after all is said and done

She'd looked up from her snack when the boat had stopped, hearing Alex call for her she got up and headed to where she'd heard his voice from. Staring out to see and seeing the manta ray's all swimming through the ocean together a proper smile dawned on her features. "They're migrating" she murmured quietly considering throwing caution to the wind and diving into the water with them her features lit up. It was one of the rare times that her actual emotions broke through the cold wall she'd put up to keep everyone out, moving to where she could see a little better she hesitated not wanting to let herself show as much yet the tug of the water was just as strong as the instinct to protect herself. Deciding screw it she vaulted over the railing not caring what Alex or anyone else thought and swam closer brushing her fingers over the migrating cratures

Glancing at her when she turned up, he gave her a friendly smile, reaching over the railing to brush his hand in the water. A ray came closer to the surface at the same time, his fingers brushing lightly over the creature. “They are,” he murmured. “I was hoping we’d come across them. It’s always a magical sight.” Watching her as she dove into the water, he stayed where he was and just leant on the railing. Catching a glimpse of her rare smile, he was glad now that he’d called her over to see the rays. She needed something to lighten up and let loose, and this seemed to be the way to go.

Diving down under the water running her fingers over the gentle creatures as she did so, she remained beneath the waves as long as she could before surfacing. At home in the water she grinned, the grin lightening her features and revealing dimples that had previously been hidden, all of a sudden she became a little self conscious and looked away hiding her smile away. Staying in the water with the creatures a while longer she pulled herself back up into the boat, not appearing to care that she was dripping wet she wrung her thick black plait and shook herself off a little. Her stomach told her it'd be dinner soon and quite hungry as she'd forgotten about having lunch, she threw the man a wary look "Thank you" she murmured very quietly, meaning gratitude for showing her the rays. Ignoring the gnawing hunger she looked over at the rays as they continued their migratory path.

Watching her, Alex couldn’t help but grin in response. It looked like this was why her dad had rung up. She adored the sea. Leaning further over the railing, he let his fingers drift through the sea, staying quiet while she swam. Giving her an easy glance when she pulled herself back into the boat, he simply nodded. “I did nothing,” he said simply. “The rays came on their own.” Content where he was, he continued watching the rays for a while, dwelling on her dimples for a few moments before dismissing it. She’d given no indication of wanting to do anything but work, and he could respect that. “Hungry? Rach should have dinner almost ready.”

Nodding at the mention of dinner she headed away down to her room, once there she used her shadows to dry herself off and glanced around frowning slightly River still wasn't back. That was strange, she'd go and have dinner and if River wasn't back by then she'd start to worry, okay yes that would do. Nodding to herself and running her hands together somewhat worriedly she headed out of her room and into the Galley nodding to the others, sitting down at the table after grabbing a plateful of food she began eating somewhat distracted by her thoughts of river. It was quite common for her to not know where the dragon was when she was at sea, dragons were naturally independant and river would cut off contact if she felt the need. Still, the sun was almost set, River was usually back by now, telling herself not to worry she as ever managed to keep up the cool cold outer self that kept her safe from getting hurt

Leaving the rays reluctantly, Alex headed into the galley, helping the other two crew members plate up and set the table. Content sitting with them in silence, he nodded in greeting to Claire when she emerged drier. Of course, it wasn’t long before Ted opened his big mouth and amused them all. “So Claire, you have a boyfriend right? Killian?” Highly amused, Alex kept his mouth shut, waiting for the response from their newest crewmember. He was fairly sure Claire was single, but it never hurt to have someone like Ted check. Meeting Rachel’s amused gaze, it was hard keeping a straight face, so he kept his eyes on his meal, trying to distract himself with what the plan was tomorrow. They were almost back to port, and he reckoned at the pace they were going, they’d be there in the afternoon.

About to take a bite out of her food the words that came out of teds mouth made her snort rather rudely, "Oh yeah, gorgeous hair, beautiful kind eyes, good breeding and wins lots of ribbons in the cross country and show jumping ring" snickering quietly she met the mans gaze squarely "He's my horse" after that she couldn't help but burst into soft giggles that brightened and lightened her whole face. Teds words only further implanted the belief that he was a complete idiot, wrapping her arms around hrself as she continued to giggle she was able to eventually get a hold of herself. Snickering a little still she resumed eating a smirk decorating her features still

Grinning as Ted slowly went bright red, Alex kept eating, enjoying as the other man stumbled over a few stutters then decided to keep quiet and not dig his grave any further. Glancing at Claire, he studied her a few moments, watching how the laughter changed her. Very curious to what had happened to her, he set to clearing the table once everyone was done, since Rach had cooked. With the other two teasing each other, he returned to the wheel, keen to get on shore and play with the data they’d found. Claire had been a great help, and he was hoping that she’d want to join them again on another trip.

