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Sure, Jay had been to plenty of fancy galas thrown by rich navy soldiers or by the aristocrats on the island she grew up on. She had been taught how to dance, and how to act properly in public and around other people (men). It was a common experience for Jay to be dragged to one of those parties for a night-long festivity, at least that’s what it was like with the navy that she had grown up with.
Jay remembered all the times when she was younger when she would sit in front of the mirror while her mother would braid her hair into a tight plait before twisting it around the crown of her head and holding it in place with a clip. She remembered the times that she and Ava would get excited about the dresses that they were allowed to wear for these occasions. They would giggle and laugh and pretend that they were like the snobby older women at the dances (in the privacy of their shared room of course).
Jay had fond memories of the times when her mother enjoyed going to these parties. When her parents were still relatively happy together and the fighting was a rare occurrence. Jay couldn’t have been more than eleven at the time, and when she was that age, if her mother liked something, that meant that Jay did as well (she loved doing things that her mother loved). Her parents would have gotten all dressed up in fancy clothes and jewelry with their arms intertwined as they walked the short way to the party.
Those were the times that Jay loved to remember. When her father would gaze at his mother with adoration as they danced to slow songs, or linked arms as they walked together. She and Ava would hold hands and dance with each other (since when she was younger, Jay was too shy to dance with anyone else). Ava would always whisper in her ear things about the other people in the party which would make Jay laugh.
Jay didn’t think she’d ever forget those parties, where everything was okay and they were actually fun.
She didn’t know when those things changed. All she knew was that by the time she was a teenager, her mother was more distant. She would spend most of the day working at her tavern, a place that Jay also enjoyed helping. Her father would be gone off doing whatever work he was expected to do, sometimes leaving for days.
At that point, the only reason Jay still went to the parties was because Ava liked going (what kind of person would she be to let her sister go alone). So even if Jay would have rather worked at the tavern with their mother, she would get all dolled up with Ava and take the short walk to wherever a party had been thrown.
Ava would do Jay’s hair similarly to how their mother always did and they would walk side by side (for it was too childish for them to hold hands at this age) and talk about anything.
The walk to the parties was the only part that Jay remembered enjoying after they stopped all going as a family. After they actually got to the place, Ava would usually split off to talk with people or to dance, leaving Jay to try and enjoy herself. (They were too old to only dance with each other, they were both the age expected to dance with the other boys on the island).
Ava could dance with anyone easily since she was the more social of the two. Not that Jay was bad at talking with others, Ava was just better at it.
So when Jay was older, she was expected to dance with boys and gossip and do all the things that a daughter of a navy vice admiral was expected to.
And she did! It wasn’t often that she was asked to dance by someone else but she did when that happened. Even if the offered hand was only ever from a family friend that was just as pitiable as she was. She still enjoyed the times that she got to dance with someone else, those were fun nights.
So Jay had been to parties, she knew how to dance, she could enjoy them at least a little bit.
But Jay was used to navy parties and even then it had been a few years since the last time she had gone to one. Experiencing a party for the first time (after their success at Loffinlot) was a bit of a surprise and not an unpleasant one.
She hadn’t danced much that night (as far as she could remember, there was a lot of alcohol), but she watched with amusement as the other townsfolk danced with each other in a jovial cacophony. Gillion and Chip had partnered at one point for a dance, which was incredibly amusing to watch.
So those types of parties she had experienced, she had experienced Navy galas.
But this was a new experience.
Calling it a party would be an overstatement. It was a glorified celebration (they weren’t even celebrating anything).
The Albatross and The Crescent Moon were still connected with the rickety plank of wood as they sailed the ocean relatively calmly.
Lizzie and Caspian had crossed the small bridge to their ship to join their festivities. Chip had pulled out the old out-of-tune guitar that they had on the ship and had perched himself on a barrel, plucking the strings and grinning to himself.
Caspian sat near him playing music along with him. The instrument he played looked like a kind of flute but Jay didn't recognize it at all. Gillion looked excited when Caspian brought it out though, which gave her the assumption that it was something from the undersea.
It wasn’t exactly a loud party, but at least it was energetic. Ollie sat with Chip excitedly, clapping along with the beat of the song since he couldn’t actually play an instrument himself. Lizzie was drinking, sitting on another barrel that they had dragged to the top deck. Jay, too, had settled on one of the barrels, sipping a tankard of alcohol as she kicked her feet absently. Old man Earl complained about Chip’s playing (the guitar was so badly out of tune) but he had a small smile on his face.
