Heart of the Ocean | Pirate!ATEEZ x reader

7: The Art of Combat

It had been a few hours since you had last talked to Hongjoong. Perhaps it hadn't dawned upon you about all the things that were included when Hongjoong offered their help to you on your quest. You knew it would be a long and tiresome journey, and frankly speaking, amidst the evergrowing chaos and mayhem that came along with it, you hadn't given any thought to basic things such as finding a place to sleep and to eat. Merging yourself with the crew, you knew that meals would be taken care of, but when you stood alongside Mingi in the crew quarters where you'd be sleeping for the coming of time, you realized what you had gotten yourself into.

''As you can see here, this room has two bunk beds, so four beds in total,'' Mingi explained as he walked towards the bunkbed on the left side of the room, patting the mattress of the top bed with a smile on his face. ''We usually use this bed for storing stuff and whatnot, but Seonghwa made us clean before you'd come here, so that's why it looks surprisingly neat.''

If Mingi meant with 'neat' storing away used clothes and shoes and other items underneath the beds, then they for sure did a good job.

You stood with an almost defeated face in the doorway, your mouth slightly agape as you took in the room. It was below deck, which meant that the room was already robbed of light and fresh air, and you had already mentally prepared yourself for that factor. What you hadn't expected was for the room to be rivalling the state of the storage room of the ship. They had made their efforts to clean it, as Mingi had told you, but it was clear that those who made their stay in this room rarely picked up the cleaning utensils to give the floor a sweep from time to time. You were grateful for the fact that the space was large, fitting up to four people who could use a relative chunk of the space for their own, but as you digested the new sleeping area, you began to feel a familiar longing feeling to the room you had back in the Citadel.

Although you had to share a room with other Sisters of the Faith, there were clear directives one had to follow inside the White Walls of the Citadel. Basic rules, such as no vandalism, no blasphemy – which seemed an odd rule for a place that only revolved around a belief, but it happened sometimes – and though a minor one; keep it tidy. The Elders believed that a clean space resulted in a clear mind, and one could not preach if their head would be filled with disorder and chaos. Ironically enough, you were once opposed to the habit of tidying, as a result of the Elders's frequent punishment if you didn't adhere to them. But as you grew, you learned to embrace it, knowing that the Elders were right in a way. Having things be in order and cleaned up often gave you more peace than if you'd ignore the mess, no matter how much energy it would demand of you to tackle the problem. Your mind had been tidy, and most certainly your room had been as well.

Thus it was perhaps the rugged sea life of a pirate that infused itself into their living quarters. From the times you'd seen it, Hongjoong's office seemed to faintly resemble a cluster of disoriented thoughts by the way his belongings would be scattered throughout the room, and the crew's quarters took a similar notion. Or perhaps it was just the fact that some people aboard the ship couldn't care less. You guessed cleaning wasn't a daily part of their life as they'd spend most of their time either in the open air or even off the ship. Either way, you would need to find your liking in all of the mess for the time being, and although you didn't want to know what things could be hiding in the floorboards, you were grateful to even have a place to sleep.

The crew's quarters were thankfully fairly large, with two bed bunks placed at the back of the room on the left and right sides of the walls. Closets seemed to have been built into the wall, though not of the luxury kind that the wealthy people would have, and although they seemed small in size, you were sure that they'd serve their purpose well enough. There was a small desk area to the left of the door, though it was filled up with all kinds of stuff, and although the lack of windows gave you a slightly cramped feeling, it did leave room for artistic freedom as you noticed the several drawings on the wooden walls. Mingi seemed to catch on to you staring at them and walked over to you.