sailboat of mine

[Kingsley]

The snow falling on the ocean didn't make a sound. The snow falling on Kingsley's shoulders as he stood and watched it didn't make a sound either. Only the water washing against the sides of the ship and against his nerves was audible in the Yule dusk. He stood for a long moment and watched the breeze blow flurries of snow across the waves, letting it restore a bit of peace to his heart.

Footsteps sounded behind him, and he turned to watch his sister, who was returning up the ramp with another load of boxes. A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his eyes, although his mouth was still set in a thin line. He'd set his own set of crates down just a moment ago before he got distracted with the snow. Now was the perfect time to get little tasks done, while the others were distracted with party crashing. Sev and Jack had each tried to convince him to go along, join the fun, but this little bit of quiet with just him and Noelle was exactly what he needed.

Once Noelle had set her boxes down, he drifted over and hooked his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. "Merry Yule, Nell," he murmured into her hair. "Nobody else I'd rather spend it with than just the two of us." He pulled back enough for her to see the silent laughter that flickered across his face. "Lot more peaceful this way."

He pulled back a little farther and dug something out of his coat pocket, only to pin it on her scarf. "Meant to give this to you sooner, but..." he shrugged, letting that say the rest. He assumed she'd understand that he'd meant it wasn't really anyone else's business what he got her for Yule if anything at all. He liked the others, most of the time, but that didn't change the fact that he was a private person. Noelle was pretty much the same--he doubted she'd want an audience with expectations about how she should react.

[Noelle Kingsley]

Noelle was more than happy to stay behind while the others went to court. She had caught wind that Sevrin had been called upon by the Prince of Tresteria, but he had once been banished from the kingdom. The others had gone off to ensure he wasn’t killed. She was never one for crowds, honestly. Besides, someone had to get some work done around here and resupply the ship.

It was cool out, but Noelle didn’t seem to mind. The snow was beautiful and it gave her a sense of peace and calmness. She loved the way it sounded as it fell on her and the crunching sound it made beneath her footsteps.

After setting the boxes down, she placed her hands on her hips and smiled at her older brother before he pulled her into a hug. Her smile only grew a bit more as Philip murmured his words to her. As he pulled away, she turned her gaze to look up at him and smiled. “Me too.” She quietly agreed.

Green eyes moved to watch him pull something out of his coat pocket before he was pinning something to her scarf. She looked down at it and admired it for a moment and then looked back at him. “It’s lovely. Thank you.” She nodded with a warm smile and looked at the pin again. “I love it.” Noelle wasn’t typically one to show much excitement or overjoy at things like this, but it hardly meant that she was unappreciative or didn’t like something--although others often misunderstood her for such. Philip would know, however, not to expect too much of a reaction from her. But he’d know, for sure, if she did not like something.

She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I have something for you, too… But it’s back in my living quarters.” Noelle glanced around the area and the deck of the ship for a moment and then returned her attention to her older brother. “I think we are done?”

After a brief moment, she took his hand and eagerly dragged him inside the ship and to her room before letting him go and moving to her dresser drawer, pulling out a wooden box and brought it over, handing it to him.

She stood patiently, waiting for him to open it. Inside the box, he would find a sheathed knife that looked carefully crafted. Right where the steal started at the base, was a small circle with his initials engraved. “I know the one you have is getting kind of old by now. Figured you could use a new one.” Her shoulders rose and fell in a small casual shrug as if the careful thought and planning she had gone through to get him the knife was hardly a big deal at all.

[Kingsley]

Kingsley smiled softly as his sister hopped up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. It was good to know that he'd done something that made her that happy. He often worried that the life he'd brought his sister into wasn't the best one for a young woman and that he might be depriving her of something more peaceful, but if she'd ever seriously considered stopping at any of their ports and staying put, she hadn't said so to him. He trusted that if it came to that, she'd know that he would support her choice. He loved his sister more than life itself, after all. If it was what she needed, he'd do whatever it took to make it happen.

“I think we are done?”

"Yeah, that's everythin."

He followed her down to her room, remembering how she used to lead him around the same way when she was small. She'd grown into a beautiful woman, but sometimes he still thought of that happy little girl.

