Ocean Eyes, Storm Cloud Minds

Chapter Six

Lancelot forced himself to stop thinking about that. He didn't want homesickness right now. That could be saved for when people wouldn't see him crying. He lifted his gaze from the floor and dragged it to Dandé, realising that the larger male had been talking the whole time.

"Sorry," He interrupted, getting a slightly confused frown from the other as he almost dropped his gaze, feeling anxious."I-I wasn't listening. Could you repeat that, please?" He asked, his voice breaking halfway through his sentence. He tilted his head subconsciously as he spoke, a little thing he did when asked questions, but he quickly started feeling guilty for not listening and dropped his gaze,

Dandé's strangely soft voice made him look up again, the other being weirdly nice to him-- especially for someone whose only been here for half a day and could only live another half day. "Don't worry. This is a lot to process in one day. I get that there'll be a lot on your mind but you're going to be okay. I know because I see how hard you try, and I'm sure that you if you latch into whatever's keeping you focused, you'll stay long enough to see whatever that is again." He said, placing one hand on Lancelots shoulder comfortingly and smiling at him.

The brunet smiled back, giving Dandé a genuine smile, having needed to hear that more than he'd expected himself to.

"Th-Thanks, Dandé. Please keep helping me and telling me whatever you know." He said, and this time the big man noticed how determined and how desperate he was to stay. Pity and sympathy directed towards the boy rushed through Dandé and gave him a sense of entitlement. He was determined to keep this kid alive until he got home again.

"Alright." He nodded, leading Lancelot to a different set of stairs and slowly down to the lower deck. "I'll start by showing you what and where everything is."

Lancelot followed behind him quickly, staying close and constantly glancing around as an paranoid habit, not sure whether he was going to be knocked down from behind and beaten up or not. God he hoped not. He watched at the black haired male stopped at the bottom of the stairs, not quite standing on the floor of the bilge to avoid the muck and disgusting water that was there. As the brunet looked around, he noticed the silhouette of a man at the far side of the room, having been giving the boring job of bilge rat, but it was only a moment before Dandé explained it wasn't his job or a choice, and that since their last bilge rat died of an infection, they were still trying to find a new one. He really hoped that wouldn't be him.

Dandé noticed this nervousness and realised what the brunet must have been thinking, giving him a warm smile and making a light-hearted joke about how Lancelot wouldn't be able to work the bilge with arms as scrawny as his, and didn't notice how forced the laugh he got for that was, smiling back. Lancelot gLancelotd back and noticed the person - despite how little light there was for him to see this character - was staring at him, and instantly looked down while an embarrassed blush quickly rose to his cheeks. Dandé led the tall brunet to the next deck, and despite his clear hatred and how much he wanted to be off this damn vessel, he had to admit that the interior was just as elegant and admirably designed as the exterior - well, the crews quarters were nothing any more special than expected, but the paint job was professionally done and barely chipped, golden lining on the scarlet paint giving it a sense of fanciness that it likely didn't deserve.

He focused back on Dandé after a moment of looking around, his head at a slight angle again as he spoke. "And the crews quarters are directly above the bilge?" He asked, his admiration being replaced with concern for the sanitation of the place, despite how low hygiene was nothing but expected on a ship, especially one belonging to pirates, he expected anything but the crews quarters to be above the bilge, of all places. 'I just hope I don't see any rats.' He thought to himself, but a scurrying somewhere the other side of the quarters crushed all hope of that and he shivered, banishing all thoughts of rodents instantly, forcing himself not to pay attention to the smell of the bilge from directly beneath them, either,

"I don't want them to be, either, but they have to be. The cannons need to be in not only the easiest place for us to access, but also in such a position that they can sink the opposing ship or attack the dock with as much convenience as possible." He explained, turning to the right and starting down the middle of the room, avoiding things on the floor and hanging pieces of rope as best as he could, before stopping and pointing at a hammock that looked no different to any of the others.

"This is mine. The one to the right is Ivy's and after yesterday, this one's is free!" He said cheerfully, gesturing to the hammock on the left of his and smiling. "You can take that one." He added, watching as Lancelot nodded to him, not expecting anything else - only getting a small smile from the brunet who clearly appreciated the gesture - before turning and continuing forwards.

Dandé led them back up to the clean upper deck, the soft smile still on Lancelots face until a certain voice called his nickname and he tensed, his face immediately going slack and his expression emotionless, as if that'd stop the other from picking on him too badly. As if that'd happen. He'd only heard this voice a short while back and for a small amount of time, but he had quickly grown to hate it. The smooth pronunciation and the beautiful way most words Lancelot could barely say slid off the others tongue so perfectly disgusted him, the gorgeous face of the man was even worse - disgusting to the point where all he wanted was to be anywhere but where that person would get to him.