Iale pounded unceremoniously on the door of the Book and Bell.

"OPEN YER HATCH," she bellowed. "We be payin' customers and we need a room!"

After a moment, a very disgruntled and sleepy Rum Ginny opened the peek slot on the door with a snap. It was more than a foot above Iale's head, so Ginny's bottle-green eyes glared at Angel and Lacey, who were standing behind the diminuitive pirate.

"Havakda!" she hissed. "We're closed, ye chen? You chips have any idea what time it is?"

With a skeptical look, Angel replied to the young-sounding watcher. "Tsk, you're tellin' me it's too late for you to make a good bit o' coin."

The woman crossed her arms and shifted slightly, all the weaponry around her body was getting a tad uncomfortable. At the moment she was carrying four pistols and three swords. She pulled her hood down further with a sigh.

Lacey grinned and thumbed the hilt of her sword. She winked at Ginny.

"Listen pretty, we ent causin' no problems. Jus' lookin' fer a room." She paused.

"Anyone tell ye, yer eyes are like little emeralds? So lovely."

Ginny gave the woman a funny look through the hatch, but unlatched the door and let them in all the same. They could see she was dressed in mismatched pajamas, and her red hair was mussed as though she had been awoken from sleep. She shrieked a little when she saw Iale.

"Oh, vrunta, sorry," she said, turning bright red. "Didn't see you there..."

Iale seemed disgruntled, but shrugged. The smell of the tavern was like music to her nostrils - mmm, rum. It was warm, and she felt her tiny body begin to thaw.

"We need a room," she said flatly. "And we won't be gettin' paid for another few days. Savvy?"

Ginny looked helplessly at Lacey and Angel. They looked pretty dangerous, and although Ginny was not easily cowed, it was late and she didn't feel like arguing and possibly swordfighting with anyone. "Er...I...guess that's all right..."

"Finally," The agitated pirate said as she pushed her way in. "Now... if you'd be so kind as to show us to a room, you can get back to your sleep." Angel wasn't tired per se, she had gotten plenty of rest on the ship. However, her muscles were still aching terribly from the spell she had cast earlier. She wouldn't mind kicking back and resting, even if it was on a pile of hay.

Lacey strode in after Angel, more sedately and swaggery.

"Now, now Red, no need t' get pushy with the lil' lass. After all, she did let us in." The blonde reached out and touched the tip of Ginny's nose with one finger.

"Ye are such a sweet lil thing. Do ye think some rum would be possible fer us girls? Ye know, fer the sleeping? Sometimes its hard t' get t' sleep after ye been runnin' around for days."

Ginny swatted her finger away, but didn't argue. Wasn't worth it. And she had been having such a nice dream, too...vaguely, in the corner of her mind, she realized that Angel was a galdori. Probably not the type that would peg this as a resistance hideout, but definitely trouble.

She pulled a bottle of rum from the pantry and shoved it towards Lacey. "Here," she said, "and don't think I don't remember you. We didn't have regular meals for a month after payin' for all that damage. If you lot are gonna raise hell, do it at the bloody Paper Tiger next time."

Glaring, she stalked off up the stairs.

Lacey watched Ginny go with a slight frown, bottle in hand.

"Aww, come on now lass, we ent gonna break anythin' this time! Honest!" Turning to look at the other two women she grinned and shook the bottle.

"Well girls, how's about we have a lil game of sit an' drink? I want t' hear what ye have been doin' with yerself DuPont, since our last encounter. An' yer story Red, let's have a chat. This Demcay..Demkaih..this fellow ent goin' anywhere. We can come down an' ask pretty Ginny about him tomorrow mornin', erm, afternoon. I'm sure a smart lil girl like that would know somethin'." She sat backwards on a nearby chair and pulled the top from the rum bottle, took a swig and passed it to Iale.

((I've started a thread for the 11th, but it would be kewl if the girls spoke a bit in here too. i know, dual thread ftw.))

