Raleigh found herself a bit surprised that Raines was willingly sharing some of his past with her. She had been on his crew a number of years now, and she liked to think that she knew a bit more about him than the rest of his crew did - but this was all new information for her.

She opened her mouth to speak just as the captain was getting up - an effort that it seemed he had not put much thought into. Just as she was about to speak, Raines fell into her, and instead she let out a little sound of surprise. It all happened very quickly, but the end result was that her arms fell to her sides and she was pinned against the desk with Raines on top of her, his face just inches from her own. Her eyes were widened for a moment, she had known it was an accident but it was still another predicament the pair had found themselves in.

When he righted himself and looked away from her, Raleigh didn’t say anything at first. Instead, she stood back up and grabbed her tunic, shook it out somewhat and pulled it back on rather hastily. ”Right,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. The captain’s back was still towards her as she moved to leave, and before walking out she reached up and placed her hand on the back of his shoulder. ”Goodnight, Raines,” she said softly, before walking to the door of the cabin and pulling it open, stepping out into the still-raging storm before shutting the door behind her. When she was sure that there were no other crew members around, she leaned against a crate not far from the door for a moment, getting her bearings and running over the night as a whole in her head - which she found only made her head begin to spin. A moment later she had shaken it off and made her way back to her own quarters, where she stripped out of her wet clothes and into dry one, crawling into her bed. She lay there for quite some time, her mind reeling before she finally fell into a fitful sleep.

-

”Gods be damned, I’ll never know why women wear such things!” Raleigh huffed as she struggled with the lacing on the back of the Abedian garment she was attempting to put on. She had never been one for fancy clothing, and thus had never quite mastered the technique. ”What a brilliant plan I had,” she muttered to herself. There was no one else there to hear her, of course, as she was changing in her own quarters. She had managed to pile her hair up on top of her head in an elegant manner, and used a bit of makeup on her face, in a different manner than she usually did.

When she gave up, realizing that she couldn’t fasten the back of her garment, she looked in the cracked mirror she had affixed to one of the walls. She could hardly recognize herself - which, she supposed, was a good thing, as she could not appear like a pirate for the sake of the mission she had proposed. She grabbed the pair of shoes that had been laying on the floor, a pair of sandals with straps and tall heels on them, and without putting them on her feet she walked out the door, slamming it loudly behind her.

The sun had just risen and most of the crew was busy at their stations. Most of them didn’t notice her walking across the deck dressed in such a strange manner for her, but even those who did said nothing and chose not to react. After what had happened back in Sularia many months ago and the way she had been allowed to take revenge, she had received a much better amount of respect on the ship - which she was grateful for.

The thing she wasn’t grateful for, was how damned awkward she kept acting around Raines - around her captain. Ever since the night she had proposed the plan they were about to execute - and the small events that had transpired since then - it had been all she could think about. What would have happened had she tried to make something happen that night? Would Raines have felt the same? Or would he have rejected her? Every time she saw him, that thought raced through her mind, and she would have to mentally shake it off. She had been much more complacent around him since then, the little bits of sarcasm and wit that normally drenched her words were fewer and more far between - still there, of course, but less apparent.

Today, however, she could not let those thoughts get in the way - they had a raid to undergo, and she was bound and determined to prove that her idea had been a good one. Without knocking, she pushed the door to Raines’ cabin on the main deck - the same cabin that this plan had been hatched in.

The Captain was at his desk going over the charts they had plotted for the raid, and Raleigh walked up, dropping the obnoxiously elegant shoes directly on his desk. ”The next time you think I am not dedicated to this crew, look at these damn shoes and think about walking around in them,” she said. ”Starting to think this brilliant plan of mine wasn’t all that brilliant,” she added. She stepped around to stand beside him and turned her back to him. ”I can’t even finish putting this damn thing on, and I’m not asking one of those lecherous bastards on deck to help me, so it’s your lucky day,” she said, reaching around her back and grabbing at one of the buttons down the small of her back. ”Button those up, please. I can’t get them.”

As she stood with her back to him, waiting for him to help her fasten the garment, she began to rattle on about her plans for the raid. ”I was going to travel unarmed, but I started thinking that wouldn’t be the best idea. I’ve a cord of leather tied ‘round my waist with a small sheathed dagger there. When you lot board the ship, bring one of my rapiers if you would.” she said. ”I don’t expect there to be a battle, since we’ll do it at night, but I don’t want to be caught with my pants down,” she said. Suddenly, she burst into laughter. ”Pants down, and look at this, I’m wearing a damned dress,” she said.

