cloud 9 is always out of reach
Jack
Eloise Teralux
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Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#1
ELOISE
The air quality was getting steadily better, but breathing still left an ashy taste in Eloise' mouth. It was like being constantly forced to kiss a smoker who bought exceedingly cheap tobacco. But erupted volcanos or not, the Ark still needed supplies and Eloise still needed to learn the ropes of what it meant to be at Jack's side—even if her place there was by mere happenstance.

"I take it you know how the crew voted, then?" Eloise said. Though she, Saiden, Melita, and Jiao all cast their stones or shells anonymously, surely none of that information had been hidden from Jack. But Jack's horse had come out ahead, so perhaps the captain didn't care one way or another.

but hungry dogs are never loyal

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Jack Barclay
Captain of the Ark

Age: 34 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
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#2
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
"I'd be a fuckin' terrible telepath if I didn't," Jack drawled, though Eloise would likely know by prolonged contact with the surly captain that the response was automatic and not necessarily with any malice. He took a pull from the flask he carried with him - water, one might be surprised to note, and cold at that - before offering it out to her. The volcano erupting had gone and ruined everything for the foreseeable season, and whilst there was a new governor and whilst his horse had indeed, come out ahead in the race, Jack's calm exterior hid a veritable tempest.

The smuggler was a man who liked to be in control of the spaces around him, and things were turbulent at best, currently. So they walked through the port and paused occasionally at stalls where Jack could speak with the merchants there. The Ark of course would need more supplies than previously expected, given that the crew were bound to port right now, and orders needed to be made. "Still, at least Saiden didn't throw his hat in the ring for governor." He pulled a face.
Eloise Teralux
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Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#3
ELOISE
Eloise had learned (mostly) when to brush off Jack's knee-jerk sarcasm and when to be properly cowed by it. Instead of flinching, she merely smirked cooley as they walked, accepting the offered canteen with a wordless thank you. It couldn't all be like that of course, mental communication from she to him lest those around begin to make assumptions about how close the pair must be for Jack to know Eloise so well. Even if they were sleeping together as the crew assumed, it would be too much of a stretch for him to have suddenly started giving a shit about her with that level of intimacy.

"I asked him a few weeks ago if he would and he said no then too." Eloise rolled her shoulders in a shrug, blandly annoyed that the ash was covering so much of the sun. "I think were he not on your crew he might have." But not necessarily because he lacked purpose. There was no way it would be safe for any of them to outrank Jack.

"So why do we like Remi more than the tall one?" Eloise asked, her question tactfully said. She wasn't just looking to pick Jack's brain on politics here, it was much more strategic than that: What has Remi done, that you favoured him? Or equally, what has Sunjata done (or not) that you don't?

but hungry dogs are never loyal

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Jack Barclay
Captain of the Ark

Age: 34 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 7 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 21 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 7 - Int:
SEVEN - Mythical - Sear Cat
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#4
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
Jack didn't respond to Eloise at first, mostly because he was busy bartering with a merchant over a supply of fresh meat for the Ark for the next half a season. A number of things were exhanged, most of them non-verbal, but the captain came away pleased. "Why, I feel so privileged," he said, arching an eyebrow and gazing sidelong at Eloise. "Bold of you to assume I'd keep him on the ship if he became governor." He scoffed. Any of them could feel free to outrank him at any time... once they stopped taking advantage of the Ark's hospitality.

Wafting some ash out of their path - this was clearly an area either about to be visited by the Abandoned helping out, or it had been forgotten - Jack fell to a halt at the mouth of a skinny alleyway. "Remi came to me the first night the Ark got to port," he said. "Knew my name and business from Raza, offered bribes. He knows the way Torchline works." Shrugging, he glanced to Eloise. "I've no fuckin' idea who the other one is." Seemed simple enough to him.
Eloise Teralux
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Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#5
ELOISE
The way Jack looked versus the way he was treated was...astounding, really. Jack looked like the sort you could grab by the ear throw into the street without a thought. Instead, he was treated like a sweating brick of dynamite that had to be handled just so.

