Fareeha lowered her head in contemplation, still rolling the tiny vial from her necklace at the end of her fingers. Angela sat beside her, knees held tight against her chest as she listened to the stowaway's tale with sullen interest, a mournful soft of frown left on her face while Fareeha shrugged, shaking her head. She brought her knee up, resting her wrist upon it as the vial dangled there lazily, it's gleaming lanternlight catching Angela's eye for a brief moment before Fareeha continued.
"You never answered my question," she asked, turning to face Angela with a serious face, "Do you believe in the supernatural? or will all that follows just be the ramblings of a crazy woman?"
Angela stuttered back to life, "I mean, I- I guess I never really thought about a god, or gods, or-"
"I'm not talking about gods,"Fareeha interrupted, a thick tone of uncertainty lining her voice, "I'm talking about devils."
Holding back a choking sort of gulp, Angela watched as Fareeha returned her attention to the tiny bottle in her hand, raising it just enough over her knee, staring through it as though to a distant friend, "Thalia's in here. because I'm the one who put her in here. She was on the edge of death, her body withering away, so I scarred my face to frighten even the devil, snuck into his realm, stole from his vial, and captured the soul of my dearest Thalia."
Fareeha's brow fell, "Yet, even though I know she's in here, it-"
She paused, catching her breath for a moment, "It still hurts. Not being able to speak to her, or feel her."
The vial suddenly pulled back, the woman clutching her fingers around it tightly as she pressed her fist against her face, tears leaving her as she shook her head, "Saving someone…shouldn't feel this terrible and lonely…"
Angela watched sadly, unable to figure out what to say to this woman, who'd, in her own way, had laid herself bare for her. It was such a stark contrast to the stowaway who snapped back at her at the slightest provocation, now revealing thoughts that had so troubled her. Still, Angela couldn't quell the nagging bite of doubt at the back of her mind. doubt that what this woman was saying certainly couldn't be true.
"I know she's gone," Fareeha spoke quietly through tearful sputters in her voice, "Whatever part of her that's in here, it's not the part that loved me, or that I loved. But it hurt, that first time I lost her. I don't want to hurt again."
Whatever doubt wavered deep within her, Angela knew well enough that now was not the time to present such ideas. Instead, for this person who'd so courageously given Angela a sight to behold with such sincerity, she scooted over close to her, reaching a hand out to close the distance, catching Fareeha enough off guard for her to flinch before turning toward Angela with a slight shock.
"I'm sorry," Angela spoke up.
Such words made Fareeha give a spurtive laugh before pulling her hand away to wipe away the tears from her face, "Look at me, getting all worked up. I made it a point never to do this ever again; I thought I'd gotten good enough at it."
"I do know enough that you can't stop yourself from feeling," Angela shrugged, "I'd get so upset when father would leave without me growing up, I'd try to will myself not to care about him, but it took all of one night to begin worrying, again, that he might not return."
Fareeha smirked, "Adults are far more pessimistic, Princess."
"In any case," Angela replied begrudgingly, unhappy with Fareeha's direction, "You did get a nice tattoo out of it."
"Does its mystery captivate you so?" Fareeha asked, more in teasing, "It's a wedjat. It would protect deceased pharaohs in the afterlife; I figured that, if I was chasing death itself, I might as well have something I could rely on."
Another reference to the unimaginable, though this time, Fareeha caught Angela's moment of pause, forcing Fareeha to speak up, "I'm not saying these things to make you believe me. You wanted an explanation, so I'm giving them."
"N-No, I-"
"Because, Princess, If only you had seen what I have. Felt what I've felt,," Fareeha spoke up coldly, "You said you didn't know what it's like to lose a loved one. Until you've held the hand of the one person who loves you, cares for you; the only person who has no ulterior motives for being yours, somebody who wants you simply for you. Until you hold onto that person's hand and feel its warmth deteriorate into nothingness, you can't know what death is like."
Angela glared seriously toward Fareeha, who returned the same sort of stare before shaking her head, returning her attention to her vial, "They call him the Reaper. All lives pass through his grip on their way to the afterlife. He's the gatekeeper, in a cavern north of Phocis, a crevice where many enter but few return. I snuck in, found his little hovel of bottles where he collects the souls he finds shouldn't go on, grabbed one without an owner and took the soul most beautiful to me- Thalia."
