Every place they went into they either had a spot that was reserved for them or wherever they decided to sit, the previous inhabitants would scatter. Theo led Ava to the back corner of the room to a series of couches and chairs. They had a good view of the whole room from their new spot and Ava began her routine inspection of the place upon finding a seat. This place was more diverse than the last places she had been in. Most of the bars and taverns they had been in were crowded with men but here there was an equal amount of both inside.

Ava noticed other things that were different about this place. It was less of a bar and more of a gathering spot. Some people were making their way around the space with trays of drinks, food, and what looked like similar trays to the one they ordered at Grogon's. There were also very scantily clad men and women making their rounds around the room. The men had either no shirt on or very tight sleeveless shirts and shorts on. The women were in small skirts and tight corsets, breasts practically falling out of their bindings. Upon further inspections, Ava noticed these men and women leading other patrons into rooms and the reality of where they were drawn on Ava. Wherever they were it was a hybrid between a bar, a drug longue, a gathering space, and a brothel.

Ava had never been inside a brothel before, especially not one that had men employees too. It didn't seem to be as decrepit and nasty as her parents had made it out to be. She wasn't experienced in the politics of it though. She was unaware of the differences of opinions over these establishments, having had only a glimpse into it the other night. Ava would have to read and ask Cooker about it, find out more, and form her own opinions. Theo, who had disappeared shortly after escorting them to their seats, came back and took up the spot on the couch next to Ava.

Ava turned her attention to Theo. In the candlelight, Ava could see Theo's busted lip and a bruise forming around her mouth. Her hand that was resting on the arm of the couch was swollen and there was drying blood on her rings. Ava had remembered the word that man had called Theo. It was a different tongue, a similar tone to the one Theo and the others had been speaking. She had so many questions for the pirate but she opted to relax back into the couch. Soon enough, people with all kinds of trays began passing through. By the time they had all left Ava had a full plate of food, some havcera, and a drink.

"Wanna share that? I can light the pipe for us if you do," Theo offered and pointed at the havcera Ava had asked for. She had been proud of herself for being able to answer when the server asked if she wanted anything.

"Aye," Ava handed her the pipe and the grass, "I'm not that good at the mechanics of it yet."

Theo laughed, "It's a learned skill."

Ava picked at her food as she watched Theo go through the whole process. It was like a small ritual and she could see the appeal of it all. The subculture of drugs was half the fun, it seemed like. She watched as Theo lit the pipe and held the smoke in her lungs. When she blew out, she tried to form a ring with the smoke. It failed and both of them laughed. Theo passed the pipe to Ava who took a hit. Once they had passed it back and forth and burned everything in the pipe, Theo put it down. They both relaxed against the back of the couch but Ava didn't take her eyes off Theo, head turned toward the captain.

Theo turned her head and grinned at Ava, "Go ahead."

"What?" Ava laughed.

"Ask whatever questions you have?" Theo elaborated.

"Why do you always assume I have questions?"

"Well, don't you?"

"I do," Ava chuckled a bit, staring into Theo's deep brown eyes. She kept her eyes trained on Theo but moved her body so she was curled up sideways, "What did that man call you?"

"Dokkil," Theo whispered and Ava barely caught it over the noise in the place, "it means a lot of things. It's layered. Bitch, whore, bastard, lowborn, scum, thief. There isn't a word in common that captures exactly what it means. They are fighting words. It's a challenge almost."

Theo was right, it was layered. Ava was right in her assumption though, the words were enough of a provocation, "What language was he speaking?"

"Safri. The language spoken in Safriti," Theo said.

"Safriti? Where is that?" Ava asked.

"You're joking right?" Theo asked and Ava shook her head, "South Efriti. It's called Safriti. Haven't you been reading?"

"Aye, but my books have had no mention of Safriti or South Efriti," Ava defended herself.

"Oi Cooker, when did South Efriti declare their separation?" Theo turned her head and asked her friend.

"21st classification," Cooker answered, barely looking away from her conversation.

"Oh, you haven't gotten that far. Sorry mate," Theo said and faced Ava again, "Safri is the language they speak in South Efriti."

"But I thought no one spoke anything but Common? By the 10th classification all other languages had been eradicated," Ava stated, it was something she knew for a fact. Everywhere she had ever been and in every book she had ever studied assumed that common was the only written and spoken language left. Ava knew that some words had managed to linger around, like the names of certain things, but she thought that that was the extent of any language other than Common.

