Archive of Our Own

They limp back to the ship and take off within twenty minutes of Marvelous deciding to take him on. There’s not much choice—it’s still move or die, because the Zangyack know where he had been. He helps to get the engines started, familiarizing himself with the weapons controls as he does. If they’re going down fighting, he wants it to be a good fight.

Nothing happens, though. Marvelous plots a course, seeming without a care in the world, and the minutes tick by in quiet, companionable silence. After an hour, Joe allows his muscles to relax.

He’s not quite sure how he ends up on the floor, but it feels nice, not being on his feet anymore. After a few seconds Marvelous’ head appears in his field of vision.

“You’re bleeding.” Marvelous doesn’t seem terribly worried as he makes the statement, one hand reaching down to poke at something on his shirt that Joe can’t see. Since Marvelous doesn’t seem overly concerned about whatever he’s seeing, Joe decides it’s not worth getting upset about.

Which means it’s not worth moving about, which suits him just fine right now.

“Ah. Bleeding’s what happens when you get shot. Or stabbed.” He tries to remember all the injuries he’s acquired over the last few days. “Sometimes just when you get hit.”

“It’ll happen less now that you’re one of my crew.” Marvelous takes his hand, grip firm and strong. “Come on, up you go. You can sleep after I’ve got the worst of these bandaged.”

It seems like a reasonable enough plan. Well, most of it. The getting up part’s hard, but Marvelous seems to know just where to stand to support his weight and keep him vertical. Not bleeding would probably make him feel better, in the long run.

He doesn’t remember Marvelous tending to his wounds. Just like he doesn’t remember getting undressed, or getting into bed. He’s not sure if he actually passed out or if the memory’s just too hazy to make sense of, but the next thing he’s aware of is lying on a soft bed.

Naked.

With a half-naked Marvelous beside him.

His first thought is, Not me. I’ll kill you.

That thought quickly fades, though, replaced by embarrassment, shame and a hint of curiosity. Marvelous doesn’t want him as a toy, he’s sure of that, and he trusts that the pirate hasn’t taken advantage of his weakness.

Trusts the pirate, already, maybe twelve hours after meeting him. Shaking his head, Joe wonders at the way things sometimes work out.

Marvelous stretches, arms above his head, back arched, and then settles on his stomach. His head is propped on his hands, his eyes fixed on Joe’s, and a cat-sly grin stretches the corners of his mouth.

All right, mostly trusts him.

“Is this your bed?” It’s the first question that rolls off his tongue, and he refuses to be embarrassed by it.

The grin on Marvelous’s face widens and he nods.

“Where are my clothes?”

“In the wash.” In one smooth motion Marvelous rises to his knees. “You were filthy, you know. I didn’t want you getting my bed dirty.”

“And there aren’t any other beds on the ship?”

“Not that anyone’s allowed to use.” A brief darkness flashes through the other’s expression—anger, hatred almost, though it clears as quickly as it came. “I thought my bed was nicer than the floor.”

“You didn’t…”

The pirate seems puzzled for a moment, but then he shakes his head. “Course not. Wouldn’t be much fun if you weren’t conscious. We could now, if you wanted to.”

It’s the most carefree, nonchalant proposal he’s ever gotten, and for a long moment Joe just stares up at the pirate.

“Don’t have to, though. I know some aliens are weird about these things. Though you are pretty.”

“Handsome.” He makes the correction automatically. Pretty men don’t do well in the military; handsome men who could fight well, they were a different story. “And I’m male, in case you were wondering.”

“Me too.” Marvelous flops down on the bed again, one hand reaching out toward Joe’s chest. “I think. Pretty sure. Does that matter to your kind?”

Joe hesitates before giving a brief, non-committal shrug. Sometimes it did; sometimes it didn’t. There were more males than females in the Zangyack military, as well as enough non-standard physiotypes to give anyone a headache. Usually who and what someone decided to do on their free time was left to the individual, as long as they were discreet about it.

But there was still something… unsettling about males who only wanted males. Too many shades of chain-of-command abuse, maybe, or cultural hold-overs from some of the military worlds that had fed the majority of the Zangyack armada for decades. Whatever the reason, Joe had never expected to be waking up in a strange male’s bed before.

Then again, he never expected to wake up in a stranger’s bed before. Most strangers he met were trying to kill him, after all. “I don’t really know you.”

“Sure you do. I’m the man who saved your life.” Marvelous closes the distance between them in the space between one breath and the next, his face suddenly very close, his right hand hot and firm on the skin over Joe’s heart. “I chose you. You’re mine.”

Joe looks into those glittering brown eyes and finds his own lips turning up into a slight smile. “Ah. Looks that way.”

Leaning in slowly, carefully, giving him plenty of time to pull away, Marvelous presses their lips together.

It’s not Joe’s first kiss, but he hasn’t had very many of them. He’s not sure how one is supposed to feel, other than a general understanding that it’s supposed to be fun. Is there supposed to be that moment of uncertainty before heat starts building in your abdomen? Is your heart rate supposed to pick up like that, as though this were a fight?

And it is, in a way, a very brief fight, as Marvelous moves both hands up to Joe’s head, pulling him into a half-seated position. The pirate’s tongue flicks over his lips, once, twice, before starting to slide along them with a gentle pressure.

He’s not sure if he’s acquiescing to the pirate’s silent demands or trying to ask a question, but the result’s the same. Heat flushes through his whole body as Marvelous’ tongue runs over his teeth, teases around those before sliding deeper into his mouth.

When the kiss finally breaks Joe finds that he’s breathing hard, staring at the pirate in uncertainty, but the expression he feels on his face is a pre-battle smile.

Marvelous’ grin is expansive, his laugh young and carefree as he leans back on his heels. His bare chest gleams with a light sheen of sweat, and his hair’s fantastically rumpled from sleeping. So far as males go, he’s undoubtedly a good-looking one, poised there in just his black pants.

The pirate seems able to read his mind, because his smile settles into something slier and more mischievous. “You like what you see?”

“Maybe.” Leaning back against the headboard, Joe shrugs.

“Good.” The pirate nods once, emphatically, as if something’s been decided. “You’re not very skilled, but you can learn, and you’re certainly not lacking in passion.”

