Chapter Text
Jon had read many books in his life. Actually, many might be an understatement. A whole lot of books might be more correct. A ton of books. Probably an uncountable number of books. Anyway. The point was, Jon had a lot of experience in reading books. He had read all sorts. But never had he read one that gave him the impression of wasting his time as much as this one.
Christ, what an awful book.
Jon snapped it shut with a loud sound, groaning and rubbing his face with both hands. Hours lost down the drain. That was his least favourite part of research. Spending hours looking through a book only to realise there was nothing useful in it. More than that, it was dull and badly written. Some people should really refrain from writing, that was very clear. It didn’t help that Jon’s mind kept flying away every time he remembered what day it was.
Jon got up from his chair, stretching his legs. He took a few steps around his office and stopped in front of a portrait on the wall. It was a painting from his wedding, a beautiful day in a beautiful place. He smiled at the memory.
A knock on the door took him out of his thoughts.
“Come in.” He called.
He watched as Rosie, the housemaid, appeared in the doorframe. She smiled and placed her hands neatly in front of her.
“What is it?” Jon asked, surprised.
“You asked me to let you know as soon as Mr Bouchard arrived.”
Jon’s heart skipped a beat with sudden excitement.
“Thank you, Rosie.” He said as he quickly left his office and practically ran towards the front door of the house.
When he arrived at the top of the stairs that led down to the main entrance, he stopped. Elias was standing in front of the door, looking at him with a smile.
“Hello, darling.” He said, and Jon melted.
Jon chuckled and stepped down the stairs as fast as he could, before throwing himself in his husband’s arms. They kissed, long and slow, enjoying the feeling of each other’s lips after so long. When they parted, Jon couldn’t repress a giddy laugh.
“Welcome back. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, you can’t imagine how happy I am to see you.” Elias answered, keeping Jon close to his chest.
“Have you eaten already?” Jon asked, looking at the clock behind him. “It’s still early, but I can ask for dinner to be served on the patio, the weather is beautiful outside.”
Elias looked at him and smiled again.
“Maybe later.” He said, replacing a strand of hair behind Jon’s ear. “For now, I just want to enjoy being with you.”
Jon felt goosebumps growing on his arms. He took Elias’ hand and kissed him again, savouring it. Elias had been gone for nearly two months, and now that he was back, Jon intended to enjoy him as much as possible before he had to leave for the sea again.
***
The docks were busy. Everyone was preparing for the departure of the Watcher, Elias’ ship. Its high masts and large hull were casting shadows on the place where Jon and Elias were saying their goodbyes, kissing each other passionately.
Elias broke the kiss but kept his arms around Jon’s waist. They both knew everyone was watching them, but most people were well aware that Captain Bouchard enjoyed showing off how lucky he felt to have Jon as his husband. Jon usually pretended not to notice.
“There’s still time before I have to leave.” Elias smiled, keeping Jon close to him. “Maybe I could show you my cabin? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you come aboard, and we should make the most of our remaining time together.”
With that he pressed Jon imperceptibly closer to him, moving his hips just so. Jon rolled his eyes audibly, and Elias laughed at the display.
“I think we made the most of it already, don’t you?” He said, giving a light tap of his hand at Elias’ chest.
That was very true. Whenever Elias came back from one of his missions, it was as if they were newlyweds again. They would spend all their time together for a few weeks, and then they would go back to their normal life until Elias received his next mission order.
This time, they had been eating, sitting at the table and talking about whatever came to their mind, when Rosie appeared with a letter on a plate. She brought it to Elias, who opened it and then read its content in silence under Jon’s careful eye.
“It looks like our time together comes to an end…” Elias said, placing the letter down.
They shared a knowing look. Then they finished eating quickly and retired early to their bedroom, and again the next day, and the next until the day of departure.
So yes, they did make the most of their time. Now, a week later, standing in the shadow of Elias’ ship, they settled into their old goodbye habits. As usual, Jon rearranged Elias’ uniform and received a kiss on the forehead in return.
“I’ll miss you.” He smiled softly, taking a step back to admire his work.
“And I’ll miss you too.” Elias answered simply, an evident fact. “Don’t worry, I should be back in five weeks.”
“I’ll be waiting for you here.”
Elias smiled again, and took a step back towards his ship. He took one last glance at his husband then turned around, leaving Jon behind to watch him climb aboard. Every sailor he passed stopped what they were doing to salute, and soon enough he had disappeared behind the rail.
Jon waited. More people joined him to watch as the last preparations were finished. There was always a lot of public whenever a ship from the royal navy departed. Some of them were like Jon, saying goodbye to their loved ones leaving for the sea. Others simply watched in curiosity. It was an attraction on its own on their little island.
