Angela stepped into the deck with bleary eyes, still somewhat shaken by the events that had just transpired, though she was somewhat taken aback by how busy the Splitstream was, a large number of burly harbormen shoving giant crates onto the deck as Captain Morrison supervised, an outstretched fingers directing the hired hands. She trailed toward her father, catching his attention with a smile before he turned back, speaking aloud in addressing his daughter.

"There you are," he began with a knowing smirk, "Must have tasted good, huh?"

Angela's eyes went blank as she came to a stop, her face devoid of emotion, leaving her father to return to her in confusion at her uncharacteristic silence, his brow curling unsurely, "…the whiskey, dear."

"Oh!" Angela piped up with relief, "Y-Yeah! I, uh, couldn't not finish it all!"

Her father watched her curiously, but disregarded the whole affair as he returned to directing the harbormen, "Line! Starboard side! Anyway, I was worried it might be too strong and you had to lie down or something; I warned you when Lena gave you the stuff, but the more the merrier, I suppose."

Jack reached down for a sack of coins he'd strapped to his belt, handing it toward Angela without looking, "We sold more than I expected, given our delay, so I figured we'd take on some more cargo on the way to Asia. We leave at the break of dawn, so here's your share of the primage for taking on the new cargo- feel free to go into town and spend it, save it, so what you will."

"Thanks," Angela spoke up with a smile, accepting the small satchel of coins, standing beside her father with crossed arms, "You need anything?"

He shrugged, "I have to stay aboard and keep everything in order. I believe Lena is running around helping, but with only a crate or two left, she'd probably enjoy you asking to go into town, so have at it. My quarters are stocked well enough for the journey."

"Alright," Angela replied with an upturned tone, "But don't blame me if I've got something neat and you've got nothing!"

Jack grinned, "I've my daughter aboard and she's proven herself quite the able sailor. I'd say that's nearer than anything you could ever find in town. Now get to it, okay?"

Quietly hiding a blush, Angela couldn't help but smile at her father's words, reaching over to give him a sidelong hug before walking off toward the bow of the ship, carefully meandering between teams of strapping men who were knee-deep in transporting goods onto the ship. Without much searching, she found Lena soon enough, the third mate crouching beside a large crate and scrawling upon its face with a inked tool to denote its destination.

"Hey, you almost done?" Angela asked quietly.

The third mate's lips spun in concentration as she finished up, "Yeaaaah, juuuuust aaaaa… Okay, that does it. What's up?"

Angela answered as she held up her satchel, "Captain's divvying up all our portions; I figured if you wanted, we could go into town and-"

"Would I?!" Lena shot preemptively, bounding up to her feet with a start, "You haven't a clue how long I've been waiting for a shopping buddy to come aboard! Nobody ever takes me up on the offer twice- How exciting!"

Angela very quickly felt a twinge of uncertainty hearing that, though she still followed along as Lena started her dash to find Captain Morrison for her share, finding him by the port side ramp with his attention buried in his handful of papers as he calculated figures in his head. Lena snuck up toward him, wanting to yank free her own satchel from his belt without bothering him, though to the Captain, it must have seemed a rather dubious act.

"Nobody likes a tea leaf, you know," Jack notes absently without looking up, earning a distasteful frown from Lena as she crossed her arms.

She responded with an unhappy voice, "Hey, no need to pin such a thing on me, Cap'n!"

Jack only smiled in kind, reaching down to nab another satchel from his waist to hand her without his sight, "Just go on, okay? You two have a good time. Don't stay out too late; we're up bright and early, shopping out at dawn."

"Yeah, yeah," Lena muttered as she buried her own attention, and nearly her face, into her satchel to count her coins, leaving Angela to be the respectful one of the two, the captain's daughter nodding obediently.

"Yes, father. I'll make sure this one gets the message, too," Angela answered with a mild smile, patting her friend's shoulder to denote her direction.

Captain Morrison nodded before the two exited, Angela carefully guiding Lena down the ramp as she was still busy counting, exclaiming as the two stepped onto the dock, "Damn! What a score! Whatcha getting' with your share?"

Angela shrugged, "I don't even know what we'll find there. I know you guys said everything's here, but-"

"Well, everything is here in Hawaii, but everything's in Singapore," Lena explained dutifully, raising a finger in instruction, "I wouldn't be shocked if most of the crew simply waits until then to part with their coin, but you and I, we know better…"

She reached an arm around Angela's shoulders, pulling her close and giving her a wink, "We know just how fleeting money can be, and we don't mind allowing its trade to come as naturally as the trade winds."

