Rubbing the sleep from his good eyes, Shanks fought off a yawn. "You know, it's far too early for whatever this is." It wasn't early, Shanks was just being lazy. (redsearascal)
♡ shanks // sorry if it bothers your majesty
(preamble) The reply ahead is a bit crack-ish. I could only imagine two scenarios for this prompt: conflict or something more intimate, so I went with the former.
Any other day, any other time, Morgan would not have it in her to sass any of the four Emperors of the sea. An exception, however, could be made when caught under enemy fire.
The deck was abuzz as the crew shuffled about to take position. Someone was bound to warn the captain and have the crew await further instructions from his mouth once immediate responsive and prophylactic measures were underway. As a guest onboard, it was not Morgan’s role to hurry to the captain’s chambers and sound the alarm.
(Furthermore, she was a lady and any woman who adopted the noun as though it were an epithet ought not to rush to a man’s most private quarters, emergency or no emergency.)
What would people think? Morgan’s presence on the ship was already ludicrous and inexplicable as it was; Morgan herself could not remember how she had been shanghaied into this. There was the vague hint of merrymaking at the back of last night’s memories and who’d dare to say no to a king’s personal invitation?
Morgan pushed aside the urge to rationalize how and why this had come to being and gave way to far more pressing matters. Gunshots and cannon fire wheezed overhead as the ammo cut the air from port side, so far taking no casualties with them.
Shanks’s voice coming from behind startled her. It sounded so unused it gave away his masterful ability to cling to a cot and replenishing sleep combo in spite of the commotion on the Red Force. A true talent that would have to go unadmired for the time being. If Morgan gave it a minute’s thought, she would conclude there was no reason for her to find the captain’s mistaking the battle for a party that astonishing — aside from the bellic noises, the ruckus was pretty similar to the one caused by the crewmen in the previous night’s party, again a hazy recollection sitting in the corner of the woman’s mind.
His first input was a commentary on the improper hour such a big fuss should bother him, as if there was such a thing as a scheduled timing for a fight between pirate crews — though, knowing her own father, Morgan could see this happening if both captains were gentlemen with a heated quarrel to settle in a dramatic fashion, silhouetted against the rising sun — or as if it was Morgan’s fault he had been snatched from his bed to play warlord.
Though sure Shanks would rub the sleep off his eyes and act his part in a second, as any good captain would, the comment vexed the woman, infuriated her enough to have her reply a cheeky ❝ I am sorry. Next time there’s a war on, I’ll make sure to ask for a better scheduling that causes no conflict with your rest, Captain Shanks. ❞
Later, Morgan would be mortified to learn she had uttered such words and become fully red of the face, extending the colour of her lips all across it, for she had had the audacity to be impertinent with so great a man.
For now, though, circumstances called for action and Morgan would not step down and cower away from it. For better or for worse, this was something she was not used to doing and her own female fashions instead of a man’s disguise did not change that. It did not matter that she was not part of the crew — to come to the host’s assistance in a time of need was a matter of honour.
Though a lady in every regard, Morgan was still a pirate. The fact this dichotomy of her person was usually ignored served as an advantage rather than constituting a nuisance.
Her hand ran down her skirt to meet with its hem and yank it up to show a generous bit of thigh but, more importantly, half of her arsenal: a flintlock strapped to her leg under the skirt that did such a good job at keeping it hidden with no visible suspicious volume. A twin item was retrieved from her other limb in the same manner.
❝ Waiting for your orders, Captain. ❞
