[It stings to have Rhy pull away like that, for in truth he's right. It hadn't been his choice to come here. Though to his credit, neither, as he understands it, had it been the choice of any. Not, he supposes, that that's any consolation to Rhy. For the fact of the matter is that in the younger man's eyes, the only reason he's there at all is because he hasn't the choice to be anywhere else. It hardly paints him in a decent light.]

Haven't you heard? [he asks, dropping his hand from where his fingers have laced themselves against Rhy's shirt because it's either that or reach for him again.] I'm a privateer these days. I go where the wind takes me, and the sea can be a cruel mistress, my prince. I wouldn't say that I have much of a choice in the direction at all.

[He reaches again for his abandoned glass, because it is easier to drink and to quip than it is to face the younger man without the armor. Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire never tells his secrets for free. No matter how happy he is to see the other man again. No matter how much he had missed him. No matter how much he had feared he might never see him again. There is a time and a place for Alucard's honesty but the look in Rhy's eyes tells him that this night, for all the times he might have dreamed of a passionate reunion, isn't one of them.]