"Okay, I'm ready." Louis remarked as he stepped out of Harry's study to the open air of the ship. Harry had came back in after their round to give him a new set of clothes that Louis was pretty sure belonged to Harry himself.
If the dried stain of blood on one of the sleeves and familiarly odd smell of animal fur was any clue anyhow.
He felt out of place in the clothing. He couldn't see what he really looked like due to the absence of a mirror within Harry's room, he was confident that he looked a bit ridiculous in pirate clothes though. Eleanor herself when she had worn Danielle's own outfit the night before had a bit of a funny look going about her, not just because she was wearing men's clothes, but just in general.
They weren't meant to wear pirate clothes.
It didn't fit them at all.
His mind wavered back to Niall, once standing amongst the top of the world, at the top of his country with the elite, was now lowered to a status where he wore nothing but tattered rags on a cramped ship with criminals.
How did he make that shift in life so easily?
He'd been so blessed into the world as a noble and he just threw it all away for Zayn and Liam because of 'love at first sight' or whatever?
Louis knew that wasn't him and it never would be.
Harry watched over him with analyzing eyes and Louis pulled at the bottom of his trousers where tightened boots were giving him too much friction.
"You look good." Harry complimented simply with a curt nod.
The prince scowled lightly pulled at the cuffed sleeve, "Why do I have to wear this?"
"Because I said so."
The reply was instant and Louis's scowl grew fiercer as he glared at Harry challengingly, "I don't want to catch a rash or some other kind of disease from these because I don't even know who they belong to. How long do I have to keep this on?"
Harry shook his head, his arms folding over his chest before he began walking in the direction of the ship's boarding bridge. Louis immediately rushed forward to keep up with him, his gaze marveling around as they began moving down the ramped stairs,
"If you catch a disease feel free to appeal to Miss Calder about it. She isn't onboard to be a pretty face, you know." He glanced over at the prince who halted his awing at the numerous amounts of ships in favor of watching Harry who smirked and winked, "You on the other hand, are."
Feeling his cheeks flush, Louis snorted as he turned his face away, "Well, considering how many assfaces are on that ship, someone has to be the pretty face." He quickly countered.
Even without Harry chuckling at the teasing remark, Louis knew he was kidding.
He knew what Harry really wanted him onboard for...eventual control over the Crown. Louis tried to not think of it that way, especially coupled with the fact that Harry could be an insanely ruthless bastard with not a single care for who he shot down.
The moment they made it to the dock, Louis could honestly say his heart was beating out of control.
So close to the city. So close...
"Here, put this on." Louis sputtered when Harry's hat hit him in the face, and his hands were instantly up to catch the accessory piece. Louis's little daydream fantasy was thoroughly crushed into oblivious as he stared down at the pirate hat within his hand.
It was the same one that Harry occasionally wore while on One Direction, red with gold linens and a single gleaming blue gem at the side that was connected to the mess of feather-like material at the top, the thing seemed like it was actually worth a good amount of money.
Instinctively, Louis glanced at Harry in questioning to why he had to put the hat on, and in response, Harry simply scoffed before cupping his hands around Louis's and guiding his hands upward to rest the hat on top of his head.
Louis blinked his eyes blankly as he cautiously lowered his hands while Harry removed his own, "There. Now you look like a real prince."
The royal's eyebrows furrowed and he prepared to retort, but Harry's hands clasped over one of his once more and the curly haired captain flashed him a grin unlike Louis had ever seen before, "I take it you've never been to Ireland, let alone Dublin before."
Taken back by the sudden question and Harry's expression, Louis couldn't formulate his words steadily enough, "I... Uh... Well... No."
He'd hardly been out of England, only traveling into Wales and Scotland about twice in his lifetime. How Harry knew that was a bit unsettling and surprising to say the least.
Harry nodded knowingly, "We're gunna have a lot of fun today then!"
"Excuse me!?" Louis's voice trailed off into a bit of a shout as he found himself being yanked forward when Harry broke out into a sprint down the port's wooden bridge. Each step he took forward forced Louis to make an effort to keep up, which was alarmingly difficult and reminded him that either Harry was capable of running at superhuman speeds or he needed to get in shape.
Even in the midst of the run, Louis couldn't help but find his eyes gleaming as he looked ahead.
He was actually on dry land and on his way toward freedom.
When Harry finally stopped, it was just on the outskirts of the entrance into the city centre. Passing them by the whole time had been curious people that Louis occasionally lost sight of whenever Harry's hat slid over his eyes and he struggled to adjust it over his head without having it slide back downward or fly off of his head all together.
