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“-and I.N., you’re our lookout,” Chan finished, looking up from the map. “Does anybody have any questions?” The other pirates shook their heads, perfectly happy with their positions. Chan was a good captain and an even better strategist and he’d earned their healthy respect. He was respected across the seas, in fact, and many merchant ships now chose to surrender and be plundered when they saw Levanter on the horizon rather than lose their lives at the hands of Captain Bang’s formidable crew. It took a lot of the fun out of being a pirate- Jeongin hadn’t had a good fight in months- and now Chan was delegating him to lookout? It wasn’t fair.
“I want to fight,” he said with confidence. “I’m good, you know I am.”
Chan looked at him and instead of loveable Channie-hyung, it was all Captain Bang. The dark eyeshadow he’d adorned for the occasion highlighted the seriousness of his gaze and his tricorn hid the fluffy curly hair that normally softened his look. The draft from the broken door had even conspired with the captain to blow his stupid longcoat open and show off that he was just as lean and powerful as the rumours said. It would scare a lesser pirate but Jeongin had grown up under Chan’s care and stared down those eyes many times before. Chan didn't scare him in the slightest. Unfortunately, Chan's word was still final, whether Jeongin cowered under his stare or not.
“You are a good fighter,” Chan agreed, before adding the caveat, "on the ship. However, in the castle, the guards will have the home advantage. You have no experience of fighting in long stone corridors against armoured knights or of portcullises and archers on battlements. Now is not the time to teach you. You will help us by watching from the city wall and lighting the fireworks should warships arrive. That is all.”
Jeongin scowled at Chan’s dismissal but he knew there was no changing his mind now. Their attack was perfectly timed to take advantage of the cover of night, the slack tide, and, most crucially, His Majesty’s fleet being occupied in the North, and they didn’t have any time to waste if they were going to pull this off. It was madness, if Jeongin was being honest, but they were counting on the people of Sopa also thinking it was madness and leaving their castle mostly unguarded so they could sneak across the bay, through the town, along the wall and into the castle without raising the alarm. From there Chan would lead the raid of the treasury and Minho the raid of the apothecary and they’d be long gone by dawn, hopefully with the castle occupants none the wiser.
“Don’t look so glum, Innie,” Jisung said as they were rowed across to shore. He patted Jeongin’s cheek and his heavy gold rings clinked together, cool against Jeongin’s skin. “Hyungs will be back in no time and you’ll still get a share of the loot. Not as much as me, but enough to get yourself a new pistol maybe.”
“I wanted to fight,” Jeongin grumbled. “All I do nowadays is clean shit and practice.”
“Aww, our little bloodthirsty baby,” Changbin cooed as he leaned forward to dip the oars in for another strong stroke towards the shore. Changbin rowed straight and true and you could feel it in the way the little rowboat skipped over the waves. “I’ll suggest to Channie-hyung that we hold a town to ransom next,” he offered. “You should get to threaten someone then, at least.”
“Or we can leave the wall patrol alive,” Seungmin suggested from beside Jeongin, where he was testing the sharpness of his knife on his thumb. “If they're tied and gagged you can stab them to pass the time while you wait for us to come back.” Seungmin was a little sadistic in a well-meaning way. His grandfather had been the captain of a formidable pirate ship and he’d spent his entire life at sea amongst the most ruthless of killers so he didn’t always show love in the way Jeongin expected it.
“That’s a bit messy,” Jeongin said. He was no stranger to blood or the grisly accidents that happened at sea but he didn’t like to attack without purpose. He’d been a landlubber himself once and knew that sometimes the opposition were just doing the only job they could to put food on their plate.
“Fine, just watch then,” Seungmin said aloofly as he put his knife back in it’s sheath. “I’ll have all the fun.”
