"I see, I see," you nod, stroking you chin. "Your mom... she single?"
A perplexed snarl crosses her face. "Huh?" she blurts.
"Oh, right. Silly me, I should've asked first; is she hot?"
Her face flushes with indignant disgust. "Oh fuck off," she snaps. "Just give me back my gun."
You really need thicker skin, you comment internally. Learn to take a joke... or twelve.
You ignore her demand and continue goading, "You know, it's alright if she's taken. I don't mind being a side piece so long as she's cute."
"Stop it! Give me the gun!"
"Will you put in a good word for me with your mother if I do?"
"No!" she growls, glaring you down with utmost contempt.
"What a shame," you sigh. "Oh well."
"Give me back my gun," she demands again.
"Or what? You'll shoot me?"
"I'll, I'll throw your wallet off the island."
"Oh no," you cry mockingly, "Not my empty wallet! You wouldn't."
"What do you want?" she huffs with great aggravation.
"Well, I'd like you to not do stupid shit for one. And maybe think about what you say around here. And - I'd like some answers. Is she hot or not, kid?"
You watch her burning fury eat her up as she has no outlet for it. She's at least bright enough to know she can't try to physically force her will here, but you still feel her radiating desire to hike a foot up your ass. Her eyes are wavering as she grits her teeth, trying to figure out what to do. You'd feel bad if it weren't so funny.
"Mr. Magnus," a stern voice calls from the top of the stairs.
Looking up you see Van Dagerman, a captain from Lord Windreave's fleet. Vetica quickly appears at his side at the mention of your name. He holds eye contact with you as he descends the stairs and approaches, your captain following behind him. He must be the other buyer that Vetica was negotiating with. There's a tangible tension in the stare between you - the last encounter you had with him was a brawl. "What's going on here?" he asks you.
"Just having a chat about our surprise trade, weren't we?" you answer, turning to the thief. "Why don't you tell him what happened?"
Attention turns to her.
"He, he stole my gun!" she complains.
"Because?" you egg on.
She shrinks with an air of shame. "I... took his wallet."
"The wrong one, it would seem," Vetica scoffs, observing your decoy wallet in the kid's hand.
Dagerman exhales long and slow.
"Kepper," he says. "Give Mr. Magnus his wallet."
She reluctantly holds out your stolen wallet, avoiding your eyes. You take it and it back into your coat pocket.
"Our apologies," he continues. "Would you be so kind as to return the pistol and we can put this silly little mishap behind us?"
You glance to Vetica, who gives you a nod. "Let bygones be bygones then," you concede.
You hand the gun to Kepper, who promptly re-holsters it at her side. Dagerman gives you a respectful nod of his head, and turns back to the stairs. "Excuse us a minute. We'll be ready shortly," he speaks to Vetica.
With that, he and Kepper leave to reconvene with their men upstairs, who have been watching from the railing, along with your own trusted crewmates. Your captain turns back to you.
"Always getting into trouble, aren't you," she states.
"It just seems to find me," you shrug.
"That aside, we got a deal with Dagerman. Game of cards, whoever wins gets the hit. Two versus two, you'll play with me."
"Hmm, maybe next time. I was told I get tonight off," you tease.
She doesn't humor you.
"Fine, fine. How'd you get him to agree to this, anyway?"
Few who know anything about Anders Magnus would ever bet against you when it comes down to a card game. Dagerman certainly knows your reputation.
"It was his idea," Vetica remarks. "Of course it's too good a deal for us to pass up. I figure he must have something dirty up his sleeve. Be ready for anything."
She turns around and makes a signaling nod to your crewmates upstairs as she goes to join them. With a deep sigh for the trouble ahead, you follow. At the top of the stairs, you are soon met by Dagerman and his posse. "Shall we?" he asks Vetica.
"Let's get this over with," she answers.
You follow your captain and crew into a private room with Dagerman and his - presumably the room where they were negotiating before. It's not a particularly large room, but everyone fits with ample space. There is a square table with one chair at each side in the center. Kepper glares daggers at you as everyone approaches the table. She sits closest to the door, and you sit across from her, with Dagerman at your left and Vetica at your right. It's a fairly quiet and tense room, though you can still hear the ruckus of the lower tavern. Kepper takes out a regular deck of cards from her baggy overcoat and begins shuffling. Your eyebrows furrow, baffled that it appears this kid will be your opponent. You're unsure if you should be impressed or insulted. "What's the name of the game?" you inquire.
"Poker," the kid responds curtly.
You look to Vetica with further confusion. That's one of your strongest games. It's also not a team game by any stretch. She provides no answers in her stoic shrug. You've seen nothing but honestly and overflowing emotions from this Kepper kid, yet she's chosen poker.
This should be interesting.