❀ 01

[toyboat]

Who: Jenny Scott and y o u
What: New arrivals~
When: This evening!
Where: In the lobby
Rating: G for "little girl"

[In the lobby tonight, there is a small girl who looks like she belongs in a castle this grand. Her blue dress matches the decoration style better than most residents' clothing, her long skirts and stay intricate and befitting a higher class daughter.

This girl, however, looks extremely confused, cautiously wandering through the grand entrance and seeming for all the world like she has no idea what's going on.

Because she doesn't.

Last she recalls, she was on a ship, heading home, and this place is like nowhere on The Jackdaw at all, not that she's seen.

She takes a cursory pass around the lobby, then takes a seat on a sofa and clutches her doll to her chest.]

It'll be all right, Dolly. Father is with us now, this must just be part of the adventure.

Comments

[toyboat]

[The nod that Jenny gives is solemn, and her tears slow to a stop. She tries to be brave, tries to be strong, because she knows that's what her mother would have wanted, but it's hard, to have put all her young trust in a man across the ocean who didn't even know she existed. And if Father wasn't everything he was supposed to be, then what was she to do?]

Yes, sir.

[unmanned]

Good girl.

[Some more dabbing to get those residual tears.]

No more tears. You'll break your father's heart.

[toyboat]

But I haven't even seen him yet, and it's been so long.

[Jenny bites her lip, trying her very hardest not to start crying again.]

You don't think he's left me?

[unmanned]

I know he didn't. First thing when he got here, he was looking for his Jenny. [Just about ran out of the tub naked in his panic, once he realized this wasn't some sort of dream.] Have a feeling he'd rather lose his arm than lose you.

[toyboat]

[There's a sigh, and then Jenny goes to sit on the floor, leaning on the railing of the stairs. This is all so very much, and she wishes that Father were here, so that maybe things would make even a little more sense than they do now.

It's a good thing that Edward lives on the second floor, or James would probably have to carry Jenny up the rest of the flights of stairs.]

Why isn't he looking for me now? I thought he would have found me...

[unmanned]

Though you've just arrived, he's been here for some months. It's how the castle works, bringing us in from different times, at different times. He's been sad without you.

[James sits down across from her. They can chat for a bit, no harm in that. More time for her eyes to dry before meeting Edward.]

[toyboat]

He has?

[That makes her feel a bit better. That he hadn't forgotten her just as easily as he'd found out about her. That she wasn't going to be alone again.]

[unmanned]

Aye. He wants to be a good father to you.

[toyboat]

I never had a father before, you know. So... he doesn't have to be so good. Only mine.

[unmanned]

He'll be good and yours.

[toyboat]

How do you know if someone is a good father or a bad one?

[unmanned]

Doubt a bad father would worry about you as much as he's done.

[It is a good question to ask, though.]

[toyboat]

Is it worry, then, that makes him good? I only knew him for a little while before I came here.

[unmanned]

It's the care he has that causes him to worry, and that which makes him good.

[toyboat]

[Jenny leans her head back against the balustrades, glancing off to the side. One hand snakes into her pocket, almost unconsciously, to take out Dolly and hold her tightly.]

I wish he were here. It isn't fair, that now I can't find him, after I waited all this time to have a father.

[unmanned]

I'll get you to him. You have my word, little lady. [Not that the word of a pirate is much to go by, but James gets to his feet and holds a hand down to help Jenny to her own. This is Kenway's girl. He'll keep her safe.

... and try to not make her cry again.]

[toyboat]

[Taking his hand, Jenny stands as well, still clutching her doll. She looks up at James, her face sober, and nods.]

Thank you. I should owe you for all your help.

[Flower crown. That means he's getting a flower crown.]