***
The first half hour on watch was boring. The night air was cold and the sea was quiet. There weren't even the sounds of battle up on the hill where the castle was. No yells, no screams, no clashing of swords, no gunfire, no cannons. Maybe he wouldn’t have gotten to fight even if he was on the raid. It was about time for the raid party to return though, unless they were captured. They wouldn’t be captured. They couldn’t be. His hyungs were some of the best pirates around and the castle was practically empty. From what Chan had said in the meeting they could have sent Minho in alone and unarmed and taken the castle. They must just be weighed down with gold, that was all. Yes. They’d pillaged the King of so much of his riches that they were struggling to carry it back through the town, that was it.
Jeongin was pulled from his thoughts by the echo of footsteps running towards him. It was just one person from the sound of it but he drew his sword and took a strong stance like Minho had taught him.
“Guards!” A male voice called out sharply. “Guards!” The wall was only lit by pale moonlight so the tall boy was nearly upon Jeongin before he could see him properly. He stumbled to a stop a few arm lengths away from Jeongin and his hands went to the gilded sword hilts at his hip. “You are not a guard.”
“What gave it away?” Jeongin asked rhetorically, eyeing the boy warily. Jeongin bore no sigil like the royal guards did and the closest thing he had to armour was the silk shirt he'd gotten as a hand-me-down from Chan. The shirt’s tight weave deflected glancing blows and long distance arrows but any direct strike would shatter his bones, regardless of whether it reached his skin or not. Jeongin’s aim was to win the fight before that happened. Not every pirate succeeded.
"For starters, you are too young," the boy said, taking a confident step forward. “And secondly, you're in my way." He lunged, right foot forward, right sword outstretched, and Jeongin barely had time to slap the blade away with his own before it reached his chest. The boy brought his left sword up instead and Jeongin slapped that away as well, using the momentum from his first defense and pivoting his hand down to bring the blades together with his elbow held high. The boy made his movements far too obvious, practically screaming his next move with his whole body. Next, the boy did some sort of bizarre turn with his arms twisting in front of him and Jeongin took a step back. The move left his opponent’s back entirely open to an attack had Jeongin not been distracted by the absurdity of it and by the way the boy’s silky black hair fanned out in a perfect halo. What kind of person didn’t tie back long hair before a fight?
“What the fuck was that?” Jeongin asked as the boy settled back into a ready stance.
“Never seen real swordsmanship before?” the boy asked cockily, lunging again. It was the exact same lunge as before and so Jeongin waited for him to get a little closer before side-stepping and bringing his sword down hard on the boy’s wrist.
The boy screamed in pain and dropped his sword, cradling his hand to his chest. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”
“This is a fight?” Jeongin answered, keeping his sword readied. “Do you surrender?”
“I do not!” the boy retorted, straightening and holding his left sword in front of him. Jeongin probably should have disarmed him completely. It was a good thing Chan wasn’t here to see that fuck up.
“I’m just going to break your other wrist now,” Jeongin said as they sized each other up. “You should surrender. You’ll never find work if you can’t use your hands.”
The boy laughed, his eyes closing into little half-crescents. “Find work?” he repeated as if Jeongin had told a particularly funny joke. Jeongin didn’t see what was funny about unemployment and starvation. “You don’t know who I am,” the boy said, taunting him.
Of course Jeongin didn’t. He was a pirate, a nomad of the sea. He didn’t give a shit about the noble children of Sopa or any other Kingdom for that matter. He was here to plunder them, perhaps wound a couple, and leave.
“I know you’re shit at sword fighting,” Jeongin quipped.
“Oh really?” the boy asked, smirking. Yellow flames suddenly licked up the blade of his sword from the hilt, burning impossibly bright along the metal. “Recognise me yet?”
Magical fire- a gift so rare it was worth more than the possessor's weight in gold, and magical fire projected onto a blade at that. Jeongin had thought that was just one of those legends that got out of hand, like the one about Chan singing to escape the gallows. (He had been singing, but it was his crew’s firepower that led to his escape. Chan was just the distraction.) If the legend of the Flaming Swords of Sopa was real though then he could only be facing one of two opponents- the King… or his son.
“Pardon.” Jeongin said mockingly. “You’re shit at sword fighting, Your Highness.”
