i'll raise you

i'm a lost cause, do it the way I want

Within the first few days of having fallen into Torchline, Vesper had secured a house for him and his sisters, had acquired a wardrobe full of clothing, and had seen to his own de-flowering at the Haulanani. Virginities were things to be lost as quickly as possible he'd come to understand, and in so doing he got his first taste of what would become a lifelong addiction: pleasure. 

Leaning against one of the port's weathered railings, Vesper surveyed the outgoing and incoming ships. His sharp blue eyes tracked their movements with a quiet intensity as he matched the various flags they flew with the stories he'd read about them in his mother's expansive library. Though the port burst with chaos at every turn, the demigod was entirely divorced from the swirl of life around him, his gaze locked upon one ship in particular whose maroon sails had just been lowered. 

For now the demigod's hair was moonlit-white, his lean frame covered by a light linen shirt and blue-grey shorts. On his feet were sandals that looked expensive, and already his fingers bore rings whose silvery cast matched the necklaces around his neck.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Everyone's watching someone in Torchline, and Jack has long come to accept the fact that he can't always keep a mental eye on who that might be. So he focuses on what he can control; keeping tabs on anything suspicious within the range of his magic, the integrity of his ship, the success of his business, and himself. And since a somewhat fateful meeting on the banks of Aumakua with a certain Doubletake a few days before, that latter point has become something of a fixation for the good captain.

As The Ark lowers her sails, it might surprise the majority of people to find Jack not upon her deck, but safe upon the docks. It had been a practice run with some of the most long-standing members of his crew; he might not always be on hand in person to fly The Ark, after all, and the last thing he needs is for it to go wrong when he's not on board and needs picking up. And so they've made a few supervisory trips with his close eye on them, and now, a quick jaunt around the bay without it.

She hasn't crashed, so they've passed.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a list of criticisms as long as his arm to greet them with, Jack peering up the gangplank over his sunglasses and raising his eyebrows. "You ain't invisible," he snaps to the first man who pops up at the side of the ship. "You keep gettin' too close to those other skyships comin' down from Stormbreak an' they'll crash right the fuck into you." Taking the cigarette from between his lips and exhaling his frustration in a long breath of smoke, Jack glances from The Ark's prow to her stern.

"Not good enough yet," he decides, gesturing for them to come back onto the docks. "I go up with you tomorrow." And that's that, as it happens, the crew beginning to stream down the gangplank with mutterings and apologies before disappearing into Kaiholo for what's likely a very well deserved drink. Jack, of course, remains, the sea breeze fluttering the fabric of his open shirt, revealing the stark ink of the serpent tattoo coiled against his right side.

i'm a lost cause, do it the way I want

As the crew go slinking past, Vesper keeps his eyes trained on the harbour. Shadows stretch out across the boards, thickening just as Jack's men slip behind him, catching nearly all of them by surprise and sending them stumbling forward to right their balance. Before any can catch it, the shadows have flattened back against the weathered dock. Glancing fleetingly over his shoulder the demigod lifts his eyebrows. "Careful." He warns mildly, before fishing out a deck of cards from one pocket and shuffling them between his long fingers.

Even had Vesper not had the luxury of Safrin's rolodex to flip through, the demigod would have known his father from a mile away if not because of his tattoos, then because of the silence that radiated out of his mind. Already the young telepath had learned just how loud the world could be, though unlike his father he'd been able to dampen it back quite easily even at the beginning, keeping the potential for madness at bay. That, and with an ego the size of a small planet whatever thoughts that filtered through that might have otherwise disillusioned the young man were promptly shot down.

Despite knowing who Jack was, Vesper was content to simply watch him a while longer from his place amongst the shadows, his fingers idly shuffling the cards in his hands.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Had Vesper been right beside him - close enough to see, to be in range, to realise the silence for what it is - Jack's suspicions might have been roused. Alas, as the crew departs and he's left mostly alone on the docks but for the other workers milling to and fro, he's as oblivious to the young man's presence as he is to the rest of the world beyond his little 40ft sphere. Right now, his main focus is his ship.

