A Pirates Life For Me

"Don't you be hablar-ing spanish at me!" Hannah snapped and Leah looked to Rei. He was right...Mateo wouldn't be able to stand Freya in pain.
"...Please help get her arms. She's going to be in a lot of pain, I can tell." Another woman came in from a secret door in the corner bringing the water and towel Leah had sent for earlier when she found the other door locked. She blinked at the dresser and nearly fell over when she saw Freya's state.
"Now get the water on her back, lets see if we can't get some of the dead scales towards the top to scub off. Then it will be my turn." Hannah said looking expectantly at Leah. Leah took the wet towel hesitantly before rubbing the cool wetted cloth on her back, a couple of scales flaked off easilly. Hannah's hand landed ontop of his heavily and she forced him to scrub harder, more scales fell off, some only half dead, making it a rather painful experience.
Hannah huffed, pulling out her knife and letting it run in the clean water. "Keep scrubbing, and you two hold onto her tight, can't have her breaking a few of our limbs or taking off fingers in the process."
When the woman returned with more rum she poured it forcively down Freya's throat before backing away from her in fear. Hannah looked over the missing places of scale and could see the red irritated skin and the infected cuts still underneath more scale. "Sit tight honey, I'll make it as quick as I can." She said to Freya, before making the first cut of slicing of scales over the worst of the cuts.

Mateo had heard Freya's warning in the halls and felt himself grow pale when he arrived in the room with the towel and water. When the door didn't budge he was suddenly panick and tried to force it open. "What the hell? Que pasa con este pinche puerta?! (basically is getting mad with the door lol) Freya!" He heard her screams of pain and instantly tried harder to get the door open. It wouldn't budge. He kept trying despite the fact he knew it was hopeless and felt his heart more than sink at her pain.
"Lo siento, te lo juro por mi vida, yo no haría esto si no creo que no fuera a ayudarte." (I'm so sorry, I swear on my life I wouldn't do this if I didn't know this would help you.) He whispered, resting his head against the door as he flinched at every scream of pain.
(About 30 minutes later)
Hannah tossed to knife into the bucket of water, instantly dying the already blood red water a deeper red. Leah washed the bloodied back off carefully, as the other woman place the ointment of the open flesh wounds. "Now for the bandages. Rei we're going to need you to help me wrap her." Hannah sighed looking over her handy work with growing concern. This was the first time she had worked on a fish woman before and she felt every bit of sorry and pain for this poor girl.

Rei noded his head and lifted Freya who had fainted from pain up so Hanna could get the bandages around her better.

he had felt tears fall down his face a few times from his guilt at causing her pain... maybe he was the monster Hime was always accusing him of.

he sighed and looked at Hanna bowing his head to her slightly in gratitude.

" thank you so much Lady Hanna.... with out you all would have been lost. " he said.

he had only been bit once by Freya during the cutting... but he knew it was no were the pain she felt...

" i hope this works for her sake... its wrong for a woman to be in so much pain... " he said feeling even worse at his own words...

Hime was a woman after all... and what type of pain was she in.... " im not the best person in the world to make request ... but." Rei sighed trying ot think clearly.

" i just wish i was not such... i guess a beastly man " he said picking Hime's Favorited name for him. " i should be compassionate... some times ... men are fools huh?" he said to Hanna for some reason feeling he is able to speak to her.

