What a beautiful island

[SanctifiedSavage]

Vailea snorted a small laugh when Kaihe mentioned they liked alcohol. With each of them sporting a bottle of rum apiece, they certainly looked like they did. "I do too," the lich readily agreed, grinning as she sat next to Kaihe.

When the islander made a comment about the food, Vailea laughed again. She damn near toppled backwards, but a hand caught her and propped herself up. "Ah yeah... Our food is dried and preserved. So we can keep it for longer. Trips." She waved a hand as Kaihe started to explain that she would feed her crew, but the Captain was already shooting down such a thing. Never mind the drain on the tribe, she'd already paid up for a lot of her people to eat elsewhere.

"Don't worry. My people are fine eating elsewhere. You've been generous enough, I promise," Vailea reassured Kaihe before shaking her head and taking a swig of rum. "I'm not hungry. Just thirsty."

Her attention wandered toward the beach, the waves, and the boards. "I did say I wouldn't be very good at it. The ocean and I haven't always gotten along. At least when it comes to swimming. I'm far better on the ship," she explained, almost wistful at mentioning the Red Jewel. Vailea was really looking forward to sailing again. It was in her blood, her life. She'd been doing it for so long, being stationary really didn't suit her.

No matter how lovely the island or the company.

[Icy]

"Preserved? I guess that drying fruits makes them last a little bit longer... we don't really do that, though. Why don't you catch fish if you're in the ocean? There are lots of yummy fish out there, you know! No need to eat yucky-- uhm, salty food."

"Oh... okay, if you are certain, Vailea. Is there anything on your ship that you would trade for something of ours, though? I am interested in the things that you have brought with you, such as this alcohol!" She raised the bottle to her lips and took another drink. "I think that my tribe would love to have more of this!"

When the jerky was turned down, Kaihe pouted. "Aww... I wanted Vailea to take a bite of m-..my meat," A few subdued, impish snickers escaped before she could cover her mouth and turn away from her friend.

Once the girl had gained control over herself, she turned back to Vailea with a light, happy blush over her cheeks. "You were good at it, Vailea! When I first began, I could not stand on a surfboard for more than five seconds, but you almost made it to shore with me! I am very impressed, and I am not just saying that!" She told Vailea. "So do not give up. If you would like, I can even craft a board for you to take with you once you go, so you can practice on other shores!" Biting her lip, she looked forlornly at the bottle resting on her lap. "Or.. as something to remember us by, even if it is only kept as a decoration."

[SanctifiedSavage]

Vailea glanced at the islander while she took a swing of the rum. "Mm. We'd have to be fishing constantly to feed the amount of people on the crew, and the ship isn't equipped to do large hauls of fish. So, need to buy up stores of food. Can't survive on just fish anyway." She smiled a little and glanced at the meat. "It's not so bad. I actually like it now and then."

At the offer to trade, she shook her head a little and rolled a shoulder before she looked up at the sky. "No trade right now. Just coin. Metal."

She did shoot the islander a look when Kaihe clarified she was making a joke, which just made the lich smile a little before taking another drink of rum. "I could not promise... I do not do much swimming, but if you would like to give one as a gift, I would not say no." Vailea considered for a long moment, her gaze wandering along the beach,  before she sat up and pulled one of her cigars free, offering it to Kaihe. "I doubt you're going to smoke it, but it's something to remember me by, too. My favorite flavor, too." It was a slender, long cigar. Nondescript looking, but it did have a sweet smell to it. It was the same sort she'd been smoking every time Kaihe had seen her do so.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Vailea glanced at the islander while she took a swing of the rum. "Mm. We'd have to be fishing constantly to feed the amount of people on the crew, and the ship isn't equipped to do large hauls of fish. So, need to buy up stores of food. Can't survive on just fish anyway." She smiled a little and glanced at the meat. "It's not so bad. I actually like it now and then."

At the offer to trade, she shook her head a little and rolled a shoulder before she looked up at the sky. "No trade right now. Just coin. Metal."

She did shoot the islander a look when Kaihe clarified she was making a joke, which just made the lich smile a little before taking another drink of rum. "I could not promise... I do not do much swimming, but if you would like to give one as a gift, I would not say no." Vailea considered for a long moment, her gaze wandering along the beach,  before she sat up and pulled one of her cigars free, offering it to Kaihe. "I doubt you're going to smoke it, but it's something to remember me by, too. My favorite flavor, too." It was a slender, long cigar. Nondescript looking, but it did have a sweet smell to it. It was the same sort she'd been smoking every time Kaihe had seen her do so.

