Late night shift

[Sinbad]

He had kept the eye contact but after a moment it became kind of uneasy for him and he looked away. There was a lot of truth in what she said, especially in the "blaming yourself" part. It was probably also Scratch´s doing because he had so blantantly shown him but devil or not, that mirror had shown the truth. He had failed people. Too many people. And even though part of him always hoped for Maeve to return there was another part of him that was restless about it, a part that had made him fall for Scratch´s trap. He hoped she was safe, but he couldn´t make sure. Would she find ways to come back? Evil was still growing stronger, or at least it seemed like this to him, so she had to keep in hiding for her own sake. And also, he couldn´t be sure that this place of hiding was still safe. He would have given a lot to know, but there was no way.

"I failed people I was responsible for." he said, almost adding more. Scratch had given him the choice between trying to save Maeve or the crew. He had run after Maeve. "And he showed me what I was about to become. I know this wasn´t a lie, Bryn. I didn´t notice what was happening with me." He didn´t comment on what she said about Maeve. Instead he fell silent for a few seconds, before he continued, trying to choose his words carefully and smiling slightly as he spoke on.
"I´m not as hopeless as you think I am, Bryn. That was just a hard bit to swallow, that´s all."

[alex]

She looked at him. Her eyes twitched between him and the floor before she focused on Sinbad again. "No. You are not that hopeless. You are Sinbad the Sailor who thinks hard about what he has done, who questions himself if he has done the right thing." She put her hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her. "But you are human And sometimes we don't to the right thing, letting our emotions take control. All we can do is accept this and try not to repeat the same mistake again. You cannot change the past. What use is there pondering over it. All you can do is change the future." She smiled at him. "And if you want to return to the humorous boy you were, only you can make that decision. You have not failed anybody, Sinbad. Why would you think that you have failed?"

[Sinbad]

The thoughts behind that, to answer her last question were long and complex and he did not feel he had the patience nor the will or clearsight to answer it fully. It was just a lot of stuff playing in there and he didn´t feel like ripping open everything he had seen in that accursed mirror. The thought alone made him shudder.
Instead, he raised an eyebrow at him. "Letting my emotions have the better of me seems to be a rather popular thing to warn me about. Or to encourage me." he said.

Simply letting the past be was not really an option. Not only did he stubbornly cling on to so many memories that he simply refused to let go, but also was he of the opinion that it was actually necessary to contemplate all these things. He had neglected thinking about what he was doing for a year, he had to catch up on it now not to run into the same trap again, simple as that.

[alex]

Her smile slightly faded. She tilted her head a little to the side but did not break her gaze at Sinbad. He was going in circles again. But she knew that she had to go slow and easy on him. "Oh. And why do you say that?"

[Sinbad]

"Because it´s true." Sinbad responded, thinking bad about the times he had heard people say that sort of thing. "You did. Scratch did, even though he saw things a bit different. And then Marla."

[alex]

Bryn bit he tongue, looked down at the ground, and slightly nodded. "True." She let out a little smirk. "I did, didn't I." She looked back up a Sinbad. "But you said Scratch and Marla did, too. My asumption is that Marla tried to warn you and Scratch tried to encourage you."

[Sinbad]

Sinbad smirked slightly, a smirk that didn´t completely reach his eyes but were an improvement from earlier.
"Yeah." he said. "I had the same impression."
There had been something about Marla that he had not been able to grasp, but that had given him the feeling she knew or at least had a good idea about what was going on inside him. A weird thing to happen, seeing that he had never seen her before, he thought.

[alex]

Bryn was happy to see Sinbad smile again, but she was busy in thought. "Hmmm. Do you know her?"

[Sinbad]

Sinbad shook his head, frowning slightly, but not at her. "No." he said. "I´ve never seen her before actually. I´m not sure anyone of us have."

[alex]

A light sparked in her head, and Bryn looked up at Sinbad, eyes wide. "Doubar knows her."

[Sinbad]

The captain narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion. Doubar? Why hadn´t he mentioned it? Or maybe he hadn´t considered it important?
"He does?" he asked. "Did he tell you?"

[alex]

"Yes, well sort-of. I told Doubar that there was a lady wanting to see you. But she vanished before I could reply to her. I mentioned that she had a coin around her neck. Doubar asked if it was Roman. I nodded. He then said, 'it can't be.' That's all he told me." She looked at Sinbad with questioning eyes, waiting for his response.

[Sinbad]

Sinbad listened. This all sounded a bit strange, but then again there had been a time, before he had returned to Baghdad about two years ago, where he and his brother had been out of contact. He couldn´t possibly know everyone he had been around or encountered in his life. He gave a slight shrug, still somewhat bewiledered, but at least for now, not wondering too much about it. Even though it was strange his brother had not mentioned that to him. "I guess I can still ask him about it." he said. "I don´t know why he didn´t mention that but he probably had his reasons."

[alex]

She smiled at him. "If this can ease your sufferings, then please do. It is never to late for two brothers to have a talk."

[Sinbad]

His smirk became a bit more pronounced. "It´s nothing really too related to the rest of all this." he said and that was the truth. Finding out about Mala wasn´t on his top list of priorities, for now it was just an information he didn´t have and wondered if Doubar had it and if so why he hadn´t shared it.

"And by the way, I hope I don´t look too bad." he added with a mild chuckle. "Suffering sounds kind of desperate."