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This is Rosita. I'll hit you back when I can.

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She is not someone who seeks validation from just anywhere, but from people she cares about it's as important as shelter, as warmth in general; when she hears exactly her own reasoning from Astarion, umprompted, and Jacob's agreement...

She doesn't beam at them, but her smile settles deeper and truer. It's a bittersweet ache, and one she treasures.

"Normally we'd eat and drink and dance through the night, celebrating the family we still have." That won't happen here, for multiple reasons. "Could I - could we. It doesn't need to be any of that, but whatever it is. Could we stay together tonight?"

It feels precarious, somehow, to just ask - but she's come to trust them, so ask she does.

"Yes," Astarion says simply. "Of course."

It would feel strange to leave her alone. It would feel worse to walk away and spend the night by himself. She makes the very suggestion he was hoping to hear.

He nods his own agreement; there isn't anywhere else he'd rather be. There's safety here, a sort of safety he doesn't feel anywhere else. He's not leaving either one of them.

"We can still drink if you want," he points out. "Lounge is a bust, but I've got a couple of bottles hidden away."

"I'm dry," she has to admit. It's been easier in the wake of calming down her drinking by force, but she's eager to pick it back up.

She glances at Astarion, pressing her lips together.

"Is there anything... special? We can do for you?"

Astarion blinks at her, barely understanding the question, then smiles and shakes his head. He's not even sure what that would look like.

"No. But thank you."

Who is Sebastian? Jacob finds himself wondering, but if Astarion doesn't volunteer, then Jacob doesn't press. It's not that kind of night.

"We'll figure something out," he tells them both, but the wheels are turning. "Meanwhile, we have to crash somewhere. Have a good time."

Rosita has her questions too, but she's moved enough by the fact he showed up at all, that he participated even as much as he did. She said it was his choice and he made it, so she'll respect it.

She has questions for Jacob too, but there's time now. They have time. She looks again across the ofrenda, brushes the fabric petals of the garland with her fingertips, and nods.

She smiles. "I know where all the empty cabins are."

Edited Date: 2024-11-11 12:54 am (UTC)

"And one even hopes some of them haven't been destroyed," Astarion says. "Shall we retire, then?"

Jacob nods, staring a bit at the candles.

"Text me which one y'all go to. I'll meet you there with what I have."

"4-1," she answers immediately, but she watches him a moment more, dropping her arm from around Astarion and stepping closer to Jacob.

"You good?"

Astarion doesn't add anything, but his gaze briefly flicks to Jacob's. Not quite concerned, but - curious.

He looks up, realizing that he had gotten lost in the flicker of the candle.

"Yeah," he assures her and Astarion both. "I'm fine. It'll take five minutes to get there and to y'all. Go ahead."

"Alright."

She licks her lips, but turns to go with another nod.

Astarion keeps close to her, more than usual, their arms bumping lightly as they walk together. Nothing protective about it, it just...feels like the correct thing to do, for whatever reason.

Jacob stays for a minute longer, watching the flickering lights of the candles. Then he hurries down to his room to pack a bag as quickly as he can and feed Mae.

He knocks at the door on the 4th floor.

"It's me."

Rosita still carries her pack with her, more convinced than ever that it's the right move. The contents change, but knowing she needs it with her at all times has not.

She pulls more candles out, sets them around the room, lighting them with her cantrip. She doesn't speak either but by the time there's knocking on the door, she's humming softly enough it's barely audible.

She drags a chair over when she opens the door to shove under the knob once Jacob is inside.

"Not too shabby. I don't know if skipping the empty room makes them good pirates or shitty ones."

"Efficient, for better or worse," Astarion suggests. He's sitting down on the edge of the bed, having been watching Rosita light candles. "I'd suggest we consider stashing a few things in rooms like this, but who knows what'll become of them when they're occupied?"

"They'll probably fucking disappear."

He takes out two bottles - one rum, one wine - and sets them on a desk so he can fiddle with his music. His phone is next and he leans against the wall after unlocking it.

"Alright, guess I'm in charge of music." He turns on some comfortable country, starting with Garth Brooks, and keeps it low.

"Gonna give you some music education," he tells Astarion with a laugh. "Maybe Ro can teach us a line dance."

"I have a few stashes here and there," she adds. "Nothing I can't replace if someone else finds them, but they're there."

She's comfortable enough, calm enough, that the thought of Jacob being in charge of music doesn't raise alarms even in the paranoid part of her brain, and she grins when she hears the first guitar strums.

"Oh wow. I haven't heard this in forever, after a lifetime of thinking I'd never get away from the man." She crosses back over to the other two. "I already taught Astarion to twerk," she smirks, then glances at the elf in question: "Line dancing is nothing like that. Different kind of club." And yes, she absolutely can.

"I am not going to demonstrate," he says crisply to Jacob. "But, I don't mind dancing in a way that's slightly more dignified."

Astarion gets that out before Jacob can request it. Just in time. He gives him a smirk, though. Just so he knows.

"I'll ask for it later," he says lightly, seemingly unburdened now by the weight that had been hanging on him at the ofrenda.

"Come on. I can two step," he tells Rosaita and slides in close to take her hand. "That might be dignified enough for him to learn."

"Maybe I will," she teases, but then again her position is, "Dancing isn't supposed to be dignified. It's supposed to be fun."

And then Jacob is there, and she turns to face him readily. Comfortably.

"Why Mr. Seed," she answers with a lazy drawl she absolutely does not normally have. "You do know the way to a woman's heart." She's the one who steps forward as the lead though, just to see the look on his face.

Astarion chuckles under his breath and sits back to watch them. He's become passingly familiar with some of the more formal dances from their culture, catching glimpses in films and the like.

She makes to lead and he snorts. "Take it away, Dallas," he says and then, over his shoulder, tells Astarion.

"Don't let her fucking boss you around like this."

He will, however, follow her.

"You like it," she tells him, her voice back to normal; and more importantly, she likes that he does let her. It had once upon a time become something of a quick litmus test, telling her if the man she's dancing with can take a joke or gets mad about it.

She'll switch back after a few rounds of their little dance floor, not the least because she has to go up on her toes to spin Jacob successfully under their hands, but for the time being she flashes Astarion a grin.