“I can say with confidence that the money was well worth it.” Casper nods sagely as he stares off the bow of the ship, a word he learned recently, but has been since pretending to have always known.

“I am very glad it’s aiding you. I do know spells for sea sickness but I dare say they wouldn’t have sufficed given how you and Laihal take to the waters.” Nephinae says from beside him, having joined him in watching the waters.

She was dressed in a rather simple plain white summer dress that extended down to her feet, along with a large straw hat to protect her fine skin from the angry sun above.

The simple look worked very well for her, Casper thought. In a way she reminded him of a local from his village, which had in turn drummed up some rather pleasant nostalgic memories for him.

“I’m a little disappointed I don’t get to experience your magic. Everyone says it feels wonderful, like a warm fire on a cold day or a nice wool blanket. I’ve been unfortunately fortunate enough to have not needed it thus far.”

“I’d advise against making any rash decisions in an effort to receive my magic. I dare say you are a popular man on this ship, and given how Rathiel looks at you I'm worried he may beat me to it.”

“Rathiel’s looking at me too now? I dare say I'm too popular for my own good.”

“An unfortunately fortunate circumstance to be sure, to have the admiration of so many beautiful people.”

“Tell me, has Alex been talking to you much?” Casper raises a questioning eyebrow.

“On the contrary, since you have taken me to be your personal handmaid I have truthfully had little contact with her without you.”

“Truly? Given how Alex looks at you I'm surprised to hear that.”

“Alex has looked at me in many ways, it is safe to say it all melts itself into a mostly indistinguishable mess of confused early adult emotions.”

“Oh come now, you don’t truly believe that.”

“No, I do not, but if I said what I truly believe I worry you’d think less of me.”

“If I had a mark for every time someone worried about that…” Casper sighs and rests his elbows down on the railing, to allow his chin a spot as he observes the shimmering flicker of yellow against the distant waves.

“Forgive me, I was unaware that this was a trouble of yours.”

“A trouble of mine? It feels more like the trouble of everyone else. A trouble of worrying I'm some judgmental ass hole who is ready to think lesser of everyone for uttering an unpopular opinion.” Casper notes with a pointedly casual tone.

He was more than aware of his position in all of this, as much as he was working to dismantle the walls that divided master and slave, it wasn’t as easy as saying it. He couldn’t blame someone like Nephinae for being cautious about speaking honestly, so he didn’t want to discourage her by coming across as rude or impatient.

“I understand…”

Casper nods his head, and then turns to face the full elf directly. “Tell me what you really think.” Casper offers kindly, wearing a warm smile and softening his tone for her.

Nephinae responds kindly to the effort, and she too in turn relaxes slightly.

“I believe… that the way Alex sees me is at times inappropriate, but I don’t dislike it. And that worries me.”

Casper nods along to her words, taking in the nuance, the words left unsaid, and trying to dissect the cultural implications.

It had come up enough times now, but he had never bothered to ask directly. He figured now would be a good time though. After all, assuming things had ruined things for him in the past before.

“Can I ask you something?” He starts.

“Of course Casper, anything you wish.”

“In my village, the idea of any taboo existing around the… romantic entanglement of two people of the same sex simply didn’t exist. The fact that so many people are bothered by it here confuses me. Can you explain it a bit more so I can understand?”

Nephinae nods her head at that. “Of course, please forgive me for assuming…”

“No no, no need to apologize, it’s alright.” Casper quickly cuts her off.

“Thank you.” She bows. “As for the taboo. It is three fold in my understanding. One, is that it is a male's duty to take a wife or many in order to populate the kingdom and continue their bloodline. Given that men cannot reproduce with other men, and women cannot reproduce with other women, without magic at least, it is seen as “wrong.’” Furthermore, the legality of engaging in any intimate manner with the same sex has existed since old church doctrine, from before the planes separated. It was written into holy law then, the same holy law that acts as the kingdom's foundational code legal. It is as fundamental to the laws of the lands as the racial hierarchy.”

Casper finds his face contorting slightly at that. To him, it sounded like a bunch of bullshit conjured up by someone with a god complex. What was the point in a law existing when it protected no one and only impeded on a person's freedom? Laws existing to protect people from theft, assault, and so forth made sense to him, but a law on who you could and could not spend the rest of your life with felt arbitrary and absurd.

“Finally, beyond the legal and physical, it is simply morally wrong. It is an unnatural thing, a conjured emotion that isn’t meant to exist in nature. It is fundamentally an affront to the gods and nature.”