Hannah worked the bandage and turned to Leah and the other girl. "Go check on the girl and get the boy outside something to hard to drink down in the kitchen." She said and instantly the women complied. When they left she looked to Rei with a frown that was completely full of motherly power and somewhat concerned. "It is only human to be foolish. You men just get an extra dose you can't help hun." She said, wipping a bloodied hand off on her dress before patting his cheek. "A real beast wouldn't have shed a single tear for this girl, wouldn't have even cared for anyone's well being but their own. I've dealt with horrible men, sweety, and you aren't one of them, a bit on the abrasive side but that is just the testosterone talking. And such a handsome young face." She had finished with Freya and laid her down to rest on her stomach with help from Rei, placing pillows at her side to keep her from rolling onto her side. "My guess is you have alot more compassion than you give yourself credit for. Once you find it, you'll have no problem convincing the woman who slighted you for it in no time." She said with a wink.
~~~
Leah helped Mateo up from the floor and led him by the hand down stairs. The guy was completely distraught and he hadn't even seen the worst of it. Somehow he had reasoned this was his fault and in a way he felt it was right for his to think that way. If he had just hadn't picked up that peice of map, if he just stayed in Barbados like Avery told him, let Freya go that night, if he had just hadn't been so stubborn and tried to carry on like keeping a mermaid from her home would be okay, that everything would work out great...now Freya was bleeding up in a room in a brothel, on the brink of dying from infection caused by his brashness in a time when he needed to keep a level head and just comply with what he was told. Not to mention he'd sucked Rei and Hime into a dire situation!
He sat down next to Hime but hardly saw her, as Leah fished around in the cabnents and pulled out a bottle of strong liquor that even burned her nose to smell. She poured some in with a cup of coffee and offered it to him. He didn't take it so she placed it on the table infront of him and bustled off. He was silent for a long moment before he touched the cup and brought it to his lips. Though he never really liked to drink his nerves needed this, so much so he downed it quickly despite the burn in his throat and senses. "Am I really this useless?" He asked Hime, the word hitting him right where it hurt. That was the one thing that he never wanted to be, no matter what became of him. He swore to do whatever possible to keep that word from ever coming from another person's mouth towards him, not after that night he argued with his mother before leaving her for the last time. He was already starting to feel a buzz take over and took the bottle at the end of the table, playing with the neck in his hands. "They couldn't even trust me to help her...Hime, why...I didn't mean to get everyone into this...I'm so sorry." He said taking another drink before covering his face with a hand to hide the shame in his expression.

Hime looked over at him and sighed reaching over and taking his hand in hers and squeezing lightly as she took the bottle from him and took a deep drink before sputtering and coughing on it.

she felt heavy but didnt want Mateo to feel bad... he had not done a thing wrong...

" Mate... Mateo " she said looking up at him from his side her face covered in pink and red freckles form crying during Freya's shared cutting...

she had been in so much pain... her heart panged sharply with guilt. " it is my fault Mateo... never blame your self for my imperfections " she whispered. " its my curse... " she said.

smiling sadly she put her free hand on the other side of his face to look at her, " you are needed very much. you are very important Mateo " she said searching his face through her drunken haze.

" you need to keep them safe " she whispered lightly to him. " when i go you will keep them safe despite all my wrongs right so i need you to be strong like i know only a weird man can be " she said grinning around her tears.

Rei smiled at Hanna's words and sighed. " i didnt realize how much like my father i had become... " he said shaking his head as he looked down at Freya's small bandaged back.

" i hope you are right... " Rei slumped his back against the wall besides Freya's bed and groaned gripping his shoulder were Freya had nicked him with her teeth while screaming in agony. " ah... damn... that smarts... could i get something to put on this.. " he said pulling his shirt back a little to show Hanna the bite mark.

(Lol falling asleep on myself! Night night!)
Mateo stared at Hime a moment his dulled eyes suddenly brightneing at her words. He'd never been told he was important by anyone, nor had he ever heard anyone put such faith in him in such a weird way of saying it. She was crying that much he could tell from the liquor setting in and the haze starting to fog up his normal way of thinking.
'Leaving?' He thought and frowned at her. "Hime don't go anywhere. I like you, here, with me and everyone else. You're so easy to talk to..." He said before lifting a hand to her cheek without any hesitance. He wiped away some of the tears and gave her a crooked smile. "You're curse, its most likely a part of fate that got you here where you're needed. See," He showed her the cursed mark on his palm. "I've lived with this for-wait-uno, dos, pero mas que cinco-pues-8 years almost." He said and gave a small laugh that hardly seemed like its normal light hearted state. "And haven't died once. come pretty close but davey jones still hasn't got me yet." He let the cloth covering it fall back into place and sighed. "Do you really want to mess with fate? Sounds like a pretty big gamble, don't you think?"
