The wharf was a small, ancient looking construction of planks and wooden poles. Many of the boards were weather-stained, chipped, or completely missing from the ramps, causing the few people walking across them to vigilantly watch their footing.
A few small vessels, rocked by the gentle waves, strained against the poles that they were secured to, like dogs waiting for their masters. They all appeared to be fishing boats, except for one - a small yacht with a snow white sail that rose proudly above all the other vessels. The yacht's side read "Salacia" in cursive, silver letters, and if I recalled my history class correctly, that name belonged to the Roman goddess of salt waters who resided over the depth of the sea, and was the wife of the god Neptune.
"Wait here," told me Sebastian before heading down the ramp and towards 'Salacia'.
Aside from us, the people here all seemed to be natives of the working class, most appearing to be fishermen. Some unloaded their catch while others fixed fishing nets or scrubbed their boats clean. All had deep tans from working long hours under the sun, and most could use a shave and a bath. Sebastian and I really stood out with our crisp clothes and carefree composures. I was back in my new hat and white dress in the folds of which gently played the salty ocean breeze, and the butler finally decided to put his shirt back on much to my relief.
Upon reaching 'Salacia', Sebastian exchanged a few words with the man aboard the sailboat who was painting the railing before the demon disturbed him. I could only guess what they talked about from the gestures and the body language, but whatever Sebastian told him seemed to really interest the man, as he set aside his can of paint and nodded expressively at the butler. Suddenly, Sebastian motioned in my direction and the yacht owner threw me a sizing glance before nodding his head again. The demon then handed him something which he received enthusiastically with both hands.
Why did I get the impression that Sebastian just sold me to him? I chuckled to myself.
Having arrived at some sort of agreement, the demon strode back to my side, a thoughtful smile never leaving his face.
"How do you feel about watching the sunset from the open sea, My Lady?" He asked, offering me a hand.
"Sounds tempting," I responded with glee, eagerly accepting his hand.
Sebastian escorted me down the ramp, keeping me from stumbling all over the wobbly planks (I wouldn't be surprised if I was the clumsiest creature he'd ever served), aiding me on the yacht like the true gentleman that he was, before jumping aboard himself.
Up close, the vessel seemed even more impressive than from afar. The polished wood reflected the rays of the setting sun, accenting the flowery patterns engraved on its walls, and the colossal sail wavered above us like the wing of an enormous white dragon.
"Welcome aboard 'Salacia', Lady Phantomhive," greeted the man with whom Sebastian spoke earlier, "my name is Mario, and I will be your skipper for today."
Judging from the many wrinkles and the graying moustache, Mario was on the brink of retirement. But despite his visible age, he seemed lively and very spirited. A red bucket hat was pulled low over his eyes, and I took notice that the ring finger of his left hand was missing which immediately made me wonder of the story behind it.
"Thank you," I responded cheerfully.
"And is this persuasive gentleman a servant of yours?" Asked Mario, motioning towards Sebastian.
The demon didn't hesitate to introduce himself with a small bow, "I'm simply one hell of a-"
"Partner in crime," I cut him off before he coul finish his sentence, topping off my answer with a small wink, recieving an understanding nod from Mario.
"Your yacht is a true work of art," I commented to the older man.
He beamed before replying, "she truly is something, isn't she, but I'm afraid I don't own this beauty. 'Salacia' belongs to Signore Giovanni, as well as half of the fishing boats that you see here. He is one of the wealthiest men in Italy. Owns the biggest vessel production company in all of Europe. I'm just one of his skippers. Sailing is what I do. Consider yourselves lucky that Signore Giovanni is gone up North on some business trip, otherwise I never would have agreed to take you for a ride in one of his yachts."
I got the feeling that, given the chance, Mario would talk on and on forever, but thankfully he stopped to prepare the vessel for departure.
Deciding to give him some space to work, Sebastian and I went to stand at the bow of the boat.
I leaned over the railing to gaze into the water below, observing the schools of tiny, glittering fish chase each other around a pertruding boulder. The demon also leaned against the railing beside me, as if to see what captivated my interest so greatly. Soon we both watched as the most confusing game of catch to ever be recorded unfolded before our eyes. There was something mesmerizing about the way the fish sparkled with silver as they jolted around.
Sebastian was the one to break the silence, " 'partner in crime', huh?"
"Ah," I chuckled, shifting from one foot to the other, "I thought it'd be weird if I said I was going on a sunset boat ride with my butler."
He hummed in agreement, "weird, indeed. How about 'sunset boat ride with my demon' then?"
