Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 13 2008, 01:52 PM
Gioia yawned widely, the motion making her wince a bit since Giles skull made all normal movement rather awkward if not painful.

Now that she and Neely didn't sleep in the brig anymore, she had to get up earlier, but at least being in Giles skin meant that she didn't have to spend all day starving.

No, instead she could settle for a bit of water and some bread, and go hunt down Neely.

She needed to talk to the man. If only she could stop yawning.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 13 2008, 02:02 PM
Neely was getting used to his partner waking up hungry, and met her in the galley without too much surprise. "Morning." He rubbed a hand down the side of his face. Marcello's hair had reached a stage that could only be called critical rumple. "I have no idea how the hell Judith keeps this up."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 13 2008, 02:06 PM
"Keeps what up? Keeps control of the ship in the face pf this chaos? I don't know, I find it rather interesting." Gioia smiled at the man, sipping the tea.

"Your hair." She stifled a giggle, so very much Gioia despite Giles face. "It looks like you've been attacked my some small animal that is chewing on your head."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 13 2008, 02:09 PM
"I meant how she lives on this ship. In general. I know she claims there's been years she never set foot on land, and I have no reason to believe she's exaggerating, but my God." He threw himself at a chair across from her and ran his fingers through his hair. "And your face wants polishing," he told her nicely.

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 13 2008, 02:13 PM
"Oh, the space? It is a bit cramped, isn't it? But the smell..." She smiled again, cupping the tea in both hands. "I think if the sea is your friend it is no barrier. if you know you can just drop down there and sink it's no different from living in a forest."

She seemed rather enamoured about it herself.

"I had a visitor last night." She touched the plate a bit self consciously. "Morgan. Former lover. Apparently he wanted to get together again." She rolled her eyes.


Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 13 2008, 02:19 PM
"This ship has an amazing number of people who appear able to get on and off without anyone noticing," Neely said, but his expression was interested. "I'm impressed. Did he come out all this way and risk the wrath of the Witch just for that?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 13 2008, 02:23 PM
"Well, he's a mage. One of those reality hopping types that fears the wrath of nether god nor man? I suppose a sea-witch wouldn't be much of a deterrent. But I did tell him to go and introduce himself properly to her if he wanted to have contact me, I don't want him to skulk around in the dead of night like a thief."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Tha arrogance of the man. Coming back and thinking everything would be fine again if he just said he was sorry." The sigh was frustrated.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 13 2008, 02:26 PM
"This isn't the same Morgan as in Seth's-father-Morgan, is it?" He narrowed his eyes. "The one who when last I checked was in it thick with our grave-robbing friend?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 13 2008, 02:31 PM
"Yes. Yes the very same man." Gioia sighed. "He... " her eyes narrowed "You don't think he feigned interest in me because of some plot, do you? He's not exactly thick with that man, they were enemies. Even if they seem to be working together now. Ah, Saints, it is a mess. Enemies turned friends..."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 12:06 PM
"You're asking the wrong person," he said, smiling. "I think everything's a plot. What did he say to you? Did he ask you for anything that would make you think he was up to something else?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 12:16 PM
"No. Not really. He just seemed like he used to be you know? Like he knew me messed up, and still wanted me back. Oh Saints... men..." She groaned, leaning her plate in her hand.

"Oh, almost forgot. Good news" She flashed her hand, the ring gleaming there on Giles little finger. "Seth came through, Giles is now safe to the touch. And the kiss." She added the last with a little smirk.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 12:19 PM
Neely slapped a hand down on the table and laughed. "What is wrong with you people? The moment you can touch people again, you went off and found someone to snog, is that it? It's not just you. It's this whole ship. They're desperate even along sailors' lines."

He flashed her a grin, eyes twinkling. "How was it? Who was it, rather?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 12:21 PM
"What! I..." There was a faint flush on Gioa's cheeks. "Alright, Morgan kissed me. I wanted to see if he could do that. He's so very, very straight, and he jumped back like I had slapped him when I started getting hard." She had lowered her voice to a whisper at the last.

