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Title: When the Time Has Come to Fly - Chapter Four: A Haunting Cry
Pairing: Rould/Myde
Written For: samurai_usagi! omg no wai!
Type: everything
Rating: PG-...R? dunno how it'll be in later chapters.
The ship went down easily - without a large crew of navy soldiers, it had no defenses and no one to attack back, so sending it down to Davy Jones' Locker was no challenge.
Zidane frowned. It wasn't over, not at all. If Jack Sparrow was more than just another pirate, then he had to be one of the best damn tricksters on the seas, and he had to have a reason for what he did.
And... well... the captain was no use to anyone at the moment.
Zidane clenched a dagger in his hand, hard. He wasn't sure if he was just jealous, or uncertain about Rould's intentions towards Myde... or maybe he was just worried for his friend in general.
They stood in the middle of the deck, lips locked, oblivious to the world.
Or maybe he should just... save that for later! Zidane threw up his hands. Enemy pirate attack here! Slightly more important than making out with a deckhand!
A sudden sound echoed over the victorious bustle of happy pirates - such an unexpected noise that all action ceased, and even Rould and Myde broke apart -
Click.
"You seem to be doing well for yourself, my dear captain."
Rould smirked, he could just see Jack Sparrow out of the corner of his eye, pointing a gun at his head. "Better than you, I presume."
"Assuredly. Now, I'm here to make a bargain with you."
"Really? Because it seems to me like I'm the one in charge of the bargaining around here." His hands rested on Myde's hips, lightly but possesively.
"Give me back my compass or the boy dies."
The gun barely moved, but Rould knew it was pointed with deadly precision at Myde's head. He sighed. "If you kill him, every single sailor on this vessel will lash out in revenge, which will not be pretty. I can say for a fact that I, for one, will head straight for your genitals."
Jack winced. "Ah. However..." and now a crafty smirk curled over his face. "Massive death by castration does not do any good for both of us... and at the end of it, Myde would still be dead. That's the thing about death. There's absolutely nothing you can do about it afterwards."
Rould scowled. "You drive a hard bargain, Jack."
"I want my damn compass."
He sighed, heavily, and turned to face him. "If I told you that, with absolute certainty, you will get your compass back, would you concede to some honest bargaining?"
"Honest? Never." They grinned at each other. "But I don't mind having a bit of civilized conversation before I reclaim said compass."
"Right, then!" Rould waved his hands about. "Keep the ship on course, lads! Jack and I shall be having a pleasant discussion in my quarters..." he ignored the scattered snickers among the crew. "...And I will personally spank anyone who disturbs us!" More laughter.
Myde watched Rould walk away, his arm slung around Jack's shoulders. He turned and saw Zidane eyeing him with a mixture of apprehension and... concern? He drifted across the deck towards the blond man. "Uhm... they're not actually going to... do anything, are they?"
Zidane frowned. "Look, I hate to break it to you... especially since you relaly seem to like Rould, and all..." He sighed. "Look, Rould does what he wants, with whom he wants, whenever he wants. He's a law unto himself, and, well..." he shrugged helplessly. "I've never seen him pass up an opportunity like this."
"....Oh." Myde looked quietly thoughtful for a second, then nodded. "Right, then. Uh... I'm going to go make some tea. I'll see you around." He smiled as he left, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Zidane sighed. Another broken heart in Rould's name. Seriously, when would it stop?
~~~
"Cinna, do you have any of that - "
Rould stopped. Cinna wasn't in the kitchen. The only one there was Myde, a frighteningly clam expression on his face, hands wrapped around a mug of tea.
He tried to say something, but it was like his throat had stopped working... finally, he sighed and sat down at the table across from him. Time to settle this. "Myde..."
"I honestly didn't expect you to kiss back."
Once again, Rould stopped in his tracks. "What, you mean..."
"But I thought it was worth a chance... I mean, anything's worth a chance, right?"
