❛ 'Cause we could stay at home and watch the sunset, but I can't help from askin', 'Are you bored yet?' ❜
SEASON 1, EPISODE 4
discomfort in a married state
THE GENTLEMEN PIRATE, what an odd title for a pirate, Nikita thought. Nikita's father was intrigued when Izzy explained he had been up-handed by the dainty fancy man. Rather than leaving well enough alone, Blackbeard decided he wanted to meet this odd man.
⠀⠀⠀They found their spectacular entrance when the Spaniards had attacked their ship. Then, the Gentlemen Pirate had nearly died from a noose around his neck. Now, he recovered in his suite aboard the ship.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita, Blackbeard, and the rest of their small crew boarded the Revenge and waited for the Captain to wake up. Instead, Blackbeard stayed in the man's room. Izzy ordered the new crew around while Ivan and Fang pestered them from the sidelines.
⠀⠀⠀On the other hand, Nikita kept her distance from the new faces. She had climbed up the mast and perched on one of the beams not long after the Spaniards were dead. She watched the specs of people below her as they shuffled around, the tension between crews apparent.
⠀⠀⠀One after the other, Nikita noticed one of them stop in their sloppy version of cleaning. A pair of eyes would slowly follow the mast and then the beam she sat on before locking eyes. Her cold stare would hold their gaze, watching as they tried not to look intimidated, but hardly moments later, they were shooting their gaze away with pale fear. They acted as if she was a White Lady, haunting them for their devilish crimes.
⠀⠀⠀"Nikki!" Blackbeard's voice called up to her. She hadn't even noticed him come out on deck. The crew below tensed, pausing as they stared with worried yet awestruck expressions at the famed Blackbeard. "Come down and watch the clouds with me!"
⠀⠀⠀Nikita sighed in annoyance, appreciating her time alone. However, she did as he bid and fell backward, so she hung from the mast by her legs. While she took a moment to swing, she heard a strangled gasp behind her. Nikita turned to find the effeminate light-skinned man with dark hair and mutton chops staring at her with wide eyes. He blushed, embarrassed he had overreacted, before dashing away with a prance in his step.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita let out a chuckle before turning back to her father, crossing her arms over her chest while the blood rushed into her skull.
⠀⠀⠀"Shouldn't we be doing other things and not staring at clouds?" Nikita asked Blackbeard, raising a brow.
⠀⠀⠀"Now, Nikki, we have all the time in the world to do the boring stuff. We never look at clouds together anymore," Blackbeard whined, turning back to look at her with hopeful eyes.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita drew a blank expression across her face, watching as her father forced himself to grow teary. Then, finally, she rested her hands on the mast and flipped herself back to land on the deck.
⠀⠀⠀"Do you think cats shape-shift?" a voice asked behind her, trying to maintain a whisper, but Nikita and likely the rest of the crew could hear his worries.
⠀⠀⠀"I don't know, mate," a Swedish accent responded, a tremor of fear in his voice. "But you might be onto something."
⠀⠀⠀Nikita ignored the two. Izzy was right. They were imbeciles. She walked over to the front of the boat, standing beside her father as they stared at the beautiful landscape ahead of them. Blackbeard had a content smile on his lips as he watched the clouds swirl with one another and dance upon the horizon.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita tried to keep her gaze on the clouds, but it wasn't long until they dipped back to the sea. A ripple of blue and green within the waves while streaks of white cloud reflections highlighter the water. Nikita's constant, that had always been there, between the orphanage and now when her father's lunacy ran amuck.
⠀⠀⠀"What do you see?" Blackbeard asked, bending at his side so he could whisper the words to her.
⠀⠀⠀"The ocean, the sky, some clouds," Nikita said blandly.
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard made a noise of indignation, snapping back to his full height, and shook his head.
⠀⠀⠀"Sometimes, I wonder if Izzy should've adopted you," Blackbeard cried, resting his hand over his heart. "Sometimes, you act just like him. No fun at all. I would've never taught my daughter to behave like this."
⠀⠀⠀"Fine, fine!" Nikita exclaimed, waving her hands around. Instantly, Blackbeard shot up in amusement, and the two readjusted their gaze to the clouds. "I see... um, frankfurters."
⠀⠀⠀"Frankfurters...?" Blackbeard muttered, something hidden beneath the question like something had come to mind. "Yeah, yeah, you're right."
