"So, uhh... Will you be working as a... you know what?" The eldest Helewys child finally gathered the courage to ask.
Faine tilted his face to the side, pulling his gaze away from a bundle of sleeping stray cats to focus on his travel companion. They were strolling towards the docks, the emptiness of the usually bustling streets leaving a strong sense of serenity. The cloak was especially handy. With the sun nowhere in sight, not quite yet, the atmosphere was capable of freezing someone to death—something he noticed from the way Sae would shiver every five minutes despite the layers of clothing Evelina insisted he wear.
"As a what?" He teased, bumping himself against Sae's side playfully, regretting it almost instantly as he felt the other's firmness hurt his arm.
"You know, as a... You know."
He knew. Of course he knew what Sae was talking about, be he decided not to let the other know, the glimmer of mischief reflecting in his eyes contrasting the deep, melancholic blue of the sky.
"No, I don't know."
"You're making this really hard—"
"You're the only one making this difficult for yourself, Sae." He snickered, blowing a puff of air into Saeger's ear before running a few steps ahead, avoiding any form of revenge the other might've thought of.
He was sure the blood rushing up the other's face wasn't from the cold this time. The red that invaded Sae's face, ears, and neck was his favorite shade, Faine decided, especially when the reasons for such delightful colors was him.
"As a... entertain—uhh, hook–courtesan?"
The man who resembled the sea caught up to his friend, right hand instinctually moving towards his lower back. The touch sent tingles down the courtesan's spine. He trusted the Helewys was oblivious enough to chuck it to the cold.
"No. I don't believe I will be working as a enter-a-hook-tesan."
"Oh." The sound that left Saeger's mouth was unusually tame.
For a while, only their footsteps haunted the streets. The fondness they held for each other made the silence comforting.
"Why are you... why are you.."
Sae made gestures with his hands, up-and-down, circling around, creating shapes, but it only made Faine all the more confused.
"Coming? With the crew? Well, I have something your captain wants—"
"What? I thought you weren't working as a—"
"No. What? Not like that."The courtesan cut him off before their conversation could get even more confusing, and knowing the man, things would inevitably get more confusing. Sae's walking took a pause, expecting an explanation.
"Why? I've never seen you as the type to do.. hard work. I mean, you do work hard, I should know, you put food on our table as much as I do, but you're not exactly the type of gal to get your hands dirty." Sae explained, not noticing how his hand had moved to hold onto Faine's hip almost protectively.
"Ironic." Faine snickered.
"Ughh! I didn't mean that! I'm pretty damn sure you know what I meant."
They continued walking, the sight of the docks drawing nearer as Faine tried to catch up to his long-legged friend's strides. Sae was pouting, and the shorter male tried to cover up his chuckles with a cough, the frosty wind making it more believable.
"I know, I'm just teasing you. And yes, I don't like getting my hands dirty. I'm going to be working as more of a navigator."
"A navigator? Like that watch that only has letters or something?" He asked, and it took Faine a few seconds to realize he wasn't, in any sense, kidding.
"You're so unbelievably stupid! I love you."
Faine took the opportunity to jump the teal-headed male, wrapping his arms around him with the goal to squeeze out all his insides. Sae could only yelp.
"Hey! You can't just say those things out of nowhere...!"
"Why? Is my baby Sae too grown up for "I love you"s now?" He questioned, looking up at Sae through his eyelashes, chin comfortably laying against the other's chest.
"N– no, obviously not. I love you too." He replied, wrapping his arms around the courtesan, heart caught in his throat. Faine almost died from the other's adorableness, but he held on, wanting to hear more of Sae's rapid heartbeat.
"That's my boy." Faine hummed, pleased. They stood there, in each other's embrace, just enjoying the peace of the moment.
It was Sae that initiated the release, gripping Faine's hand in his as they ran through the docks, their sense of urgency rising as rays of sunlight reached the ground.