Somehow, those words hurt more than jealousy would have. "Myde. You don't... I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," he finally said, looking away.
"...But I really didn't expect you to kiss me back," he said, and his voice was barely audible.
Rould suddenly reached out and wrapped his hands around Myde's, holding them gently. "What is it you want from me?" he asked quietly. "You're so different from anyone I've ever met."
"Because you've never met an honest person?" Myde said, a small smile quirking on his lips.
Rould chuckled... "Even honest men don't make me fall in love with them."
Myde's eyebrows shot up, and a light blush danced over his cheeks. "Rould..." He sighed a little. "...I want to be able to love you..."
There was a slightly frigid pause.
"...But... I'd have to be the only one." Myde's vivid eyes, blue-green like the ocean, met Rould's with a steady gaze.
"You're the only one I love."
"That's not what I meant."
He swallowed, then chuckled darkly. "You drive a hard bargain for a pirate," he finally said, rather shakily.
"That's my price. Take it or leave it," Myde responded, his voice barely above a whisper.
The silence between them now was colder than a glacier. Rould couldn't meet his eyes, though he tried, several times... finally he lifted his hands off Myde's, one finger at a time. "You can't change who I am," he muttered.
Myde was very still, breathing in the soft scent of tea and Rould. "Can you blame me for trying?"
"No," Rould replied, smiling sadly. "I guess I can't." He stood up, and headed for the door.
There were no more words between them, but something splintered softly, and they both felt like crying.
~~~
"What happened, mate? You look like your favorite dog just died." Jack waved a hand vaguely.
Rould chuckled, and the sound was hollow and distant to his ears. "He might as well have." He grabbed the chair that sat across the small table from Jack and yanked it over, so they were sitting closer together. "And I don't know what Cinna did with the rum, but..."
Jack sighed. "Why is the rum gone...?"
"Well, I have some brandy, and some... hm, I have no idea what this is, but it smells potent. Here, have a glass." He poured for both of them, then added a hefty helping of brandy to the mix. "Should get us good and drunk, eh?"
"Indubitably." Jack lifted the cup and drank carefully - and he noticed instantly that something was amiss. Rould was usually on his guard whenever bargaining was concerned, and something about the way he downed the fiery drink with abandon... well, it was slightly worrying. But not necessarily a bad thing.
Twenty minutes later, Jack was utterly convinced that it was a bad thing, a very bad thing indeed. What was worse was that he was very nearly as drunk as Rould was, and his immorality was positively astounding. Well, not to say that he'd ever had much morality, but at the very least he'd tried to keep his ass away from Rould.
In the nature of ass, this was going in a very bad direction indeed.
Rould dragged a hand down Jack's chest. They'd been shirtless for a while now, and FUCK but wasn't Jack pretty, and sexy, and he was drunk as hell so he wouldn't even remember any of this in the morning, and wasn't Jack so much better than Myde anyway?
Oh... belts were stupid. Who invented belts? They should be taken off... as quickly as possible... Rould's hands wandered and he ignored the vaguely strangled cries, they were halfway between indignant and attracted, anyway. Attracted... well, pants were just plain overrated! Why didn't everyone just go around naked all the time?! It would make life so much simpler!
In the back of his mind, he realized he was being a jackass. An hour ago, he was totally okay with his plan to seduce Jack Sparrow and toss him over the edge of the ship when he was inconvenienced. It was business as usual. He felt nothing for Jack but an enemy's appreciation and a light attraction that he enjoyed capitalizing on. It wasn't like Myde had anything to be jealous of.
But now...? Of course everything was different now, of course Myde had to make everything different, screw it up, and he had to get drunk now, and he had to have sex with Jack. But the reasons were different now, and he just wanted to memorize the feeling of someone sliding over his skin, or maybe just forget. And he didn't want to feel.
If he remembered this, he'd hate himself, so he drank until he forgot.
~~~
The week was nothing more than the purest form of torture.
