A Little Bird Told Me (PruLiet; closed)

[Preußen]

It had been 48 hours since the crew's encounter with the mild-tempered, mousy Lithuanian captain and his frightfully large, intimidating Russian first mate on the floating island in Greece. Aside from the obviously fierce impression left upon Gilbert (and his crew), the Prussian Captain was left with another odd souvenir from the encounter. Ever since the squabble over the rumored treasure on the floating island, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about the Lithuanian captain.

Not in a creeperish way, of course. He wasn't thinking about how soft the brown hair looked, or how he wanted to test it's softness, and he definitely wasn't thinking about how cute the smaller man had been when he got flustered and upset about something the Prussian had said.

Definitely not.

And after a rather distressing conversation with his Ukrainian cook ("Say, Katuysha. Theoretically speaking...what does it mean when you can't stop thinking about someone you just met?" "Ahh...thinking how?" "Well, you know, like...their hair, or, uh...the way they fluster easily. Or something. This is highly theoretically by the way." "I am thinking it is worth trying to meet them again, Kapitan." Then the woman had given him this odd little smile that made him shift uncomfortably and quickly excuse himself without even grabbing a beer first.) Gilbert quickly set out to find a way to get in contact with this captain again. After exhausting a lot of questionable and rather shady resources, the Captain had obtained a radio frequency that supposedly matched up with that of the other ship's...or, more specifically, the private frequency of the ship's captain.

Gilbert flopped onto his bed, setting the radio on his stomach as he examined it. He had dimmed the lights, changed out of his Captain's clothes, and made sure his door was locked...just to be safe.

Now, as he examined the radio in front of him, he held a small scrap of folded paper in his hand. He flipped a few switches on the radio and jumped slightly as the device seemed to burst to life, all small lights and quiet beeping before it quieted down again, leaving a small, dull hum coming out from the speakers. Gilbert stared at it for a moment as he adjusted the volume, then took the mouthpiece into his hand and began fiddling with one particular dial. He listened to the odd blurbs and buzzing and beeps, grumbling to himself, "Just a little moooooore...there!" And he looked at the radio triumphantly for a moment before taking up the mouthpiece again.

He pressed a small button on the mouthpiece whilst unfolding the scrap of paper with his other hand and began to talk into it softly.

"Hallo? Hallo? Testing, hallo? Is this the kapitan of..." he pauses for a moment to squint at the paper, making sure he's reading the words scribbled there correctly. He enunciates the odd syllables slowly, sounding them out, "Medall...Podsolnuh? Wait a second..."

There's another pause in which he sets the paper down and snorts a barely contained laugh into the mouth piece.

"Metal Sunflower? Was zur Hölle? What kind of name is that for a ship?"

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris sighed, sitting on his bed and beginning the process of undressing, starting by taking off his boots. It had been a long day of ship maintenance, navigation, book-keeping (meaning the bane of the Lithuanian’s existence, paperwork), dealing with Ivan (read: trying to not be domineered by), and posturing as captain, and the brunet was more than ready to settle down for the night. Untying his hair and shaking it out with his hand, the Lithuanian’s thoughts inevitably drifted back to Greece. He snorted lightly, a momentary flush crossing his cheeks, as he remembered how obnoxious the opposing captain had been.

‘Can’t believe he thought I was a girl at first—it’s not that unusual for a guy to have his hair in a ponytail,’ the Eastern European thought, sniffing as he stripped off his padded vest, folding it on his lap, ‘And the sheer nerve, laughing at me when I told him I was Captain. I may not look it, but, seriously: I’m not a pushover;’ Toris smiled to himself, propping his chin in one hand and idly wondering if the bruise on the Prussian’s chin had healed yet. The look on his face had been priceless.

The brunet jumped suddenly as a loud crackle sounded, his gaze darting to the large radio on the other side of the room. Blinking slightly, Toris set his vest aside, padding over and grabbing hold of the headset, turning it over a bit to untangle it’s cord, before setting it on his head, tilting down the mouthpiece.

