[OOM: The Often Forgotten about, yet none-the-less still there, Gym.]

[mnt_raph]

Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Rest.

Oh sure, Raph could be working out back in Tortall. It's not like there isn't any number of errands, tasks, or chores that he could do that wouldn't result in the exact same amount of exertion. It's just that here in Milliways? He can take a scaldingly hot shower afterwards. The draw of a place with a nigh unlimited amount of hot water is a powerful draw indeed.

He takes advantage of the rest period to shift his position on the work out bench and adjusting his grip on the bar resting on the pins above his chest.
Only four more sets at this weight, and he's done.

Comments

[try_corsets]

Down the staff corridor, Mike had said. You'll hear the Metallica.

Before she entered the staff wing, Elizabeth had wondered to herself what Metallica might be. Since entering the hallway, however, her most pressing thought is how to make it stop.

Surely that cannot be considered music?

Covering her ears, she follows the screeching sounds to the gym and calls out:

"Will you turn off that dreadful noise?"

[mnt_raph]

"CAN'T HEAR YOU," bellows the man from the bench. "Music's too loud."
He doesn't seem all that concerned about it. If the speakers weren't blaring Elizabeth might just hear him chuckle.

[try_corsets]

Perhaps.

Or perhaps she would instead be focusing on the click of her pistol as she cocked it.

"I SAID," Elizabeth bellows, "WILL YOU STOP ASSAULTING MY EARS WITH THAT DREADFUL NOISE."

She moves close enough so he can see her arm held straight and high, pistol pointed unwaveringly at the stereo system.

[mnt_raph]

It's clear by the way he doesn't react that either doesn't hear her over the music...or he's actively ignoring her. The click of the gun, however. That gets his attention. Even over the heavy bass and guttural screaming.

Selective hearing is a truly amazing thing, isn't it?

"Don't even think about it."

[try_corsets]

She's thinking about it.

How much she's thinking about it is evident in the set of her shoulders and the stubborn look on her face.

"Five. Four. Three..."

The pause between numbers is almost exactly the amount of time Raph was using per repetition.

[mnt_raph]

Raph heaves the bar back up onto its pins with more force than is strictly necessary. Heck, it's probably more force than is good for his arms, but the effect is worth any strain he'll feel in the morning. With a grace that doesn't entirely jive with his overall build, Raph sits himself up and retrieves a throwing knife from the pack on the floor near his towel.

As she gets to one, he tosses a knife towards the boombox, hitting the stop button with the flat end of a blade.

"Happy?"

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth slowly turns her gaze from the stereo back to Raph, both eyebrows raised.

"Incandescently."

The corner of her mouth pulls up in a smirk and she returns the pistol to her sash.

"You're Raphael." He fits the description. "Mike gave me your direction."

[mnt_raph]

"Oh good. Wouldn't want no one sayin' we ain't aimin' to please 'round here."
Somewhere a pan falls down dead.

"That so." He scoops up his towel and runs it across his scalp. "Anythin' in particular? Or is he just too big to come an' ask me to turn it down on his own."

[try_corsets]

"No, the main door blocks most of the noise and he seemed completely unconcerned by any damage you might inflict upon your own ears."

Beat.

"I'm Captain Turner. Elizabeth Turner."

This, she feels, should explain everything.

[mnt_raph]

"Good for you," he says getting to his feet.

Raph and Mike couldn't be more different. Mike is maybe five foot six if he stands up perfectly straight, and can't possibly weigh more than a buck sixty, dripping wet. Where as Raph is roughly six foot...squared. Which the long way of saying that there is little to no family resemblance of which to speak.

"Well Captain Turner, Elizabeth Turner. Any particular reason you're in my room tellin' me to turn down my music?"

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth gives him an arch look. "I'm afraid that aural disaster could only loosely be defined as such."

As she speaks, Elizabeth removes the specially padded long coat Mike had constructed for her and turns her torso sideways. She quirks an eyebrow at Raph, smiling thinly.

"This."

The sight of her rounded stomach in conjunction with her name should jog whatever memory he has left, if the Metallica hasn't completely turned his brains to mush. Right?

[mnt_raph]

"If it's too loud, you're too old," he parrots from this bumper sticker he saw this one time. The look on Splinter's face when he used against his aging master was well worth the laps he had to run as punishment.

Raph's brow furrows as Elizabeth begins to disrobe. It stays furrowed for a good ten count.

