Jeff the Accountant Escapes the Wretched Burning Depths of Hades

When Was The Last Time He Wore Something Frilly?

"I'm just saying he seems more like he's on a mission to engage in battle - not to find someone who he's heartsick over." Wee John summed up what most of the others saw in Cinna's actions.

"That man is changing" Buttons said.

"No shit." Pete mocked. "Have you noticed he hasn't worn anything frilly in days - when was the last time he wore something frilly?" He looked around, saw heads shaking, faces questioning.

Cinna bounded up the stairs, past his crew members who were on deck. "Quite a lot of nerve. Thinking you can terrorize my hometown" he muttered audibly. "Well, not as long as I have something to say about it." He seemed to be oozing contempt.

And his crew members were concerned.

"What the actual fuck??" Cat said, unafraid to voice what everyone was thinking.

Kirk went to stand by her side. "What the actual fuck, indeed." he said. "Does he really think he can take on Blackbeard? That he stands a chance against him?" He looked around, expecting to see agreement on the faces of his crew mates. Which he did. Except for the crew mate he was married to.

"Dense. The lot of you." Cat's own contempt was now showing. "The issue isn't 'who can best who in a sword fight'. The issue is just how unstable is our captain? Every frill he lets go of, seems like he replaces with one screwball thought after another."

"Men." Cat shook her head, looking around. The conversation stopped momentarily.

"Come on" Stones said to his sister. "You can't just say 'men' like that, and not tell us what you mean."

"He's always got one battle or another brewin' in him, hasn't he? How badass should I be? Will Blackbeard still care about me the way he did, now that I'm Cinna, and not Stede Bonnett? And now - now he doesn't seem to care, he's pretending not to care - whether Blackbeard's feelings have changed. He thinks he can resolve all of it - all of the getting pulled one way and then another, over what he's feeling, by - fighting his way out of it."

She looked around. "Clueless" she thought. Looking from one face to another, she saw no understanding of what she was trying to get across. Maybe Olu? He seemed to at least be thinking about it.

What Olu was actually thinking about was whether or not he would be able to convince Jim to leave all the drama and excitement behind, when he found them. Whether they were ready, like him, to try something other than being a pirate.

He couldn't help himself. He laughed out loud. Of course Jim wouldn't want to try being something other than a pirate.

"Well", he thought. "I'm pretty confident it'll be easy enough to convince them to sign on with a pirate ship without this particular kind of drama and excitement, anyway."

"Oh, just thinking about Jim" he said when he realized the others were looking at him because of his bit of laughter.

"Ah." "Jim." Some of them said. And the discussion was over. However the situation was going to play out, whether that be a showdown or a reunion, they would just have to wait it out.

They would just have to wait it out.