Marshall John and Gillion were… dancing? At least that’s what Jay assumed . Neither of them were very good at it, and Gillion definitely didn’t seem to know what was going on. Marshall John had one hand grasped around Gillion’s, covering the Triton’s webbed hands in what was the oddest partner dance that Jay had seen.
Chip and Caspian were out of rhythm in their playing. John completely towered over Gillion who stumbled slightly as the rocking of the ship knocked him out of balance.
It was chaotic, it was different than the normal nights on the ship, but it felt correct.
Jay watched as Lizzie downed the rest of her drink, pushed herself up from the barrel, and shuffled over to where Chip was sitting. Chip looked up and raised an eyebrow, missing a few notes as he lost concentration. The song finished and there was a moment of hesitation.
The two of them seemed to have a silent conversation, one practiced from having known each other since childhood. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Chip heaved a sigh and stood up, shoving the guitar in her direction.
Lizzie smirked and took Chip’s place, cradling the guitar in her hands like it was a precious thing. Chip strode over to Jay with a pout, his eyebrows furrowed.
“You let her take your guitar?” Jay asked teasingly, taking another sip from her drink.
“She’s a wretched woman,” Chip grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Before beginning to play, Lizzie actually took the time to try and tune the guitar (not that it actually stayed in tune) and Chip huffed again. When she actually started to play, Caspian followed along with her and it was clear that they actually had played together before.
Gillion had stepped away from Marshall John, the former navy officer grabbed Ollie up from where the kid had been sitting and convinced him to dance to the much more comprehensible song. Ollie didn’t know how to, so John tried to teach him.
Gillion seemed to notice Chip and Jay sitting next to each other. He shuffled over to the two of them, a bright smile on his face, and his teeth bared in what a stranger might assume was a threatening expression.
He tripped on the way there, falling into Chip who stumbled and barely kept both of them from tumbling to the ground. Jay brought a hand up to her mouth to muffle her laughter.
“What are you laughing at?” Chip huffed, holding Gillion’s shoulders tightly. Gillion still hadn’t pushed himself away from Chip, leaning against Chip’s chest for a few seconds.
“Nothing,” Jay insisted, waving her hand dismissively.
Gillion finally stood up on his own, dusting off the front of his shirt. His grin hadn’t left his face and his ears flicked. Chip turned to Jay, a mischievous look on his face. She didn’t like when that look was directed at her.
“Jay, since Lizzie stole my guitar, would you care to dance?” Chip offered, raising one eyebrow at Jay, “and since you’ve been sitting here like a bump on a log.”
“I’ve actually been enjoying myself greatly,” Jay responded, crossing one leg over the other.
“Humor me,” Chip wrinkled his nose, holding out his hand dramatically.
Jay thought of all the fancy galas that she and her sister had gone to, especially the ones later in her teens. She thought of the men that rarely asked for her hand to dance (she wasn’t as approachable as her sister) and how she never really talked to that many people. She was never embarrassed to dance, she was just embarrassed to be that close to other people she barely knew.
She stared down at Chip’s offered hand, a small flutter of excitement similar to the one she got when she was only eleven years old on the walk to the parties with Ava.
With a small huff and a roll of her eyes (only to hide the smile that was steadily growing across her face), Jay reached out, placing her hand in Chip’s upturned palm.
His face split into a contagious grin and he squeezed her hand, pulling her up to her feet.
Lizzie and Caspian were still playing together, and when she saw the two of them stand up to dance, she cast a small look over at Caspian and rolled her eyes. Caspian pulled the flute away from his mouth for a breath and he gave a small laugh.
“Loverboy,” Lizzie teased, strumming a chord and crossing one leg over the other in a lull between notes.
Even in the fading sunlight, Jay could see Chip blush as he looked away from Lizzie. He trailed his hand over the dip of Jay’s side, his fingers pressing against her waist. She shivered and bit her lip to hold back her smile.
“I only know how to ballroom dance,” she said quietly, holding his hand a bit tighter.
“You’re such a priss.” There was fondness in his tone as he said that and Jay just chuckled softly.
Apparently (and very surprising) Chip also seemed to slightly know how to dance, he glanced down at their feet, pulling Jay a bit closer to himself to lead. She let him, even if she was taller than Chip by a decent margin.
His fingers tapped with the beat of the song which only made Jay more aware of how out of rhythm they were. And if they had been in a larger crowd of people, they would have bumped into someone by now.