~~
Hannah looked at his shoulder and heard a hiss of breath espcape her teeth at the nasty bite. "Yeah I've still got more of that cream I put on her." She pulled the small container from the folds of her skirt and knelt down next to him. "She got you good. This should clean any poison or bacteria in it." She said rubbing the yellowish colored cream over the cut. She then used a spare bandage to get his shoulder fixed up as to not let it get infected too. "Alright...so I'm going to ask something real quick and I want an honest answer....Did I just seriously do medical work on a mermaid?" She asked looking back at Freya and then at him. "You aren't going to sprout gills are you?" She asked though joking, she looked a little hesitant.

he looked back up at Freya and smiled, " she is the first mer~maid i have ever met" he said.

" but if any one else were to have asked i would have to say she is the only woman i have allowed to bite me before" he said chuckling lightly feeling strange.

Rie could feel his mind buzzing and a slight ring in his head... it was something he had heard before but couldn't place it....

he sighed and rested his had back feeling over done, " i think ill sit here for a bit and rest... go ahead ill keep an eye on her and call if she needs anything " he said quietly.

Mateo's words seemed to cut into her deep as if she were feeling Freya's pain allover again deep with in her chest... as a ringing filled her ears and her head buzzed... with something other then liquor...

she smiled despite the fresh tears over flowing her eye's as she looked up at him and simply agreed with him. " if that is what fate wants " she said smiling as she took his hand and lifted the cloth to look at the mark letting her eye's look at it then her finger to trace it.

she hummed slightly trying to relax before covering his hand back up and pulling away slightly. " do not worry i will not be leaving any time soon... i dont even think i can walk strait... " she half mumbled taking another hit form the bottle trying to make her self numb....

anything but all this confusion and pain. but in a way she now understood why the mermaid in the story become the bubbles and floated away...

bubbles could not hurt any one....nor could they be in pain.

freya felt the shooting pain run up her spine again and she felt her eyes shoot open. "mmm" she picked herself up on her elbows and pushed the pillow away from herself so she could stand. completely ignoring rei she put a hand on her shoulder rubbing it lightly

"you cant touch this wound anymore. if there is silver on my back it means its poison. dont get near it or your limps will basically fall off" she mumbled to rei but didnt look at him. she walked to the bathroom shutting the door. she looked at her face in the mirror. during that painful process she had involentarily made herself as scary looking as possible. the scales on her face in the shape to look like a skull. it would take a day for them to go away. her eyes a purle yellow with a small black dot in the center. she grimaced at herself. she pulled her pants off and looked at herself in the mirror again. her ears had turned to weird webbed finned things and she had larger ones on her hips. her legs where scalled aswell with webbed fings on her calves. her toes webbed together. she had never seen this transformation before. she looked like a monster. she left the bathroom. there was no need for clothes when she was completely covered anyway. she walked to the dresser covered door and pushed it away

"im going to sit in the water." she mumbled still not wanting to show her face. she walked down the stairs to see mateo sitting at the bar

she tried to sneak by but one of the girls let out a shrill scream and fainted. freya winced and stopped moving

Rei was not able to hear Freya moving about or leave. he had fallen asleep against the wall despite being in a bad position for his shoulder.

pulling his eye's open he shook his head almost lost. " Hime " he said stumbling up and staggering before holding onto the bed post looking down at the blood speckled sheets and gasped.

it all hit him... what happened and on top of that.... she was gone what a great way to earn trust...

he contontinued to stumble down the hall trying to find Freya... she was in no condition to walk about alone. Guilt racked him hard as he thought of all the things he had done to Hime... Freya had forced him to realize it...

Hime had not put his under this spell for her own enjoyment... and she did try to get rid of him with out killing him... he sighed wandering were the hell to look till he heard a scream and managed to get down into the kitchen .

seeing that Freya had made a change during her ordeal he felt guilty allover again and pulled a table linen off the pile and put it around Freya to cover her up from the maids veiw before picking up the spooked maid and carrying her out into the hall to calm her down as to not alarm the others.

Hime looked up shivering at Freya's form... it looked painful to her... she had turned like that before.... once. though it was two years ago and well before Rei started to fallow her... " Freya?" Hime started but stopped her self knowing she wanted nothing to do with her. Hime shook her head and turn away from her in her own shame. " im sorry never mind " she said hugging the bottle close to her chest as she fought the erge to drink more.