Panting, Louis found his hands moving to his knees as he hunched over to catch his breath that was slipping from his lips at such a rapid pace along with the sensation of lungs that felt just about ready to collapse in his rib cage from exhaustion.
Harry on the other hand, simply let out a breezy laugh as he wiped his forehead, "That was a fun jog. Got my heart pumped up for some excitement." He glanced downward at the brunet that was still doubled over and he smirked slightly, "Don't you agree, Princess—"
"Fuck off." Louis hissed, however the moment the words came out his mouth he inwardly scolded himself.
He was in public now.
The distant chatter of the civilians within the crowded centre, coupled along with the clattering of horse hooves that hit against the rundown cobblestone and occasional shouts of advertisement from city venders reminded Louis that now, he was in civilization once again.
His eyes scanned over his surroundings in wonder,
Many men seemed to occupy the population around as well as a few women and children who all appeared too caught up in their daily routine to even pay notice to Louis who was glancing all about him, taking in the sights of the venders and stores along with the occasional galloping horse drawn carriages that transported either people or cargo.
"You've never been to a city centre before?" Harry arched a brow as Louis snapped his attention back toward him.
Louis prepared to retort back wittily, but one look at Harry's expression and the prince knew he was honestly curious.
Suddenly feeling a bit ashamed, Louis glanced away, "In England when I made visits into the town in my carriage if that counts?" He couldn't help but finish it as a question because in actuality, he didn't even truly make visits. The only time he made 'visits' was to pass through the town to get to another. He hardly even looked out the window to take a peek at how everyone was fairing outside the walls.
Harry simply nodded his head in understanding.
Louis once again moved his eyes from Harry in favor of watching the scenery around him. His hand moved to push back up Harry's hat that was once again threatening to take over his face.
"Well, we can take a look around since you seem so curious." Harry stated airily and Louis found himself blinking when the pirate captain's hand grabbed his wrist. Harry began walking forward and Louis followed after without much of a choice.
Pushing past a majority of the people ahead, Harry paved a way for both him and Louis toward the venders that were negotiating prices with several men.
Items ranged from food like potatoes to trinkets like voodoo necklaces as far down the line as Louis could see with the wooden stands built up down the road.
When Harry stopped moving and released his wrist, Louis snorted before muttering out a quick, 'I'm not a child' and going about to examine the pieces of jewelry set up on the table for display.
As far as real jewels were concerned, it was far too easy to distinguish every single one of the items' gems as fake that Louis gave a dry laugh while he played with one of the necklaces in his hands.
Harry leaned forward to look at the gleaming ruby, "If you want my opinion, I'm sure you'd look real pretty with that on."
"Oh, shut up." Louis intervened with a roll of his eyes, "I'm just laughing at how pitifully fake and tacky these things are. Only a fool with horrible fashion taste would actually buy one of these." He carelessly dropped the necklace back on the table before he moved his irises around for another piece to examine.
Harry whistled, "Sassy."
"What was that?"
"I said you look really pretty."
With the charming smile that was flashed his way when Louis gave him a glare, the royal couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Well, tell me something I don't know." He mumbled distractedly, he pretended to avert his focus back on the ornaments set up at the vending area, however as Harry's hat began to slip over his forehead once more, Louis's eyes flashed over to his right side in search of an opening he could possibly use to just break away and run.
If he ran, he was more than positive that Harry would successfully catch him.
He was dealing with a criminal, not only that, one of the best damn criminals in the whole fucking world. If he wanted to get away, he couldn't rely on his physical side which was far disadvantaged in comparison to Harry... He'd have to outsmart him and he knew for a fact that his own strategic mind was more than capable of rivaling Harry's more sneaky set.
Once he got away, the first place he'd have to go would be St. Patrick's Cathedral... The Bishop would be able to help him.
"If you plan on buying anything, just tell me." Harry insisted as he shifted along with Louis whenever the brunet moved down the vending line to look at whatever else he could.
Louis gave an incomprehensible mumble to give the idea that he was still warped in looking at commoner's goods.
He had to admit, the people of Dublin certainly had a lot of potatoes and fish... Which he supposed made sense because Dublin was right by the sea and potatoes were all the Irish could breathe.
"Now why would anyone want to play with these things?" Louis found himself asking aloud as he glanced over a wide array of kites.
The patterns on all of them were creative, he had to admit, but kite flying seemed so dull.
You stand on the ground holding a piece of rope while the thing flew in the air. What was so fun about that?