The Prince’s eyes flashed with anger and he lunged (again- same move, different hand) but the attack made a lot more sense with the fire. It was a very efficient way to get a spit-roasted pirate. Jeongin couldn’t attempt the same wrist-slapping attack this time and have his side burnt so he leapt backwards. The Prince pressed his advantage and his flaming sword was a little dazzling as he swung it in search of a gap in Jeongin's defenses.
Jeongin found he couldn’t watch too closely without being blinded but the fire didn’t hurt if he kept their clashes short. He also noticed that the Prince was leaving his right side wide open as he kept his hand tucked to his chest to protect his injury. All it took was a wide sweep of Jeongin’s sword to get the fire out to the left and he slashed the Prince’s exposed side, just below the hem of his leather jerkin. The Prince crumpled again and this time Jeongin remembered to kick his sword away.
“Surrender.” He lifted the Prince’s narrow chin with the point of his sword and held the blade to his neck. The Prince glowered through his long fringe. Jeongin should have guessed he was royalty earlier- who else could afford to have hair that shiny?
“And be held for ransom?” the Prince spat. “No.” He reached up and wrapped his good hand around Jeongin’s blade, sending fire up to the hilt. The metal grew hot quickly and Jeongin had no choice but to drop it.
“Fuck!” he exclaimed, waving his hand in the air to cool the burn. The Prince picked up the fallen sword, blood running down his arm from his hand, and stood again. He was taller than Jeongin but Jeongin refused to be scared just because someone was well-nourished. “Why the fuck are you even here?” he called exasperatedly, backing away from the weapon. He was getting tired of this battle. “Shouldn’t you be hiding in a castle tower somewhere?”
“You mean the castle currently swarming with pirates?” the Prince asked. Jeongin felt a little proud at that despite his hyungs’ incognito plan supposedly failing. “I’m here to light that canon,” the Prince said, nodding his head at the huge weapon behind him. Jeongin looked at the cannon and followed its line of fire in an arc down to the bay… where Levanter was anchored.
“Hey!” Jeongin exclaimed. “You can’t do that.”
“A home for a home,” the Prince retorted, walking backwards with Jeongin’s sword aflame and held out threateningly towards him. “I can and I will.”
Jeongin was not letting that happen. He rushed the Prince while he was glancing behind himself and pulled the dirtiest trick in the book- he kicked him between the legs. Hard. The Prince’s fire went out and he crouched down to cup himself with a groan.
“You cannot-”
“I can and I did,” Jeongin said smugly. He would bet his share of the loot that nobody had dared pull that move on His Royal Highness before and it was an honour to be the one to wipe that righteous smirk off his face. He wrestled his sword back from the Prince and held it carefully by the leather handle to avoid worsening his burn. Chan was going to be so mad when he found out Jeongin had managed to find trouble on his nice safe wall watch.
Jeongin looked down at the Prince kneeling on the stone, in pain, just like any other man would be. He realised he was going to have to kill him and that thought made him a little sad. The Prince had been good fun to fight and certainly challenged Jeongin’s style, but burning hands couldn’t be bound and Jeongin wasn’t going to risk him running off and raising the townspeople to fight. His loyalty was to his crew and as long as they fought for him he had to fight for them in return. One more death on Jeongin’s hands didn’t really make much difference but it was one thing to end a life in the midst of a messy battle and another altogether to be an executioner on a quiet, still night. He really really didn’t want to have to watch this boy bleed out in front of him but he was so terribly bad at the ‘pommel to the temple’ technique and the Prince’s jerkin made it too difficult to stab any major organs.
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to open you jerkin so I can kill you faster?” Jeongin asked as a last-ditched resort.
“Open my- no!” the Prince exclaimed. “Why are you trying to kill me?”
“You’re trying to sink my house!”
“You’re trying to- to- What are you trying to do?” the Prince asked, his accusation giving way to confusion.