Iale took it gratefully.

"Arrrrr," she sighed, putting her tiny boots up onto the table (they had to stretch to reach) and leaning back. She took a swig of rum, and the swig quickly turned into a marathon chug before she passed it to Angel. "I can't abide the dry land, lassies. I feel a mite unstable, like Vita's spinnin' and I might slip off. On th' water yer fluid-like, never stuck...bet it's the same in the air, eh, Angel? But I wouldn't know meself, never set foot in one o' them flyin' contraptions..."

Angel landed herself in a quasi-comfortable looking chair and sighed. It wasn't great, but it would do. "Well, I s'pose the air is quite similar to the sea, though it's sum'thin between earth and water. The skies are like an unending ocean and just as treacherous. Currents rove the air above just as in the sea, and can be even more dangerous for their fickle, whimsical nature. Channels and currents in the ocean you can track, but the skies are ever changing with fronts, temperature waves, and seasonal changes.

Taking the bottle she took a gulp of the liquid. "Mugroba is where the sky pirate's money is made. Their main mode of transportation is air, leaving travelers ripe for the picking. There's nothin quite like the feelin of a fleet of Skypirates hitting an aeromerchant caravan... I s'pose y'could say we're a bit like the bandits that haunt the roads down 'ere on the ground."

"Aye, but 'tis the work of a moment to shoot a ship from the skies," said Iale, grinning mischievously. "Me old ship the Precipice, it'd take more than an errant bullet to pierce her hide. 'Twas requisitioned by a golly of great repute, an' she slid through the old sea like a knife through silk, all poetical an' the like."

Reaching into her coat, Iale pulled a wad of tobacco from her pocket and chewed it thoughtfully.

"No junkheap o' a steamer could hold a candle to the open sea. Alas, me hearties, 'tis the direction the world is headed in, I fear. Sea trade is out, an' we're bein' replaced by puffin' metal monstrosities an'...an' balloons..."

Lacey had to give it to Iale, the Precipice was a good ship. Fast and strong. There had been many a time she had tried to steal it, but Joe knew better than to leave an idiot watching the ship.



The blonde shook her head.

"Arr DuPont, ye are wrong lass. The Laced Lady was the best ship I e'er knew, but when I had her rebuilt in Numbrey, it were like icin' on the cake. Lady might look big an' clanky, but she can drive her way through the strongest of currents, an' she's got this hull design, lets her go into shallow water's whare yer Precipice would ne'er survive. An' the weapons, ahh Iale, if only I could 'ave taken ye on her." She sighed, staring lovingly into space. Shaking herself, she pointed at Angel.

"But DuPint has a point. Them thare balloons, downright un-natural. People aint designed t' fly, it's fer the birds. One mistake an' yer plummetin' t' yer horrible, messy doom. At least on the sea, ye can swim and ye don't splatter when ye dive." Lacey hated heights, although she would never admit it to anyone ever. But anything higher than the crows nest of the Lady made her nervous.

"Bah, who asked either of ye anyways?" Angel petulantly passed the booze to Lacey and crossed her arms. "Those balloons're tougher than you give em credit for, and useful to blow up in a pinch--" at this she winked at them, leaving them to wonder just what she meant "--truth be told, I don't mind the seas a'tall, but there's nothing like dropping through a cloud onta unsuspecting prey. Aeroships have their dangers, but they're what it means to truly be free. There are no boundaries on the air, a boat can't go over land anymor'n a cart can float across the waves... at least for more'n a second."

"I'll give ye that," said Iale with appropriate respect. "I ent got no 'ead for machines an' the like. Must take a good bit o' skill to captain one o' them air vessels. D'ye get air sickness in yer passengers at all?"

"Aye, there've been a few, and I hear tell of other instances. The winds above can be just as choppy as the waves below." Angel said, tossing her head with a snort, "But I'd expect any crew o' mine to get used to the ship within three days."