there’s purpose tucked in the movement. Distance might not fix much, but it’s safer than inviting hoof marks on Jack's deck.

And it's all my fault that I'm still the one you want
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

"Eh, she ain't even been here a season. Ain't got my feet under too many tables just yet either," Jack says of the Ark and her place in King's End, but the tilt of his smile holds just a hint of gratitude. At least if the worst did come, it wouldn't be a blonde he's involved with this time. Vesper's suggestion, loose though it might be, has the captain nodding a bit, and he grabs up the capped bottle of rum to tuck it under his arm.

"She knows me, y'know," he reminds the boy with a smirk that's much more himself, a touch wolfish in its amusement. "You could take yourself to the moon an' hide under Safrin's skirts - if the Ark is docked here, Colt'll prob'ly come askin' for you regardless." Though that's not to say he'll remotely abide any hoofprints on his recently treated deck.

But if that happens, it happens, Jack gesturing to silently ask if Vesper wants to get the fuck out of the cargo hold now to drink or brood elsewhere, whether alone or with his company. "So to circle us back 'round," he says, "do I take it as a yes on you livin' here an' manning this bar that's gonna happen?" Give or take a tactical escape up north.

we've gone way too fast for way too long
and we were never supposed to make it half this far

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

VESPER

Vesper’s smirk tilts dry, faint but genuine. There’s a flicker of something like amusement behind it—maybe gratitude too — though he’s not the type to name it. Jack’s willingness to play along with whatever escape plan he might need says plenty: about how jaded the man is when it comes to relationships, sure, but also that somewhere under all that cynicism sits something that almost passes for good parenting. Really good parenting, in fact.  "I’ll keep it in mind," he says simply, tone low and edged with humour.

At the mention of Colt, he nods, though his expression tightens in that way it does when a thought grates instead of fits. "Yeah," he mutters, exhaling through his nose.  It still strikes him as strange how easily Colt gets on with Jack. How she’d sent the captain a whole godsdamn stable as a welcome to King's End, gift while leaving him with nothing but the echo of her mental spiral. The imbalance of it sits oddly in his chest, somewhere between amusement and mild offence, the kind he’s too tired to properly untangle. "I think she’s even got some kind of date planned with the girls now, as if that’s not gonna make things real fun if shit goes south."

Straightening, he rolls his shoulders and falls into step behind Jack, shadows trailing lazy across the deckboards in their wake. The grin that creeps back onto his face is sharper this time, the tension shifting into something lighter. "Yeah," he says, nodding once. "to both."

And it's all my fault that I'm still the one you want
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

"You do that," Jack rumbles of keeping it in mind. For now, though, with this little agony aunt session over and a bar apparently in the making within his cargo hold, the captain would quite like to have the sky back overhead for a bit. Heading towards the upper decks, to hear that Colt has girl-time planned with the other Marins isn't necessarily a surprise, and he can only shrug his shoulders to Vesper as he starts to make his way up.

"So long as she don't make your problems their problems," he says. Not because he's liable to step in - let's not be silly, now - but because from the sound of it, Caly is a powder keg just waiting for a lit match.

He can practically sense it as Vesper sheds the shadows lingering within his mind, as if he's switched to let them spool outward instead, and as they emerge onto the Ark's main deck, the clear air and snow-heavy sky is almost blinding. "Well," he says, "I'll drink to that."

Just maybe not any more of the really good rum.

~FIN

we've gone way too fast for way too long
and we were never supposed to make it half this far

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!