[It's true, of course. As protective as reputation had always been, it was hardly an actual shield. The mirage might break at some point--and someone might get brave in the face of fire and fury and legends whispered softly in the night. Reputation wouldn't stop a well-placed bullet, when someone found the nerve or craved the name strongly enough.
But that feels very far away with Stede smiling down at him, erasing the most recent signs of battle and leaving a pleasantly cool prickling sensation over his skin (drying water, likely nothing more than that).]
Still. Expect you'll be stuck with me a while yet.
[Another shift, the motion in his arms and spine once again long and twisting (and in the soft lighting of the captain's quarters, the movement of scale tattoos on his arm looks less like the writhing of a tentacle and more like the something safe, something human) as he sits straighter in his seat.]
Hair first. [This sensation will have to end sooner or later. Best to drag it out as long as possible before letting go.]
no subject
But that feels very far away with Stede smiling down at him, erasing the most recent signs of battle and leaving a pleasantly cool prickling sensation over his skin (drying water, likely nothing more than that).]
Still. Expect you'll be stuck with me a while yet.
[Another shift, the motion in his arms and spine once again long and twisting (and in the soft lighting of the captain's quarters, the movement of scale tattoos on his arm looks less like the writhing of a tentacle and more like the something safe, something human) as he sits straighter in his seat.]
Hair first. [This sensation will have to end sooner or later. Best to drag it out as long as possible before letting go.]