Prompt-Fic Fill For rairox64!
Title: Zephyr’s Breath
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: PG-13 for now
Characters/Pairing: Finn/Kurt, minor Blaine/Sam
Chapter: 1/?
Word Count: 3086
Spoilers: Let’s say everything to be safe :)
Summary/Warnings: Done for a prompt meme on LJ: rairox64 wanted a Finn/Kurt pirate!AU with a side of Blaine/Sam, and between my love for pirates and the Doctor Who episode last night I was inspired. Thus this was born.
Kurt Hummel is the captain of a feared pirate ship, the Zephyr's Breath, but everything changes when he finds a young man who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck.
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own these characters, no matter how sad that makes me. I do, however, promise to return them when I’m done with them. :)
Zephyr’s Breath
Chapter One
“Captain!”
“What?” Captain Kurt Hummel of the Zephyr’s Breath looked up at the cry, wondering what could be of so much interest in the middle of the ocean. They were still at least half a day behind the ship they were currently tailing so there was no way that could be the issue, but his first mate wasn’t one to call him on a whim so he decided it might be best to go take a look. He grabbed the rope and swung down from the rigging, booted feet landing on the deck with a soft ‘clump’ as he crossed to the railing. “Anderson! What’s the matter?”
“There’s a man in the water, Captain,” Blaine Anderson told him, gazing over the rail, and Kurt went to join him. “Looks like a shipwreck to me.”
Kurt hopped up on the siderail of his ship, grabbing a rope and leaning forward as far as he can. He knew that the crew worried for his safety, sometimes, but he’s yet to meet a man as sure on his feet as he himself is.
What he saw made him cringe, because he may be a feared pirate, but if it was possible he always tried to leave people alive. Killing didn’t bring him any pleasure when it was unnecessary, and this scrap of ship looked like it had been attacked, pillaged, and then set on fire.
The man Blaine had pointed out to him was floating on a small piece of wood, half in the water, and Kurt registered briefly that he was young and that he was undeniably handsome before he gave the order to pull him in.
“Kurt,” Blaine spoke to him softly, gripping his shoulder. “Are you certain?”
“More than,” Kurt assured him. Kurt and his crew had a very unconventional relationship in that he treated them less as a crew of underlings and more as a crew of equals. He also was not afraid to keep women on board, which many pirates considered bad luck, but if they mentioned a thing all he needed to do was show them Santana Lopez and they’d be a blubbering pile of goo on the deck. “We can’t leave an innocent man to die, Blaine.”
“I know,” Blaine looked relieved, casting a glance back over his shoulder at Sam Evans, another man they’d picked up during a rather random situation. Sam had begged to join the crew; his family was horribly poor and he had to provide for his younger brother and sister, and Kurt had taken pity on him and allowed him on board.
Blaine had taken to him instantly and, suffice to say, the two of them were much more than friends now (and that was another reason Kurt’s ship differed from some of the others: he was of the same persuasion as Sam and Blaine so he really didn’t care who slept with who on his ship so long as the work got done and they got enough treasure to live).
Kurt watched as his crew hauled the unconscious man up onto the deck, which was rather difficult because, as Kurt noted, he was taller than anybody on board. “Bring him to my cabin,” he ordered, stalking across the deck, and he heard Noah Puckerman grumbling about ‘doing the prissy boy’s dirty work’ before a shuffling sound that indicated Puck and probably Mike Chang were helping to bring the man across the ship.
He knew that Puck was never serious when he complained but it’s a part of who he was so he tolerated it. He pushed open the door to his cabin, entering the dark room and padding over to the bed.
“Something the matter, Kurt?” Artie Abrams asked, the man looking up from his place at the desk where he was currently charting the course of the merchant ship they were chasing. Artie had been Kurt’s friend for several years but a horrible accident a few years earlier had cost him the use of his legs, so while he couldn’t walk anymore Kurt was not going to cast him off because of their history. Plus, Artie’s about the best cartographer he could ever ask for.
