[ME] you have to duet alone

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Did no one have listening skills?

Melita could probably make an entire diatribe about boundaries, what no meant, or any other slew of hissing, feral movements to give way to exactly what she was about to do. But she wasn’t going to, because she shouldn’t have had to.

And Jack – he’d regret that too. Perhaps she was the most hurt by his actions, rather than anything else. Talyson was daft, but the Captain –

A mutinous glow surrounded her features, a scathing glance centered on Jack, before maneuvering and pinpointing it straight on the courier. She reached down quickly, efficiently, to where she stored one of her many daggers along her calf, pulling it so the glint of its serrated edges would hit the light just right. Maybe it would reflect in his alcohol-addled brain before she inevitably aimed to plant it right in between his ribs. Grasping it firmly so that it melded into her calloused hands like an old friend, the intentions lay there, visible and clear. Never changing or altering her tone, only her actions gave the air of danger – but it should be enough.

If it wasn’t, Talyson would see why. “No. I said I am not interested.”

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

Ground is shaking underneath now that you're here
Body's skipping beats when you appear

Sohalia hugged her friend back, pleased to have Flora seemingly to herself as Tal did whatever it is that he was doing (she'd have to check on him later). She laughed at Flora's guess that she'd like water, which was her usual go-to, but then she remembered the tequila sunrise she'd enjoyed with Koa that one time and thought, why the hell not? "Tequila sunrise," she corrected with a wink as Tal started to sing.

At first, it didn't register that Tal was serenading Melita, but as Soh turned her attention to the stage, it became painfully obvious - and even more painful as the girl rejected the courier not once, but twice. Soh winced in sympathy for all parties - this was, perhaps, the cringiest thing she'd ever seen. "Oh, my gods," she echoed Flora, staring at the scene before her like it was a skyship wreck that she couldn't stop watching. "Should we do something?" she asked the other girl, eyeing Melita's knife with worry.

The world is on fire since you've come here
All I've ever desired is here with me

Sohalia

JACK

hellraiser
risk taker

Tal is daft and Jack is mean and he assumed this was all in the name of amusement, hence his appearance at the bar to begin with. But - and, alas, ain't it always the way with fucking magic - Melita's cactus-like thoughts prickle across his telepathy like he's the one who's been stabbed (and don't write it off just yet, it might still happen). Wincing at the pain behind his eye that the onslaught of thought and feeling causes, Jack shoots back the rest of his whiskey and sets his glass down.

"Aye, mayhap I misread her intentions," he rumbles, gesturing at the knife on display. "Reckon that says everythin' it needs to, though." Glancing sidelong at the Honeybee and slouching back in his chair, Jack's aura of chill is just as sharp as Mel's blade. "No need to bloody Flora's floor now, is there?" He raises his eyebrows.

full speed ahead
'til i'm dead

The dark-haired captain might have contradicted Melita once, but the sight of steel made it pretty plain that the Honeybee wasn't just playing hard to get, and the retraction that followed left Tal feeling even more alone and out of place on the stage. The look on his face as he took in Mel's glare was wounded and humiliated, his brown skin flushed dark with embarrassment as he slowly curled back in on himself.

Suffice to say, all urge to continue the karaoke into an encore had shriveled up and blown away on the crisp sea breeze.

Shoulders hunched against the eyes of the bar flies and the crew of the Ark, Tal kept his gaze glued firmly on the floor in front of his toes as he slunk off the stage. He hesitated for a moment, swaying towards the bar, but not even the lure of getting blackout drunk could overcome his shreds of self-preservation. No one had seen him cry in the past eight years and fuck if anyone was going to see him now. He could come back tomorrow and apologize to Flora.

Jamming his hands in his pockets, he trudged towards the door, enduring his walk of shame with his head hung low and his wounded heart on his sleeve until he could make his escape.

He hoped Ludo was satisfied. At the moment the courier didn't think he'd ever want to sing again.

~Tal out!~

flora

Looking from Sohalia to Melita and back again, before the Doubletake could either agree or disagreement the Heart, Melita was reaching for a dagger and Tal was slinking off the stage. Though Flora had the good sense to look appropriately shocked, no doubt Jack would feel the bright heart-beat pulse of her amusement and joy to see what a wildly dramatic turn the evening had taken.

'Alright, alright.' She calls out brightly, dancing out from behind the bar and sashaying up toward the mic Tal had abandoned. "One more drink and then it's out onto the sand with the lot of you. Can't you read? Sign says closed." Sounding amused rather than put out, the Doubletake nevertheless flaps her hands at the Ark's crew to try and hasten their departure.

Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like that

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ground is shaking underneath now that you're here
Body's skipping beats when you appear

Well, that certainly ended quickly.

Her drink forgotten - by herself and, it seemed, by Flora - Soh watched as poor Talyson slunk out of the bar, briefly considering going after him before deciding that he, in all likelihood, wouldn't thank her for the company. She'd have to check on him later, when the sting of rejection had lessened. Or, you know, maybe never. He seemed like the kind of person who would never want to talk about this ever again.

Flora took the stage to shoo everyone out, and Soh waited just long enough for the Doubletake to return to the bar before offering her friend a hug. "We'll catch up later!" she murmured before making her way to the exit.

-Soh's gone!-

The world is on fire since you've come here
All I've ever desired is here with me

Sohalia