⃤ So, if I can be frank, Lu Dao, don't take too much offense to what I am about to say but you come off as a ladies man.
I have to know, is any one woman capable of your having your devotion or is the sea your only lover?
If you've met this woman already what makes her so special? And if you haven't, what does she have to have to make you turn your ship around?
Send a △ and ask my character(s) a really invasive question.
2/10. He is not easily offended, it’s a beautiful day in Harbor City, and this should be an easy enough question for him to answer. You’ve caught him walking en route to his ship alongside his first mate, Rizo.
Your footsteps thunk out of sync along the docks, the scent of hot coal and fish guts ripe in the briny air. “A ladies’ man?” echoes Lu Da, as if the notion is preposterous and you’ve just nicked his ego with a blade.
Rizo meets your eye, only shakes his head, as the three of you stop before a magnificent vessel, all strong lines and gleaming metal, boasting power and resilience, red-tinted windows studding the bridge like jewels.
Her captain grins, extending an arm toward the waiting ramp, the ship’s name glinting in the noonday sun. Revenant's Forge.
As you’re led up to the deck, starting to wonder whether he means to dodge the question, Lu Da counters, “I prefer to think of myself as more of a ladies’ ally…”
The words hang as he exchanges cheeky greetings with the motley, formidable group that snaps to attention. Then, he turns back to face you, extending his arms slightly as he walks backward, palms open, lips slanting in a smile. Genial. Contagious.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he prompts on your behalf. “Well, it’s true I’m a lucky guy who’s had the pleasure of knowing some pretty remarkable women. Even learned a thing or two from most of ‘em. But, more importantly, I aim to be a man who appreciates and respects the women in my life.”
Lu Da reaches the sun-warmed taffrail, leaning back against it. A salty breeze musses the fringe of his mohawk. “And y’know, I think that’s what a real ladies’ man is all about. It’s not about collecting conquests or playing some kind of smooth charmer—”
A muffled snort at your side. Rizo clears his throat, throwing on an innocent look.
“It’s not about a silver tongue or irresistible charisma—though those things have their place. It’s about valuing and supporting the women around you. And if all that makes me a ladies’ man?” Lu Da offers a shrug of one brawny shoulder. “Yeah, then I guess you’ll have to count me in.”
“That’s sweet and all, Cap’n,” Rizo cuts in, his amusement reflected amongst the crew. “And while true—you know the lot of us’ll vouch for that—I think our friend’s more referring to the way you busted outta your mama’s womb flirting.”
Raucous laughter ignites and Rizo turns to you, lips splitting in a lupine grin. “Legend has it he winked at the midwives, babbled one of his witty one-liners, and had the lot of ‘em swooning like a bunch of romance scroll heroines. He is a smooth charmer, but the sneaky kind—you don’t see it coming, ‘cause all you can see is the inkocalypse he’s got goin’ on, and then, bam.” The sharp clap of his hands rings in the air. “Slip on it like a papaya rind.”
There is a playful twist on Lu Da’s lips, a laugh huffed through his nose, but even you know well enough that there is no room for real indignation.
“Alright, so maybe I have a bit of a reputation,” he admits, then tosses you a nod. “But, look, if you’re gonna be frank, well then, I guess I’ll be shittily honest.”
The bustling harbor drones and clatters as Lu Da sighs, shifts, sunlight scattered by his rings as he anchors strong hands on either side of him along the rail. His attention drifts and narrows on the distant seam of sea and sky.
Whoops, the dial is ticking up now. 3/10… 4/10…
“Never really admitted this to anyone out loud, save for a few souls,” he begins haltingly. “I enjoy good company, that’s no secret. You could say I’m a people person, half of the time anyway, and the other half I just like fucking with ‘em. Flirting?” His gaze does not slip from where it is moored to the horizon. “Good seventy percent of the time for me it’s a game, another ten percent accounting for boredom. The fun of catching ‘em off guard with a smile, and sure, a smooth word, betting with myself on who’ll respond with disgust or suspicion or desire, which ones’ll turn tail and which’ll catch spark.”
A rueful smile flickers across his face as he drags his gaze back to yours, taps a ringed finger to his temple.
“‘Ah,’ you’re thinking, ‘there’s the shitty part.’ And yeah, probably.” A shadow of something crosses his face, etching a faint furrow between his brows. “But here’s the thing. As a mercenary pirate, my life isn’t exactly conducive to deep romantic connections. Always on the move, never knowing what might happen from one moment to the next, so fleeting encounters are the currency of my existence.