Fareeha shrugged, "That's the tale of my necklace. You wanted it, so there it is."
"…and Moira?" Angela asked gingerly, her body having disliked away slightly in confused withdrawl.
"The Reaper's consort in life," Fareeha answered easily, "The Oracle woman told me to use one of the vials to take Thalia's soul for myself. She told me to make sure I grabbed an empty one, not one labeled as in use."
Angela's eyes narrowed, "But…you can't read."
Fareeha shrugged, "You just wrote down the name. I saw it in your hand, I've never seen it anywhere else."
Such carelessness, Angela thought, only made the story that much more unbelievable, though she couldn't help but pretend to humor this woman, if only toward politeness. She took to a pause, unable to raise a reasonable objection to such a blatantly stupid solution, simply watching Fareeha with confusion as the former captain played with the end of her necklace.
"It's funny," she spoke quietly, almost to herself as much as Angela, "Here I hold the soul of the woman I loved so deeply for two years. Right in my hand. And yet I feel so distant from her. I almost feel closer to her when I'm reading one of her books."
She turned to her side, picking up one of the narrow times she'd been able to complete, eyeing its cover with its written word that she couldn't quite make out at first glance.
"I get to find out how much she enjoyed romance stories," she grinned, "Maybe she was living through this one's main character, wanting to be him sneaking a ring onto his beloved's finger as she slept, waiting to surprise her upon waking. She liked stories told from a character's perspective, with adventure, and she loved happy endings."
Her face fell slowly, "Even though she never had one…"
Angela's eyes turned to the floor, gloomily so, as Fareeha went on with a wavering voice, "Assuming she truly is in here… Do you think I'm a bad person? for keeping her from an afterlife."
"She has no heart, no voice, no warmth…" Fareeha muttered in tamed wallowing, "But I- I don't want to let her go. If not to her, then- There's no loyalty, there's no-"
Fareeha's eyes descended below the necklace, "Carrying this vial… It's a primage I'm not prepared to accept."
Her eyes closed, tears forming as she thought about her situation, alone on a ship that wasn't hers, running from the death of her lover, from her entire life; running from everything she ever knew, chased by a haunting visage of death itself.
She instinctively flinched as she felt a weight upon her free hand, recoiling away as her head spun to find Angela reaching over, still grasping onto her hand as it fled, keeping it anchored in the air at Fareeha's side. Their eyes locked, Fareeha's tear-strewn while Angela's peered deep into their watery mass, her eyes curved sadly at the woman's undercurrents of emotion, so heavily guarded behind her rocky exterior. Fareehe had laid herself so bare, Angela couldn't help but feel so close to be a recipient of such confidence.
"What?" Fareeha asked, trying to hide a sniffle, "Don't patronize me. And don't you dare tell anybody about this- I haven't cried since I was an infant, so you'd better keep your-"
"Why bear all of this by yourself?" Angela interrupted in inquiry, giving her a confused look from Fareeha.
She rolled her eyes, smirking beneath her tears, "Princess, you haven't a clue. If you're making a pass at me, or trying to get with me or something- Look, I'm not the kind of woman to be tied down once, let alone a second time, and after being so scarred no less."
"Why do you jump to that conclusion?" Angela asked, undeterred, "I'm asking as a friend and you immediately-"
Fareeha eyed her, "Because I know your game already, Princess. I'm too smart to assume you aren't interested in something more than that. You're naïve, and I captivate you as some wildly dangerous thing that'll take you off on some crazy adventure."
Angela's hand slid away from Fareeha's, her brow now cooled in concern, "I- That's-"
"Your father told me as much," Fareeha explained, using her now-free hand to wipe away her face, "Seeing the kind of man he is, protective and slightly overbearing, I wouldn't be shocked to learn I'm just a way to sneak out from beneath his watch."
A chill ran down Angela's spine as she began to grow upset, "You- You don't even know-"
"I had a father too, Princess," Fareeha shrugged, "I do know."
Angela barred her teeth, her act of kindness now wildly spun around in an attempt to attack her, before pushing herself up to her feet and stomping toward the nearby barrel of water, its lid spun upward to allow the crew to give their stowaway water at certain intervals. Angela closed the lid before grabbing a nearby mallet, pounding the steel ring over top the barrel to seal it.
Amused, Fareeha grinned, "What are you doing?"
