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“I love the view of the night sky from out here, don’t you? But then again, it isn’t the stars you were looking at”, you said knowingly before turning to look at the captain of the ship you were standing on.
“I’ve never been able to sneak up on you. And you always see right through me. And though you’re right, the stars are beautiful, they’re not as beautiful as you”, he replies, smooth as ever.
“You’ll have to try harder than that, kapitein”, you tell him “You’re not as subtle with your flirtations as you think you are”.
“Why waste time on subtlety? I much prefer the direct approach. Gets things done.”, he answers with a grin.
“I’ve noticed”, you chuckle.
Sturmhond moves to stand next to you, leaning on the railing and looking up at the stars with you. After a moment he asks: “Do you know what I find starlight to be perfect for?”
You move your head to look at him again, finding his pools of muddy green already directed at you, and you force yourself not to get lost in them.
“Do tell”, you say with a soft smile on your face.
He moves closer to you, taking your hand in his, and before you’ve even fully registered that he’d whispered the reply “dancing” in your ear, he’s already pulling you towards the center of the Volkvolny’s main deck.
He twirls the pair of you while taking your other hand and stepping even closer, starting a slow dance reminiscent of a waltz.
You laugh when he wiggles his eyebrows at you, and he breaks after a few seconds to join in with you.
He slows the pace and you follow him, moving even closer before receiving a slow and tender kiss.
You feel that he wants to pick up the pace again, but you stop him before he can, moving back a little and releasing his hands to put one of your own against his chest.
“It’s too dark and cold for your theatrics, Nik. Knowing you, you’re gonna do something stupid to impress me and we’ll both trip and fall overboard”, you tease him.
For a fleeting moment his eyes look like they have their original hazel colour again when he gazes at you. He tilts his head back in defeat, recognizing that you’re right. When he looks at you again, his eyes are green once more, shimmering with playful mischief.
“Well then by all means, let us move this inside”, he proposes, offering his arm for you to take, which you do, chuckling.
“Ever the gentleman, aren’t you?”
“Well, I try”, he answers, his trademark charming smirk on his face. Sturmhond opens the door to his cabin and gestures for you to go inside. He’s surprised when you press him to the door when he closes it and turns to you, but happily reciprocates the kiss you give him.
“I thought we were going to dance? Not that I’m complaining”, he says after you break away.
“And we are. I just… I’ve missed this, Nikolai. Missed you. And it’s not like we have long before we have to go our separate ways again. I just want to enjoy us being together while we can”.
“I’ve missed us too. And we’ll be back to sneaking around in the Grand Palace soon enough. But you can’t deny you like this side of our lives as well, even though we’re both very busy”.
“I do like this side. And us being busy is a good thing. Much better than being bored and stared at by a full court all day, every day. And I know being at sea makes you happy, which makes me happy”.
“I think the privateer look also makes you happy”, he grins, not being able to dodge the playful slap you deliver to his arm.
“I do like you as a redhead. Fiery character and all that. Brings out the eyes, too”.
“I thought you liked me as a blond?”
“Variety is the spice of life, Sturmhond”, you quip, putting emphasis on the name.
“That, I cannot argue with. And speaking of spice”, he says before suddenly moving forward and taking you in his arms. He starts leading you into a tango-like dance, and you follow, trying not to laugh at the look on his face.
“Trying to impress me with your dancing skills, uwe koninklijke hoogheid?”
“Is it working?”
“I know from experience that you can do better”, you challenge him, and his grin gives you only the slightest moment of warning before he suddenly lifts you mid-twirl, making you end up on his large desk, one hand still in his. He places a tender kiss on your knuckles before using his chair to get up on the desk with you.
You lift an eyebrow, playfully daring him to go on, and he does, pulling you close to himself once more. Nikolai moves the two of you in a half-twirl, your body bending at the waist as he does so, making your torso move to describe a graceful arch before you come back up to have your chest pressed against his again. He turns you quickly so your back is pressed against his chest instead before pressing a quick kiss to the side of your face and jumping back off the desk, arms held out in a silent promise that he’ll catch you if you jump off as well.
You let yourself fall off the desk, ending up in his arms bridal style. After another soft but passionate kiss he puts you down, loosely wrapping his arms around your waist again as you wrap yours around his neck. You sway softly together to the music of the waves, silently drowning in each other’s eyes. Soon you’ll have to say goodbye to each other for quite a while, as you both have duties to attend to. But for now, you’re content to just have each other, two ships meeting in the night, fates irrevocably intertwined until the very end.