Old Acquaintances (Murdoch + Nel)

[Murdoch]

It wasn't so much that the thought of Nel pillaging was impossible to conjure. Just that it was exceedingly enticing. He was, at base, a street rat, and did like a woman who knew how to slit a throat. But he kept that particular leer under wraps. For now. Wouldn't do to get her spooked now.

He reached over and trailed a fingertip through a bit of sauce left on her plate, then stuck it in his mouth. "Of course," he chuckled as he rolled the taste around his tongue a moment. "No bad thing to drop so much gold if you're only staying one night, right? They've got good, soft beds for it, though, don't you worry. I'll put in a good word for you with Jazmin, make sure you're well taken care of. Anything for Sy's little sister," he said with a gracious tilt of his head.

Yep. Aaaanything. Mr. Helpful, right here. No Doctor in the house.

[Nel Sayo]

"Right, yeah," Nel agreed, with a seemingly careless shrug. Just one night. One. Night. And then she'd go...elsewhere. Somewhere. Else. "Beats a hammock on the ship, no kidding."

She smiled at him, the first since he'd walked over. Just a flash, not even the full wattage, but this girl's smile was enough to brighten even the bleakest room. Sy always told her not to smile at people she didn't know, because it made her seem too inviting, too friendly, too easily overtaken. And though it was clipped for Murdoch, just at the edges, it was like a flicker of lightning across a sky thickened with clouds.

"Thanks," she said quietly. He might have realized her feet were swinging a little where they dangled above the floor. "I appreciate it. Next big score, I'll tell Sy to bring it to you."

[Murdoch]

Her smile just deepened his own grin, making it go lop-sided and roguish. Aw, she was so adorable. Riiiight.

"You do that," he chuckled, draining another gulp of ale. "The gods know I could always use the money. Not that I'm hurtin', doll, but the wheel doesn't spin without the gleam of gold to egg it on. You get enough food? I think they've got some bread pudding in the back if you're especially charming," he added, his voice dropping to a whisper as if that were a great secret indeed.

[Nel Sayo]

"Oh, no I'm --" She pushed the empty plate away. "-- full."

Nel Sayo had never been full in her entire life.

Despite her size and stature, the girl could eat. Sy used to complain that at least half of every score they made went directly into her belly, though he could see no sign of where she might be putting it all. But she had her own money to worry about now, and nobody to tell her when to stop or how much to spend, so though her eyes widened a little with want when he mentioned the pudding, she shook her head and gave her tummy a pat, like maybe she could convince them both that it was true and she was just stuffed. To bursting.

"Hey, you know, if you've got stuff going on, you could just point me in the direction of that swan place and I'll get outta your way," she went on. "I don't wanna be a bother or anything."

Or get in the middle of anything he might be doing here. Like stealing stuff from people who'd probably want to stab him when they realized it.

[Murdoch]

He chuckled at that, shaking his head as he finished off the last of his ale. "No bother at all," he said with another grin, waving a hand for her to precede him. "Tell you what, I'll walk you over and make sure you're settled in. It's early yet, I can always come back," he said with a wink.

And then he deftly chauffered her out of her seat and towards the door, well-versed in escorting lovely young women through dark taverns. Only...

...as they passed by one of the tables where a couple of travelers were getting fairly far in their cups, the heel of his foot caught on one of the floorboards and he stumbled against Nel, sending her tumbling against one of the men as he caught onto the edge of the table for balance.

"Oh, shit, sorry, so sorry," he said, the apology clear in his tone as well, and straightened up to hold his hands palm-out in supplication. "My apologies, gentlemen, that was my fault. About time I got myself a new pair of boots, I'm afraid," he said with a rueful grin. In a moment he'd untangled Nel, apologizing all the while, and whisked her out the door.

And if they were missing a few of the mizas that had been on the table before he'd fallen against it, well, it was likely just something miscounted to begin with.

((OOC for Mod: Larceny 25/100 ))

[Nel Sayo]

Nel was well-used to being chauffeured and manhandled -- having an overprotective brother would do that. So she just let Murdoch round her wherever he would, and started walking.

Clumsy on her own, when he stumbled into her, she tripped over his feet and promptly landed in the lap of one of the travelers, with a startled squeak, and a flail of long limbs.

"Sorry, sorry--" Her apologies overlapped with Murdoch's, likely giving them more credibility, and she was already climbing out of the man's lap when Murdoch grabbed her and hauled her back to her feet. "--my bad--"

A little shaken, she may have instinctively crept closer to Murdoch's side as they exited the tavern.

And then she blinked, and looked up at him.

"How much did you get?" she asked.

[Murdoch]

"Oh, come now, little swan," he said, his face twisting into a perfect picture of wounded pride, "I can't imagine what you mean. I really must apologize to you as well, I can be terribly clumsy at times. And that poor fellow! Getting a lapful of you, tsk tsk," he said, brows drawing down as he made a little clucking noise.

But as they made it further out into the cool night air the expression disappeared, replaced by a laugh and a shrug. "I suppose I'm not as good as I thought if you saw me," he said, the laugh turning into a sigh. "Damn. Well, no matter. You're sure you're only staying the one night, though?" he smirked.

[Nel Sayo]

Utterly unimpressed by that wounded pride, and even a little annoyed by the tsk tsk going on, Nel's eyebrows shot upward and she stopped walking, and put out a hand.

"I deserve at least a third of your take," she decided, crooking her fingers at him as if to say: pay up. "Since they didn't even blink at you, 'cause they were too busy looking at me."

In truth, she hadn't seen him do it. But she'd risked the assumption, because her instinct told her that her chances were good if she guessed he'd gotten more than just a handful of the table out of that little display.

She ignored his question, whether or not it would just be one night, because she had no actual answer.

[Murdoch]

He gave a disbelieving snort at that and just kept walking, the same indolent lope that always characterized his steps.

"Let's claim that third as payment for a good word at the inn, shall we?" he called over his shoulder, a deep, rumbling chuckle following his words. Extorting a thief, indeed. And on his own turf! Ballsy, he had to give her that. But what he didn't have to give her was a single damn coin.

[Nel Sayo]

She scrambled to catch up to him, and get in front of him, walking backwards so that she could argue with him. Which was bound to see her trip and fall over something, but she ignored the risk in favor of getting gold out of him. She was a pirate, after all.

"Come on!" she cried. "That's way too high a price for a word, Doc. And frankly, I'd rather have the money, because I doubt your word's as good as you say it is."

Her heel caught on a cobbled stone and she stumbled, arms pinwheeling, but kept herself upright, and grabbed onto his arm both to halt his advance and to hold onto her balance.

"You said --" She jabbed a finger into the middle of his chest, eyebrows arching. "Anything for Sy's little sister."