When No Means Yes, but No One Knows

Posted on Sun Jun 7th, 2020 @ 10:58am by Alden Loxley & Alison Bliss & Jacob Lara
Edited on on Sun Jun 7th, 2020 @ 1:16pm

Mission: The Milk Run
Location: Fortune's Echo, Port Shuttle
Timeline: Day 3 - Immediately After Two Strangers

With each metal step higher and closer to his goal, Alden's mood darkened and his anger intensified. A troubled kid, stowaway or not, under his protection, apparently violated by the one person who should know exactly when such acts were appropriate or otherwise... It was impossible to look at this matter rationally, and he didn't even try.

There was no attempt to hide the loud sounds of boots on decking, and Alden didn't bother to announce his presence any other way than a gruffly barked yell. He didn't knock, call out or wait to be given permission to walk right into the private, legally rented space currently occupied (and fully paid up in advance) by the resident and Registered Companion.

"Jacob!" Alden shouted as he crossed the threshold, long confident strides fuelled by a very raw and overt anger. "You Meh Lien Duh Jyah Jee (shameless hussy) - what did you do?"

Jacob had been shaving, in fact, he'd just finished, when he heard the sound of running steps clanging up the stairs, and then a yell as Alden rushed into the shuttle. He had only finished a much-needed shower and was still completely naked, not wanting to get shaving cream on his clothes. Grabbing his towel and starting to wipe the small bits of white foam from his face, he turned to look at the red-faced man currently yelling at him.

"You're going to need to be a lot more specific," he said. "After all you could literally mean anything by that..."

"Bu Hui Hen De Puo Fu! (remorseless harridan)" Snapped Alden as he took a single step backwards, and briefly lowered his gaze in response to the full frontal nudity of the shuttle's occupant. When he looked back up a second later, there was still real fire in his eyes, and venom in his tone as he bellowed back. "You know exactly what I mean!"

Jacob tossed the towel aside, and leaned back against the counter behind him, crossing his arms across his chest. "No, I really don't, actually," he said. In fact, he wondered if it had anything at all to do with what had happened between him and Tristan. He couldn't imagine that being something Alden would even care about, so he was genuinely at a loss as to why this man was standing in the shuttle he rented, calling him names that he supposed probably should have been offensive.

Caught up in his justified ire, Alden still had the headspace to wonder why Jacob could simply stand there, bare-ass naked and still manage to look effortlessly cool. Had to be part of the training they all went through in that fancy schooling, he supposed, and yet it only compounded his bad mood and fury to be unable to not see exactly what was to blame.

He stumbled over his next sentence, cheeks picking up a deeper crimson colour at the awkwardness of this unwanted 'intimate' moment of unnecessary sharing.

"I... you... you KNOW," he said, yet the look he was receiving in return said otherwise. "Is it that hard - difficult - to figure out? Or did you bed every one of my crew already?" Alden barked, powerless to stop his gaze from switching between the man's face to his crown jewels and back again.

Jacob could hardly keep the look of hurt off his face as he looked down at the floor. 'So that's what this is about...' he thought to himself, suddenly feeling even worse than he had before. He'd been thinking about Tristan all day, having noticed that at that point it was quite clear the guy was avoiding him at all costs and wondering just what exactly he'd done to make him feel he needed to do that. It was weird, he barely knew the guy, but there was just something about him, even after just a couple encounters, that just made Jacob want to be around him, get to know him, and now he wouldn't even look him in the eye. He definitely didn't need this piled on top of that, and he had no one but himself to blame.

Schooling his face into a mask of false-contrition he glanced back up. "I'm sorry, Captain, I didn't realize you were the jealous type," He replied, the sarcasm in his voice unmistakable. He knew full-well that's not what the man was standing there furious over. He'd somehow found out about the previous morning's escapades, and was, for whatever reason, getting himself involved. What he couldn't figure out was how in the hell he thought it was any of his business.

"JEALOUS?!" Alden's volume increased exponentially at this affront to his already evil mood. There followed a long torrent of darker and inventive Chinese swearing before the Captain came up for air. "ARE YOU SERIOUS???"

Nakedness was no good defence right now, but Alden didn't push through the physical. While his anger might have wanted it, the man had no desire to cause actual bodily harm to the Companion. His mission was justice and his ire was his weapon, and he hadn't missed Jacob's wounded look. Words clearly cut deeper than actions here, though the older man wasn't rational enough to lower his voice yet. Stowaway or not, Tristan was under his protection for the moment.

"You couldn't keep it in your pants then or now!" Alden raged, and he pointed to the other man's junk. "I thought you were a professional, but you're branching into grooming now? And we both know he had no money, so don't tell me it was a business transaction. You're getting off at Hera," he told Jacob.