It was clear that the quartermaster was mostly rambling, perhaps the nerves of a partially solo mission were beginning to get to her. ”How do you think this is going to go?”

Raines looked over the map sprawled upon his desk, the point of the landing where they should leave port in the small rowboats. Everything that he needed to know was mapped out on it. They would not be taken by surprise again, not this time, they needed to atone for the failure of their last raid. This plan was not hatched by the captain though, no it was hatched by his quartermaster in her drunken triad that night a month ago. Surprisingly enough it was a very good plan, but there were a few issues that could make things go wayside.

First, was whoever he chose to go with her and his team they needed to make sure they stayed focused. They needed to wear blinders and ignore anything that wasn’t part of the plan. This would be their biggest hurdle. Secondly, was to get his own damned mind out of the clouds. Ever since their little incident things between him and Raleigh had changed. She was far more obedient and less snippy than she used to be. He had taken notice but didn’t say a damn thing. It irked him far more than he let on himself.

”Damn that woman!,” he growled and twirled his knife before throwing it down at the map, its point digging into where their target would be ported.

Then as if right on queue, his door to his cabin flung open and she strolled in. ”Do ye not knoc..” A quizzical look appeared on his face as he lost his words. She had mentioned wearing one of the dresses they had stolen from the merchantman before but did not actually expect her to go through with wearing it completely. She slammed a pair of fancy dress shoes that went with the outfit onto the table. ”Backing out of yer own idea are ye? Didn’t think you a quitter much?”  He responded back keeping his eyes on her as she walked around the table to him and turned around.

It was clear to him that she was struggling with fastening the dress and even tieing the lace on the backside. ”Never wore a dress in yer life eh? It shows,” He spoke and started to do up the buttons for her as she asked. ”I wasn’t going to let you go in there underhanded as is, aye i’ll brink one of yer stabber’s along.” He finally got the last button done but rolled his eyes at the piss poor loose tying job she did with the lace. ”Hold still, never going to fool a soul like this,” he commanded and undid what she had done.

He was quiet when she asked how he thought this whole deal was going to go down. He pulled tight on the lace to make sure her dress wasn’t going anywhere but not to tight to choke her out. ”We need it to go well, that’s fer damn sure. Lost to many on the last run, but they shouldn’t expect us to strike from the land. As lon’ as folks. Play. their. parts,” he emphasized the last words tightening down the final ties. He ran his hand down the ties just to make sure they were set.

”That goes for double for ya. The idiots I chose will have to deal with me if this fails, but if ye are found out…then it’s over.”

He grabbed her shoes from across the table and placed them near her. ”But it seems you have thought more ‘bout this now that yer not off yer rocker on rum.” He walked over to where his axes were and grabbed the daggers that were hung up near them instead. They would weigh him down far too much and made too much noise in place of a more hidden blade. ”On the brightside, if this goes according to yer plan. We shall have plenty to celebrate, and you can buy me more bottles that you drank that night.” He was still not going to let her live that down, especially since he was the one who cleaned up the cabin after she left.

”We won’t lose anyone this time,” she said, her voice confident. She involuntarily shivered a bit as she felt his hand run down the fastenings at her back, though she tried to convince herself the shiver was due to the amount of exposed skin the garment offered. ”And I’ll play my part well,” she added. ”For I am but a noblewoman’s handmaiden so unfortunately found without means of transport back to Canelux. My employer will pay them handsomely when they return me safely to Egjora, of course.” She batted her eyelashes shortly, making sure to put on an air of sophistication to her already well-spoken words.

She hopped up onto the edge of the desk, carefully as the dress she wore did not allow for much movement, and managed to pull the strappy shoes onto her feet. She slid back down gingerly, now standing a good four inches taller than she had previously. ”Honestly, how these women wear this shit day in and day out… I’d rather off myself than torment myself like that!” she said, taking a few steps around the cabin to get her bearings.