" hey Mateo... be a good weird man and go help Freya okay?" she said smiling.

Hime sighed, " i think im going to sleep... im not feeling well form the liquor. " she said getting up and walking towards the door going into the hall to see the maid and Rei. " oh.... hi Rei " Hime slurred as Rei caught sight of the bottle.

" damnit... Hime... how much will to drown your self with tonight?" he said snatching the bottle and giving it the girl who quickly took a drink as well before taking the chance to run off.

Rei sighed leaning against the wall. " im.... sorry " Rei said looking down the hall opposite of Hime.

" you arnt... a witch and a monster... im sorry... for being a .... bad... man " he said uneasily.

" please... let me try to make it up to you... " he said turning to her .

Hime looked at him unsure how to take it... these were not his words... were they.

" are you okay?" she asked stumbling back a little in her confusion as Rei laughed.

Mateo looked to Him her eyes wet with tears and saying she would leave them. Why would she want to leave them? Being alone was just so sad to think about for him and he didn't want that for her, not after she'd been through so much. "Things will get better you know, Hime they will, I promise. And if not I'll help make sure it does." He heard the scream and jumped spilling his rum spiked coffee and turning to find a fish standing up right in the middle of the lower kitchen area. He blinked heart ponding for a moment as he wondered what the hell kind of hallucinagines were in that liqour before he realized something else. Rei was suddenly in the room and draping a cloth over the fish girl. Hime was the only other girl he knew that could sprout scales like that and she was sitting next to him. That meant that fish person was Freya.
"Freya?" He got to his feet, nearly tripping over another woman who had scuttled her way back underneath the bar, that and his coordination was a little lopsided. He took in the fear of the room and looked back at Hime. She told him to help Freya, but he was worried about her.
"We'll continue this later. Please, don't run off before I get a real chance to convince you not to." He said before taking Freya's scaled arm and leading her out of the place through a back door. There was a small of steps that led down from the back street and into the salt water cannal below, perfectly hidden and desolated of other people. He let her go by the steps and couldn't help a small wince at the bandages covering her. The guilt was hitting him again, even after Hime's kind words.
"What did they do to you Freya?" He asked quietly his eyes full of concern as he traced her scaled face and startling eyes. He was actually a little afraid of her, the human instincts within him telling him he should keep his distance, but instead he wanted to not be away from her like that again. He pulled her close into a hug, carefully avoiding her bandages for fear of hurting them. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let that happen, I shouldn't have let any of this happen to you. I should have let you go a long time ago and maybe you wouldn't have been hurt...lo siento mucho..."He said not wanting to lax his arms enough to let her push him away, but did so anyways. She probably did hate hime now, she most likely hated all of them...

freya pushed the cloth off of her "this is what i am," she mumbled but mostly to herself. "this is what you are" she said poking his skin and pushing him off of her.

"not the same" her words stung her own heart. but she was just confused. she didnt understand why they had hurt her back. she didnt understand why rei suddenly encouraged hurting her, she didnt understand why mateo didnt save her. she didnt understand anything. and she was angry with all of them. a small flame of hate burned in her for human females. and even for humans in general.

"your scared" she said to mateo and felt her face harden into a scowl "dont lie i know your scared of me, its written on your face!!!" she yelled at him

"you didnt help me, you didnt help me when i was in the box you didnt help me when i was hit the first time you didnt help me when they torture me upstairs. what do you want from me!!" she yelled but it was more of a pleaing yell then anything

Rei relaxed realizing he was not going to get through to her in a drunken state... nor would he be able to explain what happened to Freya..

who even if it hurt so badly... that it was to help her... " i give men every were a bad name " he said before he slid to the floor against the wall. watching as Hime tried to do the same but mostly fell.

he chuckled as she started to giggle at her self. Hime sighed looking up aimlessly. " life is so funny... when im drunk " she said before crawling over and next to him putting her head on his shoulder.

" why dose time only stop when you need it most to move with haste... "she grumbled drunkenly.

