Chapter Text
" I’ll unlock your room door at six sharp in the morning."
Hornet was leaning to the doorframe, allowing Lace to explore her new place for staying.
Lace glanced around the room; it was so small that if she had turned much further, she would have bumped into the wall.
The only saving grace was the small window in the cabin; through it, she could see the sea and breathe in the fresh air. The bed was old but clean , Lace had never before seen a pirate who cared about cleanliness.
She bent down slightly to check the desk drawers and found a few sets of freshly laundered clothes inside.
Since her clothes were covered in dirt and sand from head to toe, she wouldn't have minded changing into a fresh outfit after Hornet left.
" I hate this place."
Said Lace .
" That ain't my problem."
Hornet offered her a cigarette; Lace glared at it for a moment but after a while snatched it from her hand.
"You don't look like someone who smokes."
Lace said with a tired tone and stepped closer, allowing Hornet to light her cigarette with a match. Hornet placed her own half-lit cigarette in the corner of her mouth so she could speak.
" I think you should tell yourself that; you're only twenty, after all."
Then, she blew a stream of smoke at her and continued.
" I simply didn't feel like preparing the sedative, I doubt you'll let anyone sleep tonight after the crazy antics you pulled this morning. You aren't going to get any more of these on other nights. "
Lace made a grumbling sound in her throat and gave her a shove, trying to force her out of the room, but Hornet stepped inside instead to open the window for some fresh air.
Hornet sat defiantly on her bed and stared at her. Lace wanted to kick her out, but she had no choice but to stare back. Hornet sat with her legs spread wide, without caring what her hair looked like, and without caring whether her style was respectable or not.clearly unconcerned with the etiquette Lace's mother had so strictly and forcefully drilled into her. In this regard, Lace felt a twinge of envy.
Lace stood facing her and frowned; Hornet was still acting more unconcerned than she had expected.
" You have all this ship for yourself, at least let me have some privacy."
Unfazed by what she had said, Hornet flicked her cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke into her face.
"You're in such a rush to kick me out of your room; the urge to free yourself has hit you pretty early, hasn't it?"
The changes in Lace's expression confirmed that Hornet had read her mind almost perfectly; Lace nervously tucked her hair behind her ears and sat down beside her. It was obvious that she was trying to hide her plans from Hornet by acting normally.
Hornet decided to size her up; aside from Shakra, she had never seen a woman with such a fine physique.
Her skin tone, the unique color of her hair and eyes, and her features created a striking combination, while the firmness of the muscles in her arms clearly demonstrated that she was a skilled fencer.
Hornet’s gaze drifted down to the base of her neck and then to her chest , that part of her upper body looked very soft .
"You're staring really intensely."
Lace's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"How many years have you been fencing?"
Hornet quickly shifted her gaze from her chest to her eyes , Lace giggled, maybe she had been waiting for someone to ask this question.
" Hmm... For about fifteen years, now it's my turn to ask a question."
Lace leaned closer and ran her hand over the ring Hornet was wearing on her finger.
" There’s something written on your ring in some strange, bizarre language. translate it for me."
Hornet fixed her gaze on her ring , a silver band featuring a spiderweb-like design. Her mother’s words were not something she could discuss with just anyone; instead, to satisfy Lace’s curiosity, she decided to place the ring in her hand, giving her a chance to examine it.
" If you drop the ring on the ground, It becomes the last thing you ever do in your entire life... You’re only allowed to look at it."
Lace giggled and flashed a cheeky grin, tossed the ring into the air like a coin, and caught it again in her fist; it was clear she planned to get under Hornet’s skin.
Yet, for some reason, she gave a mischievous smile, slipped the ring onto one of her fingers, and admired it coquettishly; but realizing it didn't suit her style, she sighed and slid it off.
As Lace amused herself by analysing the ring, she took the cigarette from her own mouth and placed it between Hornet’s lips. Hornet, having no issue with this and actually delighted by the double dose of smoke occupied herself with the extra cigarette.
