[SE] Burning water

A request had been sent to the man called Black Jack Barclay, captain of the Ark and councilman of Torchline. The slightly damp note had been signed by Hadama, King of the Mer, asking to meet at the Hanged Man at sunset.

It was not a place the mermanta had ventured to often; the liquor of humans was light and strange to his tongue, lacking the heavy density of merfolk libations, and he was not much given to drink in any event. But a few judicious questions of Ray and Harper led him to believe the human captain might be more comfortable there, and so Hadama had swum up to the bar on the water side and ordered a Halovian coffee.

The sweet cream liquor offset the bitterness of the coffee nicely as he nursed the mug as he floated at the seaside counter and waited for the other man to arrive. The twilight outside matched the bar's magical ambience and the light breeze was a pleasant change from the stronger winds of Deepfrost that cut across the ocean's surface. And it gave Hadama time to peruse the menu, considering which of the bottles might make an acceptable gift for his sister's boyfriend.

He could no longer get away with the sugar-coated pettiness Melita had helped him concoct for the man the year before the War; the mantle of kingship was a sobering weight and he tried not to abuse it.

But maybe he could bring back something with a heavy dose of bitters. Or perhaps the absinthe...?

JACK

"This place has menus now? Place has gone to shit since Raza left." And thus will be Hadama's introduction to the infamous captain of the Ark. Jack shifts to sit down opposite Hadama, having received the damp and salty note (yum) though having no idea what such a meeting is for. Especially given that he can't recall ever seeing or meeting the kInG oF tHe MeRFoLk before (lol, because he absolutely has).

A server doesn't need to ask him what he's drinking; they just go head and bring the bottle of black rum and a glass and leave him to it. Pouring a measure and hitting it back in one, Jack examines the Mer behind the menu with a raise of an eyebrow, as if asking him to go ahead and get to the point of the meeting. Busy captain, busy king, Hadama knows how it is.

The abruptness of Jack's arrival and his disdainful opinion of the place might have been more jarring if Hadama wasn't used to Kaiden's similar attitude towards... well. Everything, really. The menus were a boon to Mer ordering unfamiliar drinks, though the mermanta supposed the human regulars had no need of such things. He was grateful for the descriptions, regardless.

Indeed, the server seemed to read the captain's mind as they whisked out the bottle and glass while Hadama studied the human across the bar that separated wet and dry. He had last seen the man in Safrin's dreamscape, though that hadn't really been a time of introductions or paying attention to anyone other than the goddess herself.

His thoughts ran slow and thoroughly through dark waters as he contemplated how best to approach the man, but in the end though he was a king he wasn't much of a politician. Though it pained him to skip the pleasantries, there seemed little point. They each knew who the other was, and they'd technically already met on at least two occasions. He sipped his doctored coffee and then met Jack's eyes squarely. "What is your purpose on the Council?" Simple and to the point. He knew what Ray did, and he knew more or less what Harper's purpose was, but Jack was a stranger and Hadama was curious to hear what the man did for Torchline from his own lips.

JACK

Jack, for one, can more than appreciate the train of Hadama's thought, and he pours himself a second measure of liquor to sample more slowly as the Mer comes out with it. Never one for smalltalk unless it gets him something he wants (and if it isn't obvious yet, he's about 99% certain that Hadama has nothing he wants, though he's happy to be proven wrong), he runs his tongue across his teeth before replying, as if trying to remember his title as well.

"Master of Trade, I think it was?" He drums a steady finger against the bar. "Not that I believe in anythin' like that in Torchline. I s'pose I do keep an eye on the comin's and goin's though." Legal because whatever, it's important he supposes, and illegal because it's his bread and butter day-to-day.

Resisting the urge to ask the same of Hadama (even if it would be kind of funny), he merely raises his brows at the Tidebreaker. "Is the Underwater City lookin' to expand or somethin'?"

Jack took his time in answering and Hadama took that time to enjoy his own drink and consider the dark-haired human, calmly patient. The answer earned a slow nod from the mermanta, an acknowledgment that he had heard as he considered it and turned the words over in his mind.