"Not that luck would have stopped me with him. He would have deserved it."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 12:26 PM
"Come off it, woman. He wouldn't have gotten close enough to kiss if you hadn't wanted him to. Nor would you have invited him." He looked amused at the whole concept. "So arrogance is no barrier. Do you miss him?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 12:32 PM
"Oh come off it yourself, if I had a problem with arrogance I wouldn't be your friend now, would I?" She winked at the man, then winced at the wink.

"And I like him well enough. But I think he wants things from me I can't give. Like a family. That's why I told Bonet the truth about me as well, he kept having the same look in his eyes. No matter what i would want, that's nothing I can do. Better not to be involved with people that would care too deeply about me then." She sighed.

"Still, he's hot."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 12:42 PM
"Bonet appears to have accepted that. If not accepted, at least understood it." He fixed her a look. "What was that? That whole thing about 'not getting involved in people who would care for you'? That's not the same advice you keep giving me. Are you the real Gioia, or do I need to brand you?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 12:48 PM
She fumbled in her pocket for a knife, and held it up. "See. Iron. and it's..." She cringed a bit.

"It's Morgan. He made me... Saints, the man spooked me badly. He... he wanted me back. He wanted us together. He wanted me to be a family with him and his two children. Children Neely..." Her voice was keen and aching "I can't even have children... ever. And he wanted me to be a part of that when he knew I would step on. There... there is already so much here I can hardly stand to lose."

Morgan had shaken the seemingly impregnable walls of good natured confidence she had built around herself.


Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 12:54 PM
Neely looked stunned--as if he didn't know how to respond. It was eerie. The reaction was there, but couldn't quite make its way to the surface. "Gioia."

After a moment, he stepped around to the other side of the table and put both his hands on the other man's shoulders.

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 01:01 PM
She leaned back a bit, the back of her head against Neely's stomach. "I'm alright. It happens sometimes. I try not to think about it too much. It is easier with other people's problems you know?"

Or perhaps he didn't.

"Ah, Saints... trust that man to complicate things. He's never thought about much than himself. But then again that is true for most men." She pushed away the tea.

"I think I've lost my appetite. Let's go somewhere. People are looking."

At least it felt like they did, though she knew it was probably just in her mind. That she felt so vulnerable.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 05:33 PM
With a small smile, he squeezed Gioia's shoulders once, then stepped away to allow the other man out of his chair. "No one is looking, save for perhaps the Puck, and even it will get bored with us after a time. Come on, you."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 05:47 PM
She rose, looking unusually rattled. Every movement a bit jerky, and none of her usual smooth smile.

"I don't mind the Puck so much. People are worse." She ran a hand through Giles hair, heading out of the galley and back below. This time of the day mostly everyone were on deck, but she continued down despite this, until she had reached the hold Giles had shown her.

Only then she halted, hunching down, resting her forehead against her knees. "I'll be alright soon. It happens sometimes."

It would be worse the longer she stayed, she knew that.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 05:50 PM
"Gods, man, are you all right?" Neely's eyes narrowed in alarm. He crouched down beside Gioia, one hand on the other man's back in case he keeled over right then and there. "Are you going to live?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 05:53 PM
She couldn't help but laugh a little there, looking up at Neely. "Aw... yes, I am going to be alright. It just hit me all at once, that must happen to you too sometimes, right? When all the walls you've built come crashing down. I am rebuilding now, just wasn't prepared for Morgan. Or his offers."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 06:00 PM
"It does," he replied, very quietly, and took his hand away. "Gioia. I had meant to ask you . . . and this is not an accusation in the least . . . Have you been speaking to the Countess?"

