[color=lightgray][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xMR2Pm0.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/LEAJ15Z.png[/img][/center]

[color=C84E74]Location:[/color]  By the Bar
[color=C84E74]Interactions: [/color]  Scratch / Val [@Apex Sunburn]
[hr]

Callandra Venn stepped out onto the deck, the tails of her dark coat caught in the breeze. The light caught on the buttons at her cuffs, and her expression, as always, was sharp enough to cut rope. She scanned the passengers casually until she landed on the pair she was sent to find.

There they were.

Scaerthrynne Airresh, the last bite of a sandwich already claimed. His posture was easy but guarded, like someone resting with one eye open. Vallena, beside him, giggling mid-retort, her legs swinging, face flushed and full of fire. 

They looked like they’d just finished a story. Maybe something funny. Maybe something old.

Callandra slowed her pace. She didn’t interrupt immediately. Instead, she let her boots click softly against the wood as she stepped into view, pausing just as Scaerthrynne finished that last line about “the other side of the ship.”

Her chest tightened in a familiar, foolish way.

The Chief Deck Officer approached, her hands rested behind her back in a folded grip, posture confident without being stiff. A practiced smile settled on her lips as she came into speaking distance, and she cleared her throat only once, gently, before stepping forward fully into view.  

[color=C84E74]"Evening, Miss Vallena and Scratch..."[/color] A slow, irrepressible smile crept onto her lips as her eyes fell on Scaerthrynne, her heart accelerating. She held his gaze a moment longer than necessary before continuing, [color=C84E74]"Apologies for interrupting your break, but Captain Cindralis asked me to find you directly... We’ve picked up a minor energy flux down in the cargo hold—nothing catastrophic, but odd enough to ping the core."[/color] She let that sit for a moment, just long enough to imply it wasn’t the sort of thing any old engineer should be sent to check out. She cleared her throat again and tried to reel herself back in. [color=C84E74]"Captain says he owes you something fermented for the trouble...and maybe an extra lunch break, if you’re feeling greedy."[/color]


She darted her eyes back to Val before she could embarrass herself further. [color=C84E74]"And yes. He knows. If you’re going, she’s going. And somehow the ship’s still flying, so I’m not about to argue."[/color]

She turned just slightly, coat shifting with her.[color=C84E74]"I can escort you down, if you're ready."[/color]

Callandra didn’t look at him this time—not right away. She focused on a spot just to the left of his shoulder, trying not to let her smile widen, or let her fingers twitch with the instinct to smooth her coat, or adjust her hair, or... gods forbid, ask him if he was doing alright today.

But then again... maybe she'd ask. On the way. Maybe.

If he didn’t notice how her heart was absolutely tripping over itself.
[/color]