“L-Labas?” The Lithuanian adjusted the knobs, trying to find the right setting for the other’s voice to come through, “Ah, taip, this is the Metall Podsolnuh, Captain Laurinaitis speak-”

"Metal Sunflower? Was zur Hölle? What kind of name is that for a ship?"[/i][/color]

The Lithuanian’s hand froze on the knob, his forest eyes widening. ‘K-Kas?’ Shaking his head, the Lithuanian glowered at the dials, snorting lightly, pressing one hand to his forehead,

“Kalbëti apie vilkà, ir jis ateis,” he murmured to himself, before lifting his head and turning his attention to the other, “How did you get a hold of this frequency?” he inquired, quirking an eyebrow.

Talk of the wolf, and he will come.

[Preußen]

The Prussian had jumped a bit and scrambled to sit up more as a crackle and a voice came over the radio, the device now sitting in his lap as he leaned back against his headboard, a large and completely irrational grin spread across his face.

"Kalbëti apie vilkà, ir jis ateis."[/i][/color]

Gilbert squinted a bit, nose wrinkling as he tried to decipher the phrase. His knowledge of the Lithuanian language was limited, but enough that he could make out what was meant by the statement.

"Thinking of me, were you?" he was sure even a child could pick up on the cocky tone of voice, the light-haired man acting as if he hadn't also been thinking of the Lithuanian man for two days straight. Then--

"How did you get a hold of this frequency?"[/i][/color]

Gilbert laughed loudly, the raucous noise quickly dissolving into loud, obnoxious chuckles.

"A little bird told me," he answered the other captain's question flippantly, the dismissive hand-wave almost audible in his tone. "Good to know that my little birds are reliable, anyway. Guten Abend, Kapitan!"

He shifted a bit more, propping himself up with a few pillows before leaning back again and deciding that he was quite comfortable. Now all he needed was a beer.[/color]

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris flushed slightly in surprise, a little impressed in spite of himself. Not many non-native speakers knew Lithuanian. The tone of the other’s voice made him frown slightly, though, and he shook his head, deciding to take that ego down a notch or two,

“Yes, actually,” he began pleasantly, a very subtle sarcastic tone in his voice, “Specifically, I was wondering whether or not that smack to your face had taught you anything. Obviously, I was hoping for too much.”

Smiling a bit to himself, the Lithuanian wound the cord in his hand and made his way back to the bed, settling down with a sigh and lying back. He quirked an eyebrow at the other’s explanation, but then, it wasn’t as though he had been expecting an actual answer. “Laba vakaras to you as well, Kapitonas. Any particular reason you called?” He stretched out a bit, idly picking at his hands, “Other than to insult the name of my ship, I mean.”

The Lithuanian tilted his head, interested in the other’s answer.

[Preußen]

The Prussian captain spluttered softly at the comment about the smack to his face, and his hand rose to gingerly touch the still aching bruise that had only darkened in color since he saw the Lithuanian man. He winced at his own touch to his jaw and drew his hand away, laying it down across his stomach as he rested his head back against the headboard.

"Just called to bother you, really. Obviously it's working, so I s'pose I could go to sleep now," he swallowed a small lump that rose in his throat at this idea, and ignored the small voice at the back of his head that begged no no not yet just a little longer.

He sighed and closed his eyes slowly, oddly calmed (although he'd never admit this) by the sound of the others' voice and breathing over the crackling speakers. He let himself breathe for a moment before continuing, pressing onward and hoping the other would indulge him with a small conversation.

"Where'd you get the name Metal Sunflower, anyway? Seems kinda..." he paused here, fishing for a word. Unable to come up with one, he tried a different approach, "It doesn't seem like your style."

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris tilted his head at the other’s first statement, his amused smile fading a bit, the idea of the other leaving filling him with an odd sense of disappointment. Bantering with the other gave him a rare opportunity to actually vent some frustration, and it was refreshing to be able to actually talk to someone again without having to watch everything he said.

“Taip, I suppose you could,” he responded lightly, twisting his fingers around the wire. The brunet waited a moment, before reaching his hand up, about to take off the headphones and say goodnight, when the other asked his second question. The Lithuanian blinked a bit, his hand pausing on the left ear of his headset, the other draping across his stomach. “Ah…” he shifted slightly, drawing up one of his legs and taking a moment to decide how much of the truth he could reveal.