“Shipwreck. Looks like the Raven’s work,” Kurt replied. The Midnight Raven was the most feared ship in these parts; ruthless pirates who never left a man alive and always destroyed the ships they plundered. Their current captain was a man by the name of Dustin Goolsby and they’d been the Zephyr’s rival for as long as Kurt could remember.
“Kurt, they’re getting to be a real problem,” Artie pointed out. “Maybe we should send…”
“No. Not yet,” Kurt shut the idea down with a wave of his hand. “He used to sail with them, remember? Chances are some of the crew would still know who he is.”
“So he goes in in disguise,” Artie shrugged, making another note on the map. “I mean, he’s a spy. That’s what he does.”
“True, but I think we’ll leave it for a while. They haven’t challenged us directly, and while I hate to see ships needlessly destroyed like this one,” he jerked his head toward the man they’d found as Puck and Mike bought him in, laying him on the bed before leaving the cabin, “we need to pick our time carefully. Jesse can’t be put into danger because we’re impatient.”
“Okay,” Artie finally conceded as Kurt pondered his point for a moment. It would be useful to find out exactly what the Raven was up to but Jesse St. James was far too important to have his life thrown around like it meant nothing. Sure, he used to be one of the enemy, but he’d proven himself to be loyal to Kurt and his crew and Kurt trusted him implicitly.
Kurt was about to say more when the man on the bed groaned, and he turned away from Artie and crossed to him, looking down curiously. The man opened his eyes, blinking until he focussed on Kurt, and at the moment the only thing Kurt’s noticed is what a gorgeous chocolate brown color said eyes were.
“Where…wh…” the man stammered, glancing around fearfully, and Kurt knelt down by the bed and placed a firm hand on the other man’s arm, feeling undeniable muscle mass beneath his fingertips.
“Shh, you’re safe. Your ship was destroyed…”
“Oh, God in Heaven…”
“I am sorry if you had family aboard,” Kurt continued, speaking in a low, soothing voice.
“No, it isn’t…my family’s back home. I had just bought a passage across the ocean…” he still sounded a tad disoriented, blinking furiously.
“I know this must be confusing for you but no harm shall come to you while under my protection. I promise,” Kurt said honestly and the other man gave him a ghost of a smile. “Now, I know you are still reeling from your experience, but can you remember anything about the ship that attacked you?”
“It was…ah…pirates,” the man furrowed his forehead as he thought. “The captain of the vessel I was on warned me of them…a ship named after some sort of bird…”
“The Raven?”
“That does sound familiar,” he admitted. “But it happened so fast I barely saw the attacking ship.”
“The Midnight Raven is notorious for leaving nobody alive when they take ships, so you can count yourself very lucky,” Kurt told the man seriously.
“Yeah, that was its name!” the man exclaimed, looking happier. “He said there were two really powerful pirate ships in these parts; the Raven and the…it was a weird word, something about the wind…”
“Zephyr’s Breath,” Kurt breathed, not liking where this was going.
“Yes. Exactly. And he said that if you got caught you should pray to get caught by the Zephyr because their crew was merciful,” he relayed, still looking a little confused before his eyes widened. “Wait! If that other ship’s still out there are we in danger?”
“No, we’re perfectly safe,” Kurt sighed. “They won’t attack us directly.”
“But…”
“Remember what your captain said, sir: two powerful pirate ships in these waters. The Raven was the one that attacked you. The other is the one you’re on.”
The man again looked rather (adorably) confused before he tried to scramble out of bed with a cry, forcing Kurt to grab his arm and hold him down. “Oh, God, you’re a pirate!”
“Yes, now calm…”
“You’re…you’re…”
“My name is Kurt Hummel. I’m the captain of the Zephyr’s Breath,” Kurt told him, keeping his voice calm. “You’re safe here. We don’t harm innocent people, unlike those brutes on the Raven. I promise nobody will lay a hand on you in violence as long as you’re on this ship.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Artie put in, glancing up from his maps. “I mean, look at me: I can’t even walk. Most captains would have dropped me off at the nearest port and never looked back, but Kurt would never abandon somebody in need.”
“I…” the man slumped back on the bed, shaking his head. “You…”
“Where were you headed? Port Royal?”
