Snow

Morn quickly donned his mask, then walked to the door. After pausing a moment to get back in character, Morn unlocked the door and swung it upon.

"W-aaah!" Lily tumbled through the doorway as if she had been leaning on the door.

Morn, fast to react, sidestepped the falling woman. Only after she had fallen to the floor did he realise that catching her would have been the polite thing to do. He was too used to the crowded streets of Yol where if someone fell, they belonged to the floor.

Unsure if helping her up would be in character, Morn hesitated. Lily remained on the ground, as if waiting for Morn to help her up. Sighing internally, Morn closed the door and locked it once again, then turned to help Lily to her feet, offering his prosthetic hand.

Lily happily took his hand and was quickly helped up. She expressed slight shock at Morn's prosthetic, though it hardly showed on her face. It seemed like she had some sort of training in keeping her expressions under control. Morn considered, 'perhaps her boisterous personality is a result of finally being allowed to express herself after years of suppression?'

After helping Lily stand, Morn returned to his desk and took a seat. It was then that he awkwardly realised there was nowhere for her to sit. Morn considered for a moment, then decided to try something. He released a small amount of Vaihniir, then created the hallucination of a chair in Lily's mind. He then motioned for her to sit.

This time, the shock on Lily's face was more prominent, as if she'd given up on controlling her expressions. She quickly accepted the circumstances, moving to sit down. The moment Lily believed the chair to be real, Morn created a hallucination seed in her mind, then used it to give substance to the chair. Morn let out a subtle sigh of relief as the attempt succeeded and Lily did not go crashing to the floor. He could have played it off as a prank if it hadn't worked, but it would have destroyed his image!

Thankfully, it worked, and he learned a valuable rule. The hallucination seed could be used to give substance to any hallucination, though he could only give substance to one hallucination, and once he chose it, he could not change the target. And of course, a chair would not be able to attack the target, unless Morn picked it up himself and used it as a weapon, then it would be a slightly convoluted way to bludgeon someone with a chair…

Morn managed his thoughts, returning his attention to Lily. He prepared to speak, ready to attempt recruiting her, but he stopped himself just as the words reached his mouth. He recalled hearing somewhere that the first to speak in a negotiation lost the advantage! Morn stared at Lily through his mask, anxiously waiting. He hoped that she would speak soon, because social anxiety caused by the long silence was starting to melt away his guise of a fearsome captain!

After another minute passed, and as Morn was about to break, Lily let out an exasperated gasp.

"Fine! You win, I'll talk first. That damn mask of yours is way too creepy with the silence, I can't stand it."

Morn let out a victory shout inwardly, mentally congratulating his social fortitude. Being a fearsome captain was far harder than he expected, and not for the reasons he would have thought. 'I'd rather fight a thousand Florists than negotiate once!'

Outwardly, however, Morn maintained his silent attitude, motioning for Lily to continue. Under his 'creepy stare' Lily quickly divulged the reason for her sudden appearance at his cabin.

"I was exploring the ship briefly, and I noticed that you don't have a crew… Now, I'm not saying that you need one, but it couldn't hurt, right?"

Lily leaned forward, as if eager to present her idea. From this close, Morn finally noticed her unique eyes. The iris was a bright hazel colour, but what intrigued him were the golden and white flecks in her eyes. Those were the hallmark of a seer! The gold represented foresight, while the white represented insight.

'...Insight…"

Morn quavered inwardly, he suddenly realised something important. If Lily was an Inseer, that meant that she could easily read his emotions! She would have known that he was putting on an act this whole time. Had he realised sooner, he would have used hallucinations on her to hide all expressions and emotions from her, but it was already too late.

'Damned farseer! She had me figured out this whole time, but let me believe I was fooling her.'

Morn sighed, audibly this time, much to Lily's delight. The Inseer sitting before him let out a satisfied laugh as an obnoxious smirk appeared on her face.

"So you finally realised, hahahahaha! I wondered how long it would take you, Captain Rain. Don't worry my new friend! I'm not here to expose you, I only have a simple request."

Morn leaned back in his chair, letting it spin him however it wanted. If she knew, there was no reason to continue his act in front of her, he might as well let himself relax. As the chair spun him around, angling him towards the back of the room, he spoke in an exasperated tone.

"Just tell me what you want?"

Sitting back in her own chair and folding one leg over the other, Lily smiled widely.

"I'd like to be the first member of your crew!"

In shock, Morn quickly spun the chair around, facing her once again. All of his plans to recruit her were unnecessary. Lily had volunteered to join his crew!? Morn was shocked, but excited. Celebrating inwardly, Morn regained his outward composure and looked at Lily.

"That's… perfect. I needed a farseer…" Morn winced, recalling his most recent farseer experience, but quickly dismissing it. Morn reminded himself, not all farseers are unreliable.

Rapidly readjusting, Morn held out a hand which Lily eagerly shook.

