Pieter brought up Hana, much like Berlin had, and the boy's answer was much the same. He shrugged noncommittally and his gaze drifted to the floor. "Yeah, she's okay. She can stay," he admitted, as if it was ever up to him whether or not she stayed. It might not have seemed like much to be called 'okay', but from Rohaan, that meant something. She really had been nice to him, and he was beginning to understand that she was probably more afraid of him than he was of her, though unlike other stagers, she at least understood that he was a person. Most others feared him and his kind and were cruel for it, but she had never been, he realized. And he had to admit, he did find her very interesting. Hm, maybe it was time he granted her use of his second name. He'd try and remember that once he decided it was time to go back up topside. Rohaan wasn't exactly in a great mood, but he'd been willing to leave the bulk of his ire topside and just exist in this space for a bit with Pieter. He'd hoped for a quiet refuge and had found one, but Pieter's final comment soured that in an instant. Still sucking on the lime, he'd been absently studying the patterns of wear in the wood floor planks, but Pieter's words made him look up at him sharply, looking suddenly just a bit more animal than boy. It had been a long time since Rohaan had laid hands (or more accurately, teeth) on Pieter, or anyone in the crew, outside of sparring or some other game. His assimilation into the crew had been rough for everyone involved, but since then he'd never meant to do harm to anyone. It was extremely unlikely he would now, but he had that same look about him. A defensive stiffness in his posture and a lack of his usual relaxed fidgeting. A dog showing warning postures before a bite. A fresh, painful wave of anger bubbled up within him, but it melted away into an expression of betrayal. [I]Not you too...[/i]His eyes watered for a moment before he wiped them with the palm of his hand and looked away. "Yeah, and if they do one bad thing I'll get [I]two[/I] meals out of it," he snarled darkly. He didn't care if it made him puke, he would sooner eat every last one of them, tentacles and flies and all, before losing his home and his family again. "I made him swear on blood," he said, glancing down at his bandaged hand. "But I don't want them here. This is [I]my[/I] home...I can't be in a lot of places other people can 'cause I'm not wanted there, and they come in here to the one place I get to be, like having the rest of the whole stupid world isn't good enough!" His hand shot out and grabbed the first thing on the counter within his reach, which happened to thankfully be a rag, and he threw it with all the force he could muster at the opposite wall. -- Berlin studied the Swift, wondering what kinds of speeds it was capable of. It worried him a little, sending Rohaan out alone to herd the ships towards them, but he was confident the boy could manage himself if things went wrong. For one thing, he wasn't going to drown, and he was more capable than anyone of escaping a bad situation if one arose. He just hoped he could keep his head. That wasn't something he worried about usually, but this was a different beast, now. After a while he nodded, slowly at first and then with more gusto. "Aye, I think that sounds like a good plan. We'll have ourselves a good meal and get right to work on preparations. Rescuing any prisoners is a priority to me, and I'll see what can be done about determining which ships have human cargo and which do not. Take Uban with you, I think I'll keep Hana and Pieter aboard the ship to manage it, the guns, and provide aid to any rescued prisoners. Wheel and I, I think, will focus on boarding ships. I've got a feeling his friend Millie might do well to come with us, too, but I leave that to your discretion." -- Uban tried not to laugh, but he did anyway. Not at her necessarily, but simply at the sheer absurdity of the very thought of going through legitimate channels for something like this. He actually stopped playing for a moment as he barked a sardonic laugh. "Authorities? No no no noooo. For one thing, the moment we step foot anywhere near the authorities, it won't just be the slavers we gotta fight. You gotta remember we're just as much of a menace in their eyes, criminals all the same. And [I]maybe[/I] Berlin could use his magic," he wiggled his fingers, "to convince somebody to deal with us decently, but I know what the local navy is capable of. Taking down one of their ships for us is a walk in the park, but can you imagine what the slavers would do to em? They'd get shredded. Now, I don't really love the local law, but most of those poor lads got pressed into service, I don't want 'em dead. Those poor suckers have no idea how to deal with weird supernatural anything on any level, but we do. I mean, that's what we do, you know? And yeah, I guess there's always the chance someone lands a lucky shot. The whole reason we even met you in the first place was 'cause someone got one off on Rohaan. But it sounds like they're talking some good strategy, that will help." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Berlin and Kaga Met. Uban put his lute down and faced her squarely, placing one hand on each of her arms and giving them a reassuring squeeze. He offered an easy smile. "It's gonna be alright. This is what we do."