She raised an eyebrow inquisitively at Raines. ”You know, I wasn’t the only one drinking the rum that night. If I recall you had your fair share,” she added, giving him a look that clearly gave way to the fact that she was remembering him falling onto her, onto the very desk she had just gotten off of again. ”If this goes according to plan, no, when this goes according to plan… there will be a celebration,” she said. She moved toward the door to exit the cabin and prepare for her disembarkment, walking past him on her way there. She stopped, just having passed him, and looked back at him over her shoulder ”If we pull this off, I’ll be celebrating by doing much more than just replenishing your rum supply,” she added, boldly using a rather flirtatious tone - her first time having intentionally done so with Raines. She assumed that, given the opportunities that had presented themselves, had he wanted to, he would have already taken advantage of her vulnerability - but he hadn’t. That didn’t change where she stood, and she was getting sick of tiptoeing around. It was then that she resigned herself to act as she always had, and perhaps pepper it with a bit of the flirtation like she just had.

WIth that, she walked out the door of the cabin and began preparations for the execution of the plan.

Raleigh and two of the other crew members had boarded a small rowboat, dropping Raleigh off in the surf. The crew members wished her luck and headed back to the main ship while the quartermaster made her way into town. It had been easy for her to play the part and after only a few simple questions she had secured passage upon the intended merchant ship.

The merchants had given her a rather lavish cabin, to which she certainly took advantage. She had changed, with the help of a few of the merchant’s wives aboard. The clothes she had changed into were Abedian in their nature, but much more suited for the warmer climate. Thin, sheer gossamers that felt heavenly on her skin. She had also taken a bath in flower petal laden water, and felt that she smelled wonderful. She had even stashed a bag of the flower petals somewhere to grab before she left the ship - that was how much she enjoyed it.

From the window of her cabin she could see that the sun had set, and she cracked open the door out to the main deck. There were two sets of two men patrolling the deck, no doubt keeping watch for pirates - little did they know there was already one aboard! They were down at the far end of the ship from where she was. Down closer to hear was a single man, looking off at something in the distance - and Raleigh could make out, just ever so faintly, one of the rowboats coming from The Misery’s End, no doubt with a few crewmen and most likely Raines onboard.

She panicked for a moment, grabbing the dagger that she had hidden stealthily, and (now barefoot, having left the shoes in the cabin as they would make far too much noise across the wooden floor) she snuck up behind the man as he leaned over the edge of the ship, reaching up and slicing the dagger across his throat before pushing him overboard.

The patrols down at the end heard the splash and turned to head down towards her end of the deck. Fortunately, she had darted behind a cargo crate, in a well hidden position. It would be perfect - the trajectory of the rowboat had the crew headed for the now deserted end of the ship. That would allow them time to take out the rest of the patrols (with Raleigh’s help). They would make it to the cargo hold and be able to liberate the coin with ease as long as all went according to plan.

The unbroken confidence that she exerted once more came from her voice as she hopped up on the table to put on the matching shoes. It had seemed to Raines that all that had happened during the night in the cabin had faded from both of them. She hopped down from the table, the heels making her stand taller than normal and took a few steps around the cabin to get the bearings for wearing them, all the while complaining about the clothes. ”Ye could always go bare, well sure they’d like that as well,” He joked.

He rolled his eyes at the comment about the rum, ”aye but was ye fault, so, therefore, it is on you to replenish the stores,” he snapped back. He raised an eyebrow when her statement about the celebration hit his ears. He tried to come up with a witty comeback, but nothing came to mind. His eyes just followed her as she left the cabin. He turned back to the map and pulled his final dagger out from where he threw it earlier. ”Ye better watch the words that are spoken, as I”ll hold ye to em,” A grin upon his face as he stuck the dagger into a belt loop.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

The time came to execute the plan, and Raines chose two of the more trustworthy sailors that he had to go with Raleigh to land as he gathered up the few men that he needed to take the other rowboat to land. This was the first time they had ever used a plan like this, and if it worked perhaps more land-based strategies would be thrown out in the future. His orders were clear, for the main vessel to stay offshore and hidden until his signal was given and they made off with the coin.

The captain’s eyes were trained on his quartermaster in the town, as he kept his distance, so that way he knew what ship to go for during the night. It did not take her long to find someone who believed her webs of lies and Raines signal to his men to move out. They trailed them as Raleigh reached the merchantman that would take her to her false destination. It was a good size, and Raines knew plenty of coins would be aboard if they did this right. They would wait at the rowboat till the cover of night set in.

