may the waves take you home

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone The directions to Lirsi’s home rang like windchimes in her head, the entertainer fairly skipping down streets to her LongNight abode; she felt special, not needing to shelter with the rest of the Grounders. She’d been clever, she’d thought ahead. And there was the added bonus of Lirsi being the adorable kind of half-punk redhead, to which Lily thinks jokingly about her redheaded harem slowly, slowly growing: Melita, Evie, Lily herself, and now Lirsi. They’ll have to commandeer that Arialla girl soon - and maybe Ianto, if he ever shows up again. She arrives at the place matching the number and description and Lily knocks - but no one answers. She knocks again, calling out to the girl - but no one answers. Trying the door, she finds it unlocked and pushes inside. The interior is surprisingly dark, perhaps a little musty, as if no one had been there in at least a week. She frowns. There’s a piece of paper on the table, some fruit pits in the sink; the pale woman goes even more pale if possible - this isn’t right. With trembling hands, she reaches for the folded piece of paper and reads what’s written there. If you're finding this, it means I'm not here. Dunno what happened to me, but something definitely happened. Whoever's picked up the note, I've got three things to tell you: 1. The house is now yours. 2. Underneath the fourteenth floorboard in the main room are some highly valuable items that I've smuggled home with me. 3. If you go into the basement, there's a small chest of high quality fabrics. I was saving those for a rainy day. Take care of the house, and don't mourn me! I probably deserved whatever happened. Love, L Lily sinks down into the chair to digest the information, hot tears pooling at the corner of her eyes, eventually trickling downward - but there is no flood, no wailing, nothing more than a resigned sort of disappointment. She’ll figure out what to do about the house later - for now, she needs a drink. Spare key, a shawl - check. Looking quite solemn and clutching the piece of paper in her hand, the entertainer steps daintily into The Hanged Man, finds a seat at an empty table, and orders their best liquor. When you’re mourning a lost friend, you splurge for the good stuff. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

JACK

”Now what’s a pretty face like that lookin’ so solemn at LongNight for?”

Jack thought little of slouching into a seat next to a stranger; the Hanged Man was buzzing with people - drunk, rowdy, partying, gambling, you name it - and it was difficult to come across an empty table.

The captain wasn’t drunk (yet) but he certainly wasn’t sober either, propping an elbow across the back of the seat so he could gaze at Lily properly. His magic fed him sadness, grief, loss - all things that belonged at the bottom of a bottle. But not necessarily at a party.

”What is it, then? Fella left you? Lost a treasured possession? Or just missin’ the sun?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and nodding as the waitress returned, motioning for a second glass to go with Lily’s.

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!

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone If Lily were in the mood, she might have said something like ’So this is where they’re keeping all the attractive men,’ and then promptly announce that she’s moving to Torchline. For good. However, this particular instance is perhaps the one time that she isn’t up for flirting (yet). Glancing through her lashes at the man who comes and sits at her table, she accepts the drink and thanks the server for it before answering. “Just found out my friend died.” So, no - none of those trivial, woman-centric ideas he so casually flings about. She takes a sip and rolls the liquid through her mouth - not bad. The Hanged Man would give Sunjata a run for his money. “But it’s LongNight and I should be used to it by now.” Even if the death was in here and not in the Hollowed Ground, this is Caido. Lily is no n00b, she should know better by now. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

JACK

A slow smile crept across Jack’s lips at Lily’s initial thoughts, though he busied himself with the glass the server poured for him as well, raising it in a toast as they turned to leave. ”Oh? Commiserations,” he murmured at her news, taking a sip as well and raising an eyebrow as she continued. ”Hollowed Grounds?” he guessed (not). ”Not many people in Torchline expect death at LongNight. It’s more like.. well.” He nodded at the bustling party around them.

”Came to the right sort of place to keep your mind of it. If that’s what you wanna do, anyways.” He’d be more than happy to help, in fact, if it was a good night and a bit of forgetfulness she was looking for. ”If you wanna drown at the bottom of a bottle, it’s a good option too.”