“…You’re right, it’s not,” he admitted, smiling a bit ruefully, “It’s a relic from the previous captain, actually, and, while I’m not particularly fond of it, there are enough people from the old crew that would object,” specifically, one very intimidating Russian, “that, and, it’s a bit of a task trying to repaint the zeppelin of a pirate ship, ne?”

He tried to imagine what sort of crew would risk getting put down by the military just because their ship was slightly off-color. His Polish friend immediately popped into mind, and the Lithuanian tried to conceal a small giggle at the mental image of Feliks objecting arrest by trying to preach the values of color coordinating.

[Preußen]

Gilbert snorted an audible laugh this time, his mental image admittedly not far off from that of Toris', although he had no idea (and probably never would).

"I guess it would be a pain to change a pre-existing ship," he mused, idly examining his ceiling. Holding the mouth piece with his left hand (resting it on his chest), the fingers of his right moved from their place on his stomach to twirl in the cord for a moment before Gilbert realized what he was doing and scoffed softly at himself. 'What am I, some giddy school girl?' He deliberately placed his right hand back across his stomach and failed to notice when his fingers were back to twirling in the cord a moment later.

"You could always get a new ship, ja?" he pressed on, thinking of how much it must suck to inherit another person's ship and not be able to change it just out of inconvenience. Then again, inconvenient or not, Gilbert probably would have made modifications to the ship anyway.

"New ship, new crew. Have a fresh start," he continued, actually enthusiastic about this idea for some reason. It wasn't as if the other captain having a new ship would mean that they'd get to see each other more or anything............'It's not like I want to see him more often, either. Was zur Hölle is wrong with me tonight? It's like I'm a love-sick puppy, Jesus...'

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris turned his gaze down to his hands, clasping them over his stomach, twining and bending his fingers and shifting his feet as he listened to the other. “It’s definitely a challenge, taip,” he responded to the first statement, thinking the topic was done. The Lithuanian was surprised as the other continued in that thread, apparently serious as his voice gained enthusiasm.

“Ah? A new ship?” The brunet tilted his head at the other’s suggestions, eyes widening in the dim light. ‘I didn’t even want to be a pirate in the first place—I just wanted to go to college,’ was how he wanted to respond, but of course, that was impossible. It would lead to too much questions.

Toris smiled again, his expression drawn, and shook his head. “As appealing as that sounds, I don’t think that’s possible, unfortunately.” He paused, wanting to say more but unsure how to manage it without revealing too much. He decided to shift direction instead, “But as far as a fresh start goes, I actually may have managed that—the majority of my current crew is as new as I am.”

Oh. Damn. Now the other knew he was new to piracy; Toris’ hands froze, and he listened hard to the silence of the other line, suddenly nervous.

[Preußen]

Gilbert found his interest piqued as the other mentioned that his crew was as new as he was. What did he mean by new? New to the ship, obviously, as he had just mentioned that he got it from the previous captain, but the way the Lithuanian man said the word...

"New to the ship, or--" he stopped, however, suddenly picking up on what the other meant, eyes growing wide for a moment before he let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "New? How new? Like, a year?"

He knew, though, that the other had been at this whole pirating business less than a year. Naturally, things were starting to make sense now, like why the other looked so fresh-faced and nervous on the field, disregarding the fact that having that guy as a first mate would make anyone nervous.

However, that also brought some new questions, like how some scrawny kid like Toris had been made captain instead of somebody big like that other guy...just thinking about the guy made Gilbert nervous; the large Russian would have made a spectacular captain. Things were making more and less sense the more that he thought about it.

"Say," he began, intending to clear up some of this confusion. He'd bet anything that this was going to be an interesting story, "How'd you become kapitan anyway?"

[SaldusSapnai]

The Lithuanian flushed, the other’s laughter riling something in him, and he immediately crossed his arms, feeling stupid and irritated. That’s what he got for relaxing around the Prussian. “A bit less, actually,” he grudgingly admitted, “though, I’d like to think the fact I’ve lasted,” quickly counting up the months. ‘Fall term started in late September…rounding up to June now…w-wow.’