He accepted the box with gentle hands, worried that it might be something fragile. Inside, though, he found an intricate knife, with his initials on it. A wide grin broke out on his face as he lifted it and turned it to catch the light. It was beautiful, but not only that, he could tell it was deadly sharp. He'd look forward to using it--although he was reluctant to dirty it. He'd just have to make sure to take good care of it. His smile faded down to just the hint of one around his eyes as he looked back to her.

"S'a gorgeous blade, Nell. I'll make sure it goes to good use." He winked at that.

Putting the blade to use, though, made him think about why they were here, and quickly extinguished his mirth. He drifted to the circular window and peered out at the snow falling on the dock.

"I don't like bein' called here by the royals," he sighed. "Usually the brotherhood works on its own terms. I don't like us gettin' tied up in other people's business like this. If we pick a side in a war, there'll be no gettin' out of it." He shook his head. "I know Sev's got his head on straight, but… makes me sick to my stomach, thinking about tying us back to some country or another. Like we won't be free, anymore."

He looked back to Noelle. "Am I bein' paranoid?" He scoffed, then corrected himself. "Unreasonably paranoid?"

[Noelle Kingsley]

Noelle’s bright green eyes were wide and eager as she watched her older brother open the box and examine the knife. She always seemed much more expressive when it came to doing things for other people, or giving things to them. It was strange how she looked forward to seeing the reactions of others, yet she often denied other people that when it came to her own expressions. She imagined it partly had to do with the fact that she did not wish for anyone to fuss over her or to draw any attention to herself. But seeing someone happy in response to something she had done for them-- made her feel like she had done something right and it gave her a sense of feeling accepted.

When the grin formed on Phillip’s lips, one did on hers as well. She watched as he inspected it and kept her eyes on his face rather than the blade. As his smile faded, so did hers, but she held hers just enough to make it obvious that she was happy to see that he liked her gift. “I’m sure you will.” She smirked, playfully nudging him. “Just…” She pursed her lips together in thought, “Don’t go doing anything stupid…” She wrinkled her nose and let out a quiet laugh before moving away from him to remove her scarf and jacket. She hung them on a hook on the wall, but before she moved away, she unclipped the pin he had given her and carried it to her bed where she plopped down on the edge of it.

Slender fingers traced the intricate details of the pin as she admired it. When her brother spoke, though, she lifted her eyes to look over at him. His gaze remained out the window as she spoke, so Noelle looked back down at her hands, idly playing with the pin as she listened. There were very few people she had come to trust in her life-- like, actually trust. It took a lot for her to do. But the one single person she threw all of her trust in, was Phillip. They had been through a lot together and he knew most of her secrets and what she had struggled through.

She quietly listened to him speak, pulling her knees up to her chest where she wrapped her arms around her legs, continuing to play with the pin. If he felt uneasy about something, Noelle often did too. She trusted him and his instincts for the most part. However, there had been several times where she had to talk him down off the ledge, and he was seemingly asking her now if this was another one of those times she would need to.

"Am I bein' paranoid?" Noelle’s lips parted and she inhaled, about to correct him, but his voice filled the air once again, correcting himself instead. "Unreasonably paranoid?" She released the breath that had caught in her throat as a laugh and shook her head, leaning forward a bit so she could set the pin down on her night table. Her legs dropped back down, hanging over the edge of her bed and she quietly pondered his words, her eyes were wide as they often were when she tried to think over something really hard or tried to come up with words to ease his mind (which wasn’t always an easy task.)

Noelle let out a small sigh and shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know… I guess…” She chewed on the inside of her cheek, her lips pursing together before she spoke again. “Aren’t we always getting tied up in other people’s business, regardless?” Royalty or not, they always ran risks no matter what it was. But she could understand his concern. “I mean… Why, or how, would they be able to tie us back to another country? Unless we were taken as prisoners, could anyone really do anything to force us into staying anywhere?”

Maybe he was right though. If they got involved in some war, would they be stuck continuing to fight in it? It would certainly throw them into some action, though. Still, there was no use in worrying over it yet when it hadn’t even happened yet. So she picked up a small pillow from her bed and threw it at him. “Stop being so unreasonably paranoid! It’ll be fine. Sev knows what he’s doing by now.”

