WPOV
The tides made it difficult to sail to Lenk, which led to many loud nights as crew mates shouted orders at each other just to keep the ship afloat. I couldn't sleep. The tensions on the ship were record-high. Everyone was arguing, and Nico's tactics to ignore me were getting sloppier. Like he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was avoiding me anymore.
I passed him in the hall once and he didn't even look at me. Just kept his eyes forward, and he didn't respond to my greeting.
I was mopping the deck with Percy. Nico was sitting up in the crow's nest, as he had spent the last few nights. He didn't come down to eat—Hazel had to bring him meals, because apparently he didn't like others coming up there with him.
I glared up at him. It was past sunset. The stars were beautiful, but I couldn't think of them. All I could think was that Nico was being a complete asshole.
Percy raised his eyebrows at me. "You look like you're about to snap that broomstick in half. You alright?"
I huffed, "I'm fine. Nico's just been ignoring me. You'd think he'd at least want to talk to me a little, or tolerate it."
"Nico takes a while to form strong connections is all."
"I greeted him in the hall and he didn't respond. That's not him having issues forming connections, that's him being rude."
"Why do you care so much anyway?" Percy nudged my shoulder. "You've got the rest of us. Why do you need Nico to be your friend, too?"
"I used to know him. It's been a really long time, obviously, but I thought we could at least catch up. I'd been wondering what happened to him and his sister for a long time."
Percy dropped his mop. "You knew him? Okay, put down the bucket and tell me everything. What was he like before he was kidnapped? Were you close?"
I smiled. "Yeah, we were best friends. I'll admit I don't remember a ton. I remember the day he was taken, and I remembered his eyes. And I remember making sand castles on the beach and pretending to know how to write so we could give letters to our moms. Just like, normal little kid stuff I guess."
His eyes softened. "Does he have other family?"
I swallowed. "His mother passed away a year after he and Bianca disappeared. His father's doing fine, though. I think he remarried."
He winced and pulled the broom closer. "Don't tell Nico about his mother. I know that sounds unsympathetic, but he doesn't need to know. He's still mourning Bianca. Let him think they're both alive. Please."
I looked up at the crow's nest again. "I'm going to go talk to him. I won't mention his mom."
Percy grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "You will not. He doesn't like people talking to him when he's up there. He only goes up when he's slipping back into mourning or really, really stressed. Don't bother him."
I nodded. He let me go.
And then I was running towards the ropes leading up to the crow's nest. The others yelled at me, but I had to talk to him. I had to know if he remembered me, because this was all driving me insane. Besides, he was being a jerk. Maybe I was too by disturbing him, I don't know, but he was lonely and an asshole so I was going to talk to him.
I climbed the nets faster than I thought I could. From there, it wasn't hard to pull myself up into the crow's nest. Nico was sitting the other way, back against a wooden beam.
"Hey, Will," he said.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"No one else is stupid enough to come up here when I've made it very clear I don't want to talk to anyone."
I hummed. That's probably fair of him to say, considering that's exactly what I did. I plopped down next to him and pulled my knees to my chest. "So, are we going to talk about it?"
His expression remained unperturbed. "About what?"
I nudged him. "How I knew you when you were little. And how you've been blatantly ignoring me like a jackass."
He relaxed into himself, like the stress had been pulling him in all different directions and it just let go. "So you do remember. I couldn't tell."
"Yeah, I remember," I told him. "You...became captain. Sounds like you improved the ship a lot, too, according to what everyone says so far."
"It was bad before, with the old captain. Their standards are low. I'm doing my best. How have you been all these years? You're going to be a doctor?"
I scooted over so our shoulders were touching. "Yeah, once I get a job somewhere. I was working at a fish stand trying to pay off medical school debts when all of this happened. The application process is taking a while. I'm glad I got to see you again. I've been wondering if you're okay."
He didn't look at me. "Yeah. I'm okay. You work at a fish stand. You used to hate fish. You cried when one brushed against you in the water one day at the beach."
I laughed. "Yeah, I still hate fish. You still hate radishes, or no?"
He smiled and let his eyes drift shut. "They never even make it on the boat. I might be a shit captain, but I have standards."
I chortled. We fell into silence.
"What was your old captain like?" I asked hesitantly. "I can't imagine he was horrible, or else why are you all still here?"
"He was worse than horrible." Behind his eyelids, I thought he might be remembering the old captain. I wondered what he used to look like. "He was...well, we don't say his name anymore because of how horrible he was. Kidnapping children should be enough to show you what a dick he was, but it kept getting worse. We were all terrified of him."
"Why didn't you escape?"
He took a ragged breath. "He made us steal with him, and once the townspeople recognized us as the thieves from the pirate ship, they would've arrested us. He trapped us between two choices. One being prison and the other being the Argo II." He opened his eyes again. "Don't worry though. You won't have to steal anything, and I'll make sure to make it look like you're escaping us when we get back to Honnet. They'll know you're not a pirate."
I let my head fall to his shoulder and he stiffened for a moment before relaxing. I stared at him before shifting my view to the stars. "I've missed you. I used to go to the dock or the forest and try to get a view of your ship during even numbered years in an attempt to get a glimpse at you. I never saw you, though."
His forehead creased. "That's dangerous, Will. No wonder they caught you. You were practically waiting to be caught."
"Ha. Well, I was actually dumping out fish into the ocean this year, but you're probably right. It was dumb. But the even-numbered years were the kidnapping years, which meant you spent more time at each city. So I knew those years were going to be the ones that I would have a chance of seeing you. And, hey, I wasn't wrong. I did finally manage to see you again on an even-numbered year. It just wasn't because I was looking—it was because your crew was."
He hummed his disapproval. We sat in silence again. The stars were beautiful. Calming. And...they made me feel slightly bold.
"You still haven't told me why you've been avoiding me, you prick."
He laughed. "Sorry. Sorry. You're very confusing to talk to, and it stressed me out. Besides, I was afraid you would catch on that I knew who you were, as silly as that sounds now."
"Apology not accepted. Looks like you'll just have to make it up to me," I lied with a grin. He teasingly shoved me, and I shoved back.
"How will I do that? Not feed you fish? Give you my portion of mango in the mornings? Eat radishes raw?"
"I'll let you know." I winked and he laughed again.
"Good to know you're an asshole, too."
"You don't mind." And I thought about holding his hand. I really did. Because even though I'd sworn off men, my heart felt like it was made of starstuff. And besides, how bad can it really be to hold a man's hand?
Just as I'd said it, though, we were interrupted by a shout from below. "There's a military boat following us!" Then a cry. "Not just a military boat. He's found us! He's alive!"
Nico sprung to his feet, practically lept from the crow's nest, and used one hand to grab some rope and slide down it so it would break his fall. He landed on his feet and sprinted to where the rest of the crew was already gathering. It took me another minute to get down.
Murmurs around the group raised the tensions even higher. Leo passed an eyeglass to Nico, who stepped up onto a crate for a better view. He watched through it and adjusted the lense for a moment. Then, slowly, without turning around, he whispered, "It's him. It's Gabriel."
Percy went rigid beside me, and the others hooked onto each other.
"Gabriel?" I murmured.
Percy's eyes were darker than the pits of the sea. "Gabe. Our old captain. He's found us."
Word count: 1583