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 06:04 PM
"Yes I have." She slipped back, sitting down on her behind instead, resting her forehead against her knees. "And the queensman. Was working my way towards the princess and the captain as well. We are sailing into a war... if we don't at least trust each other not to stab our allies in the back, we are doomed."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 06:20 PM
"I know this," Neely replied in frustration. "I spoke to the girl. Spoke at her, rather. She was asking me about her grandparents. I was expecting to get that conversation eventually, but she took me off guard. I'm afraid I made a wreck of it."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 06:23 PM
Now she looked up at Neely, blinking a bit with a far too wet eye. "Seriously man? She came to talk to you? I didn't think she would work up that courage. She... doesn't seem to know how to be around you."

That made her little smile return. "We aren't thrown back behind lock and key, so you can't have made such a wreck off it. Sometimes the most honest explanations come when we are unprepared. What did you do then?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 14 2008, 06:35 PM
"The feeling is mutual," he said. "I don't know how to be around her, either. I knew she would come, and I knew she would ask. I can't be near her. Half the time I was looking for ways to shut her up."

He sighed. "I shouldn't do this. You have your own business."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 14 2008, 06:38 PM
"Shouldn't do what? Share? Sorry man, you are about the only person here I feel I don't have to put up a mask in front of. I'd be glad if that was mutual."

But she knew Neely's problems when it came to that. Knew them all too well.

"Why did you want to shut her up then? What was she saying that was so terrible? Or was it that you were worried that she was going to say anything in particular?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 05:18 PM
"She wanted to know about her grandparents. Simple enough question, save that I didn't have all too much to offer her; I hardly remember them myself." He frowned. "I shouldn't be angry with the child for wanted a father."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 05:22 PM
"Do... she reminds you too much of yourself then? It is like you said, you didn't know your parents much either. Maybe she is trying to get to you know as something other than a traitor..."

Gioia leaned back against the wall, watching Neely. She could still see the man shine through Marcello's skin so brightly.

"I... have been trying to think of her as a woman more than the Countess. Niabheara. It... is hard, she has almost as hard a stoneface as you at times. But she is more than a pawn. The more i talk to her she reminds me of..." She broke off with a smile, shaking her head as she realized perhaps Neely wouldn't be pleased with the comparison. Not pleased at all.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 05:29 PM
"She's a child, and a courtier. She strikes me as so damn eager to please. She can't stand the idea that there might be somewhere in the world a single person who doesn't like her." He rolled his eyes. "She's going to get herself into trouble with that attitude."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 05:32 PM
"Is that true? Maybe she just wants you to like her. At least it is better than not caring if everyone hates her, because this gives her allies. But then again, what do I know."

There was a soft laugh there, she had pulled herself together admirably by focusing on someone else. "So, does it feel better or worse after having a conversation with her that I presume wasn't ended by screaming and fights..."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 05:41 PM
"I sent her to bed. Three times. That's as near as I get to fatherhood." He laughed along with Gioia. "I'm having the opposite problem from you. I think I prefer her as the countess. The expectations are lower."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 05:47 PM
"I think you're just scared of saying her name. Niabheara. Then she'd be a person, and not just a title and an extension of your blood. You shouldn't be afraid of expectations, what's the worst that can happen? That you'll disappoint her more? I'm not sure that Is possible."


Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 06:00 PM
"Niabheara," he said calmly. "The worst that can happen is that I can fail her utterly. That's the worst that can happen."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 06:04 PM
"Then it wouldn't matter what her expectations on you were. Neely..." Her voice had gone soft again, as soft as Giles would go. "We are going to get through this somehow. If nothing else we have the power of unlikely fluke on our side. It makes things hard to defend against."

She scratched her neck a bit. "Does it bother you that I talk about it? I might talk too much at times. if I do, just tell me to shut up." She always talked when she had doubts.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 06:12 PM
"No. It would bother me no matter what the circumstances. She's my daughter." And he sighed. "Her idea of what that should mean is entirely different from mine. I can't begrudge the child from wanting to know something about her family that didn't come from a history lesson."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 06:16 PM
"You know that's the first time you've said that she is your daughter without getting that deep, deep frown on your face? And isn't that always the case? That people have different ideas what it means to be a parent. I.."

