Bastian had a problem once he got up.
He had, depending on the wind, five or six hours left before making port. Normally, this would have been a great thing. However, Bastian did not want to risk anything. He wanted to get rid of all symbols that opened any portals for Gorgo to continue abusing him and his women, and this meant that he had five or six hours left to seduce Sharona, a woman with whom he had barely even spoken at all. He knew that Sharona was a spiritual woman, perhaps a bit ditzy in the same way that some fortune telling maniacs were in the normal world. He knew that she was adventurous enough to get a tattoo and basically forget about the exact circumstances later, but that was about it.
He had no idea how to make her believe that he wanted her. Of course, knowing his womanizing nature, she probably had some kind of an idea about him - but was it enough for her, or did he want some kind of a special treatment?
Bastian decided to spend his corn cob pipe moment strolling on the deck once more and observing the women. Of course, he pretended to be looking after everyone, dividing his focus so that his presence seemed innocent enough, but in reality, he was entirely concerned with Sharona and the way she seemed to shortcut certain things when tying some knots and loosening others.
It seemed like dangerous negligence at first. Then the inner reality revealed itself to Bastian and he saw the woman for what she was.
She had invented a new style of rigging altogether.
Managing six ropes with one singular, well placed knot, she had transformed the rigging from a regular brig style into something that had not even been named yet. Since she had been in charge of certain ropes for a while, she had taught the other ladies how to manage things while she was gone, and she also seemed to be excellent at explaining things. No grave errors had been made - no one got hurt while climbing, because the new system optimized both safety and efficiency. When Bastian observed the process, he also came to understand that this rigging was specifically built for women, who had less upper body strength and were shorter in general. It was the work of a highly practical mastermind.
And to think that Bastian had dismissed her as a spiritual nutcase! No! If she was a wicked witch, then she was also wicked good at what she did.
He now had a reason to pull Sharona away from the crowd and whisper to her that he needed to congratulate her in private.
She seemed to understand that he was not going to demean her or act like a bad boss. She nodded, her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes widening with delight.
He brought her into his cabin.
"Sharona, do you know that what you are doing with the rigging is a new intention?" Bastian asked.
"Huh?" She raised her eyebrows. From her expression, it was impossible to tell whether she was truly surprised or not.
He did not reply, he merely stared at her for a moment.
"You can try to have me, Captain, but I need to feel impressed," she said all of a sudden.
"You…" Bastian chuckled. "Always reading my mind. You are a strange woman. Are you clairvoyant by any chance?"
Then he realized what had made him feel like Sharona was an odd case. He had seen her before.
Yes. She had been checking him out, but Sharona had briefly dated Roy back then and all hell would have broken loose if she had strayed more. It had felt like there had been mutual attraction between her and Seb who was now Bastian, but nothing had happened and therefore he couldn't have remembered her name if he had tried.
"Oh," Bastian said. "You are not from around here."
"No, I am not, Captain," Sharona replied, proving that the speech of this world came naturally to her. "I died from cancer two months after I broke up with Roy."
"Did he treat you badly?"
She rolled her eyes. "It's Roy. What do you expect him to do? He threw a hissy fit and threatened to hit me, since he thought I was faking it for attention. Granted, the cancer progressed quickly, but he had seen my health reports. Bastian, he is delusional and dangerous, we HAVE to end him. Before more people get hurt."
On that, they both agreed.
"I would like nothing more than to kill him," Captain Bastian Black replied and squeezed his mouth shut.
Sharona reached towards him, but he withdrew his hand and looked her in the eyes with a solemn expression on his face.
"We need to get comfortable with each other if we are to beat him," he said.
"I am already comfortable with you," Sharona said.
"No…" He touched the back of her hand and took her fingers between his own. He stroked her palm gently, letting his eyes meet her gaze. "Really, really comfortable. But I won't do anything unless you ask me to."
She blushed, and her expression became a bit uncertain.
"How do I ask for what I want?" she asked. "I have never had a gentleman tell me that he…I didn't…I don't understand why you like me. I feel like I am plain."
"No, no…" He reached towards her face. She had a splendid set of facial features. Delicate. Yet so impressive, so hot. Her big, blue eyes and her pale skin formed a perfect contrast with her hair.
She was beautiful, but not in the same way that Amanda and Lia were, not pretty like a succubus but pretty like an angel instead.
She was so shy about her looks. Bastian remembered her having an overbearing older sister. Somehow he related to her. They had both been very, very sick.
"Say you want me," he growled into her ear.
Obviously flustered out of her mind, she whimpered a weak response to him.
"I want you so badly, Captain Bastian…"