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Whaling ships are awful. They’re dirty and crowded and unless you kill enough whales, you don’t get paid. Hell, sometimes you end up in debt to the shipowners even if you kill enough whales. But Sid didn’t know that when he signed up. He just wanted adventure. He wanted freedom.
And he does love it out on the ocean. He’s never minded working hard and he gets along with people easily. He doesn’t speak the same language as all the other crew members and the captain curses at everyone in French, but he doesn’t care. Sid’s good at following directions.
The tall Ruskie laughs at him, low and sweet. Sid starts following his directions and they become friends even though they don’t understand a word the other one says. Sid knows his name is Evgeni and his smile is beautiful beneath his scraggly beard.
They sleep next to each other in a cramped bunk, pressed close and Sid wakes aching for him. Evgeni murmurs to him, holding him close, one large hand pressed low against Sid’s stomach so close to where Sid wants him to touch. Evgeni’s answering hardness feels like steel against thigh.
Sid wants so much more than adventure and freedom now.