“Y-yes,” the man admitted.
“Then we will drop you off there, or as close as we can get. Pirate ships can’t sail into Port Royal without getting attacked by the Royal Navy, after all,” Kurt gave him a wry smile. “Will that suffice?”
“Um…yes. Thank you,” the man still looked less than sure but at least he wasn’t trying to run away anymore.
“However, if I may, can I ask for your name?”
“I…Finnegan Hudson. But most people just call me Finn,” the man looked hesitant to reach out his hand but he did so anyway, and Kurt took it and gave it a firm shake.
“It’s a pleasure to have you on board, Mr. Hudson. Now, are you hungry? I can head to the galley and find something for you to eat,” he offered.
“Aren’t you the captain?” Finn was doing that furrowed brow thing again that was endearingly appealing.
“Yes, and I do a lot of the cooking. Why not help out if you have the talent? My mother passed away from an illness when I was very young so many of our household duties fell to me while my father worked at the docks repairing ships,” Kurt explained, really wanting Finn to understand that he’s just a normal person with no intention to harm him.
“Oh. I am sorry to hear that. My father was in the Royal Navy but he was killed before I’d even gotten the chance to meet him,” Finn sighed. “Pirates,” he added, and Kurt felt a spear of guilt go through him at the words.
Of course.
No wonder Finn was so leery of him.
“Oh. I’m…”
“It’s fine,” Finn shakes his head. “Seeing as how we must be close to the same age, I’m highly doubtful that his death can be blamed on you,” Finn told him, shifting a little.
“Captain!” Santana pushed open the cabin door and looked in, her eyes wide. “I think you’ll want to come see this.”
“Are you okay to walk?” Kurt asked Finn, who nodded and tried vainly to stand up. “Careful! Here,” he slid an arm around Finn’s back and helped him to stand, staggering toward the door as Santana attempted to brace Finn’s other side. Santana may have been slender, but she was tough as nails.
They made it out to the deck and over to the rail, Finn leaning on the side of the ship as Kurt took up his customary spot hanging out over the edge, and what he saw made his blood boil.
“Was that your ship?” he asked between gritted teeth, glancing down at Finn who was hanging over the railing and looking decidedly green.
“Yes. That’s…” he swallowed heavily and retched, dry heaving over the side, and Kurt couldn’t blame him. All around the burned-out wreckage were bodies: men, women, children, and he saw something that he would forever swear was a doll but a part of him knew better. “Who…” Finn looked up at him pitifully, brown eyes wide and pleading. “Who would do something like that?”
“Somebody who is no longer human,” Kurt hopped down off the ship and looked at Santana, who was giving him a curious gaze. “Yes?”
“Don’t you find it a little suspicious, Captain, that the Raven would kill a baby and yet not hunt this man down? How did you escape?” she pressed, and Kurt had to admit that he may have been a little…blinded by how handsome the man was that he didn’t think to ask the same question.
“I…I was sleeping belowdeck when the first cannonballs hit the ship. I tried to get to the surface but on the way up one of them broke through the ship where I was walking and the force knocked me out the hole it had left. I grabbed onto whatever I could and…I guess by the time they were finished I was too far away to find. I saw only a glimpse of the other ship and none of its crew made eye contact with me,” he gulped, eyes plainly frightened, and Kurt wanted desperately to believe him but he couldn’t.
Not quite yet. He held out a hand and Blaine passed him his most prized possession: his swords. Pistols were becoming increasingly common on the seas these days but nobody could best him in a swordfight, especially not with what he used.
He didn’t know much about them but had bought them off of a merchant sailor who told him they come from the Far East, but the point was that barely anyone in these waters had seen them before and that always gave him a distinct advantage. He spun them around slowly, the feel of them between his fingers as familiar as a lover’s caress, and noted that Finn was staring at him in horror.
“You promised…you…”
“I did. But that was if you were innocent. Jesse!”
“Captain?” Jesse swung down from the Crow’s Nest (the man was a notorious show-off, after all) and took his place beside Kurt, tousled hair blowing in the breeze.
