Beau smiled as the elves grabbed oars and steadied the vessel. He’d heard better curses from women, though this one definitely had all the heart in it. Of course, that smile was immediately wiped clean by the smack on his face.
Ack!, he thought as he rubbed on it slightly before being dragged down into a seat and scolded by Peino Starhand as if he were a member of the captain’s own crew. Beau smiled again at that as the lot seemed to calm down.
“I believe you’ve done that before,” he said, looking towards Lotye. “My apologies milady, it was purely accidental. Instinctive to keep from falling overboard,” and with a wink he bowed deeply as he could from the waist. It was the truth, though he wasn’t sure if the girl would take it. One with her looks had probably heard that before.
“Apologies as well to you, Captains,” he said, nodding his head towards them. “It was either the boat or be arrested by the Guardians up there. Muggers falsely accusing me, you probably know the drill. You guys seemed a might more friendly in comparison”, he continued. “By a very slim margin though, I assure you,” he said with a chuckle at Peino.
Lafitte seemed to finally unfreeze at that point and offered a laugh. “I didn’t know how nimble you were, my boy,” Lafitte said, rolling a cigarette, likely to calm the nerves, shoving the mask up unceremoniously, “But, being that this is Captain Starhand’s boat, your fate may be in his hands,” and he blew out smoke with a bit of a chuckle.
Beau smiled. “Alright, so what’ll it be, Messrs? Am I to be tossed over?” he said, hoping his charm would pay off. He figured Lafitte would take him back well enough if the decision went the wrong way, but he had been hoping to observe the dealings with the Princes of the Grand Navigators…