On the outside, it was like Rould was back to his old self - teasing all the deckhands, occasionally fooling around with Marcus or Blank, cheerful and charismatic. Jack had made off with the compass, but Rould seemed to know where they were going - and Zidane didn't question it, so no one did.
But there were times when Zidane would look over and catch Rould staring off into the distance, eyes blank and unseeing... and when he called his name, or shook him, he said he'd been thinking of nothing at all.
Myde was also mostly himself, but he wanted to be alone more often - and he especially shied away from Blank, and Marcus. Even Zidane didn't know how to breach the sudden social wall that had gone up around him suddenly, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the captain's silences.
But as a whole, things were well on the Alexandros. Rould knew where they were headed, and the ocean kept everyone busy enough, when they weren't gambling each other's pants off.
Myde didn't like to gamble. When the sailors started playing, he'd slip outside to the bow and take out his sitar...
But it couldn't play. It was like the notes had been locked up inside him, and he didn't have the key to release them...
"A shooting star," a rough, familiar voice remarked.
Myde didn't turn around. "I call them falling stars."
"Same thing." The silence stretched out again, over the ocean. "They say if you wish on a star and it falls, your wish will be granted."
"I've always believed you have to make your own wishes come true." Myde ran his hands down Nocturne's neck, rubbing at the uneven paint.
"Not superstitious at all, are you?" His voice was indecipherable.
"Only sometimes," he murmured. "But I wouldn't place a wish on something that falls out of the sky... I'd wish on the brightest star, the one that'll keep burning forever."
There was a pause again.
"What about that star?" Rould pointed over Myde's shoulder, and they both looked up.
Myde blinked, and softly strummed a plaintive chord that barely reached his ears. "You first."
"I made my wish already." Rould let his hand fall. "You make yours."
Myde swallowed, and curled his hands around Nocturne, ready to pick her up and dash away.
"...I wish you'd change your mind."
{ + }
A/N: And that, my friends, is chapter four. FINALLY. Sorry it isn't longer.
Pairing: Rould/Myde
Written For: samurai_usagi! omg no wai!
Type: everything
Rating: PG-...R? dunno how it'll be in later chapters.
The ship went down easily - without a large crew of navy soldiers, it had no defenses and no one to attack back, so sending it down to Davy Jones' Locker was no challenge.
Zidane frowned. It wasn't over, not at all. If Jack Sparrow was more than just another pirate, then he had to be one of the best damn tricksters on the seas, and he had to have a reason for what he did.
And... well... the captain was no use to anyone at the moment.
Zidane clenched a dagger in his hand, hard. He wasn't sure if he was just jealous, or uncertain about Rould's intentions towards Myde... or maybe he was just worried for his friend in general.
They stood in the middle of the deck, lips locked, oblivious to the world.
Or maybe he should just... save that for later! Zidane threw up his hands. Enemy pirate attack here! Slightly more important than making out with a deckhand!
A sudden sound echoed over the victorious bustle of happy pirates - such an unexpected noise that all action ceased, and even Rould and Myde broke apart -
Click.
"You seem to be doing well for yourself, my dear captain."
Rould smirked, he could just see Jack Sparrow out of the corner of his eye, pointing a gun at his head. "Better than you, I presume."
"Assuredly. Now, I'm here to make a bargain with you."
"Really? Because it seems to me like I'm the one in charge of the bargaining around here." His hands rested on Myde's hips, lightly but possesively.
"Give me back my compass or the boy dies."
The gun barely moved, but Rould knew it was pointed with deadly precision at Myde's head. He sighed. "If you kill him, every single sailor on this vessel will lash out in revenge, which will not be pretty. I can say for a fact that I, for one, will head straight for your genitals."
Jack winced. "Ah. However..." and now a crafty smirk curled over his face. "Massive death by castration does not do any good for both of us... and at the end of it, Myde would still be dead. That's the thing about death. There's absolutely nothing you can do about it afterwards."