She kept to herself for the rest of the meal, once done and having handed her plate in she headed for the front of the boat staring out over the water seeking her dragon. Finally feeling the distress call after quietly listening, she could feel for a moment the net cutting through scales and restricting movement. Nearly falling herself she turned and headed to where Alex was a distressed unhappy look breaking through the cold facade she wanted to keep up "I need your help, we need your help. Due east one or two kilometers theres something trapped in a trawl net" she wasn't keen on telling him exactly what it is. Who knew if he'd pay any attention if she told him it was a dragon and her dragon to boot, however she was unaware that the desperate beseeching look in her green gaze. Shifting her weight uncomfortably she added a soft "Please" to the end of it, she wasn't sure how long her dragon wouold survive the way it was, and if someone else found it they'd both be screwed.

Like normal, he’d been humming softly to himself while he guided the boat, taking them steadily back to shore. Pulling himself out of a mild daydream, he focused on Claire, taking in the desperate look. “East?” Not questioning how she knew for now, he turned the boat in the direction she’d said, happy to take a detour to help a marine animal. “Go back to the bow, let me know when to cut the engine so you can help it.” Resuming his humming, he kept the boat going a steady pace until she told him to stop. Joining her at the railing, he frowned down at the mess of net and struggling scales. “Poor thing. Idiot fishermen.” Muttering grumpily, he found the long net that was hopefully big enough to scoop the sea creature out and handed it to Claire. “Try and get it out, I’ve got to keep the boat near it.” The boat was beginning to drift away, and he turned the engine on again, keeping it barely running, just enough to keep them next to the trapped animal.

Nodding, Claire headed back to the bow and waited impatiently, calling out when he needed to cut the engine she took the net without complaining and moved to try and get River out. It took her a couple of goes but finally was able to get her precious dragon onto the deck, moving close to her once the dragon was on deck she got out her pocket knife and began cutting her free quietly talking to her. "You're alright River, You're safe" ignoring Alex a part of her a little nervous as to what he'd do she simply told herself she'd kill them all if they tried to do anything to her dragon. Not struggling when she was lifted onto the deck, the dragon made a soft noise and lowered its head as much as it could trussed up like a chicken in the wire that had cut through her scales and hurt her flesh. Large green-blue eyes blinked watching the human warily, it'd never had a good experience with people and was hence a little suspicious of him

Hearing the thump as Claire got the creature on the boat, Alex left the wheel and came out. Pausing and blinking at the sight of a dragon, he studied it a moment, processing the mythical sight. He had many questions for Claire, but for now he kept them to himself. He didn’t want to scare her off. “I’ll get you something for those cuts.” Ducking inside, he soon came out again and crouched near Claire, offering the cream to her. “Here, should help some.” Offering his hand to the dragon, he waited until it seemed okay with his scent before helping to take the rest of the net off. “Female? Very pretty colouring.” He kept his voice low, choosing what would hopefully be a safe topic of conversation.

Too focused on getting the net off to reply to what he'd said, she took the cream when it was offered and finished pulling the last of it off with the mans help. Beginning to apply the cream to its hurts she looked back at him when he queried whether it was female or not, sighing she considered him before nodding "You helped us, you get three questions to ask about her" she told him firmly before she resumed her work. Once all of the cuts had had the cream carefully smeared on them she handed the container of it back to its owner and wiped her fingers on her pants before reaching up and rubbing the dragons muzzle. The dragon made a low rumbling noise and lay down bumping her muzzle against her mistresses hand

Tossing the container in the general direction of the room it had come from, Alex simply shrugged a little. “She was in trouble. Nothing else to do but help.” Assuming the dragon was female since he hadn’t been corrected, he tossed the remains of the trawling net into a box to put in the rubbish when they got on shore, and got back to the wheel to get them aimed back home again. “Hopefully she’ll heal fast. Marine creatures tend to.” Whistling softly, he considered the three questions he’d been given, working out what he wanted to know most. “What’s her name, if she has one? How old is she?” What to be the last question, that was hard. Pondering it, he accelerated the boat, eager to get home. “Can she talk?”