Taking one last drag of his cigarette before flicking it off the dock and into the sloshing waves below, Jack waits for the last straggler to get the fuck off The Ark before he climbs her gangplank himself and sets foot upon her deck. Whether Vesper is aware that the starlit lady acting as the ship's figurehead (you know, the one with her tits out) is his mother is up to his own sharp eyes; Jack has a good memory, and he's still rather proud of the likeness, personally.

He meanders across The Ark, checking the sails, the ropes, the immediate supplies, making sure that all is in order. And it seems to be, but gods if she doesn't need something done to her now that she's been graced with flight. Leaning against a barrel at the side of the ship, still visible to those in the harbour, he tilts his head up towards the crow's nest, as if it might give him some ideas.

i'm a lost cause, do it the way I want

Unlike with her other children, his sisters even, Vesper has not been coddled by his mother. Instead, he'd had the full breadth of her experience to puzzle through, to pour over, to absorb. So yes, he does know that the wooden figure on the front of Jack's little boat is his mother.

Watching Jack with a calculating blue gaze, the captain seems so much larger in person than he did from the skies, though perhaps that had more to do with the fact that Vesper was no longer a mere sentient patch of star-haze. Pulling one card away from the deck—the queen of hearts—Vesper slides the deck into his pocket before sauntering down the docks towards the Ark. Walking the card between his fingers, the demigod halts near the gangplank, his gaze fleetingly taking in the finer details of the shop that he hadn't been able to see from the heavens.

"Heard she can fly now." He calls out, his voice like a night breeze over still waters.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Having been absorbed in his thoughts about the changes he'd need to make to his little boat, Jack's glare at the crow's nest has become almost vindictive (it's not, that's just how he looks), and the sound of a voice barking out is almost a welcome distraction. His head snaps down towards the harbour, an eyebrow raising as he focuses upon the fair-haired youth shouting up at him, and--

Nothing.

At least his expression isn't visible in detail from this far up, and he's able to master it back into something like neutrality as he flings volleys of probing telepathy towards the man, attempting to batter his way through. In the mean time, though, he's been spoken to. "Aye," he calls back, easy as you like. "Just touched back down." He assumes - he has to assume - that the stranger hadn't been around to see it, hence his asking.

i'm a lost cause, do it the way I want

Careful who you're calling a youth old man, you've been fucking a girl Vesper's age for quite some time now.

As the first fingers of rain pour against his telepathic shields, the demigod gazes impassively up toward Jack, his blue eyes calm, the playing card dancing unhurriedly between his fingers. Tilting his head Vesper glances at the Ark, sizing up her bow with a low whistle of appreciation. Kneeling down he plucks a small rubber duck out of the water, arching an eyebrow before straightening and lobbing it up toward the captain.

"Been seeing these all over." He says dryly, placing a hand over his eyes to shade them. "Don't suppose you give tours?"

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

First of all, you've been around for like three weeks, boy. And secondly, Jack used to be fucking that girl. So... there? Ugh.

They regard each other, each as calm as the other, though the storm roiling behind Jack's gaze is likely much more volatile than anything Vesper is feeling right now. And unbeknownst to the captain, the youth before him is almost equally matched when it comes to their mental defences.

Reaching out, the captain snatches the rubber duck from the air as it flies up towards him - it squeaks obnoxiously - and he sets it down behind him on the barrel. "You will," he says. "There's a demigod who can summon 'em. Torchline's full of ducks." 

Slipping off the barrel to stand and feeling as though he wants to both shake the young man as if some thoughts might fall out but also put as much distance between them as possible, he lowers his sunglasses a fraction at his second question. "I don't, no," he drawls. "Not unless you're a new hire." Which he isn't, evidently.

i'm a lost cause, do it the way I want

Good one, Jack.

Vesper can feel the press of lightning against the starry expanses of his mind, and if it goes on long enough he'll be forced to yield if only because of how annoying it is. For the moment though he's able to sustain the cosmic swirls of darkness that keep his thoughts shielded; and if Jack continues to press? Well, perhaps he'll let him in long enough to see the words hi dad painted in starlight.

