8 Chapter 7

Even though you didn't think he meant it in the way it sounded, you were still a bit reluctant to step into the Captain's cabin. You didn't exactly need a new outfit. So why had he called you in?

You sighed with relief. It was nothing...intimate. He was once again searching his wardrobe.

Clothes and fabric scraps were flying everywhere. He finally turned around, scooped up all the stuff on the floor and handed the armload to you. They were all women's clothes.

"There. Always finding more women's clothes in those treasure chests than a sailor's, but they're easy to repurpose. Mind you, some of them are so...skimpy...I find no use for them. You know how to sew, right?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good. Now please go use what you don't want of this scrap stuff and help patch up for make new clothes for some of the crew."

"Well, a-alright. I guess so. Yeah. Yes sir, Captain."

"What?"

"It's just...my hands," you said quietly. "They're kind of...sore. From scrubbing." You were afraid of his reaction, and spoke slowly and timidly.

"Oh, that's alright," he said flippantly. "Take your time. You can have a break until your hands feel better. Just don't wait more than a few days."

"A few...days?"

"And if you get bored, you can either learn to cook, learn to read or chart maps, or learn to swordfight. Your pick. Just try to be productive, and as long as you're pulling your weight, you're fine."

"Oh. Thanks."

"You're welcome." He gave you a nod and pointed to a box on his desk. "There's a needle in there. Take it with you. Where do you want to keep your things? You're allowed to keep any of the clothing that fits, if you want."

"Well...is there anywhere other than the barracks?"

"Yeah. Empty out that chest right there, just put the stuff in it in the other chests, and you can use it."

"Well...where do I put it? The chest?"

"Wherever you'd like. Barracks, kitchen, cabin, crow's nest, wherever. I don't care. Just leave it somewhere secure, so if there's a storm it won't go directly overboard."

"Oh...thanks. Yes sir."

"And hop to it. Oh! I also...have something for you."

You were suddenly a little nervous. He walked over to his dresser and pulled something out of the top drawer.

It was a big ruby necklace.

Stunned, you were petrified as he put it around your neck. It fit perfectly, and felt comfy to wear.

"Wow...thank you."

"Of course, I never wear it, and of course my crew wouldn't want it...so I was really just clearing my drawer out."

"Just clearing your drawer out?" You gave him a suspicious smile.

"In a manner of speaking." He returned with a slight simper. "Do you know how to make Sauerkraut?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well, you've had it before, here on the ship. It's pretty common, keeps you from getting scurvy with all the ingredients."

"Scurvy?"

"Really, Anika? It's scurvy. The ship is named after it." You couldn't help it. He looked your age, and when he wasn't barking orders, he talked like it too. It felt like you were talking to a friend, not a pirate Captain who could make you do anything he pleased. "It's a disease that you get when you don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, and it makes your teeth fall out."

"Oh." That didn't sound very fun. Well then, thank the Lord for Sauerkraut. "So how do you make...Sauerkraut?"

"Knoll can show you, and if he can't, I'll show you." He carelessly grabbed a chest, flipped it over, slipping its contents of fancy silks all over his dusty floor, and set the chest back down. "There you go. Use this." You reached down to awkwardly pick up the spilled clothing while there was even more in your arms. "Oh no, I'll clean this up myself, no need."

Surprised, you nodded slowly, standing back up, and set the armload of scrap clothes in the chest.

"And to the kitchen," he said, held the door open for you as you passed, and walk by your side down below deck to the not-very-kitchen-like-kitchen-but-still-a-room-dedicated-to-preparing-food.

And the Captain himself, grinning his beaming smile, moving your hands for you in some situations, kindly and ever-so-patiently taught you how to make Sauerkraut.

And that crooked smile was almost contagious.

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~ ~ ~

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As the sun set, a chilly breeze blew by.

"You know, if you want to wait to see the stars with me, I'll show you how to use the sextant."

Uhh... "W-W-What?"

"A sextant. You use it to map the stars. What's that look for?"

"Nothing," you said quickly, and the two of you looked back at the sea.

There was a pause.

"It's a bit chilly out. Are you sure you don't want to sleep in the bunkers?" the Captain asked, leaning on the railing, turned out and looking across the vast waters.