The illusionist could only laugh under her breath at that. "Right, because him being off your ship with some fancy title would change things?" Not trying to brown-nose (it'd hardly help, with him in her mind after all), Eloise just rolled her eyes that Jack thought her so naive.

So that it was it then. Remi had just gotten there first. "Do we..." Again, Eloise was going to try and pick her words carefully, but it all seemed a little redundant if Jack could just hear the cogs working in her mind anyhow. So she dropped her attempts at sounding smuggler-smooth. "Just let me know if I'm supposed to be or do anything different around him, yeah?"

but hungry dogs are never loyal

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Jack Barclay
Captain of the Ark

Age: 34 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 7 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 21 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 7 - Int:
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#6
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
”I’ll choose to take that as a compliment, shall I?” Jack didn’t look at her, but his smirk was audible as he glanced into the alleyway. Eloise’s comments about his appearance versus his treatment certainly hadn’t gone unnoticed, but whilst the captain was certainly prideful, he didn’t have time to be vain. Why bother, when you knew what everyone was thinking anyway?

He did turn, though, at her quip about Saiden, Jack snorting softly. ”I might still not like him, but if he were governor I’d definitely have to listen to his drivel a lot more,” he pointed out.

In the uncomfortable moments between Eloise trying to figure out what to say about Remi before figuring that it didn’t matter, Jack had seemingly decided that the alleyway they had paused in front of wasn’t important after all, and moved on down the street. ”He’s into dick, so you can save your flirtin’,” he began. ”Otherwise just try not to badmouth the Ark or it’s business in front of him and you’re good, pretty much.”
Eloise Teralux
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#7
ELOISE
"Far be it from me to tell you what to do." Eloise snarked in reply, glancing into the surrounding streets and not the alleyway Jack was looking down. She wanted to learn everything he had to teach her but was at least clever enough to know that taking notes every time he took a piss or let out a breath was the wrong way to go about it.

"Now, now." Eloise tutted under her breath, though the voice wasn't hers at all. Or didn't appear to be, anyways. Instead, standing in her place was a rather pretty looking man. Blonde hair, blue eyes, Abercrombie and Fitch model material. She figured gay guys went for that sort of thing.

'Wouldn't dream of it.' Underwear-model Eloise said with a charming smile.

but hungry dogs are never loyal

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Jack Barclay
Captain of the Ark

Age: 34 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 7 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 21 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 7 - Int:
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#8
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
"Now you're gettin' it," Jack said, amusement in his tone. He was walking them back towards the pier now, heading for one of the stone benches bleached by the sun where he could better take stock of what they'd done that morning. It was during that time that Eloise apparently decided she'd much prefer to be the dick Remi was into, and as Jack glanced over his shoulder at her he had to grin.

"Yeah? He'd be mighty disappointed if he did want to take up your offer though, wouldn't he? And then you're disappointin' the fuckin' governor - what then?" A rough chuckle left his lips, and he made like he was going to lightly smack the underwear model in the crotch, before thinking against it. "He's married. Properly, as far as I know." Because marriage didn't really mean anything to Jack, but what he'd read rom Remi seemed serious.

Slumping down onto the bench, he waited for Eloise to join him before taking two ledgers from the satchel that had been slung about his shoulder. One was leatherbound and immaculately crafted. The other was significantly smaller, and looked as if it had seen its days on the ocean. "Do you remember who we saw today?" he asked.
Eloise Teralux
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Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#9
ELOISE
"Not every man is like you, you know." Though Eloise was quite sure Jack did know. "Some actually like a bit of foreplay. Of mystery and teasing. it isn't just all up against walls and handcuffs like it probably is with you." Given her lack of masculine reflexes, the aimed hand towards where her twig and berries should have been didn't make her flinch, though she did cross her impressively muscled arms. "Perfect. Married ones like to be wanted all the more since they're stuck with just one person."

