Two's Company

[MadEmperor]

Thrax laughed as he slid out of bed to stretch his muscles—muscles not currently bound inside any clothing. "Yeah. I can already hear the jabs about our inability to keep it in our pants."

He looked around, frowning. "Speaking of... Where did I toss my pants last night?"

[DragonSong]

Hana propped herself up on her elbows as he got out of bed, not seeming much inclined to follow him. "Ahhh, somewhere over there?"

She gestured to the lefthand wall, head tilted with a faint smile and her tails swishing contentedly back and forth over the bed. "They might be under my tunic though--I think that was about the order of things."

[MadEmperor]

"This some kind of ploy to give you a better look at my ass?" he smirked back at her as he stepped over to the pile of clothes. "Cause I hope it is."

Leaning over, he tossed her tunic back at her. "Yep. Here they are!" He picked up his trousers and slid them on with a couple comical hops for added leverage. Then he tossed over her pants.

[DragonSong]

"It is absolutely a ploy to look at your ass," Hana replied without an ounce of shame.

She laughed as she caught her tunic and shimmied into it. She managed to don her own pants with a little more grace—but just a little—then gave herself a little shake to help the fabric settle correctly on her body.

"We're coming up on dawn," she noted. "We should get moving."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax smirked as he laced up the front of his bard shirt. "Gracie's going to be so surprised when we aren't late."


Miraculously, the pair actually did arrive at the gangplank on time. Gracia, on the dock managing the final preparations and not just waiting for them, looked up from her cargo manifest and blinked.

She barked a laugh and smiled crookedly. "Well, holy hells. You two actually made it. With your combined penchant for finding trouble, I half expected you to get yourselves arrested first."

[DragonSong]

"It was a near thing," Hana laughed and shrugged in response. "But what's a barfight between friends, eh?"

She came to a stop just at the edge of the gangplank and saluted theatrically. "Where do you need us, Cap'n?"

Gracia rolled her eyes. "Just get on board. We're underway inside the hour.

[MadEmperor]

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," Thrax responded, taking Hana by the hand as he started up the gangplank.

Gracia cupped her mouth to yell after them. "And don't get any bright ideas about making your lodging reek of sex before we even set sail."

"No promises!" he cackled.

[DragonSong]

"Yes promises!" Hana called back, also laughing, and shoved Thrax lightly. "Do you remember how tight quarters are on a ship?" she added to the gnoll pointedly. "Unless you're wanting to invite half the crew to join in, we should probably leave off for a bit."

[MadEmperor]

"I know, I know," he chuckled, "I was joking."

No, he wasn't.

"Gracia will probably keep us so busy we won't have the energy anyway," he chuckled as they stepped onto the deck. This was going to be a long voyage.

[DragonSong]

"You absolutely were not," Hana laughed quietly—but pretty solidly without judgement. She didn't exactly have a leg to stand on, there. "Besides, I'm sure we'll have energy for some things..."

She winked before slipping ahead of him to make her way around to the ship's starboard rail, smiling and nodding to Gracia's crew.

[MadEmperor]

Though none leered at the kitsune, there was plenty of admiration for her exotic beauty. Thrax, on the other hand, drew a few cautious glances, but they turned out to be about being able to stay out of the big bard's way. The gnoll was far from the only person on board whose race had earned a bad reputation among humans.

A young lad—twelve or thirteen—stopped before the pair with a jaunty salute, a gap-toothed smile, and a hat one size too big. "Welcome to the Adamant Lady. I'm Cole. The Cap'n told me to help you to your bunks."

[DragonSong]

"Well met, Cole." Hana smiled at the boy and nodded politely. "That's very nice of both you and the captain. We'll follow your lead, then."

Considering the diversity of the crew, she allowed the human shape that she'd been holding on the streets of the city to shift and shimmer into her preferred halfway form.

[MadEmperor]

"I like the hat," Thrax said with his gap-toothed grin, having lost one upper fang.

Cole beamed. "Thanks, mister! Cap'n gave it to me."

The boy turned to lead them below decks, energetically filling them in on miscellaneous facts about the ship.

Thrax turned his head towards Hana, raising a brow as he mouthed with a smirk, mister?

[DragonSong]

Hana smirked crookedly and whispered, "Feeling old yet?"

The boy was a clear fountain of energy, and unfortunately their next-to-sleepless night was catching up with her.

Gods, she felt old.

[MadEmperor]

"Compared to him, everyone here is old," Thrax whispered back with a smirk. No, he did not feel old. Though he, too, could use a nap already.

Cole led them to a set of reserved bunks that passed for passengers' quarters. It wasn't exactly private by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a place to sleep and keep their things.

"You're here. Cap'n apologizes for the lack of proper passengers' quarters. We don't get many travelers," he explained.

[DragonSong]

"Y'don't say," Hana chuckled, but with no malice. She nodded to the cabin boy and flicked him a copper piece. "Cheers. And tell the captain we appreciate the lift, we'll work where she needs us."

That had already been established in the original deal, but she figured it didn't hurt to stay on Gracia's good side. Quite apart from their previous history with the woman, she clearly ran a tight ship.

[MadEmperor]

Once the boy hurried off and the couple was 'alone,' Thrax turned to his lady and smiled. "Nice kid. He actually reminds me of myself at that age," he chuckled as he put his pack under his claimed bottom bunk.

He realized that he had never really talked about his life as a child. While he had told her he had been bullied as the runt of the litter, he never opened up about the good times. He should change that.

[DragonSong]

"Oh?" Hana squeezed herself onto the bunk next to him. "What, chipper and eager to please? I more pictured you getting into trouble like it was a full-time job."

[MadEmperor]

"Oh! No," Thrax laughed, "I was definitely a troublemaker."

"I meant more the chipper, excitable thing." Like he isn't still those things. "But I guess that's all children."

[DragonSong]

"Most children," Hana agreed. Crinkling her nose up, she added, "Not sure about those kits back in my mother's village--they were so quiet."

Of course, that was probably just due to their wariness of strangers. Still, when compared to the Longfang pack and their boisterous pups, it was certainly a stark contrast.