“Ten months,” he finally said, voice abstracted as his arms loosened. Ten months since he had seen his parents, or his friends. Ten months he had been lost to them, unable to even write or...The Lithuanian’s eyes lowered, his heart suddenly heavy, before he shook his head, bringing himself back. “That…That should say something, ne?”

“Say, how did you become kapitan, anyway?”

“A-Ah?” Sûdas. Of all the questions to ask;;; Toris swallowed, shifting nervously, expression troubled as he tried to come up with something. Anything. “I-I was…well…I-I guess you could say, I was the…c-captain’s f-favorite.” Something about the word, and associating it with Ivan, made Toris' stomach give an almost violent turn, and the Lithuanian shuddered, swallowing again and trying to steady his voice, “It was, quite literally, forced upon me.”

After the period of dead silence following that statement, Toris realized how that sounded, and clasped his hand over his mouth, “Ah, I-I mean, n-not like…ah…”

Dieve, he should never be allowed to speak under pressure again.

Sudas = Shit
Dieve = Oh god

[Preußen]

Gilbert's raucous laughter filled the room and only quieted into snickers when his first mate came knocking on the door ("Kapitan, please quiet down. Some of the crew are trying to sleep."). He lifted the mouthpiece again and chuckled into it, shaking his head.

"Don't sound so freaked out, liebling," he covered his attempt at comforting with a gently mocking tone. "I get what you're saying; the captain liked you and made you captain against your will, right? Happens all the time, don't sound so bent out of shape about it."

Of course, Gilbert didn't really get it, because he didn't have any idea what the Lithuanian had undergone, but his understanding of the pirate world had taught him that if you valued your life, the less questions asked the better. Then again, Gilbert had always been the curious type and was never one to follow rules, anyway.

"So, ten months, huh? Doin' pretty good, I guess," he snorted a small laugh again and fiddled idly with the volume control.

"It's been a good few years for me, and I got a good crew," probably the closest he'd ever get to praising any of his crew members, save for Katuysha's cooking skills.

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris let out a small sigh of relief, glad that the other seemed to understand; at least, as much as it was safe to. He rubbed his neck, feeling a bit silly, though he had to admit that he preferred the other's laughter at the moment than any other response.

'Hm, I wonder what 'liebling' means?' Something about the word made Toris' face warm, but, he didn't draw attention to it. He stretched his legs out, settling into the cushions, and drew his small spare pillow to his stomach, wrapping his arms around it.

"I didn't know it was that common," he replied, smiling slightly, "I was always under the impression that most pirates wanted to be captain." He listened to the other fiddle with the volume control, closing his eyes so that he could better focus on the Prussian's voice. He nodded, offering a small thanks to the other's encouragement.

"It's been a good few years for me, and I got a good crew."[/i][/color]

Toris nodded again, giving a murmur of assent when he remembered the other couldn't see it. He could quite vividly recall the impression the Eagle crew had left on him. They had been a varied lot, certainly, but unlike Toris' crew, there appeared to be an easy, seamless camaraderie that enabled them to work together under their captain's command. They seemed to genuinely respect Gilbert, not just because he was captain, but because he was their captain. 'I hope I can manage to lead like that, someday...'

"They seem like good people," he said aloud, wrapping his arms about the pillow. "As good as our lot gets, anyway," he added with a giggle, only noticing a second after he said it that he had just identified himself as a pirate. He opened one of his eyes, wondering about that, and shifted his grip. "And you found them all on your own?"

[Preußen]

"I was always under the impression that most pirates wanted to be captain."

Gilbert snorted a sharp laugh at this misconception and shook his head, then added on because the other couldn't see him.

"Nein, a lot of pirates have scheiß for brains and couldn't be captain even if they wanted to. You'll find that most of the time, if you have a good crew, they'll be more content to follow than to want to lead," he explained as best he could, leaving out the fact that if you had a crew full of pirates that all wanted to be captain, you'd probably have a mutiny on your hands very soon.

