Phen put his arms up, placatingly.
"Okay, mother," he countered with a smirk. "Can't let your new goods get all sickly and damaged. Isn't that right, Arubie?" He cooed at his dog, giving him a few more aggressive scratches as they made it up the gang plank with no additional altercations.
He'd been on ships before, most minor boats and shipping vessels for local transport. But as soon as he stepped onto her ship, he was quite impressed with The BlackTorch , and took a moment to soak the ship in. The ship was so lively, so worn by the sea, that she almost felt like a breathing entity bobbing on the more shallow waters of the dock.
For those of her crew that weren't present to help escort their new cargo on board, they seemed to be moving around and keeping the ship in shape. Or drinking booze, he wagered. What else did pirates have to do?
Apparently kidnap innocent rich boys. He realized his pace had slowed and he coaxed Ar'ruubis forward
"Come on, 'rubie, let's keep our manners. We're guests, after all."
Ar'ruubis panted happily, tail thumping against Phen's leg as he received more scritches. The dog too, seemed alert in a happy way, taking in the ship as anyone would a new house or home they'd be invited to visit.
And that'd when Ar'ruubis spotted the birds. The hound was never a fan of the Essryni gull, and there was a large patch of them preening nearby on the edge of the ship. Phen was too late to notice the tell tale signs of Ar'ruubis before he took off, barking like a banshee as he practically threw himself towards the gaggle of gulls. The birds took to frantic flight as Aru'uubis nipped at their tail feathers and in turn, Phen shouting after his dog's.
However, things went south rather quickly for the hound when a gull bombed the pup's face with an explosion of poop. The dog stumbled back, sneezing in dismay before Phen halted and realized what was coming next.
"Ar'ruubis.. don't!"
And the dog began to shake, flinging the gull poop from his head and all over Phen's backside as he whirled around, shielding himself and Ember both.
He grimaced, feeling the gull poop splattering his silk clothing as he growled through his teeth, "Ar'ruubis."
The dog's tail instantly went down as he cowered a bit, tail wagging uncertainly as he kept a distance between himself and the upset Phen.