"My sister used to love kites." Harry softly remarked while he picked up one of the more box-shaped kites that had been splash painted. Not prepared for the rather serious topic, Louis found himself freezing up as Harry examined the kite more closely; "I never understood why," Harry glanced over at Louis with a small smile, "I mean, what's so great about standing and holding rope?"
Weakly, Louis nodded, "Maybe she just liked watching the scenery?"
He didn't like talking about this.
It made him feel too uncomfortable as though the air around him was too thick to properly breathe. Harry speaking to him about his deceased sister, who was only deceased because of Louis's father, was strange and left a large sensation of foreboding over Louis's heart.
Harry tilted his head slightly, a rather uncharacteristic frown coming to his lips, "Maybe. Or maybe because kites were one of the only play things we had."
"Oh." Was all Louis could say. Because what else can you say when in a situation like this?
With Harry's continuous stare on the kite within his hands, Louis could easily say this had to be his first time seeing Harry like this.
He looked so distant; his eyes didn't appear to be with him.
It was strange.
Seeing Harry so sad was strange.
"Harry, I have sisters too, you know." Louis stated, his arms moved to intertwine with the curly haired male's own limb and he maneuvered his hand to cover one of Harry's that clutched the kite, "They're troublesome at times. Since I'm the only boy, it gets a bit frustrating too. Girls can be really complicated." He offered him a minuscule smile.
Harry sighed as he shook his head. He lowered the kite and turned to face Louis simply, "Ironically enough, that's one of the reasons I wanted to marry you when I was younger." Harry untangled their arms and Louis found himself growing a bit embarrassed as Harry watched him seriously, "All the females around me were lovely, but far too strange for my liking." He chuckled while fitting his hands into his pockets,
"Then I looked at a picture of you and suddenly I had the perfect lover in mind." His eyes moved upward, "If only I could go back in time. I'd tell myself not to worry, because the prince does end up being mine. Technicalities aside."
"Can I just begin to say how I thought you were being sweet but then you just had to ruin it with that last bit? Asshole." Louis growled while leering offensively at the leisurely standing pirate that shrugged uncaringly.
Louis would have gone off with a thousand insults that flashed into his mind that attacked practically everything about the captain, but before he could, Harry was looking at one of his golden pocket watches skeptically.
"We should get going." Harry mused to himself quietly.
Louis arched a brow, "Get going where?"
Without an answer to his question, Harry turned to begin walking, and he only held up a single hand that beckoned Louis to follow after him.
Now, the prince began weighing his options.
He could run now. Harry wasn't paying attention. If he just turned and ran, he could probably get far enough away from Harry and get his way to the Cathedral for the clergy's assistance.
Harry's back was going further into the crowd and just as Louis took a step backward, Harry glanced over his shoulder, his eyes impatient as though to say 'Hurry up'.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Louis took a shaky step forward to catch up with the brunet.
He'd have to have another opportunity...
"So where exactly are we going?" Louis breathlessly inquired as he made it in step beside the strutting captain.
Harry flipped his hair casually, not stopping to give the prince a glance, "To visit an old friend of mine."
Speaking of old friends...
"Do you know where Liam, Zayn, Danielle, and Eleanor are? Also, why do you guys keep Niall locked up on the ship alone?"
"I know that my entire crew is within the city. Knowing Zayn and Danielle they probably tried going into a whore house and knowing Liam and Eleanor they stopped those two from going into the whore houses. Niall is locked up on the ship, not alone I mind you, Josh and a few others are still onboard, because we're in Leinster and it'd be completely idiotic of me to allow him here when searches for the missing Horan noble are still going on." Harry let out an arrogant snort that Louis had to roll his eyes at,
It made sense that Niall wasn't going off the ship for that reason and the more Louis thought about it, the more stupid it made him seem for even asking the question in the first place.
"Alright... So how far away is this place? Because I'm not feeling all too comfortable..." Louis honestly muttered, they had been walking for about ten minutes in pure silence aside from Louis's grunts and pants from when he nearly toppled over the uneven ground that was roughly put together and Harry's warning growls toward the homeless beggars that all intently watched both the boys as they kept their descent down the road.
Louis noted that the farther they walked the more rundown the area became.
The centre hadn't been nearly this bad with the amount of poor people in the streets and the buildings looked inhabitable. Here, everyone was skinnier than Louis ever thought possible and had the dirtiest rags to cover their bodies.
He couldn't help but wonder where they'd go when winter set in. Those thin clothes they had on and the small blankets would hardly help them from the stormy rain that would eventually come.
It was sad to think about and watch, especially when he saw the children without a guardian all alone.
