Episode 4: Just a small talk but left me wanting more

Joseph shook himself out of his thoughts when the young chef stared at his grinning face,suspiciously, tilting his head slightly.

He cleared his throat, playing cool again, "So you like things melting in your mouth?" He spoke without filtering out his thoughts before putting them into words, not really thinking so deep into it, just coming up with anything to keep the conversation flowing.

"Yeah, I mean, the mix of textures awakens everyone's senses, expectations might flip the moment one takes a taste tho, but I would still give it a shot." he grinned, proud of himself and his brief description.

"A way to get to you is through your tongue then?" a hidden grin rose upon Josh's lips, but he hid it behind his hand, pretending to clear up his throat once more.

"Who doesn't like to be fed? Show me one person who goes out with someone without expecting to get some food in the way? No One does. Anyhow, why are you asking me this?" He enquired to the older noticing the conversation was just about himself only.

The dark haired chirped in, thinking he screwed it up now, "Out of curiosity, but if I offended you in any way then I can leave you on your own"

Teo puckered out his lips in thought, considering to push a little further, looking around he saw the noisy crowd on the upper deck, meters away from them, realizing the reason as to why the man was here.

Teo aimed with his head at the main deck whilst he spoke again, "So you're running away from that noise, ain't you?"

"Yeah, you could say that, it's a bit draining to deal with all of them," he sighed, looking away, relieved to know he wasn't going to be banned from the ship.

"I getchu, I also hate pretending to be who I am not, sadly it's part of the job. But your case is different, you had the chance to turn the invitation down not showing up," he spoke at heart, hoping to cheer up the man on his side, thinking it could be the reason as to why he avoided meeting his eyes.

Somewhat, thinking about the reasons as to why the birthday party was planned got him feeling blue, "Trust me, that thought crossed my mind a thousand times before boarding, sadly, I had no choice. It was either coming here or sailing overseas to avoid this charade. But the lieutenant of my division really wanted me to take a break after so long, so…", a tight-lipped smile was forced upon Josh's face.

The younger nodded, reminiscing when all he only wanted today was to lay down on the beach, rather than being here attending hundreds of stiff people who looked down on him, at least that was until now.

"Tough choice, there wasn't any other option?" He didn't mean to dig deeper into the stranger's life, yet intrigued to get to know him a bit more got the best of him.

Maybe it was the fact he was thankful the man decided to come as he found someone to talk to, even if they didn't see each other ever again after tonight.

Joseph leaned his back against the rail, facing sideways the curious male, "Maybe, but I was exhausted enough to think about a plan B." His calm eyes didn't reflect his thoughts at a single glance, yet his voice did, however it didn't last long as he interjected, "I don't regret it either, we wouldn't be having this conversation if I didn't, would we?" His lips curled upwards watching the younger.

He frowned, slapping the man's arm in embarrassment, "Shut up! You… nevermind. I mean, if you wanted to stay at home resting on your day off you should be able to"

"For instance, I had a whole ass plan made up for tonight, however I didn't count on the possibility that this -the whole event- would last all night until early into the morning." He did his best to get his point across the unknown, expanding his arms exaggeratedly until they fell on his sides.

Teo chuckled at his own luck, "Now my, supposed, 'date' is up on stage and I'm more than sure he'll turn me down after seeing all those riches around. I have nothing to offer him…" his dark thoughts carved into his spirit, leaving him with a sensation of emptiness contrasting with his cheerful voice.

This picked up Joseph's curiosity as to know who would be so powerful as to turn the, apparently, optimist boy into a hopeless one.

He looked up to the stage, narrowing his eyes to distinguish who was up there, "Whom? I just see only one person singing on stage now?" his eyes landed on a cheerful man rapping with an unique rhythm from afar, whilst people cheered wildly, singing along.

"You don't know him?" Teo asked, indignanted, his sadness jumping off of the boat by now as he was ready to do a mini introduction of the man who, he considered, stole his heart.

"Nope, this's the first time I'm seeing him" he spoke without malice, being as honest as possible trying to not offend the younger.

"Were you living under a rock, pal? He's a renowned rapper, one of the bests in the whole country, he even draws hundreds of thousands people overseas if not millions" he was a hair away to name all the achievements his crush had accumulated over the years, his fanboy side so close from bursting out, he might as well show him the autographed photo cards in his wallet, but running back to the galley to fetch them might scare the stranger from his point of view.

"I've been in the navy over the last 3 years, this is the first time I'm leaving the base to join an event of such magnitude. Well, not as big as the ones in the base, but surrounded by a different environment" he explained to the younger his reasons which were out of his control.

Teo's jaw dropped, he couldn't imagine himself being apart from civilization for so long, "You're kidding, right? How come you haven't gone insane?"

The older chuckled seeing the younger's reaction, "I'm a loner, so it wasn't that bad, obviously, I missed out a lot, but it wasn't that bad, from time to time I went fishing with my comrades, indeed it was quite entertaining. We organized events and such but it was like a family meeting where we all formed part of it"

He leaned one elbow on the railing, seeing the man with his bright puppy eyes "You like fishing? Do you love the sea that much?"

"Yeah, it gives me peace of mind, it allowed me to slow down from fast paced days where daily rush is part of one's daily routine" his kind grin got his cheeks puffing out a little as his eyes held an innocent which wasn't there before, expressing the influence the sea has on him.

Teo admired the stranger's slight change, grinning, "No gonna lie, when you put it like that, it sounds great. Sounds like holidays with family and friends, damn, can't wait for Christmas holidays to arrive"

Josh asked out of concern, "Can't you ask for a leave before that?"

"I could, but my brother is the one who runs this business, so it's kinda tough," the younger left out a heavy sigh, thinking about how many sleepless nights he had seen working just to get where he is now.

He shook his head trying to keep a neutral tone, "I can enjoy staying here too. Enjoying on my own whilst my brother is working his arse out to get this ship moving would haunt me." Genuinely concerned for his brother's well being even though he was a strict boss, he would stick by his side as his support.

Teo's words got him thinking maybe he's not considering himself within the big picture, "Isn't your well being a priority too?"

"Not at the cost of others." Teo sighed wishing he could just throw everything away for once and doing as he pleases, but his conscience would never allow him to do so.

"Get it, pretty much a complex decision", the dark haired spoke, patting his back, "Well, gotta get back on duty. Hope to see you up there", a hint of hope entailed itself within his voice, aiming towards the upper deck.

Yet the younger didn't pay so much thought into it, his conflicted self having a back and forth between what he wanted and the path he'd chosen, just nodding as an answer.

"See ya there, man. Don't drink too much. I might not be able to jump into the water to save your pretty arse. I can barely swim" the younger teased to lighten up the mood whilst he walked back to his station, not wishing to leave a bad impression on the elder.

"Worry not, I won't jump into the sea" Josh chuckled seeing the boy shaking his head as he walked ahead, hands in his pockets.

Joseph's eyes followed him until Teo vanished through the door, taking that as a signal to get back to his parents to pretend to be their beloved model son.

Making his way back to the main deck he smiled thinking he should take his own advice and start living for himself and his own happiness.