Title: Zephyr’s Breath
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: PG-13 for now
Characters/Pairing: Finn/Kurt, minor Blaine/Sam
Chapter: 7/?
Word Count: 3023
Spoilers: Let’s say everything to be safe :)
Summary/Warnings: 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 Seven
Finn wondered how he got himself into these situations.
It had been about six months since he had come to Port Royal and since then he’d worked odd jobs that William had found him; currently he was acting as a sort of guard on a merchant vessel that had to stop in some rather unsavoury places, and while he wasn’t much of a fighter, the fact that he was taller than most seemed to keep a lot of adversaries away regardless.
He was supposed to watch the ship while the men he was sailing with went into town to complete the trade of goods, but they were gone nearly all night (and Finn knew they weren’t trading. He wasn’t an idiot) so, at some point, he’d fallen asleep.
And he was a heavy sleeper.
He’d woken up in the morning laying on the hard wood of the dock with the ship nowhere in sight and a hoard of angry traders around him. They’d found a ship somewhere and buggered off, leaving him stranded.
In Tortuga, of all places.
And he knew that Will would send somebody out to find him once he did not return to Port Royal, but that could take weeks and he had no money and only the clothes on his back.
Which was utterly unfair, seeing as how they were the ones sleeping with whores and he was the one getting the blame.
And so, for the last couple of days he had wandered around, starving and exhausted from trying to fend off the advances of a whole lot of women and a few of the more courageous men, and currently he was slumped in the mud in an alley, hoping some kind soul would take pity on him (until he remembered that this was Tortuga, and there weren’t any kind souls in Tortuga).
He settled back against the damp wall, trying not to think about what he was lying in, and tried to get some sleep.
000
“It’s been six months.”
“I’m aware,” Kurt said sharply, rounding the corner and avoiding a pile of refuse on the street. “I don’t see what this has to do with anything.”
“Because you’re still pining for him. You’re more distracted now than you were when he was on the ship and you’re going to get yourself killed one day,” Blaine said seriously. “I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t be. I can handle myself,” Kurt tried to soften his tone because he knew that ever since Finn had gone he’d become surlier and his temper was much shorter. One man should not have affected him this much.
“With most men I’d tell them to find a whore to work out their problems but I know there’s only one man you want to bed,” Blaine rubbed his temples before slinging an arm around Kurt’s shoulders; it was safe to do that here because most of the pirates were drunk regardless and hanging off of other people was not uncommon.
“True,” Kurt steered them toward an alleyway, not sure why he was somehow guided to go down there but following that path regardless. “I know I just need to find somebody else to make me forget about him but…” he stopped as his boot collided with something that most certainly was not a rock and looked down, seeing a man lying against the wall in the dim light. Something about him seemed painfully familiar, and not just because Kurt was currently thinking about Finn.
“Jus’ tryin’a sleep,” the man mumbled, not opening his eyes, and Kurt crouched down, ignoring Blaine’s questions about what he was doing.
“Finn?” he asked softly, hardly daring to believe it, and the man’s eyes slipped open as he focussed on Kurt.
“Hello, Kurt,” he smiled tiredly and Kurt knew he’d never seen a more beautiful sight, even covered in dirt and God-knew-what as Finn was at the moment.
“Do I need to save you again?”
“Looks that way. Blaine,” Finn nodded to the dark-haired man, who leaned down and barked a short laugh.
“Speak of the devil and lo, he appears,” Blaine reached to lay a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “What brings an honest man like yourself to Tortuga?”
“An honest man’s work gone horribly wrong,” Finn admitted. “And now I am stuck with nothing but what you see.”
“Which, truth be told, is less than nothing,” Kurt wrinkled his nose. “Well, come along. For as unsavoury as Tortuga is their innkeeper only lets well-paying pirates stay there and I’ve managed to rent a couple of rooms from him. We shall see if he can supply us with a basin, some water for you to clean yourself with and perhaps a bit of supper. You look starved.”
“I haven’t eaten in two days,” Finn admitted with a rueful laugh. “Food would certainly not go amiss.”
“I thought not,” Kurt reached a hand out to help him up and together he and Blaine managed to get the taller man down the alley and across the way to the inn, Kurt ignoring the innkeeper’s protests at how Finn currently looked.
He got Finn into the room and went to find the bathing supplies and food, wondering why Fate had seen it fit to cross their paths again.
This time it would be much harder to let go of Finn, and he only hoped that, somehow, he didn’t have to.
000
The water felt heavenly, especially as it sluiced the dirt and grime from his body and Finn could see it turning brown with the refuse. As much as he hated to have need of Kurt to save him again, he had to admit that he could not have been happier to see the pirate captain.
He finished washing and dressed himself in a pair of clothes Kurt had found somewhere, thankful for something clean after living in the mud for the past couple of days, and he had just finished buttoning up his shirt when the door opened and Kurt came in with a serving tray.
“Stew and bread. Fairly fresh and the best the inn could do on short notice,” he announced, setting it down on the small writing desk in the room as Finn all but jumped on it, ravenously hungry. “Slow down, Finn,” Kurt hung back near the door, wondering if he should go back to the ship for the night.