Ah, so it was that deeply ingrained into their culture then? These laws and morals must have been passed down for so long it was branded into the moral culture of the kingdom. The only reason Casper knew it wasn’t an affront to nature, was because his village had no such fundamental “laws” or religious upbringing. His father and his friends had built that village to raise their families in, and not once did any of that ever come up.

Of course, thinking about it now, the fact that his father, a man born and raised in the kingdom, and his friends, people also born and raised in the kingdom didn’t hold those ideals to be true was strange. By all accounts his father should, if that was how the children in the kingdom were raised… but that was a mystery to unpack some other time.

“I understand why you’d feel strange then.” Casper answers simply. “It must be very confusing for the two of you.”

Nephinae nods her head. “It… is, it is honestly very confusing. But my confusion is no grounds to act on something both illegal and immoral. Please do not worry, these are thoughts and feelings I have banished long ago.” Nephinae takes on a serious expression, one meant to convince Casper she believed what she was saying, but Casper could tell she didn’t buy her own words.

“Nephinae.”

“Yes Casper?”

“You look beautiful today.” He says with a smile, catching the woman off guard for a moment. Her serious expression drops to surprise, and then a bashful innocence she tries to quickly hide behind her favorite mask of professionalism.

“What prompted that comment?” She asks, bringing a hand to her mouth to try and hide her face.

“That serious look doesn’t suit you well, you know. I understand you need to maintain professionalism but I think you look much nicer when you smile.” He says earnestly.

“I see.” Is all Nephinae responds with, bringing her second hand up to cover her face, as she peers through her fingers.

“Are you tormenting poor Neph?” Engee’s false male voice rises up over the growing wind as she approaches their spot at the front of the ship.

“Tormenting? I hope not.” Casper waves his hands in front of him.

“Neph, Is he tormenting you?” Engee asks directly.

“Most definitely.”

“I feel like I'm being thrown under the cart here.” Casper gives a half smile.

“Then don’t stand so close to the road.” Engee shrugs her shoulders.

She was looking healthier by the day. While still skinny, she was no longer just skin and bone. Her ribs were no longer visible when she removed her shirt, a fact a notice just the other night, and the color was returning to her skin, giving her a far less ghostly appearance. Her hair had also already started naturally growing out, revealing the black roots, giving her slightly longer than medium length cut a fancy gradient effect.

“I feel like you tried to be clever there, but It didn’t quite land.” Casper teases, sticking out his tongue as she pushes him.

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“We can’t all be as quick as Alex, or Celeste.” Engee shrugs.

“Celeste is rather quick witted isn’t she?” Nephinae notes, likely recalling last night's revelries.

For the past three the collective parties have been making an effort to get to know one another more, resulting in something akin to fireside story time with far more booze than normal. Celeste had proven herself to be a bit of a fan favorite. She had the unique ability to shift her voice around for different characters, and her sense of drama and pacing was unmatched. It felt like Casper was around his own village campfire listening to the men tell their tales of adventure again as she talked about her own.

“I doubt you came all this way to talk about your newest crush?” Casper prods, watching as Engee rolls her eyes.

“Not every person I chose to spend time with, I'm interested in.”

“Really? Could have fooled me.”

“You’re mean.” she pouts, and crosses her arms.

“You’re soft…” Casper lightens up, opening his own arms in a show of good faith.

“You’re gullible.” She snickers and delivers a slightly mark enhanced poke to his stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs.

“You’re a bastard.” Casper wheezes as he tries to suck in some air.

“I am aware.” She winks, and shares a wave with Thodhan, who watches the exchange from the opposite side of the ship. “And no, I came here to tell you that one of the crew spotted another ship headed our direction, they are far off and likely won’t be any trouble but their current course has them within firing range in a little over an hour.”

Casper sighs and tries his best to flatten his wind tossed hair back down to his head. “I know they say it likely won't be trouble, but when have we ever been that lucky.” Casper asks.

“Never.”

“Never.”

Both Engee and Nephinae reply in solemn unison.

“Let's do our best to prepare just in case.” Casper notes.

“Of course, I will let the others know.” Engee smiles and heads towards the lower decks.

“Do you believe it’s possibly pirates?” Nephinae asks Casper as they walk towards the navigation room.

“Perhaps, it could be slavers or just regular old merchants. This is my first time at sea, I frankly don’t know what to expect.” Casper admits as he opens the door.

plap plap plap plap plap

The sound of wet skin on… something makes its way from inside the navigation room, along with a series of primal, hungry grunts.

“Oh my.” Nephinae covers her eyes, as the ship's captain thrusts violently inside the translucent body of the Pounce, who has been dressed haphazardly in the captain's own clothes.