"Oooookay. You're knocked up. Great. Congratulations."

[try_corsets]

This is... not going according to plan.

Elizabeth opens and shuts her mouth, momentarily taken aback until she decides she doesn't care for his tone and gives him a smile that is almost mean.

"As is your brother."

Beat.

"He didn't tell you about me," she guesses.

[mnt_raph]

First she bad mouths his music. Then she threatens to blow up his only copy of the Black album on tape. NOW? Now she's poking fun at his pregnant brother?

Doesn't she know the rules?
ONLY RAPH CAN DO THAT!

The muscles of his jaw flex as his teeth clench.
"Can't say that he has. You two formin' a club or somethin'?"

[try_corsets]

"A club? Perhaps."

She smiles again, but this time it's bemused. Maybe she wasn't actually poking fun at Mike.

"He has generously offered his assistance to me in several ways," she explains, peering at Raph, "including hiring you to help me with a small... problem. I'd assumed you had already discussed the matter when he sent me to find you."

[mnt_raph]

Yeeaaaah, Raph? Not so quick on the uptake sometimes. Which is probably for the best, given how he normally deals with people poking fun at him.

You know...violently.

Still, while he's pretty sure that she was making fun of Mike, he can't help but find that new bemused smile of hers troubling.

"...what kind o'problem?"

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth studies him in silence, running her eyes down his bare chest and back up again. She starts to smile, but it never really makes it past a knowing smirk.






"Mutinous pirates," she says at last, lowering her voice and offering the answer like it's a gift topped with a pretty bow.

...which reminds her of something. Still watching him, she reaches for the coat and pulls a bottle of Sam Adams out of a deep pocket.

[mnt_raph]

Raph wasn't entirely sure that she'd talked to Mike at all, and then the beer showed up. He shakes his head and for the first time since his music went off he chuckles.

"Little prick." It's said with love, if such a thing is possible. How game changing one little bottle can be. It's amazing, really.

"Captain, huh? Well Captain," he says as he accepts the beer and moves back towards his bench and the metal framework that'll serve as his bottle opener. "How many mutinous pirates are we talkin'bout here?"

[try_corsets]

Careful not to reveal that she's a little astounded at how well the beer worked, Elizabeth follows and stands directly behind him.

"Five," she answers.

"No more than seven."

Her eyes drift toward the ceiling.

"Ten at the most, but I think together we can keep the number from climbing so high."

[mnt_raph]

Raph catches the edge of the bottle cap on the corner of the metal framework. With what looks to be no effort what so ever the cap pops off with a happy sigh. The jury's out on whether it was Raph or the bottle doing the sighing.

"That all?" he asks wiping his mouth with the back of his hand after he drinks.

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth drops her gaze back to his and turns her head slightly, as if trying to interpret his answer.

"Mike said you are discrete. If you can manage to make the problematic elements of my crew disappear without a trace or clue as to their whereabouts, I shouldn't have any further need of your services." She bares her teeth in a smile. "Pirates are a superstitious lot."

[mnt_raph]

"We're ninja. We make discreet look like a marching band."
That's a yes, in case she missed it.

"Now break this down for me. When you say disappear, you mean dead or just scared witless?"

[try_corsets]

"Would scared witless, presumed dead and transported elsewhere be an option?"

She looks hopeful.

[mnt_raph]

That takes some consideration. "Possibly? Really kind of depends on what I've got to work with. Any chance I could get a layout of the ship before hand?"

[try_corsets]

"Certainly."

She points forward. "Bow." And back. "Stern."

Left. "Port."

Right. "Starboard."

Elizabeth flashes a quick, mild smile.

"I'll draw you the rest."

[mnt_raph]

Cute. Even his silent reactions come complete with sarcasm.

"Appreciate that. Measurements'd be helpful. Don't need to be too specific. Just like, the relative heights of ceiling, how many paces long a hallway is, how many decks. That sort of thing. Use yourself as a the yard stick."

Now its his turn to give her a once over.

"You're what? Five, seven?"

[try_corsets]

"I suppose," she replies, looking at him askance.

Yes. Exactly that.

"I'll ensure you have what you need."

[mnt_raph]

What can we say, the boy's got talent.
Raph nods.

"Get me what you can and I'll see 'bout gettin' you what you need."

[try_corsets]

Hopefully he's just as adept at disappearing pirates as he is at judging height.

"Why?"

