On the Look-Out

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris kept a neutral smile on his face in response to Ivan’s subtle warning, raising the mug of mead to his lips to imbibe some liquid courage, “We’ve had nothing to eat but alcohol, meatballs, and watery onion soup for the past several days—I think some mild complaint is understandable.” He tilted his head to Maria, curious how she would answer. ‘Hopefully, she won’t be the kind of girl to mind some help in the kitchen,’ he thought idly, hoping to keep the easy comfort of still being able to make his own meals.

Toris raised an eyebrow as his men let out an approving roar at the Russian’s easy feat, a faint smile on his face before he turned to the man next to him, speaking in hushed Lithuanian as he handed the young man some coin to retrieve more vodka. ‘Ivan’s going to drink us dry by the end of the night,’ he thought, taking another draught of mead and returning his attention to Maria’s story.

[Maria Estrella]

Maria blinked at the Russian wrapped an arm around her, her smile growing wider at his next words. "Cooking? You guys need a cook?" She looked over to Toris as he confirmed Ivan's words. "That was my last job! I was one of the main chefs at Los Molcajetes." She said, smiling slightly at her fortune. Quietly, she thanked god that her mother had pushed her to learn to cook, and that she did quite well in the kitchen. She scoffed as Ivan referred to the group of men as 'rowdy uncouth boys'. She laughed and clapped her hands at Ivan draining half the bottle before she responded. "You think you guys are bad, you should be around my brothers when they've had too much tequila."

She recalled the small family get-together they had a few months prior, and how her brothers had all decided it would be fun to see how much they could drink before they all passed out. Needless to say, it had been a rowdy party and hand ended in them all having hangovers the next morning. "I've always hung out with the boys, considering there weren't many girls in my family, or in the neighbors." She said, giving a small shrug. "I'm pretty sure I won't mind a few new faces, or new antics. Besides, I have a feeling I might like you guys." She gave them a smirk and leaned back against the chair.

[Ivan Braginski]

Ivan chuckled as he patted her shoulder, downing the last of his vodka with a half grin before he leaned back and smiled," Ah, that is wonderful! And what is this tequila, is it like Vodka? I am always looking for good alcohol~!" He smiled a little wistfully," I grew up with sisters, So I did not rough house so much. Sounds like a fun home!"

He perked up when another vodka bottle hit the table, grabbing it and deftly, flicking it open and downing a quarter of it before relaxing," Captain, it would be so sad to let her go now! She drinks and cooks!"

[SaldusSapnai]

Lowering his mead with a smile, Toris let out a mild laugh, the fingers of one hand tapped against the mug. “What luck; an actual chef.” He tilted his head, watching Maria interact with the men; specifically, interacting with Ivan. The Lithuanian felt immeasurable relief as the Russian seemed to accept Maria with open arms, quirking one eyebrow at the small revelation that Ivan had family. ‘Sisters, at that…’

For some reason, the image of a little Ivan with two sisters in tow was not as fantastic as it should be. Two girls, pale and blonde and blue-eyed huddling close to their brother for warmth-

Ivan addressed him suddenly, bringing Toris back out of his musings and into the conversation. Blinking rapidly, it took perhaps half-a-second too long for the Lithuanian to recover, a small smile crossing his face, “If she believes she can handle our company, then I have no problem taking her on,” he replied dutifully, trying to shake off the lingering nostalgia as some of the men gave a mild cheer.

[Maria Estrella]

"Oh, well I have some if you want a sip. But it's the good stuff, I'm saving most of it!" She told him, shaking a finger slightly at him before reaching into the bulkier bag and pulling out a blue bottle of tequila. "Straight from Cabo Wabo, they make some of the best!" She proclaimed, taking the cork stopper out and holding it out for Ivan. The golden crest on the front proclaimed 'Repasado' with the classic picture of a lighthouse and the sun.

Maria gave Toris a small wink, chuckling slightly. "Sí, señor, I think I can handle you guys." She said, marveling at her luck. She had found a crew, they had accepted her, and she now had a job she knew she could do. What more could a girl ask for? And these guys seemed like they knew how to have a good time. Her mind set into overtime, wondering what adventures awaited her beyond tonight. There was bound to be some action, after all, she was now a pirate, right?

[Ivan Braginski]

Ivan sniffed the bottle, lifting an eyebrow at the strong smell before he lifted the bottle and winked," May it knock me on my ass da?" The men roared in approval as he took a deep swig before he handed it back and wiped his mouth off; giggling," That is good stuff! Is smoother than Vodka...but I like it! We'll make sure to pick some up when we're near Spain and such da?" He thumps her shoulder companionably and points to her," Say 'allo to our new comrade comrades!" The men let out a louder cheer, clinking mugs and bottles together and toasting before drinking; Ivan smiling even wider.

This was far too easy.

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris looked with curiosity to the foreign liquor, admiring the bottle. He smiled in response to Maria’s wink, raising a glass to toast, “Amen.”

At Ivan’s comment, the brunet snorted into his mead, rolling his eyes lightly beneath his hat. “I hope not—otherwise, I’m not particularly looking forward to the prospect of dragging you back to the ship.”

One of the other men snickered, commenting in slightly slurred German that their captain was such a scrawny thing the effort would likely break him like a twig, before another crewman kicked him in the leg, looking fearfully to Ivan. The first mate was not tolerant of down-talking the Captain, especially when doing so involved sayings that sounded like comments on his weight. Luckily, the Russian didn’t appear to notice, though Toris wouldn’t put it past Ivan if he had.