Charts and tools and bottles of liquor tumble off the table in the navigation rooms center, as the captain forces the slimes leg up into a vertical split, while the rest of her is sprawled across what used to be maps.

“Can’t ya see, I’m a little busy?” The captain calls out between grunts and thrusts.

“I can…” Casper admits, finding himself watching with morbid curiosity as the slimes body appears to function identically to a woman's, though, all very see through.

“If you want a show, you gotta pay me extra.” The captain slaps pounces ass just as she flails her arms around, trying to grab at the edges of the table as her own body lets out strange plips and plops of pleasure.

“Your man in the crows nest says a ship is coming in our direction, I don’t want any issues, I need you to make sure to steer clear of them.” Casper manages to get the words out, but only barely, as he finds himself entranced by the unnatural giggle of the slime's exposed bust, which has mimicked the approximate detail of a nipple.

“Right, I'll get right on that.” The captain is quickly lifted from his spot on the ground by pounce, who moves him as if he weighed no more than a bag of feathers, and pins him to the table.

Her body doesn’t move as a human would, her limbs don't bend, and instead her entire being shifts to be on top of him now, limps and body parts fusing into a single mass before re-defining themselves as she aggressively slaps her hips against his.

“Casper, we should leave.” Nephinae offers.

“Yea… yea you’re right.” Casper shakes his head, and closes the door as he turns around.

“You. you saw that too, right?” Casper asks, utterly dumbfounded.

“I did.” Nephinae admits with cheeks so red it extends to her pointed elven ears.

“That was… the strangest thing I've ever seen.” Casper admits, his mind unable to stop picturing her translucent as wiggling like a pudding.

“Perhaps, we can forget this happened?”

“I don’t think that is even remotely possible.”

“I fear you’re right.” Nephinae agrees.

I have to admit though, given how many incredibly attractive people are aboard this vessel, to see the captain and the slime being the first to actually… you know, it’s not what I expected.”

“You expected this behavior?”

“You didn’t?”

“No.”

“Well, now I feel the odd man out. I'm sure if we ask the others they’d agree.”

“Do you truly believe so?”

“I do, in fact, I'm so confident they would agree, let’s ask them now.”

“That isn’t necessary I don't believe…”

“Nope, but I've already said I'm doing it, so I'm doing it.” Casper nods, and begins the hunt.

One by one, Casper works his way through the ship, confronting every person he sees with both the curse of what he had just bore witness to, and the question of “did you expect this kind of behavior aboard the ship?”

“Not with the captain and the slime, but yea, I thought for sure Dorain and Janus were going to be the first.” Annabelle responds.

“Aren’t they cousins?” Nephinae asks.

“Does it matter?”

Quickly moving on, they found Thodhan.

“Very much so, it is incredibly common on long travels, I expect Janus and Dorain have already done it.”

“But… but they are cousins!” Nephinae protests.

“Does it matter?”

Nephinae was the one to drag Casper along to the next person then, finding Rathiel and Szostes sorting herbs.

“Of course, Janus and Dorain…” Rathiel starts, but before the answer can be fully heard, Nephinae is once again grabbing Casper and power walking down the halls billowing smoke from her ears.

“Oh um… I'm sure it would happen…why? Did… did someone… Did someone ask?” Elisayra responds as she wiggles her legs.

“It’s pretty normal for slaves, it's all the pleasure we could ever hope to get…” Peter explains.

“You haven’t already?” Celeste asks.

“I am 12.” Zesstra notes.

“Were you interested?” Laihal offers with a wink.

“Doin in right now!” Janus grunts from behind closed doors.

“You are cousins!” Nephinae protests.

“Does it matter?” Dorain asks between moans.

At that, Nephinae breaks, and ends up curled up at the edge of the bed in their parties quarters, her face red enough to convince Casper it was a fresh apple.

“So…lewd…” Nephinae huffs with the most sincere, profound embarrassment Casper had ever seen.

“It makes sense… we didn’t even get a chance to ask some other others, maybe they would have said something different?”

“I doubt it.” Nephinae wiggles her face deeper into her knees, trying to hide behind them.

“You know, why the hell is there a taboo against same sex relationships but not familial ones? Even I know that has a history of not ending well for the children most of the time.

“It must be a human practice.” Nephinae shivers.

“Must be…” Casper shrugs.

“How can everyone so openly.. So brazenly, so directly say these things! Have they no shame?” Nephinae asks.

Casper rolls his fingers across the bed, trying to conjure up a response.

“Sex is a sacred act, to be shared between people who love one another, not something so… so… so!” She concluded inconclusively with a loud sigh.

“So it isn’t this way in elven culture?”