Brushing her fingers over the dragons scales with a sigh, Claire wasn't too worried, her dragon healed quickly and the cream would help. Not caring that there were smears of the cream over her pants, she waited for the inevitable questions, the dragon nuzzled her affectionately drawing a fond smile out of the woman. When the questions finally came, Claire answered them "Her names River, she's 325 years old and yes she can talk. Although she usually reserves talk for me only" Sitting down next to the dragon she leaned against the large reptile who made a soft noise and huffed before lying her head down. "When will you come back out here?" she'd enjoyed her time on the boat, she'd learnt so much and had fun. Being in the sea had been good for her dragon as well, her calls home to Jules had dwindled to a couple of times a week, quite comfortable on the boat now.

He nodded, absorbing the answers quietly. Glancing over his shoulder at Claire, he gave a quiet smile at the sight, glad that she’d relaxed while being on the boat. “A pretty name. it suits her.” Steering the boat around a protruding rock, he glanced at her again when she asked her question. “A couple of months probably. Need to collate what we discovered this trip, and see how it matches up with the rest of the information we have from other trips. Interested in coming back on board are you?” He shot her a friendly smile. “It’d be great if you did. It was good having you, and the other two like you being around. You’d be welcome to come again.”

Nodding when he explained that it'd probably be a couple of months before he headed back on the water, she returned the friendly smile with a quiet one "Yes, River likes being in the sea and I like being on it" shrugging quietly she added "the learning is a bonus" looking up at the sky as the sun had now set her gaze picked up the familiar stars. Like her horse and her fathers partner she could never get sick of drinking in the distant lights that lit up the sky, especially when they were far from civilisation and light pollution. It was nice that she was welcome back here, even though she hadn't been very welcoming but the fact that she was happy to work hard and happy to learn likely had made more of an impact than her cold ways.

Giving a nod, he resumed humming as they crossed the sea, occasionally glancing up to watch the stars. He always felt small on the ocean, with nothing but water and stars surrounding him. “So tiny in a big, big world,” he murmured. Growing quiet again, he stayed silent until the sun began to rise. Knowing that Ted and Rach would be waking soon, he looked over at Claire. “If you want to keep the dragon from the other two, I’d see if you can get her hidden sooner rather than later. We’ll be back at the port a couple of hours after lunch.” Not waiting for a response, he picked up the container from the night before and put it away, heading in to start breakfast.

Happily watching the stars nestled in with her dragon she didn't notice the cold, distantly hearing the comment she didn't respond. Indeed she only looked away from them when he mentioned hiding River, standing she stretched feeling a little stiff and helped the dragon change size, heading down into her room with the dragon stretched out along her shoulders Claire set her down on the bed and left her to heal herself. Heading into the galley she began working alongside Alex keeping her thoughts to to herself as she did so, she didn't mind making food if anything it reminded her of being at home. Helping serve it she soon was sat down eating breakfast, paying little attention to Ted having decided he wasn't really worth her time. After breakfast she washed up and headed back up onto deck wanting to stay in sight of the sea as long as she could

Amused at Ted’s newfound awkwardness around Claire, Alex spent the morning in deep conversation with Rach, working out the best way to condense all the information. Finally feeling the boat slow, he wandered out to stand on the deck, flicking his sunnies down to help shade from the sun. “Almost home, Claire.” He glanced at her with a half grin, leaning on the railing. “Your dad’s got my number. Ring any time if you want to come back for the next trip. You’re a good help, thanks.” Helping secure the boat, he jumped onto the wharf, holding a hand to her in case she wanted it. “You fine heading home, or do you need a lift?”

He simply laughed at her challenge. “Alright sunshine. I’ll give you a call. Once you give me the one to ring.” As soon as she his hand go, he got to work helping Ted and Rach empty the boat of what they needed before the other pair split as well. Finally finished unloading, Alex regarded Claire again. “Hope you don’t mind a bit of a mess in the car.” Giving her a quick grin he led her over to the old car, pushing a pile off books off the passenger seat. “Gonna tell me how to get to your place, or are we road-tripping this to see where we get?”

Passing her the phone when she asked, he sung the car onto the road, humming lightly to himself. “Hope you enjoyed yourself,” he said quietly, glancing over at her. “I know some of the people who want to come aboard find it hard to fit in. We’re very much a family unit at this point. But Rach and Ted both said you were good to work with, so brownie points for you I guess.” Following her general instructions, he hummed along to the music of the radio, not bothered at giving her a lift all the way home if she wanted. “How far? All the way, or just part?”