we all fall down
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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#1
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
It had been a few days since Eloise had decided she'd grown balls big enough to play with the big boys, and frankly Jack could count the number of words he had said to her on the back of one hand. He'd attempted to lock his cabin only for her to screech at him mentally until he let her inside, and their situation since had been one of unnecessary proximity, in his opinion.

The sun was just about peeking over the ocean, sending a rolling mist ashore with the change of the season, and Jack had already been awake for some time. He hadn't left bed yet, his arms tucked behind his head, his blue eyes pinned on the wooden boards above. Around him the world snored and slept and dreamt, and he could feel a headache brewing like a storm around his temples.

Still, he kept his magic sharp as a razor, digging and weaving and honing the telepathic web draped around the reaches of his power. It felt as though his body had been held tense since Eloise had delivered her bombshell, and it was fast becoming a new normal. As was the lack of sleep. Still, he didn't feel so much like climbing over the obstacles involved in getting up just yet.
Eloise Teralux
Navigator

Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#2
Eloise
One such obstacle, being Eloise herself.

Curled in a cacoon of blankets, her feet poked adorably out of the end, the illusionist hadn't been sleeping well herself, (not that she'd let Jack know it). When she did find herself awake, she'd think of stars and silently sing herself back to sleep again, hoping that if the captain poked into her mind it would simply seem as though she was dreaming. She couldn't ask him if it was convincing of course, or if he could tell thoughts from dreams. No, whatever victory Eloise had come away with had cost her something else, though she didn't quite understand the full consequences yet.

Peeping her eyes open to see Jack's gaze bearing directly at the ceiling, Eloise braced herself for a new day of icy silence around Jack, and fake flattery around the crew. Still, at least she got to sleep in the bed.

"Why good morning Jack." She said brightly. "Good mornin' Eloise, how did ye sleep?" She mimicked back, knowing he wasn't speaking to her. "Oh fine. This bed is oh so comfortable compared to the floor. Thanks ever so much for letting me cuddle up here with you."
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, 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
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 1,070 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#3
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
The obstacle in question was chattering at him now, like she had been for the past few days, but given that he had to pay so much attention to her thoughts to make sure she hadn't pulled the plug that would mean the end of both of them, it was remarkably easy to zone out her real voice.

It was even easier when his telepathy pinged off a new set of thoughts prowling around the ship, ones that did not belong there. Especially not before the sun had risen. Not when everyone was sleeping.

"Shut up," Jack said, his voice hoarse as he sat upright in bed. No amount of blackmail could control how he slept, at least, and so Eloise would have been cuddled up comfortably with the naked captain for the past few nights. Jack narrowed his eyes at the door. "Fuck sake," he said through a hissed whisper, throwing back the blankets to scramble over her as quietly as he could.
Eloise Teralux
Navigator

Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 15 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 4 - Int:
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#4
Eloise
Had anyone wondered whether or not blackmail got Jack hard, Eloise now had a definitive answer. Still, cuddles were cuddles, and the illusionist was all but starved for attention, cut off from everyone as she more or less was as Jack's dog, prized or not.

"Oh, look, he speaks." Eloise huffed, not at all surprised that his first words to her were shut up. However as he scrambled over her, all dangling balls and morning breath, she did promptly as she was told. No telepathy was needed to tell that something was wrong.

Sitting up silently as well, amused at the sight of Jack's bare ass as he slid off the bed, Eloise cocked her head to the side to listen, doing her level best not to think anything at all, even if it meant concentrating on the sound of blood in her ears. If someone was out there who shouldn't be, or if something was going on that had caught Jack's attention, the last thing she needed to be reprimanded for was thinking about his lily-white ass too loudly.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, 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
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 1,070 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#5
JACK
He spoke and he was about to smother her with a pillow if she wasn't careful. Perhaps if Jack had the time to retort - or the inclination, given that he hated the sight and sound of her these days - he might have commented that her pancake tits and snoring weren't exactly the epitome of ladylike allure either. Ah, well. Maybe another time. (Nope).