It was not a position the Mer had needed in the past. Perhaps, with times changing as they were, it might become one he should consider for his own people in the future.

Though 'his own people' had become a much wider net in recent days and he sipped his own liquor-sweetened coffee thoughtfully. The question Jack asked could be taken more than one way, but Hadama took his best guess and met the man's eyes squarely, his words simple and straight to the point. "Maeve is stepping down as Queen. Until a new human ruler is found to take her place, then yes. I will hold land and sea." Until Maeve was ready to return, or another felt the calling to lead the landfolk.

Longer, if fate was unkind and no leader among the humans could be found.

"Do you wish to remain on the council of Torchline?" Under the leadership of a stranger. The leadership of a Mer. Hadama would need the advice of the human councilmembers if this was to work, but he wouldn't begrudge any of them choosing to resign given the circumstances.

JACK

There's a lot of static that counts as stray thought to Jack, but he's hanging uncharacteristically on the Mer's spoken words for a moment. Maeve is stepping down as Queen. "Oho," he says with a raise of his eyebrows, sitting back in his chair with his drink to let the ripples of that revelation settle for a few moments. I knew she'd never last is what he wants to say, but Hadama's mind doesn't taste like the spiteful sort - unless it's towards his sister's boyfriend, apparently - and so he keeps it to himself.

He almost says nah, fuck it, but then things have changed in recent times; not that a year post-war is particularly recent any more. Either way, the small, star tattoo on his face means that he's more on Safrin's council than Maeve's. And Torchline has been Safrin's for some time. "Yes," he says, "I do. Are you in charge of decidin' the human ruler replacement, then?"

The unlikeable boyfriend was going to get a bottle of gin and orange bitters. The decision was made quietly in Hadama's thoughts, mostly in the background as he gave his attention to Jack and the man's reactions to the news.

He accepted the Master of Trade's surprise without a change in expression, though there was a little surprise of his own that Torchline's council had not yet been informed. If there was regret it was only a flicker; Hadama prized stability and was in most cases a pragmatic soul. There would be waves enough from the transition and he wished to minimize disruptions to the region as much as possible. The discussion needed to happen sooner rather than later, and Hadama nodded in acceptance of the Captain's desire to remain on the council.

The pointed question did gave the mermanta pause as he turned it around in his thoughts. He hadn't considered doing so before now; a vote by the human populace had seemed the fairest way to insure they had a ruler they would follow. But there was a certain efficient allure to the idea...

"Whoever it is will need Safrin's blessing," he said slowly, testing each word before speaking. "But for how the leader should be chosen..." He trailed off into silence for a long moment, pondering.

But then, he now had a human advisor sitting across from him. He focused his gaze back in Jack, face stoic but a flicker of quiet amusement in his thoughts. "What would you advise?"

JACK

Stability, pragmatism, not wishing to cause disruption; call it what you like, but Jack has already branded the word boring across Hadama's forehead, and he's busy thinking about the woody undertones of flavour in his drink rather than the mermanta's thoughts by the time things roll around to matters he considers interesting again. "Lucky for you, a lot of Torchline are fans of our lady and her great, galactic tits," he remarks, sipping at his liquor again.

What would he advise, though? Jack can't help but snort into his glass before raising flinty blue eyes in Hadama's direction. "D'you know, I've advised no less than three of Torchline's governors, an' one of her queens, an' they've all quit. I'm not sure you've got it in you to take my advice on board. They didn't." He'd say no offence but it wouldn't be true. The original governor of the islands, then Remi, then Sunjata, followed by Maeve... all of them useless in the end.

Hadama blinked at the mention of Safrin's tits, then nodded slowly in acknowledgment. The goddess's breasts were quite literally divine, though they weren't the feature he focused on. It seemed unlikely that knowing that Jack was a breast-man would be important someday, but the King filed the information away anyways. One never knew what sort of tidbits would come in handy when the time came for negotiations.

He swirled his own drink thoughtfully before raising his eyes at the snort. He cocked his head in consideration, doing the math. The original governor had 'quit' with the help of a volcanic eruption if he remembered the rumors correctly, but the other three...