⠀⠀⠀Nikita rolled her eyes at her father, but the two were interrupted by Blackbeard's right hand, Izzy Hands.
⠀⠀⠀"Been lookin' for you everywhere," Izzy's harsh voice called to Blackbeard.
⠀⠀⠀They turned away from the deck to come face-to-face with Izzy. He was a severe-looking man, his brows always down-turned, an edge in his eye that teetered between eerie calm and rage, and a tense scowl unhidden by his short beard.
⠀⠀⠀"We need to move quickly," Izzy continued. "Before the Spanish realize we've massacred their men."
⠀⠀⠀"Oh, the Spanish. They die quite dramatically, don't they? The Spaniards?" Blackbeard asked nonchalantly, turning back to the horizon. "Lots of blubbering for their God."
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, agreed," Izzy said quickly, only to appease his Captain before continuing with what needed to be said. "Now, we should really discuss—"
⠀⠀⠀"Izzy, Izzy, Izzy, Izzy, Izzy," Blackbeard exclaimed, pointing his hand out toward the clouds to get a second opinion. "Look out there. Those clouds. Do they look like frankfurters to you?"
⠀⠀⠀"They look like clouds, boss. Can we just focus on—"
⠀⠀⠀"Yes, yes, they look like clouds because they are indeed clouds! But, if you just put some fucking imagination into it, man!" Blackbeard shouted, proven right that Nikita and Izzy were similar in respect to cloud gazing.
⠀⠀⠀"I suppose they look like sausages," Izzy sighed. He glanced at Nikita. She had known him long enough to read what he said without speaking. Was he like this a minute ago? Nikita rolled her eyes, then stared back at Izzy. Yes.
⠀⠀⠀"Frankfurters, yes! See, Nikki, you were right," Blackbeard cheered, walking Izzy toward the edge of the forecastle so they could watch the men below. "It's like pulling teeth with you sometimes, man. Let's get to it. What've we got here?"
⠀⠀⠀"Well, the ship sustained some damage in the crossfire, and the crew's completely useless, bottom of the barrel," Izzy reported to the Captain.
⠀⠀⠀As before, the men were working on cleaning the deck, but it was as if they'd just learned what soap was. Everything around the crew seemed chaotic and out of sorts, hardly paying attention to what they were doing. Instead, they gossiped like royal women in court as they worked and darted their gaze to the man of legend standing with them.
⠀⠀⠀"Mm-hm, what's the plan for them?" Blackbeard asked, raising a brow.
⠀⠀⠀"The uszh," Izzy stated with a shrug. "Make 'em repair the ship, execute 'em."
⠀⠀⠀"Right... the uszh..." Blackbeard repeated, his words distant as he looked over the crew.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita stared at him, her brows furrowing together as a slight frown pinned down her lips.
⠀⠀⠀"Everything alright?" Nikita asked him softly, balancing her concern to save face in front of the pirates.
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard smiled delicately as he turned to look at her. He made a disappointed 'oh' under his breath, then rubbed his thumb down the middle of her forehead to rid the concerned line.
⠀⠀⠀"Of course, Nikki."
⠀⠀⠀"Ah! Fuck!" one of the men suddenly yelped.
⠀⠀⠀"Back to work!" Ivan yelled over him.
⠀⠀⠀"Boys, boys, boys, hey!" Blackbeard chastised them. "Let's not brutalize our guests like that." He grabbed a rope and then jumped down the two-step flight of stairs to stand on the main deck with the rest of the crew.
⠀⠀⠀The stunt was childish to Nikita and a little bit funny, but the pirate crew was enthralled by every action he made. They clapped and cheered in excitement for Blackbeard as if he'd just done a backflip off the mainmast.
⠀⠀⠀"Hello, everyone. I'm Blackbeard," he introduced himself cooly.
⠀⠀⠀"Huge fan, sir! Huge," a man praised, staring at Blackbeard with wild eyes and an unearthly grin.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, that's lovely, but you don't need to say, sir, alright? It's just Blackbeard," he assured the man with a kind smile.
⠀⠀⠀"Yes, sir, Blackbeard, sir!" the wild man exclaimed nervously.
⠀⠀⠀"Hello, hi, nice to meet you. Hi, how are ya?" Blackbeard continued to greet, spinning himself to look around at the crew. "Hey, I love all the rope. Everyone's wearing rope. Everyone's grubby as well. Filthy! Look at this bunch! Wild characters on the high seas."
