Ocean Eyes, Storm Cloud Minds

Chapter Thirteen

Tensing up at the thoughts that suddenly filled his mind, Lancelot froze, his attention fixed on two things; Elric, and whatever he wanted with him. The atmosphere was tense, but the brunet seemed to be the only one to notice it. The air was so thick with tension that the brunet felt as though he was close to choking, and yet he forced himself to stay as calm as he could.

"Which is? I-I can help with the headache, if you want me to." He suggested, his brain running through almost every possibility under the sun (and some under the water) that had even the slightest chance of happening. The captain rolled his eyes at that, his expression half at boredom and half irritated by Lancelot's behaviour, so the brunet decided almost immediately that it'd be best if he just kept his mouth shut firmly. He just wanted to find out what he was there for and why he hadn't been dismissed yet.

Honestly, he'd expected to have been tending to a captain while he vomited and complained about a headache- not to be getting an irritated glare from someone who'd surprisingly not had as much to drink as... as whatever his usual intake was. Hell, if there was anything Lancelot didn't want, it was to see this man after however much alcohol he normally drank. Silence hung over them like a blanket and the tension was like an elephant in the small cabin- of course, being an elephant that only Lancelot could see.

"How are you at sword fighting?" Fractum's voice broke the tension in the room, the heavy silence only being gone for a few moments while he spoke before Lancelot hesitated, not sure exactly what to say in response. The small hesitation was weighted in the air around them, but he spoke up before the air could become tense again with the awkward atmosphere.

"I-I can't say I'm... any good at it, Si- Captain Red." He said simply, his stutter and tone making it more obvious that he'd have liked that he was uncomfortable and undeniably anxious.

Lancelot hoped with almost every part of his being that Elric would leave it there and he'd be left unimportant in the fighting aspect of things. He was more than content with being powder monkey- so much as if meant he had no need to pick up a sword and take someone on in hand-to-hand combat. And yet, that hope was quickly abolished as the captain spoke up again, a playful and confident smirk upon his lips.

"Alright then, Blue, you n' me are goin' to practice sword fighting once I've gotten this bleedin' headache to pass some."

Immediately, the brunet opened his mouth to object but no sooner than he'd done so did the captain interrupt, speaking in a cold and blunt tone.

"And no arguments about it." He stated, growling slightly as he spoke and watching as the other quickly nodded, hiding his hands behind his back- likely to hide how much they were shaking. Eventually, the brunet got up the courage to speak up again, his voice shaky.

"A-Am I dismissed then, sir?" He asked, being visibly relieved when the captain ignored (Either that or he didn't notice) the stutter in Lancelot's voice as he began speaking.

There was a moment of silence before Elric nodded and parted his lips, his eyes landing on the brunet once more as he spoke up.

"Bring me my flask and you have permission to leave." He said, gesturing to a shelf beside Dipper where a silver flask lay, the cap screwed on tightly and clearly having been done so to keep whatever was in there- likely either incredibly weak alcohol or something weak enough to be called water- inside. He took it in one hand, finding it a little heavier than he'd expected and a lot colder, paying attention to such detail like it actually mattered to him. He handed it to the captain, who took off the cap with smooth ease and brought it to his lips.

The brunet didn't linger long enough to stare as the captain drank, being gone from the cabin within seconds and leaning against the wooden door for a few long moments to recollect himself. His headache had almost entirely subsided, he noticed, and that made him smile a little. He took a deep breath of the cold, salty air and took a couple of slow and paced steps forward, having not heard anything from inside the cabin to give him a reason to go back. Thank f**k.

Resuming his attention entirely to the ocean and reclaiming his seat on a crate by the railing, Lancelot let a soft breath slip past his lips as a gentle sigh. His head resting on one hand, he stared out at the overlapping, fighting waves, slowly and subconsciously letting his eyelids begin drooping shut, as the rude awakening that he'd gotten from the nightmare was beginning to take effect, and it became suddenly clear that he'd not had as much sleep as he'd have liked. Not to mention that that was likely the longest sleep he'd had in almost a full month, and yet it still felt too short and he was still remarkably exhausted.

Before he could accidentally doze off and allow the sleep he'd been lacking return to him, though, the wooden door to the crews quarters slammed open so violently that it wouldn't have been much of a surprise to him if it's swung off of it's creaky metal hinges entirely. Lancelot's eyes suddenly snapped open at the harsh sound and he sat up immediately, his tiredness seemingly fading at the harsh noise as he turned, watching someone - he recognised him as the man from yesterday evening, who'd been holding the bottle of the alcohol that was forced down his throat - stumble clumsily and hapharzadly in his direction.

He watched the hands that had held the bottle out to him last night as they gripped onto the railing, and he looked away just in time to save himself from watching someone vomit all that they'd eaten, or drank and that hadn't left their system yet. He stayed silent, not even speaking up to ask if he was okay as he honestly felt no sympathy for the older male. He found that strange though- only moments ago he'd put himself at risk by going to the belly of the beast, going to Elric's cabin directly and without being asked, just so he could try and help with a hangover. He tried shaking off the thought, pushing it out of his mind and focusing back on something else, but the thought wouldn't leave him.

Why did he care for the captain but not another crewmember?