Shooting her a stare, Angela angrily replied, "Sealing this. Maybe you'll learn your lesson about how to respond to people trying to be kind to you! You'll thirst sooner or later!"
Fareeha chuckled, shaking her head, "What, am I some kind of sexual prisoner now?"
Slamming her palms into the lid, Angela shouted, "That's not why I meant!"
Lowering her head as it shook in disbelief, Fareeha muttered as her laughter trailed off, "Oh, Princess."
Angela stares at her angrily, her newly-red palms clenched into fists at Fareeha's persistence at turning her into a mere plaything, though her trembling paused as she overheard the slightest bit of breath trailing through the air from Fareeha's own, whispering lips.
"So cute when you're angry."
A pang of realization ran through Angela's body; the shame of being played once again awashed with a pleasured memory that shot between her legs, quivering so gently yet it shook her heart so. As Fareeha remained with a hidden face, Angela turned toward the barrel of water, slowly bringing up the thick end of the mallet, gripping it just at its neck and worked the metal ring back off from its lid.
The clamoring arose suspicion from Fareeha, who cocked an eye up toward Angela, unable to figure out what it was she was doing. Her brow narrowed as Angela spun the lid upward before removing it entirely, sitting it nearby before turning to meet Fareeha's own eyes. The two remained in that lowly awkward suspense for a moment, simply watching the other, though gradually, Angela began to lower her body, her head dipping low toward the barrel's liquid contents, Fareeha awestruck by such a strange action.
Slowly, Angela's head disappeared behind the rim of the barrel as her head collapse fully into the water, her hands gripping its wooden edge to keep her still as Fareeha's eyes darkened. She sat there confused, her heart jolting to a start from the jarring sight before her, unsure what Angela's plan even was. Though, she could tell quick enough, with each passing second Angela remained submerged, her plan wasn't to simply take a drink.
"Hey," Fareeha spoke up, her throat tightened by the tension in the air, "H-Hey!"
Angela remained with her head underwater, sending Fareeha's heart afire as she suddenly threw her body upward, catching herself with her feet and jumping straight up, now shouting, "Hey!"
Panic rushed over her, sickened by this stunt, leaving Fareeha to quickly bend down, grabbing whatever she could, throwing it at Angela, the pouch of sweets lazily falling to the floor after crashing into Angela's leg. Fareeha watched with wide eyes as Angela slowly lifted herself up from the water, catching a deep breath as Fareeha threw her roped arm toward her angrily.
"The fuck're you doing?!" She demanded to know, crying out loud.
Angela's chest rocked back and forth as she took in deeper and deeper breaths, standing there and watching as Fareeha's furious thrashing came to a stop, the stowaway's anger quickly enough melting into confusion. Slowly enough, as Fareeha's brow began to curl with dismay, Angela began to step toward her, step by step, showing little sign of stopping.
"You little wench," Fareeha muttered below her breath.
Angela wasn't fazed, her hair confidently taking her to the stack of books and paper now is slight disarray, bending down to grab a pad and pencil, scribbling something while stealing wayward glances up toward her confused stowaway. She dropped the pencil soon enough, though kept the pad close to her side as she turned to close the gap between herself and Fareeha, until their bodies touched, forcing Angela to wrap her arm around the stowaway's waist to pull the two of them even closer, their lips mere centimeters apart.
"That's close enough," Fareeha spoke, answering Angela's sudden advance.
"Not for this lesson," Angela replied with a hushed reply.
She brought up the pad of paper, resting the bottom of her hand against Fareeha's side, raising the pad so that it could be seen from above, "What's what say?"
Fareeha played along, though her own slight sense of hopelessness accompanied her frustration as she eyed the two words, such an easy phrase being so difficult for her to comprehend. She bit her lips as her mind whirred awake, coming to nothing as she was caught between brain-power and Angela's body pressed up so tightly against hers.
As she stared at the pad of paper, Angela's arm ran up Fareeha's side, catching the stowaway's attention as her lips reached up to match hers, the soft pair of Angela's lips brushing so coarsly against Fareeha's comparatively dry set, though Angela was undeterred, planting kiss after kiss atop Fareeha's unresponsive face.
Angela pulled away, wiggling the pad in her hand, "We're done playing your games. This is one I know for a change and you don't."
