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[unmoor]

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[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.

[nineteenfortyfive]

Peter Pan. I'm familiar, but--really? Three hundred years old?

[Terrifying. Claire scrubs a hand through her hair.]

[unmoor]

This is the part where you are welcome to call me lucky.

[ well, Neverland was hell, but he was indeed lucky to keep his handsome features. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

I don't know if that's the word I'd use.

[Everything is just confusing.]

And you know about the stories, of Neverland? It's fiction. Where I'm from, at least.

[Vaguely, she remembers that a Scot wrote it. Of course.]

[unmoor]

Handsome, then?

[ oh she's not kidding now. okay. his smile fades a little. ]

I'm quite real, aren't I? You kissed me not too long ago, you should know it. [ heey. ]

Ah, to put it short there was a powerful curse and our lives in the Enchanted Forest became stories for this one. Other unpleasantries also took place, but what you should know is that I'm not alone in here.

Do the names Robin Hood or... [ he tries to come up with a good one. ] The Evil Queen mean anything to you?

[nineteenfortyfive]

I don't question whether you're real or not. And I know Robin. He's a friend of mine, but... I also know the story of Robin Hood and his merry men. [That crease in Claire's brow is likely to stay there with how pronounced it is.] And I'm sure this Evil Queen has something to do with Snow White?

[It sounds crazy, but so does traveling through time through magical stones and living in a city powered by intimacy.]

[unmoor]

Then what's the issue here?

[ said crazy stuff is everyday life for him. he nods. Snow White is very involved in all of this. ]

Surely discovering my age isn't the weirdest thing to take place here. The stories are quite real, love. Not all of them truthful to what actually happened, but I am a living proof.