“You’re a spy. Tell me if this man’s lying,” Kurt gestured with one of his swords toward Finn, who gulped.
“About being incredibly lucky to have escaped with his life?” Jesse stepped closer, staring into Finn’s eyes. After a minute or so he moved away and shook his head. “He’s telling the truth. It may have been pure dumb luck, but the fact is that this man is one of the few to have ever escaped a full attack from the Raven with his life.”
Finn was nodding emphatically and Kurt took pity on him, lowering his twin swords and passing them back to Blaine. “Alright, then, Mr. Hudson. I trust Jesse to know what he’s about, so as far as I can tell you’re just a very lucky man. A very lucky man in desperate need of some new clothing,” he added with a sniff. “You’re taller than anybody on board this ship but we can probably scrape something together that will be passable. We’re only a couple of days away from Port Royal but since we’re currently closing on a merchant vessel the Raven has yet to demolish you’ll have to wait it out until we finish that. Okay?”
Finn still looked mortified but he nodded, a short, sharp jerk of his head, and Kurt reached to lay a hand on his shoulder.
“If you’re truly innocent you have nothing to fear from us. I’ll go find you something to eat,” Kurt said earnestly before turning smartly on his heel and making his way to the kitchen, glancing over his shoulder to note that Rachel Berry was staring at the newcomer with hooded eyes.
Well. She could try, he supposed, but when Kurt saw something he wanted he was an expert at getting it.
And it had been a long time since he’d had a lover (actually, he’d only had one lover, and that was only because he and Blaine were so close that taking the next step had been inevitable. But then Sam showed up and, well, that was the end of that).
Long story short, if anybody on board was going to be bedding Finnegan Hudson, it was going to be him.
He’d make sure of that.
000
“I’m sorry about the sleeping accommodations but we’re rather full up at the moment,” Kurt told him later, once the sun had set and they were readying themselves for the night ahead.
It wasn’t a lie, either; even with one or sometimes two people on night watch, and with those who shared beds on a regular basis, there wasn’t much room to spare.
Rachel had offered to share, of course, but Finn had taken one look at her leer and decided he’d take his chances in the cabin which led to Kurt giving Rachel a rather self-satisfied smirk.
He loved her, as he loved all of his crew, and he knew that she’d had her heart broken in the past (that’s what she got for falling in love with a spy while he was working for the other side. The fact that he was on their side now didn’t seem to make a difference; there was undeniable tension between Rachel and Jesse but neither of them were willing to bridge that gap), but he wasn’t going to give up his chance with Finn without a fight.
“That’s perfectly alright,” Finn promised. “We were overcrowded on the passenger boat regardless so I’m rather used to it.”
“If you’d rather I can sleep on the floor…”
“No! I mean, you’re the captain, are you not? It wouldn’t do for you to sleep on a dirty floor,” Finn looked sheepish at his outburst even though Kurt suspected he was beginning to see that this ship didn’t run like a traditional one. “I can sleep on the floor if you’d just give me a spare blanket.”
“Nonsense. You’re a guest and probably exhausted from your ordeal. I know my bed is overlarge for a pirate ship but if it makes you uncomfortable…”
“I’m okay,” Finn said shortly, turning toward the wall, and Kurt climbed in and faced the other way, their backs barely touching.
He knew that this didn’t mean anything; it was being done out of necessity only.
But still, he thought as he pressed back a little farther and felt Finn lean minutely into the touch, it was a start.
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Notes:
1. For those of you still waiting for prompt fills from me I promise I AM working on them; this idea just came out of nowhere last night and so I had to get it down.
2. That being said, I have no idea where this fic will go, so I probably won’t work more on it until I’ve finished Caligo just because I need to get that one done!!!
3. Also, I’m no expert on pirates or late 16th-early 17th century pirate history although I’ve read some books, so since most of my knowledge comes from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and One Piece this may not be entirely historically accurate, although I’ve tried to keep it pretty close. Lucky for me sodomy was pretty much the norm on pirate ships so that part isn’t farfetched xP
4. Anyway, I know this is probably really odd, but I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you thought!!
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: PG-13 for now
Characters/Pairing: Finn/Kurt, minor Blaine/Sam
Chapter: 1/?