"How quaint." Vesper hums under his breath, his eyes never leaving Jack's even as the playing card continues wandering between his fingers.

"In time, maybe." The demigod calls back. "But not today." Today had merely been an experiment, to see just how he stacked up against his old man before push came to shove. Finding himself toeing the line well enough for the moment, Vesper saw no need to push his luck. 

"I've got a proposition for ya. If you've a minute to hear me out."

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Mm, somethin' like that," Jack mutters; he'll leave it to the stranger to come across Melita for himself to decide if quaint is the appropriate word for it. All the while he dances around that strange, dark and cosmic shield, before retreating at last, unable to find a way in for now. Granted he's not fucking happy about it, and it's only the effort of decades that has him leaving the frustration and confusion for later.

"No, not today," Jack agrees, raising an eyebrow down at the young man as he strolls back for the gangplank, fingers idly tapping against the railings before he's stepping back down towards the harbour. Being any closer to the stranger doesn't help, and so he pauses a healthy distance away, biting at the inside of his cheek. To say that Jack doesn't like this is an understatement, especially when there's a proposition involved, and he looks Vesper up and down as if seeing him properly for the first time.

"I get a lot of propositions. You get thirty seconds."

i'm a lost cause, do it the way I want

If he's perturbed at all by the treatment Jack gives him, it doesn't show (he isn't, by the way). Instead, he takes a step closer to the gangplank to diminish the distance he'll have to yell over, thinking that now was perhaps not the right time to say hey pops, if you drop your shielding and I drop mine, we can have this convo a lot easier.

"There are gonna be two new young women in town pretty soon, going by Calypso and Nova." Vesper explains, standing half in and half out of the Ark's shadow so that the slice of it cleaved his face in two. "If you happen by them, I'd really appreciate it if you kept your interactions polite." His eyebrows raise, assuming that point didn't need to be elaborated on. "In exchange, I'll give you a choice of a one-time favour, no questions asked or a mastered item of your choosing."

Flicking the card around so that the queen of hearts was facing the captain, Vesper gave it a flick turning it into the nine of diamonds.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Given that Jack is neither aware (yet) that this is one of his star-born offspring, or that they both possess a mental shield that they might be able to drop, he'll stay on the side of his mental maelstrom, thanks. Strolling down the gangplank until there's only a few feet left between them, the captain examines the youth, sliced in two by the shadows, bribing him and showing him a cursed card at the same time.

"You'd really appreciate it to the point of puttin' yourself in debt?" he drawls, raising his eyebrows. "Must be important young women. I don't make deals without details, though - who are they and why might I happen by 'em?" he wants to know. It absolutely isn't a refusal, not yet, but unlike Vesper, he wasn't born three weeks ago.

"As a general rule it ain't in my nature to be impolite to people I don't meet. So that suggests that you're expectin' me to run into 'em." Or them into him.

i'm a lost cause, do it the way I want

Tracking Jack as he nears, Vesper chooses not to answer the captain's first question, merely keeping his face impassive as he slides both hands into his pockets. "Like I said, their names are Calypso and Nova, 'bout this tall." Holding up a hand to indicate that they were a foot shorter than he was, the thin line of the demigod's lips quirk in a smile as he shrugs. "They like the water and they like trouble. Not hard to see how that would let 'em right to you."

Though Vesper's drawl is not nearly quite the same as Jack's, there is something relatably lazy and wry in it, likely owing for the hours upon hours he'd been watching the captain from high above.

"So. Do we have a deal?"

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

There are a lot of people about that tall in Torchline, and Jack doesn't make a show of learning their names - hence why he hasn't asked for Vesper's yet. (He'd normally know it by default, to be fair, were it not for that aforementioned shield). Bright blue eyes look the youth up and down, slow and calculating in a way that normally wouldn't be necessary, before he finally sighs.

"A mastered item and a favour," he says, because what fool wouldn't up the ante when they have something someone else wants? "Agree to that an' I'll be the best version of myself, should I happen upon 'em in this fair port." What counts as the best version of Jack is anyone's guess, granted, but it's got to be better than his worst, right?