Dropping the illusion and following dutifully, Eloise sank down next to Jack on the bench, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms comfortably around them. "The ones we saw-saw?" Which was to say, the important ones?

but hungry dogs are never loyal

Coding base by Sky!
Jack Barclay
Captain of the Ark

Age: 34 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 7 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 21 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 7 - Int:
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#10
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
Jack might have responded in any number of ways - he might have laughed in Eloise's face, corrected her made idle banter in return... But he didn't. The captain merely offered her a sly little smile, as if to tell her she had no idea about him at all, and allowed the subject to drop. "If you want to try your luck with our new governor, be my guest. It's your funeral." Even if he hadn't met the man, Jack had heard about Remi's reputation on the grapevine. Hopefully he had meant what he said about being less reckless.

Setting the two ledgers down between them, the captain relaxed back in his seat. Those ones exactly," he confirmed. "Much as it's a boon to be popular, I'm only interested in the ones we did any kind of business with."
Eloise Teralux
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Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#11
ELOISE
His silence was near enough like a slap that Eloise recoiled a tiny amount, her eyes narrowed with soft suspicion and even a touch of intrigue. 'Well if it is, make sure I'm buried in something pretty." He wouldn't, and she knew it.

Swallowing and nodding, Eloise let her expression grow solemn and serious as did her thoughts. "Raza. Owner of the Hanged Man." She recited. "And the innkeeper." Both owned businesses that attracted all sorts, both with rooms upon rooms only meant for certain eyes. Both who knew things that usually benefited Jack greatly.

There had been the trader, but other than a bit of errant gossip and perhaps a few lucky guesses when it came to gambling, seemed unimportant. Eloise thought perhaps the person they were meant to meet in the alley had been one of Jack's many fences...but that the captain had changed their course so quickly was a mystery all on its own.

but hungry dogs are never loyal

Coding base by Sky!
Jack Barclay
Captain of the Ark

Age: 34 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 7 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 21 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 7 - Int:
SEVEN - Mythical - Sear Cat
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#12
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
"Your definition of pretty or mine?" Jack snipped back, smirking and gazing out at the water. He didn't need to look at her to know what was going on, after all, and he listened both to what she was and wasn't saying. "Raza and the innkeeper, yes. But those traders we spoke to in their stalls are just as important. You'll learn their names and why in time."

Reaching out, he tapped the smaller ledger. "Everythin' you need to know about the business side of things is in here. Everythin' any kind of authority needs to know about it is in here." His hand moved to the more impressive ledger, made courtesy of their new Governor. "How's your book-keepin'?"
Eloise Teralux
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Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#13
ELOISE
"Do you even have a definition of pretty that doesn't just apply to ships?" The illusionist countered. She wanted to believe that under it all Jack was a softy, that there was some poetic side, a version of himself that looked at sunsets and sighed with longing. What she knew to be true though, was that under it all, there was just ash and bone and blood.

Biting the inside of her lip and nodding (Eloise having not fully gotten rid of her pathological need to be the top of her class, even if it was just she who was enrolled), she glanced towards the ledger. Giving him a flat stare, the illusionist tilted her head to the side accusingly. "Better than yours seeing as I can actually spell and other people can read the things I write."

but hungry dogs are never loyal

Coding base by Sky!
Jack Barclay
Captain of the Ark

Age: 34 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 7 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 21 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 7 - Int:
SEVEN - Mythical - Sear Cat
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#14
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
Jack cast her a sidelong look, perhaps a touch sharper than those he'd directed at her all morning. She was certainly full of thoughts about him today, and whether it was a simple point to put a stop to it, or whether she had managed to finally ruffle his feathers, he gave in. Reaching across, he tapped at her temple. "Pretty is in there, for me," he said shortly. "Other than that, yeah - just ash and bone and blood."

Then, scooping up both of the ledgers, he stacked them on her lap. "Sassy bitch today, aren't we?" he snipped. "Touche on the spellin', but you ain't supposed to understand the things I write. It's coded." He nodded at the books. "You'll be learnin' that too, from now on. Whatever goes in or out of the Ark is on you to record. I'll check it end of day."


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