"... Consider yourself recruited! I'll pay for your food and drink as long as you're part of the crew, as well as any expenses you may need for equipment. You'll also receive a portion of any bounty money we earn, or any other riches we might find. Now… what makes you want to join my crew?"

Though he was excited, Morn still remained slightly cautious, unsure what hidden motives Lily might have. Additionally, her using a pseudonym– not that he could judge –meant she may be hiding from someone. But, he supposed, he would deal with issues as they arose.

Having a farseer was important enough to any ship to make Morn look the other way. An inseer-foreseer combo was even better, as it would enable Morn to have an objective evaluation of any future crew members he would invite, so long as he could trust Lily's judgement. Morn was struck by a sudden flash of inspiration, recalling the contract he had made with Oscairo.

'I wonder if I could make a contract with Lily? I should contact Oscairo, it's been some time since I left his island, I'm sure he would like an update.'

Lily released Morn's hand, leaning back in her own chair. She shrugged, staring intently at Morn as if evaluating his every emotion, her gaze piercing past his mask.

"I have my own reasons that I'm unwilling to share, but I understand your potential concerns. I do have people looking for me, but they won't be able to find me, and they certainly won't bring any harm to you. If they ever come for me, I give you my word as a Farseer that I won't implicate you. Now, what should my pirate hunting name be?"

Morn scratched his head, mildly surprised. He figured that since her name Lily was already clearly fake, she could just use that. But after some consideration, he figured that a more intimidating or unique name would be more suitable. After a moment, he came up with a suggestion:

"Perhaps you could go by cloud, or… maybe nimbus? Um…Cumulus, Stratus-"

Lily coughed, interrupting Morn.

"I think I prefer the name Snow." She replied, before Morn could suggest any more cloud related names.

Morn nodded, "A good name! Why didn't I think of that…"

Lily giggled, interested to see Morn's true personality peeking out from behind the persona of Rain. After reigning in her laughter, she stared at the embarrassed Morn.

"Well, Captain. What's the plan for the near future, hopefully something less boring! I've always wanted more adventure in my life…"

Morn raised an eyebrow, 'Was being kidnapped by pirates a boring thing now? If that's boring to her, I'd hate to see what she thinks is exciting…'

"We'll be dropping off the Florist's victims in Nauv. I'll leave them a small sum each so that they can restart their lives or sail wherever they want. After that, I'm not too sure."

Lily sat up excitedly, her expression making it obvious she had a suggestion.

"Yes?" Morn asked.

"Perhaps you'd be interested in recruiting more crew members?" Lily paused briefly to wink, which it seemed she was exceedingly bad at as it took her several failed attempts before succeeding, "I know a guy, a real tough mercenary. His name is Belfasjir, I call him Bel for short. He's Fretian, born and bred. I met him when I was little, he was a personal bodyguard for awhile, before he quit to move to Nauv. I haven't seen him since, but I've heard he got into a little trouble with the law…"

"What sort of trouble?" Morn asked, intrigued. Afterall, he did need someone else to make up for his shortcomings in close combat…

"Ah, murder of a merchant- more or less. But he was framed! Had to have been. Bel would never do something like that. Despite his grizzled look and standoffishness, he's quite a decent guy. No way he would kill his own boss."

Morn grew doubtful upon hearing the words "-kill his own boss" as he, if he recruited Bel, would be the man's boss… But he maintained optimism, trusting Lily's judgement as an inseer.

"Then if I wanted to meet him, where would I find him?"

Lily shrugged, "Probably in Novlasbrit…"

Morn facepalmed mentally, 'Novlasbrit! That was one of Nauv's most guarded prisons, located in the capital city of Balkaar.'

After a moment to recover from the mental whiplash, Morn spread out his hands in a gesture of helplessness.

"I'll consider it, but I'll have to take a look at Novlasbrit in person, I've never been to Balkaar."

Lily nodded, that was reasonable. And even if he chose not to rescue Bel, it's not like she would mind that much, she hadn't seen the man in over a decade anyway.

Seeing Lily had nothing else to say, Morn smiled behind his mask. Before her eyes, Morn slowly faded away, disappearing. Unable to hide her shock, Lily quickly looked around the room, rubbing her eyes to ensure she was seeing correctly.

"Don't trust your eyes so much." Morn's voice sounded from behind her, causing Lily to turn around in her chair. But before she could completely turn, her chair disappeared from under her as if it had never existed.

"Ow!" Lily scoffed as Morn appeared in front of her once again, cackling. The fall had hurt her pride as a farseer more than it had her rear.

"A little revenge for your inseeing antics. Now go get some rest and some food, tomorrow we'll talk more and perhaps sign a contract of sorts."

Pouting, Lily stood from the floor and disappeared out the cabin door.

When he was sure she was gone, Morn released the hallucination seed from her mind, then leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"You see that Azur? I'm socialising…"

Morn sat in a relaxed silence, letting his mind have some peace after a stressful day.