Chapter 21

You heard a door slam and were jolted awake.

But the Captain's right here, who is...

"Captain!" Knoll yelled.

The Captain jumped like a cat who'd received an electric shock. "Knoll!" he exclaimed, stunned. "T-The Captain's Quarters is off-limits to crew!" He scrambled to his feet and dove for his Captain's Cloak.

"You mean, off-limits without exclusive permission?" Knoll corrected.

The Captain sneered. "There is punishment for entering my quarters. It is considered an attempt of robbery. I'll meet you on deck in a few minutes for your lashes."

"And there is a greater punishment for sleeping with a crewmate," Knoll corrected.

"I have...never had a rule of those sorts."

"It has never been an issue. But your policy is to never share close sleeping quarters in the first place, and when she got on board, you said she was not to be touched."

"And she hasn't been."

"It doesn't look like it," Knoll said. "And if she's become a cabin slave, that means we all get to share her." Behind him, crewmates began to gather. "Would you like to explain to us?"

"No, and no one will touch Anika. Have you fully repaired and cleaned up the ship yet?"

"No."

"Then it looks like you have work to do," the Captain said. "Now go get it done."

"You know, we'd appreciate Anika's help. Because, I mean, she was too busy with you yesterday to help, so if she's not too busy with you now, maybe-"

"Go get the work done. Now."

"And why should we listen to you?"

"Because I had the whole situation under control. I knew he wouldn't kill you all, he was bluffing. He'd have wanted to save you as his own recruits."

"But you weren't bluffing, were you?"

"Go get the ship repaired."

The crew exchanged glances.

"Well, it has to get done sometime," Knoll said. "Alright, crew, let's go repair this ship."

And they obeyed him.

After they left, leaving the door wide open, there was a pause as the Captain went and closed it again.

"Sorry..." You said, not sure what to say.

"No no, it's not your fault." The Captain insisted. He was still glaring at the door, but you could tell he blamed himself.

"So I'll...head on out and help them with the ship." You stood up and slowly wandered to the door.

He nodded vaguely. "I'll join you all in a bit."

With one more longing backward glance, you headed out the door and followed the crew to wherever the ship needed reparations.

And though you caught each other looking, you never spoke a word to each other, not even when you went to bed.

The biggest connection you two made was when that night, you in the cot, and he on the floor, held hands until you were asleep.

.

~ ~ ~

.

The next two days were hard.

You, thanks to your many valid attempts to bend the bond, got back to equal terms with the crew.

The Captain, on the other hand, didn't.

He was trying too, but none of the crew accepted his subtle pleas.

The tension was tearing into you, because you were the crew's only connection to the Captain. You were the empty space in between the two glaring eyes that bore the brunt of the attack. You were used like the crew's virtual shield in confrontations, and you were the messenger of the Captain's orders, to which the crew would say that the Captain should say it himself, and then when he would, they'd begrudgingly obey or ignore him altogether.

You never did get another chance to say 'I love you' at the right place or time, so in the end, you didn't say it at all.

But with battle on edge, and your only hope in an injured boy whose crew no longer give respect to him, sometimes you just wanted to jump into the water and steal the liferaft, float to some random island, and try to live there instead, maybe with the Captain there too.

But you knew that wasn't really an option.

And it was you whose nightmares woke you up at midnight this time.