He really wanted to spend a night on land as they’d just had a rather long journey on the ship trying to track the Raven; the attacks were getting more numerous and Kurt was fearing for the safety of any vessel entering these waters.
And he had promised himself first of all that he was never going to fall in love and then, when that was rather effectively shattered by Finn, that he wouldn’t obsess over the other man any longer.
Which, when they were about to be sharing a bed once more, was not an easy thing to do.
Finn finished up the meal in an astonishingly short amount of time before sighing and slouching over to the bed, looking like he’d be grateful to get a decent night’s rest, and that about decided it for Kurt.
He couldn’t stay here.
“Sleep well, Finn. I’ll be…”
“Wait, you’re leaving?” Finn sat up, looking a little panicked. “I thought…”
“I told you before, it’s easier this way. We’ll give you a ride to Port Royal again but that must be it.”
“But…”
“No. I told you to find somebody that made you happy,” Kurt reminded him, trying to keep his voice calm. “Have you not done that yet?”
“I have,” Finn cleared his throat. “She…Will introduced us. Nobody you would know; just a girl with modestly rich parents who is perfect in every way and will make a perfect wife, but she isn’t what I want, Kurt…”
“You’ve had a taste for adventure and now a normal life is too mundane for you, is that it?” Kurt sighed, because inwardly he’d been worried about this. Finn was not a normal man by any meaning of the word, but at the same time he did not have what it took to be a successful pirate.
He’d be a liability on the ship and Kurt couldn’t afford that. “Kurt, I could…”
“No. Never,” Kurt looked at the other man fondly. “You act like you know what you want but you don’t, Finn. You’re not like me, I know that. You could never be with a man because it goes against everything you’ve been taught, no matter what your heart is telling you, and being near you tonight is something I cannot do if I expect to retain my sanity. Goodnight,” Kurt headed out of the room but Finn somehow managed to leap across the space in a single jump and catch his wrist, not letting him leave. “Finn. We shall never be anything. I’m leaving.”
“Okay,” Finn let go of his wrist and Kurt walked out, closing the door behind him and leaning his head back against the wood.
“Kurt,” Blaine came out of the other room and sighed as he looked at the man, eyes travelling over Kurt’s shoulder and a smile gracing his mouth. Kurt could hear something behind him and he turned, seeing Sam come up the stairs. He’d healed up nicely since visiting Dr. Lopez and while Kurt could still see him falter at times it wasn’t a weakness that he showed very often.
But there was something in the way Blaine’s eyes lit up every time he saw the blonde that Kurt knew was in his own eyes when he looked at Finn, and while Sam’s injury had maybe made Blaine a little more aware that none of them were immortal, Blaine didn’t look over his shoulder every moment because he trusted Sam to take care of himself.
That was the difference.
Finn couldn’t take care of himself in an actual battle.
“Is there a problem?” Sam asked, brushing Kurt’s arm in a friendly gesture on the way by before sliding his arm possessively around Blaine’s waist and pulling him close.
“You’ll never guess who we met in an alley,” Blaine kept his eyes trained on Kurt even as he leant his body against Sam’s, and it was just another reminder of what Kurt would never have.
“Well, it’s hardly fair of you to leave me in suspense,” Sam laughed. “So go on, tell me.”
“Finn,” Blaine said, rather slyly, and Sam’s eyes widened.
“Finn? Honestly? Kurt, why are you not in that room right now?” he asked, looking expectant.
“I can’t, Sam. I need to get away from him and…”
“No, you don’t. You need to open yourself up to love and go get him,” Sam pressed.
“You know as well as I do that he’s too set in his ways to…try anything with me. He’ll hold me all night but that’s as far as it goes,” Kurt snorted and prepared to make his way back to the ship before Sam’s voice stopped him again.
“It’s a start. He was reluctant to even touch you at first, so is this not progress?”
“It is, but it isn’t enough.”
“Do you enjoy it when he holds you?” Blaine asked, his tone serious, and Kurt has never been able to lie to Blaine so he’s not about to start now.
“Of course I do. How could I not?” he asked, wrapping his arms around himself and sighing.
“Then get in there and enjoy it before we force you in there,” Sam’s eyes narrowed.
“Mutiny.”
“We’re helping you,” Blaine gestured toward the door and Kurt knew he wasn’t going to win this one (truth be told he wasn’t protesting very much because he wanted nothing more than to go in there) so he put his hand on the knob and turned it, looking back before he entered the room proper.
“I’d best not hear anything from you two tonight,” he warned as they both smiled at him.
“We’ll be quiet,” Sam promised.
“I’ll take your word for it,” Kurt returned their smiles before pushing back into the room, seeing Finn curled up in a ball, his body language absolutely miserable. Kurt undressed and slid in behind him, not surprised to find that Finn was already asleep; he was obviously exhausted to begin with.
The other man stirred a little as the bed moved, half-turning. “Kurt…what…”
“Blaine and Sam convinced me that I was being idiotic,” Kurt replied softly. “Go back to sleep, Finn.”