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!

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Making a face as if she knows she’s outed herself, Lily nods, “Yep. Outlander too.” May as well own up to all of it, he’ll probably find it all out anyway if he sticks around for conversation. “Wish the fucking portals had dumped me here instead of the Grounds. Can only imagine how different the past two years would have been.” Chuckling darkly (a rare sound from the entertainer, but it only serves to tell how much she hates some of the things that have happened in the Grounds), she turns her sea-blue eyes to the man and accepts his proposition by continuing the conversation. “So who are you?” Raising an eyebrow, she eyes the chiseled-jaw man across from her with a slightly challenging gaze. Bold, but never let it be said that redheads are timid creatures; when Lily gets to drinking, she’s got big sassy balls. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

JACK

Outlander from the Hollowed Grounds? Figures. Jack took another sip of his drink as he heard her out, and his smirk would be visible behind his glass. ”Shame you weren’t. Torchline was worse off for it,” he said, making no secret of the way he let his eyes wander over her. Setting his drink down, he relaxed further into his seat and propped a leg up on the empty seat on the other side of the table.

”Call me Jack,” he said. ”I captain a ship called The Ark. We’ll be sailin’ out after Longnight, so this is about the last chance I’ll have to sit an’ have a decent drink. Especially with such fine company.” Grinning, he let blue eyes dance across the rest of the bar for a moment, magic sharp for disturbances. ”And who are you?”

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!

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Isn’t that nice of him to say? Lily preens a bit under his compliment, still sad but nevertheless warming up to the idea of talking and flirting rather than sitting and staring at her cup in sorrow. On that point, at least, they can agree. The redhead would brighten the population of any land she stumbles into. “Lily,” she says with a small smile. No need for last names, it seems. Suits her just fine. “The Hollowed Ground’s resident entertainer.” Or at least she was, until Fiat Lux swallowed her lyre and swept it away. Leaning forward a bit (which conveniently thrusts her breasts up between her arms), she is obviously intrigued at the mention of a ship. “Where will you be sailing to?” Portsmouth had a ton of sailors. They were usually the most crude clients - but also the most appreciative of her time and services, showing her just how much they missed both land and women. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

JACK

”Suits you,” Jack said, taking another sip of his drink (she really had chosen a good one - must have liked her friend a lot). The remark was as close as she’d get to some of the more poetic shit drunks were like to slur at her; pretty name for a pretty gal and the like. Something like mischief flashed through his blue eyes at hearing she was an entertainer, and while her thoughts supplied the rest of the information, it was still polite to ask. ”And what does that entail, bein’ the Hollowed Ground’s resident entertainer?” he inquired.

As for where he sailed? ”Everywhere,” he said, unable to keep the quiet longing out of his voice. Never usually one to let his feelings show, missing that LeafChange trip had definitely put a dampener on things, and the captain was keen to set sail again after Longnight. ”We’ll be gone all of Flowerbirth, and back before it gets too hot.”

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!

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone No details, no nothing. Smiling tightly, Lily sees how it is. “Oh, you know - singing mostly. Some dancing and writing songs, if anyone wants one. Luring Luxere during Deepfrost. Hosting orgies in my sex room. That kind of thing.” All perfectly innocent, normal things. A way to make a living, and she does love singing, but the Hollowed Ground is… boring, really. Now that she hears it out loud, it might actually be time to move to Torchline. “And what else is out there? What am I missing?” Lily asks coyly, inviting no-last-name Jack to regale her with stories of foreign people and places and things she knows naught of. It would be a welcome distraction. Taking the bottle, she tops them both off and waits to see if he’ll bite. Or at least indulge her, and make something up. It’s not like this little Outlander would know the difference. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

JACK

Lucky Lily did see how it was, otherwise the kind of questions she was asking would likely end their conversation more quickly than Jack would like. Hearing about what she did for a living was much more interesting, and the captain barked out a laugh at the throwaway comment about orgies. ”Your sex room,” he echoed, knowing it to be true without needing her confirmation, but somehow that just made it more curious.