"Actually, I like to save up when I-"

"SO!" Lena interrupted, "Let us at least see their wares down at the marketplace. I'm not about to lose you, too, when it comes to the worldly art of shopping!"

Angela's face shrunk curiously, "Yeah, why don't the others enjoy shopping?"

"They do, just not with me for whatever reason," Lena shrugged with her lips tugging indecisively to one side, "I dunno, I guess I frighten 'em with my bargaining skills or something. Like, I brought Lu along one time and he was speechless; I bought me a replica statuette of some Ancient Greek artifact, and I managed to haggle it down just above my purse from, what, fifty doubloons? I was on it that day!"

"Wait," Angela muttered, her eyes wincing in thought, "just above your purse?"

Lena shrugged, "I mean, Lu had to contribute some of his own coin."

She began to laugh, "Like I said, he was speechless! I was so quick; my hand went from my side and grabbed some of his coins like a coiled rattlesnake! He didn't even know what to say!"

As Lena's cackling went on, Angela felt her hand tighten at her own satchel, finally piecing together enough to ascertain the other's disdain for shopping with this one. The two continued through the crowd before showing up at the head of the trading square just within the town's limits, the entire scene more akin to a carnival than a marketplace. There were lines of stalls where merchants showed off their wares, all sitting in a square that surrounded an empty sheet of stones that made up a rudimentary entertainment area, home to a few jugglers and magicians as Angela peered in their direction while following Lena along the open-air stalls.

"Ooooh!" Lena mused loudly, not two stalls in, ogling at an assortment of leather-worked garments all sitting in pretty rows, "Look at that sweater! I wonder how cold it'll get along the way…"

Feeling slightly obligated to remain within Lena's general vicinity, given the invitation, Angela allowed her fingers to lift and slide away different garments in front of her, perusing until Lena either discovered the prices or merely lost interest, the two advancing toward the next stall in line.

"One time, I found a wooden snake!" Lena recalled with enthusiasm, "It was a string with wooden cylinders attached along it to make it slither. I'd hoped to find it again since I couldn't afford it, but I've never come across one since. I try not to let anything escape from me now; who knows when you'll- rain sticks!"

She pounced to the next stall, vigorously grasping the lengthy stick that had been hollowed out and filled with versions bits, allowing Lena to spin the thick staff around and listen to its contents falling through along its insides, emulating rainfall somewhat. She gasped with delight, holding the large stick to her ear and nodding approvingly, almost as if the sound was lulling her into a separate world entirely.

"Ahh, there's nothin' quite like these," she mused with a contented smile, "Wanna try?"

Angela nodded curiously, taking a separate rain stick and following Lena's motions from a moment earlier, smiling lightly at the desired effect, "Wow, these are nice. Are you gonna get one?"

"Pfft, I've got, like, twenty," Lena proclaimed rather proudly.

As if she should have expected as much in the way of odd facts about this woman, Angela bit her lip with slight incredulity before returning her stick to the basket it had come out of, Lena doing the same before the two went about their exploration.

"Hey," Angela spoke up suddenly, Lena's attention having gone unabated for long enough for her to ask a question, "You know that dress-"

Lena whipped around, "Who was it for?!"

Angela groaned, "Nobod- I mean, I had an idea of somebody, back home, but you know… Look, you know I'm, uh-"

Her eyes peevishly turned toward the crowd surrounding them, hoping Lena would catch her drift without her having to speak it aloud. After a cursory glance into the distance as she thought, Lena nodded attentively, much to Angela's delight.

"Yeah! I like meatballs in my spaghetti too, but sometimes it's nice getting the unaltered noodles with some butter," Lena smiled gleefully, though it only led to Angela covering her face with embarrassment as the third mate nearly salivated at the thought of food, "Speaking of, I wonder what food they have here…"

She turned an eye over her shoulder toward Angela, offering a wink, "I'll make sure we find one serving spaghetti and meatballs, don't worry."

"No! No- Lena!" Angela shouted, desperately grasping Lena's arm before she could run off, the third mate's curious glare meeting Angela's desperate face.

Frowning, perhaps at being unable to seek food, Lena replied weakly, "Whaaaaat? I'm dying here!"

"Well how do you think I feel? I've got something big weighing on my mind," Angela returned, a slight tremor in her voice, "Look… You knew I had…a girlfriend before we left on this trip, right?"

"Pfft, oh yeah," Lena shrugged, though her expression suddenly turned in a knowing fashion, "Aaaaah, so that's who the dress was for. Sorry; I didn't mean to sound like I was- Well, 'accusing' isn't it. Sorry for suggesting you had a boyfriend or something; I usually just assume-"

"No, it's no big deal, really, I just- I mean, you are, uh…right?"

