>>1607704I launch into a lengthy reply. "I'm not sure confidence is about the way you dress, but if you've bought it, it'd be a shame to never wear it. You're a good enough artist that a lot of people would like to see your work, just maybe not this particular story. Perhaps something a little less, um, sexual, but I can see your style working for any number of things. And you can keep drawing Junko: Stealth Assassin, I'd love to read more of her adventures." I genuinely do, there's actual tension in her writing. "But maybe you could reign in the sex a little. I'm sure we don't need Junko's boobs or butt in every panel. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't show this to anyone else. I'm not sure what other people would think of me afterwards." My reply seems to please Kiku, who says "Oh, okay, I think I can do that. I've got some works in progress that I could show to other people at home if you think I'm good enough."
I continue "Anyway, I said I'll help you, and if me taking my bra off will give you that confidence, I'll do it, but I'm sure you'll quickly learn to be confident on your own." With that, I get up and head to the front of the boat. It's a small passenger catamaran, and there's not many places I could go and not be seen, except the bridge. The crew will all be facing forwards, so if I'm quiet, they won't see me. I carefully work the door (or is it a hatch? or a bulkhead? These boaty people have weird names for everything) and slip in. I'm correct in my assumption, there are three guys in here all either looking out the front window or staring at some instrumentation (although in one case, only if you extend the definition of 'instrumentation' to include 'facebook').