Her silencing her thoughts was appreciated, at least, and he tossed a nod in her direction either in thanks or to tell her to keep it up, all the while grabbing his pants from the back of a chair to shuck into them. That and a knife in his hand and he slid up towards the cabin door, a hand reaching out to very, very quietly unlock it.

A beat of silence - two, three, and Jack grasped the door handle. His eyes flickered here and there, like he was watching something, until he suddenly and abruptly yanked open the door.

The brute behind it had been intending to break the damned thing down, he thought, but Jack put an end to that by giving him a free ticket inside. Instead he came barrelling in and slammed into a row of shelves opposite, very nearly smashing through the window and out again.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Eloise Teralux
Navigator

Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 15 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 4 - Int:
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#6
Eloise
Shame, the pants. Eloise was looking forward to seeing the captain fight naked.

Moving herself into the corner of the bed nearest the wall so that she wouldn't be a target—for Jack's sake mind, given how necessary it was to keep her safe—Eloise bit down on a gasp of surprise as the man barrelled inside.

Once he righted himself from the falling books, he'd suddenly see the floor litered with all sorts of venomous snakes. A large python turned, rising up near as tall as Jack himself, tongue tasting the air. At the same time, Jack himself would be cloaked in illusion too: eyes near-black, the etch of skeletal wings out from his back, and the soft purr of fire coming from the blade he held.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, 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
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 1,070 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#7
JACK
Granted, the illusions were a pretty touch. The brute let out the ugliest sort of cry, a mingle of surprise and fear as he tried to scramble up from the floor, making a thorough mess of Jack's cabin as he did so. And when his eyes did alight on the captain, well... the stink of piss added to the early morning perfume, didn't it? Beautiful.

"Out. Tell your boss I'll be in touch," the captain said, the roughness of his voice so early in the morning only lending more to the image that Eloise had shrouded him in.

He didn't need telling twice at least, trying to jump and dodge and weave away from the snakes to get back out of the door, with stained pants and a wheeze of fear. Jack's hand clenched further on the blade he held, as if irritated to have had to let him go. For an attempt at robbery, sabotage and likely assassination, it had been rather swiftly dealt with.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Eloise Teralux
Navigator

Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 15 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 4 - Int:
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#8
Eloise
No stranger to the stench of urine, though not normally associating it with Jack's cabin, Eloise just sighed as the man awkwardly let himself out. Letting her illusions drift away, save for one large snake that looked strikingly like Hoa, Eloise shot Jack an uncertain look.

"Should have invited him to stay." She drawled with a suggestive look at the space beside her in the bed. "At least one of us might have had a fuck good enough to get a good night's sleep."

Stroking the illusory snake and waiting for Jack to ignore her and get back into bed or stalk off or do any number of things, Eloise decided to push her luck. "So how long is this going to last then?"
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, 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
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 1,070 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#9
JACK
”Speak for yourself. There’s always the brothel,” Jack muttered, clicking the door shut but opening the window to clear the room of the stink of piss. ”And there are other bunks on this ship, for that matter.” Not that he imagined she would use them. She’d kick him out of his own cabin before that happened.

The strain on his magic had been enough to set his head to pounding, and he pinched at the bridge of his nose before stepping across to the mess of the shelves, starting to tidy up what wasn’t damaged beyond repair. Books, trinkets, knick knacks - it was clutter, but it seemed to have order to it. His eyes slid across to her when she spoke, as if asking why she was wasting her breath. She’d instigated all of this. She’d made the choice.

”Depends,” he said, tucking a few loose pages back into a leather bound book. ”It’ll last until those letters are sent, or until I find a way to kill you without having to worry about their contents getting out.”
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Eloise Teralux
Navigator

Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 15 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 4 - Int:
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#10
Eloise
And yet, Eloise stare seemed to say. And yet he came to bed and stared at the ceiling instead of fucking himself into oblivion. The captain always returned to the Ark no matter his dealings inland. Even if he got himself off in Haulani at the brothel, he'd be wide awake by the time he found his way back on board.