“Steal medicine,” Jeongin admitted. “And money, but we could get that elsewhere. We’re mostly here for the medicine.” He gave the information freely, shamefully glad to have more time before the final act.
“Oh,” the Prince said quietly. “Is someone ill?”
“My friend,” Jeongin admitted. “He’s got a fever and it won’t go away.”
“Oh. Is he on your boat?”
Boat? Boat?? “Ship,” Jeongin corrected crisply. “And yes, so I am even more against you blowing a hole in it while he’s too ill to get out safely.”
“I won’t blow a hole in it,” the Prince promised. He sounded trustworthy, but so did Jeongin when he was lying. The Prince was also on his knees, weaponless, at the end of Jeongin’s sword so he had a lot at stake to forgo honestly for.
“I'm still not going to give you the opportunity, Mr Fire Fists,” Jeongin told him.
“Your Royal Highness, Fire Fists,” the Prince corrected. “Sir, at the bare minimum.”
Jeongin shrugged. “Do I look like someone who follows the law?”
The Prince smiled in amusement. It looked good on him. He must practice, Jeongin thought. Smiling practice, laughing practice, pronouncing his T’s practice.
“You don’t look like anyone I’ve ever met before,” the Prince admitted. “The sun-darkened skin of a sailor and yet the clothes of a nobleman. Silk?”
“It’s strong, deflects blades,” Jeongin said. “Most blades.”
“Not when they're on fire,” the Prince quipped.
“Yes, well, that’s a problem I’ve only very recently had to deal with,” Jeongin said snippily. “How the fuck do you do it anyway?”
The Prince held up his left hand, the one that was bleeding. There were two deep cuts along his palm, parallel to his knuckles, where he’d grabbed Jeongin’s blade. A small yellow flame lit between the cuts and as Jeongin watched it moved towards his thumb and then back again before extinguishing.
“There’s magic in the royal bloodline,” the Prince said simply. “I can’t tell you from where but I can make and control fire. I trained for years to get it to travel up my swords.”
“And you were still shit,” Jeongin said. “You did the same move three times and left your body unguarded. How has nobody stabbed you yet?”
“Nobody has been brave enough?” the Prince said with a weary sigh. “I’m the sole heir. Nobody spars with me for fear of angering my father. I practice on dummies.”
“Wait,” Jeongin said and his sword-tip wavered. “That was your first fight?”
The Prince nodded. “I thought I did ok. I got your sword off you before you played dirty.”
“Yeah, real fights don’t follow dueling etiquette,” Jeongin said distractedly. He was too caught up in the fact he’d nearly been beaten by a complete novice. Granted, that novice had fire coming out of his hands, but he was still a novice. “That was really your first fight?”
“Yes,” the Prince said. “Do you have any feedback?” He wanted feedback. Feedback, from the pirate who was still contemplating killing him. The Prince stared up at him and he looked so fucking sincere that Jeongin was lost for words.
“Uhh. You have no defense to speak of,” Jeongin said, jabbing the Prince lightly in his shoulder, thigh and belly in quick succession to demonstrate.
“Ow,” the Prince whined indignantly.
Jeongin rolled his eyes. “Shut up. You asked for feedback, I’m giving it to you- not that it’s much worth to you now.”
“Perhaps, if you do not kill me I can make use of it,” the Prince said. “I shan’t sink your ship nor stop you leaving on it.”
“Ha!” Jeongin wasn’t believing that for a second. “How would you practice your defense anyway? Wooden dummies don’t fight back.”
“Pirates do,” the Prince said with a cunning smile. “Perhaps what I’m missing in my training regime is a pirate.” His big brown eyes stared up at Jeongin, drinking him all in, and it unnerved him. What was a Prince doing, looking at a pirate like that? Jeongin wasn’t sure how long he locked eyes with the Prince for but he was stopped by a call from behind him, the same direction the Prince had appeared from. This time, however, the call was familiar and the footfalls numerous.
“I.N-ah!!” Changbin called out cheerfully. “Have you been having fun?” Jeongin didn’t turn his back on the Prince but he did move to stand next to him so he could also see his approaching crewmates. The Prince looked at him worriedly but wisely stayed on his knees.