“Then we factor in that among the pool of people undeterred by…” a pause to gesture vaguely at the tattoos, the piercings, the strip of dark hair running down his head, a man who carved his name into the annals of ill-repute, “...there’s a half-dried puddle of the ones who see beyond it. Most’re just down for the thrill, the forbidden, the seductive danger or the usual fetishized attraction, you know. Not much worth taking seriously when you know most of them don’t see you or don’t care to.”
A shimmer of wings slices the air as a gull swoops, diving for a cart. The fisherman lunges but the bird is faster, its prize winking silver as it makes off.
“All that to say, when it is more, the rare times it has been—”
“Put it this way,” says Rizo, “when Lu Da stops playin’ games, you know shit’s got real.”
The acknowledgment tugs at the ink on his face as Lu Da shrugs his head toward his first mate: What he said. “Over the years, there’ve been a few. One or two that mighta stood the long haul even, had it not been for shitty luck or circumstances. Took to joking that the only lady I really need is Soraya, my crossbow, or my ship, and yeah, even the sea herself, and all of it was true. It was easier that way.”
The landscape shifts, his expression softening into something tender and earnest. “And then I met Rinna.”
“Man got obliterated by a love comet, and ever since he’s been orbiting in a cosmic haze of heart-shaped stardust. Just look at ‘im.”
Lu Da only grins. It should look misplaced, this depth of warmth and affection radiating from a man of such an aspect and infamy. “She’s pretty damn awesome. Strong. Whip-smart. Head-turningly beautiful. But I’ve been around, and that stuff may be great, but it plays second erhu to what really matters.”
There is the clank of metal and low chatter, a sighing groan as the vessel rocks. Most of the crew has dispersed to their various tasks. Only Rizo stays behind, sinewy arms folded across his chest.
“Rinna… she’s the kind of person who makes you feel alive, makes you believe in yourself, not just who you are but your potential, that your life might actually be worth a…” The words tangle in his chest. Lu Da starts again, his voice huskier, infused with the salt and grit of a life at sea. “Well, she’s got this… supernatural knack for seeing people. I’m talking seeing past all the surface-level and even mid-level shit, straight through to the core of who you are, for better or worse.
“The first time she called me a good man, I shot it down. Forcing a puzzle piece where it didn’t fit. Done too many bad things, I’d told her. It was true. But she wasn’t convinced. Doesn’t like to define a person by their past, she says. ‘Uh, okay…’” he drawls, a mirror of hesitancy, the fragile dance between hope and trepidation. “I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because it will, of course, it always does. And I’m waiting, and waiting. And slowly, I stop, and I realize she’s for real.
“And it’s not just about the faults and imperfections, how she embraces all of you, no. Somehow, this woman is armed with the power to zero in on the absolute best parts of you. She can see qualities you might not even be aware of yourself, and then she holds them up like precious gems for you to marvel at.” Lu Da swallows thickly, composes himself with the huff of a laugh. His hand slides from the sun-drenched rail to run through his hair. “It’s a bit uncanny at times, actually. But Rinna changed the game. She’s a beacon of light. In this whirlwind life, where the only constants are chaos and change, she’s my north star.”
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Since ZevWarden Week is starting tomorrow(!!!!!), have a snippet that got cut from the prompt “Gold” (CW for Cole recalling some traumatic memories of Zevran’s):
The boy looked at him with pale eyes. Sweet Mother of Mercy, it was as if someone had sucked all color out of him.
“I can help.”
“Help?” Zevran stared at the boy. “That is- that is very kind of you, but I assure you, I am in no need of help.”
“Soft body, soft skin, soft blanket wrapped around soft feelings. Soft laughter and soft voices, soft light of the morning in dark brown hair. Soft lips and soft gaze that stain and stare and stammer.” The boy was whispering almost feverishly, and now his voice pitched higher. “Hands halting, eyes pitifully pleading, tears and steel on skin: ‘Non è vero, non è vero, non sono stato io! Ti prego, Zevran, ti prego, ti-’”
All blood drained out of Zevran’s face, and he stumbled towards the boy in an attempt to silence him. The boy was cold to the touch. Zevran yanked his hand back.
“Soft is good,” the boy said. “But it is easier not to be soft, not to ask for it, not to want it. I understand.”
“How do you- how do you know?” Zevran stammered.
The boy tilted his head to the side. “I can see it.”
They meet the Inquisition at the Winter Palace and Cole scares the living daylight out of Zevran. This snippet got cut bc it was derailing the story and making it way darker than I wanted.
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