Captain Hawkins

"Excellence at what you do, is the best deterrent to sexism, dear child".

The city was brimming with life that afternoon. Merchants, Mercenaries, Army Recruiters and Civilians all mingling together, clotting the streets, especially around Old Town and the newest pub, the Shady Lady. The atmosphere was light and cheerful, almost made one forget there was a war going on in some alternate dimension of another planet.

Adelint was among those that wandered the cobblestone streets that afternoon, her mind was cloudy and there was a faint, dull thumping in the back of her head, courtesy of her hangover. Everything was annoying and bothering her, not even the harbor's relaxing sounds and surroundings were enough, so she settled for a pointless stroll. She could already see what she would be doing the evening to come, it was what she knew best, after killing – Drinking and smoking in local taverns.

Her feet led her inside the Cathedral Square, for whatever reason that was. She normally hated that place. Well-dressed nobles and recruiting officers for either the army or other organizations plagued the place, but at least she wore clean clothes that afternoon. She grinned as she kept to her thoughts about last night's bar fight, until she stopped abruptly before a noticeboard, a particular poster ripping her away of her musings.

"Gee I wish was a man to enlist in the navy!" read the poster featuring a pleasant female that could only be described as a home staying wife, wearing a traditional, simple dress.

Anger, disgust, frustration; a torrent of unpleasant feelings rose up to her head and she tore off the poster, stomping further in the Cathedral's premises, her amber eyes looking about for the characteristic uniform that belonged to the Navy. It did not take long to find the culprit. There he was, a man in his prime, donning the uniform navy officers did, idly sitting against a fence. His face was obscured by the book he was reading; "1000 and 1 days of annoying the Tirasians".

She sized him up in mere moments. Clean, ironed uniform, streaks of grey through his hair, no wedding ring and polished shoes. Just as she had thought he would be – Near fifty, unwed, uptight and either of noble birth or belonging to the higher classes. Positively emetic, she thought.

"Are you responsible for this atrocity?!" Adelint practically screamed at him from a distance, shaking the ripped poster and interrupting his pleasant laughter. He lowered the book, looking towards her and smiling politely. Emerald green met bright amber and she was surprised by the man's calm demeanor.

"Why yes, my dear, I dare say I was the one who made it, in fact." Came the bass, accented voice.

Lovely, she thought. A Gilnean and a heavy smoker at that. This man would be the death of her, she knew there and then. If she did not stab him and get hanged, she would do other, worse things to him, or with him. She mentally slapped herself and recovered from the mesmerizing, beard-defined smile trance.

"What is this nonsense, what is your problem with women, you Gilnean clown?!" she shrieked at him again, causing the man to close his tome and stand to his full height, approaching her.

He was practically towering over her and was slightly intimidating, but it was not the first nor the last that she faced. She could kill him in an instant, he would never see it coming from the likes of her, and she would-

"Problem? Why, there is no problem if I may say so, my dear. In fact, I adore women! They are beautiful, graceful, full of love and joy." he said, hands locked behind his back as he circled about her like a vulture, sizing her up.

"It just so happens, that they are not meant for war!" came his overjoyed conclusion and he stayed his ground, looking at her with gentle eyes.

She stood there, dumbfounded, staring at him for a few long moments in uncomfortable silence, which evidently he did not mind. Then she started chuckling. Tears started streaming down her eyes as she erupted in a hysterical laughter, earning a baffled, arched brow from him.

"You know…" she said with effort in between her laughter, earning his attention once more. "I am willing to bet with you, that I can do a better job aboard your ship than the rest of your sailors."

That is where she had caught him unprepared. He blinked, looking at her with his thick brows furrowed, evidently in disbelief. "I see" he finally said, rubbing his bearded chin thoughtfully and one could say, hesitantly.

"Oh what's that, Captain? Are you actually afraid that I will prove to you that your bigoted views are wrong and shatter your world theory?" she pushed, offering a lopsided, impish grin, knowing fully well it worked and she was fighting a winning battle.