But that didn’t matter, Jay followed along with where Chip would lead her, wind rustling her hair and causing her bangs to fall in front of her face.
Jay took a step back, Chip took a step forward. He rubbed the back of her knuckles, humming under his breath. His touch was gentle and he slid his hand down to rest over her hip.
The two of them were pressed almost impossibly close to each other and Jay could see the flickering lantern light trace lines across his face. Her heart thumped against her rib cage, loud enough that she swore that Chip would be able to hear.
“You have to speed up some,” Jay whispered, “to match the song.”
Chip chewed on the inside of his mouth, following Jay’s instructions but a bit messily. He glanced up from his feet, noticing Jay looking back at him, and quickly dropped his head back down. He made a small noise in the back of his throat, clutching her hand.
Jay looked over at Caspian and Lizzie who were casting looks at each other. Lizzie made a face at Caspian and rolled her eyes. Caspian snorted, blowing into the flute and causing a screech-like noise. He pulled it away from his mouth and fanned his face with one hand, a small chuckle bubbling up.
Lizzie then looked over, caught Jay’s eye, and stuck her tongue out. Jay stuck hers out back.
“Can I spin you?” Chip asked, looking back up at Jay with a newfound mischief.
“Sure, if you don’t trip me.”
Chip lifted her hand, guiding her through the movement and Jay spun with the momentum, her boots scuffing against the floor. She fell back into his chest with a small exhale, leaning against him with a euphoric feeling settling in her chest. Chip gave her a crooked smile, following back into the rhythm of the song.
She stepped forward, he stepped back. Back and forth. Chip stepped on her foot, apologizing under his breath and righting the steps. Jay bumped her knee against his leg. It was an awkward dance from two that hadn’t ballroom danced in years.
Jay intertwined their fingers together instead of just grasping hands, her palm flush with his. Chip seemed to get more of a grasp on the steps and the fast pace as he kept looking up at Jay more and more often, smiling and laughing to himself whenever Jay would smile back.
The noise seemed to echo on the ship, Jay could feel the heat radiating from Chip’s skin as they were pressed tightly against each other. She could feel the thrumming of his heartbeat from just underneath his skin. His breath puffed against the exposed skin on her shoulder and Jay felt herself shiver despite the relatively warm ocean air.
Jay let her fingers rest at the back of his neck, twisting the brown curls absently. Chip gave a slow exhale, pressing his fingers into the soft spot of her side.
The song that Lizzie and Caspian were playing seemed to be ending. So Jay decided to take the lead for a quick second.
She lifted Chip’s hand above his head, causing his eyes to widen with surprise. He made a small high-pitched noise as Jay spun him, keeping her grip loose with one hand extended in case he lost his balance.
He did, Jay caught his other arm, pulling him flush against her chest before he could fall. Then, she leaned down, pressing her lips against his, cupping the back of his head with her free hand that slowly dropped from his.
Chip melted into the kiss like an ice cube to a flame and he threw his arms over her shoulder, leaning impossibly closer, his nose scrunching against her cheek. Jay trailed her other hand down his side, eyes fluttering closed in the few blissful seconds that the kiss lasted for.
And when Jay pulled away, she couldn’t help the breathless giggles that bubbled up from the back of her throat. She leaned her forehead against Chip’s, relishing in the moment. Her chest stuttered with each pant that caused her to shiver.
“Evil woman,” Chip whispered, still clinging to her tightly, his cheeks flushed a dark red as he spoke, “evil.”
“And you love me,” she whispered back.
“Unfortunately.”
Jay pulled away from Chip just as Gillion popped up next to them.
“I wish to dance!” He exclaimed, a curious glint sparkling in his eyes. His ears flicked as he looked back and forth between Chip and Jay.
Chip looked between Gillion and Jay, he took a step back and dramatically swept his hand to the side, “he’s all yours,” he said to Jay with a smirk.
Jay blew hair out of her face and rolled her eyes with a small chuckle as Chip retreated back to the barrel to wrestle his guitar back from Lizzie. Jay turned to Gillion and extended a hand.
“Sure, Gill,” she said, “we can dance.”
Gillion’s eyes lit up and he bounced on the heels of his feet as he took her hand, his palms were wet and his claws lightly poked into her skin.
“Do you know how to dance?” Jay asked as she glanced over at Chip and Lizzie who were mid-argument.