Blinking at Marvelous, Joe finds himself frowning slightly. “So what exactly would… this… mean?”

“It means you’re mine.” Marvelous continues to grin as he slides out of bed, opening a trunk that’s full of clothes. “We’ll stop in a port soon and pick you out some clothes. No sense showing off so much of you to others.”

“Afraid someone’s going to steal me?” The question comes out more bemused than angry, and Joe’s not sure which feeling’s actually stronger in him at the moment. Though he should be angry, really. “I’m not an object, you know.”

“No.” Marvelous blinks at him, grin traded for a small, confused frown. “I never said you were. You’re mine. Hard as stallium and tenacious as a koshark.”

They’re compliments, he’s fairly sure, though he doesn’t recognize the objects being named. “Right. So by yours, you just mean your crew? Or the fact that you want to sleep with me?”

“I mean mine.” The frown’s deeper as Marvelous pulls shirts, new pants and a long red coat from the trunk. “You agreed to it, right? That’s why I gave you the device. You’re mine, and together we’re going to find the Ultimate Treasure. Or do you want to leave?”

Anger and confusion mix in equal measures in the pirate’s tone, and he’s no longer looking at Joe when he asks the question.

“Hey, Marvelous, I—”

“Any time you want to leave, you’re free to. Just don’t take anything if you go.” Again that flash of anger, and this time Joe recognizes the hatred for what it is. Betrayal. Someone hurt the pirate. Badly, and recently. “I just thought… you seemed like the type of person who could be mine. But just getting to beat up some more Zangyack was worth the effort to free you, so really, if you want to go, I’ll throw you out at the next port.”

“I don’t want to leave.” It’s true, he finds, and the thought surprises him. He’d expected, after the way the Zangyack used him and his attachments, that he’d never want to get close to anyone again. But he’s already growing fond of the half-mad pirate.

Marvelous grins at him, back to his cheerful self. He’s fully dressed now, and holds out an additional pair of black pants and a white shirt. “Until we get you some more clothes of your own.”

“Ah.” Getting up to dress, Joe finds himself caught between trying to turn away and hide his nakedness and pretending this is just like changing in the military.

Except no one watched him with such frank, open admiration when he was a Zangyack marine.

“Marvelous…”

He waits until the pirate’s eyes have risen to meet his before continuing.

“When you say I’m yours, do you mean… I mean…” This is so much more complicated and rocky then the quick hook-up and move-on culture that flourished in the marines. “If I agree to sleep with you, what does that mean?”

“It means that you think I’m hot and that I think you’re mine. And hot.” Marvelous is grinning again. “Both of which are true.”

“And if I don’t want to—or if I’m not attracted to your species or gender…”

Marvelous shrugs again. “You don’t have to sleep with me. Like I said, it could be fun. But you’re free to choose others. Do you like kaijin better? Do you have some?”

“What? No! I mean…” Gods, what culture did this man come from, and how is it so wildly different from everything he’s known? “I… wait, you wouldn’t care?”

“Not if they’re yours. Though anything you bring on the ship has to be mine.” The pirate’s voice is stern, his stance straighter. “Understand?”

Not at all. Shaking his head and sighing, Joe slips the shirt on over his head.

It doesn’t really matter, he supposes. It’s been a while since he last had anyone he was in any kind of relationship with. The fast love-and-loss that was typical of any quiet romance among the soldiers had lost its appeal to him after only one or two attempts. Any physical desires he took care of for himself; emotional desires were easily fulfilled by his commander and the few people in his unit that he considered true friends.

Had been easily fulfilled by his commander, and bitterness fills his throat, makes it hard to breathe for a moment.

The pirate’s hand on his arm is firm but still somehow gentle, a soft double clap before the man turns to the door and heads out. “You’re safe here. As long as you’re mine, I’ll keep you safe. And I don’t care if you want to sleep with me or not. Just… feel safe.”

Tears prick unexpectedly at his eyes, and Joe has to blink rapidly. How long has it been since he cried?

When was he drafted?

By the time his vision’s cleared the pirate’s headed for the door that undoubtedly leads up to the rest of the ship.

Catching up to the pirate, he falls into step with him. The ship’s big, for just the two of the, but it doesn’t take them long to get to the navigation controls.

They sail in silence for nearly an hour, the stars playing across the viewscreen in beautiful splendor. It’s time enough to contemplate things, and time enough to come to a decision.

“Thank you, Marvelous.”

The pirate fixes him with an uncertain expression, clearly not having expected anything from him, let alone that.

“For saving me. Thank you.” Staring at the other male’s face, Joe smiles. “And whatever it means to be yours… whatever you’d like to try with me… I’m fine with that.”

With a grin and a soft laugh, the pirate inclines his head. “Glad to hear it.”

There’s something else in Marvelous’ voice, something beneath the good humor, but it’s not until several days later that Joe knows the pirate well enough to place it.

Relief.

And the breaking of a bitter loneliness.

* * *

They literally run into the girl while they’re trying to surreptitiously pick up supplies for the Galleon and a Ranger key that the Zangyack aren’t aware enough of to guard.

She’s bleeding from a half-dozen sword wounds and at least two grazes, but her eyes are bright and steely, her stance battle-ready as she rolls away from Marvelous.

A good two dozen Zangyack slide around the corner into view. They’re mostly gormin and zugormin, and Joe assesses within five seconds that he and Marvelous can take them.

They stand side by side, facing the enemy, and Joe allows a slight smile to grace his face in answer to Marvelous’s infectious grin. The armor and weapons that Marvelous’ devices allow them to access flow over them as their keys turn simultaneously in the Mobirates.

Everything’s going according to plan until the girl darts forward, wrenching the sword from Marvelous’ hand.

She doesn’t hesitate before charging into the oncoming Zangyack, battle cry fierce and angry. She’s good with the sword, too—not as good as he is, and her style’s pure street smarts, but what she lacks in training she makes up for in vicious determination.

Marvelous watches her for almost a full minute, and Joe stands quietly at his side, waiting for the pirate to come to a decision before wading into the battle. It’s a long minute, and another three blows slip through the girl’s guard, but she takes down eight of the gormin.

