Ocean Eyes, Storm Cloud Minds

Chapter Eight

Lancelot's breath got caught in his throat as he felt the ground suddenly move from beneath him. He stumbled back, one foot catching on the other and stopping him from regaining his baLancelot as he tripped, not having quick enough reflexes to be able to latch onto something and stop himself from collapsing onto the hard wooden floor, a harsh sound of his impact onto the cold deck being like a gunshot in a crowd.

"Convincing someone else to cover for your incompetence?" Elric asked, irritation clear in his tone and anger in his expression.

"I didn't f*****g do that!" He snapped, and at this point Dandé had excused himself from the conversation, fully aware of the punishments on this ship and not wanting to experience one for himself. Not again, at least.

Lancelot, on the other hand, not knowing any of the punishments and not caring - what with his current chances of surviving long enough to get a punishment - kept talking, arguing with the captain in such a bitter manner that anyone would think he had Elric on the floor, rather than it being the other way round. If he survived this first day, every little behavioural issue that Elric had provoked would get it's own violent and bloody consequence, each varying in levels of pain and methods. Of course, he regretted speaking in the way he had once the captain opened his mouth, using a much more of a harsh and cruel tone than he had merely moments ago.

"Are you even good at anything?!" He shouted, sadness flickering across Lancelots face for a moment before he looked back up at Elric, speaking even louder this time.

"Maybe I'm not!" He yelled back, glaring up at the other from his seat on the floor. "Maybe I don't have a thing! Maybe the only reason I'm still here and haven't thrown myself overboard is because I want to go home and see my family at some point before I die on this damn vessel!" He said, raising his voice further and letting more aggression sneak into his words, but instead of getting hurt badly for this - like he thought would happen - Elric only took a step closer and retaliated verbally, his fists clenched with anger evident in his eyes and grit teeth.

The black haired male delivered a swift and painful kick to Lancelots waist, making him gasp and softly grunt in pain, anger still dominant on his features as he looked to the Captain.

"I didn't let you live for nothing, got that?! Whatever the hell it is that you think you're doing here, do it right, because if you're incompetent to the point where you can't even be called a cabin boy, or swabbie, I'll enjoy keeping you in my cabin, used for sharpening my knives until you eventually starve or bleed to death." He growled, and the anger quickly died away on Lancelot's features, being almost immediately replaced with fear as he fought back the tears filling his eyes. He nodded, looking down and refusing to speak, but the captain hadn't finished 'putting Lancelot in his place', as he'd later phrase it when justifying his actions.

Another hard kick in the same place made the brunet yelp in pain and curl up a little, covering the soon-to-be-badly-bruised skin but not looking at the captain, overwhelmed with the emotions he'd been suppressing in the last few hours he'd been conscious and the sudden realisation that if he survived, his life would get more hellish by the day. And yet, that seemed better than disappearing from his family without a word of warning.

"Blue, I managed to get the big man-" He paused and gLancelotd at Dandé, gesturing to him. "To do his work on this ship. Why the hell are you being so goddamn difficult?!" He shouted, slamming his foot down on Lancelots stomach before turning and storming off, planning on getting the anger out of his system with a new bottle of rum.

The brunet coughed at the impact to his stomach, curling up and covering his mouth with one hand, trying not to throw up what little he'd managed to have for breakfast. He took slow, shaky breaths and didn't even notice the hot tears streaming down his face at this point, gagging a little. It was a few moments before he wiped his eyes and looked up, seeing Dandé extend one hand to him and slowly taking it, the firm grip of the other holding onto his slightly tear-wetted hand. They both stayed silent, the heavy weight of what had just happened and the sinking feeling of the reality he was subject to set in place, causing any words that Lancelot could have tried to say in this situation to die in his throat, before they even got to his mouth.

The others grip was a lot stronger than he'd previously noticed, and as he weakly held back onto the stronger male, he let himself get pulled to his feet and clung onto the others shirt with his other hand, waiting for his wave of nausea to pass. But, as soon as he started to feel the overwhelming urge to be sick, he detached his hands from the other and ran on shaky, unstable legs to the edge of the boat, leaning over the side and vomiting what little he'd eaten that morning. He threw up all that was in his stomach and stayed there for a long few moments, retching to the point where his throat was dry and sore, his voice definitely going to be hoarse after this and yet he couldn't do anything about it except wait for this moment to pass.

He took long, deep breaths once his stomach had settled again and felt Dandés hand gently rubbing his back in a comforting manner, making him sigh softly as he turned back to him, deciding against speaking for now as he wouldn't sure what'd happen to him if he said the wrong thing. He looked up, into his eyes, a look of embarrassment evident on his features while his eyes were red, swollen from the tears that had forced themselves from his eyes upon such harsh impact to his stomach. Dandé had that expression of pity upon his face again and the brunet was starting to think he'd get that a lot if he didn't do anything to change his uselessness on this ship.

After all, he didn't want the last thing he saw to be the glinting of blades, the red of his blood, and Dandé looking down at him with sympathy, pity, and regret.