The cool air of night hit Raines’s skin, as the sunset amongst the horizon and they started to make their way towards the ship. They got closer when Raines noticed a body fall from the deck into the water. ”Fuck..” he hissed and turned to the men, ”Faster! he ordered and looked back forward. The splash sure was loud enough for any patrols to hear, and he knew Raleigh wouldn’t have acted unless it was necessary. They came up to the side of the ship and Raines tossed a rope up, a grappling hook attached to the end and it caught the railings. Hastily they started to climb along with the robe, boots pushing against the side of the vessel for support.

Footsteps could be heard as Raines got closer to the top. One of the patrols looked over the edge but was met with a dagger through the jaw and up through the skull, Raines pulled him over and tossed both dagger and man down into the waters. Another set of footsteps hastened as the captain grabbed the railing and pulled himself over. A square punch landed on Raines’ jaw as he was trying to get his bearings which caused him to tumble back. He couldn’t have the man shout out they were there. Raines returned the punch with one to the gut, causing the man to keel over as his breath was taken from him. Like a spider going for its prey, Raines covered the man’s mouth and wrapped behind him, taking another one of his daggers and driving it into his throat.

HIs body convulsed as he tried to fight back, but was no use as soon from the loss of blood he fell limp and the corpse went over the edge to join his fellow crew at the depths. Raines’ other men soon came aboard and he gave them the ‘thanks for the help look’ when his nose caught the scent of something sweet-smelling. ”How long are ye gonna keep hiding? Seemed like ye enjoyed yer time aboard.” Raines was unaware of the other patrol set.

Raleigh could see the commotion down at the end of the boat where Raines and the other men were boarding, but she did not move from her hiding place. It certainly looked as though they had things under control, and she didn’t want to jeopardize that any further. Raines took a fist to the jaw, which caused Raleigh to wince slightly, though he seemed to dispatch the man who had hit him rather quickly. The other of that patrol set went down with a dagger to the neck. The second set of men had gone below deck for a moment, which had kept them from witnessing what had taken place between the first set.

After Raines had made his way down towards the end of the ship she was on, and the other crewmen were behind him, he missed the other patrol come back above deck just as Raines commented on being able to smell the rosewater she had bathed in. ”Oh, fuck off,” she breathed. ”It was the first proper bath I’ve had in ages,” she added as she stood up to become visible. The gossamer fabric of the outfit she wore (if one could call it that) caught the light of the moon - as did the blood covering her hand that had held the dagger that had slit the man’s throat that had gone overboard.

Her eyes had fixed on the other crewmen who were staring at her with their mouths slightly agape - of course, the Abedian clothing she wore did not leave much to the imagination, as the fabric itself was essentially see through. It was customary there, and had she turned it down it would have risen more suspicion. ”What?” she snapped at them, which immediately caused them to look away. She turned back to look at Raines’ face for the first time. ”Well then, you look like shit,” she said with a smirk, nodding to his split lip and the laceration on his cheek. ”Can’t believe you let one of these fops get the better of you,” she jabbed, unable to keep the grin off her face.

She dropped silent suddenly, however, as she saw the other two crewmen duck behind another crate as she finished her jab at Raines, waving their arms rather wildly at her. Her eyes darted past the captain and she caught sight of the other patrol making its way down towards them. They were at the far end of the vessel and it did not seem that they had been spotted just yet, so without hesitation she grabbed Raines hand and pulled him down to the ground with her, behind the crate she had been hiding behind just moments ago. The space was not really large enough to conceal the both of them, so Raleigh crammed as close to him as she could. Unfortunately, it seemed, one of the patrol saw the edge of her garment in the light, and she could hear his footsteps edging closer.

She turned to Raines and mouthed to him quietly, ”I’ve got this.” Before he could say anything she had darted out from behind the crate. ”Oh! Gentleman, you frightened me,” she said, her voice taking on a higher level of sophistication than she had normally used.

”Miss, what are you doing on deck? You were commanded to stay in your quarters. For your own safety, of course.” One of the patrolmen spoke to her with a rather gruff voice, sounding more annoyed than anything that she was out there.

