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[Paytience]

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His stable of women would exhaust even the most notorious of rogues. With her arms folded over her chest she listened as Chad finished his conversation with the leggy Brunette. Words were barely audible but if she had to take a guess there was more of skin then there was of brain in the barely clothed, full lipped, hippy woman. Batting her lashes in mimic she smiled at the female in a look that clearly said, "Go Find another Bed with Gold in it." Truth be told Chad had no gold, or at least very little. Even Paytience wasn't that naive as to think they would flock to him for that.

Holding the carrot with the tip extended to her, Chad crossed the field. "The prodigal pain in the ass returns." Sun kissed and shirtless, he smiled broadly at her.

"I'm a bad coin. You aught to know that. I keep coming back." Letting out a laugh, his strong arms scooped her up in a bear hug and swung her around in circles until she was lightheaded. Coming to rest back on the balls of her feet he beat her to the punch.

"Where have you been?"

"A tower in Yew, Felucca; Sailing; ... Anywhere but here."

Things change and things stay the same.

"Why Cove?"

"Why Not? They take care of their own here and as long as you do enough for them.. you become one of their own." In that sense, it was the exact same as the gypsies ties that bound the two of them. Basic chit chat, ebbed and floated for the next half hour. Her first real smile in months echoed the calm his presence instilled. For all the flash and all the barbs, there was no pretense here. Holding her hand out she took the carrot as he motioned to the horse behind him. "He likes them."

Staying on top of one with a lance in her hand was one thing, making friends was another. Carefully she stroked his light grey flank in a downward motion. He returned the gesture by stepping on her foot. She moved behind him and he whacked her with his tail. Finally with a loud exhale crossed to his mouth and watched as Cletus snatched the carrot from her hands downing it in one bite.

"This.. is why mine are all named Glue.."

[Chad Ryley]

---

She giggled. Gods, he loved it when they giggled. She giggled the way daughters of nobility do when a gypsy boy smiles at them. He smiled.

“I was thinking if you didn’t have anything else to do tonight, maybe we could do something together…”

She smiled so sweetly, and turned to him. “Like what?”

Chad grinned. “I don’t know…each other?”

She giggled again, but rolled her eyes coyly and trotted ahead to catch up with her sister.

“Maybe next time!” Chad shouted after her and laughed, raking his fingers through his hair. The girls turned and looked at him, then giggled again to one another.

“Some things never change.” The voice behind him was all too familiar. Chad turned to find Paytience standing, arms crossed, watching him.

“Well, well. The prodigal pain in the ass returns.” Chad grinned and caught her up in a hug, swinging her around before letting her go. “Where have you been?”

"A tower in Yew, Felucca; Sailing; ... Anywhere but here." Paytience was always straightforward. There was no guesswork. But she’d changed. She looked wilder, more seasoned. Half of her screamed use me and the other half threatened to eviscerate anyone who tried.

The conversation flowed easily, though, as always. And the topic turned to the sea. “C’mon, I’ll show you my ship.” She grinned and stalked off to the east.

“Right on.” He shouldered his pack, following her to the docks. The ship was massive. Sails fluttering freely in the wind off the ocean. A greasy man with an unkempt beard and a stupid-looking topknot stood watching them from behind the captain’s wheel.

“That’s your captain?” Chad asked incredulously.

She nodded. “That’s Slade. Slade, Chad.” She gestured between them.

Chad didn’t acknowledge the man, who was obviously a scumbag intent on leading this poor frightened fawn to her ruin. “All right. Got all I own right here. Where do I sign?”

But all too soon, the coast of Cove faded into the horizon and the waves rolled his stomach till he sat cross-legged on the deck of the Nomad, leaning back against the mast trying to keep his entrails right-side-up.

“Did I ever tell you the story about a certain Maginican lady who became enamored of a certain ferret? No? Well, ‘tis a dull story…” The captain laughed sleazily.

Chad sighed, still trying to will his stomach back down his throat. “Shut up Slade…”

[Paytience]

---

Soft and intangible the night breeze lingered beside her. Whispers that played along restless nerves picked out a melody that rocked with the tide as it beat against the weathered wood. Her forearms resting on the rail, one knee bent her dark brown eyes gazed out across the waves as they rolled into the shoreline. Hours before she had seen Chad stride wistfully within their encompassing folds of green and with his temporary departure the world once again seemed weighted.

The ties she had returned to were strained almost to the point of breaking. In that he had recognized the need for ease. Like the ebb and flow of the blue beneath The Nomad, the silent push-pull between them had its own rhythm and pace. She would place herself within that as a given if it weren't for the fact that the last time something was a given it had been ripped from her. In that too, there was an ease as it was a tearing he too understood.

Chad would find his solace in his wandering. She would find hers in stillness.

[Chad Ryley]

---

“Listen, Slade, I gotta pee. Enthralling as I’m sure this story is.” Chad rolled his eyes as he shouldered his pack and passed by Paytience on his way ashore.

“I’m shorebound, Sis. You need anything?”

Paytience was leaning on the railing, watching the waves. She didn’t turn around. “Pee for me while you’re out there. And stop calling me Sis.”

“Right on, Cappy.” Chad grinned at her exasperated sigh as he stepped off the deck and fell into a crouch on the rocky shoreline. Then, righting himself, he stalked off into the underbrush.

“Stupid topknotted, greasy, gaptoothed ass of a man.” Chad muttered as he went awander, the Nomad quickly obscured behind the treeline.

It didn’t pay to sit still too long. A man’s legs were made for walking, not sitting on a ship deck. His muscles were tired from the constant jostling to stay upright. And tired from sitting still. He climbed to the top of a rocky outcropping and looked out over the island. Sea on all sides, and not a town in sight. His stomach churned, invigorated by the earthen scents of land. And not a bakery for a thousand miles, just my luck. Wonder if Cappy can cook...

Bet if I kill a deer and drag it back, she’ll learn.