Gillion’s ears drooped and he looked away bashfully, “Well… not in the way that you mean…”
“Don’t worry, I can teach you.”
A toothy smile spread across Gillion’s face and Jay loved when he smiled wide enough to display his sharp shark-like teeth. The first time he had smiled that big, it had almost frightened her, but now she loved it (and loved being the one to make him smile like that).
Chip managed to weasel his guitar back from Lizzie and took his rightful place back on the self-acclaimed guitar barrel. Lizzie sauntered off with a huff towards where they had kept the bottles of alcohol. Caspian let the flute rest in his lap, leaning back some and fanning his face with his other hand. He said something to Chip who nodded in response.
Jay looked back to Gillion, he was chewing on the inside of his mouth and when he noticed Jay staring at him, he just tilted his head to the side.
“I’ll lead,” Jay insisted, as Chip began plucking at the strings of the guitar, melodies filling the air. This time, Caspian sat out, the sound of his flute no longer audible with Chip’s playing.
“Okay,” Gillion mumbled. Jay took Gillion’s wrists, moving his hands so that they were resting on her shoulders. Then, she slid her hands over his waist, smoothing her fingers over his slightly damp skin. Gillion made a small noise in the back of his throat.
“Take a step back with your left foot,” she guided, “and I’ll take one forward.”
Gillion tightened his grip around her shoulders, following her instructions shakily. Jay kept her hands firmly on his waist, making sure he didn’t trip or lose his balance. His tail flicked back and forth and he focused very intently on keeping steady.
“Then you step forward, and I step back,” she continued, knowing that this was a pretty bad demonstration. But in her defense, it had also been a long time since the last time she had danced with someone, and even longer since she had learned these things.
Gillion nodded, his chest rattled with each breath that he took. His ears flicked and Jay could see the scales dotting across his face start to glow with the fading light. His lips were pressed in a thin line with the intensity of his focus.
“You’re doing good,” Jay said after a few moments. He seemed to be getting the pattern down, following the rhythm with growing ease. They were way off-beat with the song, going much slower than the jovial tune that Chip was playing, but it was good for a start.
Gillion looked up, a deep blue blush spreading across his face with the sudden praise. His ears dropped and he seemed to stutter for a second, stepping on Jay’s toes. He threw his arms around Jay’s shoulder to keep himself from falling.
“Careful,” Jay said with a small chuckle, holding him steady.
“Sorry…” he muttered, shaking his head slightly, “lost my balance.”
“It’s okay.”
She held him a bit closer, continuing to move slowly to let him keep up. His steps were too wide or he would keep stepping on Jay’s feet. Jay traced patterns into his skin, her touches light but grip strong.
Chip ended one song and went into another with barely any transition between the two. Jay could hear him humming along with the tune even from where they were standing.
Their slow and unsteady waltz carried on in the same rhythm as before, despite the change in tempo.
The way that Gillion was pressed against Jay, his arms thrown over her shoulders, reminded Jay of when her parents had danced together when she was younger. Chests flush against each other, a tender hold.
Of course, those were the dances that a child remembered. Jay didn’t know if they held as much meaning as they did when she was looking through the eyes of an eleven-year-old.
But Jay now truly felt the warmth of the closeness (despite the chill that always seemed to radiate from Gillion’s skin). Gillion’s heartbeat thrummed with a steady rhythm and she could feel it just beneath her fingertips as she pressed her hands against his waist. She felt what it was like to be a couple dancing, intertwined together in an offbeat rhythm (twice! She had felt it twice tonight, and both times left her with the same sense of euphoria).
Gillion was so determined to get the steps right that he didn’t even notice Jay looking at him. He made a small gurgling noise, tilting his head to the side. His footsteps were heavy as his bare feet shuffled against the wooden floorboards. The end of his tail wagged, fins dragging with the weight of the air and when he seemed to have the rhythm down again, another happy gurgle bubbled up.
He looked up at Jay and smiled, his fins twitching and flaring out. His tongue poked out through a gap between two of his teeth and Jay chuckled softly.
“What if I tried to spin you,” Jay asked, raising one eyebrow.
“I feel I might fall,” Gillion responded, sliding one of his hands off of Jay’s shoulder to grasp at her wrist. His eyes lit up with excitement.
“But?” Jay prodded, knowing there was more to that statement.
“I believe it is our destiny,” he dropped his voice to a whisper like it was some scandalous secret. Jay just smiled and laughed, knocking her forehead against his.