”I’m ever so sorry… I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t take the opportunity to see this moon without a window pane obscuring my view,” she said. Her eyes darted rather quickly to the other patrolman, who was still quite a ways away from them.

”No harm, no foul, miss, but you need to get back to your quarters,” he said - and at that moment, he reached out to take her arm as though he were going to escort her. ”Ma’am, you’re bleeding,” he said, but as he bent down to take a closer look at the blood on her hand, Raleigh sunk her dagger into his eye socket. The man let out a strange sound - not quite a yell, but not a yelp, and fell to his knees. Raleigh yanked out the dagger and the man fell forward, the dagger having been long enough to pierce his brain.

The other patrolman had, of course, seen what had happened, immediately running towards them. With a swift movement, Raleigh sent the same dagger flying at the advancing man, where it landed directly in the center of his throat. He fell to the ground with a gurgle, bleeding out within moments.

That was it for the patrols. The rest of the crew was sound asleep below deck. The coin storage was just below where they stood, and it wouldn’t take them long to liberate what they wanted. ”Help me get rid of these,” she said to the rest of their crew, who helped her lift the two now-corpses off the deck and toss them overboard.

She turned to Raines and had a rather pleased expression on her face, though she knew that they would not be entirely out of the woods until they were back on board the Misery’s End with their bags full of coin secured. ”Shall we liberate that coin, then?” she asked, grinning at him.

Of course, his quartermaster replied in her normal tone, before standing up from her hiding spot at the crates near them. It was then that the moonlight shone showing the outfit that she was wearing. He cocked his head to the side as his eyes explored. It was traditional Abedian fair of course, but women there tended to wear more revealing clothing showing off their bodies. She snapped at the crewmen that had followed and Raines looked over his shoulder a glare in his eyes, they were playing dumb keeping their eyes away when he knew they had been staring.

”Ya are kind of left in the open, boarding from a rope after all.” He snapped back and wiped his cheek with his thumb, pressing up the wound. He honestly didn’t expect the blow to cut him open like that. ”Next time ye be the boardin’ party.”

Their talk was cut off as she grabbed his hand and pulled him down to where she originally was hiding. The small spot made it so that they were pressed together in an uncomfortable way, and the smell of her rosewater bath filled his nostrils more so now that they were in such proximity to each other. Compared to the stench of the ship, it was more refreshing to the senses. He tried to turn his head to see why he was pulled down but did not have the room to move. The only thing that gave it away was the sound of footsteps growing nearer.

She mouthed a simple command to him, and before he could reply she darted out of the crates. Raines had to hold back his laughter as she took in a more appropriate speech pattern, it was absolutely like she was a different woman. He was going to have to give her crap over this later when they were back aboard the ship.

“Ma’am,  you’re bleeding”

Fuck Raines thought to himself as he grabbed at one of the remaining daggers on his belt. The sound of a dying man released in the air, as another set of footsteps hurried before stopping and falling to the deck. Raines emerged from the hiding spots and saw the two bodies on the wood, Raleigh barking orders at the other crewmen to help her dispose of the corpses. He rolled his eyes at her pleased look on her face and pulled something else off his belt and tossed it to her. It was the rapier that she had requested before departing. ”Aye, Let us”

Quickly they moved down below deck and to where the coin was stored, moving quietly as possible with their haste to not wake the crew up from their slumber. It may have seemed like an easy task but the room in which the coin was held was obviously locked tight. ”God’s damn it all,” Raines hissed under his breath and looked back at the rest. ”Locked,” he spoke and got to a knee pulling out a leather-wrapped pouch. ”Keep watch. Also if you two let us get caught cause yer gawking, I’ll tear out yer throats myself,” he warned the two men who came with him.

Raines didn’t know if it was magically protected or not, but they came all this way the best he could do was try. A few moments passed and Click the door came unlocked. Was nothing but a simple lock and he stood up and twisted the handle. He pulled slowly to make sure no other hidden trap laid before them. ”Jackpot!” he exclaimed as the door came fully open and the coin room lay bare before them.

She caught the rapier as he tossed it to her. ”Not sure where I would have tucked this away if I’d brought it myself,” she said with a bit of a laugh. ”Not much for hiding places,” she added, and she gave Raines a bit of a knowing look - she had known his eyes were on her when she had emerged from behind the crates, and that little fact made her feel rather empowered. With a barely noticable expression of smugness on her face, she followed him down below deck along with the other crew members.

