Juggle Friends

“How sure are you that he's out there?” You asked as Marrien stared out over the water. The question did not seem to affect her, except to cause a faint twitch in her brow. After staring out quietly for a few more seconds she turned her head to look at you.

“So much is detailed about the route he took to the tree that it doesn't matter if he is out there or not. We're worlds apart. You understand that, right?”

“What?” Your face scrunched up in confusion.

Marrien rubbed your shoulder gently before pulling you into a half-hug. “He left years ago and this was the first thing we've received from him in all that time? Do you really want to see him?”

“Of course!”

She released you and continued to stare out at the water. “What will you say to him?” She asked curiously.

“Not sure. I guess I'll just say... 'Hi Dad.' What about you?”

“I do have some words for him.” She smirked.

“I didn't get to say them before he left, since it was so sudden. Had no idea he would be gone for so long.” Her voice was shaking. You gently touched her back.

“Are you okay, Mom? We'll see him again, I'm sure.” As you said that she leaned over and offered you another full, short hug before stepping back from the side and walking towards the lower decks. Sam left before she entered and turned so that he could watch her go. You considered leaving before the man could potentially walk up beside you and begin talking, but held your ground. You both stood in silence for a little while with him packing a pipe and you just pretending not to notice him. As he lit it he looked over at you curiously.

“You got a pretty family, but it's missin' somethin'.” He stated.

“I assume you're going to tell me about it whether I've asked or not.”

“How many lonely years's that woman had?” He chuckled tauntingly, chewing on the end of his pipe as the wind took the smoke aware far too quickly for it to be a bother.

“Genuinely curious.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because she's warmin' to me nicely.”

“Liar.” You spat into the water.

“I think I'm in a good runnin' to be your new daddy so I'll give you some advice about women-”

“I don't need-” You interrupted, but then he interrupted right back, speaking far louder and more firm than you thought you could manage.

“Now see here, you do. Just don't know it.” Sam pointed his pipe at you and leaned towards you forcefully as he said that. Luckily you were not downwind enough to catch a whiff of his odor. The man was of the unique type that 'looked' as if he smelled. You relented and waited for him to continue, but resolved to only half-listen to what he was going to say. At least, you thought you would.

“Women'r an interestin' sort. They're 'choosers' see. So what that means is, they've gotta show that they don't want any of what the male's are puttin' out there until they can choose the right one. That's just pure self preservation of what they got. So you'd think...” He grins.

“So you'd think that keeps 'em pretty safe. Sets 'em up to make good choices about who they're with an' all that?” You nodded.

“Wrong. See, they're not set up to 'refuse' even if it looks that way. What they're set up to do is to select for the chasers. The pushers. The guys that'll break down their defenses. Them refusin'? Well that's just one more door you gotta open to get to what you want. Got it?”

You stared at him incredulously. “Sounds you're just describing ****.” Sam laughed loudly at that.

“Nah. **** is a weak man's game. The real deal is getting' a girl that hates you, is disgusted by you, thinks you're scum, to crawl up between your legs and kiss your cock like she wants it. Like she's been waitin' her whole life for it...”

“Well-” he was being fairly indirect, so you felt comfortable in rebuking him, but before you could finish what you were about to say he spoke again.

“I'm gonna do that to your Mom. To Marrien.”

You gulped. “W-what?”

Sam chuckled. “Hoh boy... That woman hates my guts. Gets me going. But you know, I'm a pusher. I'm persistent and there's basically nowhere to go and nothin' to do on this boat until we reach our destination. So waddaya think my odds are, 'Son?'” You were stunned and speechless. He gripped your shoulder tightly, then released you and gave you a hard pat with his heavy hand that threatened to send your stunned body over the edge if you did not catch yourself. You finally spoke.

“I-I'll tell her. Tell her everything you just said right now!”

“Please do. Make it a challenge. If she sees it comin' and thinks I'm tryin' that just means she's gonna be thinkin' about me at night. Waitin' for me to proposition her. I'll let her stew a bit and start to wish for it. Then I'll make my move. There's really nothin' you can do. Believe me. I'm gonna take your Mom. I'm gonna make her mine and at some point in the future she's gonna sit down with you and have a talk with you about how she really thinks it's important you call me 'Dad.'” Sam grinned tauntingly. You couldn't take it anymore. You reeled your arm back to swing at him. Fiona came out of nowhere to catch you and hold you back.

