“Hardy a spec on ye,” she comments, a sly look curling the corner of her lips as her eyes flicker down to the Commander’s ivory trousers, then back up to her face.
“They must imagine ye’ll stay shiny for ‘em down here at the docks. Yer superiors, I mean.” She runs her tongue over a back tooth.
“That, or you oft keep yer seat warm in yer office.”
The Commander stiffens. Her eyes narrow as she stares back down at the woman, this pirate Captain, standing before her.
The Captain’s smile widens into a grin, delighting at the Commander’s jaw tightening in yet another tell.
“… Our sailor’s rigs are the issued standard from the Queen,” the Commander grunts, adjusting her shoulders to draw herself to her full height. She rests her hand on her holster, feigning a casualness that doesn’t reach the stiffness in her forearm.
“Sailor’s rigs?” The Captain lets out a snort, her own first mate snickering behind her at the Commander’s words.
She turns and gestures widely to her crew.“Lads, how many sailors do ye know tha’ muck about with white breeches and turquoise pea coats?”
They roar in laughter, and the Commander’s shoulders tighten again. A hot streak of embarrassment lashes across her back before she stalks closer to the group. The crew’s laughter dies swiftly before the Captain’s does, and she turns to find the wall of a woman looming over her, eyes like steel. Her next words bite like ice.
“… Your ship has been moored in reserved anchorage for the last time in Brinedeep. Set sail in the morn, or you’ll find you and your crew in shackles.”
She turns on her heel, and stalks away.
A heavy silence fills the open space between vessels in the dockyard before the Captain’s crew begin to grumble behind her, cursing the presence of the Queen’s guard.
The Captain is silent, staring after the broad set of shoulders that soon disappear into the swath of dock workers, her heavy footfalls echoing in her mind. She’s lost for a moment until one of the crew mutters an insult regarding the object of her thoughts. To which she swiftly turns and snaps at them all, bellowing orders as she storms back to her ship and into her quarters.