“You’re staying?”
“I’ll stay,” Kurt nodded, yelping when Finn abruptly turned around and embraced him tightly. “Finn…Finnegan, you must allow me to breathe…”
“Sorry,” Finn loosened his hold slightly but didn’t move away and Kurt couldn’t find fault with that. He wrapped his own arms around Finn and breathed in, smelling clean skin and clean clothing and the smell that was just Finn that he’d stored in his memory for the last six months.
“What about your lady friend in Port Royal?” Kurt asked after a few moments, really not wanting to speak of it but not going to be the one to come between Finn and his own happiness.
“It doesn’t feel the same to hold her,” Finn said simply. “Not like it does with you.”
“We’ll drop you back off there and then…”
“Let’s not discuss this now,” Finn cut him off as Kurt glared into the darkness. He really needed to learn the proper way to respect a pirate captain. He said as much and Finn laughed into his hair, the vibrations shooting through his body. “You’re not my captain, Kurt. You’re merely…”
“What? What am I?” Kurt asked, holding his breath.
“I cannot put words to it. You know that words aren’t my strong point, Kurt,” he laughed again and Kurt found himself smiling regardless of how he was feeling. “You’re you, as incredibly unhelpful as that sounds.”
“It is incredibly unhelpful,” Kurt agreed with a long-suffering sigh. “But I’ve come to expect that from you.”
“So you will…”
“You’re still getting off of my ship in Port Royal,” Kurt responded with a sniff. “Nothing you can say is going to change my mind about that.”
“We’ll see,” Finn replied and Kurt knew he’d just gotten himself into real trouble.
Right, then.
Avoiding Finn as much as possible until they landed in Port Royal would be the only option, and as hard as it would be, he’d have to do it.
Finn yawned and mumbled half-formed words into his hair, obviously near slumber, and Kurt pushed his nose into Finn’s shoulder and breathed deeply.
He’d figure his problems out tomorrow.
000
“I hate to say it, but you’re not usually one to sleep in, Captain.”
Kurt blinked his eyes open, hissing when a beam of sunlight hit him square in the face, and squinted so he could see who was addressing him. “Blaine. Is it late?”
“Later than usual for you,” Sam put in from the other side of the bed. “But we had no desire to wake you.”
“It’s not often I see you this relaxed, Kurt,” Blaine said quietly, Kurt realizing that he’d turned over in is sleep and, based on Finn’s even breaths on the back of his neck, the other man had not woken up yet. “I think he’s good for you.”
“You were the one telling me to keep my distance because he was distracting me,” Kurt grumbled, hand seeking out Finn’s where it was resting against his stomach and lightly touching the back of it. “Or do you not recall that conversation?”
“Of course I do,” Blaine knelt down beside the bed. “But it seems I was mistaken. I thought about…how I would react if you told me to stay away from Sam and realized that, even if your love is unreturned, it is no less significant in your heart.”
“Thank you for saying that, but we are still leaving him in Port Royal and sailing away,” Kurt vowed, daring either of them to contradict him again.
They both stayed silent and he closed his eyes, savouring Finn’s closeness for a few more moments until Sam spoke up, “If I may, though: you and Finn make a very handsome couple.”
“Well, I thank you, but that’s not of any consequence,” Kurt turned around and gently stroked Finn’s cheek with his fingertips, knowing he was being too bold but feeling he needed to. “Finn. Finn, you must wake up; we need to make sail.”
“Is’t morning?” Finn mumbled, opening his eyes and, if Kurt wasn’t merely imagining it, leaning into the soft touch Kurt was giving.
“Midmorning, actually,” Blaine corrected and Finn glanced over at him. “I grew anxious because Kurt is generally a rather early riser.”
“I suppose I just needed the rest,” Finn’s hand had moved to the small of Kurt’s back, holding him almost protectively, and Kurt did not fail to notice that. “But if we must be off, I suppose it is time. Why don’t I head down to the main room and see if the innkeeper has any food to offer us to break our fast with?”
“If you’d like. I’m sure we’d all appreciate it,” Kurt finally moved his hand away and got out of the bed, striding to the window to look out at the sunny streets of Tortuga. He heard Finn leave the room before he turned back, seeing Blaine and Sam looking at him expectantly.
“I know it’s your decision, Kurt, but if it were up to me…I think I was wrong. I think you need to keep him aboard,” Blaine’s eyes were serious and Kurt agreed with him completely; of course he did, but he could never admit that.
“I thank you for your opinion, but you are correct: it is my decision,” he had the sudden pressing need to leave the room so he went to go meet Finn downstairs, his heart skipping a beat when the other man looked up from the bar and smiled at him.
This would all be for the best, he reminded himself.
It was all for the best.
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1. Yes, I realize there’s a perspective change in the one section and normally I try to keep the same person’s point-of-view between line breaks but it had to happen for that part to make sense. :)
2. The weather is crap here and it’s supposed to be a holiday, so…boo. I’ve been on the computer all day so I figured I’d finish up this chapter and post it!!
3. Um, that’s about it! Hope you all enjoyed :D