"Common is the only thing used in official documents, official trade, official business, and official history but people still speak their continent's or region's language," Theo explained, "I'm sure The Center would like to believe they have some control over communication in their system but they don't."

The lack of knowledge Ava had still never failed to surprise Theo. She had met and boarded many women from greater houses, it wasn't too common but over the lengths, the numbers added up. Most of them had been lacking in their knowledge of the real world in some way but Ava seemed to know a lot less than most of those girls. She had to remember not to make her feel bad, Ava seemed receptive to this new information and Theo did not want to jeopardize that.

"So Safriti, is that what you were speaking with Xyra and Cooker?" Ava asked, storing the information Theo had given her about languages to access at another time.

"No, that was Aelizan," Theo said.

"How do you know Aelizan?"

"I am from Aeliz," Theo smiled at Ava, "I can read, write, and speak it. I taught it to Cooker and Xyra already knew a little."

"You can be jailed if you speak something other than common. Is that not enforced?" Ava asked, curious as to why something of such importance to nobles and greater houses was based on a lie.

"Outside of the eye of the nobles it isn't enforced. Greater houses that want to look good around classification will crackdown on the public speaking of languages other than common but there isn't much anyone can do to stop it being taught in the homes," Theo explained, delving a little into the complicated politics of language.

"I thought you were going to kill that man," Ava admitted, trying to change the subject to get to her other questions, "Why didn't you? It isn't illegal."

"There is more to think about than the legality of my actions here. Everything is politics and everything has consequences. I don't know that man, he could be a new crew member on a rival ship and that would be all the ammo they need to raid us," Theo explained.

"What did Xyra and Cooker tell you? When they pulled you off of him?" Ava asked, curious as to what would get her to calm down.

"That it was not worth the headache and a ruined night," Theo smiled, "They know me. When I am not sober I tend to have a knack for getting into fights with men. I got a little carried away and they had to remind me that it was not the first time I'd been insulted, I'd get over it. They were right. There are far worse punishments he could endure."

"Which is what you told Xyra to do on our way here?" Ava asked.

"Perceptive," Theo noted, "aye, she will be spreading the word that no brothel or bar serves him. He loses and I don't get in trouble. Plus he had a last name. He probably has money and him winding up dead wouldn't be good for me."

"So you're having him blacklisted from almost every place in Niveal?" Ava confirmed.

"Aye," Theo smirked, "sucks to be him."

Ava nodded in agreement and stayed quiet. She had no more questions and Theo had nothing to add either. They just stared at each other. Theo was lost in Ava's green eyes. They were glassy from all the smoking and drinking and she looked sleepy. She got a good look at Ava. Her nose was a cute button, slightly upturned at the end. Freckles lined her pale cheeks. Her hair had begun to grow out since Tuni had cut it and now it was looming over her eyebrows, threatening to block her vision.

Theo was pulled from her silent staredown with Ava by someone calling her name.

"Captain," a woman purred above her.

Theo looked up to see one of the women who worked in the brothel. She had a loose black skirt on with a tight corset on top. Theo cleared her throat and smiled at the woman, "Aye, what can I do for you?"

The woman sat in Theo's lap and wrapped her arms around the Captain. Theo wrapped an arm instinctively around the woman's waist. The woman leaned in close and whispered into Theo's ear, "I need your help. Will you follow me?"

Theo was used to this. It was how most women approached her with a problem, feigning that they were pursuing a client when really they were asking Theo for help. Theo squeezed her hand on the woman's thigh to let her know she would help her. Theo would have to sit there for a while, with the woman on her lap. It took more than a few seconds for these women to score clients and it would look odd if she got up as soon as she sat down.

"I've heard a lot about you," she said in Theo's ear.

"Only good things, I hope," Theo joked and looked up at the beautiful woman. Her face was painted and her lips were bright red. She was fairly new as Theo had never met her before. Theo knew most of the women that were staffed at the brothel's she protected, if not by name then by face. Theo wondered what could be the issue, she had never had problems with this establishment before.