[Icy]

"That is true... too much fish gives me bellyaches. And terrible breath, so I understand." She took another, longer sip of her rum. "Coin? M...Met-tul?" She blinked as if she'd never heard of it before. Because she hadn't. "What metal?"

"Then I will craft a surfboard for you, before you leave! It will be my best one yet, so great that you cannot help but wish to ride it!" She promised. When she was offered the cigar, she took it, smelled it, and licked it, the latter of which left a bitter taste in her mouth expressed by slightly curled upper lip. "Well... here on Yoreiq, it rains often. Our huts are destroyed in the worst of the storms. I am afraid that if I do not smoke it, then it will be destroyed, so... would you like to share it with me?" She asked, holding its tip toward Vailea. "If I could always keep it on me, I would, but I do not always wear a top, and I have no other places to put it."

[SanctifiedSavage]

Vailea chuckled a little at Kaihe's description of the fish. There were some in her crew that would likely agree. Too much fish and they'd be belly achin' too. That the islander didn't understand coin or metal didn't surprise her, but she dismissed it with a wave. "Shiny. Decorative." Best description she had. No way she was going to get into the whole thing about currency.

When Kaihe licked the cigar, Vailea laughed a little. It was sweet to see that innocence in everything. "You don't... No need to smoke. Will weather through water. Save in your hut. It's no small thing if it is lost." She eyed Kaihe dubiously. "I don't know that you'll want to smoke at all." It certainly wasn't for everyone and she wouldn't recommend it to someone who'd never before, starting out with a cigar.

She took another long drink of her rum and watched the beach. "Mm. If you want something that will last longer, I'll think of something." There were things she could probably find on the ship. Something metal or the like. The cigar was just the most personable thing she could think of. Sort of one of the things that defined Vailea. Gratification of the like.

[Icy]

"Shiny? Like sun?" She looked up toward the sky, though she immediately regretted it when she was partially blinded by the sun.

"Okay, Kaihe keep smoke!" She decided, pulling out the fabric of her top to plop it in there, close to her heart. "If I feel lonely without you, I will have some of it to remember you by, since you smell like it. It is not like the real thing, but it will do!" She chuckled before reclining in the sand, a hand behind her head. She occasionally took a bite of the jerky and a sip of the rum, which was nearly half gone.

"Ahh... I could stay like this forever. I am tingly from the alcohol, and the sun is so nice..." Biting down softly on her lip, Kaihe's hand meandered toward Vailea's in an attempt to take it gently within her own. Any resistance to the action would cause Kaihe to mind her own business; it would get the message across to her, and she didn't want it to be awkward.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Made lazy by the pleasant weather and drink, she nodded a little at Kaihe's description of the 'metal'. "Sometimes. Usually." She didn't want to start going into variances, like silver and platinum, or copper and iron. All of that was immaterial to Kaihe and her people, and so it didn't really need to be talked about. It'd just sound like nonsense anyway.

Which it all was, anyway. Just pretty nonsense.

Vailea glanced at Kaihe when she decided to keep the cigar and grinned. "It's an awful habit, but I'm full of bad habits." she teased before lifting the bottle in a playful toast, taking another long drink. The burn was good and the sweetness to it just the sort of thing Vailea liked.

With her weight braced on her hand, Vailea didn't move it when Kaihe touched her. She didn't glance at the islander either, though she was fully aware that she was being touched. To the lich, it was just one of the things Kaihe did. Hug, press their faces together. Their people seemed to be more physically expressive for certain things and she'd just... sort of gotten used to Kaihe occasionally doing that. So it didn't bother her, and wouldn't have regardless.

Rather, she continued to enjoy the cool breeze, the crash of the waves across the sand, and the occasional high pitched scraw of white sea birds diving into the shallows for fish. The sort of sounds you could only find on a beach. Even out on the ocean it was different. Quieter and subdued, on nice days. Hotter, too. When the water felt so far away on the deck of the ship and the wood beneath warmed, almost too hot for bare feet.

Here, she was so close to the water and the breeze carried a salty chill that would always keep them cool. Even under the sun.

[Icy]

"Oh. Kaihe like shiny," She shrugged, crossing her left leg over her right. "Why is it a bad habit? Is it like-.... like biting your lip when you eat? Or drinking too much alcohol very often, so your belly grumbles at you?" Tobacco wasn't really a thing on Yoreiq, especially such a distance from the port of Ainu.

When Vailea neglected to shoo Kaihe's hand away, the islander took it as a non-verbal 'okay' to leave it there. Blushing, she ran her thumb over Vailea's digits soothingly in a way that felt intimate, at least to the islander. That being said, intimacy on the Isles was very different from the mainland, though this was still rather tame by most standards.