"We're not playing anything," Fareeha spoke up, "Whatever that was before, it wasn't anything more than a fling. I'm not looking for anybod-"
"Then let's have a fling every night."
Fareeha groaned, shaking her head, "You're so horny, and helpless at that."
"Good thing you like helpless girls, huh?" Angela reminded, gaining a rolling of Fareeha's eyes as the stowaway frowned.
"Shut up," Fareeha replies with a low tone, "You think you're so clever to trick me and-"
Her head shot to the side, catching Angela's hand at the rope around her wrist that had her bound to the hull of the ship. Her eyes lighting up in surprise, Fareeha returned to Angela's face, which curled in indecision as her fingers played with the knot around the stowaway's wrist, almost as if teasing her with the thought of freedom.
"What's the words?" Angela asked quietly, softly jamming the pad against Fareeha's side where her other hand remained, a sultry sort of tone leaving her, "Free yourself from this rope so you can free me from this tension."
Fareeha's head lowered as she tried to hide a grin, "Such a devilish little thing, Princess. but I assure you, if you're aflutter between the legs, we will be playing my game. If you truly want what you desire, I can spill whatever honey you have within you without a single word from that notepad."
"Try me," Angela goaded with a silky voice.
The next sound she uttered was no word, but a muted gasp of a moan as Fareeha took her lips with her own, leaving Angela's hand to leave the knot and heap hold of her stowaway's arm for stability, her legs quivering with slight, temptuous waves with every generous suck from Fareeha's lips upon hers. Angela ran her hand up and down Fareeha's arm, catching those softly tender, chiseled ridges of muscles so feminine, it captivated her sense of touch as much as the soft pallets of skin taking to her face, the two of them increasing the furious pace of one another's kisses upon the other's.
Angela's hand ran down toward Fareeha's chest, a soft groan of dissatisfaction as it ran along cloth rather than the warm skin of this stowaway. She managed to pull her head away from Fareeha long enough to peer down at the buttons that prevented her from further exploring this woman, her brow furrowed almost with frustration at the restricted access. This only made Fareeha smirk.
"Needing more?" Fareeha snarled with a cockiness that caught Angela's carnal instinct, "I told you I'm not an easy woman to get off the mind."
Every bit of Angela's mind wanted to bite back with some sneer about how much better she was at controlling herself, though given her current predicament, she knew she hadn't much of any leg to stand on, her tongue quivering for another taste of this woman's lips. Without being able to take the higher ground, Angela's only choice was to bring Fareeha down to her own level of depravity, the two words upon that notepad running through her mind and only serving to heighten her elation.
The only way she could have her own fun, and still win, was to get Fareeha to speak those words in instruction.
Fareeha's teasing sort of chuckling immediately came to a halt as Angela's hand left her chest, hovering back up toward the coarse bond that kept her trapped in this hold, following Angela's hand with intent as it closed in on the knot, carefully undoing the one thing keeping her caught in this woman's web.
"What're you…" Fareeha muttered quietly, unable to finish her thought as the rope suddenly slithered loose, falling to the wooden floor with a gentle thud, though the stowaway's arm remained raised in muscle memory.
Angela spoke up with a hushed tone, as if knowing she was breaking a cardinal rule of this voyage, "You're not the type of woman to be tied down. If you want to know how serious I am about how much I'm into you, there's little more to prove, now."
"You irritate me to no end, and that only served to worm your presence into the deepest ends of my mind," Angela confessed, "I can't bear to stand upon this ship, knowing you're but a few flights downstairs, and not allow every bit of you to take my every thought like you took so much from me that night."
She reached up to grab Fareeha's hand, pulling it to her side, gingerly placing it there upon her clothen shirt, "Plus, I want to feel both your hands on me. See what you can do with both of them."
"All this…just to fuck me?" Fareeha asked, her voice aswell with both confusion and incredulity.
A smirk gradually curled at Angela's heavied lips, her hand slowly rising with the notepad there, her eyes turning to meet the yellowed but if parchment paper, "You just said it. Fuck me."
Angela rose onto her toes, losing herself in another kiss, one that Fareeha was far more entranced by. With one hand already on Angela's hip, she brought the other to match it, squeezing softly until a muted squeal left Angela's throat, the heated breath brushing past Fareeha's lips as the two joined one another again and again.
"You'd better learn it well," Angela managed in between kisses, "This voyage still has aways to go."