She slipped her hand into his, bringing it up above his head and keeping one hand hovering over his waist. He spun around with a shaky movement, his tail hitting Jay’s legs. She stumbled slightly, forgetting about his tail entirely.
She would’ve been fine, and maybe would have been able to catch him when he inevitably tripped over his feet. But his tail had thrown her off and Gillion stumbled backwards with a thud as he kicked his other ankle. Jay fell on top of him, accidentally elbowing him in the stomach.
Chip stopped playing, quickly bringing a hand up to muffle his growing laughter. Jay sat up, her eyes wide.
“Are you okay Gill?”
There was a small smile on Gillion’s face, and he snorted with amusement, his fin-like ears framing his face.
“I am alright.” His face seemed to flush even darker as Jay got off of him. He sat up, rubbing his stomach where Jay had hit him.
“Sorry,” Jay said, spreading her legs out in front of herself and leaning against his side. Gillion waved his hand dismissively and the cacophony of Chip’s laughter only seemed to get louder. Jay looked over at him, he was leaning over the edge of the guitar, his shoulders heaving with each laugh.
“Are you two alright?” Caspian asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“We’re good,” Jay gave a sheepish thumbs up. Caspian still looked slightly concerned but he nodded.
“That was exciting!” Gillion said, turning to look at Jay, “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Jay knocked her shoulder against his, “Next time I think we’d wanna work on your balance more.”
Gillion hummed and nodded, he crossed his legs in front of himself and stretched. His tail hit against the deck with a steady, wet thump.
Chip leaned his guitar against the railing of the ship, hopping down to approach the two of them, “come on, up you go.” He grabbed Jay’s arm and hoisted her up to her feet. He then did the same to Gillion, who accepted the help in the same way that a really long cat gets picked up.
Lizzie took that opportunity to snag the guitar once again (albeit this time she was a bit tipsier). Chip flipped her off with both hands, she responded the same way.
“That was a wonderful dance,” Chip said, pouring a glass of alcohol for each of them.
“You could’ve played a slower song,” Jay insisted, taking a sip of the offered cup.
“I don’t know any,” he lied. Jay had heard him play slow songs before, she knew that he knew how to.
Gillion leaned against Chip’s side, holding onto Chip’s freehand with a faint smile. His tail was still wagging (Jay didn’t think she noticed a time tonight when it had stopped wagging).
Tonight was a good night. Jay didn’t think that she would classify this as a party. But if it was one, it would’ve been the best party that Jay had ever been to. And the best dances that she had ever joined in.
The night was nowhere near done, no one was drunk yet and Chip still seemed to have a few more fights over the guitar in him. The moon was just starting to peek over the horizon as stars twinkled in the inky black sky. She watched the waves for a few seconds, listening to them push against the side of their boat, rocking both the Albatross and the Crescent Moon in a steady rhythm.
Jay let out a small, content sigh, downing the rest of her alcohol. She turned back to Chip and Gillion just in time to see Gillion press a chaste kiss to Chip’s cheek.
He flushed a dark red, turning away from the Triton who just grinned and rocked back and forth on his heels. Gillion then noticed Jay looking and waved her down to his level. When she leaned down some, Gillion gave her a kiss on the cheek as well.
Jay cupped his cheek in her hand pressing her lips against his for a quick peck. That got Gillion to blush as well, his ears drooping.
She sat down on one of the closed barrels nearby, swinging her legs absently. Gillion sat down on the floor nearby, tilting his head to the side. Chip raised an eyebrow, but joined and sat down next to Gillion.
“This is a lot more fun than any of the Navy parties I went to when I was younger,” Jay said suddenly, it was very out of the blue and she didn’t even realize that she had said it out loud until Chip responded.
“Well I’m glad,” he said with a huff, “I would assume that pirates would know how to throw a better party than those navy snobs.”
Jay shrugged, “I mean the food was better.”
Chip looked offended, he pressed a hand against his chest dramatically and leaned against Gillion, “I can’t believe you would say that, you best hope that Earl didn’t hear.”
Jay just rolled her eyes and continued, “the company here is a lot better though.”
“I mean, except for Lizzie,” Chip muttered, then projected his voice loud enough so that Lizzie could hear, “since she keeps stealing my guitar !”
Lizzie strummed the guitar louder in retaliation.
Jay laughed and Chip gave another huff of frustration. She looked down at Chip and Gillion sitting on the floor, a fond smile spreading across her lips.
Yeah, tonight was a good night.