It’s not until she’s on her knees, spitting blood at the zugormin, that Marvelous starts laughing and charges forward.

Joe tosses the other pirate his gun, because he’s more comfortable with just the sword anyway. It takes them barely thirty seconds to take out the zugormin and the remaining gormin, with the thief-girl taking down the last one.

“What’s your name?” Marvelous allows his armor to drop, stalking toward the girl with only his gun as protection.

Joe walks beside him, keeping the armor up, because even though she’s badly wounded and barely seems able to hold her sword up, the girl would be a dangerous enemy.

“Luka.” She doesn’t hesitate, answer strong and bold, and she’s trying to keep the sword tip pointed at them but her arm keeps trying to drop. “What about you? Fancy costumes and weapons you’ve got.”

“I’m Marvelous, and this is Joe.” Marvelous taps his gun first against his own shoulder and then against Joe’s. “We’re the crew of the Gokai Galleon. What’s our bounty up to now, Joe? Two million?”

“We should be going.” Addressing his words to Marvelous, Joe keeps his eyes fixed on the girl. “This is pretty deep in Zangyack territory. Reinforcement waves will just keep coming.”

“Ah. You’re right. We’ve got the treasure and the things we need.” Marvelous points his gun toward the girl, who brings the sword up into a hasty guard position, glaring at him. “Except for you. Want a ride out of here? I promise you’ll get to annoy some more Zangyack along the way.”

The girl hesitates, head tilted to one side. “What’s the price?”

“You’re mine. My crew, and you help me find the Ultimate Treasure.” Marvelous grins broadly again. “Least if you want to stay with us. If you just want a lift out of here, the entertainment today was worth that.”

The girl hesitates for several long seconds, and it’s clear that her thoughts are elsewhere. Finally she nods, and Joe can see both fierce resolution and deep sorrow in her expression. “The Ultimate Treasure, huh? All right. I’ll help.”

Marvelous lowers the gun and the girl Luka lowers the sword, giving each other matching grins that manage to be both mischievous and distrusting.

Another batch of Zangyack appear behind the girl, and she spins to meet them, hate-filled battle cry filling the air again.

She passes out half-way through the fight, but she’s more than earned his respect by then, so Joe doesn’t mind when Marvelous makes him carry her back to the ship.

* * *

Marvelous takes command of the Galleon, out-maneuvering the few Zangyack ships that give chase with ease. He leaves Joe to tend to Luka’s wounds while he does so, utterly certain of his ability to deal with the Space Empire.

Joe keeps his own uncertainties to himself, though he takes the liberty of treating their new crewmember on the bridge, where he can run to any of the various weapon control panels within seconds.

The girl wakes up when the fight gets intense, rolling to her feet as the Galleon does a complete turn to avoid one of the Zangyack ship’s attacks. If words or looks could kill, the enemy would have been dead before they had time to regroup.

They’re dead fairly shortly, anyway, as the Galleon’s cannons rip holes through the center of the ship.

Leaving Marvelous victorious, and the smug look he throws Joe earns a soft sigh from the ex-marine. Really, the pirate can be far too confident for his own good.

“This is your ship.” The thief scans the control panels around them, and Joe suspects from the frustrated look on her face that most of them are completely alien to her.

“Yep.” Marvelous drawls his response, sauntering away from the navigation control after inputting a course. “The Gokai Galleon, home to the Gokaigers, the best pirate crew to ever grace the universe.”

“Not the one with the biggest bounty.” Luka’s smile is sharp, her stance provocative as she cocks one hip to the side. The fact that it lessens the weight on her most-injured limb doesn’t escape Joe’s notice, though. “I take it we don’t have any more Zangyack ships after us?”

“No. Which means we can get around to washing and bandaging you.” Marvelous pokes her on the arm, at the top edge of a white bandage.

Luka looks down at herself and draws a deep breath, letting it out in a half-shriek of dismay as her arms move to cover her breasts. Her cheeks are flaming red and her eyes narrowed in anger, but it’s the tears collected at the corners of her eyes that hit Joe the hardest.

She might be a fierce warrior, but she’s afraid.

“Where’s my clothes?” The tears don’t fall, held in her eyes by the force of her anger and determination. Her frame shakes with the emotions she’s holding in check. “If you did anything, I’ll—”

“I was working on bandaging you.” Joe moves to stand at Marvelous’s side as he speaks, hands held carefully neutral at his side. “You’re hurt pretty badly.”

“I’ll live.” She has the scars to prove that. “You were just—”

“That’s all.” Marvelous shrugs, taking a step toward her and reaching across the remaining distance to pat her on the shoulder. “After all, I haven’t decided for sure that I want you. Pretty sure, given the way you fight and the fact that the Zangyack are your enemy, but you might not want to hunt for the treasure.”

“Are you kidding?” The girl’s accent thickens as she stares at him. “First off, I’m not yours. Second off, show me treasure and I’ll show you how fast it can disappear.”

“The Ultimate Treasure’s going to belong to my crew.” Marvelous frowns at her, arms crossed in front of his chest. “I’m pretty sure you’d be helpful in getting it, but only people who intend to stay part of my crew, treasure or no, get to help with this. Understand?”

“Right.” The thief’s cockiness is back in her stance, and Joe is certain that at the moment she’d tell Marvelous whatever he wants to hear. “Then I’ll be part of your crew. Forever, or however long you usually make the contract for.”

The grimace on Marvelous’ face is something that Joe hasn’t seen before. Part frustration, part anger, but it seems to be directed inward more than outward. “We’ll talk about it later. Joe, finish taking care of her. She can have the bed until we get some more.”

Sighing, Joe nods. It makes sense to give the injured member of the crew the best sleeping place, but it would be nice if Marvelous would at least ask before relegating him to the floor.

Then again, the pirate’s going to be sleeping on the floor with him, so maybe it won’t be that bad.

* * *

Marvelous and Luka circle each other like angry felids for the next three weeks, and it’s the most frustrating time of Joe’s life.

Which is saying something, given everything he’s been through.

Then the two end up stranded together on a forsaken moon with a full compliment of Zangyack, and it’s the longest night of Joe’s life as he struggles to hunt them down.