The Lithuanian quirked an eyebrow at the blond when he cheerily announced these plans to go to Spain, wondering how to work that in, before he caught sight of a dark look on Maria’s face. He blinked, setting his glass down after toasting and wondering what happened to cause it.

[Maria Estrella]

With a laugh, Maria took back the bottle of tequila. "Glad you liked it. It's one of my personal favorites." She replied, replacing the stopper back in the neck of the bottle. She was busy putting it back in her bag when Ivan's words hit her ears. They made her freeze and bite her lip in irritation. That hit a rather sore spot for Maria, and she quietly sat back up with a sour look on her face. She quickly wiped it off and sighed. 'Calm down' She told herself. 'He didn't know, not a big deal. Just tell him politely that those damn Spaniards don't make tequila.'

Maria forced a small laugh and looked at Ivan with a small smile. "If you went to Spain for tequila, you'd be out of luck comrade." She said in a slightly strained voice, shaking her head. "Tequila is only made in North America, mainly Mexico." Maria tried to be nice, really she had. She had to be, this was her new crew after all. And she didn't want to blow her chances by pissing off the first mate before she'd even seen the ship.

[Ivan Braginski]

Ivan suppresses the urge to laugh at her irritated expression, pleased that she behaved herself so well when so insulted," Oh? My apologies comrade~" He commented in Russian," We should do a Mexico crawl comrades~ good booze and fiery women~" The crew laughs and agrees with the idea, downing more of their drinks before a few wandered to get some more for the table. Ivan kicked back a little, happy with his vodka as he switches back to English," Now...besides cooking...what other skills do you have? I am curious~"

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris sighed in relief that the situation apparently diffused itself—the look on Maria’s face had almost looked like war. Something about that phrasing gave the Lithuanian’s stomach an unpleasant turn, and he took another draft of mead. On hearing Ivan’s suggestion, the brunet almost coughed over his drink, just trying to imagine what sort of mischief the crew would get into if that truly was the case. ‘Alas, poor Mexico,’ he thought with just slightly joking sincerity, setting the mug down and looking over at Maria.

He smiled slightly, and nodded, “Taip, that would be interesting to know. I mean, once you’re aboard, the basics are fairly easy to pick up within a few weeks, but anything we can start off with, ne?”

[Maria Estrella]

Maria blinked at the laughter, wondering what Ivan said that made the men laugh. Eh, must have been some joke. She brushed it off and smiled at Ivan's question, chuckling slightly when Toris added his input. "Well, I can sew decent. I can clean... I'm pretty strong. And I speak Spanish fluently. Es fácil." She shrugged and tried to think of anything else that could be of use to them.

“I can fight pretty well. I’m not trained professionally, but I did learn quite a lot from my brothers.” She added, shrugging as if to indicate she didn’t know anything else that could be helpful to them. “That’s about it I suppose.”

[Ivan Braginski]

Ivan grinned, swinging his bottle a little as he kicked his chair back and put his feet on the table; crossed at the ankle and slouched in his chair he looked like a typical pirate even as some rather...rough looking men started stalking towards their table," Any fight is good fight skill~"

He cast one violet eye at the scruffy men just getting bold enough to approach now that it was just himself, Toris and Maria at the table," And I am thinking we are getting first hand look da?"

One of the taller men grunted," Oi...don' keep a pretty lady to yer selves mates..." another one winked and grinned, showing off some rotting stubs," Aye, c'mon an' set wit' us a bit pretty~"

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris nodded, agreeing with Ivan’s first statement, raising his mead to his lips and taking a sip before spotting the approaching men. Concern flickered across his face at Ivan’s comment, and he set the mead down untouched, instinctively placing a hand to the sword on his hip.

Naturally, he didn’t find one. The Lithuanian blinked, tilting his head with a deeper frown, momentarily confused that he expected to have one. Ah, no matter. He didn’t exactly want to shed blood yet, anyway, if there was another way of getting out of this…

“We’re not keeping her any place she doesn’t want to be, good sir,” he commented coolly, glancing between first Ivan, and then Maria. After a second, the Baltic decided to wait and see how Maria handled this before he made any move to step in, still keeping his guard up as he faced the roughs, fingers twitching against his side.

[Maria Estrella]

Maria smiled slightly and the compliment and waved her hand. "Eh, well, one has to know how to protect themselves, right?" At his comment, her eyes follwed his gaze and blinked at the men who had just presented themselves. They weren't exactly the healthiest looking men at the port and she fought from rolling her eyes at their remark.

"¿Qué? Um, no thanks... I'm good where I am. Thanks for the offer though." She smiled slightly and looked over as Toris spoke, nodding her head in agreement and giving him a subtle smile when he looked her way. "Mis amigos here are showing me a good time." Maria sat up a little straighter in her chair and wondered if the men would leave her alone with just that. If not....

Well, that one guy didn't look like he'd be keeping those teeth that much longer anyways.

[Ivan Braginski]

Ivan took a long draft off his vodka, polishing it off as he shifted his chair to sit properly," Perhaps you should go da?" He grinned at them, popping open his new bottle as the men growled, drawing weapons," We thinks nots mates..."

Ivan looked excited," Suit yourself~" He kicked a chair at one and tossed a bottle, skipping out of his chair with his drink; staggering just a little before tugging his pipe out with a laugh," Let us see what you can do da?"

The table the men had come from emptied itself, crew members rushing to the thugs aid, his own crew cut off; leaving him with just the two," Let us see how well you fight, Mizz Maria~"