Of Love and Loathing [Treyjen/Mialli]

[Zen]

T2761 M12
A couple days before the Turn's End Vote

Mialli had brought Trillia to see him, and surprisingly had stuck around to watch him chase the girl around the deck for a time. Treyjen had figured she would do what she normally did, drop the girl off to spend time with him and take advantage of what little time it gave her to be a child free adult. He couldn’t remember the last time she’d stayed. Considering how obvious she made it that being in his presence repulsed her, it was all the more surprising.

So after a while of being watched, he sent Trillia up to the quarter deck to play at the helm and made his way to Mia where she sat on a barrel, appearing vaguely restless. “What’s wrong, love?”

She grimaced, “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” Her eyes were on their daughter, but she turned to look at him then, “I’ve heard you seem to have heavy favor for this lordling Asirikai. Why? I would think you’d prefer to keep Vashemin in place.”

Treyjen’s gaze narrowed, a dark sort of look passing ever so briefly over his features until he turned to look at Trillia, “Vashemin has served his purpose. As much as I’d prefer to go on bucking tradition and choosing our own leaders as we please, if Mavros is to improve her situation, she needs a Lord of the Blood. The rest of Pern will not accept us otherwise.”

Mialli laughed lightly, “Since when have you ever been concerned about what the rest of Pern thinks?”

“Since those that depend on me need me to be concerned about it,” his gaze was still on Trillia, happily turning the wheel, carefree. He turned back to Mia, “The vote is mere days away. Why are you asking me about this now?”

She sighed, “I’m not sure… I thought a man with more experience like Marshun would be a good option but the more I hear of your support for this man so much younger, the more curious I grow. Why have you thrown your support behind him so vocally?” She fixed a look of genuine curiosity on him.

He shifted, leaning back against the deck wall and crossing his arms over his chest, “He’s promised forgiveness to all Mavrosi pirates… if we cease our ways.” He used Asirikai’s own word, which amused him slightly, “From what I’ve heard of Marshun, he feels far less generous about it.” From what he’d heard, Marshun quite wanted to crack down on piracy in a manner that meant, should he win, Treyjen and his ships would be fleeing Mavros immediately and were not likely to ever return. The man seemed like he would be their fiercest enemy of all the candidates. “On top of that… he has offered to help me personally in a way I… never imagined.” He still felt restless over their conversation about his ability to obtain legal ownership of the Storm’s Eye. Would that they could put the plan into motion now, but the vote still waited.

Mialli raised a brow, “How has he offered to help you?”

“He claims to have a means of helping me gain legal ownership of my ship. It will open us back up to free travel. She can never be seized from me, returned to… to my father. If he wins, we’ll work out the details,” he explained shortly, not entirely feeling the need to delve deeper into the details Asirikai had already given him. That short explanation was all Mialli really needed to know.

Mia stared at him with wide eyes, “Why would he offer to help you with that?”

Treyjen laughed softly, “Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps he wants me in his debt, for I surely will be, and deeply. But if it means no more running, no more hiding… if it means normalcy for the crew, and no more concern that a run in with my father will put an end to everything for me… I’ll pay the price, whatever it turns out to be.” He met Mialli’s gaze seriously, “It means I’ll never leave her.” Her gaze flicked quickly to their daughter at that. “Only Asirikai has made such offers, Mia.” Of course he didn’t know if certain of the others would be open to such a forgiving path, would be able to do for him what Asirikai could, because he had given Asirikai his word that he would support him and so it hardly mattered what anyone else might be able to do for them. Asirikai’s plans, his offer, were already far more than Treyjen had ever hoped for. He was willing to go all in on the young man because it was highly unlikely any of the other candidates could offer anything better. He didn’t need to speak with them to know that, and with his word already given there was no point in wasting anyone’s time or in making Asirikai doubt him if he heard about him meeting with the others. One thing he knew for certain was that Marshun would spell an end to their time at Mavros. “If you want me to remain in her life… Asirikai is the best chance for that.”

She eyed him, skeptical, “You’d really turn back from piracy?”

He raised a brow at her in return, “What, you think I enjoy it so much?”

Mia shrugged, her tone mildly accusing, “It certainly has seemed that way.”

“What I enjoy is freedom,” he growled, his voice lowering, taking on an accusing tone of his own, “You really think I enjoy it, and all it entails? No wonder you don’t truly want me in her life.”

“I have never said that,” Mia hissed, “You’re her father, you deserve-”

“Not all fathers deserve to be in their children’s lives,” he snapped, pushing himself back up, away from her, and suddenly letting out a short, cold laugh as he studied the woman for a moment, “I don’t know how you do it… every time we speak, you incense me like few people can, Mia, and with so few words.”

She offered him something between a grimace and a smirk, “The feeling is mutual.”

Treyjen drew in a deep breath, focusing on his daughter as a reminder not to let his temper get away from him, “Well vote for Marshun then. He’ll see me gone from Mavros forever and you’ll finally be free of me.”

“I don’t want her to lose you, Treyjen,” Mialli insisted.

“No, but you still wish you were free of me, you didn’t deny that, did you?” his gaze shifted back to the woman. She stared back, silent for a long moment, and another soft laugh escaped him.

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” she said at last, firmly, “What matters is what she needs… and she needs her father. It is my misfortune that happens to be you, but I would never do anything that would threaten your place in her life. Not unless you gave me good cause, a reason to protect her from you.”

“That you will never have,” he returned quickly, “I would never do anything to hurt her, to put her in danger.”

“Not on purpose, at least,” she agreed grudgingly, with a sharp bitterness edging her tone.

“I really don’t know what I did to cause you to come to hate me so, Mia,” Treyjen spat as he stepped closer, searching her face for an answer that had eluded him for turns, his tone softening into a strained sort of murmur as he continued, “You and I… we enjoyed each other. That’s the last I remember. And then I returned to you pregnant and laden with disgust and resentment for me. What did I do that last night we shared? Did I harm you in some way?”

There was real worry in his tone and for a moment there was a crack in her defenses, but she caught herself quickly, steeling herself against him again, “My pregnancy simply brought me back to my senses. After all, one of us needed to be responsible, for her sake.”

He cursed and took another step toward her, but she didn’t retreat, meeting his gaze evenly, “Fine then. Since my presence repulses you so, I’ll free you from it. Go, my daughter has little enough time with me as it is for me to waste it further on you.”

“For once we agree,” she snapped, and turned quickly to stalk from the ship.

He bit back the response on the tip of his tongue, words he would regret if he loosed them, words spurred by his temper. But just barely. Trillia calling for him was a welcome distraction and he turned away from Mialli to join his daughter on the quarter deck. Lifting her into his arms, he spun her around to hear her gleeful laugh, soothing the fury her mother was so skilled at stoking in him. “What shall we play at next, shipfish?” he asked, leaning in to place a kiss on her forehead, his daughter’s happiness at his attention melting away his tension.

“Hide and seek!” she demanded, which was one of her favorite activities aboard the ship, and he’d been half expecting her to say it. There were so many nooks and crannies for her to hide in. Fortunately he knew his ship quite well and had yet to have any issue finding her, particularly as she had a terrible habit of giggling the entire time she hid. He was sure the girl would play it for hours if he let her, but of course she only ever hid, it was always his job to seek.

He laughed and set her down, covering his eyes with one hand, “Very well.” As he began to count, he heard her little steps hurrying away from him, her telltale giggling already beginning, and wondered just how long she would insist on playing this time.

kevna for Asirikai mention~