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[argyle_princess]

Hannah, over by the fireplace, with a loop of string stretched between her fingers. She just wanted to see if she could still remember how make string figures. She's stuck on Jacob's ladder, and fast losing patience with the whole thing.

Distraction, in the form of company, would be lovely.

Comments

[politestpirate]

If there was any sort of protocol during his own time for this sort of thing- Wellard was in the navy and never got around to having to deal with it. And here at Milliways things are Clearly Different- which he rather likes, but that does not mean he knows what is considered proper for this, even still.

So. Hopefully just walking over is alright? With two (normal, non-soy!) vanilla capuchinos?

"... Good evening, Hannah."

[argyle_princess]

Normal coffee drinks are never a bad start to a conversation.

"Hey, Henry," she says, easily, looking up from the string with a smile. "How're you?"

[politestpirate]

Wellard smiles back, setting one of the cups down on a side table. "Well enough, and yourself? Aside from tying yourself up?" He eyes the string tangled around Hannah's hands.

[argyle_princess]

Hannah pulls her fingers free and drops the tangle of thread on a table.

"I used to be good at that," she tells him, picking up the coffee instead. "Thanks. And I'm good."

A look over the edge of the cup. "Only well enough?"

[politestpirate]

His lips twitch in a smile as he sits down in a seat next to her.

"'Well enough' in that there have been no new disasters or doom befallen upon us here- at least as of five minutes ago, last I checked- and all in all the evening seems to be going well, with the possibility of being rather lovely, even- so." Wellard grins.

"Well enough."

[argyle_princess]

Hannah looks at her watch. "I think we can give the doom and disasters at least, oh, twenty minutes before we check on them again."

Doom really properly has to be left to rise until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean, anyway.

"A possibility of being rather lovely sounds promising," she says. "What's causing that?"

[politestpirate]

"With any luck, they've decided to hold off for the rest of the evening." He chuckles quietly, then studies his own cup of coffee as a faint blush creeps across his cheeks.

"The presence of a beautiful lady, of course."

[argyle_princess]

"And it's still only a possibility? Well, we'll have to see what we can do about that, I think."

[politestpirate]

The blush deeps a bit, even as Wellard gives Hannah a grin. "That might be an idea, yes. The evening is young, afterall."

[argyle_princess]

For the record, in case anyone is wondering, yes, Henry is cute when he blushes. Especially if you're used to dealing with guys who don't.

"Very young. And since I don't feel like picking the knots and snarls out of that, I have loads of free time.

"How's the puzzle box? Have you solved all the mysteries of life, the universe and everything?"

[politestpirate]

"The mysteries of the puzzlebox, at least." Wellard grins, and takes a key from a pocket and passes it over to Hannah.

"Looks like for a clock, or something else of the sort- though I've no idea why someone would put a key inside a box that was that hard to get open."

[argyle_princess]

"Odd." Hannah turns it over in her hands for a moment. "I would understand it if it were a key that went to a lock."

"Well, it was either incredibly important to someone for reason or reasons unknown," she says, "or someone out there is laughing at you right now."

She looks at the key again, then grins.

"Maybe it's what you use to, oh, I don't know, wind up Time-with-a-capital-T, or keep the planets cruising along in their orbits. Something suitably end-of-the-universe-ish. And maybe someone just wanted something inside to rattle around and make noise."

[politestpirate]

"It was in a chest we took from a ship that was about 3 weeks sail from Singapore, along with quite a lot of other odd things. I doubt if its supposed to wind up anything here- which may be a good thing. I don't think I want to be responsible for having to wind up Time every so often, or something similar." He shakes his head, amused.

[argyle_princess]

"So this key is part of your plunder from your first attempts at piracy?"

She hands it back to him, and her hand may linger on his longer than is stictly necessary for the transfer of an object from one person to another.

[politestpirate]

"Part of it, by any rate. The captain of the ship we took the chest from, went and locked it in the brig so we wouldn't get it- never mind the rest of the cargo." Wellard grins. "However, some of those brigs are apparently quite easy to get in and out of, if you know how."

He probably quite notices this, as his cheeks flush slightly and his own hand lingers. More than likely, certainly.

"It was more of the challenge, than anything else, to get it."

[argyle_princess]

"So first you had to break into a jail to get chest, and then you had to break into a box to get the key? I'm starting to think you just enjoy challenges, Henry."

Hannah runs one finger very lightly along the inside of his wrist. It's taking an absurdly long time to return this key, really.