Luc smiled brightly up at the strange, brilliant man who never stopped grinning, and palmed the precious shark tooth in his hand. Tomorrow he would beg a thin strip of leather and twine from his Maman, and that would be the very first setting the match to Lady Moon's own gift ever saw. The years to come would see this gift set in leather, and in silver and in gold, but this hard won token of the helmsman's great love for his Lady would never leave Luc's neck again all the days of his life. 

"Yes sir, I will look to the skies always. I promise," the boy said softly, still a little awed at the enormity of the gift. No, it was not so much the tooth itself - Port Royal was, after all, an ocean port, and Luc had seen many shark's teeth before. But he had never met any other person but his Tante 'Tonia who could weave a tale so expertly, and the boy knew well, the true value of a story. 

And he honestly hadn't the least idea, what Jax meant by the "special drink" his Maman was supposed to have hidden away. Was she secretly a sorceress, hiding away some magic elixir of some sort or another? Well if she were, Luc was yet to see any such evidence - though from this moment on he'd be certain to watch her just a little closer. But since the boy had no good answer for Lady Moon's lover, he kept his smiling silence on the matter, only shrugging helplessly just a little.

Still, Luc hurried to do as Jax had bid him, taking up the tray with the wooden plates of pound cake set neatly on them. He bit the inside of his lip in concentration as he moved across the floor steadily with Jax, setting the tray on a nearby table before he brought the plates. Tante 'Tonia had seen their return from the kitchens, and only raised her finger to her lips, smiling still as she reminded him to keep his silence while the grown-ups spoke.

And so he served the small gathering his Maman's pound cake, moving quietly but swiftly among them, setting first a plate for the First Mate - ladies first after all, and Tante 'Tonia would understand. She was his aunt after all, not a lady. Luc smiled shyly up at her as he set her plate, though he remembered to look away swiftly, and not stare at the angelic woman. 

It was not that he didn't see the scar on her face - he most certainly did, though it bothered him not in the least, nor detracted a wit from her loveliness in his eight-year old eyes. And now, in the wake of Jax's tall tale? Luc could almost imagine the scar was very much like Lady Moon's shark tooth, and it only made her seem lovelier still. 

And how Luc wished it was a little earlier in the day, when he might have begged his Maman to make some of her vanilla whipped cream to make her cake sweeter still, but some things simply could not be helped.

One plate before his Tante 'Tonia, and then one for Jax while he returned to his own seat - and finally, one for Capitaine Lightfoot. Luc did not necessarily agree with Jax's assessment at all, that the captain's gift was simply what he would give to most anyone. The boy knew well his friends Willem and Jack had never held a gold piece in their lives - and now here he was, the promise of two in a day! No, he did not agree at all, but he kept his thoughts to himself. In truth, his Maman often told him he was very much like his aunt, speaking little and hearing far too much - and the thought made him smile. Perhaps he too was a little like Anansi the Spider himself.

And the boy genuinely [i]liked[/i] the captain, for no reason he could have explained precisely. But there was something about the playful light in those eyes, shining with the color of a new-minted halfpenny, that promised laughter and mischief and... And [i]adventure.[/i] Tante 'Tonia's stories, whether she knew it or no, had long since taken root in Luc's imagination, only whetting his appetite for the seas and the lands, the remote wilds and the grand, mysterious cities far beyond Port Royal. It would only be a matter of time... 

Luc's manners were not so low that he would wait for his "payment" standing and staring at the captain impatiently. But as he turned to return to his seat, Antonia rose to her own feet, smiling fondly as she ran her one hand over the boy's head of dark, loose curls. 

"Thank you Luc, but I believe it is long past time for you to be back abed." The boy's face fell, his disappointment palpable. But he knew of course that he was only ever on borrowed time this strange, magical night anyway, and he lifted the shark's tooth still setting in his palm to show her.

"From Monsieur Jax - and now I've a story to tell you too Tante 'Tonia. Did you know Lady Moon is his lover?" 

Antonia's gaze turned toward the helmsman as he returned to his chair, a small, wondering chuckle for Jax and a curiously raised eyebrow. "Your [i]bumbo,[/i] Monsieur Jax," she said with a nod toward the flagon set at his once-vacated seat, before returning her attention to Luc. "I will look forward to this story, [i]mon petit chou-chou.[/i] But for now, you would do well to say your 'good nights' all around, and let the adults to their discussion."

Luc nodded, looking first to Nicolette with a small, polite bow of his head and a whispered [i]"Bon soir, Mademoiselle."[/i] To Jax with a wider, far easier smile as he held up the shark's tooth. "I'll not forget, sir," he quipped quickly before turning to Thomas. And though every last little part of the boy quivered with the hope the captain would not forget the gold piece, he would not say a word. 

"Good night, sir," he said with a small bow of his head as Antonia's hands lay lightly on his shoulders, biting back the laugh that wanted to bubble up in her chest as she looked to Thomas' face.