Jacob felt an icy chill run down his spine and barely suppressed a shudder at the man's words. He couldn't be serious. It made no sense.

"Wait a second, what the hell are you talking about?" he finally asked, standing up straighter, and letting his arms drop to his side. "I'm not grooming anybody, and it was no business transaction either..." he added, a note of real anger finally creeping into his voice. He was completely confused and starting to get royally pissed off at the assumptions that were apparently being made.

"The boy," Alden said, finally utilising more venom than volume as his gaze cut into Jacob's own. "Tristan. Remember him? The teenager you took advantage of? The naive kid who didn't know which way to look when we found him, he was so messed up."

Now he was really getting angry. "I didn't take advantage of anyone, Captain," he said, the fury in his voice starting to get a lot more clearly obvious. "Not that what happened between us is a whole hell of a lot of your business, but I didn't even have any expectations of us doing anything. I went to his quarters to return his shoes. Shoes he left in the shuttle the night before when he ran away after getting spooked by someone being nice to him. I went to make sure he was okay, not to climb into bed with him." It wasn't until he let that last word ring out that he realized he'd actually started to raise his voice.

Taking a step back from the situation he counted three deep breaths, and then continued. "What happened between us surprised me. A lot. I could tell there was an attraction, sure, I'm not an idiot. But I promise you, I did not have any intention of hurting him in any way. I actually like the guy..." he finished, his voice trailing away at the end, a hint of embarrassment creeping in at having to be so emotionally open with a person he only knew in a professional capacity.

Good, thought Alden, as he heard Jacob's tone pick up an angry colour as emotions began to run hotter. I've got under your skin some. He didn't let up, and the fact that the younger man thought this matter was none of the elder's business only riled Alden up another notch. A cooler ire now, but no weaker for the change in temperature.

"Oh, really?" Alden challenged. "So you know this kid well enough after less than 24hrs huh? You think it's okay to drop off some... shoes? and just take whatever you want from him? Where I come from that's mighty dangerous behaviour. And," he upped his volume to override Jacob's own. "Since you *did* climb into bed with him, your point is kinda irrelevant!"

"It surprised you??" The incredulity in Alden's voice was immediately evident. It was closely followed by an increase in amused ire and demonstrative hand gestures. "And yet, you still think you're not an idiot?"

Alden sighed. "Well, you did hurt him, Jacob. Worse, he thinks that's normal on account of your fine words of wisdom apparently. So, yeah. Hera, you're outta here. Pack your stuff." He demanded, standing tall, proud and defiant in the doorway to the shuttle.

Jacob's temper flared higher yet when the man threw it into his face that he was an idiot, despite how he felt. He was on the cusp of exploding in anger, and then, suddenly something just froze over inside him, and the entirety of his anger disappeared. He listened to the man finish his tirade and then shrugged. "I guess that's the way it has to be. It's your ship after all," he said. What more was there? He'd obviously royally screwed up everything about the situation. Tristan didn't even want to talk to him, Alden was very close to going over the edge to actual violence, and he had absolutely no leg to stand on.

"I'll be ready to disembark as soon as we arrive. But I will tell you this, Captain Loxley," he added. "I don't believe you have all the facts. I hope one day you get them, and maybe on that day, you'll learn to actually do so before you go off half-cocked. I'd thank you to leave now. Until we arrive at Hera I'm still legally renting this shuttle and I'd rather not have someone standing in it with such obviously hostile intent."

"Yes!" Alden said, somewhat surprised. "It is. My ship." He felt as if he were missing something all of a sudden, but that didn't really matter because he seemed to have won. He looked momentarily confused, frowned and seemed to realise all over again that this whole time, Jacob had been utterly naked. "I'll leave when I'm good and ready," he said, pushing the boundaries of his hastily stolen ground as he remained stoically in place inside the shuttle, its door open to the wider ship beyond.

And behind him, there were footsteps on the metal steps...

The raised voices were hard to miss and Alison’s curious nature obviously propelled her to find out more. First, quietly, like a little girl she sneaked closer to the shuttle so she could understand the words. She stopped there and listened and when she realized from the context what had happened, Alison felt somewhat sad.

Slowly shaking her head, hearing the voices raising into a crescendo, Alison decided to get involved. This time, she walked casually, letting her suede lace-up knee-high boots announce her ahead of her. She completed those boots with a casual tribal print, red dress.

When Alison stepped into the shuttle she realized immediately the reason for Alden’s voice somewhat breaking up at few points. Jacob was nude. And he looked amazing. Still, she was experienced enough to hide her desires well especially that she had absolutely no problem in going nude in front of others. Her eyes slipped casually over Jacob giving his manhood a longer look, and finally to look at Alden.