"I don't know!" The words left this mouth in a raised voice, one that he never used willingly, but reigned himself in. "I..I don't know what to do with you. When I went looking for a treasure I didn't expect to find a mermaid. I didn't know what the hell to expect with some half fish half woman that could suck the life out of me without even batting an eye. Of course I'd be scared, or atleast worried! What would stop you from killing me when I deserve it? But you haven't killed me, you still stayed when you could have left...I didn't mean for you to get hurt but I guess I was being just another man without a mind when I thought I could protect you." He said not sure where these words were coming from though they came out so easily. He wanted to understand himself what his reasoning was, why he allowed himself to get attactched to her, why he would ever think keeping a mermaid from her home would be a good idea. "Just tell me what you need right now, what is going to be best. If its to go back home, I'll get you to the nearest port, if its to stay and heal I can't garuntee that you won't get hurt again, but whatever it is I'll make sure it happens, that you get it." He said looking into her eyes with no sign of fear. He was staring at her determinated to help her though he failed her in the past. He knew he failed her but maybe he could make it right...if that was even possible now.

freya stood there with her scowl but it turned to a depressing frown. she felt her throat tighten and her mind go numb. all she felt was saddness

she pushed herself into his arms and rested her head on his chest "could you hold me for a minute?" she whispered

Mateo felt his frustration leaving him, the guilt still there but covered up by his surprise. Why is it even though he continued to disappoint her she kept coming back to him? maybe it was because she was lost in this world and didn't really have a choice. Whatever the real reason was, he felt a bit of selfish relief that she didn't want to run.
'What is wrong with me?' He kept thinking as he let his arms tighten around her. The scales felt so different from skin but inside his thoughts he could still see that beautiful face of hers.
"its safe here. As safe as we can get at the moment. We'll figure something out later...Maybe that mermaid island or whatever that captian was looking for might be a place for you to heal." He said letting his chin rest on her head. "I'm a little new to offering advice for this, sorry." He said at how blank he was at drawing fesible ideas. Freya needed to heal, that pirate captian would be looking for them, he had to help Hime, and he had no way of obtaining a ship that would allow two women on board, nor would he allow the girls to be put in harms way again. If only there was something he could do to make this all fix itself.

Rei watched as Hime fell asleep on his shoulder listening to her shallow breathing.

now that he thought about it... Hime was so small... everything about her looked easy to break. she was very light as well... maybe she had soft bones like real fish... because she was sorta... a mer maid too.

he shook his head while trying not to jostle Hime. what was he thinking... he had not really admitted to him self that she was one... because she could never prove it... so she was just a witch to him... but... he was wrong.

hell Rei was finding out he was wrong about many things in the world. " ill try to make it better Hime... we can break this curse... im sure we can... if not... we will do something " he mumbled to him self.

he would carry Hime up the stairs but his shoulder was still paining him so he decided to be her pillow as he waited for Mateo to bring Freya back. in the least he keep her from hating Mateo more then necessary.

freya took a deep breath. his smell made her more relaxed. "careful" she mumbled "dont touch my back. i have poison dripping out of my back... its... a defense thing..." she mumbled and scratched her face some of the scales already disappearing.

Mateo was already avoiding the area but because of causing her pain. The added idea of poison definately made him want to avoid the area even more. His arms instead held her waist. He was surprised at how nive it felt to have her there, not seperated by glass or a the bars of a holding cell. "Come on, this waters not exactly nice but you might want to get a swim in before we have to go back inside." He said wanting to offer her room to swim and cool off before she had to situate herself back in a house. Perhaps the water could help fix her scales.
~~
Leah walked by and saw them on the floor. She sighed and battered her eyes at how cute the two looked. "Ah, young love." She giggled before walking into the back.

she nodded but held his hand as she walked into the water taking him with her.

"trust me" she said pulling him so his head went under the water.

she grabbed each side of his face and pushed air into his lungs giving him for about 10 minutes the feeling of breathing underwater.

she took his hand and swam down further until the water was dark around them but her scales suddenly began to glow lighting up the area around them. fallen jewlery, cups, silverwear, all types of things glinted from the light she was giving off. her scales on her face disappeared into her peachy skin and her pulled him close to her with a curret made by her fin

"you like these things?" she asked picking up the shiney objects them reflecting blues and purples that her neon was giving off

