Affairs of the Mind

"And why exactly do you propose we head to Querencia Island? That place is barely inhabitable. That sorceress might've messed up my face, but pulling the same trick on carnivores isn't exactly gonna stop her from being eaten alive."

Faine put his finger down on the giant map, pointing at the abandoned island like it contained the solution to all their problems.

"Because, captain, there's a flower that grows only in Querencia Island, and the whole dang place is too dangerous for it to be sold in any market around the world."

He sounded so sure of himself, like a merchant selling a homemade product he was overly attached to.

"...I don't see how that explains anything."

Calixto's first mate stood behind the courtesan, but he could sense it, the look they shared. 'Are you sure about this guy?' was left unformed, the words merely a thought, but Faine received the message loud and clear.

"Finding Guinevere isn't enough. Do you really think that after everything that's happened between you two, she'd just let you waltz into her home and demand she fix your face? Definitely not. You need a fair exchange."

The pirate's eyes narrowed, his belief in Faine only fading the more he spoke. "Courtesan, do not play with me. You said she owed you a favor, a big one."

The hint of a threat had Faine swallowing his saliva.

"Well, yes, it's complicated, you see. It's been a long time since we've seen each other. She'll need something to recognize me by."

He realized then how delirious, demented.. how delusional he sounded. Still, he stood by his words, even when the captain circled around the table to look down at him. If there was a single thing he learned from the Helewys family, it's that he wasn't about to let anyone doubt what he knew.

"What? So getting her the Pétillantes is your way of proving that she owes you a favor? You're aware that it's getting harder and harder not to make you walk a plank for deceiving me, correct?"

"Look, I know I sound like I'm fooling around, but I'm not. Genuinely. I don't see any other way she'll consider removing your curse. I don't think you know any alternatives either." He remarked, tilting his head to the side.

The pirate gestured to his first mate with a flick of a hand, and in an instant, the two were left alone in the room. Whether that was a good or a bad thing, Faine would decide later on.

"...You must know that sorceress very well to be speaking about her like that."

He sighed. At this rate, Faine would be thrown overboard. His stuttering heartbeat certainly didn't help.

"Well, yes, we go a long way back." He tried his best to reason with the other without letting too much be known.

"Who are you really, dear courtesan? What are you really? I don't doubt you have a hex or two of your own. Can't you cure me, hm? You seem to be knowledgeable in all these... complications."

The masked man took a step towards him once again, closing their distance like he always found himself doing. This time, however, it was nothing close to resembling the comfort or playfulness Faine was used to getting from the pirate. He was trying to intimidate him, trying to detect deception in every small twitch of his face.

"I... can't. I'm but a normal man, captain."

"I doubt that, dove. And if you really were, you'd be in danger right now."

A hand, calloused and decently sized, cupped his chin, forcing the courtesan to make eye contact with that lifeless mask of his. The touch had Faine reaching for his side, attempting to discreetly search for the dagger he had taken with him in his last visit to the captain's office.

"Your curse, she made sure she would be the only one capable of taking it back. I know I'm not the first person you've heard that from. Regardless of what I am—"

He was pushed against the desk by the other man's weight, their position highly questionable as he spread his legs to accommodate the other's broad figure. The excitement mingling in with fear gave Faine more reason to sweat.

"Give me one reason why I should believe that you aren't just toying with me right now. And don't you dare try your tricks on me, dove. I might be desperate, but I'm not dense."

"I.. She was dying. That night. I didn't show my face, I don't think she would've remembered what I looked like regardless, knowing how ill she was. I just did what I could and left. The flower, it cured her. I heard she's been looking for a stranger who owns a Pétillante ever since. She owes me her life." His voice descended in volume, more and more unsure as he tried to recall the events of that night with a clear mind. Their close proximity and highly compromising pose had Faine almost losing himself to a fuzzy brain.

"...And you don't have any Pétillantes with you now?" The captain asked.

"No, not anymore. No one does. That's why we have to get some from Querencia's forest."

Calixto finally moved away, contemplating the other's words as he paced back and forth across his office.

Footsteps, once again, were the only thing haunting Faine's surroundings. This time, they belonged to the other hunk in his life.

Calixto's masked face snapped back to stare Faine in the eye. At least, that's what the latter assumed he was doing behind the mask.

"A more important question, how did you get access to them in the first place? No one's been able to see them in decades. Their existence sounds like a meer rumor."

"They're not a rumor. They used to be the main attraction of the island. They were there, and they were spectacular." He defended, cringing as he was confronted with how offended he sounded from Calixto's words. So much for not giving anything away.

