"Mhm, o' course not." She moved away from the bars, humming faintly. "Someone will bring ya dinner, assuming you want it?" She raised an eyebrow over at Rhian, leaning back against the wall again and adjusting the collar of her shirt with a faint hum. "Again, if ya don', then that's fine."
“Yes, I…” she hesitated a moment, then, “Depends. What is dinner?” Admittedly it had been some time since she had a decent meal, but if all a pirate ship had to offer a prisoner was porridge or other type of bland mush, she’d prefer to skip supper altogether. Her gaze flickered briefly to Selena’s neck, and the woman’s hands adjusting her collar. The shirt. Rhian wanted a shirt like that.
Her mouth pulled faintly. "Depends on what the cook restocked." She replied. "It'll be edible, that much I can promise." She brushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen into her face, studying Rhian with those intense blue eyes of hers.
“Alright.” For the first time since she’d been captured Rhian appeared to relax, if just a little bit. Her shoulders loosened, jaw unclenching. She watched Selena with wary attentiveness as she leaned back to sit in a more comfortable-looking position. Warm brown eyes meeting intense blue. “Why are you still here?”
"Waiting for Puck to deliver yer bedding and pot." she replied with a half shrug. "Don' worry, I'll be leavin' soon enough." she adjusted her hat for a moment, a faint smirk still on her lips. Did it ever leave? Unlikely, she probably smirked in her sleep. Wasn't that what pirates did? Or maybe she didn't sleep. Who knew?
Rhian finally looked away. Her hands were settled in her lap, absentmindedly fidgeting with a ring on her right index finger. “I don’t want to go back home.” She doubted that would mean anything to a pirate who just wanted money in her pocket. “That doesn’t matter to you, does it?”
Selena shook her head. "I just want yah for the bounty. Yer going home, though I am sorry that you don't want to be there." She replied, studying Rhian. "Yah can always run away again, though I don't know how well that'd work out for yah."
Rhian resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The bounty. She’d seen a paper nailed to a board in town, and while she couldn’t remember the exact number, it must have been a hefty amount. “Right. My father would probably just send out another bounty,” she muttered. Rhian looked over Selena again. A standard pirate—save for the obvious—and in stark contrast to her own high-society skirts and rouged cheeks. And everything Rhian wanted to be. “A coincidence, really. I ran away looking for you.”
She arched an eyebrow. "Oh? And what do you mean by that?" She queried, frowning faintly as she studied Rhian. "You ran away to find me?" She shifted, uncertain about what that meant. No one came looking for her. Not for good reasons, anyway.
Rhian perked up again, noticing Selena’s interest. Maybe this was her chance to plant the seeds of a far-fetched request. “Your reputation proceeds you, Captain. I heard of how you ran your ship, granted some of those rumors were spoken in contempt, but I liked what I heard. You’re…nothing less than incredible.”
Selena hummed. "Compliments will not change your status as a prisoner." She said. "But they are appreciated." She adjusted her hat, watching Rhian through slightly narrowed eyes. "And I am aware that I am incredible. How could I be otherwise?"
Rhian dipped her chin to the appreciation. “I figured they wouldn’t. I meant it as an objective fact. As far as I’m aware you’re the only one who would let a woman join your crew.” It would take some effort to work her way out of a prisoner’s status, specifically within the time it took for Selena to get her back home.
"That is because I am one of the few women who are captains." She replied dryly. "I do not, however, generally accept runaway noblewomen. As a rule, it brings far more trouble than it's worth." She blinked slowly down at Rhian, poker faced.
Rhian did not have a poker face. Her nose wrinkled up, and all the tension in her body seemed to illustrate her thoughts on her face. “To think I’d want to be part of your crew after this is just preposterous.” Selena’s glib, unbothered, attitude grated on Rhian’s nerves. A faint flush rising on her cheeks, a tone just slightly warmer than the rest of her neutral skin.
She hummed for a moment. "Not, of course, that you have a choice in the matter." she replied. "How lucky for you, not having to make a decision about that." her mouth pulled into the faintest smirk as she looked down at Rhian. "You'll just go back to your father, and this shall be a happy adventure."
Rhian pursed her lips and decided not to answer that. She was just digging herself a deeper hole with every retort. Bristling at the smirk on Selena’s face, which, out of context anyone would find the slightest bit attractive no matter how aggravating. Objectively, of course. Rhian scoffed and fixed her gaze to the floor of her cell.
Puck soon returned with the blanket, pillow, and chamber pot, slipping them through the bars to Rhian. "She causin' yah any trouble, captain?" he asked Selena, looking over at his captain.
"No, none at all." Selena said with a faint smile, looking up at Puck. "She's been quite pleasant company, so it's quite alright."
Rhian blinked, looking up at Selena’s answer. Pleasant company? She hadn’t been expecting that, considering she was a prisoner. A well-received prisoner, but one nonetheless. Rhian couldn’t help but let a short laugh escape her lips as she reached to take the items—pillow and blanket in one hand, chamber pot in the other. “I must say the same for you, Captain. It has indeed been a pleasure.”
Selena smiled just a little bit. "Of course. Now, we'll leave you be. After all, it's shore leave for the rest of us. You'll be fed at some point tonight, and it should be edible." She turned away, heading towards the exit so she could go up the stairs and back out on deck. Puck followed his captain with a faint nod to Rhian.
“Enjoy yourself, I suppose.” Rhian watched the two leave, then when they disappeared from view, turned to the blanket and pillow Puck had brought her. She adjusted them on some less-uncomfortable looking space on the floor, and pushed the chamber pot away with her foot as she settled in.
(timeskip?)
Selena laughed as she headed out on deck, adjusting her hat and tipping her face towards the setting sun. She enjoyed her shore leave, but she enjoyed being on the sea more. It was her home, the Red Tide out on the sea. She loved the salt air and the fish and the treasures of merchant ships fat with cargo.
(timeskip sounds good to me! How far? When they get back on the sea and Rhian is let out for a bit?)
(yeah, that's what I was thinking. Do you want me to do that?)
(If you could, please!)
(alright!)
They had set sail early that morning, and were now far out on the ocean. The Red Tide had sailed with the tide, and land was just a faint blur on the horizon, growing dimmer by the moment, as they sailed onward. Selena came down to the hold to let Rhian out. Now that they were out on the sea, Selena had put on trousers instead of a skirt, and she held the key to the cell in one hand. "Good morning." she greeted as she unlocked the door. "You remember the rules?"