After an appropriate amount of time, the woman got up and took Theo's hand, leading them to a room. Theo did not get to see Ava's reaction but she's sure it was one of confusion. The last time they had spoken on the topic of brothels, Theo had stated she was against using these establishments for sex. Theo walked into the room the woman had led them to and closed the door behind her. The woman urged Theo to get on the bed and Theo awkwardly got onto it. The woman, who's name she never got, walked back to the door and locked it. Theo instantly reached for her dagger, something was not right.

"It's almost too easy, babe," a figure appeared from the shadows in the corner.

Theo got up from the bed and looked between the figure and the door. She was blocked in. It wasn't that Theo wanted to run because she was scared, it was because she knew that voice. She drew her dagger out, knowing she would be putting no use to it.

"Viv," Theo said, "you could have just come talk to me."

"I couldn't have," Viv said, coming out into the light, "Your guard dogs out there wouldn't have let me near you."

It had been quite a while since Theo had seen Vivexa, nearing one length. The tall slender woman would often come into Theo's dreams. Her long blonde hair and blue eyes were at the center of Theo's fantasies when she was younger. Her and Viv had a long and complicated history that started almost eight lengths before. Viv was always in and out of their lives and they never knew how long she would stick around. When Theo first got command of a ship, Viv came around and was on the crew for about a length before having a nasty falling out with Theo and most of the crew.

Well, most of the crew had a nasty falling out with Viv and Theo was the only idiot that kept being swept up in her path. Every time Viv resurfaced, Theo would tend to her hand and foot. Vivexa was almost like the Navi to her Xyra but way worse. For about a length, Theo and Viv were together and they were inseparable. As kids, they had always had a great time and as they got older they began to flirt with one another whenever Viv came around. Theo never let it get past that until Viv came on to be a part of Theo's crew. Shortly after recruiting Viv, Theo fell hard and fast for her. She turned out to be on the crew with wrong intentions.

Vivexa had been hired by another pirate captain to secure information about important leads aboard the Scorned Woman. She had been paid a handsome amount to funnel all leads to that captain through written communication. Her mission was to get close with the captain and the others aboard to undermine Theo's efforts to advance her crew. Xyra was the one who had caught her and the crew unanimously voted her off. Theo was crushed, she was heartbroken. She hadn't been with anyone romantically since. To be honest, Theo was afraid the betrayal was so deep she would never learn to trust again.

Every once in awhile Viv would pop up. Sometimes it was just to see Theo and catch up and other times it was for a favor. Theo should have stopped seeing Viv lengths ago. She had a talent of getting into Theo's head and burying herself under Theo's skin. After seeing Viv, Theo would dream about her for cycles. Longing for her touch and her affection even though Viv had brought nothing but pain. Theo's crew was correct in being cautious of Viv.

"What do you want?" Theo asked.

Viv pulled a sack full of coins out and handed it to the worker that had brought Theo in the room, "Theo you know better than to ask questions when company is around. Thank you, dear. You'll exit through the window."

"I'm not doing that," the woman scoffed at the ridiculous request.

"I've paid you a week's worth of wages for two things. For you to bring her in here and for you to leave through the window," Viv said, "I will take the gold back if you would rather go out the door."

The woman glared at Viv and made her way to the open window. It was on the first floor so it was not that bad but Theo still felt guilty about the woman having to do this. Theo could stop it. She could just tell the woman to walk out of the door and Theo would compensate the woman for her lost wages. But if Theo did that, it meant that her chances of being alone with Viv would be slashed. Her guard dogs, as Viv called them, would be in the room within minutes after seeing the woman walk out alone. So Theo stood by and let the woman leave through the window.

"I need information," Viv got straight to the point once the woman had left.

"How'd you find me?" Theo asked. She wanted to know if it was a coincidence that Viv had found her or if she had been tracked to Niveal. It would have been a problem if it was the latter.

"Word travels fast when The Captain docks on Niveal's shores. You and your ladies are predictable too. You always end your first night here. Don't worry. I wasn't keeping tabs on you," Viv reassured but Theo couldn't tell if it was the truth.

"What job are you on?" Theo asked.

"I got hired to look into a string of deaths. Some merchant group is looking into it. Word is that there has been an increase in crew's disappearing," Viv said and Theo was interested now.

"What have you heard exactly?" Theo asked. She hadn't heard anything but she also hadn't been back to Corinspe in a while. She was a few cycles behind on underworld happenings. Theo hoped that by phrasing her question that way, Viv would think Theo knew something too and just didn't want to spill first.