That made me laugh.
"No, you're right, you're right" he continued in an ironically serious tone. Sebastian pondered for a moment, adding softly, "okay then, how about 'with my lover'?"
I stopped laughing.
The tiny fish below stilled, as if listening into our conversation, then quickly scattered in different directions as a bigger fish came into view.
"Sebastian, what are we?"
The question hanged in the air as we both tried to piece together this puzzle, but there were still too many missing pieces to complete it. The question arose with it a number of more complicated ones, such as, 'where are we going', and 'how far are we willing to take this', and 'what about the contract', and so on.
I sighed.
"Well you're not my boyfriend," I voiced my thoughts, "a boyfriend is somebody I sat at lunch with in second grade. I'm not a kid anymore."
"Hmmm, I disagree with that last part," Sebastian teased.
Ouch.
(A/N: idk how old ya'll are reading this but from my perspective Y/N's 18; I don't feel comfortable partnering Sebastian with minors which is actually the only reason why I don't ship Sebaciel but anyway continueee)
I ignored his comment, saying, " 'fiance' would be jumping way ahead of things. 'Soulmate' is way too cheeky, and kind of ironic," a snickered, "and 'companion' just sounds like you're my pet."
"But it would be kind of true, wouldn't it," he scoffed.
"What? Nooo," I shook my head, "nope, nope, if I wanted a pet I would have gotten a dog."
Sebastian laughed. His laugh was deep and velvety, and was the best sound in the entire world that made my heart flutter like the wings of a hummingbird.
The child of Hell directed an ecstatic smile at me, making me recall that his sharp senses allowed him to easily distinguish the beating of my heart; meaning that he was well aware of the effect he had on me.
I quickly tried to drown away the thought before blood could begin rushing to my face.
Sebastian mused, "do we really need to fit in the mold of some label?"
I thought about it for a moment, then, "no, I guess not."
"Let's just be who we are and not worry too much about how others perceive us."
I hesitantly nodded in agreement.
Since when was he a guru?
Sebastian scooted closer to me until our shoulders touched, then found my hand with his own and, interlacing our fingers, gave it a meaningful squeeze. I returned the action, turning his hand over to look at the develish mark drawn into his pale skin.
It's not often that he took his gloves off, so I took the opportunity to study his hand through gentle caresses. It was slim and a bit claw-like, yet very strong and smooth. I stroked the star-shaped mark and his black fingernails, noting how they didn't feel any different from my own.
Sebastian watched my every movement in silence.
Suddenly, I felt hot breaths against the side of my head that revealed the close proximity of his face. Soft as cotton lips skimmed along my ear and jawline, sending a pleasant shiver up my shoulders.
"All aboard," suddenly bellowed Mario, " 'Salacia' is now departing for the Mediterranean Sea." The boat swayed as it caught wind and glided lazily for the open waters.
I turned around to watch the shore slowly retreat further and further away. There was something totally thrilling about the fact that deep water surrounded us from all sides now. Soon, people, trees and houses all became tiny misshaped dots, and land - a textured line that separated the sea from the sky.
Out here, the wind and the waves were stronger, and the sailboat suddenly inclined sharply to the side, causing me to loose balance and grab onto the closest thing to me to keep my clumsy ass from high fiving the floor. That thing happened to be Sebastian.
I yelped as my body weight toppled me at him and my face met with his broad chest. At the same time my sun hat fell over my eyes, making me momentarily blind. A pair of steady hands caught me by the arms and helped me find my balance again, then lifted the hat off my face to reveal a snickering demon staring me down with a mixture of amusement and disappointment.
"Oops," I giggled, and went to take a step back, but wasn't able to as Sebastian wouldn't let go of my arms.
My hat was discarded on the small bench on the side, as a hand found it's way to the side of my face and tenderly brushed loose strands of hair behind my ear.
The demon's eyes jolted from my lips, to my eyes, to my neck, to my jawline and back again, drinking me up through his gaze alone. He wet his lips with his tongue and swallowed slowly.
Why did he appear.... nervous? Or was I just imagining it?
"Y/N Phantomhive," the silky way my name slid off his lips made me catch my breath. He stared so intensely into my eyes almost like he could see all the way into my soul, he murmured, "I lo-"
At that moment, an intense gust of wind ran into us from the side. The white sail fluttered violently while the boat made another sharp dip, yet this time I remained perfectly stable in the demon's arms.
My hat, on the other hand, which was set aside on the bench was suddenly picked up by the wind, and sent off flying over our heads and across the railing.
