The sun rose above the clouds, casting rays of sunshine down on the camp known as Bridge Control. Tropical birds began to sing their songs, acting as alarm clocks for the dozing men and very few women stationed there. Jason never arrived too early in the morning; he was unsure how awful or angry the exhausted pirates would be. But today, he found himself entering the camp in the early hours of dawn.
The jeep was parked just barely off the road opposite of the camp, and Jason slid out of the vehicle. The sun was just barely coming up and the air was crisp and cold. The Privateer uniform he wore worked well with keeping his body heat trapped inside. He stepped around a lazy bunch of snoozing dogs, and moved into the camp. What he found made him pause.
A good portion of men were awake, lounging around and sipping at mugs. The smell of coffee and chocolate hung about the air, rich and thick. A turn of his head, and he spotted Angus being tailed by a woman barely clad in anything. Her skin was the rich color of milk chocolate, her hair resembled the color of coconut shells, and her lips were lush and plump with smeared gloss covering them. Her thin, dainty little hands followed the Englishman as he stepped up the slope and towards the camp.
"C'mon sweetie." She cooed in her exotic accent; a light begging tone was laced in with her words. "I remember servicing your lovely friends, but you and that thin man are the only ones I missed. Just allow me to do so~ You're such a handsome man with a lovely accent-"
"Listen doll." Angus turned to the woman, crossing tanned arms over his chest. "This Asexual pirate does not want your booty. Or any booty." Jason had to slap a hand over his mouth to cover the loud snort of laughter that bubbled out from his lips. The woman continued to pout, but she didn't seem all that concerned when she all but skipped over to where Langley was.
Langley was sitting on a fold up chair, cradling a lightly stained mug in between his fingers. Dark bags hung under his eyes, a thick layer of stubble seemed far more prominent then it had been the last time he had seen him. Another snort of laughter when he saw the way Langley shooed the woman away when she approached. Although, she seemed pleased when she laid about on a thick blanket beside a man already covered with women. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the pirate as none other than Lewis. The man seemed pleased to find another woman curling beneath his arm.
"G'morning..." Langley yawned when he finally spotted Jason. "You're here early...like...really early...what time is it?" Langley leaned backwards in his seat, reaching a solitary hand out to grasp blindly for a clock on the table behind him. His hand closed around the item and the chair was rocked back onto all fours. "...5:30...jesus christ, Jason. You're never here this early. What's the special occasion?"
"Just thought I'd come over...spend the morning here? It's still a few days until the poker game at Hoyt's...and I've already dealt with all of Hoyt's things. So I'm just lounging around until then..." His shoulders rolled in a lazy shrug. "Most camps have been liberated...considering Hoyt would get suspicious if I didn't liberate your camp." Langley made a soft noise at his words, mug back up to his lips.
"Some camps around here? Or some a little further away?" Angus had come to a stop beside Jason, an orange and green, mud-covered mug in his grip. Jason's gaze switched to Angus when he approached and a second mug was held out to Jason. He didn't drink coffee, but he took it to not be rude. Finally, the burning scent of roasting animal reached his nostrils, and Jason breathed it in with a sigh of relief.
"I haven't done Break Point Docks." Jason pointed out; the coffee in his grip reminded him of home. The smell was just the same as the drink his mother would sip at in the morning. "Planned on doing the camp the day of the poker game." His fingers drummed lazily against the mug and Jason gave a small grin. "Yet...who knows how long it'll be until the Privateers try retaking the camps?"
"Took us a few hours after you took Camp Murder..." Langley remarked with a grin. "The Privateers are usually quicker than us, but when it comes to the camps, they don't take it all that seriously." His mug was set aside and a cheeky grin was given. "So it might be either longer or shorter. Or they might start when you're dead or gone." Angus nodded along with Langley's words, already taking his mug and heading off to find someone else to speak too. Langley waved Angus off and his gaze then focused to Hopper as the ginger-haired man stumbled over next.
"G'mornin..." Hopper cooed quietly, and Jason was shocked to hear Hopper speak with such a calm sounding voice for once. He took the mug Langley offered and brought the hot glass up to his lips to drink down the warm, dark liquid. "G'mornin' Jason." Hopper greeted and Jason gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Shockin' to see you here." Hopper's brow rose at Jason and the man smiled at the ginger-haired male. "You doin' something for one of us or-?"
