"Yes, I have, actually," Dara said, rolling the map back up and handing it back to him. She picked at the skin around her nails, her eyes unfocusing. "You know what's conspicuous? Our ship. The Andromeda. No disrespect to you, of course, but it's true. What kind of pirates are we if we get spotted the moment we land anywhere? Introducing, Dara's amazing cloaking mechanism! At the press of a button, the ship is completely invisible to the naked eye. And to radars." She winced, nibbling at a hangnail on her index finger. "Except it's so damn hard to invent. I'm close. But I'm just…not there yet."
Cal nodded as he listened to her, fiddling with the hem of his coat as he glanced around the ship, studying it for a few moments. He glanced back over at her, a small smile tugging the corners of his lips up. "This could work. We would probably need something to shield 'The Andromeda' from all enemy ships," Cal agreed as he moved his hand to let it rest on the handle of his sheathed cutlass sword. "I could get a few people to help. Maybe Lucy, Peyton and Kameo could?"
"I'm not the best at working with a group," Dara admitted, still not meeting his gaze. "But if we stop somewhere, I could download some tech that might help. Where's our next stop?"
Peyton smile as she nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! I know I'm not the only one with problems. I swear half of this crew is falling apart from them."
“Gosh, believe me, I can tell. You see it in their body language, a lot of people here have had emotionally distressing things happen to them. I’ve been through distressing things in my past as well, so the signs are a bit obvious to me,” Lucy said with a soft chuckle. She didn’t talk too much about the accident with her ex fiancé, Oliver, and her unborn daughter, Clarice. If someone were to ask, then she would explain, but it was complicated to talk about. She had almost been a mother, and a mother was supposed to protect her children.
Peyton frowned slightly. She didn't pry, but Lucy didn't seem like someone to have a depressing past. She smiled and said, "I hope you take care of yourself."
“Don’t worry about me, I’m doing amazing. If you ever need anything, just come on in. My door is always unlocked,” Lucy said with reassuring smile. It felt amazing to be able to have someone to get friendly around.
Peyton smiled brightly at Lucy. She thought she had just made a friend. Wow she made an actual friend. That's new. She said cheerfully, "Well that's great. I'll see you around."
“Yeah, definitely. If I don’t see you later, have a good day,” Lucy chirped in a delighted tone. She hadn’t had someone around to call a true friend in a while. After she lost her daughter, she had closed herself off a bit. If she didn’t have family and friends, she didn’t have anyone to loose, right? Maybe she could try and get a bit more social again…
Peyton waved as she left Lucy's office. She walked back up to the navigation room. She cracked her neck and knuckles before getting back to work.
"I'm not the best at working with a group," Dara admitted, still not meeting his gaze. "But if we stop somewhere, I could download some tech that might help. Where's our next stop?"
"I'll have to talk to Peyton about that. Hopefully, she got some work done on the star charts I gave her," Cal answered as he glanced over towards the side of the ship, watching some of the stars before quickly resuming his gaze on Dara.
"Great," Dara replied, placing her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. "So. What have you been up to? How is…captain-ing?"
"The same as always, I suppose," Cal answered, shrugging faintly as he ran a hand through his messy, ginger hair. He glanced up towards the crow's nest, wondering if anyone would be up there at this time, but also so he could escape Dara's gaze for a few moments. She made him a bit nervous. "Plotting courses, yelling at people on deck, the usual," Cal added, a faint smile spreading crossing his face.
"Yelling is fun," Dara agreed with a smile. Cal glanced away from her, and she took the time to study his face. Messy hair, freckles, pale green eyes that looked like the shallow part of the oceans on Sole before a storm. She scrunched her nose. "Your hair is messy," she observed under her breath, almost involuntarily.
"My hair is always a mess," Cal answered, a joking tone in his voice as he looked back towards Dara, studying her for a few moments as he let a small pause hang between them. "Do you want to fix it or something?" He teased, a faint grin crossing his face.
"As if it could be fixed," Dara snorted in reply, trying to hide her embarrassment. She wished she had more of a filter over her words, but it couldn't really be helped. "I recommend a lawn mower. Or at the very least, a pair of scissors."
"I should invest in some," Cal answered, humming in agreement as he looked down towards Dara, a small smile tugging the corners of his lips up. He glanced around the deck of the ship, checking over things out of habit and making small mental notes. "Anything else I should know?" He added, a joking tone obvious in his words as he raised a brow.
Dara pretended to scrutinize his face further. She found him kind of plain, to be honest. Cute, but plain. "Too many freckles," she decided after a moment, "but that can't be fixed either, I guess." She sighed as though defeated and stuck her hands back in her pockets.
A small chuckle escaped Cal's lips as he studied Dara for a few more moments, fiddling with the hilt of his sword out of habit. "I would find something wrong about you, but I don't think there aren't many that could be listed," he finally answered, a bit of a teasing tone in his words as he glanced around the ship once again. Of course, Cal had been with the rest of the crew long enough to know each of their faults, but he never enjoyed pointing them out. He had plenty of faults on his own.
"Ugh, you sound like my brother," she said, trying to pretend the compliment hadn't shaken her. She was failing. She brought her hand to her mouth and chewed at the edge of her finger, her face warming. She felt both incredibly rude for pointing out his flaws, and incredibly embarrassed that she was so terrible at taking a compliment. She wished sometimes she wasn't so…her.
"If your brother is anything like me, I would be honored to meet him," Cal answered, laughing softly as he noticed Dara get a bit flustered, doing the same usual habit she usually did when she ever got nervous. He tried for a small smile as he let a small pause hang between them, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. If only he was a bit better at talking to girls…or anyone really.
"Oh, trust me, you're way better than my brother," she scrambled to say, grasping for something positive to say after all her overwhelming negativity. "He's an idiot. You're…definitely not an idiot." She mentally rolled her eyes at herself. Only her brain would decide that 'not an idiot' was a compliment. Well, it was as sincere and sappy as she was going to get.
Cal nodded as a faint smile crossed his lips, part of him a bit glad that he got to learn something about Dara's family. Most of the crew didn't speak about their past very often, so hearing a little was always quite interesting for Cal. "I'm glad that you think I'm not an idiot. It means a lot coming from you…the genius on our ship," he added, glancing down at Dara and hoping that he wasn't overwhelming her with compliments. Though, Cal had always respected the way that she seemed to have solutions for every problem, so perhaps Dara deserved to know it now.
At the offhanded mention of her intelligence, Dara managed to calm herself down. Her mind was the only thing people could compliment that wouldn't get her all flustered. She'd worked every damn day to become the genius she most definitely was, and people should take notice. One mention of her looks or personality, and she could hardly function. But her mind? She nodded, with a cocky grin. "True. I am a genius." She laughed a bit. "That's what I love about the Andromeda. Everyone's great at what they do. Perfect captain, and perfect genius."
"And humble," Cal teased, a faint smile quirking the corners of his lips up as he leaned against the edge of the ship, continuing to face Dara as he did so. Though, Dara was definitely a genius, and it was better if she knew that, right? "Perfect captain," He repeated to Dara's next comment, shaking his head faintly. He was far from perfect. Too many faults and problems that he had caused in the past. Not to mention the drinking problem he couldn't seem to stop. "You're probably the perfect genius though. I'm sure of that."
Dara nodded mutely, still smiling. She peered over the edge of the ship, down into the stars. "I guess I've never had to deal with other captains," she mused, "so I have nothing to judge you by. Unscientific, I know. You seem like a good captain. Guess I'll never know for sure."