"Or—" Eloise began, the illusory snake vanishing. "You could stop punishing me for your fucking mistakes." She made no attempt to help Jack clean anything up, knowing he'd just swat her away. "I'm not going to tell anyone about this unless you force my hand and honestly? The fuck did you think was going to happen, constantly shoving this in my face that your mistake was going to cost me my life?" Realizing she was clenching her teeth, she exhaled in an effort to stop.

"I want to keep doing this," (except the sleeping on the floor bit). "Learning from you, living this life." Gods she wanted him out of her fucking head. "This is your mess. I'm just evening the odds, but I want to stay here." With you, going unsaid, but not unthought.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, 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
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 1,070 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#11
JACK
And yet, echoed Jack silently, grateful if anything that she didn't attempt to help, allowing him to salvage as much as he could from the shelves. One was broken entirely and would have to be repaired, along with a few trinkets, but the rest he returned to their rightful places in no time at all. "My mistakes?" he began, eyebrows raising as he turned to glare at her incredulously. "Clearly I didn't expect you to take a gamble on whether or not I cared how many people in Caido know what I can do." Yes, her gamble had been spot on, and no he wasn't happy about it. But still. Fuck.

As she continued, however, his expression dropped to something neutral, puzzled almost. "You've a funny way of fuckin' showin' it," he grumbled at last, slumping down into the seat at his desk. From one of the drawers, he drew two glasses and a bottle of amber liquid; rum, and expensive rum at that. Filling them both, he nudged one in her direction. "Best we keep those odds even, then."
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Eloise Teralux
Navigator

Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 15 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 4 - Int:
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#12
Eloise
"A gamble? You let your secret slip and your hands were around my throat a fucking heartbeat later. Doesn't take a genius to know where to place their bet." She snapped back, meeting his glare easily enough.

"Oh I have? You mean, by coming when you call, keeping up this ridiculous charade of being your little fuck buddy here, sleeping on the floor? And I've dealt with that for months now. But you fucking push and push and push Jack. Every fucking word out of your mouth is a criticism or an order and all for what?"

Cheeks flushed, Eloise angrily pushed a strand of hair from her face watching skeptically as he poured two glasses of rum. Eyes narrowed, the illusionist reached out with her magic to try and snatch the glass he'd meant to keep for himself. If he'd put something in hers while she was ranting, he could fucking down that portion himself.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, 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
Played by: Honey Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,070 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#13
JACK
He watched her devolve into another rant, the captain seeming to realise something about her in that moment, sitting quietly by as his glass sailed out of his hands and left him with the one he'd poured for her. Joke was on Eloise; he'd poured her more rum than himself, figuring a stiff drink might do her some good. (Apparently not). Raising her glass instead, he tipped her a toast and knocked it back in one, as if to show her it hadn't been tampered with.

"All for what?" he echoed, bouncing the question back at her. "What's it all for, Eloise? Why do I push your buttons? Why do I do things I know must piss you off, by virtue of what we both know I can do? Why would I do that?" Was it because he hated her? Or was it because she'd never brought it up in a way that wasn't screeching at him or writing fucking letters to get him into shit?

"I don't think I'm the one that needs a fuckin' brothel. You're like a coiled spring."
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Eloise Teralux
Navigator

Age: 32 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 15 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 4 - Int:
Played by: Odd Offline
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Posts: 643 | Total: 16,193
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#14
Eloise
Hmmfing under her breath, as if she might have preferred him to put it aside full of poison, Eloise raised his glass to her lips and drank it all in one long swallow.

As he shot her words back at her, her fingers tensed around the glass. There was little for her to do other than stare at him bitterly and wish her glass was bottomless. Eloise didn't know why he pushed her buttons, why sometimes it was all too easy with him and other times it was like chewing glass.

"Yeah no fucking thanks to you." She growled under her breath. "Only ones who'll touch me these days are the sorts I'd not be caught dead with. Because thanks to all of this—" Eloise waggled her fingers around Jack's cabin and the blissful tryst everyone seemed to think occurred within. "—everyone else thinks of me as just some trap to test their loyalty to you."

So that should at least answer the captain's earlier question of why everything was to do with sex with her, even when it wasn't. To say the illusionist was wound tight was an understatement.
I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!


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