It’s strange, the way attachments work. When he lost Sid and his unit, he’d been certain he would never feel anything but hate again. Within a month, though, he’d gotten attached to his mysterious pirate savior.

And now he’s far too attached to a pirate and a thief-turned-pirate. Any sane man would see the odds he’s up against and take the Galleon and the treasure they’ve gathered so far and head for the hills.

Maybe it was his sanity he felt dying when he lost Sid rather than his heart, because running’s the last thing Joe intends to do.

He finds them at planetrise, sitting back to back on an outcropping of rubble. Marvelous grins and waves at him, seeming completely oblivious to the blood sliding down the right side of his face; Luka twists her head to see him and bursts into an unaccountable series of giggles. Rising awkwardly, the two lean on each other and limp toward him.

“Good timing.” Marvelous claps him on the shoulder, leaving a bloody handprint. “I was getting bored with killing Zangyack. You can do it for a while, if you want. Otherwise, let’s get off this rock.”

“I’ve got the treasure.” Luka waves a blue figurine and then tosses it toward him. “Have fun trying it out.”

“Ah.” Catching the figure, he turns to watch them limp toward the Galleon. As if aware of his gaze, Marvelous waves lazily over his shoulder, though he doesn’t turn to look at him.

Well.

That wasn’t what he was expecting at all.

He takes his frustrations and fears out on a group of Zangyack that seem just as disoriented as he is, getting a feel for his new powers as he does. They’re survivors from three or four different units, and he ups his opinion of both Marvelous’ and Luka’s battle skills.

When he climbs back onto the Galleon, it’s just in time to hear Luka’s shriek and the sound of an open palm striking flesh.

He runs toward the sound, though he’s got a sneaking suspicion what the cause of it is—a suspicion that’s born out when he walks in on Marvelous cradling his right cheek and Luka bouncing up and down in place, hands clenched into fists in front of her.

“How could you… why would you…” Luka points her finger at Marvelous. ”You!”

Marvelous stares at her, mouth pulled down into a confused, hurt frown. “You’re one of my crew. I didn’t think you’d mind that much.”

“But I… you…” Shaking her head, Luka fixes her eyes on Joe. “I don’t even have a sis-mate yet, and he thinks he can be my kid-mate!”

Blinking at the girl, he looks between her and Marvelous. If Marvelous knows what she’s talking about, he doesn’t care to share the information, instead continuing to cradle his injured cheek.

“Sis-mate?” It seems like a safe enough thing to say, and might bring the girl’s—woman’s, gods, if Marvelous is going to be propositioning her he has to start thinking of her as a woman—anger and fear back under control.

“Sis-mate. You know, someone like me.” Luka points at herself, and she’s at least stopped bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Another female. To learn with, and to help raise kids if the kid-mate turns out to be a loser.”

“Right.” Joe nods as if that made perfect sense. Seriously, there were some weird ideas out there in the universe. “Well, I’m pretty sure Marvelous wasn’t aware of that… tradition. He’s very sorry if he offended you.”

“I’m very sorry?” Marvelous turns an injured expression on him. “She hit me. All I did was kiss her. She’s really my crew now. All she had to say was no and I would’ve let her alone.”

“Right.” Luka’s disbelief oozes from the word.

Marvelous turns his hurt-young-beast look on her, honest confusion evident in his stance. “Of course I would. I wouldn’t want to hurt crew.”

For several seconds Marvelous and Luka stare at each other.

Eventually Luka cocks her head to one side, sighing in exasperation. “You really mean that, don’t you? That all I have to do is say no?”

“Of course I do.” Throwing her one of his trademark grins, Marvelous crosses his arms in front of his chest. “I wouldn’t be much of a captain if I didn’t take care of my crew. Any captain that hurts his crew deserves to have them throw him overboard. And you’re definitely crew now.”

The look on Luka’s face mixes mystified confusion with uncertainty. “Because I said I was glad to be part of your crew.”

“Because you meant it.” Marvelous nods. “Because you trusted me. I understand about having things to take care of. Once we have the treasure, I’ll help you take care of anyone you need to. If you’re mine, then your people are also mine.”

Shaking her head, Luka places her hands on her hips. “You are a very strange man, Captain Marvelous.”

Joe smiles, glancing sidelong at the other man.

“So.” Pacing on a perpendicular to him, Luka continues to watch the pirate captain out the corner of her eye. “If I’m crew, you think you should be able to kiss me.”

“He has strange ideas like that.” Joe sees Marvelous tense and moves to the side enough that the pirate’s elbow barely grazes him. “He’s very reasonable for an unreasonable man, though.”

“I can’t say I’m all right with the whole kissing thing. Definitely not for anything more. Like I said, I don’t even have a sis-mate.” Luka pauses, eyeing the two of them. “Guess I should have expected the proposition, though, since you’ve already got a cis-mate. So that one’s my bad. But you also aren’t taking my obligations. My people are mine, and what I intend to do once the treasure’s found is also my business.”

“I wouldn’t try to take anything from you.” Marvelous stretches, obviously getting bored with the conversation. “And like I said, since you say no, I’ll leave you alone. As long as you’re not hurting the crew, you can do what you like when you like.”

“All right then.” Luka nods, exhaling a long breath, and with it the remaining tension in the room breaks. “Glad we got that all settled, then.”

* * *

“You could have consulted me, you know.” Joe whispers the words into the pirate’s ear.

“Huh?” Cuddling in closer against his chest, Marvelous slurs out the syllable.

Since syllables aren’t something that can usually be slurred, it’s a very impressive feat.

“If you intended to take another lover.” Joe tightens his right arm where it lies around the pirate’s chest. “You could really have talked to me about it first. In most cultures it would be considered the polite thing to do.”

“Why?” Marvelous yawns, the movement of jaw and breath tickling some of the hairs on Joe’s chest. “It bothers you?”

“Well…” Yes and no. It should bother him. Marvelous had intended to cheat on him.

But it was Marvelous, and he was so utterly bored and straightforward about the whole affair that it was hard to think of it as cheating.