"...I know you're not old enough to know that."

Faine's eyes narrowed, carefully sifting through all his possible responses. Before he could think of anything better to say, his lips separated from each other. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Even if we got our hands on the flower, there's no way of guaranteeing we make it out alive."

"I've heard tales of you, captain. I'm sure you and your crew aren't going to back down from a possibly haunted forest and a bunch of varmints."

"You overestimate me."

"You underestimate me." Faine challenged.

"Are you saying you're willing to put your life on the line and fight for a flower, courtesan?"

"...I am not any good at fighting, but I know someone who is."

Calixto huffed out a laugh.

"Are you talking about your newbie, dove? Don't make me laugh."

The taunt had actually caused a spark of anger to ignite in Faine, the mockery of his dearest Saeger simply unacceptable.

"You'll be taking that back once you see what he's capable of. And when desperate times call for desperate measures, I have a life-saving trick or two up my sleeve."

The captain's mask stared back at him in silence, deep in thought. The pirate's arms crossed, and Faine tried his best not to stare at the other's biceps.

"I'm putting a lot on the line trusting you."

"You won't regret trusting me."

Silence. Again. But then, the momentum returned. And the captain was back to plotting, no longer questioning Faine's trustworthiness as he put himself back beside him and stared at the island, miniscule and much more harmless when it was just a drawing on a map.

"There's no other way to convince the sorceress of your identity? Surely you can recount the events to her."

"I tried. She slammed the door on me. It isn't the first time someone has accused me of being a sorcerer, a trickster."

"Oh?"

The courtesan chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah, I tried asking for help before she moved away again."

Faine couldn't see the other's curious expression, but he felt it—he felt the other's brow rise in intrigue despite knowing what the other looked like, not even sure if he had eyebrows.

"The more I know about you, the harder it is to pin you down."

The shorter male only grinned, daring to wink at the notorious captain.

"Oh, I can assure you that pinning me down isn't that hard of a task."

Calixto laughed, moving to pull something out of his drawer—alcohol in a bottle, a rather expensive looking one, too. Faine's eyes were practically stuck to the captain's veined arms as he rolled up his sleeves, popping the cork off in a swift move of a hand and pouring the other a satisfactory amount.

"Care to share a drink with me, courtesan? I want to know more about you."

Faine took the cup offered up to him, sensing his body thrill at the idea of sharing a moment with Calixto.

"Why I would love to." He drawled out.

"You are aware I wouldn't hesitate to end you the moment I sense even a speck of nonsense coming from you, correct?"

Faine nodded, taking a sip before turning to watch Calixto move his way.

"Good. That makes it more sexy."

The man chuckled, "You're sick on the head, love."

"I seem to be your type nonetheless." He retorted to which the pirate snorted, "Tease."

For a while, they just drank. Well, Faine just drank. He was assuming the other didn't feel comfortable enough to lift his mask around him yet. They casually shared stories, thoughts, and philosophies, sometimes throwing in sarcastic remarks and certainly inappropriate comments like they had been friends for years. Eventually, it had gotten raunchier, but not in a way Faine expected.

"I see the way you look at me."

The courtesan's eyes widened when the captain raised his own glass, finally filling the empty cup with the red wine Faine had been enjoying on his own. Wholeheartedly expecting the captain to drink, he couldn't help but gasp when the wine was only spilled on the man's chest where his shirt was open, rather intentionally too. The liquid made a show of trickling down the man's firm pectorials, dampening his thin white shirt with a sheen of red at all the right places. A single stream flowed lower and lower, and Faine so badly wanted to taste the forbbiden parts it had reached.

The glass was set down on the table with a loud thud, and the courtesan was forced to confront his own lustful thoughts.

"My mistake." Calixto's hand moved to a nearby cloth but was stopped. Faine's grip loosened around his wrist after realizing what exactly he had done.

"N— No. I can help."

He leaned down to lick a stripe up Calixto's damp skin. The pirate made a sound similar to a chuckle, incredibly amused by his companion's behavior. Not that he was completely innocent in the situation, either.

"You keep me around for other reasons, don't you?" The courtesan asked, licking the top of his lips, slowly, deliberately.

"...You're a smart one, aren't you, dove?"

"Smarter than most people think." He winked.

"You're a smartmouth, that's for sure. Makes me wonder if there are any good things that can come out of your pretty lips."

Calixto's fingers met with his tongue. He rolled his wet appendage around it, deliberately teasing.

"Why don't you figure it out yourself, hm?"