Word Count: 3086
Spoilers: Let’s say everything to be safe :)
Summary/Warnings: Done for a prompt meme on LJ: rairox64 wanted a Finn/Kurt pirate!AU with a side of Blaine/Sam, and between my love for pirates and the Doctor Who episode last night I was inspired. Thus this was born.
Kurt Hummel is the captain of a feared pirate ship, the Zephyr's Breath, but everything changes when he finds a young man who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck.
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own these characters, no matter how sad that makes me. I do, however, promise to return them when I’m done with them. :)
Zephyr’s Breath
Chapter One
“Captain!”
“What?” Captain Kurt Hummel of the Zephyr’s Breath looked up at the cry, wondering what could be of so much interest in the middle of the ocean. They were still at least half a day behind the ship they were currently tailing so there was no way that could be the issue, but his first mate wasn’t one to call him on a whim so he decided it might be best to go take a look. He grabbed the rope and swung down from the rigging, booted feet landing on the deck with a soft ‘clump’ as he crossed to the railing. “Anderson! What’s the matter?”
“There’s a man in the water, Captain,” Blaine Anderson told him, gazing over the rail, and Kurt went to join him. “Looks like a shipwreck to me.”
Kurt hopped up on the siderail of his ship, grabbing a rope and leaning forward as far as he can. He knew that the crew worried for his safety, sometimes, but he’s yet to meet a man as sure on his feet as he himself is.
What he saw made him cringe, because he may be a feared pirate, but if it was possible he always tried to leave people alive. Killing didn’t bring him any pleasure when it was unnecessary, and this scrap of ship looked like it had been attacked, pillaged, and then set on fire.
The man Blaine had pointed out to him was floating on a small piece of wood, half in the water, and Kurt registered briefly that he was young and that he was undeniably handsome before he gave the order to pull him in.
“Kurt,” Blaine spoke to him softly, gripping his shoulder. “Are you certain?”
“More than,” Kurt assured him. Kurt and his crew had a very unconventional relationship in that he treated them less as a crew of underlings and more as a crew of equals. He also was not afraid to keep women on board, which many pirates considered bad luck, but if they mentioned a thing all he needed to do was show them Santana Lopez and they’d be a blubbering pile of goo on the deck. “We can’t leave an innocent man to die, Blaine.”
“I know,” Blaine looked relieved, casting a glance back over his shoulder at Sam Evans, another man they’d picked up during a rather random situation. Sam had begged to join the crew; his family was horribly poor and he had to provide for his younger brother and sister, and Kurt had taken pity on him and allowed him on board.
Blaine had taken to him instantly and, suffice to say, the two of them were much more than friends now (and that was another reason Kurt’s ship differed from some of the others: he was of the same persuasion as Sam and Blaine so he really didn’t care who slept with who on his ship so long as the work got done and they got enough treasure to live).
Kurt watched as his crew hauled the unconscious man up onto the deck, which was rather difficult because, as Kurt noted, he was taller than anybody on board. “Bring him to my cabin,” he ordered, stalking across the deck, and he heard Noah Puckerman grumbling about ‘doing the prissy boy’s dirty work’ before a shuffling sound that indicated Puck and probably Mike Chang were helping to bring the man across the ship.
He knew that Puck was never serious when he complained but it’s a part of who he was so he tolerated it. He pushed open the door to his cabin, entering the dark room and padding over to the bed.
“Something the matter, Kurt?” Artie Abrams asked, the man looking up from his place at the desk where he was currently charting the course of the merchant ship they were chasing. Artie had been Kurt’s friend for several years but a horrible accident a few years earlier had cost him the use of his legs, so while he couldn’t walk anymore Kurt was not going to cast him off because of their history. Plus, Artie’s about the best cartographer he could ever ask for.