“Good raid?” Jeongin asked when they were close enough.
“Very agreeable,” Chan said. “We should have Lixie better in no time. What’s this here? Have you started taking prisoners?” he said it in a joking manner but Jeongin recalled the loneliness with which the Prince spoke of his life and his eagerness to learn anything about sword fighting. Jeongin wouldn’t join his court but he could do one better.
“Yes,” Jeongin said firmly. “He’s my prisoner. He’s very valuable- he’s the sole heir to the throne, and he has magic fire. You can hold him to ransom.”
“He’s what?” Jisung exclaimed from the back of the group, tripping over his feet and stumbling into Minho.
Chan looked between the Prince and Jeongin and sighed. “We don’t need a ransom when we’ve just robbed his coffers,” he reminded Jeongin, adjusting the sack on his shoulder so the coins inside jingled. “And while I have no qualms letting women and cats aboard, an imprisoned fire-wielder is bad cargo in a wooden hold. Let him go before we anger the good King further.”
“You are Captain Bang, are you not?” the Prince asked hurriedly as Chan started to move past them. Chan froze and looked at him again with the slightest hint of curiosity. “You are,” the Prince continued. “Let me join your crew, just for a while- a year perhaps-, and then when I return and ascend to the throne I will grant your ship safe haven in my waters so long as you do not attack my people. If you need medicine I will provide it and my own court physician. It is a good offer,” he added hurriedly when Chan didn’t immediately agree to his outlandish promises.
Chan frowned and waved the rest of the crew ahead, back to the ship. He picked up the Prince’s fallen swords and tucked them into his belt before motioning them forward too with a nod of his head.
“Walk with us to the shore. I don’t have time to stop and chat.”
The Prince scrambled to his feet and Jeongin kept his sword pointed in his direction as they started to follow the pirates down to the city gate. The Prince didn’t seem to mind. He was clearly raving mad.
“Is that a deal?” the Prince asked, skipping up to Chan’s side.
“You’ll be a homing beacon for trouble when your father hears of your disappearance,” Chan replied. “What makes you think I’d want to bring that curse upon my men? And what’s to say you won’t burn Levanter to the seabed at the first opportunity and jump ship? I’m not seeing a motivation for you to keep her afloat.”
“He wants to fight,” Jeongin said, jogging slightly to catch up. “He’s terrible at it but nobody here will teach him.”
“And you think a pirate ship is the place to start?” Chan scoffed.
“I think a pirate ship is the only place I can go,” the Prince said confidently. “My father will not let me leave and any other vessel of departure would be caught in an instant and have me returned here with a tighter guard and less access to swords. Your ship, however, doesn’t get caught.”
“It does,” Jeongin interjected. The other pirates had reached the shore now and the first rowboat was pushing off the sand. The other was waiting for them. “There just tends to be no survivors to boast it.”
They reached the rowboat and Chan threw his sack overboard. He faced the Prince. “You offer empty promises,” he said without malice. “Once you are a pirate, you are a pirate, and no Kingdom will let you swan back in to take the crown, no matter how magical or unique you are. If you step aboard there will be no turning back and no mercy from those we fight. It’s dangerous, but every crewmate is family until the day they die, and then some. I take strays, not royalty, and a new sailor will work his way up from the foulest of jobs only when he proves his worth. Are you astray, Hyunjin, or are you a Prince?”
“I am astray,” the Prince, Hyunjin, said proudly, with his head held high. Chan smiled wryly and swept his hand towards the boat.
“Get in then, before somebody else lights that cannon you were guarding.”
The Prince leapt aboard and Chan helped Jeongin in behind him before pushing them off from the shore and leaping aboard.
“That was fucking stupid,” Jeongin told the Prince, though he was glad they weren’t parting so soon.