Rould scowled. "You drive a hard bargain, Jack."
"I want my damn compass."
He sighed, heavily, and turned to face him. "If I told you that, with absolute certainty, you will get your compass back, would you concede to some honest bargaining?"
"Honest? Never." They grinned at each other. "But I don't mind having a bit of civilized conversation before I reclaim said compass."
"Right, then!" Rould waved his hands about. "Keep the ship on course, lads! Jack and I shall be having a pleasant discussion in my quarters..." he ignored the scattered snickers among the crew. "...And I will personally spank anyone who disturbs us!" More laughter.
Myde watched Rould walk away, his arm slung around Jack's shoulders. He turned and saw Zidane eyeing him with a mixture of apprehension and... concern? He drifted across the deck towards the blond man. "Uhm... they're not actually going to... do anything, are they?"
Zidane frowned. "Look, I hate to break it to you... especially since you relaly seem to like Rould, and all..." He sighed. "Look, Rould does what he wants, with whom he wants, whenever he wants. He's a law unto himself, and, well..." he shrugged helplessly. "I've never seen him pass up an opportunity like this."
"....Oh." Myde looked quietly thoughtful for a second, then nodded. "Right, then. Uh... I'm going to go make some tea. I'll see you around." He smiled as he left, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Zidane sighed. Another broken heart in Rould's name. Seriously, when would it stop?
~~~
"Cinna, do you have any of that - "
Rould stopped. Cinna wasn't in the kitchen. The only one there was Myde, a frighteningly clam expression on his face, hands wrapped around a mug of tea.
He tried to say something, but it was like his throat had stopped working... finally, he sighed and sat down at the table across from him. Time to settle this. "Myde..."
"I honestly didn't expect you to kiss back."
Once again, Rould stopped in his tracks. "What, you mean..."
"But I thought it was worth a chance... I mean, anything's worth a chance, right?"
Somehow, those words hurt more than jealousy would have. "Myde. You don't... I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," he finally said, looking away.
"...But I really didn't expect you to kiss me back," he said, and his voice was barely audible.
Rould suddenly reached out and wrapped his hands around Myde's, holding them gently. "What is it you want from me?" he asked quietly. "You're so different from anyone I've ever met."
"Because you've never met an honest person?" Myde said, a small smile quirking on his lips.
Rould chuckled... "Even honest men don't make me fall in love with them."
Myde's eyebrows shot up, and a light blush danced over his cheeks. "Rould..." He sighed a little. "...I want to be able to love you..."
There was a slightly frigid pause.
"...But... I'd have to be the only one." Myde's vivid eyes, blue-green like the ocean, met Rould's with a steady gaze.
"You're the only one I love."
"That's not what I meant."
He swallowed, then chuckled darkly. "You drive a hard bargain for a pirate," he finally said, rather shakily.
"That's my price. Take it or leave it," Myde responded, his voice barely above a whisper.
The silence between them now was colder than a glacier. Rould couldn't meet his eyes, though he tried, several times... finally he lifted his hands off Myde's, one finger at a time. "You can't change who I am," he muttered.
Myde was very still, breathing in the soft scent of tea and Rould. "Can you blame me for trying?"
"No," Rould replied, smiling sadly. "I guess I can't." He stood up, and headed for the door.
There were no more words between them, but something splintered softly, and they both felt like crying.
~~~
"What happened, mate? You look like your favorite dog just died." Jack waved a hand vaguely.
Rould chuckled, and the sound was hollow and distant to his ears. "He might as well have." He grabbed the chair that sat across the small table from Jack and yanked it over, so they were sitting closer together. "And I don't know what Cinna did with the rum, but..."
Jack sighed. "Why is the rum gone...?"
"Well, I have some brandy, and some... hm, I have no idea what this is, but it smells potent. Here, have a glass." He poured for both of them, then added a hefty helping of brandy to the mix. "Should get us good and drunk, eh?"
