Behind her, Halfdan was too busy playing dice with a few other ruffians to glimpse Emmaline, else she would have heard a bit of racket from the huge norscan. Rather, a few ne'er-do-wells that skulked the sides of the inn had spotted her and were approaching to see if they could grab a cot, but before they made it three steps, the curtain to one of the private areas opened. Markus poked his head out, dagger in hand as he whistled, reeling in Emmaline's attention. He saw her look his way, but instead of approaching, she simply picked up the Dwarf ale and sipped it, trying to appear standoffish. Though her cough from absentmindedly consuming the extremely potent brew broke the dignity of it. 

Markus stepped out and took her hand, practically dragging her within and closing the curtain, though he could tell she wasn't in the best mood around him. Hopefully what he was about to do would help.

On the table was a sack with unknown contents, Markus's sword, and four daggers he always kept on his person. They were keen edged and unblemished, and they all had varying hilts denoting he had acquired them in different areas of the world. It must have seemed like a threat of torture, as Emmaline glanced at the exit warily. Markus didn't bar her way. He merely took a seat at the booth and lowered the light in the lamp by a hair. The Captain took his jacket off, placing it beside him on the long bench. "I'm just cleaning them, sit down." He told her. Hesitantly, she did so, sitting across from him. There was something on her mind, but when she opened her mouth to speak, he stopped her. 

"Wait, let me speak first." 

"Oh by [i]all[/i] means. You are the captain after all." She said, rolling her eyes. He didn't take the bait, instead he sat back and looked at her with his dark eyes. 

"You annoy the hell out of me." He stated, unsure if she would find offense or burst into laughter. He could never tell with her. He let the words hang before he looked away for a brief second, sighing. "But I've been unfair to you." She could see two pints of ale before him, with one emptied and the other halfway gone. There was obviously something Markus was hesitant to say, but he trudged on nonetheless. 

"You're fun to be around." He admitted. "You aren't something to be controlled or a prize to be won. Everything you've done, you've just done to survive. We're similar in that regard. But what's more, you've saved me and my crew more than once, without reward or accolades except being allowed on the crew. I realize that is wrong. I just...I want to you to know I'm sorry, and that you have my respect. You probably haven't heard that a lot in your life, and considering you likely swindled a lot of people, with good reason. But you deserve to hear it once in awhile."