“I disagree,” the Prince said, tilting his face up as the sea breeze pushed the hair from his face. “I think I just made the best decision of my life. If I went back to the castle now I would be relieved of my swords for sneaking out to fight you. I’m not giving that up.”
“So you’d rather give up your crown?” Jeongin asked in bafflement.
“I’m to marry my cousin,” the Prince admitted, staring at his Kingdom as it grew smaller and smaller. “Next year. Our Kingdoms will be merged when our fathers die. With me gone, she is still first in line for both so nothing will change there, and she doesn’t have to fuck her cousin. My crown offered me no future I wished to be a part of. She will be a good ruler to my people- I just wanted to sword fight.”
“You should have sent a letter,” Jeongin joked. “We would have happily come and robbed you earlier.”
“With the gunboats in the harbour?” the Prince asked sceptically. “You wouldn’t dare. Nobody would. That’s why I’ve not been able to fight anybody until now.”
“I should make it clear now,” Chan said, interjecting in their conversation. “You are not to go looking for fights. You may spar with crewmates if you are free of duties and in agreement. Altercations with enemy personnel should be avoided at all costs.”
“He’s a fucking hypocrite,” Jeongin told the Prince. “Leaves me on fucking wall watch while he goes in and beats up all your knights.”
“I am rather glad you were left on wall watch,” the Prince said fondly. “Though I would have liked it more if you had not drawn blood.”
“You’re injured?” Chan asked, leaning around Jeongin to look the Prince over, ever the mother hen. “Jeongin,” he admonished as the Prince lifted his tunic to show the gash along the side of his waist. It wasn’t very deep but it was bleeding profusely.
“He was the enemy!” Jeongin exclaimed in his own defence. “And he hurt me too!” He shoved his burnt hand into Chan’s face. “See! He burned me with his fire!”
Chan grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand back to a point he could see it. “Gosh. Both of you to the medicine chest when we board. Hyunjin, will you be strong enough to climb the rope?”
Hyunjin nodded. “I’m ok,” he said, though Jeongin had his doubts. However, he managed just fine when they reached Levanter and Jeongin scurried up after him with his wrist hooked around the rope instead of damaging the burn on his palm. When he climbed over the side he took Hyunjin’s arm and dragged him below-decks. Levanter was already under sail and it was chaotic getting her out of the port as quickly as possible. The last thing the crew needed was Hyunjin floundering on deck like a landed fish.
He was slow following Jeongin on the stairs, failing to counter Levanter listing to starboard as she got under way. There were no sea legs on him yet but they’d come with time. They’d be at sea for a while now since they had to escape Hyunjin’s father’s gunboats once they were informed of the piracy. Jeongin wouldn’t be surprised if there was already a message being sent to rally the troops since the Kingdom was now short of medicine, gold, and an heir.
“Sit down before you fall down,” Jeongin instructed Hyunjin when they reached the first mate’s quarters and the location of the medicine chest, as well as supplies freshly raided from the castle. It was also the location of Felix- laid out on Minho’s bunk, flushed and delirious. Hyunjin sat on the single chair and looked around the room nervously.
Most of their looted medicine was loose in a sack on the floor and Jeongin opened it to peer in. Nothing seemed to be broken, luckily, but the labelling was beyond Jeongin. He didn't know what he'd expected to find. A vial of liquid labelled 'Fever Cure' maybe. That would be too easy. These labels were written in tight spidery writing and when Jeongin pulled one vial into the light to see it he was dismayed to discover it was written in a foreign script.
"I can't read these," Jeongin said. "How are we supposed to get Felix well again now?"
Hyunjin held out his bloody hand calmly. Jeongin wondered why he didn't offer the hand that wasn't bleeding but then realised he'd possibly broken that wrist. Hyunjin had done far better to get up the rigging than Jeongin had given him credit for. He carefully handed over the vial.
Hyunjin turned it over. "This is for chest pain," he said. He must have anticipated Jeongin's questions because he continued. "It's French. I was taught from the age of four. Also, my mother takes this one- that's why it has a red ribbon."