Raising his glass to toast her generosity in topping him up, Jack took a sip and considered the next attempt to bait out the kinds of things he did out on the waves. With a crooked smile, he settled back in his seat. ”Merfolk,” he said. ”They come up to trade when you get far enough out. There’s a whole city down there.” There was nothing about his tone to suggest it was anything other than true.

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!

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Ah, yes, that’s always a good talking point. Lily giggles, throwing her head back a tad and returning with a thoroughly bemused smile. “Yep. Frey blessed it and then I took over the property soon after.” And if she moves here, she wonders if he’ll bless another one for her. Of course that might come in conflict with the Halenani, but she wouldn’t be running a business, she’d be doing it for herself. Hmmm… something to consider in the whole ‘move to Torchline’ thing. “Unfortunately the house I just seem to have… inherited?” there’s an obvious source of conflict there, but she doesn’t verbally elaborate. “ - here doesn’t seem to have the same amenities. Other things, but not that.” Things she has yet to investigate; the fabrics, the items - would it be better to hide them or to take them with her back to the Hollowed Ground? At least Jack interrupts the downward spiral she’s about to have. “Merfolk?!” she repeats with a childish delight. “Oh that’s amazing! I had no idea Caido had Merfolk. Are they nice?” A silly question, but it does seem important to Lily that her interactions for LongNight and the near future are pleasant. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

JACK

”The Hollowed Grounds just got much more interestin’,” Jack informed her, though it would be a lie to say that even a sex room would persuade the captain to take a step through a portal. He had no interest in freezing his bollocks off in Halo, or getting lost in the maze of the Greatwood. And Torchline had its own sex rooms; the Halenani was the most recent, as far as he knew.

Raising an eyebrow at the house she’d apparently inherited, he tipped his glass to her. ”The rest of the islands will likely make up for it,” he said with a smirk. ”Plenty of folk around who’d be happy to make you acquaintance. If you look close enough, you’ll see some of ‘em now.” Indeed, Jack was not the only man vying for Lily’s attention, and though a lot of them were a lot more drunk than he was, none had approached (yet).

And it was doubtful they’d manage to distract her, with the way she felt about the merpeople beneath the waves. ”It’s a secret.” He winked. They’re as nice as you or I.” That is to say, they came in all flavours; some lovely, some not so much.

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!

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone “That’s not very reassuring at all,” she says with a sharp laugh. Lily is nice to look at, sure, and she can be generous and flirtatious, but her mind’s a bit darker and far more judgemental than she appears to be. And Jack? Well, the redhead has a hunch that he actually isn’t very nice at all. For example - she casts her eye surreptitiously at her supposed admirers. They all seem rather intoxicated, though she has to admit that one or two - yes, even the women - are as attractive as Jack is. Maybe it’s the whole sunkissed thing…? The general acceptance of danger and the kind of yolo that comes with that lifestyle? Whatever it is, she sees it, and she mulls it quickly over, and then decides that the guy sitting across from her is preferable. “What d’ya say you help me make ‘em definitely want to make my acquaintance later in the week?” merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

JACK

”I’m not sure it was meant to be,” Jack quipped back with a crooked smile, the captain absently tapping a finger against his glass. She was absolutely right, of course, and her hunches would serve her well if they continued to be that accurate, but then perhaps they were more similar in their darkness than first expected.

Taking another sip of his drink, Jack turned his poker face out to the rest of the bar; he had to suppress a smile as Lily decided, internally, that she would rather his company. Suited him just fine.

Glancing back as she spoke again, he raised a curious brow at the remark. ”And how’d you figure that?” he wanted to know, feeling the stirring of some kind of mischief and leaving it to Lily to explain herself.

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!