Alison pointed with her thumb behind her back, indicating that she was outside.

“Couldn’t help to overhear your discussion… So what facts we are missing here, Jacob?” She asked calmly.

As she entered, Alden shifted his glare from the Companion to his First Mate, rolling his eyes dramatically as Alice spoke. This was, as far as he was concerned, done and dusted. He didn't want to endlessly discuss it.

Jacob watched Alison enter the shuttle, and noted the looks she gave him, her eyes taking in his body, hovering here and there for just a moment. She was obviously in no way bothered, the way Alden was, by his nudity. She almost seemed to approve. When she asked her question he had to stop himself for a moment, reminding himself that she wasn't Alden, and that she may very well be trying to help, not simply responding out of anger the way he had.

"I don't want to get into all of it right now, it might be best if that was a much longer conversation after everyone's had a chance to calm down.' Jacob said, his voice still far more calm than he really felt. "For now suffice it to say, I didn't go there intending to take advantage of him. Things happened much differently than I'd planned, and much more quickly than I'd imagined possible. I guess I stopped thinking with my head at some point, and it all got out of control. But the most important thing is that I definitely didn't mean to hurt him, and no matter what you may think, Captain, I never meant to give him the idea that it was okay for someone to hurt him in any way," Jacob replied, turning to look at Alden as he made that last point.

The dark glare that Alden returned spoke volumes as to his own opinion on that matter, and he rallied up his next rant just as Alice shifted position.

Alison listened to Jacob and as she did, she moved closer, putting herself somewhat in the way between Alden and Jacob. They still could maintain eye contact but it was also a clear indication for Alden she hasn’t finish here yet. She crossed her hands, holding her elbows and slightly shook her head. There was a bit of disappointment but also understanding on her face when she spoke again to no one in particular at first.

“We've known Tristan for hours, so assuming anything about him is dangerous. I once used a similar play, of a broken and lost girl, to rob a mark. I say that to give you both some perspective. Whatever you two think, I don’t trust Tristan yet, and you both make mistake as I see you already did on some level.” Alison said that more as a precaution, a chilling element. To force both men to focus on something else than one another. It didn’t mean she was expecting that or in any way she was suspicious of Tristan playing them. But she felt things were moving here too fast because of this boy.

"I don't need perspective," muttered Alden. "And it's not an issue of trust."

Alice turned her face toward Jacob.

“What you did Jacob… giving in to the emotions?” Alison questioningly finished the sentence as if tasting it. “That technically can be construed as forcing yourself on Tristan because of your unique skills. If you say you stopped thinking with your brain, how can you be sure that you didn’t use all your skills to achieve what you desired bending Tristan to your will. A skillful companion can do that to a normal person. If you both have right, and he is a broken boy by whatever life experiences he had, Tristan is even easier to manipulate by so sophisticated and handsome man you are, Jacob.”

Alison was speaking softly, friendly, without any accusation. If any, there was a mentoring tone, of someone who saw things, who experienced things, and even a darker undertone of someone who was burned by these emotions. Alison was a companion. She used to lived by guild’s rules, she honed the skills to be one of the best… and then she used those skills with premeditation to bend people to her will and kill.

Alison sighed softly.

“Where I was coming from, what you did, would qualify as failing a basic test, Jacob. But we are not a guild here, this is something you’ll have to live with and answer yourself if that happened because you put yourself first.” She finished quieter.

Alison then turned to Alden. Her expression remained friendly and unjudging.

“Captain… what is Tristan’s last name? Where was he born? How old is he?” She asked series of quick questions. “This person sneaked aboard our ship against our will. We know nothing about him. We can’t be sure he is friendly to us at this point. Not to mention, he is here for less than two days. What if he is working for Niska? And over such person you want to throw a crewmember off the ship? Jacob who is here… how long? Four months? You know, he is your crewmember as well and you should have at least the same amount of respect and protectiveness toward Jacob as you have toward Tristan, right?” She sighed softly. “How about you two just take a few hours to cool off and then come back to this?”

Alden's expression wasn't friendly or non-judgemental, it was moody, clouded by a dark frown and a serious glare that switched between naked man and woman in a red dress as they spoke.

"He's 19," Alden said. "And yes, he's a stowaway. But while he's on our ship, he's under our protection. As for respect, I thought I could trust my existing crew," he glared at Jacob. "But clearly I can't. You are right about one thing, Alison," he said as he looked back to Alison. "I'm gonna go." He turned and strode back out into the main ship.

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