"Your mother needs this medicine?" Jeongin asked worriedly. He didn't want the guilt of Hyunjin's mother's death on his hands.
"She'll be fine," Hyunjin assured him. "She had some in her rooms and the physician can make her more. You're not depriving my parents, trust me." Jeongin was glad to hear that but it still left him bitter. They had to plan their loot for a whole week to get the medicine that Felix desperately needed and the King and Queen wouldn't be even slightly inconvenienced from losing their entire stock.
"Can you find the one for fevers?" Jeongin asked him. Hyunjin came to crouch next to him and reached forward awkwardly with his left hand, his right arm still cradled to his chest. "Sorry," Jeongin added, surprising himself. "For breaking your wrist."
Hyunjin glanced over and smiled at him. "It's ok. I don't think it's broken. Just bruised.” He pushed back his sleeve and showed Jeongin the already purpling skin. The joint did seem to still be in position but it was a nasty injury all the same.
“Can you find medicine for bruising too?” Jeongin asked. “And burns?”
“Burns perhaps,” Hyunjin said, awkwardly rifling through their loot. “My wrist shall have to heal on its own before we have a rematch.” He paused to grin up at Jeongin and Jeongin felt his heart flip. He could already tell that their rematch would be harder to win. Hyunjin might be terrible at swordfighting but his smile was astonishingly disarming and it trapped Jeongin in his thoughts every time. He supposed it was Hyunjin’s training. Jeongin trained to fight, Hyunjin trained to smile.
“You did not take the inner drawers,” Hyunjin announced regretfully, startling Jeongin out of his daydream. “There is nothing for burns or fevers here.”
“Nothing?” Jeongin asked in fear, turning to look at Felix’s prone body. Their raid couldn’t be for nothing. It couldn’t. Felix needed them.
“I’m sorry,” Hyunjin said. “That medicine is kept elsewhere. Your men didn’t take it.” His eyebrows furrowed in empathy as he took in Jeongin’s devastation. “I can try to help though!” he offered quickly. “I’ll try to draw the fever out of him with my magic.”
“Is that a thing you can do?” Jeongin asked suspiciously.
Hyunjin looked at Felix nervously. “Well, not- I’ve not tried it before but I can pull fire into me and a fever is a bit like that?” Jeongin was still not convinced. It was much too risky. What if Hyunjin burned Felix instead of taking away his fever?
Jeongin held out his hand. The skin felt tight and painful already from his burn. “Try it on me,” he said boldly before his confidence could wane.
“On you?” Hyunjin asked, stumbling as the ship rocked over a wave. He looked down at Jeongin’s extended hand and understanding lit up his face. “Oh! Yes, let’s.”
Hyunjin held Jeongin’s hand ever so gently in his soft palms and examined the burn. “This isn't so bad,” he said quietly, tracing over the injury with his thumb. It felt like Jeongin’s skin was alight but he didn’t flinch away.
“It fucking hurts,” Jeongin said gruffly.
“I know,” Hyunjin said, his voice as smooth as silk. He carefully lined up their palms and pressed them together. Unlike his previous touch, this was like a cooling balm and when Hyunjin pulled his hand away Jeongin’s palm no longer hurt. The skin was still red and tight, but it no longer looked like it would blister and the pain was gone.
Jeongin looked up from his hand to Hyunjin, who was anxiously watching him for a reaction. This boy was a miracle. “Do that to Felix-hyung,” he demanded. Hyunjin nodded and went to stand by Minho’s bunk. He couldn’t keep his balance though as they were now out in the open sea and he kept staggering back before he could lay his hand on Felix’s chest.
“How on earth do you get anything done on this blasted boat,” Hyunjin said as his third attempt failed.
“Ship,” Jeongin corrected. “You have to relax your body and move with her. Stand like a soldier and you’ll fall like one.” Hyunjin was still not getting it though and he couldn’t very well hold on when he was performing his magic. Jeongin reasoned that his subsequent action was therefore necessary, for the good of his friend.
