the patches in my fur that the acid splashed no longer sting and i feel i can now sit on the deck and enjoy the fresh salt air instead of hiding below
i am very used to being on my own. even when employed by the Madame, i was unique and still very much left top my own devices. this boat is small and there are so few places or times when i am alone. it is surprisingly nice. i did not expect that being constantly surrounded by others would be so comforting.
out of all of them, Sanna makes me the most nervous. she is fierce and forceful and unfailingly competent. i may help her plot a course, but at the end of the day it is she that makes the decisions; how sturdy she must be to carry all of our lives on her shoulders.
i did not expect her to bring me food. i did not expect her to do anything for me. . .i am just a small cog on her ship, not nearly as important as the others. the Madame never paid me special attention unless it was to give me an assignment or brutally inform me of my failings.
all Sanna wanted to do was talk. she asked me what i was doing on a boat when i am so obviously so afraid. it is almost comical how much being wet upsets me but she did not seem angry. . .only curious. i can understand curious. but i was unsure of how to tell her that i remember the feelings of being on a boat, but i cannot remember the exact specifics without sounding utterly out of my mind.
so i told her other things, things that perhaps i did not need to share but felt good to do so.
she wants to know that i am loyal, that i will not steal from this crew. even if i wanted to, there would be nowhere to run. but i do not even want to think about it. these people have helped me, i will not betray that.
Sanna is kind. she gives praise so easily and i am not for certain how to accept it.
but i think i can learn.