“Shipwreck. Looks like the Raven’s work,” Kurt replied. The Midnight Raven was the most feared ship in these parts; ruthless pirates who never left a man alive and always destroyed the ships they plundered. Their current captain was a man by the name of Dustin Goolsby and they’d been the Zephyr’s rival for as long as Kurt could remember.
“Kurt, they’re getting to be a real problem,” Artie pointed out. “Maybe we should send…”
“No. Not yet,” Kurt shut the idea down with a wave of his hand. “He used to sail with them, remember? Chances are some of the crew would still know who he is.”
“So he goes in in disguise,” Artie shrugged, making another note on the map. “I mean, he’s a spy. That’s what he does.”
“True, but I think we’ll leave it for a while. They haven’t challenged us directly, and while I hate to see ships needlessly destroyed like this one,” he jerked his head toward the man they’d found as Puck and Mike bought him in, laying him on the bed before leaving the cabin, “we need to pick our time carefully. Jesse can’t be put into danger because we’re impatient.”
“Okay,” Artie finally conceded as Kurt pondered his point for a moment. It would be useful to find out exactly what the Raven was up to but Jesse St. James was far too important to have his life thrown around like it meant nothing. Sure, he used to be one of the enemy, but he’d proven himself to be loyal to Kurt and his crew and Kurt trusted him implicitly.
Kurt was about to say more when the man on the bed groaned, and he turned away from Artie and crossed to him, looking down curiously. The man opened his eyes, blinking until he focussed on Kurt, and at the moment the only thing Kurt’s noticed is what a gorgeous chocolate brown color said eyes were.
“Where…wh…” the man stammered, glancing around fearfully, and Kurt knelt down by the bed and placed a firm hand on the other man’s arm, feeling undeniable muscle mass beneath his fingertips.
“Shh, you’re safe. Your ship was destroyed…”
“Oh, God in Heaven…”
“I am sorry if you had family aboard,” Kurt continued, speaking in a low, soothing voice.
“No, it isn’t…my family’s back home. I had just bought a passage across the ocean…” he still sounded a tad disoriented, blinking furiously.
“I know this must be confusing for you but no harm shall come to you while under my protection. I promise,” Kurt said honestly and the other man gave him a ghost of a smile. “Now, I know you are still reeling from your experience, but can you remember anything about the ship that attacked you?”
“It was…ah…pirates,” the man furrowed his forehead as he thought. “The captain of the vessel I was on warned me of them…a ship named after some sort of bird…”
“The Raven?”
“That does sound familiar,” he admitted. “But it happened so fast I barely saw the attacking ship.”
“The Midnight Raven is notorious for leaving nobody alive when they take ships, so you can count yourself very lucky,” Kurt told the man seriously.
“Yeah, that was its name!” the man exclaimed, looking happier. “He said there were two really powerful pirate ships in these parts; the Raven and the…it was a weird word, something about the wind…”
“Zephyr’s Breath,” Kurt breathed, not liking where this was going.
“Yes. Exactly. And he said that if you got caught you should pray to get caught by the Zephyr because their crew was merciful,” he relayed, still looking a little confused before his eyes widened. “Wait! If that other ship’s still out there are we in danger?”
“No, we’re perfectly safe,” Kurt sighed. “They won’t attack us directly.”
“But…”
“Remember what your captain said, sir: two powerful pirate ships in these waters. The Raven was the one that attacked you. The other is the one you’re on.”
The man again looked rather (adorably) confused before he tried to scramble out of bed with a cry, forcing Kurt to grab his arm and hold him down. “Oh, God, you’re a pirate!”
“Yes, now calm…”
“You’re…you’re…”
“My name is Kurt Hummel. I’m the captain of the Zephyr’s Breath,” Kurt told him, keeping his voice calm. “You’re safe here. We don’t harm innocent people, unlike those brutes on the Raven. I promise nobody will lay a hand on you in violence as long as you’re on this ship.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Artie put in, glancing up from his maps. “I mean, look at me: I can’t even walk. Most captains would have dropped me off at the nearest port and never looked back, but Kurt would never abandon somebody in need.”
“I…” the man slumped back on the bed, shaking his head. “You…”
“Where were you headed? Port Royal?”