"Miss you d—"he tried to excuse himself, a loud whistle and a man waving from the distance interrupting them.

"Eeeeey Capitano, how's it going? Got yourself a wench already?" his gravelly voice said, earning a snort from Adelint.

He was dressed in traditional sailor attire, his skin was dark and his head bald, chin covered by a dark grey beard. But she knew where to look to see a man's demeanor, and it was not his clothes nor his appearance choices. Narrowed, shifty and cruel, his eyes darted across her form, making his sordid grin even more unsettling. Her distaste of him must have been evident, as he leered and raised his brows suggestively, causing her to cringe away.

"Ah mister Gavin!" came the warm voice again, seemingly happy to see the cringe worthy individual. "Just as I was about to tell this young lady here why the navy is not for her."

Adelint snapped out of her Gavin-loathing trance, relocating herself in order to have them both in her field of vision. With a quirked brow, she silently questioned the Captain.

"You see miss, you would be an astonishing wife! You would undoubtedly mother handsome sons and brave fighters, with a spirit like that. With the right man, of course." He continued, smiling encouragingly. "However in the navy, men rarely are of high moral value, like mister Gavin here, making your safety something I cannot ensure."

Adelint looked at them both, before laughing dismissively. "I assure you, Captain, if your men wish to perish without a physician and surgeon to watch them, they can try. But I am more than capable of taking care of myself." She said, her words pointed more towards the lecherous man.

Something shifted inside the Captain, his gaze casted downwards momentarily and his shoulders slumping. Both Gavin and Adelint shared a look with each other, baffled as to what the cause of the sudden attitude change was. With a faint shrug, Adelint sniffed dismissively and turned her back, hands shoved within the tight confines of her loose pantaloons' pockets. "Right then Captain, enjoy your evening." She threw over her shoulder, striding away.

"Miss!" the Captain yelled, as if awakened from his trance, realizing he did not even know her name. All he knew was that he had seen those eyes full of fire before and how fast that fire was extinguished. "I ah—don't know your name, it is common courtesy to—"he tried to explain and recompose his calm self, clearing his throat one too many times, but was interrupted by the hoarse, female voice.

"Adelint. Adelint Sordelle." She said without hesitation, taking a few paces towards the man's direction once more, a faint, satisfied smirk pulling at the edges of her lips.

"Miss Sordelle…" he said the name once, realizing his hand was still extended to her general direction. He cleared his throat once more, fixing his jacket and assuming his military-esque pose, hands locked behind his back. "It has a nice ring to it. Regardless, if you think you are up for it, mister Gavin will demonstrate you the worst of attitudes you may encounter on board. If you think you are up for such challenge, then I would gladly take you ah—On board, yes." He said hesitantly once more, clearly mister Gavin's persuasion against this decision was the only thing he had left before submitting to the female's persistence.

With a dismissive scoff and a shake of her head, she motioned for them to lead the way. "Ladies first" the captain stated, earning an eye roll from Adelint who set to follow Gavin.

"So Miss Sordelle, what sort of experience do you have, as a surgeon and physician? Your job will be under severe pressure." He stated, walking by her side with his hands locked behind his back, eyes staring forth.

She merely snorted as a response. 'Poor, poor, Gilnean fool.' She thought, closing her eyes briefly as images flashed through her mind. 'Under pressure, my ass.' She cursed inwardly, as she recalled her times in her previous occupation; men without limbs, screaming for death to embrace them, poisons that granted a slow, agonizing death, diseases… A swift death was a commodity.

"Worry not, Captain." She said in a neutral tone, a faint frown casting a shadow over her amber eyes. "I have been born and bred for stressful situations, pressure is no stranger to me."

She was far too occupied to realize that she was grimacing heavily due to the memory and that the Captain was looking at her with his bushy brow elevated, curiosity glinting in his emerald eyes.