"It's disgusting, isn't it?" Harry humorlessly laughed as he shook his head, his steps not faltering, "How they're all suffering out here?"
Louis didn't know how to respond, his mind going back pace to Niall who had lightly told him of Ireland's struggle due to the Crown and British nobility.
Once again, he found guilt squirming its way into his stomach.
Niall said it was bad... But this was terrible.
Exactly how many places were there in Dublin like here? How many places in Ireland? He knew the number had to be higher than his teachings in England ever told him. He knew there were poor people and he knew they were hurting... But this was just sad.
He watched a mother try to pacify her sobbing infant to no avail. The woman glanced upward and made brief eye contact with Louis. Frowning, the prince quickly looked away and turned to Harry who sighed, "The place is right in here." Harry hummed as he came to a stop at a door down one of the narrow alleyways.
Louis unsurely looked around the area as Harry gave a double knock to the wooden entrance.
A sliding peep hole was opened toward the top middle of the door, and a set of eyes glared down at both brunets.
"Identification, Styles." Harry simply droned out. The eyes seemingly nodded in confirmation at him before moving to look at Louis right as Harry's hat went over his face. "He's with me." Harry stated easily.
As Louis pushed the hat back up, he came to see the door opening ever so slowly.
The inside was dark and only a few dim oil lamps lit up the area that appeared to be just like a bar-esque set up.
"Welcome back, Captain Styles." The rather burly man who had opened the door for them greeted, his voice a low octave that made Louis cringe as he followed after Harry who began walking coolly down the aisles of the place all too familiarly.
"Excuse me," Harry said in regards to the woman working behind the counter of the bar, she wore men's clothes but her hair still flowed long and her face was too feminine for her to pass as a male. "Do you know when Captain Cowell is coming in this afternoon, love?" He smiled charmingly at the female and Louis found irritation entering the pit of his stomach at that moment.
Harry sounded so fake.
Did he really just have to turn on the 'charm' for this woman? Why couldn't he just put in the terror that came with his title of the infamous Captain Styles?
Honestly, he was smiling and being all cutesy when he was normally scowling and glaring for this girl. She wasn't even special.
The girl giggled and leaned over the counter, her boobs practically pushing against the surface of the countertop toward Harry as she batted her eyelashes, "Sorry, I can't say I do. However, you're free to stay in here as long as possible until he does come in."
With her rich curls and brown eyes, she reminded Louis a lot of Danielle but with the little booby show going on; it was insulting to place Danielle in the same league as her.
"Hm... But I may grow bored. Perhaps, you can provide me with some company while I wait, young miss?"
Why was Harry even flirting with her? He was always supposed to be tough, wasn't he?
He could remember practically everyone on the ship telling him that he had always been the one to receive Harry's good side. Only him.
So why was this bitch getting the smiles that was only supposed to be going towards Louis?
He couldn't help but glare at her in annoyance.
"Oh? But what about your friend?" She didn't even glance in Louis's direction.
"What about him?" Harry smirked as the female let out an irritating laugh, "He doesn't have to be a factor in this."
Louis grunted and shot a leer in Harry's direction, "I—"
"Okay, Captain Styles, I see you still got the password in mind." The bartender now seriously stated, her playful tone evaporating from her speech in such way that it sounded like a completely different person.
The prince's eyes grew wide as he turned to look at the female who was now pulling up her hair into a messy bun before she expertly put her legs over the counter and jumped off the edge, "Captain Cowell will see you now." Her eyes scanned over Harry judgingly,
Confused, Louis glanced at Harry for some sort of answer to the female's sudden change, but he didn't appear to notice Louis's bewilderment,
Harry's smile didn't disappear as he returned the evaluating look on her body, "You haven't changed a bit."
"Stop staring at my tits like you're straight. We both know you're about as straight as my curls." The female snorted as she turned on her heel to begin leading them down the back of the bar.
Harry let out a snort, "Does this mean we won't play after I'm done with my meeting?"
"You can suck my dick if that's what you want, you little nancy boy. Or better yet, suck your friend's. His dick is probably big enough for your huge mouth."
"Excuse me?" Louis sputtered out in disbelief,
The captain of One Direction chuckled as he gave Louis a reassuring wink, "Don't mind her. She's just an old acquaintance of mine from the Lionheart."
"Along with this Captain Cowell person?" Louis questioned with furrowed eyebrows,
When Harry didn't respond and instead began walking ahead to a seat within the back where a single man sat, almost away from all the lights, Louis halted his steps, unsure on if he should follow behind or...
His head looked backward at the free opportunity to just leave.