“Y-yes,” the man admitted.
“Then we will drop you off there, or as close as we can get. Pirate ships can’t sail into Port Royal without getting attacked by the Royal Navy, after all,” Kurt gave him a wry smile. “Will that suffice?”
“Um…yes. Thank you,” the man still looked less than sure but at least he wasn’t trying to run away anymore.
“However, if I may, can I ask for your name?”
“I…Finnegan Hudson. But most people just call me Finn,” the man looked hesitant to reach out his hand but he did so anyway, and Kurt took it and gave it a firm shake.
“It’s a pleasure to have you on board, Mr. Hudson. Now, are you hungry? I can head to the galley and find something for you to eat,” he offered.
“Aren’t you the captain?” Finn was doing that furrowed brow thing again that was endearingly appealing.
“Yes, and I do a lot of the cooking. Why not help out if you have the talent? My mother passed away from an illness when I was very young so many of our household duties fell to me while my father worked at the docks repairing ships,” Kurt explained, really wanting Finn to understand that he’s just a normal person with no intention to harm him.
“Oh. I am sorry to hear that. My father was in the Royal Navy but he was killed before I’d even gotten the chance to meet him,” Finn sighed. “Pirates,” he added, and Kurt felt a spear of guilt go through him at the words.
Of course.
No wonder Finn was so leery of him.
“Oh. I’m…”
“It’s fine,” Finn shakes his head. “Seeing as how we must be close to the same age, I’m highly doubtful that his death can be blamed on you,” Finn told him, shifting a little.
“Captain!” Santana pushed open the cabin door and looked in, her eyes wide. “I think you’ll want to come see this.”
“Are you okay to walk?” Kurt asked Finn, who nodded and tried vainly to stand up. “Careful! Here,” he slid an arm around Finn’s back and helped him to stand, staggering toward the door as Santana attempted to brace Finn’s other side. Santana may have been slender, but she was tough as nails.
They made it out to the deck and over to the rail, Finn leaning on the side of the ship as Kurt took up his customary spot hanging out over the edge, and what he saw made his blood boil.
“Was that your ship?” he asked between gritted teeth, glancing down at Finn who was hanging over the railing and looking decidedly green.
“Yes. That’s…” he swallowed heavily and retched, dry heaving over the side, and Kurt couldn’t blame him. All around the burned-out wreckage were bodies: men, women, children, and he saw something that he would forever swear was a doll but a part of him knew better. “Who…” Finn looked up at him pitifully, brown eyes wide and pleading. “Who would do something like that?”
“Somebody who is no longer human,” Kurt hopped down off the ship and looked at Santana, who was giving him a curious gaze. “Yes?”
“Don’t you find it a little suspicious, Captain, that the Raven would kill a baby and yet not hunt this man down? How did you escape?” she pressed, and Kurt had to admit that he may have been a little…blinded by how handsome the man was that he didn’t think to ask the same question.
“I…I was sleeping belowdeck when the first cannonballs hit the ship. I tried to get to the surface but on the way up one of them broke through the ship where I was walking and the force knocked me out the hole it had left. I grabbed onto whatever I could and…I guess by the time they were finished I was too far away to find. I saw only a glimpse of the other ship and none of its crew made eye contact with me,” he gulped, eyes plainly frightened, and Kurt wanted desperately to believe him but he couldn’t.
Not quite yet. He held out a hand and Blaine passed him his most prized possession: his swords. Pistols were becoming increasingly common on the seas these days but nobody could best him in a swordfight, especially not with what he used.
He didn’t know much about them but had bought them off of a merchant sailor who told him they come from the Far East, but the point was that barely anyone in these waters had seen them before and that always gave him a distinct advantage. He spun them around slowly, the feel of them between his fingers as familiar as a lover’s caress, and noted that Finn was staring at him in horror.
“You promised…you…”
“I did. But that was if you were innocent. Jesse!”
“Captain?” Jesse swung down from the Crow’s Nest (the man was a notorious show-off, after all) and took his place beside Kurt, tousled hair blowing in the breeze.
