<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/sivThwe.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Name:</strong> Argus McFinnegan<br/><strong>Position:</strong> Master Brewer &amp; Cooper<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Esperanza, forward deck<br/><strong>Time &amp; Date</strong>: Day 1 / 11PM<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong> Captain Rose<br/><strong>Content:</strong> A painful truth</span><br/><hr/><br/>Argus watched the captain as second after painstaking second dragged by. Time felt like it was slowed, like the sweet molasses he had in some of the barrels around them had spilled out and clung to the passage of time itself. His captain, the unstoppable, unflappable, unwavering captain Rosette de Courtenay, seemed lost for words. And what was stranger to the man was the air the captain had about her. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but something seemed...different. Something was off. The captain’s usual presence, the confidence she exuded wasn’t quite there. Argus tried to chock it up to his drunkenness or his nerves at seeing the captain again after all this time, but he couldn’t shake the feeling she was somehow different.<br/><br/>Argus remained seated on the floor boards as Rosette sat down next to him. He could tell his feelings were not entirely off when even she seemed at a loss for words. Rose never stumbled over herself like this. She always knew exactly what to say, and she’d never had any issues telling him off in the past. He didn’t understand what she meant by what he’d signed up for. This was the Esperanza, with captain de Courtenay. He knew exactly what he’d signed up for coming aboard. This ship would go down in legend as the greatest vessel to ever sail the seven seas. And as he’d said before, this was home and likely the only one he’d ever truely know or fit into again. With a grunt Argus stood up, using the barrel to steady himself as he rose.<strong>”Aye, you’re right about that. You shouldn’t ‘ave done that...”</strong>he said as he dusted himself off and sat down next to Rosette on the barrel. His tone came out harsher than he’d intended, but it was true. His words dripped with a pain behind them that still showed his wounds from the past hadn’t healed.<br/><br/>As she sat there at a loss for words he understood the apology that was implied behind what she had said. Rosette wasn’t one to admit wrong doing often, and even less so to say she had done wrong outright. Argus knew this, and her words were an olive branch he could tell she was extending. But could he grasp it just yet? He raised up his hand and was about to place it on her’s, a comforting gesture he’d shown her to try and comfort her many time in the past. His hand lifted, but it never touched down. It hovered over her hand for a second before he tentatively placed it back down on the barrel. Touching her was still too much right now. As much as he hated to admit it things were different now. How could they not be after four years of pain?<br/><br/>And then she did what he didn’t expect. Rosette de Courtenay, scourge of the seas and the mighty captain of the best ship on them, a woman who never admitted she was wrong... did just that. And for a brief moment, in the flickering candle light, a slight smile could be seen on Argus’ face before it disappeared just as quickly. He sat beside her in awkward silence for a few moments trying to process her admission of wrong doing. What did he say after that? After a few seconds that felt like an eternity Argus spoke up again.<strong>”You shouldn’t ah left me behind... I could ‘ave helped ye cap’m. I... I’ve been through the same don’t ferget. Heh...”</strong>he gave a mirthless laugh as he looked down to the bottle beside the barrel they sat on. He reached down and picked up the container, swishing the liquid in it around a little as he looked at it rather than his conflicted captain.<strong>”I could ah helped yah... tah avoid the same dark hole I’ve lived in nigh some twenty years now.” </strong>A heavy sigh was released before the Irishman brought the bottle to his lips, hoping to wash away those painful memories that were a little to close right now. As the bottle lowered and he held it between his legs a moment Argus offered the bottle to Rose, still just starring down at the bilge by his boots.<br/><br/>The silence between the two spoke volumes. Four years ago Argus remembered a time that he and Rose couldn’t sit together silently with a bottle between them if they tried. Too busy spinning outlandish tales that grew in grandeur as the night went by. How Argus longed for the chance to spin those yarns again with her. Something was broken now though. Something he didn’t know how to fix.<strong>”You know why I drink cap’m... and all those years ago...”</strong>he paused as he fought back in vain to keep a tear that had formed in his eye from rolling down his cheek.<strong>”Well... ye gave me one more reason fer it...”</strong>