She smiled and playfully narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s Yule! Stop being so grumpy. Let’s play a game or something… For old time’s sake?”

[Kingsley]

Well yeah, they were always doing someone else's business, but being hired to take care of one person's business was one thing, and taking sides in the war was another thing entirely. He knew that if he had to pick sides, he'd pick the independence of these islands over the invasion of some fuckin' smug-ass empire who thought they were hot shit, but that didn't mean he wanted to get involved in the first place. And he'd seen the look in Sev's eye when he'd explained it--they were definitely getting involved. The Aralorian king might have asked them to just take a look around, but he was a fool if he thought that Sevrin of all people was going to look and not touch.

He caught the pillow out of the air that she threw at him, and tossed it lightly back at her. She had a point--it was already happening, so complaining wasn't going to help. Better that he keep moving forward and not let his worries ruin his Yule.

"Alright, alright. I'll try and keep it to just reasonably paranoid." He winked swiftly at her. "What do you want to play? Cards? Beat me at chess again?"

[Noelle Kingsley]

Her brother did have a point with everything, and despite her positive sounding assurance to him, Noelle wasn’t completely sure if she believed her own words. Still, there was no use in worrying about it now. Sevrin was in charge and it was either go along with him, or leave. The Brotherhood had been their home and family for so long, and she really didn’t want to lose or mess that up in any way. She was pretty sure Phillip would have similar thoughts regarding that choice.

Still, that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous about the whole plan, but she tried not to think about it. At least not now and during Yule.

When he tossed the pillow back at her, she laughed and threw it back down on her bed. “Good… Or I’ll go find some other, more pleasant, company to spend my time with.” She smirked and exaggerated a sigh and shoulder shrug. In all truth, it was obvious that she was joking. If Phillip knew her at all, he’d know she didn’t mean it--Noelle had a difficult time being around those she didn’t trust.

“Hmmm. Let’s play cards, I don’t feel like seeing you more grumpy after I beat you at chess.” She grinned before letting out a quiet laugh. “But you can choose the game.”

[Kingsley]

More pleasant company? Kingsley raised his eyebrows at her in disbelief. He was the most pleasant company on this whole ship, thank you very much. Or at least he was the least annoying, which was about the same thing if you asked him.

“Hmmm. Let’s play cards, I don’t feel like seeing you more grumpy after I beat you at chess.” She grinned before letting out a quiet laugh. “But you can choose the game.”

Kingsley rolled his eyes, but a small smile gave him away. "Hey, nobody likes to lose," he retorted as he headed for the hall. "Let me get the deck, and we'll play Idiot, even though our proper idiot isn't on board."

If she didn't protest, he'd go to his room next door and grab the cards from his drawer.

[Noelle Kingsley]

She smirked at Kingsley’s expression and response to her suggestion of playing cards so he would be less grumpy by not having his ass kicked in chess. She shrugged and gave him an expression as if agreeing with his statement. Of course, no one liked to lose. “No--but they aren’t as grouchy as you are right now.” She scrunched her nose and then stuck her tongue out at him.

Idiot. He wanted to play Idiot. Of course, he did--because she hadn’t played it in so long, she wasn’t entirely sure she remembered how to play. So he had more of a chance at winning at this game. Noelle laughed and nodded.

“HAH!” She let out in response to his comment of the proper idiot not being on board currently. “Very funny,” she called after him as he left.

As she waited for him, she picked up the pin he had given her and admired it again. It really was lovely and she decided she would wear it as much as she possibly could.

[Kingsley]

Kingsley returned with the cards and tugged over a little table to put between them as he took a seat. He didn't even ask her if she wanted to deal--he went right to work shuffling the deck with a practiced hand. The worn deck folded together easily in his hands, as if by magic. He might be a ruffian who was better at hitting things than much else, but he had steady hands nonetheless.

He dealt out the cards with precision, then grinned up at his sister as he picked up his hand.

"You need a refresher course, baby sister?" he asked, a bit of a tease creeping into his voice. "I bet you we haven't played this in a year or more."