❛ She may contain the urge to run away, but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks. ❜
SEASON 1, EPISODE 6
the art of fuckery
TRIGGER WARNING:
EXPLICIT CONTENT
"YOU TRULY ARE an idiot," Nikita sighed as she sat beside her father.
⠀⠀⠀He and Stede had been up on the deck practicing swordplay when he decided to show Stede a practical tip. However, it involved Stede literally stabbing him to show him where the knife should go to avoid puncturing essential organs.
⠀⠀⠀Now, Nikita was sitting with him, sewing the wound closed before Blackbeard bled out all over the ship. She pulled the string taut, enough to make her father wince, before continuing.
⠀⠀⠀"Takes one to know one," Blackbeard muttered between his feet, glancing at the needle and her face. "Do you always have to be so mean when you sew?"
⠀⠀⠀"Maybe it'll teach you not to get stabbed for fun," Nikita retorted, raising her brows while a scowl crested her face.
⠀⠀⠀"It wasn't for fun," Blackbeard corrected her, scoffing. "I was only teaching Stede how to stay alive."
⠀⠀⠀"Surely you couldn't have just told him," Nikita muttered in annoyance.
⠀⠀⠀"Are you upset with me?" Blackbeard asked suddenly, raising himself to his elbows so he could look down at her better. She pulled the thread sharply. "Fuck, ow!"
⠀⠀⠀Nikita didn't answer him, finished with stitching his wound, and tied it off. She snapped the thread with her teeth and then turned away to put her sewing supplies into their box.
⠀⠀⠀"Nikita," Blackbeard demanded sternly.
⠀⠀⠀"No, I'm not mad," Nikita said, turning to him with a thin, unconvincing smile.
⠀⠀⠀"You've hardly spoken to me since the party," Blackbeard insisted, frowning as she turned away. "What have I done?"
⠀⠀⠀"Nothing," Nikita said quickly, waving her hand. She kept herself busy reorganizing the sewing box so she wouldn't have to look at him.
⠀⠀⠀"Nothing," Blackbeard repeated, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, Nikita. You're never mad at me."
⠀⠀⠀"Then how do you know I'm mad at you?" Nikita asked.
⠀⠀⠀"It's obvious. You'll hardly look at me," Blackbeard exclaimed dramatically, raising his hands and flopping onto his back.
⠀⠀⠀"Nikita!" Bash exclaimed, running across the deck to greet her. He noticed Blackbeard beside her, scowling as he approached with a sharp glare pinned to him. Bash realized where Nikita had learned that glare. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
⠀⠀⠀"No, it's alright. I've finished patching him up," Nikita told Bash, standing to her feet and dusting off her pants. "It's time?"
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, Sun's just about to set," Bash told her with a wide smile.
⠀⠀⠀"Didn't you two watch the sunset yesterday?" Blackbeard asked accusingly, staring at Nikita and acting as if Bash weren't even there.
⠀⠀⠀"You noticed?" Nikita asked, raising her brows as she looked down at him. Blackbeard mimicked her expression, surprised by the question. She rolled her eyes and then nodded for Bash to follow her. "C'mon, I think we should try watching from the crow's nest tonight."
⠀⠀⠀"Ooh, interesting idea. A whole different view," Bash said, then the two ran across the deck and up the mast.
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard sat up, wincing as he did with his hand hovering over the fresh wound. He scowled, watching as the kids climbed up the mast and stood in the crow's nest. They were awfully close, and he noticed how Bash's hand rested across Nikita's shoulder. She didn't flinch like Blackbeard expected her to. Rather, she allowed his hand to stay.
⠀⠀⠀"Everything alright?" Stede asked, his dainty footsteps appearing from behind the glowering man. Blackbeard didn't respond but kept his eyes pinned on the two. Stede followed his line of sight and let out a sigh of understanding. "I see."
⠀⠀⠀"See what?" Blackbeard grumbled, readjusting himself and fixed his gaze straight ahead rather than on his daughter.
⠀⠀⠀"Bash is a good man. Been the most honest of the crew, I would say. Always worked hard," Stede assured Blackbeard as he sat down beside him.
⠀⠀⠀"Why the fuck would I care?" Blackbeard asked, turning away.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, your daughter is growing up, and you just want to be sure she's safe without relying on you every time she needs help," Stede explained with a component of understanding. The way Stede read him so easily was eerie, but he kept quiet. "My daughter is only still a child, but I do remember when she had her own little crush in school. It was hard for me. However, she hardly spoke to me anyway... My anecdote is not very helpful, is it?"
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard chuckled under his breath, looking out of the corner of his eye at the man.
⠀⠀⠀"No, not so much," Blackbeard agreed.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, when the sun sets, it'll be story time. Maybe she'll come down to listen," Stede said kindly, then stood. He nodded for Blackbeard to join him in the middle of the deck where the others were gathering.
"I'M TIRED OF the stupid stories," Nikita sighed, lounging in Stede's room with Bash. The rest of the crew were gathered up deck, and Nikita doubted any of them would come looking for them. "I just want to get some sleep."
⠀⠀⠀"Here's to that," Bash agreed, raising his hand with an imaginary glass in his hand while he stood at the bookshelves.
⠀⠀⠀"Can you read?" Nikita asked curiously.
⠀⠀⠀"Hardly," Bash muttered as he pulled a book off the shelf. He started laughing at whatever he had found and then walked over to Nikita. "Have you seen drawings of your father?"
⠀⠀⠀Nikita frowned, seeing the image of the smokey-faced monster with bright glowing eyes. She turned away and stared at the couch.
⠀⠀⠀"Sorry, forgot," Bash muttered, throwing the book onto the table.