“She’s crew. My crew.” Marvelous levers himself up on his left elbow, staring down at Joe. His expression’s puzzled again. “Why would it bother you if I slept with crew?”

“Because some people think it’s too hard to balance a bunch of relationships like that.” He chooses his words carefully, trying to both explain and not offend the pirate. “That if you start loving another person, you’ll stop loving the first person as much.”

“Gods, that would be a horrible captain.” Mouth twisted in a bitter grimace, Marvelous shakes his head. “You have as much crew as you can love and protect. No more. You know that, right, Joe? I mean, I’ve still been a good captain to you.”

“Yeah, but…” Sighing, Joe reaches up to trace a hand over the pirate’s cheekbones. “You haven’t tried to take her as a lover before.”

“What does that change?” Marvelous blinks at him. “I’ve still been treating her as crew. I just had to make sure she saw herself as crew before it was right to approach her.”

“So nothing would change between you and her, or between you and me, if you started sleeping with her.” The skepticism he feels oozes from the words.

“No.” Marvelous’ lips pull down in a sharp frown. “Why should it?”

“Don’t you see sleeping with someone as more… intimate?”

“They’re crew.” Marvelous sits up entirely, obviously distressed by the conversation. “Are the Zangyack really that messed up, that you don’t understand this? Crew is the closest you get. Crew is family and lover and… and everything. So it’s okay to have lovers from the crew, as many as you want and who want you, because you’re already close. You’re already intimate as you can get. Savvy?”

Rubbing his neck with his right head, Joe shakes his head slightly. He does get it, in a way, but it’s such a completely alien track of thinking that it’s almost impossible to wrap his mind fully around it. “So you’ll do this with everyone you take as crew?”

“You can, too.” Marvelous pats his shoulder, the gesture trying to be comforting, but there’s still agitation in the way he moves. “And anyone you take as your own crew. Though things’ll probably be easier if we just keep it to one crew at the moment. I’m sure I’d like anyone you chose.”

“Right.” Shaking his head, Joe pulls the pirate down tight against him again, into the thick nest of blankets that is still serving them as their bed. They really need to look into getting more accommodations. “We can think about that later.” Kissing the pirate soundly on the mouth, he offers a sly grin to the other man. “Prove to me that nothing’s changed between us.”

With an answering grin of his own, Marvelous does just that.

* * *

It’s well on its way to morning when Joe feels someone crawl under the blankets on his left side. Since he still has his arm wrapped around Marvelous on his right, that doesn’t leave many options.

She doesn’t say anything as she curls in tight against him, her back to his. The only sound he hears from her is a deep, aching sigh that speaks of equal parts uncertainty and contentment.

“Are you all right?” He keeps his voice low, trying not to wake Marvelous.

“I…” The girl—woman—hesitates before shrugging, a convulsion of her shoulders against his. “I’m not used to sleeping alone. I’ve had people with me for as long as I can remember. So even though I don’t think I should have you guys as kid-mates yet, least ways not until I find a good sis-mate out here, I thought… if you didn’t mind…”

“You’re crew.” Marvelous’ drawl startles him, since Joe hadn’t felt the other man’s muscles tighten at all as he woke. “Whatever level of intimacy you want from us, you’ve got it.”

They don’t talk any more after that, but Luka’s body relaxes against his back, and Marvelous’ body remains a warm mass of contended pirate in his arms.

The last thing Joe thinks before he falls back into his light slumber is that he’s going to need to build them a bigger bed.

* * *

The fourth member of their crew is a stow-away.

The man’s ridiculously good at hiding, and he quite possibly would have gotten away with hitching an unauthorized lift on the Galleon if it wasn’t for the incident with the food.

It’s their fourth day out from port, and Joe’s turn to cook dinner. He intends to do it, too, but he gets caught up in teaching Luka some of the basics of true swordsmanship. By the time he’s cleaned up and ready to cook, it’s almost time for the food to be on the table.

He intends to make something simple and quick, because Marvelous gets unbearable and even more unpredictable when he’s hungry.

Instead, he walks into the midst of a feast.

There are at least three courses on the dining room table, and they all smell and look delicious.

Frowning at the food, he contemplates the meal for a good sixty seconds before poking at the closest dish. When nothing happens, he bends down to sniff at it.

“Oh!” Marvelous’ cry is one of pure exultation, and his hand slaps down on Joe’s shoulder with more force than is really necessary. “You outdid yourself. This is fantastic.”

Joe continues to study the food in front of him. Since he didn’t make it, and Marvelous didn’t make it, Luka must have made it. Maybe it’s some sort of celebration on her planet today, or maybe—

“Mmmm!” The woman’s voice cuts through his thoughts, and he wrenches his eyes up in time to see her pull her finger out of her mouth. “Damn, this is good. Is it a special day for you, Joe? Birthday? Anniversary?”

Frowning, he continues to look at the food.

“Plus, getting all this done between when we finished and…” Luka trails off, her eyes flicking between him and the food. “You didn’t make it, did you?”

Part of a sauce-drenched vegetable half-way to his mouth, Marvelous pauses. “Neither of you guys made this?”

They both shake their heads.

“Ah.” Setting the vegetable carefully back on the plate, Marvelous calls his pistol into his hand. “Then I would say that we have a bit of a problem.”

Sighing, Joe follows his captain down into the cargo hold of the ship.

Why does the potentially poisoned food have to smell and look so good?

* * *

It takes them eight hours of searching to find the man’s hiding spot, and then another twelve hours of chasing him through the ship before they finally manage to catch him. It’s not that the man knows what he’s doing. Quite the opposite, actually, but he’s more willing than most people Joe’s seen to take ridiculous risks, and the universe seems to repay him by not having him fall to his death, be crushed under several tons of cargo, or otherwise find the laws of physics to be overly distracting.

None of them are in particularly good spirits by the time they finally head him off. Hunger and sleep deprivation are obvious in the vicious scowls Luka and Marvelous fix on the stowaway, their weapons pointed threateningly at him.

Joe finds it hard to really be angry at the man huddled against the bulkhead, though. The stowaway’s bone-thin, a leanness that comes from near-starvation. His eyes he keeps downcast, studying the floor at his feet, and there’s a despondent, expectant look on his face that says he’s prepared to be hurt.