"Hune, Jorkev, Virauli, and Espbar. All gone," Viv said and finally moved from her spot and sat on the bed, "Been following Espbar's death and all signs are pointing to death by a certain lady pirate, is that true?"

Theo simply shrugged, "He raided us. It was within the code."

"Not here to accuse you of crimes against pirates. I just needed to confirm you're the reason he went down," Viv said, "Do you know anything about the others? Did you by chance sink them too?"

Theo sat down next to her on the bed, "I don't and I didn't. You've got no leads?"

Viv shook her head, she was still calm and collected but Theo knew that under the facade was a layer of anxiety and uncertainty. There was rarely a job Viv couldn't do.

"None. No one knows anything. I've checked in with all my sources and none have any clue of any ongoing disputes any of them had. No treasure hunts that overlapped or enemies they were out running. There were no storms recorded on the days of their voyages. They all simply checked out of one port and never registered in another. Espbar dying too was just a coincidence," Viv delved into her assignment. She was usually never this open so she must have really needed help.

"I've heard nothing. I've been so busy trying to keep my crew afloat that I haven't been focused on getting any news. I wish I could help," Theo said.

It was a lie. Even if she did have information she wouldn't have shared it. Theo might have had a soft spot for Viv and she couldn't resist her when she was around but she never would divulge crew secrets. Viv, however, didn't know this. Theo had managed to play it so that Viv thought the captain was wrapped around her finger, willing to do anything. That wasn't the case. Theo's resolve to keep secrets to herself and her crew was strong and while Viv could get her into bed in less than a minute, she couldn't manipulate her in that way. Theo could take the blow to the ego, Viv thinking Theo was helpless to her charms because sometimes she got graced with great information.

Like what she had just heard. Three pirates, dead. No leads. It was something of interest and something she would need to tell the crew about.

"Your client, the merchant, what's their stake in all of this?" Theo asked, wondering why Viv would even take a job with them in the first place. They were usually not in the business of hiring underworld sleuths to do their work.

"Trying to be the first on some new route they've mapped out from Efriti to Elox, it's said to cut shipping time by a third. With all of these pirates disappearing the client wants to know what's going on," Viv explained.

"What's it to them?" Theo asked, still not understanding the value of paying a large sum of money to find out why pirates are dying. If it wasn't for the endless hours of drinking and doing drugs she had just gone through, maybe her mind wouldn't have been as foggy.

"All of these ships have vanished somewhere between Efritit, Dove Island, and Elox. If the pirates are dying because the waters are dangerous then it's too dangerous for my merchant. If these pirates are dying because someone is hunting them then it's the perfect opportunity for my merchant to establish his route. No pirates, no problems," Viv spelled it out for Theo.

It made sense now. Theo would bet her life's treasure that there was foul play involved. The pirates that had gone missing were big names in Baethos and it would have taken a freak of nature out on the sea to make any of them go missing. She wasn't going to let Viv know that. Her and Xyra would figure it out, they would look into it after this was all over.

"Right," Theo nodded and stood up from the bed, "I wish I could provide some information but I'm no use this time around."

"Leaving so soon?" Viv asked and made herself comfortable on the bed.

"Aye, the girls are waiting for me. I should probably get back to them," Theo made an excuse. She knew that the women outside were drunk and entertained and were not waiting around in any sense of the word.

"You know as well as I do that all of them have their heads up somebody's skirts by now. Stay for a chat. It's been a while," Viv patted the spot next to her.

Her presence was inviting Theo in. Reminding her of all the reasons that Viv had a permanent residence in her head. She was charismatic, funny, witty, confident, collected, cocky; like Theo in so many ways except Viv had nothing to lose. Theo envied her in that way. Viv was an agent to no one but herself, untethered and with no responsibility for anyone. Theo stopped herself from taking another step forward. If she ended up in that bed, chances were that within a half-hour their clothes would be off. It wasn't that Theo was not interested, she was, but it was probably not a good idea.

Viv sensed Theo's hesitation and shifted on the bed to be on all fours. She crawled towards the end of the bed, only a few feet in front of Theo, "Tell me about all the pirate adventures I've been missing out on. Taking down Espbar must have been hell."