“He's not worth it! He's not worth anything.” She glared at the man.

“Did you hear him!?” You questioned.

“Yeah, most of it. He's messing with us.” She stated rather obviously.

“You think Mom is stupid? We gotta look out for her, I stand by that, but we don't need to protect her from being tricked by someone a million times dumber than her with stupid pickup tricks.” She offered soothingly. You began to calm down.

Sam's big dumb face stared confidently at you. He puffed his pipe and blew smoke over you both. “Yeah, she's right. Your Mom? Definitely a smart girl. You probably don't gotta watch her at all.” He laughed heartily.

“Shut up, you blob!” Fiona grunted.

“Scum.”

You stepped back and showed that you were no longer going to try and hit him. “Thanks, Fiona.”

“No problem.” She nodded, keeping a close eye on Sam. He shrugged, dumped his pipe into the water and turned to leave.

“The hell do we do about him?”

“What can we do?” She sighed.

“We watch for him to make a mistake. We keep Mom occupied and separated from that guy.”

“Maybe we can take shifts.” You asked. Fiona side-eyed you.

“L-listen... If both of us are hanging around Mom all the time it's going to basically broadcast that something is up.”

She narrowed her eyes at you suspiciously. “You want to make some 'friends' with the other girls aboard the ship? Are you-” Fiona closed the distance and embraced you, but it was not warm, it was simply tight. Her hands were like knives poking into your body at your back and side. She brought her mouth close to your ear as her head hung over your shoulder.

“Are you serious?”

“N-no! No no! Fiona, that's not it, I swear.”

She released you, leaned back and smiled sweetly with her hands up. “That is actually so good to hear, Fin. You have me. You have Mom. Nothing is going to split our family. Not ag-” She gulped and clutched her head tightly.

“What? Were you about to say...”

“Nothing. It's nothing.” She inhaled, then exhaled. Holding the same sweet smile Fiona added.

“We are the team. The Party. There's no odd characters, no support necessary. I can do everything for you that any of them could.” She insisted.

“Everything? Fiona that's kind of-”

“Kind of what?” Her eyes widened and daggered into you.

“Nothing.” You relented.

“Good! So, we're going to take shifts and you'll use the time to catch up on your reading or any training we can't do together.”

-

“That sounds less than promising.” Teuta shook her head.

“I thought that girl had a strange Aura about her.”

“We learned both.” You shrugged.

“From a young age. Knights and Aurars.”

“Not what I meant.” The priestess corrected politely. She had a way about her that made you understand you were wrong without feeling stupid.

“I believe she might show symptoms of having some type of personality incongruence. “

“What?”

“It is difficult to judge. There may be things that she does or ways that she acts that she simply can not help. It is no excuse, but it is an explanation. I've heard that there are some mixtures that can be taken to calm those suffering from this. Make them a bit more... Normal.”

“I don't want to **** my sister.”

“I don't want you to either. I think it's possible she is just stressed.”

“I think-” Jeane interjected into your conversation from behind.

“That the girl is acting fairly reasonably, given the circumstances.”

“I wouldn't say that.” Teuta uttered cautiously.

“She sounds a bit troubled. Ideally someone would try to talk to her and help her cope with whatever she is feeling.”

“That would be me?” You muttered.

“I could try. I am not just a physical healer. I am also meant to help the mental well-being of those aboard.” Teuta offered.

Jeane laughed. “The only issue is, I do not think that girl likes you at all, Priestess.”

“Well, what would you do?” You asked Teuta.

“I would simply try to engage her in conversation. How she is feeling, what she feels about certain things or people. Based on the answers I can start to get a picture of what's wrong. It may just be something as simple as stress, or it could be something deeper. We wont know until we talk to her.” She stared at you sympathetically.

“It probably can not be someone close to her like you, Hero. I feel as though she will say what you want to hear, rather than what she really thinks based on what you are telling me about what happened.”

“I will speak to the girl. I think that she and I are similar in some ways. We could bond over how much we dislike most of the people aboard.” The Elf smiled.

“G-great.” You uttered nervously, leaning in to whisper to Teuta.

“Is that good?”

“It- It is not 'not good.'” She admitted nervously.

You sighed. “Thanks guys.”