“You stowed aboard my ship.” Marvelous’ pistol taps out a steady rhythm on the shoulder of his red jacket while he keeps his cutlass fixed on the man. “Why?”

“I’m sorry.” The man’s voice is a bare whisper, filled with terror. “You weren’t Zangyack, so I thought… I thought it might be safe. That you might be heading somewhere safe.”

“You’re an enemy of the Zangyack?” Luka nudges the man with the edge of her sword.

Placing his hands up by his ears, the man eyes her warily while trying to keep his eyes away from her blade. “I am. My whole planet was conquered, and those of us who wouldn’t swear immediate allegiance were declared traitors and sentenced to a slow, painful death.”

Marvelous rolls his eyes, nodding along at the standard Zangyack spiel. “You seem pretty alive to me right now, so I take it you got away.”

There’s a lot more to that story. It’s obvious in the young man’s eyes, but after a short hesitation he merely nods. “Yes. And then I ended up on your ship.”

Luka continues to eye the man. “Why make dinner?”

“You all seemed hungry. I felt bad just staying in hiding, not giving you anything.” The man lets his arms drop slightly, turning the full force of his pleading eyes on Marvelous. “I swear, it wasn’t poisoned or anything else I heard you guys worrying about. It was a way to give back to the crew. I’ve done it before, on other ships. I’m just used to there being more crew, and everyone assuming someone else did it.”

“Huh.” Marvelous taps the pistol forcefully against his shoulder once before nodding. “All right. Go make us dinner, and this whole fiasco will be forgotten. What you made before looked like it would be acceptable.”

“Marvelous.” Joe grabs his captain’s arm, frowning at the man. “That’s it?”

“For now.” Shaking his arm free and adjusting his coat, Marvelous nods to the stowaway. “I’m hungry. We’re watching you make it, and then you’re eating first. Everything else can be discussed after dinner.”

Sighing, Joe gives his head a little shake.

He should have known better than to let Marvelous go into the conversation hungry.

* * *

The man’s a good cook.

He’s fast, thorough, efficient, using the few spices that they have sparingly and wisely. The dishes that he makes look fantastic and taste even better.

After months with just their own cooking, it’s something the three pirates are exceptionally appreciative of.

“My name’s Don. Don Dogier. But you can call me Doc.” The stowaway grins as he watches them eat, his own plate of food devoured within the first two minutes of the meal.

Joe swallows his bite of food before nodding, though his eyes are fixed on Marvelous. He had resigned himself to the fact that they were going to keep the man as a cook after the first bite, but it’s still going to be Marvelous who sets the tone for the man’s relationship with the rest of the crew.

Well, mostly. From the giddy smile on Luka’s face, she might already be too attached to the blond—or at least to his cooking—to care what Marvelous thinks of him.

“I approve.” Marvelous finishes the last bite of his dinner and settles back with a satisfied sigh, arms crossed over his chest. “You can stay, Doc.”

“Really?” The man’s grin is wide and innocent, something Joe isn’t used to seeing. “You don’t mind? You’ll give me a lift?”

“You’re staying on the ship as our cook. I’ll give you a Mobirate, and we’ll—”

Joe doesn’t have to say anything, because Luka’s disbelieving cry of dismay and Don’s scream of terror sum up his contribution to the conversation quite nicely.

Frowning at them, Marvelous leans forward, pushing his plate out of the way so he can lean his arm on the table. “What?”

“You can’t give him weapons!” Luka stabs a finger at Doc. “Did you see some of them things he did? Even assuming he’ll stay on our side, he’ll end up impaling himself or one of us!”

“Please don’t do anything—wait, is a Mobirate a weapon?” The blond man hesitates. “You’re going to give me weapons?”

“You said you were running from the Zangyack. That puts us in the same position. You’ll be useful on the ship. Pirates are often in need of doctors, after all.” The grin on Marvelous’ face says that he’s proud of himself. “And you can cook for us. I think it’s a situation where everyone wins. You’ll be one of my crew. I’ll make sure you’re fed. Joe can teach you how to not kill us with your weapons.”

Joe raises his eyebrows, appraising the man. He’s not entirely sure Luka’s assessment is fair, but there had been an awful lot of flailing involved in their ridiculous chase…

“Deal?” Marvelous holds out his hand for Doc to shake, though it’s obvious what he thinks the answer’s going to be.

Don studies the pirate’s hand intently for a few seconds before nodding uncertainly and reaching out to take it. “Deal?”

“Good.” Standing up, Marvelous yawns and stretches. “I’m going to sleep. Luka, find somewhere for our new crew-member to sleep. Joe, you start training him after that.”

“You’re not the only one who hasn’t slept, you know!” Luka’s protest falls on deaf ears as Marvelous waves at them over his shoulder. “Ah, fine.” She glares at their newest crewmember before standing up and turning away with a sigh. “You better not be too much trouble. Understand?”

* * *

He tries.

It’s painfully obvious that he’s trying his best at everything. He cooks for them, and that stays at his fantastically skilled level. He works the navigational controls, and he’s a better than fair hand at pretty much all of the technology on the ship.

Beyond that, he’s absolutely useless.

He’s shy and nervous, prone to spooking in the middle of reconnaissance and missions. He doesn’t have much of an eye for the value of things on the intergalactic market, which causes Luka an undue amount of stress. He can’t use a sword to save his life, and Joe is legitimately worried about him in all their battles despite his various attempts to train the man.

But he’s got good luck, and an overall good attitude, and Joe finds himself growing more and more fond of the man.

“He’s weird.” Marvelous drops down onto the bed with a scowl, arms crossed over his chest. He’s in his white undershirt and black pants, the rest of his clothing abandoned somewhere.

Sighing, Joe levers himself onto his side, propping his head on his hand so he can watch the pirate. “Yes.”

“Really weird.” Kicking his boots off, Marvelous slithers the rest of the way onto the bed. “I don’t think he’s quite right in the head.”

There are a lot of things he could say in response to that, but after a second’s hesitation Joe confines himself to, “Really.”

“I asked him if he wanted to sleep with me.”

