Rohaan struggled. There were two letters he didn't know, and with hands tanned by the sun so that his dirty fingernails stood out slightly, he pointed at them. "What are the names of these letters? I know these, but not those two." As he studied the word, he fiddled with the iron ball that hung around his neck. He still had a very small hitch in his breath if he drew in a deep one, but mostly his mind was filled with the story and the letters on the page. He didn't have the emotional awareness to be thankful for it, but deep down, he was.

--

Berlin gave a heavy sigh. "I know. I know. I forget he's ten. He doesn't always act like it which...now that I think about it isn't really a good thing. He should be climbing trees and skinning knees, not getting shot at." Another long sigh. "I guess I never knew exactly what he went through. He never did tell me everything, but he agreed to tell me more later. He doesn't talk about his parents except in passing, or a mere mention that they're dead. I mean I always knew it was bad but...Barizians." Berlin did not have the experience with them that either Rohaan or Wheel had, but he'd heard plenty of rumors all right. "I guess I knew all of these things were true. That they needed to come up eventually I just...I wasn't ready, Pieter. But something tells me..." He looked up from his mug to glance down to the steps that led to the cabin. "He won't run and hide when he sees them." His tone was dark. "This," he said, gesturing to the superficial but long scratches on his chest, "Is what he did to ME. It was an instinct. Something he did without thinking. And it wasn't until I touched him that he melted. I've seen that look in his eyes before, but not in him..." His gaze drifted to Wheel, who was busy coiling ropes. The two shared a silent, unspoken image of a shapeshifter with the level of bloodlust as Wheel. Berlin actually shivered.

Pieter mentioned Hana and he had a look on his face like he'd just been slapped with icy water. The man sat bolt upright in a panic, and then obvious guilt set in on his face. "Sweet Lady Tevira! I hadn't even thought--I mean, between dealing with Wheel and the villagers, and then Rheoaan I..." He hadn't checked in with the rest of his crew. Wheel was fine, he knew. Uban would be disturbed but fine--he'd seen some things in his day and had faced his share of hard times. Pieter he knew would be fine even if he did see the whole thing. But Hana was new. She was not a pirate. She wasn't even a criminal--or at least as far as he knew. He had the sense she was avoiding something but there were many reasons to run from one's past. Berlin was glad he wasn't drunk yet. He was a big man with a heavy tolerance and it would take more than a couple pours to get him.

Berlin thudded his mug down and rose. "I should go now and talk to her. Stars above, what would I do without you, Pieter?" He shook his head, still bewildered at his own shortsightedness. "Fill that mug and yours till that bottle is empty. And when it is, and I get back, I have a bottle of honest to goodness whiskey I've been saving in my cabin. You and I are gonna see to it that it's gone by end of day." And that was a promise. 

With a level of composure that was so characteristic of Berlin and yet so far from the open vulnerability he'd just showed Pieter, he strode coolly across the length of the ship and back down to the cabin below. A shirtless Berlin, hair uncharacteristically down and kinked where the tie had once held it in a ponytail, appeared from the steps. Rohaan looked up at him, fearing his time had come to have a very unpleasant conversation, but instead, Berlin said, "Alright lad, Bithdo's gonna have to wait. We got a ship to run. Wheel and Uban could use you topside, up aloft."
Loathe to tear himself away from the story but relieved that Berlin did not want to have their talk now, Rohaan dutifully hopped up, gave an odd looking gesture that only he ever gave Berlin--a vokurian salute--and with an, "Aye Ca-mm!" he bounded off. 

Berlin watched him go, then watched Hana shut the book. "I can't thank you enough for your help back there," he began. "I know you two are just getting to know eachother and with him that can be...daunting. If I was thinking clearly I would have handed him off to Uban, but  you were there and I was worried Wheel might do something stupid. When we met, I had great faith in you. But even so, you still surprise me. You've done very well." He offered a smile and lowered himself onto the foot of her bed carefully, showing none of the exhaustion he'd showed Pieter. He was good at that, at keeping composed when he needed to. After a little pause to let that sink in, he asked with the utmost sincerity as his stormy eyes searched hers, "How are you? It occurred to me that not being a pirate before this, it might be your first time...encountering something like that. I'm only sorry I didn't ask you earlier. Are you alright?"