"Just here to see how you lazy fucks get started in the morning." Jason grinned even wider at the glare Hopper gave him and the loud yawn from Randall drew their gazes over to the exhausted man. The scarred man rolled over to his side, and Jason briefly wondered why Randall was shirtless when it was freezing outside. The half-blind male then rolled onto his stomach, hefting large arms underneath his body and pushing himself up onto his knees. A mighty yawn left his lips, and Randall heaved himself up to his feet and trudged wearily past the trio towards Carlos, whom was cooking at the spittle.
"Lazy fuckers? I'm not lazy." Hopper pointed out, scratching at his messy ginger hair with a crinkle in his nose. "I've been doing shit since I first came to these islands! I work harder than a lot of people here!" Mug up to his lips; some lazy slurping noises as he let the warm liquid pour down his gullet. "Shit...I may have taken over someone else's life, but I mean-"
"Wait...what?" That had caught Jason's attention, and a brown brow raised higher than the other. "You took on someone else's life? What...your real name isn't Hopper?" The ginger snorted.
"No? Hopper is an alias. Also the name of the man I killed." Jason looked at Langley, silently asking him if this was true. The man seemed all too content sipping at his own coffee, so he couldn't really see the look Jason was giving him. "Randall helped me take on the alias. I was never even supposed to be here." Hopper shrugged. "Do you wanna hear why I came here or-?"
"Yeah!" Jason yelled, but quieted down when a few pirates snapped at him to 'shut the fuck up." Langley and Hopper both laughed at Jason's enthusiasm, and Hopper set his mug aside. "I mean...if it's really okay to know?"
"Some pirates are more open than others." Langley put in with a crooked grin. "Hopper's sorta one of them." Hopper elbowed Langley in the side and the thin man fell silent, hands raised in surrender.
"I was supposed to be a Privateer." Hopper said in a tone that made Jason look even more curious. "Although, there was a Rakyat attack there at the briefing ceremony." He kicked the dirt with a booted foot. "I was one of three to survive, and Hoyt Volker never got to meet us." A large man passed Hopper and stopped beside Lewis. The scarred up back was all Jason needed to see to know that it was Randall. "The other two fled the island, and I moved on to North Island." Randall was then leaning over the shorter man, an exhausted look still on his face.
"And he met me." Randall hummed, but in his mug wasn't coffee. Jason knew that scent. It was chocolatey, and steam trickled up from the rim. "I found him and helped him disguise as one of the pirates. We offed the guy and had Hopper switch with him." A hand rested on Hopper's ginger locks and Randall ruffled them with a sneer.
"So...uh...what's your real name?" Jason asked, but Hopper shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"I"ve been using the name Hopper so long, I've completely forgotten." Hopper scratched at his chin, thinking it over. "Pretty sure it started with a M though." A lazy shrug and his mug was emptied into his stomach. "Jason...you've been standing there like that since you got here. You've got a mug of coffee and you haven't even drank from it."
"I'm not much of a coffee person. Angus offered it and I won't drink it." Jason glanced up, seeing Randall grinning ear to ear.
"I know that. S'why I drink the hot chocolate we get at General stores." He gestured to his own mug, and Hopper leaned forward to take the mug from Jason's hand, pouring the contents into his. The cup was set aside, and Jason's eyes glanced up to Randall.
"How'd you get here?"
"Nuh, uh." Randall shook his head. "I ain't an open book." A ringing bell came from the spittle's, a sign that food was ready to be served. "And it ain't much of a story..." Randall watched Hopper and Langley both scramble off towards the fire pits, wanting to be fed. "Besides...my tales of the battles I've fought are far more exciting." Jason followed behind Randall as the pair moved towards the spittle. The dogs were already crowding around at everyone's feet, begging for their own share.
"Foster!" Carlos yelled in greeting. Wondering why Carlos used his alias name, his eyes flicked to the side curiously and he spotted McDuvan talking with Lewis, whom was still laying on the ground covered in woman. Lewis was not much to look at; why the hell were women always hanging over him? When the smell of food reached the girl's noses however, they abandoned the man in favor of filling their bellies. A tray was held out to him, a large slab of what appeared to be buffalo laying on it. Jason took the tray from Carlos with a thankful smile and he stepped away.
When he found Langley, he was sitting with Randall and Hopper. Beside Hopper was Angus. The Englishman was constantly poking and prodding at Lewis, whom was still laying down, but at least the Molotov man was awake now. Jason was at least pleased to see he was wearing clothes. Looking around the small circle, Jason bristled slightly about how real these people looked. Instead of a loud bunch of murderous, party-animal pirates, he saw normalcy; he saw a family, and the humorous thought of Rock and Clause being the parents made him laugh.
"Come sit with us you loser!" Randall called to him and Jason trotted closer. Maybe he should come visit more in the morning. If only to feel normal.