With her eyelids slowly flapping downward in a struggle to stay open, Kaihe finally let them shut a rested her bottle-holding arm over them to block out the sun. "Kaihe sleepy... take nap. Wake Kaihe soon, okay?" She mumbled and snoozed off about thirty seconds later, blessed with the ability to fall asleep on a whim.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Vailea nodded a little as Kaihe compared the cigar to the other examples. Not quite the biting of the lip, but it was more the idea than the literal translation. She tried not to leave anyone with something potentially addictive or the like that they wouldn't be able to get when she was away. Just seemed unfair, really.

It never ceased to amaze the lich how often mortals could sleep. Did she used to do so as frequently? She couldn't obviously remember because that had been so long ago, but that didn't really... mean anything either. Hells, Vailea could've been one to sleep entire days away and she'd never know it or remember. Only that, when sleep wasn't a requirement anymore, she noticed more so when someone did sleep. Even her crew.

Just one of those things.

She smiled a little as Kaihe drifted off and finished the rest of her bottle. It wasn't until the islander was well and truly asleep that Vailea once again wandered off to take care of a couple Captain-esque business things. Settling a couple more accounts, checking on the crew, and of course snagging something to drink and a couple more cigars that she tucked in the waist of her sarong.

Vailea wasn't gone long, settling down next to Kaihe. She lit a cigar, took a deep draw, then idly shook the islander's shoulder.

[Icy]

Nah, Kaihe just slept a lot. It's how she had so much energy while awake. When Vailea left for that short time, the islander tossed and turned and let out a tiny, distressed grunt before falling back into a peaceful rest.

She didn't wake up again until she felt a touch on her shoulder, causing her to sit up quickly with half-lidded eyes. "Hmhm? I'm awake..." She mumbled, rubbing at her dry, reddish eyes. "Oh. Hello, Vailea! Kaihe sleepy very long?" Cracking her neck, knuckles, and toes, she turned to face the lich with legs crossed beneath her. When she saw the cigar dangling from Vailea's lips, Kaihe took in a deep inhale through her nose and smiled, leaning forward to rest her head atop Vailea's shoulder. "Kaihe try?" She asked, holding her hand out to accept the cigar if it was offered.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Vailea shook her head a little. "Not long. Sun is still well above the horizon. Still before dinner." Then, flashing a grin, she added, "You'll probably want to go home for that. I don't have good food here for dinner." Which was the truth. Unless she was going to hunt down where one of her crew members was staying and have something local, the food on the ship was pretty rudimentary unless prepped by the cook.

Who was not there.

The lich quirked a brow, glanced at her cigar as though it might have an answer instead of providing one herself, before slowly passing it over. "The smoke smells better than you might think it... tastes?" It'd been so long since her first cigar she couldn't actually remember. But there was no harm in trying it, she supposed.

Ideally.

The lich had no idea how these things worked. Regardless, she passed it to the islander so she might try it for herself, since this was now the second time she'd expressed interest. Who was Vailea to stand in the way of curiosity?

[Icy]

Kaihe puffed out her cheeks and let loose a pouty grumble when Vailea suggested she go home for dinner. "Only if you really want me to," She mumbled.


When the cigar was offered to her, Kaihe smiled brightly and took it, looking at the tip that was burning slowly. Shrugging, she put the unlit part to her lips and took in a deep puff of it, but as soon as it hit the back of her throat, her eyes went wide with regret and she coughed harshly, doubling over and spitting on the sand to try to get all of it out. With watery eyes, she told Vailea with her voice drastically restrained to prevent and further coughing, "Very bad-... very..." and held the cigar out for the pirate to take back.

To wet her throat, she took a long swig of the rum, swirling it around her mouth and gargling it. The dryness of the alcohol didn't seem to bother her.

[SanctifiedSavage]

The pout was cute, but Vailea shook her head. "I only offered because I do not have much to eat here. Just salted meat, hardtack bread, alcohol, and... " Well, no she supposed that was really it. There hadn't been any point in loading the ship up with any other perishable food when it was still 'docked' and being worked on. It'd all just go bad.

Since Vailea didn't need to eat, and the crew that remained behind certainly didn't, then... It wasn't a bother to her.

The regret from trying the cigar was immediate. Vailea almost panicked thinking that she was going to lose it to the sand, but the islander managed to keep ahold and pass it back. Vailea was trying not to laugh, though couldn't hold back a grin. "Not for everyone," she agreed, taking a long drag. It was sweet to her. A different manner of burn than the alcohol and a smoky sweet taste.

Her favorite cigar.

The lich considered a moment before asking, "Do you know about the... The other people on the island?"

@Icy