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Some may find the creaking of the sails in the night’s wind eerie, but instead you enjoy it. One of your favourite duties was taking the night watch, the only company on deck being the few gulls squawking in the silver beams of moonlight.
But your peaceful solitude is soon disturbed by footsteps sounding on the deck behind you. It was obviously no enemy, as their steps were as loud as cannon fire. You turn slowly, your gaze landing on Silver drawing close towards you.
“What are you doing up?” you ask, looking back out across the expanse of inky black ocean. “My watch isn’t done for another couple of hours.”
“You sound almost gleeful about that,” he says, taking a seat on a nearby barrel.
There goes your alone time.
“This is the only time I get to myself,” you say, hoping he’ll take the hint.
He either doesn’t understand your meaning from him to leave, or just ignores it, instead he slouches back on the barrel, his arms splayed along the sides of the ship.
Though you both fall into silence, it’s not the peaceful kind you had enjoyed moments before his arrival, so you break it.
“You’re not like the others,” you say, twisting around slightly to look at him.
He cocks his head to one side, an amused smile on his lips. “No?”
“You’re certainly no cook.” The thought of his ‘meals’ makes your stomach churn.
His laugh echoes on the night breeze, and he gets up from his place to join you at the ship’s bow. “It’s true, cooking is a skill I have yet to master.”
“You seem to have other much more valuable skills to make up for it though,” you say, your body tensing at his closeness, as much as you wish you didn’t react at all.
He was a hard man to ignore, with a smile that could charm the purse off the hardest man, eyes that caught you every time he even glanced your way, and a mind sharp enough he never had need of a sword.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he replies. “Though, you don’t seem to be of a like mind to our companions either.”
You smile. “I muddle through.”
“Don’t we all,” he says, his gaze drifting to the waters that slap against the side of the ship in a rhythm so steady it could send you to sleep.
With his attention elsewhere, you try to stop yourself from gazing at him, but it’s an impossible task. The light of the lantern glows on his skin, his eyes shimmering in the flickering light. Your breath stutters and you grit your teeth to regain yourself.
“Why are you here?” you ask, trying to distract yourself.
He stiffens, seeming unsure how to respond. “What do you mean?”
“A man like you doesn’t need to be part of a pirate crew.”
“He does if he wants the biggest prizes,” Silver responds with the smile that always turns your knees to jelly.
You grip the edges of your shirtsleeve to keep your composure. “I should get back to my duty.”
“You all right?” he asks, catching your arm before you can move away.
You stare at his hand, the touch making you shiver, and you know he felt it. He snaps his hand back, his eyes flickering over your flushed face.
His uncertainty turns to understanding as he obviously realises exactly what you’re thinking. You can’t help your gaze as it drops to his lips, but you force yourself to turn away, needing to put distance between you and him before doing something you’d regret.