Mateo expected to drown the moment she pulled him under, but instead her lips found his. He jerked back a little in surprise but her hands found the side of his face as she gave air to his lungs. He was confused at first till he found himself no longer having to hold his breath. She led him down into the water and suddenly under the moon lit water she began to glow, or at least her scales did. She rasiated a light that lit up the floor of the cannal and all the glitters and golds at the bottom. She moved along to the floor and picked up some of the crystal and gold necklaced pearls that lay forgotten under the dark water. He definately saw the value in them, but the need for them wasn't there. He did however take the silver thin chain with a black pearl that lay there and placed it in her palm, closing her hand around it as a way of telling her being with her now was alright, that the gold was the last thing he was thinking about. He felt that realixation sink in and for a moment was confused. What kind of pirate was he, forgetting gold over a girl...but could he really blame himself for that? He would have blushed had the water not been cool enough to keep the heat from reaching his face. His attention shifted back to the water at the pure amazement of being under it so long really set in with him. He pushed himself down further and swam a bit but not far out of the reaches of her light. He picked up a crystal vase, marvelling at the way her colors dance off of it. He looked up at her and smiled brightly, dropping the vase as he drifted backwards, giving her a taunt with his finger to follow more to explore.

she gave him a daring smile and darted foward at an amazing speed grabbing his arm and pulling him forward. she pulled him further and further until they got to the drop off. she went straight down until the only light that could be seen was from her.

she smiled at him pulling his face up to hers pushing more air into his lungs.

she pushed away from him and did a slow backflip spinning she went to the drop off wall and looked at all the coral that reflected from her light makingit a wall of neon. the fish came out and swam around them in a tizzy from the light

time passed by and Rei became agitated at the fact that Mateo and Freya had not returned.... either they had taken off... goofing off... or were in danger.

he knew neither of them well enough to decide which other then his gut told him they were not in danger...

when another girl walked by he got her to help him take Hime up to the room. he then got her to help lay her on the bed so that she would be able to sleep off her drinking problem of late....

he was restless and he new he could not leave the building... because of the spell... but if he could have he would have...

in steed he took him self to the kitchen finding another bottle of rum and taking a few drinks as he waited worried. Freya was in bad shape to be out of bed long..or did being a mermaid make that no longer a problem...

he sighed in frustration. Hime didn't heal like that... she would get a paper cut and complain for days about it... scowling he watched the back door as he tried not to think of too many things.

(Hey guys I'm gonna be gone for about 3 days or so. That doesn't mean yall shouldn't continue the RP but just know I wont be able to respond till I get back)
Mateo was a little freaked out when she pulled him forward so quickly and further into the depths. She however replaced the missing air in his lungs, letting him actually enjoy the dark depths again. The coral they were faced wih was illuminated by her light and drew the fish out. One swam to his face curiously and he blew bubbles out at him. The fish instantly darted away and he chuckled.
'So this is where she lives...or at least like it.' He thought wondering if he had gills and fins if he could actually fit in to this world.

she swam circles around mateo up down and above him. finally she pushed herself close to him in a hug. she bolted upwards bringing him up the surface just as the spell had worn off. she pulled him slowly to the shore and walked into the house quickly. she was dripping wet and felt alot better

"eh.." she bumped into rei and blinked stiffening a little "thank you" she blurted out bowing her head slightly

Mateo smiled, practically giddy under the light of the moon from the water. Freya was okay, still breathing though injured. And even better she had somewhat forgiven him. He wrung out his clothes hoping to get at least some of the salt water out of them. EVerytime he blinked however he was reminded of holding Freya, taking in the sea like smell of her. He cleared his throat feeling a heat creep into his cheeks. "Freya...what are you really?" He thought aloud leaning against the back wall of the tavern. He didn't mean it literally. He was more wondering what she really was to him, and why it was he couldn't shake the way she made him feel. It could be just a mermaids spell but, it felt so different than the trance shared between Rei and Hime. He for the first time glanced at the mark on his hand with a new sense of wonder. "Maybe you really were good luck after all?" He chuckled, closing his hand as he looked back up at the stars.

Rie had only just gotten up to pace running into Freya before he notice she had come back in. " freya. . . . are... are you okay?" he asked putting a hand under her chin so that he could see into her face better seeing she was back to normal.

" i was getting worried... you should have rested more " he said sighing and pulling back away form her.

" sorry i should not have ... Hime is asleep.... you should go rest as well... im going to talk with Mateo... " Rie said lightly patting Freya's shoulder , " sleep well kay "

Rie then moved to go out the door and stopped feeling the strong pull of Hime's spell.

he sighed, " or ill wait here... and talk when he gets in... so... please go up stairs and sleep even if it is for my piece of mind... " he said.

he did not want to look at her... she had to absolutely hate him... he was after all.... the monster that locked Mateo out and had her tortured.

with his own body he held her so she could not stop it... even if it was for her own good... he felt like a monster... the type of monster Hime keep calling him...

he took a seat on the table and took a sip of the bottle waiting for Mateo... he had a few things to tell him...