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard walked around to greet the rest of the crew, greeting them with a broad smile or sizing them up before stopping in his tracks. In front of him was a man holding his head raised proudly, his nose pointed toward the zenith, and a bird resting on top of his head.
⠀⠀⠀"Nikki!" Blackbeard called with a laugh, giddy at the sight of the man. "Nikki, come here! They've got a bird guy. Look at this thing!"
⠀⠀⠀Nikita walked over, standing beside her father as the eyes of the crew pressed into her skin. Their gaze made her nervous now that she was one-to-one with them.
⠀⠀⠀"Hello," Nikita greeted awkwardly, thinning her lips and raising her hand.
⠀⠀⠀"Karl conveys his warm regards, witch, Captain," the man said to them in a thick Scottish accent, peering at them with all-knowing eyes.
⠀⠀⠀"And Karl's the bird, yeah?" Blackbeard asked, wanting to be sure he'd gotten it clear.
⠀⠀⠀"Karl's the bird," the man agreed with a stiff nod so as not to disturb Karl.
⠀⠀⠀"Who's the witch?" Blackbeard asked, confused.
⠀⠀⠀The man's wide, unblinking eyes stayed on Blackbeard for a long moment before darting them toward Nikita back to him.
⠀⠀⠀"Oh," Blackbeard realized, turning to look at his daughter. "Oh. Well, that's a bit rude. Are all bird guys rude?"
⠀⠀⠀"Sorry, sir, Blackbeard, sir," one of the pirates from earlier called. The same one that had asked if cats could shape-shift. "I was just wonderin' if we're gonna be able to live or die—"
⠀⠀⠀"Right, come on!" Izzy shouted in the pirate's ear, interrupting him without a care. "Blackbeard has business to attend to! Fang!"
⠀⠀⠀Fang hissed on command, then yelled, "Back to work!"
⠀⠀⠀"Izzy, why don't we have a bird guy?" Blackbeard asked as the three moved past the chaos and into the ship.
"THIS PLACE IS amazing! Izzy, look at this shit!" Blackbeard exclaimed, rifling through a cabinet full of expensive-looking knick-knacks as he giggled to himself. "Look at that!"
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard pushed a model ship into Izzy's hands with delight, looking between him and Nikita, waiting for their response. Nikita was amused by her father's reaction to the new ship. He hadn't looked so happy in a few years. But unfortunately, Izzy wasn't as accepting of Blackbeard's mood, growing more and more frustrated as their time dragged out.
⠀⠀⠀"It's a teeny-tiny version of this ship," Izzy stated, staring down at the model in disgust.
⠀⠀⠀"It appears so, yeah," Blackbeard agreed, leaving the ship in Izzy's hands while turning back to the cabinet.
⠀⠀⠀"So, Edward..."
⠀⠀⠀"He's got all sorts of knick-knacks and trinkets."
⠀⠀⠀"Edward?"
⠀⠀⠀"This guy's fucking fascinating."
⠀⠀⠀"Edward, focus," Izzy snapped. "We need a plan."
⠀⠀⠀"I'm trying to focus," Blackbeard brushed him off. "I'm focusing on all of this brilliant stuff."
⠀⠀⠀"Edward, we really need a plan."
⠀⠀⠀"Crazy little trinkets."
⠀⠀⠀"Come on, a plan."
⠀⠀⠀"Yes!" Blackbeard yelled, startling Nikita with the suddenness of his booming rage and the complete change in his demeanor. She never would get used to it. "We always need a fuckin' plan, alright?! And then what? Then, we fuckin' execute the plan, then we get another plan, then what do we do? We execute that, and so on, and so on, and again, and again, and again, and again. It's all so fucking boring!"
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard wasn't a closed book, but often his feelings came out in a volcanic tirade after being pushed too hard. Vulnerability and truth were weaknesses. He was Blackbeard, after all. He was a Captain full of rage and bloodthirstiness that would call for his name to ring on through the centuries. He wasn't someone who got bored, who got sad.
⠀⠀⠀And yet, there was always a deeper part to a man. One that shifted with the wind, wanting more to their lives than the mundane. After pirating for so many years, the same story played over and over again.
⠀⠀⠀"I'm bored out of my skull, man. Is this all there is?" Blackbeard asked suddenly, the rage simmering to anguish. "I shouldn't be bored. I'm fucking Blackbeard."
⠀⠀⠀"Well, as bored as you might be, if you don't make a decision soon, we're gonna fuckin' die."