Raleigh could not help but to snicker quietly as Raines chastised the members of their crew for staring at her. She knew well enough that they were, and were doing their damnedest not to make it known, but uneducated as they were, they did not hide it well enough. She knew the garment was revealing, but hadn’t expected them to act as though they’d hardly ever seen an unclothed or underclothed woman before. ”Aye, I’ve got nipples! You both do as well, but you don’t see me staring all dumbstruck at them now do you?” she added offhandedly. One of the men turned bright red while the other one muttered a quiet apology. The quartermaster turned her attention to Raines as he worked on unlocking the door to the coin room.

It didn’t take him long and soon the door had swung open and his exclamation was but an underestimation! There was so much coin stored in that room, they were unlikely to be able to take all of it with them - but they were going to be making off with a haul. Stacks of chests filled with coin filled the room, along with numerous, large bags. ”Would you fucking look at that,” she breathed, reaching up to clap Raines on the shoulder as she now stood next to him. Her arm dropped, fingers grazing along his arm momentarily before she ran into the room, scooping up a handful of the coin and letting out a quiet but joyous laugh. ”Looks like I’ll be replacing your rum after all,” she said, turning back to Raines and giving him a quick wink.

Between the four of them and two trips back down to the rowboat at the side of the ship, they had taken more than they could have imagined they would of the coin. There had been no incidents, none of the crew had woken up while they were liberating their plunder, and Raleigh felt inwardly grateful. As a final step, she tore off a scrap of fabric from her dress and tugged a few strands of her hair out. She smeared it around in the blood on the deck from one of the men she had dispatched and dropped a few coins, making it look as though she had either been taken or killed by whoever had robbed the vessel.

Before long they were back on the Misery’s End, and the entire crew was awake and ready to celebrate. After the coin had been stored away, many of them were congratulating Raines on the success of their raid, and giving Raleigh her credit as well - after all, she had been the one to infiltrate the ship and make it such an easy endeavor - and she had only had to murder three people!

Bottles of rum were being passed around and songs were being sung in raucous chorus by the members of their crew. Raleigh had slipped away to change back into her normal clothing not long after they had boarded. SHe was now dressed in her tall heeled boots and a leather shoulder strapped top that laced up the front. Instead of the leggings she normally wore, she donned a pair of shorts made from the same leather as her top - dressed for the warmer climate they currently sailed in, no doubt - and atop her head lay one of her favorite hats she had.

She emerged from her quarters (much to the revelry of the group) and was immediately passed a bottle of rum from one of the crewmen, congratulating her on a job well done. She took a drink before passing it back to him, giving a genuine smile. She was proud of herself - she had suggested something different and it had certainly worked out in their favor. She hoped, in fact, that Raines would have gained even more confidence in her abilities as a member of his crew as a result.

Speaking of the captain, she found her eyes wandering around the deck of the ship in the darkness, looking around for Raines. She couldn’t see him at first, and the rest of the crew was making it rather difficult, as each time she would get away from one group, another would take her in and commend her on a job well done, having her regale them with the events that had taken place on the merchant vessel.

”You know, it wasn’t just me that did it!” she finally said to the group she was with. ”Hale and Carter were intrical,” she said. ”And of course, the Captain!” she said raising the bottle of rum she was now holding (of which she had drunk about half), to a rousing toast in celebration of their captain.

At that moment, it seemed the timing was perfect as Raines was just in her reach when she looked to her side. ”Speak of the devil!” she said and clutched him on the arm, pulling him over to the group she stood with. ”He is the reason there’ll be a bit more coin in everyone’s pouch now!” she said, to which the group toasted their captain once more. Raleigh gave him a grin and took another swig of the rum before holding the bottle out to him as the men began to chatter amongst themselves once more.

”I’m going to have to call that a success,” she said, turning to look out over the water. ”It almost seemed too easy, really,” she added, before looking back at him. ”Think we might be the first pirates to raid a merchant vessel without them realizing we were there?” she asked, leaning against the mast pole they stood beside.

Raines swear he could see the drool drip from Hale and Carter’s mouth as the door gave birth to the silver inside. Just like kids they ran into the room and started to fill every pocket that they could with the stuff…thankfully they were also using their heads and were partially quiet about them. A clap on the shoulder from his quartermaster before she headed in as her fingers traced their way down his arm. ”Aye that ya will be!, plenty of it.” He teased back and went into the room himself.