There was a brief hint of pain on her face, quickly shoved back "I left my parents when I was maybe... nine? There have been others that's been 'parents' after that, but they all are left behind after a year or so... and all the 'parents' I've had have been very different."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 06:25 PM
"You would be better to speak to her about this than I," he admitted begrudgingly. "Gioia . . . I can't. I tried, and I couldn't. I've been dreading that conversation for years, anticipating it, and when it was finally before me . . . nothing. I can't even bring myself to go near her."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 06:28 PM
"You're getting nearer to her now than before. You think you might want to give it a bit more time before you call it quits? Damnit man, nothing's gonna magically change out of the blue. You know that. I know that. But that doesn't mean nothing will change ever. Just... try not to stress about it. Stop avoiding her. You're lucky the queensman's been wearing your face, most likely she is getting more used to the look of you. Maybe you should..."

She broke off the moment she said it.

it wasn't smart to ask Neely go spend time with Elaine.

"You can't stop trying after not even a handful of tries. If we all did that, none of us would have gone from crawling to walking."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 06:48 PM
"Maybe I should what?" he asked. "I don't know how I'm meant to speak with her; I have no idea what I'm meant to be saying. Nor, I suspect, does she. We go on throwing conversational feints at one another and hope that something sticks in." He let out a small groan. "I know, I know. I realise I'm making excuses. And I also realise that it is completely . . . unacceptable of me to appear back in the child's life and suddenly start trying to be her father again."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 06:54 PM
"Well, at least you are feinting now and not making all out war. You're not going to be able to be her father like that since she is an adult, but you are family. Just try not to lose your temper and focus on the things you do have in common, even if you remember little. Like your parents, how Cnoch na Niall was... maybe tell her about the Unseelie? You have been there, right? And she will need them on their side... I think she might appreciate knowing a bit of how things are different from the Seelie. They don't hate you, right?"

She mused for a moment. "You are more like a rakish uncle with a bad reputation that drops in now and then and makes a scandal than a proper father I think."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 07:14 PM
"It's as much as I can try," he admitted soberly. "If I can keep her in the now, Gioia . . . I don't think I can deal with her asking about the past. I can't think about it. I've been avoiding it for years. I don't think she realises that it's not that I don't want to speak to her, it's because there are things she really doesn't want to know. Anything else would be better."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 07:22 PM
"Tell her that then. That you really don't want to talk about the past, not with anyone. That it's not her, it's you. And that you want to look towards the future instead." She heaved her back on her feet, walking over to the man.

"Saints Neely, the woman might be young but she's no idiot. Trust her to understand what you're saying and maybe she will, it's better than trying to make her second-guess you." She placed both hands on his shoulders, looking him in the face.

"I didn't think you'd speak a word to her without either of you shouting. This is already going a lot better than we both thought."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 07:44 PM
"She's not an idiot," he admitted. "But she is exhausting. And all is not lost: we did end up shouting for a moment or two, but we stopped very quickly. I think I frightened her." He shrugged. "Hell, I know I did. That was what I was intending to do."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 07:47 PM
"So, you stopped. That's good. Hope she realized that too. And yes, I am aware that I sound like an idiotic optimist... the queensman pretty much told me so but... I like being an optimist. It is better than being miserable."

Or thinking about a man offering things she could never have without ever realizing the cruelty.

"And to be fair, you can be exhausting too before one gets used to you." The smile was little and quirky.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Jul 15 2008, 07:57 PM
"Woman, you are the damndest thing," he muttered, and laughed. "I've done this to people before. You've got me talking about me so that you don't have to go on talking about you. Eventually, the conversation will turn back to it, you know."

Posted by: Giles Hartley Jul 15 2008, 08:05 PM
"You think I've spent all this time with you and learned nothing?" Gioia pulled her hands back and smiled.

"That being said, there's nothing we can say about this that will change anything. I'm alright. Really. And... oh saints, I forgot. I should find Alannis... I promised Key I should talk to her."

She got a slightly anxious look on her face.

"Talk to you later."

The second great evasive tactic... do something else. Somewhere else...