Ocean Eyes, Storm Cloud Minds

Chapter Fifteen

He turned toward the voice, heading towards someone he recognised but didn't remember and having a bent marlin spike dropped into his hands, instantly being ordered- he hated being ordered around- to go get another from the armoury. He'd only just gotten out into the sunlight for the day and immediately had to go down to a lower deck. He hated that. He didn't want to leave the salty air and the small spray of the waves yet. Why couldn't his first hour of tasks just be transferring messages from one person to another on the upper deck? Not that he was allowed to complain, anyway.

He nodded and turned, going down through to the dining hall and knowing that to get to the armoury, he'd have to go to Dandé and ask for the key to it. He went through to the kitchens as quickly as he could to make this as convenient as possible for him. There was no way in hell he was going to take too long, whether it meant having to stop Dandé from dragging him into a conversation or not. He wasn't sure if he could afford to make a mistake like that- not when his position on board would be so easily compromised.

He replaced the spike after almost ten minutes, having to repeat that same chore twice before Dandé gave Lancelot the key - 'trusting him heavily', he'd said. The male sighed softly, having only been doing his job for a few hours- looking up he could see it was just past noon- and he was already getting tired. His legs burned from having to run to relay important messages and walk whenever he wasn't running. All thoughts of the upcoming duel had escaped him at some point that day as his mind was occupied with brief descriptions of whoever had asked him for something and what they'd asked for.

Of course, it's not like anyone really respected him for being only a cabin boy. Some people asked for things they genuinely needed but a group of them had asked him to get specific flasks of rum, then changed the design of the flasks every time he came up with the ones described. That was irritating, but he'd just sighed and dealt with it. He'd only just gotten a break to sit back and relax, closing his eyes and letting the warmth of the sunlight hit his face as he sighed. f**k, it felt good to finally be able to relax again.

And yet, almost as soon as he'd relaxed- and before anyone else could call for him- the captain's cabin was slammed open (Lancelot wasn't sure whether it was an accident or not) and Elric strolled out. Unlike yesterday, when the captain had been wearing a loose fitting and slightly unbuttoned white shirt with dark grey/faded black pants, Red looked expensive and, if the brunet was entirely honest, remarkably attractive. For starters, that stupid mullet was tied up to stay out of his face, so it looked like he'd actually heard of what a comb does at some point in his life.

His shirt was, again, loosely unbuttoned but this time it was clean and tucked into the faded black pants that Lancelot could tell were the same ones as he'd worn yesterday. His coat was by far the most ornate and elaborate thing that Lancelot had seen so far- a deep scarlet, lined with golden thread and stitched with black. The buttons were black and sewn in place with gold, the fabric loose on his shoulders but not so much along his arms, as if his shoulders weren't broad enough but his arms were more built for the shape.

Elric strode out, the cork heels on his brown, leather shoes clacking against the desk as Lancelot seemed to suddenly remember about the sword fight the captain had demanded they do, although that was most likely due to his eyes landing on the hilt of a longsword that was tucked under the lavish coat. He gLancelotd down at the black hilt, seeing it had a small red... thing at the end - he assumed it was a jewel - with the same mark on it as Lancelot had found on the other small red gemstone that had been by the cannons. He wasn't going to check, though, as he was sure that he'd be badly beaten if he were caught with something he'd stolen from another room out of nothing but his own curiosity.

He noticed Elric stop and saw those grey, storm cloud eyes scan across the desk and he let a gentle, incredibly quiet curse slip from his lips as a mutter upon seeing those sharp eyes land on him, rather than just continuing to look past him. Hell, he could almost see Elric's smirk before it even appeared on his lips, standing and brushing himself off to rid his clothes of any dust or dirt that may have gotten on him for any reason. He noticed the Captain approaching with calm, casual steps at a slightly slower pace than the brunet liked and decided he'd save time, beginning to walk towards Elric to meet him halfway- just hoping that his actions wouldn't be seen as challenging. That wouldn't end well for him.

He stopped a few paces away from Elric, who continued forward until they were only a few inches apart and Lancelot could feel the heat of his breath and the warmth of his body from under the extra, unnecessary layer. Hell, Lancelot was hot with only one layer on- he wondered how long it would be before Elric left the coat behind because he didn't want to let sweat - or blood, dependant on how the swordfight went - ruin his fancy and obviously expensive coat.

There were a few moments of tension and silence before Lancelot spoke up, not sure how much longer he'd have been able to tolerate standing that close to Elric with that much tension and slight awkwardness without one of them speaking up.

"Am I permitted to get m'self a sword, Captain, or should I use my hands instead?" He asked, watching as the smirk on the lips of the other curled into a small, amused smile. The males head dipped a little and he smiled a little more before looking up at Lancelot- his action almost a nod but a little too slow for that.

"Aye, but only if you think ye need it," he said in a simple, evidently somewhat smug tone, gesturing for Lancelot to walk ahead and watching as he quite gladly did.