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[unmoor]

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[unmoor]

[ he has his moments. ]

Oh? Perhaps you are considerably better at this than you let on.

[ teasing her. and even if this was a plot he would have fallen for it happily. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

You found me out, Captain. The plan was to sweeten your mouth with fruit tarts and then have my way with you. Damn.

[Claire can tease right back. Though if she were really plotting anything, it would probably include a lot of alcohol. For herself.]

[unmoor]

I should be more careful in the future.

[ it's easier for the both of them if the matter is treated lightly. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

Do pirates know how to be careful?

[Don't ask about crocodiles, Claire. Don't do it.]

[unmoor]

It's not a common trait among us, but we are fast to learn.

[ him especially. because he's good at everything. right. ]

But I suppose that would only prolong my stay in this place, so I don't think I will care much for my safety in the future either.

[nineteenfortyfive]

Then maybe I'll have to see about stocking up on cakes.

[A little bit of the guilt is soothed away knowing that the intimacy that is expected of them helps others, too. A kiss not only brings her closer to Jamie, but it brings Killian closer to those important to him. She likes him enough to care about that.]

[unmoor]

[ it's the same for him, partly. being the hero while doing things for his own pleasure. what could be better? ]

And I'll have to remember those bottles I promised you.

[nineteenfortyfive]

And an invitation, the next time you go on any impromptu adventures.

[Peace and quiet is nice in short doses.]

I might lose my mind if there's not even the prospect of one in the future.

[unmoor]

It might take a while, but I'll be sure to ask you to come.

[ let's not get into the details why that is, shh. ]

We are the same in that sense. Being here might count as an adventure on its own, but it's not quite enough.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Claire waves at the apartment around them.]

I'm not used to this. It's nice, but it's not the sort of life I'm used to. Growing up, I traveled with my uncle, and then I served in a world war, and then I... never quite settled.

[She lifts her chin a little.]

Perhaps I was a pirate in a past life.

[unmoor]

Oh?

What did you steal? Other than the hearts of some unsuspecting young men?

[ go on. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[That earns a laugh and a light kick to his leg before she leans back against the couch, a little more relaxed. And there's not even alcohol in her hand.]

I've never had a husband that stayed put. [Frank moved from place to place for his studies, and she went along. Jamie was sent here and there, when he wasn't hiding or on the run, and. Well. She followed when she could.]

I'd ask if a pirate must steal, but if he didn't, that would just make him another sailor, wouldn't it?

[Though that makes her think of a question.]

Were you? A sailor, before?

[unmoor]

[ he suspects she wouldn't have stayed put even if her husbands had. ]

There are plenty of other differences, I can tell you.

[ this is where he looks away, pretending to take an interest in the apartment she just gestured at. modern furniture, so peculiar. ]

Ah, I've been a pirate as long as I can remember.

[ now that's a lie. ]

But rather than just a pirate I'd prefer to think myself as a man of honor. Pirates do follow a code. Well, some of them.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[... born into it, maybe? Claire keeps her eyes on him even when he's looking about. She stares at the white walls of her place enough. She knows a bit about pirates, but she's not eager to say as such. Just like she's not asking about boys that never grow up.]

An honorable pirate. I'm sure it was through honorable deeds that you became captain of a ship.

[Stealing. Totally stealing, she's assuming. Just like whatever he used to go out seafaring recently.]

[unmoor]

Ah. The honorable means usually include a duel of sorts, one to decide who will become the new captain. Alas, this time the captain was nowhere to be found.

[ that honorable enough for you, Claire?? ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Better a thief than a murderer, though Claire doesn't doubt that he's killed. She imagines most here have blood on their hands, herself included.]

Lucky you.

[unmoor]

[ she's better off not knowing the numbers. ]

It wasn't by luck that I got the ship, only by coincidence. Had the captain been there, I would have bested him in a fight.

[ keep telling yourself that, Killian. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Men and their duels. She just barely stops herself from rolling her eyes again.]

You must be a talented swordsman. I take it none have bested you.

[unmoor]

[ ah, nothing like a little flattery to get to him. he's a vain pirate. well, aren't they all. ]

I have lived a very long life, love, I would be lying if I said none hadn't, but I can count those who have with one hand.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[One hand, he says. One hand. Claire kicks his foot, a little harder this time, because that almost caught her off guard and made her laugh.]

You stop that.

[That's so terrible. On they go.]

How long is a long life? You must be around my age.

[unmoor]

[ and he didn't even try this time. ]

Oh? [ he laughs. ] I never actually told you?

[nineteenfortyfive]

No? Unless you did, and I can't recall.

[They do drink a lot and she might not always be paying total attention to whatever he's saying. Oops. But his age, she thinks, she'd remember.]

[unmoor]

No. You would remember if I told you.

[ truly. he leans back and makes a face. ]

It's somewhere around 300.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[And she hasn't been drinking today, so she's very, very confused by what she just heard. She frowns, searching his face. It's not a face of a man 300 years old. That would be something far different.]

... what?

[unmoor]

Striking for my age, aren't I? [ and all other ages too, he seems to add without voicing it. ] I spent a few years in a place called Neverland. No man ages there.