"Indubitably." Jack lifted the cup and drank carefully - and he noticed instantly that something was amiss. Rould was usually on his guard whenever bargaining was concerned, and something about the way he downed the fiery drink with abandon... well, it was slightly worrying. But not necessarily a bad thing.
Twenty minutes later, Jack was utterly convinced that it was a bad thing, a very bad thing indeed. What was worse was that he was very nearly as drunk as Rould was, and his immorality was positively astounding. Well, not to say that he'd ever had much morality, but at the very least he'd tried to keep his ass away from Rould.
In the nature of ass, this was going in a very bad direction indeed.
Rould dragged a hand down Jack's chest. They'd been shirtless for a while now, and FUCK but wasn't Jack pretty, and sexy, and he was drunk as hell so he wouldn't even remember any of this in the morning, and wasn't Jack so much better than Myde anyway?
Oh... belts were stupid. Who invented belts? They should be taken off... as quickly as possible... Rould's hands wandered and he ignored the vaguely strangled cries, they were halfway between indignant and attracted, anyway. Attracted... well, pants were just plain overrated! Why didn't everyone just go around naked all the time?! It would make life so much simpler!
In the back of his mind, he realized he was being a jackass. An hour ago, he was totally okay with his plan to seduce Jack Sparrow and toss him over the edge of the ship when he was inconvenienced. It was business as usual. He felt nothing for Jack but an enemy's appreciation and a light attraction that he enjoyed capitalizing on. It wasn't like Myde had anything to be jealous of.
But now...? Of course everything was different now, of course Myde had to make everything different, screw it up, and he had to get drunk now, and he had to have sex with Jack. But the reasons were different now, and he just wanted to memorize the feeling of someone sliding over his skin, or maybe just forget. And he didn't want to feel.
If he remembered this, he'd hate himself, so he drank until he forgot.
~~~
The week was nothing more than the purest form of torture.
On the outside, it was like Rould was back to his old self - teasing all the deckhands, occasionally fooling around with Marcus or Blank, cheerful and charismatic. Jack had made off with the compass, but Rould seemed to know where they were going - and Zidane didn't question it, so no one did.
But there were times when Zidane would look over and catch Rould staring off into the distance, eyes blank and unseeing... and when he called his name, or shook him, he said he'd been thinking of nothing at all.
Myde was also mostly himself, but he wanted to be alone more often - and he especially shied away from Blank, and Marcus. Even Zidane didn't know how to breach the sudden social wall that had gone up around him suddenly, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the captain's silences.
But as a whole, things were well on the Alexandros. Rould knew where they were headed, and the ocean kept everyone busy enough, when they weren't gambling each other's pants off.
Myde didn't like to gamble. When the sailors started playing, he'd slip outside to the bow and take out his sitar...
But it couldn't play. It was like the notes had been locked up inside him, and he didn't have the key to release them...
"A shooting star," a rough, familiar voice remarked.
Myde didn't turn around. "I call them falling stars."
"Same thing." The silence stretched out again, over the ocean. "They say if you wish on a star and it falls, your wish will be granted."
"I've always believed you have to make your own wishes come true." Myde ran his hands down Nocturne's neck, rubbing at the uneven paint.
"Not superstitious at all, are you?" His voice was indecipherable.
"Only sometimes," he murmured. "But I wouldn't place a wish on something that falls out of the sky... I'd wish on the brightest star, the one that'll keep burning forever."
There was a pause again.
"What about that star?" Rould pointed over Myde's shoulder, and they both looked up.
Myde blinked, and softly strummed a plaintive chord that barely reached his ears. "You first."
"I made my wish already." Rould let his hand fall. "You make yours."
Myde swallowed, and curled his hands around Nocturne, ready to pick her up and dash away.
"...I wish you'd change your mind."
{ + }
A/N: And that, my friends, is chapter four. FINALLY. Sorry it isn't longer.