Live to Venture (#0)

21 | The Correlation of Adventure

"Get up get up get up get up."

Novari pushed Britter away, sitting up. She blinked. It was bright in her room already.

"I want a spot at breakfast," he told her, tugging on her arm. "Move, please."

"You can't just walk in here," she told him, tossing her legs over the side of the bed. Whale, the cat, was still knocked out on her pillow, so she carefully maneuvered around it until she found her dresser.

"I can walk in here," he said. "It's my room."

"It's not," she replied. "We bargained for it."

"I still reserve the right to come in," he said, perching on the bed to watch her brush through her hair with her fingers. "How was your night?"

Novari made a gesture to get him to turn around while she changed, and he obeyed. "Busy," she said.

"Just tell me," he demanded, his voice muffled by the wall. "Everson everything you wanted?"

She made her way to the door, letting him look again. "I thought you wanted to go."

He groaned and turned around, following her out the door. He was breathing down her neck while they took the stairs. "Did you let him in? How was he?"

"You're interested in him? You can have him."

He scoffed. "So he was bad, then? That's weird. He's so confident."

She spun around as they landed on the topdeck. "Where do I go?"

Britter nodded to the common room and pulled her along. The sun was just rising over the horizon, Sirennia closer than it had been in the morning.

Novari glanced at the captain's quarters. Bardarian was on the balcony, speaking to Courtley and Everson. His hand curled around the railing, but he didn't look down at her.

The common room was loud, most of the crew gathering at the tables in the back. Kourvourk, the ship's cook, was putting food in front of the people who showed up. Britter took a spot next to Rusher, and Novari sat next to him. She nudged him as he pulled forward his plate, practically drooling.

"Where does Bardarian sit?" she asked.

"Here," Britter said, nodding to the chair across from them as the bridge crew entered the room, walking towards their table.

Novari rolled her eyes. Across from her? Him and Everson were still talking in hushed tones as they sat, the latter looking as normal as he had the day before.

"Siren day, sir?" Rusher asked, bringing his fork to his mouth as they sat.

Bardarian leaned back as Everson nodded. Novari wondered why he wasn't eating like everyone else.

"Who's going in?" Britter asked. "I can. Please take me."

Everson shook his head. "If the Siren Queen doesn't like what's going on, she'll charm Cap. Gotta have a woman in there to keep the situation fair."

"Miller, probably?" Rusher asked, still chewing. "She's our best woman, right?"

Everson glanced at Novari. "Used to be," he said. Bardarian glanced at her for a moment too, but he didn't say anything.

Rusher looked up. He pointed at her. "Can you believe that? I really forgot about you for a second." He went back to chewing.

Novari leaned forward, finding Bardarian's gaze. "Is this your way of asking me to come and protect you?"

He shook his head. "Not asking," he said. He leaned forward to drink from his water, then stood up. "Five minutes."

He was walking away from the table when Novari called after him, "I thought I was on probation." She threw an edge to her voice. "No excursions?"