When the ship set sail, a clamour filled the crowd, and Jon couldn’t repress his smile, knowing it was his husband that earned such a show.
The ship slowly sailed away, and so Jon decided to go back home. He still had work to do.
***
On the next day, Jon decided to pay a surprise visit to his friend Georgie. She lived in a nearby town by the sea, and it had been a long time since he had last seen her. Elias didn’t like Georgie, said she was too adventurous and a bad influence for him, so Jon usually avoided her whenever his husband was home. But now that Elias had left, he would have all the time in the world to visit her in peace.
Jon loved Elias, of course, and he was always delighted to have his husband home, but he had to admit that he quite liked the freedom he got when Elias was at sea.
Jon asked Rosie to get the horses and the carriage prepared, and when everything was ready, he jumped inside and let himself bask in the sound of hooves on the ground, enjoying the short trip to Georgie’s town. Since it was still early in the morning, he figured he should stop in town and head to the small bookshop near the harbour, where he liked to spend some time whenever he visited his friend.
As he stepped inside the bookshop, he was greeted by the owner, who recognised him from previous visits.
“Good morning!” She chimed, happy to see him. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
Jon nodded with a shy smile.
“Yes, quite…”
He started looking around, trying to see if there were any new books since the last time he came. Maybe he could finally find some information that would prove useful for his future book? As if she could read his mind, the shop keeper appeared to his side.
“Are you looking for anything in particular?”
Jon took a moment to think, then decided he might as well try.
“Do you have anything about early Caribbean architecture post European settlement?”
The woman looked at him in silence. Her eyes were wide and she had a sheepish smile on her face.
“Or I can settle for a book about Spanish grammar…” Jon corrected quickly, seeing as she wilted a little in front of him.
“Right, that…” She said, taking a deep breath. “I can do that.”
She took a step back and walked towards the back of the shop, leaving Jon to examine the different books placed on the shelves. After a few minutes, the shop owner came back empty-handed.
“I was sure I had it, but I can’t find it for the life of me…” She sighed. “However, I can go ask my sister if she has it, I lent her some books a few days ago, it might be there. That is, if you don’t mind waiting a little longer?”
“Of course, take your time.” Jon crossed his arms on his chest, surprised.
“Right.” She grabbed her coat and put on her hat and thin gloves. “I’ll be right back, feel free to make yourself comfortable in the meantime.”
She left, the bell at the door ringing after her, and Jon suddenly found himself standing alone in the middle of the bookshop. Alright. That was odd. He took a few steps around, trying to find anything interesting to occupy his time while waiting for the shop keeper. He ended up grabbing a heavy tome about Jamaican flora, and after some rummaging, found an empty chair in a dusty corner, perfect to sit on.
As always, he was captured by the words as soon as he started reading, and it didn’t take long for him to completely stop paying attention to his surroundings. He was so enthralled that he nearly didn’t notice when the bell at the door ringed again.
“Fuck.”
He whipped his head upwards at the word. What kind of person would come into such a place only to swear like that? He frowned, seeing a woman with short blond hair crouching by the door. By the look of her clothes, she was a sailor, and the gun at her hip couldn’t be a good sign. She was sneaking glances at the window, hiding every time someone passed too close.
Jon tried to look at her discreetly, but his chair creaked when he leaned too far, and the stranger snapped her head to stare at him. She cast a last quick look outside, then got up and walked towards him in a faux-casual manner.
“You a posh one, aren’t you?”
Jon scoffed, offended at the way she talked to him.
“I’m sorry?” He blurted.
“It’s the clothes, they look expensive.” She eyed the book he was still holding. “You can read?”
Jon frowned and lowered his gaze to the heavy tome in his hands.
“Excuse me, who are you and what are you doing here?” He asked briskly.
“Not important.” She answered simply. “But you can read, so you must be pretty important.”
Before Jon had the chance to make sense of what she was saying, he felt himself being lifted from his chair and abruptly propped on her shoulder like a potato bag.
“Hey, what–” He tried to scream, but she cut him off.
“I need a way out, the guards won’t shoot me if you’re with me. Shit, you’re heavier than I thought.”
Jon started batting his arms and legs to get free from her grip, but nothing he was doing helped. The woman stepped close to the door and looked one more time through the window.
“The ship’s not far, but we’ll have to be fast, ready for a run?”
“Let me go!” Jon ordered, in vain. “My husband will have your head if you don’t leave me be!”
“Sure thing, lad.”
She opened the door and started running, much to Jon’s frightened despair.