It did beg the question about Jack being the common denominator in the loss of leadership, but Dama kept the dry amusement of that thought tucked safely behind his stoic mien. "If you withhold your advice, then what is the point of being on the council?" he asked curiously instead.

JACK

One never knew, indeed. Perhaps Jack ought to have been offended at the train of Hadama's thought, but his ego is far too robust a thing to care about others' opinions. Besides, like with most things, Jack has an answer for it. "My pretty face ain't enough?" A smirk curls across his lips and he rolls his shoulders in a shrug, settling back in his seat.

"Torchline'll keep on runnin' regardless of whether I give my advice to the governor, or queen, or whatever other title crops up," he assures Hadama. "I ought'a know." It's not quite the same as saying I run this joint, someone else just wears the crown, but the underbelly of the islands is as dark as the ocean is deep, and Jack has weaved himself right into its core.

"You are not my type." The voice was calmly serious and Hadama's expression didn't change but there was a dry, silent humor in the thought behind the words. Jack had far too much sharkskin in his soul, and not nearly enough length below the waist to interest the mermanta.

The second comment was far more interesting and the King sipped his drink thoughtfully. The Mer had muddled along without a leader as well, and he supposed Torchline would, too. It had managed before Jack had been born and would continue to do so long after the captain had passed, for that matter. But that wasn't the question being asked.

"That is not an argument for you to remain on the council," he noted, curious about this new tack. Even if having the ear of the region's leader didn't sway the captain, Hadama had thought the attendant perks and benefits of being a council member might be of more interest.

JACK

It takes a lot to run a tremor through Jack's composure, and so the fact that the initial thoughts running through Hadama's mind are enough to have him nearly inhale his sip of liquor is something the mermanta likely doesn't know he should take enormous pride in. Regardless, clearing his throat and setting the glass down (he'd show him length below the waist), he focuses more on the conversation at hand for perhaps the first time.

Congratulations, Hadama. You have gone up in the captain's estimations.

"You're right, it ain't," he agrees with a crooked smile and a finger running in a circle around the lip of his glass. "Given that I had to be bribed to be on the council the first time, I s'pose you could say I don't reckon I got anythin' to prove to you." He shrugs.

As for that advice, though? "Bits of Torchline might have risen up into the sky, but the islands still run on their underbellies. I deal with Mer as often as I deal with sailors and merchants, and one thing's for sure - you gotta deal with Torchers on their terms if you want to stand any chance of gettin' 'em on your side."

Hadama might not know how lucky he truly was to have managed to gain Jack's full attention, but he was learning some very interesting things about human politics and he listened carefully to the captain's revelation and the advice that followed.

A bribe, was it? Hmm. He was getting the sense that Jack's confidence and opinion of himself was perhaps a little too healthy to be entirely trusted.

Though if Melita was willing to sail with him then Hadama would trust her instincts. For now, at least.

"Mnn." A thoughtful hum met the advice. While it certainly made sense, it was also too vague to act on. Hadama had little to do with the seedy underbelly of Torchline; he had been an honest artisan before he'd become a king. He knew that it existed, but he had little personal experience of it. And while he didn't approve of the trade, he was too pragmatic to attempt anything more than token regulations. Since Jack seemed to know more about this than he did, he turned to the human expert. "What kind of terms?" he rumbled, curious.

JACK

In fairness, Hadama is probably wise not to trust any part of Jack at any point, but the captain is more than capable of fluffing his own ego enough to ignore the opinions of others. Including Melita - because the Mer clearly hasn't seen her sail yet.

But now they're getting to the meat of the conversation, and Jack gazes into his glass for a moment before finishing the drink and setting it down. "Well, there's the usual. Lettin' things slide that more honourable cities might not, understandin' the hierarchy of trade - what's legit, what's not, and how they rely on each other."

And that's barely scratching the surface. "Truth is, Torchline runs herself just fine. So long as whoever wears the crown understands that, she'll live and let live. That's why it doesn't matter, 'bout your council an' if I'm on it. It needs me more'n I need it."