His chin is grabbed harshly, facing the two deep green eyes that have been getting on his nerves for the past ten minutes. The smirk on the man's face does not vanish. The grip of his hand on Louis' chin does not soften, his thumb at the side of his...
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"What are you doing here?" Styles gives the man, Aaron apparently, a sceptic look.
"Now, now, little cousin. Is this how you greet your family?" Aaron gets up slowly from the barrel, one of his eyebrows arched and a smirk present on his features.
Louis remains dumbfounded at the revealed fact that this man, a royal, is Styles' cousin. Even though no longer than twelve hours ago he found out that Styles' mum used to be a duchess, and also knowing how her family treated the matter of her escaping with a pirate, he would have never expected for Styles to be on speaking terms with a member of his family.
Looking at both men as they hug each other - the Captain's back rigid and his hug not that friendly - Louis can recognise some similarities between them. Both well built, with curly brown hair and a sharp jaw. Styles' features a bit rougher and Aaron's a bit more sinister, not in a bad way though. It just appears as if a secret is hidden behind the man's smile, but it's not like Louis doesn't like it.
"Again," Styles continues after the awkward hug, "What are you doing here?"
Aaron shrugs a shoulder, "For no reason in particular. I would expect you of all, to hide a little bit better your presence and your ship in a foreign country, especially at this time of year. You should be glad I found you before the Royal Marine did. Well, they did find you since I am here, but you're lucky you're my favourite cousin."
Aaron pinches the green-eyed man's cheek while Styles immediately moves his face away from Aaron's hand. Louis stifles a laugh. He is pretty sure that if it was anybody else that tried to do what Aaron just did, they would have gotten their arm out of its socket in a matter of seconds. Louis doesn't know why Styles lets him get away with it. He just scrunches his face and takes a step back before Aaron goes at him again.
The blue-eyed boy watches as said man gives a hug and a pat on the back to Liam too, who smiles at him with his eyes crinkling. Louis is fascinated. Never would he ever expected to see a Royal Guard on a pirate ship, hugging everybody and losing their serious stance. The funniest thing of all is that Styles seems to be the only one not very pleased with his presence here.
Louis somewhat gets it. Styles has kept in touch with Aaron just because he is related to his mother. The royal guard might be the only family - that actually acknowledges the Captain as a family as well - left to him. Aaron doesn't appear to be a threat, and even if he was, Styles surely wouldn't have spared him, but, Louis has only known the existence of this guy for about five minutes. So, it's better that he decides later if he likes Aaron or not.
As if the man heard his thoughts, Aaron turns towards Louis with a glint on his eyes not familiar at all to the blue-eyed boy. The side of his upper lip lifts a bit, turning his whole body in Louis' direction. The back of the cabin boy goes rigid, slightly feeling ashamed of his clothes comparing them to the man walking towards him. It's a bit humiliating being in the presence of a Royal Guard while one is wearing rags that the colour has washed off since Louis has scrubbed the oil and dirt out of them everytime he could.