"They seem like good people."

"They are, for sure," Gilbert nodded, ignoring the addition to that statement. As good as our lot gets. Screw that! Katuysha was a good woman, and it's not like Feliciano was pirate material either. Ludwig was a good, hardworking guy who just wanted to make a living. To assume that his crew was a band of cutthroat stereotypical pirate types--

Gilbert stopped himself and took a breath, letting it out slowly. No one accused his crew of being bad people. It was simply the label of pirate that put a bad mark on their names, not a bad mark on their personalities. While he was calming himself back down, he realized the other had asked him a question.

"And you found them all on your own?"

He thought about this for a moment, not quite sure how to answer, but he quickly decided and went with it.

"Not really. I was in Berlin looking for more crew members when Katuysha found me. She needed a job on a ship and I needed a cook before I starved to death. We found my first mate on the docks looking for a job, so he came along with us, too. We picked Feli up in Italy when I was avoiding my first mate and he got lost looking for me. He found Feli, who instantly attached himself to Ludwig, so we brought him along, too.

"As for Junior, we found him in Sky City. He needed a job, too, so who was I to deny him one?"

He stopped here, listening to the quiet creaking of his own ship and the soft peeping snores of the small bird who was sleeping in a nest of rags on his bedside table. Gilbert smiled at the small yellow chick and leaned over to give her a gentle pat. She responded by ruffling her feathers with a soft peep before re-situating herself in a more comfortable position. She promptly fell back asleep, and Gilbert turned his attention back to the radio in his lap.

[SaldusSapnai]

Toris smiled slightly, tilting his head. "You make piracy sound like a business." He blinked, and then chuckled, adjusting the headset over his head, "Well, I guess it is--the goal is still profit, ne? Pirates are just more direct about making it."

It surprised him still how often pirates, the alleged terrors of the sea and sky, turned out to be just regular people trying to make a living. He had had some idea of this, while he worked at the inn, but even though he knew differently he couldn't shake off the idea that the occasional pirate cilentele had a certain cast about them seperating them from normal people. Toris suddenly wondered whether or not he would see that 'cast' about himself now if he looked into a mirror.

He decided not to check.

Toris stiffened suddenly, hearing a sound out in the main room. "Ah, h-hold on, prašome," he told the Prussian quietly, shifting the headset off one of his ears. Sitting up slowly, the Baltic hugged the pillow to his chest, tense and alert. Hearing nothing more for a few moments, the Lithuanian slowly began to relax, sighing slightly and replacing the headset.

"I'm sorry, I thought I heard my first mate moving about in the cabin," he explained, setting his back against the wall and twirling the cord through his fingers. The brunet shuddered to imagine how Ivan would react to the fact that his proxy captain was corresponding with another ship, let alone one they had recently clashed with. He frowned lightly, pausing in his movements.

Did he really want to risk the Russian's anger just for the opportunity to talk to Gilbert...?

'M-Maybe I should go;;'

The Lithuanian couldn't quite manage to say it out loud.

[Preußen]

Although the Lithuanian hadn't spoken his last thought out loud, the Prussian seemed to pick up on it and shifted a bit uncomfortably in his own bed, balancing the radio on his knees as he looked at the ceiling.

"Hey, ah, if you gotta go, don't let me keep you," he wasn't sure why the other would have to leave on account of his...intimidating Russian first mate, however as curious as he was about the issue, he couldn't bring himself to ask. Usually when his subconscious told him not to do something, he deliberately went against his better judgment and did it just to be spiteful, however in this case, with his subconscious screaming don't ask don't ask DON'T ASK he felt that for once it may be beneficial to listen.

"I mean, I should probably get some sleep," he opened his mouth to continue, to state what it was exactly he needed sleep for, but realized he didn't have a good excuse. Instead, he switched gears. "You probably have a busy flight schedule ahead of you, too, huh? And captains need their sleep, especially new ones."

Of course, a part of him was still clinging to the small hope that he could talk to the Lithuanian for just a bit longer please just a little bit longer, but he stamped that hope out like he was putting out a match.