--
Unsurprisingly, the moment they arrived, the crew was already preparing to take off. Dozens of members, most smelling of booze, were mopping, tugging on rope connected to pillars Faine still didn't quite understand, and shouting over mindless chatter to make demands.
Surprisingly, Crane wasn't one of the people mopping, nor was he tugging on rope. He was the one giving commands, his face of firm assertion making him near unrecognizable from the clown Faine knew. Sae was one of the people Crane was ruthlessly tough on, something the courtesan thought was brought upon by his newness. Faine watched as the two butt heads. Despite Crane's apparent position in the ship, Faine's longtime friend did not hesitate to bear his own fangs against the experienced pirate. Stupid or admirably brave, neither Faine, Crane, nor Rinus could decide.
The giant of a pirate, Faine's favorite pirate actually, held on to the back of Saeger's shirt and lifted the other off of his feet, trying to intimidate the feral boy into submission.
"It wasn't my fault he–!"
It was only when Captain Calixto came into view, coincidentally behind Faine, that Saeger swallowed his pride and listened to his higher-up's arduous demands. The courtesan almost erupted into full-on giggles at his friend's thick-headedness, but it was blocked out by the sympathy he felt when Sae was sent to wash the entire crew's dishes. Sensing the drunken feast they had last night from all the bottles littered around the ship, he knew Sae would be facing hell in the next few hours.
"You know the newbie?" Calixto asked. The courtesan could pick up on the hints that the captain had just woken up, his evidently coarser voice eliciting a blush on Faine's face.
"Mhmm. I've known his family longer than I've known anyone else in the city." He replied, looking away from the masked captain to alleviate his embarrassment.
"You speak as if you weren't born here."
When he turned, his face was still burning from attraction, but his eyes managed to mask anything the other could tease him for.
"Never knew you'd be so curious about me, captain. I'm flattered."
That seemed to make the pirate laugh. The sound was divine, fresh pollen to any common bee.
"Of course. If your promises are anything to go on, I think you're about to help me rather significantly, courtesan."
His grin widened, the flirtatious atmosphere shared between the two of them hard to ignore. As he looked over the end of the ship, just wanting to glimpse at the docks before his bothersome fear of falling off would bite him in the ass, he spotted two very familiar gingers, accompanied by their brunette of a father.
"Uncle Faine! Over here..!" Eli, the rowdy boy, nearly screamed, a few members of the ship turning their heads to look at the commotion so early in the morning.
He was quick to excuse himself. In a matter of seconds, Faine was running up to the twins with excitement, despite seeing them the evening beforehand.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" He asked, crouching down to take Elva and Eli in his arms. His heart warmed as he felt their hair against the bottom of his face, their heads nuzzling against his chest, showing affection as if they wouldn't be seeing each other in a long time. The realization that they indeed wouldn't be seeing each other in a long, long time had Faine's lungs prickling in pain. He held the children back, fighting the tears that insisted on leaving his eyes.
"Saeger left a couple of his things at home. Evelina sent us to bid our goodbyes."
"Of course that dimwit did." He joked, looking at the heavy bag carried by Llyris's left hand.
Half-expecting the twins to agree or even make harsher comments about their brother, Faine gasped when he looked down, watching as the two started sobbing uncontrollably.
"We'll miss you, Uncle Faine." They said. For once, in unison.
"Yeah! Who's gonna buy us sweets while you're gone?"
The comment had Faine huffing in amusement, only then tasting the salty tears that were already streaming down his face.
"I'll be back before you know it, and I'll make sure to bring sweets from all over the world for you two. A lifetime supply. That is, if you don't die early from the amount of candy you eat on a daily."
They were laughing, all three of them were laughing, four if you counted Llyris. Faine didn't bother mentioning the older Helewys sibling as they shared a heartwarming conversation, having already heard the sob fest the siblings had late into midnight as he attempted to sleep in their guest room.
"Okay, I'll hand these over to Sae. You two be good, okay?"