"Do you have any more of these ugly rings?"
Lace asked and slipped the ring back onto the very finger of Hornet’s from which she had removed it.
Hornet was irritated by her insolent remark, but since they had already argued enough that day and she had no stomach for another fight, she decided to leave calmly.
So irritably stubbed out both cigarettes, crushing them against the empty ceramic bowl sitting on the bedside table. Then answered with a dry tone.
" Even if I had any , I wouldn't give it to you ."
Lace gritted her teeth in sheer exasperation and prepared a sarcastic retort.
" Hmf! You stingy pirate, keep your lousy treasure to yourself."
Hornet glared at her and rose to leave the room; she had previously thought the girl wasn't worthy of her friendship, but now she was certain of it.
﹏𓊝﹏
Hornet sat in her chair well into the night, staring at the papers spread out before her.
According to her calculations, the wages of the ship's crew and staff were fully covered, leaving a ten percent surplus.
She had been deeply preoccupied with how to spend those remaining funds, but fortunately or perhaps unfortunately , it did not take long to find the answer.
She heard a creaking sound from the ceiling of her cabin, and in the blink of an eye, the wooden ceiling collapsed ,bringing someone down with it, it must be added.
Lace let out a scream and collapsed to the floor, bringing a cloud of dust into the room with her; she then writhed in pain, clutching her knee tightly.
Hornet, meanwhile, now knew exactly how to use those funds; she jotted "repair room ceiling" on her checklist. Then, noticing that Lace was still on the ground, moaning, she sighed and left her things on the table to go check on her.
" I expected you to break out of your room at night and wander around the ship, but I didn't expect you to come in through the ceiling."
Lace sat back down, but she still kept her hand on her knee.
When Hornet reached out a hand to help her, Lace swatted it away and stood up on her own.
"So what? I didn't want to sleep on that bed."
Hornet placed her hand on her head in dismay and stared at the mess; that entire section of the room was covered in dust and, naturally, Lace was caked in it too.
Hornet stared up at the ceiling; it was now clear how Lace had ended up down here.
She had pried up a few floorboards and unaware of what lay beneath them , had jumped down, smashing through multiple layers of wood before tumbling into the room.
The result of this fall was that Lace was still writhing in pain, moaning softly under her breath.
Hornet moved toward the row of bells on the wall; each was labeled with a crew member's name, though she doubted it would be possible to wake them at this hour.
Now that she thought about it , only a few members of the crew stayed awake in this hours.
And neither the repairman nor the physician was awake at that hour.
She would have to handle it herself.
She sat Lace down on a chair and lifted the skirt of her nightgown to see if she had broken her leg.
there was no sign of bruising below the knees but the left thigh of the leg she had fallen on was bruised.
"Tell me, does this Phantom we're after , also gets the urge at three in the morning to jump off people's ceilings and into their rooms, or are you the only psycho ?"
She stared into Lace's eyes; it was clear she was on edge and wanted to throw a punch, yet she lacked the nerve to actually do it.
Since she doubted she could find another lunatic quite like Lace, she simply went back to what she was doing, rubbing her hand over the bruise; it needed a cold compress.
At first, she thought about leaving her alone in the room to fetch the necessary items, but then she remembered that trusting this girl especially while she was right there in her room , was by no means an easy thing to do.
She preferred bearing her weight to dealing with the trouble she was bound to cause.
"If you stay like a good girl and don’t act crazy on the way, I’ll take you to get treated."
"I'd rather die than let you touch me."
Hornet clearly ignored her, she pulled down Lace's skirt and stood up; after stretching a bit, she hoisted her onto her back to carry her.
"You cheeky girl , you should be grateful that the ship's captain is taking you to the infirmary instead of punching you right in the face. Ungrateful wretch."
"Go to hell, whether you want to be the captain of a ship or the king of the seven seas, I hate you all. I don't like it when someone like you touches me."
"You know, if you're not going to say thank you, you could at least keep your mouth shut."