All thoughts and memories were dismissed with a sniff and she went about making a story up, about her time in the army, twisting and turning the fabrics of her memories, so they would fit the criteria of the man before her; she was excellent at doing that. She finished with a faint smile and a pang of guilt coursed through her veins as those emerald eyes watched her every movement and believed her every word. Then again, she was also great at dismissing her guilt very easily. 'There's no lie in what I said… Apart from me being in the army of course.' She mused to herself, walking with the man by her side. 'I just doubt you would appreciate my actual line of work in the battlefield, Captain Hawkins.'

The discussion between them lasted a while, just not enough. Moments of silence were shared between them, yet Hawkins seemed very comfortable in that silence. Once they reached the tailor's shop, after her signing was completed, it was her turn to don the navy's uniform. It was no problem, truly, it was not the first time she would don a uniform and certainly not the last. Albeit this time, one would be specifically tailored to her and only for her. As the Good Captain Hawkins gestured for her to go in, always a gentleman, her eyes darted about the Shop.

A lovely, and wifely, woman beamed at her, smiling politely to Hawkins. They knew each other, Adelint determined immediately, a faint grin making its way to her lips as she caught her old habits making their way to her mind once more. "Mister Hawkins!" she squealed and tore the brooding Surgeon-to-be from her musings, earning a grimace and a warm smile from Adelint and Hawkins respectively.

With brief explanations that sounded more like orders, the tall woman, clad in undoubtedly expensive robes, danced around and about Adelint, measuring and sizing while humming some obnoxious, jolly tune. 'Why am I even annoyed?' Adelint frowned to herself. The entire day had surely taken an unexpected turn, but she got it her way in the end – Like always. With a deep sigh, she eased the frown off her face and surrendered herself to the sound of miss Melissa humming, cutting and sewing onto her form.

An obnoxious hour later she was ready. Despite how much she disliked that wifely, dutiful and cheerful woman, she had to admit she was a splendid tailor. The uniform felt like a second skin to her and once she laid eyes to her reflection, she was hardly able to recognize herself.

Adelint took a deep breath, searching for words to compliment the tailor. "Marvelous!" came in the bass voice that she had learnt to recognize as Hawkins'. His footsteps made the wood creak as he circled her like a vulture again – No, like a Hawk. He extended his calloused hands, fixing her cravat accordingly, a faint smile made evident behind his beard. "If every woman looked like you in uniform, Miss Sordelle… I daresay I would consider recruiting them!" he said, his pleasant laugh ringing out again, conjoined by the tailor's high pitched giggle. Adelint was merely left staring, wondering if the man had ample amounts of sarcasm in his words or if he genuinely had a bad sense of humor. She offered a grin as a response to the 'joke', silently deciding the latter was most likely the case. Bloody Gilneans.

She had met the Lieutenant and the midshipman that day, Sir Damian Rodgers and Mister Christopher Remmington. The first was an uptight Gilnean man, much like Hawkins, while the latter was a more laid back and pleasant fellow, always smiling, which made his mutton chops look borderline comical. Hawkins had proceeded to apologize to them for hiring a woman, earning a stern nod from the Lieutenant and a wicked grin from the midshipman, while Adelint herself was suppressing her murderous instincts.

As they paced through the streets and down the harbor, the hair on the back of her neck pricked and she had this nagging impression someone was watching her intently, a gift and a curse really. She narrowed her eyes and her hand silently and nimbly closed about the handle of her dagger. Her head turned ever so lightly, the pleasant façade still plastered on her face while her hawkish eyes scanned the area for the 'offender' – But she saw nobody. She continued walking and with a dismissive sniff she looked forth again, catching a glimpse of raven hair and a red sash in her peripheral vision. She smirked, knowing all too well who it was.

And frankly? She was slightly disappointed she did not get caught earlier.

(I own nothing recognizable, it is all property of Blizzard entertainment.)