Joe sighs, rolling his eyes. Not that he shouldn’t have expected it, but did Marvelous really need to try to proposition all their crewmembers? Pirates were strange. “He told you no?”

“No. He just seemed confused.” The pirate curls with his back to Joe’s stomach, grabbing one of Joe’s arms and bringing it around himself. “He said yes, but he was… hesitant. He wasn’t happy. He was nervous, practically scared, but he wouldn’t tell me why. He just kept telling me I could do whatever I wanted.”

The pirate’s heart is beating fast, under Joe’s palm, and there’s a slight tremor running down his body every once in a while. Whatever happened between him and the doctor, it bothered him. Deeply. “Did you…?”

“No. I kissed him.” Marvelous shudders as he says the words. “That was it. I couldn’t… I didn’t… it wasn’t right. The whole situation wasn’t right. And he wouldn’t tell me why, so I stopped.”

Joe finds himself smiling, just a small bit, as he tightens his hold on the pirate. Marvelous may have strange ideas about how things worked, but he had an incredibly strong moral compass, even if it pointed in weird directions. “That was kind of you.”

“You’d tell me.” Marvelous twists in his arms, until they’re face to face. “If you weren’t happy with something I was doing, you’d tell me, right?”

“Of course I would.” Leaning in, he kisses the pirate’s mouth. “And you’d promptly ignore it.”

“Not if it was important.” Marvelous allows a quick grin to slide across his face as he says the words, and his hands find Joe’s shoulders, turn the two of them until he’s sitting on top of Joe. “Not if it was something you really weren’t comfortable with, or really didn’t want.”

“Ah.” Joe nods, hands sliding down to the pirate’s hips. “I know.”

* * *

He doesn’t say anything about the incident for two days after, and neither does Marvelous. There’s a tension in the air that wasn’t there before, though, a hesitant wariness on Doc’s part and a hurt, frustrated unhappiness on Marvelous’ that makes everyone uncomfortable.

He waits until it’s just him and Doc, during one of their numerous training sessions. Patiently, he corrects the man’s stance and hold on his cutlass for the eleventh time that day.

“Ah, Joe, I don’t think this is worth it.” The blond alien pouts at the sword, muscles straining to hold the proper position. “I’m never going to be any good at this.”

It’s probably an accurate statement, but it’s not a very useful one. “You’ve improved a lot since you first came aboard.”

“Maybe, but I think that’s just because I have so much to catch up on that I’m bound to make at least a little forward progress.” Heaving a sigh, the technophile allows his arm to drop, the point of the sword swinging far too close to his leg for Joe’s liking. “Can’t I go practice with the guns again? Luka said I was at least able to hit the broad side of a starship now.”

The fact that this is decidedly better than he’s doing with a sword causes Joe to sigh. “You can practice shooting later. Take a minute to rest your arm, then you’re going through some drills with me.”

“Yes, sir.” Sighing, Don drops down to the floor. He lets go of his sword, and though Joe thinks he should really reprimand the man for that he instead uses his left foot to surreptitiously move the weapon away from the man. Better safe, for the moment.

“What happened between you and Marvelous?”

The question drops into dead silence, and the scent of fear is suddenly sharp in the room.

Curling in on himself slightly, obviously expecting to be hurt, Don shakes his head. “I told him it was all right. Whatever he wanted to do. The whole… the kissing and… are you going to throw me out?”

“What? No!” Settling down on his heels on the deck in front of the other man, Joe struggles to make eye contact. “Marvelous wouldn’t do that. I think he’s just… worried. He doesn’t understand what’s happened. It’s making him testy.”

“What should I do?” Doc’s gaze meets his for a moment and then darts away again, brown eyes dilated wide with uncertainty and fear. “Should I go to him? How do I… do you know how? I mean, can you explain to me, because I’ve never—I looked it up, afterwards, but I still don’t—but he’s your bunk-mate so you might not want me to, or you’re his, but then he wouldn’t be—”

“Doc.” Reaching out with his right hand, sword clenched hard in the left, Joe grabs Don’s chin in a tight grip. Making eye contact with the other man, he waits for the flow of babble to stop before continuing. “One sentence and thought at a time. What did you think happened, and what are you asking me?”

“He wants me as a bunk-mate.” The man blinks at him, expression suddenly uncertain. “Right? He wants to do that whole sexual… expression… thing. And I’ll do it, I mean he’s in charge, but I don’t… I’m fifth-generation, so I’ve never really…”

“You’ve never been in a relationship before?”

“No.” Don smiles and shrugs, the expression halfway between uncertain and scared. “I’m fifth-generation colonist. Our ecosystem is very fragile, so the population control’s tight. Since the second generation we’ve been… altered. Just slight changes in the maternal hormones, but we don’t feel the same… needs some of our predecessors do.”

It’s Joe’s turn to blink at the other man as he tries to process what he’s being told. “You don’t feel attraction?”

“Of course we do.” Don rolls his eyes, as though that’s the most ridiculous statement he’s heard all day, which is completely unfair. “But not like standard generations did. We don’t need the… the sex thing. Most of us don’t, anyway. We still think certain members of the species are pretty, and we’re attached to personalities, and we choose residence-mates like norm—like standards do, but we don’t…”

“So you just don’t want to have sex with him.” He thinks that’s what the man’s trying to say, at any rate.

“I’m not physically programmed that way.” The fear returns to Doc’s expression. “But I know that’s how things work out here. Especially with people in power, like he is. So I’ll learn. I’ll do whatever he needs. I just… need someone to help me figure it out.”

“Idiot.” His right hand reaches out again without his commanding it to, grabbing the other man by the shoulder and pulling him in tight. “He doesn’t want to sleep with you. Well, that’s not entirely true. He at least wants to make the suggestion to everyone he sees as crew, but it’s not important to him. If you don’t want to, just tell him you don’t want to.”

“But…” The man’s hands reach up, gripping Joe’s shirt tightly on both sides, and there’s a suspicious moisture that might be tears dampening where Don’s head lies. “He won’t understand. I’m not sure you understand, and I just told you all of it. I can pretend, if it’s what he wants. If it’ll make him happier.”

“Is that what you tried when he asked you?” He speaks gently, into the other man’s ear. “You were trying to pretend you wanted it?”

