"Do you think there might be, uh, aggressive competition?"

"Well... That depends on how good we are at fast talking."

"You'll be all right, then."

"The best anti-pirate weapon."

"What's the runner-up of choice?"

"Well, I can't pull off 'teleporting bombs' yet... I suppose I'd have to go with anti-ship weapons."

"How many of those do we have?"

"Two, one capable of firing forward, one aft. They require magic to activate. Not the best radius of fire, though, but I can get a punch out of them when I need to."

"Better than none."

"Yeah. They're a bit of an older model, but that matters less against pirates than it does some others - there's not really a coordinated arms and armor race anywhere."

"Something like that would be scary, in this context."

"It'd get bad, fast," she says, more seriously.

Nod.

"Pirate ships shouldn't be much more armored than this, though - some do have stolen old war ships, but that's exceptionally rare, and usually reserved for the big time gangs."

"Hopefully this site isn't quite that interesting."

"Well, perhaps you'll be my good luck charm."

"I am quite charming, and reasonably lucky."

"Perfect, then!"

Hee.

She grins and steers the ship on - they'll be coming up to the transition into normal space very soon.

"I believe I have decided that I do not wish to be your student formally."

She glances over, grin fading a bit. "Huh. Any particular reason?"

"I. Uh."

"Don't want to get you in trouble."

She beams.

"You're delightful."

Shy grin.