His reflexes sharp as ever, Sebastian reached for the hat, yet his hand missed by a total of two centimeters. We followed the head piece with our eyes as it twirled once through the air and descended serenely upon the water's surface, skimming further and further away from the boat.
"Well," began Mario, "there's another gift for Salacia, the goddess of the waters. I remember this one time when a lady had dropped her diamond ring into the Mediterranean. Up to this day it is lost on the bottom there somewhe- hey, hey, what are you doing?!" He suddenly exclaimed.
I turned to see what Mario was looking at and discovered Sebastian unhesitatingly jumping over the railing and disappearing beneath the water's surface with a big splash.
"That's not a good idea, sir," Mario called after the demon, as if it could still change something, "the currents are devilishly strong in these parts. You'll be swept away in an instant!"
"I wouldn't worry about him," I reassured the skipper.
He eyed me questioningly, "What, is he a good swimmer?"
"He's... uhm... he's just good at everything," I chuckled.
We both turned to see Sebastian already swimming back towards the boat, carrying the hat in his mouth, completely unbothered by any currents. He looked like a dog retrieving a toy for his master.
I ran to the yacht's rear to meet him.
"Watch it, the paint on those railings is not dry yet," the old man informed.
"Got it!"
Sebastian climbed the ladder at the back, water streaming down from his drenched clothes, but despite it he seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Don't touch the railings," I reminded him, offering an arm to help him up instead. The demon eyed my hand maliciously. Too late did I realize my mistake when he took it, and, instead of helping himself aboard, suddenly hauled me towards him, making the both of us fall back into the sea.
One second I was free falling, the other I was swallowed by the cool waves, going under as fast as a boulder. Despite me trying to wave my arms around to bring myself closer to the surface, I only sank further and further away from the golden rays of sunshine overhead.
A subtle burn began settling in my lungs and panic erupted at the back of my mind, as a single thought kept playing over and over again in my head like a broken record: I am going to drown.
But at that moment something gripped me by the waist, and I felt the water rushing against me as I was pulled up, up, up, until the daylight and the oxygen finally met with my face.
I took a hungry breath in.
Blinking my eyes open, I found a familiar pair of crimson orbs staring back. The demon looked at me the way an appraiser looks at a lost Van Gogh painting.
We were surrounded by a blue endlessness from all sides. My legs bangled in the bottomless vast, giving me the unsettling feeling that something was about to sink its teeth into me and drag me under.
As if on cue, Sebastian's grip on my waist suddenly loosened and I panicked, "no, no, don't let go!"
I threw my arms around his large neck and pulled myself on him to ensure that I wouldn't be abandoned. My shallow breathing pushed the total of my female softness right against his lean chest, yet Sebastian didn't seem to mind one bit. His eyebrows rose a bit at all the unexpected contact, but what did he expect?
"I can't swim," I reminded him.
Our faces were so close now, his breaths were still warm when they met with my skin. I watched as little droplets of water fell from his dark hair onto his face and slid downwards to disappear in the sea. One droplet slithered over Sebastian's lips and he leisurely licked it off with his tongue. There was something exceptionally hot about the action that made me gulp.
A low grunt resonated in his throat as he muttered, "watch where you're touching, kitten."
I frowned, confused at first, but my eyes grew as big as two full moons when I finally realized what he meant. A hard bulge was pressing against my right thigh.
Holy peanut butter and jelly on toast.
I felt the temperature of my face skyrocket as blood rushed to it.
Obviously I couldn't move away since Sebastian was sort of my life buoy at the moment, so I just froze with utter embarrassment, not really knowing what else to do.
Sebastian's chest shook under me as he laughed, low and breathy.
That only made me feel worse.
I hid my face in my shoulder and mumbled miserably, "Just let me drown."
"No, no, baby, it's okay," the demon quickly said between snickers, kissing the top of my head, "nothing's wrong. It's okay."
He tapped my chin with his fingers, urging me to face him, but I just shook my head 'no' and remained as I was.
"Y/N, honestly, you're still such a child," the demon teased, and with sarcastic disappointment added, "there's so much I still have to teach you."
I almost chocked on pure air.
Teach me?
I scoffed.
Yeah right. Whatever fantasy he was living in, I wanted nothing to do with it.
Finally approaching the boat, Sebastian helped me get a grip of the ladder.
"After you."
______________________________________
Starting university soon
Eeek, so not ready to adult 😩
Anybody else going to school in the fall?