Let's Play!

Kai grinned now.



"Brownie point for Ajora." He glanced down at the hardtack soaking in his coffee. "But not these brownies. These brownies are disgusting."

Ajora smirked and laughed, shaking her head.



" However, the others are here, merely as meals."

Kai raised a finger and then lowered it, closing his mouth.



"Okay. Awkward." He chewed another bite, pondering over the flavor of it. If she was watching, even though she might very well have missed it even if she was, there was a chance that one might see his pupils contract briefly and then expand. However, he just took another bite of the nasty stuff.

Ajora shrugged.



" I'm not going hungry again."

Malykai nodded slowly, glancing up at her.



"I wasn't suggesting you did. I was just saying that I feel like you're trying to coerce me into some form of cannibalism. And then I remember that I'm talking to a boogeyman, no offense, and that seems a little less outlandish. It's just... peculiar."

" I wouldn't coerce you into anything. If I wanted you to do something, I very much hate to inform you, I'd have you do it."

Malykai stared at her for a good minute and then smiled and nodded, finishing off the last of his hardtack.



"You know, I think I like you. You're not nearly as confusing as other girls."

........





" Thank you?"



Ajora ventured, rather uncertain.

This was the appropriate answer, so Kai didn't even notice the awkwardness there. He just flashed her a grin and a nod, sliding off the stool to explore the rest of the ship.



"You're welcome."

" Don't scare the rest of the guests! I would like them not freaked out during the whole trip!!"



Ajora hollered, then sighing to herself.

Malykai furrowed his brow and then turned around enough so he could poke his head in the door.



"I'm rather personable. In case you haven't noticed, I seem to be the butt of everything." Then he actually walked away, chuckling to himself.



"Besides, I'm not the one that poses a mortal threat to them. What am I going to do? Stare them to death?" He walked down the hall, pausing before each of the doors. Eeeny meeny miney...

Ajora smiled to herself, shaking her head as she yawned and sauntered about the boat, wondering if she should be a completely evil woman and change the course of where they were heading.

Kai walked into a room, finding a group of three people sitting around a table and playing poker. They glanced up at him. A scrawny girl with far too much make-up glanced at him, waving her cigarette in his direction.



"Hey doll. Haven't met you before. Want in? We're playing for chips, not for bits, but it's just as good s'far as I am concerned." Kai sat down.



"Share some chips with you if you share your name, bud?" Another kind of chubby guy asked of him. "I'm Sean"



"Kai." And they dealt him in.

Ajora decided. She was changing course, and with that, they were off towards her new destination, cuba.

Apparently someone was a little overzealous. All of them fell into the floor trying to stop the chips from sliding into the flooor.



"GET OFF!" Oops, reflex? Sean stared at Kai like he had lost his mind.



"Sorry... I'm a bit of a germophobe."

Ajora smiled as she steered towards the Intakwaeniti River, which would ideally dump them into the Atlantic Ocean in a few weeks, perhaps a month at the most.



Watching the waves wash about, she absently wondered how bad the storms got on rivers.

The three passengers looked confused, and a few questioning murmurs passed between them all. Kai felt very distant from them. They had no idea. None of them did anything, deciding that the captain knew best and would tell them if they should be concerned.



Needless to say, the man excused himself and wandered up to the deck, simply staring out over the railing. What luck he had. He sighed softly, whistling the tune to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.



...The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy...

Ajora rode out the storm without issues, and sighed as they wondered down the rapids of the raging river. Looking about, she sighed as she yawned, actually becoming a bit cramped.

Kai was just standing around. Really, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. And he was a happy person that way.

Ajora sighed, looking to Kai.



" can you sail"

Malykai looked up at the woman, a little unsure at what she had said. It sounded like 'can you smell', but that was a rather awkward question. Oh well. He climbed up the steps to stand beside her.



"Yeah, why?" Did she have something specific that she needed him to sniff?

Ajora smiled and moved to hand Kai the controls and wondered down bellow.



" Have fun, I'll be back."

Kai was beyond baffled and even startled as he found himself heading the ship. Oh pretzels... The boat bobbed a little as he struggled for a second or two. He could sail. He had never sailed anything much bigger than a dinghy, but he had the idea. So, despite the fact that sailing as a challenge and the turns were a little jerky, he found himself wondering one thing. Am I supposed to smell the rudder?

Ajora wondered about kai's steering a bit as she casually left one of the men in a hammock, with a nasty looking gash on his forehead. Apparently when the ship had tossed, he'd gotten hurt. Well, Ajora took advantage of this and sopped up the mess and left the man, letting the others think he was merely injured and passed out.

"AAAAHGHRRNNNIIIUHHH!" Kai's heart was racing so fast he was afraid that he was going to have a heart attack. Not that it was unwarranted. He had almost crashed the ship... into the shore around a tight bend. He was now leaning on the thing, holding it firmly in place. He did notice that it smelled like wet wood at this point.

Finding Kai at the helm, she sighed and shook her head.



" are you sure you can sail?"

Kai gave her a flat look.



"I've only ever done a dinghy before. Don't you think you might have wanted to ask before you gave me the till?"

" I did, you said yeah, why..."



ajora replied, looking him over curiously, wondering why the boy answered if he hadn't understood the question.

Malykai's eyebrows shot up.



"When did this happen?! I was just standing down there when you asked me if I could smell - which is a weird question, by the way, and the till just smells like damp wood - and then ran off."

" Can you sail, not SMELL! What does SMELL have to do with SAILING a SHIP?"



Ajora asked, staring at him like he was a complete moron.

Malykai barely batted an eye.



"EXACTLY! Nothing! Why would I expect you to hand me the till after asking if I could smell?!"

" I DIDN"T! I ASK IF YOU COULD SAIL YOU IDIOT!"



Yep, she was near smacking him and throwing him overboard.

It dawned on him. Kai felt exactly one inch tall suddenly.



"Ohhhh..."

Ajora let out a frustrated breath and nodded.



" Oh."



She stated simply, soon seeing a little place to dock up and get supplies that was on a rather small town. Small towns were easy... it was cities she worried about...

Kai didn't say anything. At least not until he found himself staring out at the lights of the town.



"Ajora... There is a woman on board. This woman has a baby girl. Would you object to cutting them loose here?"

Ajora sighed.



" I couldn't touch them. They are innocent."

Malykai pressed his lips into a thin line for a moment before speaking.



"Either way... I would really like them to be left in this town?"

ajora merely nodded, gesturing with a free hand towards the small town as she went about purchasing supplies.

Malykai was soon escorting the two girls, laughing in that friendly way. They had no idea of the circumstances.



"Oh, this looks lovely, Kai. Thank you." Kai hesitated for a moment.



"Actually, I even have a friend here I would like you to meet." They walked inside the diner. "This is my friend, Gerry." A tall, spindly man looked up at Kai as though he was insane (for in fact they were strangers to one another). But when he saw the woman, he was more than happy to play along. It only took a few minutes for him to slip away.



Back at the dock, Kai hesitated. Which ship was theirs again?

Ajora looked up as Kai approached, waiving him over, already ready to push off and get back on course towards Cuba, rather happy with ehr generator and fridge purchase.