Lena's eyes narrowed as her thoughts trailed, along with her attention span, her mind churning heavily like a steam engine as she worked through subtext, finally concluding with a devious sort of grin, "Angela Morrison, are you asking if I'm available?"

"N-No! I-!"

"'cause, I mean, I know I'm a looker, but, I mean, I'm the kind of bird who's primed and ready to settle into a nice, cozy relationship, y'know?" She explained with a wandering voice, her eyes raised in thought, "I can already tell, you're not exactly the kind of girl who's one to be tamed; you need somebody to run alongside, y'know?"

Despite her once embarrassed face, Angela had softened somewhat at Lena's words, finding them slightly endearing, if not also somewhat on the mark, "Gee, I- That was kind of nice, actually."

Shrugging proudly, Lena smiles, "Meh; live long enough on the streets, you really know what makes folks tick, y'know?"

"I suppose," Angela admitted before going on, "That wasn't what I was asking though…"

Lena's body jerked in surprise, her brow upturned in worry, "So you really were wanting to set me up with your dad?!"

"What?! No! How did you-?!"

"Look, Ange! I love you all like family, but Cap'n's like my own dad, y'know? Not to make you jealous or any- Well, you know."

Angela cringed with worry, "No, I don't…"

Lena groaned as though this entire maelstrom of emotion had been enough to run her ragged just standing here, "Not that I haven't noticed that he's shown interest at time, but I mean, c'mon, don't leave your porridge near the loo, right?"

Feeling strained herself, Angela suddenly arose an odd curiosity as her eyes narrowed, "Wait, what?"

"I've seen those glances of his when I'm climbing up and down the netting; he can't take his eyes off me," Lena winked with a grin across her face.

Knowing, already, that those glances of her father's were ones of worry, boarding on distress by Lena's continued disregard for safety protocols, especially given her title as safety officer, Angela sighed with relief even as Lena continued musing aloud with no demonstration of modesty, "My wobbling hips have brought greater men than he to their knees, so I'm not entire surprised. Still, even without everything else, I can't exactly bring myself to send any sort of curious eyes his way. You probably get what I'm saying."

"So you see why I'm coming to you," Angela clarified, finally ready to subvert any and all embarrassment if only to avoid further distraction, "You get these things, between girls, you know…"

Lena shrugged, "I guess I do. What, are ya looking for something to mail back home to her? I always break up before voyages, personally; I don't need all that on my mind while I'm out at sea, nor do I really need 'em worried about me. You do you, though."

"Well, like, back when you were talking about 'taming' and stuff- I thought you didn't mind all that," Angela questioned warily.

Lena giggles, "I don't mind being tamed and settling down, but that doesn't mean I'm about to hop into any young thing and call my life quits. My best friend, Emily, she married young and now hasn't anything in the way of fun. Well, unless I'm in town, sneaking into her guest room window at night, waiting ya'-"

"Got it! Thank you!" Angela hurriedly exclaimed, waving her hands from side to side for emphasis before calming down, crossing her arms and turning her head away to hide her embarrassment, "Well, this girl back home, I don't think she wants to be tamed, but- I mean, how might I go about winning over that kind of girl, you think?"

Lena's lips curled for a moment before she grinned, looking back at Angela with an easy shrug, "In my own experience, anyway, I've found that people who don't want to be tamed- that kind of thing only extends so far, y'know? Others, you know, they just put on a face of not wanting to be subdued in that way, but only perform that act to make the prize of the one doing the taming all the more sweet."

"In essence," Lena clarified, noticing Angela's slight confusion, "Maybe try taming 'em when you get back home. Who knows, she might enjoy it, and hey, if it only leads to a short fling, at least you know the two of you aren't compatible anyway. Maybe get a little fun before parting ways."

The third mate gave another mischievous wink before her face fell in concern, suddenly speaking rather lowly, "…you're not gonna tell the Captain that I'm telling you this, are you..?"

Angela smiled innocently, "Never even crossed my mind."

"Excellent!" Lena praised with outstretched arms, "Big sister mode deactivated! Now, if you don't mind, we do have a time little, y'know; let's get going!"

Lena rushed toward the next stall, prepared to examine its wares until Angela followed behind her, reminding her easily, "Don't forget the food."

"Cripes!" Lena shouted in absolute aghast, "We gotta hunt, now! Go, go, go!"

With that, she whizzed through the crowd as skillfully as ever, dodging shoulders left and right before quickly getting lost in the calmly throng, leaving Angela alone, though it was just as well. She smiled to herself, having the freedom now of being alone, turning back toward one of the earlier stalls, having already eyed something that might help her accomplish her goals.