The captain was far more deliberate on what he was taking. Gathering silver into the bags that lined the room and tieing them together so that way he could swing them over their shoulders. He obviously was also carrying as much as he could in pockets as well, after all this was their livelihood. Twice they had to make a trip to the rowboat in order to unload all they could take without capsizing the small vessel. While Raleigh was making it look like she was taken away Raines told Hale to fire off a small burst into the air to signal The Misery’s End to meet them.

He was proud of the work, and the drunken thinking that went into the planning of this raid. It was a good way to redeem themselves after all that happened in Sularia.

The coin when they got back was stored away, all were awake to see their triumphant return and to let their eyes gaze upon it all. The cheers that rang out through the air was a welcome sight to Raines’ ears as it solidified their confidence with the captain again. Not only that it proved that their quartermaster was not just there to be eye candy or the captain’s so-called toy that was once spread around.

The clang of bottles being passed around and cheer and song rang out in the night air as the celebration that he had promised came to fruition. Raines himself took part in the laughing and song, as the men deserved to drink as much as they could handle as their coffers were now full again to easily restock. He had not seen much of Raleigh though, he figured she had snuck away to change from the dress she wore. He did not blame her for the decision.

He moved from group to group as the crew gave their congratulations, the morale boost obvious amongst them before he was abruptly pulled over. It was none other than the quartermaster herself who had done such a thing, and probably the only one with the balls to do it as well. She cheered him giving the credit for the success. He held up his hands as the men cheered in the group. ”This blasted woman needs to take more credit herself, t’was her plan after all,” He took the offered bottle from her and held it up in cheers for her before taking a drink.

”Aye a bloody brilliant success at that. You kept yer end of the promise. No one was lost and we got paid fer sure. It was ‘cause of your brilliant idea that it was so easy. Perhaps we shall try this more often.” He said taking another swig of the rum, bottle now almost empty from the little that was left of it from Raleigh drinking it. He laughed at her question, ”Pirates that could loot their target without them knowing. Ya know, ya might just be right we possibly could be the first to do such a thing.” He replied and handed the bottle back to his quartermaster.

He leaned up against the railing and looked over his shoulder to the dark waters. ”Spirits are lifted. The doubt from Sularia’s failure is gone. The trust in me restored,” he paused to look over at Raleigh again, ”And the trust in ye. Plenty ya have proved yer worth before and fought your way in. Crew knows this time it was yer idea…I have made sure of it.” He was not going to be the to take the full credit for it, regardless of what anyone amongst the crew said.

Raleigh cast her gaze down as the captain paid her a compliment, though she looked back up at him rather quickly. It was not something that happened all too often, and she took pride in the fact that he thought her actions commendable enough to command such a comment. ”Don’t want to take too much credit,” she said quietly, though it was clear she could not withhold the smile that the pride brought.

She drained the bottle after Raines handed it back to her and set it down against the wall of the ship, looking at him rather pointedly. ”Let’s call it a draw and split the credit, then,” she added with a laugh. She quieted down and looked around the ship at their crew - Raines was right. Their spirits certainly had been lifted, and the successful raid had done a lot for the group’s morale. Most of them were probably thinking it was rather great that they were getting paid for hardly lifting a finger, but at this point, Raleigh didn’t care. It had been exactly what they needed.

The rest of the crew seemed rather occupied with the celebration and Raleigh drew her gaze to Raines once again. After a moment she straightened up and clutched his arm. ”Come on,” she said, beginning to pull him in the direction of the captain’s cabin on deck. He resisted her at first, giving her a bit of a funny look. ”What? Good god, Raines, your face. We need to get that cleaned up. Can’t be losing our captain to an infection from letting someone deck him,” she said, smirking at him. ”Besides, you’ve got a nice face, it would be a pity to let it scar up,” she added. ”And the rum in your cabin is much better,” she added as an afterthought with a grin.

Fortunately with their preoccupation no one paid much mind to the pair of them leaving the main crowd - not that it would have mattered, but it certainly would have caused it to take much longer for them to get there. Once inside, she sat him down on the edge of the desk, walking over to a cabinet and fiddling around for a moment before coming back with some cloth strips, a needle, a spool of thread, and two bottles of rum - one seemed to be the swill the crew drank, and the other from Raines’ private stores.