⠀⠀⠀"It's alright," Nikita sighed, sitting up and patting her hand beside her for him to sit. They sat stiffly beside one another, and after a minute of silence, Nikita cleared her throat. Bash turned to her with thinned lips and his eyebrows raised. "Would you like to take my mind off things?" she asked him.
⠀⠀⠀"What'd you have in mind?" Bash asked, furrowing his brows.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita turned to him, not wanting to admit it out loud. The longer she stared at him, the quicker it seemed to dawn on him what she had meant. His eyes widened to the size of saucers, and a bright red blush started at his neck and colored his cheeks.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita leaned forward, and Bash followed, readjusting how he was sitting, then pressed his lips against hers. Bash had learned a few tips from Lucius since the two had first kissed, and now he understood what they were supposed to do.
⠀⠀⠀Bash pressed his lips firmly against Nikita's rather than standing still. His lips moved against hers, and she followed clumsily as he did. Her hand rested on his shoulders, then slowly pushed him down on the plush couch, so she laid on top of him.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita's hands left his shoulder and roamed over his clothed chest and down toward his stomach until her fingers met the tie of his pants. Nikita's whole body felt white-hot as she continued. The string pulled loose with ease, and her lips fell from his lips to his neck, and her hand slipped into his pants.
⠀⠀⠀Soft moans left his lips, deep and throaty, and Nikita felt nothing. She continued, hoping to spark the electric feeling shocking her skin in other places, but nothing hinted at any sort of desire.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita left his neck and pulled her pants off. She moved his pants down his thighs and felt the erection on her thigh. His hands clung to her hips, and his head fell into her bosom. He pushed the cloth of her shirt away, and his mouth attached to her breasts.
⠀⠀⠀Still, she felt nothing but the wet of his tongue and the generous bruises she'd have the next day.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita sunk down on him, and he filled her out to the point she felt like she wanted to wrench herself from him. She continued, rocking against his thighs, but it hurt. Nikita tried to go fast, to go slow, but her insides coiled into stress and awkwardness. She broke into a sweat, and her skin felt like she'd fallen into a swap.
⠀⠀⠀Beneath her, Bash had fallen back into the couch with his eyes closed and a pleasured grin across his face. The sounds from his lips were strange, yet Nikita mimicked him. Maybe that was what was wrong.
⠀⠀⠀Then, it was over as he panted with the release, and she sighed with relief that it was over. Nikita put her pants back on, and Bash pulled his up before he pulled her down to lie with him. Bash's arm rested over her, and his snores filled her ear. Nikita let him sleep with her there, unencumbered by the idea that Stede would walk down any moment to see them there.
NIKITA HID BELOW deck, keeping out of sight of her father and Bash. A swarm of guilt filled her stomach from the night before with Bash. She wondered why she felt nothing when he seemed to feel everything. She sat behind the barrels of food, curled into a ball as she picked at her nails.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita had a sneaking suspicion that she was broken. The kissing was fine. It was nice and made her feel wanted. She had hoped that more of it would make her feel whole and distract her from her stress and worries. Then, it didn't, and she was left worse than before.
⠀⠀⠀Izzy interrupted her thoughts, storming down the wood ladder with Fang and Ivan behind him. Then, he left, stating he would go get the Captain.
⠀⠀⠀Nikita breathed through her nose, slowly leveling herself with the floor so they wouldn't see her. She kept her eyes pinned to the cracks as she listened to the two talk shit about Izzy and the Captain as they often did. Nikita didn't mind it, even though she needed to vent about her father and Izzy.
⠀⠀⠀"Izzy! That was embarrassing! You left me hangin' up there for twenty minutes. Not bloody optimal," Blackbeard exclaimed as the two walked down the stairs and met in the middle of the room. "What the fuck's all this?"
⠀⠀⠀"Do you remember your policy about pets aboard your vessel?" Izzy asked, never one for small talk.
⠀⠀⠀"Pets? Yeah. No pets," Blackbeard stated, a frown appearing on his face. He stood right where Nikita could see him between the cracks of the barrel. "They befoul the ship."
⠀⠀⠀"You know what else you said?" Ivan asked with a sneer. "You said the love of a pet makes a man weak."
⠀⠀⠀"I said that?" Blackbeard asked, sensing the oddity of this conversation and feigned ignorance.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, when I joined the crew, you made me put my dog down," Fang said, hurt carrying through his tone.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, okay, well, yeah, vaguely... remember that," Blackbeard muttered with a grimace.
⠀⠀⠀"So, here's the rub," Izzy continued, unaffected. "Me and the boys, we think you've begun to view Bonner as a sort of a pet."
⠀⠀⠀"Mm-hm. Hm," Blackbeard responded, holding his chin as he listened.
⠀⠀⠀"You're in too deep, Edward," Izzy told him simply. "I said this to you before, and you didn't listen. We've accepted Nikita as part of our crew, but she's already a weakness to us all."
⠀⠀⠀"Nikita is not a pet," Blackbeard hissed, whipping out his knife and holding it below Izzy's chin.
⠀⠀⠀"No, but she was," Izzy retorted with ease, standing stock still with the point threatening to slice him open. "She had promised. She was young and ready for this life. You've already got one weakness. The best thing to do is end it quick."
⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard stepped back, then bowed his head.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah."
⠀⠀⠀"The longer you wait, the harder it gets," Fang told him, then sobbed as he launched into Ivan's comforting hold. "They're just pets!"
⠀⠀⠀"It's alright, Fangy," Ivan comforted him. "He's up in doggy heaven now, mate."
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, but we go to different heavens!" Fang wailed. "He goes to doggy heaven!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE —
If you feel attacked by Nikita not having actual feelings for Bash you are entitled to emotional compensation.
SONG: Breezeblocks by alt-J
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.