"I'm sure." You said, a few feet away from him on the deck, leaning against the railing too. You'd tried sleeping in the kitchen before. Or some of the other rooms. But all they did was block the wind. The bunkers were only warm because of the amounting smelly pirate body heat. The only room on the ship with significant cold-stopping insulation was the Captain's cabin. The Mapping room's door (you weren't allowed in there anyways, though) still had major gaps in it and holes along the door and some of the walls.

He turned around and leaned backwards against the railing to look at you. "Well, you'll want to be out of the wind, at least. But it'll still be really cold. I don't know how you'd take to the offer, but we might have a prisoner's level in the Bilge rat if you want to try your luck there."

"What's the Bilge rat?"

"The bottom level of the ship."

"And you want me to sleep in the prison?"

"No, I would never make you sleep in a prison, my dear. I mean if...only if you want to...I did promise my crew I'd never ever take slaves or prisoners. So the ship still has that empty bottom level."

"But what if it floods?"

"Well, with the wind, you never know if there's a possibility of a storm, and storms usually flood the bottom level, so you'd...possibly drown."

"So no thanks to the Prisoner's level. And you think suggesting that was a good idea?"

"Right...of course...but if you want, you can..." he took a second to gather his confidence, "...sleep on my floor? I can't think of anywhere else." Oh, so that's why you awkwardly started off with a suggestion of the bilge rat. You want me to sleep in your cabin.

A suspicious smile grew on your face, and you turned from the horizon to look at him. "Captain, do you actually care if I freeze to death tonight?"

He raised his eyebrows and paused before answering. "Anika, I paid a lot of gold for you," he said. "Of course I do."

Yep, and that's why. Cause he bought me as a slave. Moment broken. "But if I actually...say I actually did sleep on your floor, this would be completely separate, right?"

"Of course."

"Well...what would the crew think?"

"That you don't want to sleep in the bunkers and yet need somewhere warm to sleep for the night, and that I'd never accept a cabin slave so I'd never touch you either."

"Oh." The thought of sleeping somewhere warm that didn't smell like the bunkers was tempting, welcoming. "Well, alright. Completely separate."

"We've already established that."

"Good."

"You do know that I'd never make you let me touch you, right?" he asked you carefully.

"I..." You hadn't actually known that. Both times he'd ordered you to his cabin you were afraid he'd...yeah.

He looked reproachful, concerned, that you hadn't realized that already. "Anika...you know I would never hurt you, in any way, shape, or form, right?"

"Well...I do now?"

He sighed. "I didn't buy you for bragging rights that I had the Princess of Etholira scrub my deck. I bought you-"

"for favors, right?" you said. "Your crew says you deal in favors. So you bought me so I'd owe you a favor."

He paused. "Favors. Right." He gave you a short strained smile and pushed away from the railing, walking off to his cabin.

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~ ~ ~

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You knocked on his door a few thoughtful minutes later, which was returned by a sleepy, "What do you want?!" from the Captain.

"Umm, hello?" you said cautiously. Was he mad? "It's me."

"Oh, it's you Anika. Come in." Nope, just sleepy. And maybe a bit...tired-grumpy.

When you walked in, he was already mostly asleep, in only his pants, on his cot under a blanket.

He looked at you like a grumpy teenager who just got woken early on a Saturday, not the carefully-contained Captain from day two. "You didn't have to knock." He pulled the blanket up to hide his torso, as if he was scared I'd get a glimpse of him I wouldn't like.

"Sorry, sir." Well of course I'm going to knock, this is your cabin.

He sighed. You looked at him strangely. "What?" he asked nervously. "Why are you looking at me like that?

"Sorry Captain. I've...only ever seen you in your captain's robes."

"Yeah," he said sleepily, smearing his face with his hand. "There's a few blankets in the corner." He yawned. "G'night, or as my crew says, may fair dreams attend you, beauty."

You awkwardly lay down in your clothes on his floor with one blanket under you, one over you, and using one as a pillow.

You felt a bit self-conscious being in the same room with him, alone, at night, but he clearly didn't, and went straight to sleep. He was snoring within minutes.

Well then. So that was his personal life. Yep, the Captain was a real person with a real life.

But you kind of wished you had much of a life right then too.