She uncorked the bottles and set them down near Raines along with the strips of cloth. She grabbed the better bottle and took a drink before handing it to Raines. When he had taken it, she hopped up onto the desk herself, kneeling beside him so that she could be at a better level with his face. She took off her hat and set it down beside her, reaching up to lay a palm on the side of his face to gently turn his head towards her so that she could get at the laceration on his cheek. ”Here,” she said, and grabbed a strip of cloth. She dumped a bit of the cheaper rum onto it and began to dab gently at his face, wiping away any dried blood that had accumulated in the time since the injury had occurred.

She grabbed a new strip of cloth and leaned closer to him after wetting that one with rum too, and dabbed gently at the split in his lip. ”Afraid I can’t do much for that, but it’ll heal on its own,” she said, discarding the cloth and taking a swig of the other rum. ”I’m no healer but I’ve had some practice. The men on this ship like to fight,” she said, though she knew that Raines was well aware of the fact that she had stitched their men up more than once.

She fiddled with the needle and thread for a moment, leaning across Raines to the lit oil lamp on the small table next to the desk. She heated the end of the needle in an attempt to sterilize it before threading the fine thread through the eye of the needle. ”You’re going to have to hold very still for this,” she said, scooting herself a bit closer to him so she could look at the laceration more closely. She stopped once her knees had hit the side of his leg and leaned in after taking another drink of rum, her other hand holding his face still as she moved to make the first contact with the needle to start the first stitch that would hold the wound together. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she steadied herself, not wanting to maim him any further.

”Aye a draw, we can work with that.”

The silence drew around them as she took a moment to gaze around at the joyous crew. They all may have been bloodthirsty thieves but there was some sort of satisfaction to see the crew of people they had drawn together a little happy. The gazed back at each other before she grabbed his arm again and he was pulled away by the woman once again. ”What in bloody hell is with you dragging me about woman!,” He growled at her trying to resist her. She then explained about his wounds and he just gave in and let her lead him.

”Of course ya would be goin’ for the better stuff. Ye still owe for the last few bottles.” Her face giving away her satisfaction at all of what was going down. The sly compliment she gave him had not gone unnoticed but his slight frustration and being a rag doll stopped him from saying anything back.

They entered his office as he was lead to the desk which he leaned up against while she went and fumbled through some of the draws in a nearby cabinet. Bringing back a few tools that she would need to stitch up the wound and two bottles of Rum, the nicer of the two obviously Raines own private stash. ”Just had ta get in tha’ drawer eh?” He spoke and accepted the bottle that she had handed him and took a large drink himself. He knew this wasn’t going to be the most pleasant feeling thing in the world. She turned his head gently and once again they found themselves in a situation like this.

”Don’t have as great of a v-” His words were cut off by a quick intake of air as she dabbed the wound with the rum-soaked strip of cloth. He had used the same method on wounds he could clean but every time it stung like a mother. He probably would have deserved it for what he was about to say anyway. She leaned in closer and got his lip this time, as he winced this time. ”Ya got that right, bunch o’ stubborn bastards at times.”

The needle hit the fire of the oil lamp and Raines took another large swig of the rum before placing it down on the table again. ”This is goin’ ta be unpleasant,” he spoke, her knee hitting his leg as she scooted closer. A normal person would be worried about someone drinking while trying to stitch them up, but pirates were not normal people. The needle made its way under his flesh, and the dragging sensation of the thread could be felt as she pulled the needle through. He didn’t know if it was because he had drunk plenty or the rum she used to clean the wound but it did not hurt nearly as much as he thought.

He did exactly as she asked of him, and stayed as still as the needled and her deft hands continued to weave its way through his flesh. A pull every now and then to seal up what had been done. The snapping of the thread was an angelic sound to his ear, and she tied it off to finish it up. She finished it up wiping away any blood with and a strip of rum-soaked rag. He reached up and traced her work with a finger. ”Appreciated, perhaps no scar eh,” he laughed and turned to grab the good bottle of rum. He had not realized how close they were as their faces met just millimeters apart, as his fingers grasped around the bottle. Once again they had found themselves in this predicament.