⠀⠀⠀There was a pause between Izzy's claim and Blackbeard's response that rung a warning through Nikita's body. A creeping fear inside her chest as she watched the making of an idea come to light.
⠀⠀⠀"Ooh, now there's an idea," Blackbeard stated. "I haven't done that yet. I haven't died yet, have I? Maybe we should try that," he concluded, walking past the two without explaining further and slamming the door behind him.
⠀⠀⠀"Do, do, wh-what?" Izzy struggled to ask, but Blackbeard was long gone.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, he's gone off the deep end," Nikita muttered, taking the ship from Izzy and putting it back into the cabinet. "Now, what do we do?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
⠀⠀⠀"I'll handle your father," Izzy said, words clipped. "Keep out of the way. You know how he gets."
⠀⠀⠀"Alright," Nikita said in understanding. "I'm gonna mess with the crew."
⠀⠀⠀Nikita had started rushing for the door like her father, with Izzy stuttering behind her. She stopped at the top of the stairs turning back to him.
⠀⠀⠀"Just... don't kill any of them," Izzy asked of her, sounding exhausted. "It'll lower their morale, and we'll never get this ship cleaned."
⠀⠀⠀"They're hardly even doing that," Nikita retorted.
⠀⠀⠀Izzy considered her words, then shrugged in agreement, "Maybe it'll scare them straight."
NIKITA FOUND THE crew on the deck gossiping to one another. She smirked to herself, using the hint of fear that they had somehow caused and forced it into mischief. Nikita knew that they were more terrified of her than she was of them. Nikita just hated new people and small talk. They were scared she would cut their faces off and that she was a woman out at sea with Blackbeard despite the bad omens it brought.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita found a space between two men, sitting down as if she had been invited, and all conversation around her stopped. She ignored their prickling gaze as she waited for them to continue their discussion.
⠀⠀⠀"Um, hello," the cheerful young man beside her greeted, close in age to her with the hint of a beard residing on his cheeks. She turned to look at him, narrowing her eyes, and she enjoyed watching the shudder rip down his spine just by the look of death behind her eyes. "I'm Bash, and you're the most beautiful creature I have ever seen."
⠀⠀⠀A blush passed over his face, and he was immediately embarrassed.
⠀⠀⠀"Right, well, we were just wonderin' if you guys were gonna kill us, yeah?" the cheerful black man across from her asked, a nervous smile stretching over his face as he stared at her.
⠀⠀⠀"I would if I were them," one of the other pirates muttered.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita glanced at her, intrigued, to say the least. She had believed the crew was partly scared because she was a woman on board their ship, but it seemed they had one amongst them. She was tan with dark eyes and a hauntingly husky voice.
⠀⠀⠀"Ugh, God," she cursed, staring at the blonde man. "You've been lookin' at me all day!"
⠀⠀⠀"So, this whole time..." the Swede began timidly. "You were a woman?"
⠀⠀⠀Nikita's theory failed, as it seemed the crew of imbeciles was really living up to their name. They hadn't even noticed the woman amongst them. Nikita wondered how she fooled them.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah... I guess. I don't know," the woman... or how they sounded confused, the person claimed, not so pleased by the Swede's verbiage.
⠀⠀⠀"And you're not a mute?" the Swede continued, unperturbed.
⠀⠀⠀"No, I'm not a mute," they claimed with a scowl.
⠀⠀⠀"I did not see that coming at all," the Swede muttered, sitting back on his legs with a wild look in his eyes. "Maybe you and her can be friends?"
⠀⠀⠀The shaggy-haired person shrugged, looking over at Nikita, and allowed a barely-there smile to slip.
⠀⠀⠀"Quiet, my kind of person."
⠀⠀⠀Nikita smiled back, nodding her head in agreement back to them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE —
You guys know me, I always feel like my first chapter is boring. I enjoy this fic a lot but still gotta get that set up!
I don't know how I'm going to update this. I feel like I should make a schedule but I also just want to post everything all at once. I'm not sure, I just know I'm very tired so I likely won't update on the weekdays as often as I'd like.
Also, I just added in moodboards for Nikita and Bash to the intro page!
SONG: Are You Bored Yet? by Wallows ft. Clairo
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you'd like. However, this is an all kind of reader safe space. So even if you ghost read or comment every chapter, I hope you know it means the world to me that you've come into this fic ♡ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until the next one.