Lace listened to this one ; she remained quiet all the way from Hornet’s room to the ship’s infirmary. But the moment Hornet placed her on the examination table, she started grumbling again.
"What a chaotic, disorganized place. "
Hornet ignored her and began searching the room for the area where items requiring refrigeration were kept, while Lace glared at her as if Hornet owed her something.
When she realized there was no ice pack there, she decided to grab some ice itself. So picked up two large chunks of ice and returned to Lace.
It was difficult to see the condition of the swelling on her thig in the dark, but given that Lace wasn't interested to move, she guessed it was broken.
With an air of entitlement, Lace snatched the two chunks from her hands, then lifted her skirt and pressed them against her bruise.
"When the doctor wakes up in the morning, let her examine you."
" It's just a bruise; it doesn't need to be examined by a doctor. The one who needed the examination was Phantom. This is nothing compared to that."
One of the ice had nearly melted away; Lace pressed the second one. Hornet gave a slight nod, then ,seizing the chance to speak, began to ask her something.
" Is this phantom your friend or lover by any chance? "
Lace looked at her in surprise, as if Hornet had said something nonsensical. Then she replied.
" How do you not know the Queen's former successor? No, sibling is who they were to me; the Queen abandoned them after they fell ill, but she didn't know I was planning to run away from her, too."
The second piece of ice melted, and Hornet went back to fetch a few more. Hollow crossed her mind, but she decided against telling Lace anything about Hollow’s past.
This time, upon returning, she pressed the ice against the bruise herself and asked her one more question.
" What was their illness?"
Lace remained silent for a moment, then placed her hand over Hornet’s , the one holding the piece of ice to guide it toward the part of her thigh where the pain was most intense.
" I don't like to talk about it ."
Hornet decided not to ask any more questions.
Her left hand had gone numb after holding the ice for so long, but it didn’t take long for that piece of ice to melt as well, leaving only Lace’s hand resting on hers.
Even though the ice had melted, Lace still pressed her hand against Hornet's. She gave Hornet's hand a slight squeeze and guided it toward the upper part of her thigh; to her utter surprise, Hornet pulled her hand away.
"See if you can walk."
Hornet stepped back a bit to give her room to move; she was frowning at Lace’s gesture, and it was clear she had no desire to touch any other parts of her body.
Lace cast an inquiring glance at Hornet, then complied and climbed down from the table. The pain had subsided significantly, though it was still there. At least she could walk albeit slowly and carefully.
"The next time the thought of running away from this ship crosses your mind, I'll feed you to the sharks."
The way that Hornet warned her , made it clear that it was not joking and she had no intention of showing mercy.
Hornet retreated just as much as Lace advanced toward her. Having now figured out exactly how to handle her, Lace stepped a little closer and spoke in a playful, coquettish manner.
"Oh, how rough~"
Lace edged a little closer to her; she had spotted Hornet’s pocketknife and wanted to swipe it, and a bit of flirting would certainly be enough to distract her.
" I like how tough you are little pirate ~"
Lace leaned forward slightly to wrap one arm around Hornet’s neck, while slipping her other hand into her pocket to swipe the pocketknife.
"Oh, now that the floor in my room is ruined , where am I supposed to sleep tonight? Your bed looked big enough for two people."
Then, she softened her voice a little and whispered.
" It’s going to be a delightful night , don’t you think?"
The scowl Hornet gave her made it clear she wasn't at all happy about the situation, but Lace’s point was valid. Fortunately, the distraction Lace created was enough, and she successfully snatched the pocketknife.
Hornet, having no patience for such a clingy individual, gave her a bit of a shove.
Lace didn't care what happened next; at least she now had a weapon she could use at the first opportunity. However, she needed to wait for the right moment, so she kept the pocketknife concealed and acted as if nothing had happened.
" I'll tell the night shift crew to find you an empty room . If they couldn't, I'll figure something else out."
Lace just flashed a mischievous smile; she had some delightful things planned for that knife.