“No problem.” Teuta said brightly.

“We are here to support you both.”

“Huh?”

Jeane nodded. “The plan is to simply allow powerhouse Heroes such as yourselves to act as the primary enforcers for most of what we are trying to do. We will provide support as needed, but for the most part it is up to the both of you to subjugate, protect or otherwise 'conquer' and collect whatever we find.”

“That's a lot of pressure.” You stated.

Teuta shot Jeane a look. “It is why we don't say that to you directly. Do not feel like you have to do everything. All it means is that you Heroes have the agency to guide our contact with whatever we find. You can act as you see fit.”

You broke off from the two girls and headed towards the duck. Fiona emerged. “Your turn. Nothing happened, basically.” She stared past you at Teuta and Jeane.

“What were you up to?”

“I was discussing how our contribution works to the mission.”

“Oh.” Fiona seemed satisfied by that.

“Yeah. The gist is, 'we are not in charge, but we are basically in charge.' I gathered. Feels good to have that much power over others, and our own actions, right?”

“Yeah?” You nodded.

“I should- I should get down there and check up on Mom.”

“Glad you're taking this seriously.” She commented proudly.

You descended into the ships innards. The huge vessel that was just one of an entire fleet was five full story's, which included the above deck floors. . The Orran ships were like nothing else of their class to begin with, however the fleet was designed for long voyages carrying many, many individuals. Not all willing. You descended the first set of stairs, then the second to the second story down. The Office and room your mother occupied was in a more lavish section of the ship while you and your sister's rooms were above deck. You found your Mother's door and were about to knock when you heard her say.

“For the last time, I do not enjoy your company. Stop pursuing me so persistently. This is a professional relationship, nothing more.” You smiled and listened, hearing that your mother was turning the man down so affirmatively. You let it go on and listened closely.

-

“I know you don't like me, Mare, but what I'm proposin' isn't to be together, it's to solve each others problems.”

“I promise I have no idea what you are talking about.” The woman stated firmly. She was working while she spoke, sorting out records and maps and cross-referencing those with the details her husband provided.

“How long have you been without a man?”

She rolled her eyes. “If I tell you how long I've waited, you should take it to mean I can wait that much longer without any issue.” Sam paused to stare at her triumphantly. He licked his lips.

“What?” She put down what she was doing and stared at him in acknowledgment for the first time in the conversation.

“You said 'wait.'”

“Oh for- A slip of the tongue. That doesn't mean-” She argued in exasperation.

“What're you waitin' for?”

“Never mind that.”

“You say wait, but you ever even feel like a woman? Guy couldn'ta been a big one.” Sam coaxed.

“Not speaking about that with you.”

“Did he even make you feel like a woman?”

She sighed and bit the bait. “What do you mean by that. What in your small mind does 'being a woman' mean?” Marrien stopped fully and waited, leaning back comfortably in her chair. She even crossed one leg over the other in her sensible dress and rested her hands on her lap.

“Can I take this as you bein' curious?”

“You can take this as me asking a question and you failing to answer.”

Sam chuckled. “Sharp! Sharp mind, sharp wit. But... I'm guessin' he never challenged you much, huh?”

“Still waiting.” She rolled her shoulder in a bored gesture.

“Bein a woman means you're the dumbest, most fragile thing in the room when your man's in it. Even when you're not.” He explained simply.

“I give you a present, by bein' with you, sweetheart.”

“And what might that be?”

“Loss of control.”

Marrien snorted lightly and covered her mouth. “What?”

“Loss of agency. Loss of credit. We're gonna play a little demo, Marrien.” Sam stated.

“Explain to me what you're doin'.”

“I had the idea to cross reference all of the historical and clerical information we had to try and better determine which information is most-”

“I had an idea.” He interrupted. Marrien stopped and stared incredulously.

“How about you cross reference all the info to better guess what's correct and what isn't?” He grinned at the stunned woman.

“You just-”

“Ah ah..” He wagged his fat finger at her.

“What you're gonna do is you're gonna smile like a good girl, you're gonna look at me and you're gonna say: 'That is a real good idea, Sam.'”

“But-”

“No but's, honey. Be a good girl and just humor me.”

She blushed and reluctantly stated. “That is... A very, very good idea, Sam. However did you come up with it?” Her tone dripped with sarcasm.

“No sass.” He stared her down.