“You’re a spy. Tell me if this man’s lying,” Kurt gestured with one of his swords toward Finn, who gulped.
“About being incredibly lucky to have escaped with his life?” Jesse stepped closer, staring into Finn’s eyes. After a minute or so he moved away and shook his head. “He’s telling the truth. It may have been pure dumb luck, but the fact is that this man is one of the few to have ever escaped a full attack from the Raven with his life.”
Finn was nodding emphatically and Kurt took pity on him, lowering his twin swords and passing them back to Blaine. “Alright, then, Mr. Hudson. I trust Jesse to know what he’s about, so as far as I can tell you’re just a very lucky man. A very lucky man in desperate need of some new clothing,” he added with a sniff. “You’re taller than anybody on board this ship but we can probably scrape something together that will be passable. We’re only a couple of days away from Port Royal but since we’re currently closing on a merchant vessel the Raven has yet to demolish you’ll have to wait it out until we finish that. Okay?”
Finn still looked mortified but he nodded, a short, sharp jerk of his head, and Kurt reached to lay a hand on his shoulder.
“If you’re truly innocent you have nothing to fear from us. I’ll go find you something to eat,” Kurt said earnestly before turning smartly on his heel and making his way to the kitchen, glancing over his shoulder to note that Rachel Berry was staring at the newcomer with hooded eyes.
Well. She could try, he supposed, but when Kurt saw something he wanted he was an expert at getting it.
And it had been a long time since he’d had a lover (actually, he’d only had one lover, and that was only because he and Blaine were so close that taking the next step had been inevitable. But then Sam showed up and, well, that was the end of that).
Long story short, if anybody on board was going to be bedding Finnegan Hudson, it was going to be him.
He’d make sure of that.
000
“I’m sorry about the sleeping accommodations but we’re rather full up at the moment,” Kurt told him later, once the sun had set and they were readying themselves for the night ahead.
It wasn’t a lie, either; even with one or sometimes two people on night watch, and with those who shared beds on a regular basis, there wasn’t much room to spare.
Rachel had offered to share, of course, but Finn had taken one look at her leer and decided he’d take his chances in the cabin which led to Kurt giving Rachel a rather self-satisfied smirk.
He loved her, as he loved all of his crew, and he knew that she’d had her heart broken in the past (that’s what she got for falling in love with a spy while he was working for the other side. The fact that he was on their side now didn’t seem to make a difference; there was undeniable tension between Rachel and Jesse but neither of them were willing to bridge that gap), but he wasn’t going to give up his chance with Finn without a fight.
“That’s perfectly alright,” Finn promised. “We were overcrowded on the passenger boat regardless so I’m rather used to it.”
“If you’d rather I can sleep on the floor…”
“No! I mean, you’re the captain, are you not? It wouldn’t do for you to sleep on a dirty floor,” Finn looked sheepish at his outburst even though Kurt suspected he was beginning to see that this ship didn’t run like a traditional one. “I can sleep on the floor if you’d just give me a spare blanket.”
“Nonsense. You’re a guest and probably exhausted from your ordeal. I know my bed is overlarge for a pirate ship but if it makes you uncomfortable…”
“I’m okay,” Finn said shortly, turning toward the wall, and Kurt climbed in and faced the other way, their backs barely touching.
He knew that this didn’t mean anything; it was being done out of necessity only.
But still, he thought as he pressed back a little farther and felt Finn lean minutely into the touch, it was a start.
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Notes:
1. For those of you still waiting for prompt fills from me I promise I AM working on them; this idea just came out of nowhere last night and so I had to get it down.
2. That being said, I have no idea where this fic will go, so I probably won’t work more on it until I’ve finished Caligo just because I need to get that one done!!!
3. Also, I’m no expert on pirates or late 16th-early 17th century pirate history although I’ve read some books, so since most of my knowledge comes from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and One Piece this may not be entirely historically accurate, although I’ve tried to keep it pretty close. Lucky for me sodomy was pretty much the norm on pirate ships so that part isn’t farfetched xP
4. Anyway, I know this is probably really odd, but I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you thought!!