“Absolutely not!” Nephinae protests, bringing her hands down to grab at the sheets, letting her legs fall.

“What’s it like for elves?” Casper asks genuinely.

“It is a beautiful, magical experience you share with the person you commit your life to!” She leans in close, her body brimming with a cocktail of embarrassment and passion. “When two people love one another, they bond in mind, body and soul. Their magics intertwine to become one! It is equal parts spell, art, and passion! They say that the bond felt in that moment is the single most euphoric, breathtaking experience on the face of all the planes of existence.”

Nephinae scoots closer to Casper, her hands bunching up the sheets as she leans in even further, forcing Casper to back away slightly.

“It is a sacred ritual! One I plan on sharing with the person whom I love and pledge to offer myself in my entirety to, do you see?!” she finishes, her breathing slowing from its rapid pace as she leans over Casper who is now nearly bent entirely backwards on the bed.

“I… see… yes.” Casper confirms with a smile.

Nephinae blushes even more, and quickly pulls herself away from Casper, turning to face the window instead. “Please… forgive me, I didn’t mean to…” Nephinae starts.

“No no, it’s alright. I had no idea it meant so much to elves, and besides. That was the most passionate I’ve seen you about anything. It was a nice change…” Casper admits with a chuckle.

“It was nice?” She asks, turning her head to face Casper, though this time she rests it sideways on her knees that she once more pulls up to her chest.

“It was. You’ve committed yourself so fully to being a slave, it’s nice to see a part of you come out. Part of your culture.” Casper offers kindly, smoothing out the sheets where she had gripped them.

“I… Don’t know what came over me.” She admits.

“Well, whatever it was, it was because this was important to you, and the culture around here was strange to you. Welcome to my world. How do you think I've been feeling this whole time?” Casper explains.

“You’re right…”

“Culture shock is one hell of a… something.” Casper shrugs.

“But cousins?”

“Yeah, that one's weird even to me.” Casper admits.

“Casper, can you tell me something?”

“Of course, anything.”

“Do you… do you feel the same way as the others? That it makes sense? That you would do something like that here?” She asks sincerely.

Casper finds himself blushing then, and finds himself working through the outcomes of his different answers.

He could lie, but that would be a very obvious lie, a lie that would surely hurt Nephinae when she eventually found out. Or he could tell the truth, and risk her thinking he was just as much of a horny bastard as the rest of the people on this ship.

Which he was, but he didn’t want her to know that.

Sighing, realizing that if the end result was an inevitable understanding of the truth, it was better to rip the bandage off early.

“I think it makes sense, yes. You need to understand that for most other people, while it does have a very…intimate connection to it, it isn’t nearly as sacred. It's a way to feel good with someone you find attractive and are attracted to.”

“But would you ever do that with someone aboard this ship?”

Casper coughs. “I… I would, yes.”

“Who?”

Casper rubs his hand over his face. “Do I really have to answer this?”

“Please… I’d like to know.” Nephinae responds in a quiet voice.

“Oh let the fates help me…” Casper shakes his head. “Honestly? Nearly every woman here who asked.”

Nephinae stays quiet at that, and the silence weighs on him like a blanket made of steel.

“I’m sorry, if that makes you think poorly of me.” Casper sighs.

“Think poorly of you? Do you believe I am some ‘judgmental asshole who is ready to think lesser of everyone for uttering an unpopular opinion?’” She echoes his own words back to him with a smile.

“But you just…” Casper tries.

“I was confused at first, but you explained it as similar to your own experience, and that helped calm me, and put it all into perspective.”

Casper meets her gaze, and feels no judgment from her, only a new understanding.

“But it’s special to you isn’t it? Knowing everyone you surround yourself with is so…flagrant with it-”

“Helps me learn about you all more. Much the same as you learn about me, and do not judge me for it. My earlier flustered rant was… admittedly very emotional” Nephinae explains as her smile grows.

Casper returns the smile, and lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding onto.

“Casper.”

“Yes?”

“You look rather handsome today.” Nephinae offers.

Casper finds himself taken back by the sudden comment.

“What makes you say that?”

“That somber expression doesn’t suit you, you look much better when you are smiling.” She repeats the words with the faintest hint of a teasing tone behind them.

“You…” Casper starts, but finds himself cut off as the door to the party's quarters is opened.

Turning, Casper's expression drops slightly as he sees Elisayra's panicked face.

“Pirates!” She shouts, turning to leave the room as she continues to call out the warning to the others further down the hall.

“Looks like the captain was too distracted to change course.” Casper grumbles.

“Perverse~!” Nephinae accuses under her breath.