"Claims you baby him too much," he says, frowning as he spun the wheel to the right. "And how he's typically just lollygagging aroun'. Also his uppity attitude."
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She scrunched her nose up. "Baby him? What have I done that's considered babying? All I do is make sure he doesn't get himself killed while he's still injured. Same thing applies to the lollygagging." She paused with a frown, realizing how much she was defending him. "Uppity attitude…I have nothing to say about that."
"Ah don' have an issue with him," Mumchance said, shrugging as the ship slid into the last remaining spot on the dock. "He listens to me now."
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"'Cause he's learned. Smart, even if a bit bullheaded." She nodded and shifted, starting to turn away. "I'll get him so we can leave as soon as we're tied up," she said.
"You boys get tuh tyin'!" Mumchance called to the crew members prepared with ropes, giving Fane a nod of acknowledgement.
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She saluted him and turned away, now looking for Anto once again. She frowned as she thought about the crew's dislike for Anto, then considered her role in that dislike. Am I really babying him? she thought to herself, mulling it over as she approached Anto.
He was leaning against the railing of the deck, watching the men tie the boat up to the dock. "We ready to go?" he asked, not needing to turn around to know who was behind him.
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"Once we're tied up," she answered, leaning against the railing next to him. "Am I babying you?" she asked, looking at him with a questioning look.
"I think it has to do with the fact that I don't have a job on the ship," he said, obviously having thought on it. "You yell at the other when they do a job badly, but since I do not have a job, you do not have much to yell about."
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"Hm." She hummed as she thought, gaze flicking forward to watch the lapping waters around them. "So you've heard the grumblings," she guessed, choosing to not respond to his theory.
"Well, yes. It is hard to not notice it." He frowned out at the dock, scratching the side of his face. "I do not hold it against them. It is a natural reaction."
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"True," she admitted, tapping the railing with her nails. "But still. I don't like being dragged into it." She fell silent, watching the crewmembers in charge of tying the ship.
"It is my fault," he said, pushing off from the railing. "I was the one who refused to listen and forced you to constantly watch me."
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"And they won't believe that," she said, gesturing to the crew. "At least you have Mumchance's favor. There's one step in the right direction."
"I just stopped being so stubborn," he said with a shrug, "Accepting the fact that he had authority over me was a lot easier than fighting against it."
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"If only you'd give me the same courtesy," she huffed, mock glaring at him before reaching out and grabbing his arm to drag him across the deck. "Come on, I'd like to leave sooner rather than later."
"I am inclined to agree with you," he said, allowing himself to be dragged to the plank that the dockhands and lifted onto the deck to be used as a makeshift bridge.
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Fane let go of him, though she stayed close as she barely offered a wave to the dockhands as she crossed the "bridge" they had created for them. And now the hunt began. Her blood thrummed with excitement.
"We should hit the closest bar, first," Anto said, having to speedwalk to keep up with her. "There should be plenty of sailors looking for a job."
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She gave him a look, raising a brow. "Funny you should know that, all things considered." She slowed down for his sake, thumbs hooked in the belt loops of her pants as she looked around. "And if we don't find any, then we get the bonus of booze."
"You get the bonus of booze," he huffed, his limp becoming more pronounced as they walked up a set of woodens stairs that linked the port to the town. "I do not know why Mercedes said I need to walk more. This feels like it's doing more harm than good."
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"Mercedes knows what she's doing, trust me." She held up her arm to show a slight scar going up the side of it. "I got into a fight with a crab. It nearly chopped my arm off."
"A crab?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as they reached the first tavern. "What kind of crab grows to that size?"
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"An incredibly large one that apparently had a taste for human flesh." She curled her nose in a nasty look, as if standing face to face with the crab right now. "Coconut crab, I think Cap said it was. I don't remember. All I remember was being pissed."
"That sounds like a very entertaining story," Anto admitted as he studied the sign of the tavern. "'The Lonely Mermaid.' Such an odd name."
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"Probably someplace we'll find sailors looking for something to do, totally unlike someone I'm standing next to," she said, looking up at the sign with a tilted head.
"Hey," he said defensively as he opened tj=he door. "Don't compare me to these people. I don't drink."
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"I never implied you did," she defended, coming up behind him and looking around, "I simply said that you can relate with the fact that these people are seeking something."
Anto looked around the tavern, frowning as he studied the people inside.
"There is a man," he mumbled to his first mate, "In the far right corner holding a piece of parchment. What do you think?"
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She leaned in towards him to hear him better, and to also see what he was seeing. They were closer than usual, but she didn't let that bother her as she spotted the man. "I think we should make a new friend," she murmured, flicking her eyes over at Anto.
