The man grinned, moving closer to Morgana. He wasn't shy about letting his eyes roam her form in the least, ranging from head to toe and back again, lingering on choice spots that would have any other woman blushing and turning from him in shame. That she did not, especially when he was being so obvious about it, made Raman eager to impress her. Clearly the brat captain of this leaky vessel had no claim on this woman, or if he did, he hadn't bothered to take it yet, and so he was free to pursue her as he pleased. She also seemed quite interested in him and in what he had to say, which was something he didn't get from the women on this boat, the few that there were. They looked at him like he was dirt caked on the bottom of their naked feet, but this one, this beauty right here, she clung to his every word with interest. And her beauty certainly helped.
"Oh, I'm quite sure." Raman replied, giving Morgana a conspiratorial wink. "Otherwise the captain would have fed me to the sharks as he did the rest of my crew."
Kasim rolled his eyes and glanced back at the table beside the helm where the treasure map was laid out with his marks from Morgana's necklace. It was true that they'd dumped the dead overboard - why let them rot and bloat in the sun when the denizens of the deep could use the easy meal? - but the rest of the crew that had surrendered had remained on the ship and had sailed it home. It was only this fool who'd elected to stay with the map, claiming that the only way they could find the treasure was if he was with them.
Perhaps Kasim had been a little hasty in his decision. He usually was, when it came to adventure and the chance of seeing and experiencing something he might not ever see or experience in his life. But a promise was a promise and Kasim had promised. Never before had he gone back on his word, even when every fiber in his being screamed for him to, and he wasn't about to start now.
Raman, for his part, was skillfully ignoring the captain, all his attention on the white-haired beauty before him. He had launched into the story of how this dreaded pirate and his crew had attacked his merchant vessel, how they had boarded and killed his crew, and had plundered through his merchandise and riches that he'd worked so hard for until they'd found the map. "At the time, I thought it was just some old mariner's fantasy," Raman said, tapping the side of his nose and grinning, "but I realized that the treasure had to exist. And so I convinced the captain to spare the rest of my crew, and myself, and that I would give him the treasure map only if he split the treasure with me, so that I could recoup my losses. It was only fair."
He reached out then and stroked Morgana's shoulder, his teeth bright in the moonlight as he smiled. "And it seems I have no reason to regret my decision any longer, for you have appeared before my eyes, a veritable goddess."