Dammit, Viv was good. If there was anything that Theo liked to talk about it was herself and her successful missions. A smile broke out over her face against her will and she took a step forward. It was Niveal. Everything off-limits was fair game here and Theo was going to indulge.

"It wasn't that hard. Just needed a skilled master gunner, navigator, crew, and of course an amazing captain that knew exactly what to do in the heat of battle," Theo teased and Viv reached her hand out and grabbed Theo's coat.

Viv pulled Theo closer to the bed and then sat back down normally. She put her hands on Theo's waist and looked up at her, "You're hurt. When's that from?"

"Right before coming here," Theo said and held up her hurt hand, it did not look too bad.

Viv pulled Theo down a bit and cupped her cheek, "I'm sure the other person was worse."

"He could have been much worse but Cooker stopped me from killing him," Theo confessed. Theo had been planning on it. As soon as that word came out of his mouth her vision had gone black. The only thing she could see was him and she had every intention of seeing his head removed from his body. Cooker, thankfully, stopped her. It was her job to stop Theo from doing stupid things when they were in Niveal. Even though there was some lingering resentment from Cooker, it was nice to know her friend still had her back.

"Cooker? Wouldn't have expected her to be the one to ruin the fun. Was Xyra on vacation? Has she fallen ill and was unable to step in?" Viv said and Theo shot her a glare.

"Leave Xy alone," Theo pushed Viv's hands off of her waist. It was a warning to stop or Viv would get no further that night.

"Fine," Viv held her hands up in the air, "But really, are you okay?"

Sometimes Viv looked at her in a way that made Theo think she cared. Why else would she ask? Why else would she look up at Theo that way? But that kind of thinking was what continued to make Theo get so caught up in Viv. She needed to stop those thoughts. Whether Viv cared or not, Theo was not available to her. She had learned her lesson and knew better than to be romantically involved with her past lover.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking. How about you? Been taking care of yourself?" Theo asked and nudged Viv to move.

Viv moved up the bed and made way for Theo to sit.

"I've never been better. With the classification around, jobs keep coming in." Viv said.

"Haven't heard any news surface about you for half a length. I was starting to think I had finally gotten rid of you," Theo teased.

"You keep tabs on me? Captain, that is so sweet," Viv countered, placing her hand over her heart.

"It's to ensure you are very far away from everything we are doing," Theo laughed, "Xyra's got someone in every continent just for that."

"I love being such an important factor in your lives," Viv smiled. They could go back and forth all night and Theo knew it.

Theo saw the night unfolding before her and she wanted to fast forward past all the snarky comments that were followed by flirting, and finally sex. They had been through this so many times that Theo wanted to just get to the action. It wasn't like she thought Viv minded, it was usually Viv that would try and rush things.

Theo stood up and took her red coat off and draped it across a chair. She followed suit with her boots and laid them neatly on the floor.

"Why are you taking that off?" Viv asked, wondering why the Captain had started to undress all of a sudden.

"We both know where this is going to wind up so I am just trying to save time," Theo stated and began to unbutton her shirt.

"One question about me and straight to sex? You haven't seen me in a length," Viv laughed but also began to unbutton the shirt she had on.

"You've got a lot of jobs. Betrayed a lot of people. Made a lot of money. Threw morality out of the window and helped inform a few uprisings. I know the gist of it. I'm tracking you, remember?" Theo walked over in just her pants and undershirt on.

Viv was smirking at Theo as she got into bed, "You are being feisty tonight."

Theo leaned back on her elbows, "I'm sorry. If you want to catch up we can."

"No need. You've gotten a lot of money. You've raided all the merchant ships you could in the east so now you've come back west. I'm tracking you," Viv chuckled and crawled over to where Theo was and straddled her.

"You said you weren't," Theo placed her hands on Viv's waist.

"I lied. I do that sometimes," Viv leaned in and kissed Theo.

Theo brought a hand up to hold the back of Viv's head flush against her lips. It was a familiar feeling but Theo had forgotten what her lips felt like. They were plump and enticing. Theo flipped them over.

Viv pulled away from Theo, "You're good?"

"Yeah," Theo paused, her gold necklace dangling as she hovered over the blonde girl, "are you?"

"Would be better if you came back and kissed me," Viv admitted.

Theo laughed and leaned down to kiss the girl, trying to not think of the long term effects a night with Viv would have.