It's something that's been lingering in the back of her mind.

"Why agree? What have you to gain from this arrangement?"

[mnt_raph]

Raph half shrugs, then takes the towel and rubs it over his head one more time.

"Mike wouldn't vouch for you if you weren't both trustworthy as well as in dire need. Plus, it ain't like I'm sportin' a whole lotta love for pirates."

What Raph doesn't mention is that he knows he'll never hear the end of it from both Mike and Abigail if he doesn't help the pregnant lady.

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth is briefly distracted by the towel rubbing. Does he think the extra stimulation will help restore what's been lost?

"Is that so."

She presses her lips together into a thin line. Mike's opinion of her supposed trustworthiness and Raph's dislike of pirates isn't enough.

After all, she's a pirate herself.

He needs a reason to do this for her. Only then will she feel comfortable allowing him on her ship.

"You must not think very much of what Captain Sparrow's done to your brother," she remarks, lowering her voice to just above a whisper as she steps closer.

[mnt_raph]

His eyes narrow. She just had to bring that up, didn't she.
"He ain't exactly on my high on my bff list, no."

[try_corsets]

Encouraging, though she has no idea what a BFF is.

"If I were you," she continues, watching his face closely and then starting to circle around the bench, "I'd want to hurt him back."

Now it's like she's the devil on his shoulder, whispering in his ear.

"Make him pay."

[mnt_raph]

He takes a good long deep breath, that rattles like a growl when he finally exhales.
"Thought had crossed my mind."

But OH how he'd be in SO much trouble.
With Mike.
With Mel.
With Bar.

It wouldn't be the first time, and will hardly be the last...

[try_corsets]

She stops just behind him, and waits.





"What if I was to say I already had?"

[mnt_raph]

...

"what."

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth smiles a little to herself.

"It was me who chained him to the mast-"

She pulls back, then looks up at him from behind his other shoulder.

"-and left him for the kraken."

[mnt_raph]

Now there's a name Raph hasn't heard in some time, not since the day of the siege of Pirate's Swoop.

Kracken.

There's a brief flash of a memory that plays in Raph's mind. An image of Captain Jack as Daine's friend surfaced and released fury upon the sea.

"You didn't."

[try_corsets]

Would a pirate lie?

Elizabeth wisely refrains from posing that question aloud.

"Oh, but I did."

She circles back around, eyes finding and holding his.

"I sent Jack to the Locker."

And helped retrieve him, but that's hardly the relevant point.

[mnt_raph]

Would a pirate lie?
That's like asking if a ninja wouldn't jump out of a shadow and kill someone.

"You did that. To Jack. You left him to be eaten alive by that thing."

There's surprise behind his eyes, but only for a second. It's quickly replaced by amusement. He even cracks a smile.

"You're all right, Kid."

[try_corsets]

"I did what was necessary."

Elizabeth holds her breath, waiting to see if her gamble pays off... and it does.

Amusement softens her expression.

"So the way I see it, you owe me a favor."

[mnt_raph]

"Half a favor," he corrects. "Ain't like the bastard stayed there."

Have to keep an eye on this one. Raph doesn't know what Jack did to piss her off, but clearly she's capable of oh so much revenge.

[try_corsets]

It wasn't a matter of Jack making her angry. It was a matter of survival.

"No, he didn't. We rescued him."

She blinks, face maddeningly blank.

"Then we have an accord?"

[mnt_raph]

"Thanks for that." His eyes roll.
And don't think he doesn't notice that lack-of-emotion thing she's got going on. Because he does.

Again Raph gives her an appraising look. "That like a deal? 'Cause if it is, we do."

[try_corsets]

"Good."

Excited anticipation flashes in her eyes.

"Either I or Mr. Gibbs will deliver what you need in a few days." A small smile. "And I will leave you to your... heavy lifting and offensive noise."

[mnt_raph]

He nods.
"I'll keep my eyes peeled."

It's only after her final jibe at his music that he smirks.

"Have fun bein' Mike's new project."

He can almost hear the sound his baby brother asking Mel if they can keep her.

[try_corsets]

Already on her way out the door, Elizabeth stops and glances at him over her shoulder.

"I think I will."

Beat.

"I'll enjoy proving it to you at the baby shower."

And she's gone.

[mnt_raph]

Raph is...well, crestfallen is really the only word for it.

"A babyshower?
Seriously?
Are you kiddin' me?

...

Fuckin' Milliways."