“It's fine if you hate it. Stew in it. Just thank me and give me credit.”

She rolled her eyes, then genuinely offered. “That... That is a very good idea. Thank you, Sam, I'll get right on that.”

“Isn't that fun, Marrien.”

“Fun? Is what fun?”

“That's mine, now. It's my idea. You were too stupid to have it yourself, isn't that right?”

“That's not-”

“Relax. We're still playing, remember? Play along honey, I know you're not really that slow.”

“I-” Marrien gulped.

“I could never have come up with that on my own. Thank you, Sam.”

“So.” He announced.

“What's fun is, I just changed reality. When people look back through history and read about this moment, if they ever do... Hell, if anyone asks, you're the sweet girl that jotted down my idea and acted on it.”

She shook her head. “Experiment over. That is not going to happen. I-”

“Let it go.”

“What?”

“Let this one go.” Sam grinned.

“Just one little idea. One little humiliation. Practice letting it go.”

Marrien cocked her head to one side. “Practice...” She shook it off.

“No.”

“Come on...” Sam coaxed with a wide smile.

She took a deep breath and gave in. “Fine! It is your idea. It was. I never could have come up with it. Thank you. Let us please drop this.”

“How'd that make you feel?” He probed.

Marrien brit her lip lightly. “Small... Dumb...” She and Sam both looked up as a knock suddenly shook the door.

“C-come in!”

-

“Mom?” You tried to act as if you had not heard any of that.

Marrien smiled. “Yes? What is it.”

You furrowed your brow as you glared at Sam. He stared back at you knowingly. He stepped back, as if he was fully intent on letting you do whatever you wanted.

“What are you... Working on?” You asked hopefully. Your rational was that a steel weakened could be tempered. So you would get her to admit it was her idea, or she simply would and it would turn back Sam's efforts.

Marrien offered you a quizzical look. She blushed, then glanced to Sam briefly. She smiled subtly and guiltily. Your heart sunk as she said.

“Sam had this fantastic idea to cross reference your Father's notes with other historical accounts to try and find the most accurate information.”

“No...” You let slip a low whine.

“What was that?” Your Mother asked.

“He must be tired. Lemme talk to him, Mare.” Sam said forwardly.

“Oh-” Before she could say anything he was guiding you out into the hall. He closed the door and placed a hand on either of your shoulders. You stared up at him defiantly, but the next thing he said shook you quite hard.

“Sincerely... There is nothing you can do.” The man almost sounded sympathetic.

“I promise you right now, what I'm gonna do to her is break her down and make her mine. She's gonna place me above you two, but she'll still love you.” He shrugged.

“She's not gonna be a different woman, just a different Marrien. But that's the same for most relationships, y'see. If you let it happen I can leave you two alone. I can maybe even be a good Dad. How'd that be? You should let your sister know and tell her what's goin' on. Go ahead and tell your Mom I said this if you want. It'll only get her going. I can tell what kinda woman she is by how she reacted. There's no stoppin this now, get it?” Your jaw had dropped. He had said it all so frankly and directly. There was no subtlety. The message was clear. Your Mother was his, but she could still be yours in some sense.

“There's worse things in this world than me, Kid.” He ended by saying.

You tore away from him and entered the room. “Mom!” You considered telling her, but decided to simply subvert him in other ways. You would spend time with her, just as you and Fiona planned.

“Yes, dear?” She smiled brightly while subtly craning her head to see where Sam had gone.

“I think it's really nice of you to give him credit, but... We both know it was your idea.”

Her cheeks flushed. She chuckled awkwardly. “It was that obvious, huh?”

“Yeah... So, how does this affect our trip?”

“Well... we can use this new data to chart a more 'sure' path. Or we can potentially chase these islands that your father claims exist, but are not actually there. We can only pick one, reasonably. He spoke about a large desert land that should not have been as invisible as it was. There, Mythical folk with bronze skin and long dark ears apparently rule their domain and construct complex structures in the sands out of very little. He talked about them being female dominated, for the most part.”

“Okay... And the sure thing?”

“Your Father's notes suggested that there was an island chain where, the moment he got close he was chased off by low, thin boats filled with monstrous Mythical men with hunched posture, wide grins and sharp white teeth. He could hear their cackles as he lost them in the deeper waters. Our own records show something like that.”

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