Ocean Eyes, Storm Cloud Minds

Chapter Eleven

Lancelot felt his heart drop in his chest like a dead weight. All of that effort, working so hard all day, and all he gets is the role of a cabin boy? He didn't even share a gLancelot with the man he normally looks at for a sense of comfort at times like these, and instead forced on keeping tears out of his eyes, at least until he could leave the dining cabin and go to the crews quarters. He was relieved- he felt a small pinprick of optimism that he'd see his family again at some point- and sighed as his arm was released, making an escape attempt before being dragged back into the hall and pushed forward.

"Have a drink, kid!" Elric's voice came, some tall and muscular man, with unnaturally pasty skin for a sailo- a pirate- grinned as he approached the cuban boy and held out an unbranded, unnamed bottle of mysterious alcohol to him. He could see from a slight cleaner section of the bottle that a tag had been ripped off so the strength of the drink would be unknown.

Lancelot hesitantly took it, tempted to smell it to see if he could figure out how much he should drink to prevent himself from getting anything but tipsy, but knew that it wouldn't work out for him. He nodded and muttered a thanks as he brought the bottle to his lips, taking in a small sips worth and trying to push it away before someone grabbed Lancelots hair and kept it pulled back, another hand from the same person keeping his mouth open while the pasty, strong man kept the bottle tilted up and together they forced the alcohol not only into the brunets mouth but down his throat. He drunk as much as he could, his throat burning at the strength of the alcohol and was only saved from the horrible drink after around fifteen seconds when Dandé stepped in and told them to stop.

Lancelot gripped onto Dandé as soon as his head was released, hot tears in his eyes at the strength of the alcohol as the burning in his throat slowly subsided. "Th-Thanks, big man." He said in a dry, weak voice, getting a smile from the other.

"You want to get out of here?" He asked, Ivy appearing next to him after a few moments, pushing the round frames of his glasses a little further up the bridge of his nose.

"I'd recommend it. It'll not be too long until they bring out the stronger drinks. And if there is anyone that you don't want to see properly drunk, it's Captain Red." He piped up and Lancelot nodded, the rush of adrenaline from the alcohol that was already making its way through his system causing his skin to heat up and a light blush to appear on his cheeks.

"Y-Yeah. Let's go." He said, his words as clear as he could make them as he turned, still holding onto Dandé as he was lead out of the door, putting a little more of his weight on the man than he had moments ago.

He briefly tried to force an apology past his lips and tell Dandé that he hadn't had alcohol that strong before, and nothing even slightly similar to an equivalent, but he couldn't quite figure out how exactly to say that and instead kept himself quiet. Dandé held him up with ease, keeping him supported as he led him back to the crews quarters, him and Ivy making conversation that Lancelot couldn't quite focus on, but he didn't let it bother him too badly. Dandé eventually got to their hammocks and helped Lancelot into his, receiving a slightly slurred thanks followed by an apology that was just as unclear. Dandé just told Lancelot not to worry about it and got into his hammock, lying back and sighing as he closed his eyes, the steady rocking of the boat causing the hammocks to sway as they lay there, all three of them in their own hammocks, staying silent.

Lancelot was still awake after the other two had fallen asleep- the sound of others having fun and getting drunk being too loud and obnoxious for him to be able to get any sleep, so instead he just lay there with his eyes fixed on the wooden ceiling, paying attention to every crack and crevice as his mind began to wander, his focus slowly shifting off of how much he'd like to sleep and pulling away from the aching of his muscles as he began to think of what the future would be like for him. He'd survived, so that was one thing to be proud of or relieved by, but what now?

Would he just spend his time getting ordered around by people who hated him and getting told to do jobs too difficult for him? Would that happen? No, surely not. He had upper body strength - he was a swimmer, after all - but what would that do for him? It wouldn't help him escape. He couldn't swim faster than a boat, after all. 'Shut up' He thought to himself, not liking where his thoughts were going and feeling hot tears start to fill his eyes, trying to fight them back but being unable to stop the tears from spilling from his eyes. He put one hand into his pocket and pulled out the small red thing he'd taken from one of the cannons a short while back, studying it to himself but deciding he was too tired to figure out what it might be. He shoved it back into his pocket and sighed, forcing all thoughts out of his mind as best as he could.

'It's just the alcohol' He decided, sniffling and staying as quiet as he could so he wouldn't disturb the two people either side of him, wiping his eyes and trying to focus on falling asleep- desperately trying to focus on sleeping, rather than any other subjects that might make him cry any more. He sighed and curled up, lying on his side with closed eyes and sniffling, his breaths slightly shaky as he tried to keep himself as quiet as possible. The last thing he wanted was to wake up Dandé or Ivy with his crying and get them concerned over something that didn't matter. Well- it wouldn't matter to them, anyway.

It was around a half hour of Dandé snoring and Ivy breathing lightly next to him before he could fall asleep, welcoming the lack of consciousness eagerly, not wanting to be awake and deal with his own thoughts any longer. Besides- any questions that'd make him anxious today would be answered tomorrow, and the sooner he slept, the less his mind could pester him about the most and the least likely scenarios he could experience.