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“I’m telling you, to this day I don’t know why smugglers keep risking veering that close to the Tideway.”
The two of them had been talking about Shaw’s suspicions of smuggling into Stormwind. While he couldn’t give Flynn all the details, the man was his best shot at figuring out the routes these smugglers would take. And while the spymaster had been diligently taking notes, comfortably seated against his pillow and the backrest of their bed, the good captain continued rambling about smuggling. About all the routes he himself used early in his criminal career, and those he knew would still be active – from Booty Bay to Tanaris, from Freehold to coves off the coast of Arathi, and the riskiest ones past the sound’s so-called “Wailing Tideway”.
And he made sure to explain why it was called that, in excruciating detail.
“Evidently they consider the risk worth taking,” Shaw said above his notebook.
Flynn shrugged, splayed out on his side of the bed, arms stretched over his head. “I don’t even know how many shipwrecked there. The sirens plunder whatever’s left of them, or more specifically, they make their new slaves do that, probably to let them survive as long as they need them to.”
“Why do they even enslave people?”
He shrugged again. “Few people stick around to find out, if they managed to escape the charm. But they say the sirens eat people.”
“Charming.”
Flynn laughed. “How accurate is that…?”
Shaw raised an eyebrow. “Pun wasn’t intended. Anyway,” he absently tapped the notebook with his quill. “You know something about that, don’t you?”
“… What do you mean?”
“I’ve read the report,” he allowed himself a small smirk. He’d never given in to such frivolous impulses as teasing, but for reasons that escaped him doing that to Flynn was actually fun. Perhaps it was the way the man always quipped back, or the honest, beautiful laugh he’d give in response.
This time, however, he pushed himself up on his elbows. “Report- oh, Tides, not that one?”
“Yes, that one.”
The captain groaned. “I’ll have you know I’ve pulled myself right out of that situation.”
“After the siren’s been killed,” the smirk widened. “And after you’ve gotten positively hammered.”
He cleared his throat. “Just to clear my head. I was perfectly fine, I assure you, I’ve found my bearings and continued the mission as planned.”
Shaw just nodded, his expression unchanged. That wasn’t what the other report said, the one filed by the emissary who accompanied Flynn on Ashvane’s trail. But truth was he himself had no idea what it was like to be bewitched by a siren, so perhaps even he’d do the same thing afterwards, even if he normally barely drank any alcohol.
“You know,” Flynn sat up properly, turning a bit to better face the other man. “I’d never have expected I’d meet another siren so soon after that.”
The spymaster raised an eyebrow. There were no reports regarding any further incidents like that that he could recall. “Another siren?”
“Oh, yes,” Flynn nodded sagely, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. “He’s charmed me immediately and completely, don’t think I can break out of this one.”
Shaw snorted a laugh. “That’s the cheesiest thing you’ve said to me.”
“But you’re blushing.”
“I’m not.”
“You’ve no idea how easily you blush,” the captain grinned, leaning in a bit closer to the other man and plucking the notebook out of his hands. “Must be part of that spell you’ve cast at me.”
“The one you can’t break?”
The quill migrated to the end table. “To be honest, I’m not trying to.”
They kissed, and the lovemaking that followed was slow and gentle, the two of them wrapped in each other’s arms like drowning men clinging to flotsam. Mathias made sure to show his partner just how much he loved him, with every touch, every kiss, and all those sweet little whispers. The report mentioned how Flynn referred to that siren that bewitched him as the love of his life; it was funny to read, but it betrayed a truth the sailor was yet to admit.
Sirens lured people with promises of what they wished for most. Flynn’s deepest desire was to be loved, and that was something Shaw was happy to give.