NASEEM
Life's a
party
party
Naseem, for his part, trailed Flora. Shamelessly so. He didn’t make much effort to pretend to be being all that helpful, toeing this and that, occasionally peering at the sand as if strategising. Being useful would set the wrong kind of expectations. Cultivating the persona of a lout took a lot of effort, thank you very much. This was for the good of his reputation.
And when Flora introduced herself, he made some offhand comment, ‘Flora? Of course it’s Flora. Flowers could only wish to be so beautiful. They must model themselves after you’, or some such thing, the particulars mattering little. Naseem had connected the dots, somewhat, between the people before him and the queen of many tales, and Jack and his Ark to the Captain Jack of tales not bound by the decorum afforded to a queen. But his bowing and scraping was always only for show. Titles seemed to get in the way of a good time. So he made no move to treat Flora with more austere manners, for surely queens needed to let their hair down on occasion, no?
And, thankfully, he didn’t have to play at useless usefulness long. The moment Jack proposed going back to his, Naseem gave up all semblance of trying. “Absolutely there are takers. Drink and a party? On a boat? Dreamy. Sailors love me,” Naseem announced, confidence unwavering. It was good manners alone that had her looking to Flora, voice dripping with theatrical chivalry when he added, “Provided m’lady would like to go, of course. We’ve a game to play, after all. You reckon your Ark has a deck of cards anywhere, my new saint of a good time?”
And when Flora introduced herself, he made some offhand comment, ‘Flora? Of course it’s Flora. Flowers could only wish to be so beautiful. They must model themselves after you’, or some such thing, the particulars mattering little. Naseem had connected the dots, somewhat, between the people before him and the queen of many tales, and Jack and his Ark to the Captain Jack of tales not bound by the decorum afforded to a queen. But his bowing and scraping was always only for show. Titles seemed to get in the way of a good time. So he made no move to treat Flora with more austere manners, for surely queens needed to let their hair down on occasion, no?
And, thankfully, he didn’t have to play at useless usefulness long. The moment Jack proposed going back to his, Naseem gave up all semblance of trying. “Absolutely there are takers. Drink and a party? On a boat? Dreamy. Sailors love me,” Naseem announced, confidence unwavering. It was good manners alone that had her looking to Flora, voice dripping with theatrical chivalry when he added, “Provided m’lady would like to go, of course. We’ve a game to play, after all. You reckon your Ark has a deck of cards anywhere, my new saint of a good time?”
and I'm
gate-crashing
gate-crashing