He came and stood behind Hyunjin, holding the top of the bunk with his good hand, and used his hips to pin Hyunjin securely to the furniture.
“What are you doing!?” Hyunjin exclaimed, scandalous, trying to free himself.
“Helping,” Jeongin replied, leaning more of his weight into Hyunjin. “You're a pirate now, quit being so pompous and do your magic already.”
“This is not what I thought piracy would be like,” Hyunjin muttered to himself but he placed his hand on Felix’s chest and Felix’s cheeks gradually grew less red, his breathing less laboured. It was working.
“Who?” Felix croaked out in a deep raspy voice and Jeongin peered around Hyunjin to see him blinking up at Hyunjin in confusion.
“This is Hyunjin,” Jeongin explained. “He was a Prince. I beat him in combat and took him as our prisoner.”
“That’s not what happened,” Hyunjin argued.
“Did I, or did I not, have you at swordpoint?” Jeongin asked. “Twice.”
“Felix, you should drink some water,” Hyunjin said, ignoring the question.
“Water?” Felix asked, horrified. He tensed in the bed but was too weak to push himself upright.
“Yeah, no, we’re not going to poison you,” Jeongin assured him, stepping away to get the bottle from the table. “You can have wine.”
“Oh, thank the seas,” Felix sighed, slumping back against his pillows again.
“What’s wrong with water?” Hyunjin asked, tripping backwards now Jeongin wasn’t holding him still.
Jeongin rolled his eyes and helped sit Felix up enough for him to take a few sips, carefully timed with the rolling of the waves. Hyunjin, meanwhile, was rolling with the waves on the floor. It was quite fun to watch. “I bet you had a private well, didn’t you, dickhead?” Jeongin asked him.
“Yes?” Hyunjin said and then yelped as he hit his head off of the table. Jeongin had never seen anybody less adapted to life at sea, and that was saying something as he himself was notoriously clumsy. Still, he was glad Hyunjin had chosen to join them and he hoped he would stay as a permanent crew member.
***
“So, regretting the life of a pirate yet?” Jeongin asked. They were stood at the stern of the boat, watching Hyunjin’s first sunrise on the water. It was something to behold and Jeongin never got bored of it. He leaned into Hyunjin’s side for warmth as a little as a cold gust blew suddenly, chilling his exposed skin. Hyunjin was always warm, he had found- a side effect of his magic- and Jeongin was more than willing to exploit that on a ship where nothing really ever got dry and the pirates were almost constantly damp. Hyunjin draped his arm across Jeongin’s shoulders, probably for balance.
“I don’t regret a thing,” he said confidently. He had his beautiful dual swords back at his hips as a sign of trust from Chan but already he was looking more like a pirate; his fancy jerkin was discarded down below and his long hair was now tied back with a scrap of fabric. Jeongin would be sad when that hair lost its shine. “Well,” Hyunjin said, after a moment of thought. “My bed perhaps. It was made with the softest goose feathers and the finest silk. And it didn’t rock terribly like any bed on this boat shall.”
“Ship,” Jeongin corrected him tiredly. “And you won’t get a bed here. Only the Captain and First Mate do. The crew have hammocks, and as you are the newest crewmate you will have to share.”
“Oh,” Hyunjin said, looking a little worried. Not all of the crew had been as welcoming to a royal fire-welder as Jeongin and Chan were. “With whom?”
Theoretically, it should be Seungmin, who was the most recent to join the crew before Hyunjin, but Seungmin was incredibly fussy about his sleep anyway and Jeongin wasn’t sure he wouldn’t skewer Hyunjin for breathing wrong.
“Me,” he said hurriedly. “You have to bunk with me.”
Hyunjin looked down at him and smiled that perfect smile. “That’s alright then. You've got a shirt of silk and," he poked Jeongin's cheek, "you're as soft as goose feathers."
"Hey!" Jeongin protested. "You'll bunk with me, not on me."
"We'll see," Hyunjin replied cheerfully, pulling Jeongin closer to his side. "I'm very good at getting what I want."