“Yes.” The reply is the barest whisper.

“Don’t ever do that again.” The words are spoken more sternly than Joe intended, but with this man shivering against him it’s hard not to remember Marvelous’ form doing the same. “It made a mess of everything. If you don’t want to, say you don’t want to. If you ever get curious later on, I’m sure he’d be happy to oblige you. And if you just want something different… Luka sleeps with us, about half the time. Just sleeps, curled with one of us, nothing more. It’s all she wants, and he’s happy enough to give that without demanding more.”

“Really?” Don isn’t cringing quite as much anymore, and Joe allows his hold to loosen. Looking up tentatively, the man meets Joe’s eyes. “He’s really… you’re really…?”

“You’re crew.” The words are Marvelous’, but the tone is all his own, and Joe allows himself a slight smile as he tilts Don’s head up. “Crew’s as intimate as it gets all by itself. Anything else physical the members want is up to them.”

“I…” The sigh of relief starts at Don’s toes, and every muscle in the newly-minted pirate’s body seems to relax at once. “Thank you, Joe. And I hope you’re right.”

Leaning forward, he places a gentle kiss on the other man’s forehead. “I know I am. Now pick your sword up again. We’ve got a lot more work to do this afternoon.”

* * *

It’s only a few minutes after the ship switches to night lighting that Joe hears the soft sound of footsteps coming toward the bed. It’s obvious that it isn’t Luka, both because the tread is too loud and ungainly and because there’s a soft gasp of pain as the man stubs his toe, probably on the trunk full of Marvelous’ clothes.

“Um…” The other man finds the proper side of the bed by feel, and Joe tries not to sigh as his hair is fingered and then released. “Marvelous…”

The pirate captain’s wide awake, all tense, taut muscle in Joe’s arms. “Yeah?”

“I don’t… I can’t…” There’s a pause as the man draws a deep breath. “Due to various biologic and societal factors, I wouldn’t like to have sexual intercourse with you now or in the near future.”

The sentence is delivered quickly, followed by a brief pause as the man pants in a few more breaths before continuing.

“But I would very much like to sleep next to you and Joe, if it would be acceptable.”

The pirate captain’s body relaxes instantly, to the point that Joe almost worries. Then there’s a brief chuckle followed by a full-throated laugh from Marvelous.

He doesn’t have time to react as Marvelous leaps to a standing position, and his night vision is just adapted enough to let him see the pirate kiss Doc on both cheeks before giving him a quick peck on the lips. “That’s what you want? To stay in our bed?”

Doc’s head lowers, body taking on the skulking, scared hunch of someone used to running. It only lasts a moment, though, before the man straightens and nods determinedly.

He’s not quite sure how Marvelous does it, but within about five seconds Joe finds himself holding a slightly shaky Doc close to his chest. Marvelous settles down on the other side of the man, sandwiching Don between the two of them.

“You’re welcome here whenever you want.” Marvelous speaks the words softly, into Don’s ear, but Joe’s close enough that he can hear them. “And you’re welcome to leave whenever you want. But never pretend with me. Savvy?”

“Ah.” Grabbing one of Joe’s hands with his right hand and one of Marvelous’ with his left hand, Doc smiles. “Savvy.”

* * *

It’s late when Luka crawls into the bed next to him, a warm, soft, quiet presence at his back.

“So you guys won over the cook?” Her words are meant just for him, because she knows he always wakes when she crawls in next to him.

He doesn’t mind the disruption of his sleep, though. It’s almost pleasant, these late-night visits from the woman. “He figured out what he wanted.”

“Great.” Sighing in mock-dismay, Luka runs her fingers through his hair a number of times. “Another potential kid-mate.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Smiling, Joe twists his head enough to kiss her wrist. “At least not unless things get really, really boring.”

Luka’s silent for so long that Joe thinks she’s fallen asleep. “Hey. Joe. Do you think we’ll get more females on the ship? Not that you’re not great, but I miss… I… I’d like a sis-mate, you know?”

“If there’s someone worthy out there, I’m sure Marvelous will find them. Or you’ll find them and bring them to him.” And then Marvelous would probably bring them to bed with him. The fact that the ridiculously large bed is probably the best investment he’s made as a pirate worries Joe for a moment before he shrugs it off. “Marvelous doesn’t mind, you know. If we look for crew.”

“I know. But it’s not like I can just see someone and know, you know? I need someone awesome. Smart, and strong, and reliable, and confident… things you can’t just tell at first glance.” Luka’s lips graze the back of his neck in a gentle caress.

“And you really don’t want any kid-mates until you’ve found your sis-mate.” It’s more than her usual display of affection, what she’s doing, and Joe finds his body reacting to it much more strongly than he’d really like.

There’s a long hesitation before Luka sighs. “No. I won’t.”

“Well, then.” Taking her hand in his, he gives it a brief squeeze. “We’ll just all have to be patient. I’m sure someone will eventually come along.”

* * *

Luka drags the princess from the burning palace, the woman shooting over the pirate’s shoulder as they go, matching looks of grim determination on both of their faces.

Marvelous decides she’s crew about twelve hours later.

Joe worries about that, at first. He tries to stay close to the pirate, because he doesn’t want Marvelous doing something ridiculously uncomfortable to the poor girl. She’s just lost her family, her home, her people and purpose. In all probability she doesn’t need a pirate propositioning her for the next few months.

Not that Marvelous waited months with him, but somehow it feels… different with the girl. Maybe because she’s not a soldier, though her quiet confusion is much less distressing during lessons than Doc’s spastic bewilderment.

“Are you going to try to sleep with her?” Joe finally blurts the question out two weeks after they’ve picked up the woman, during a quiet time when it’s just the two of them in the navigation room.

“Do you want me to?” Marvelous’ grin is wide and cocky.

“I…” Gods, but that was an awkward question. He didn’t want to tell Marvelous that it was fine to go take another lover, but it also felt… wrong to tell the pirate not to. Like he didn’t understand what it was to Marvelous, which isn’t quite true anymore. “I just don’t want you disturbing her before she’s ready.”

“I won’t.” Clapping him on the back, Marvelous gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Trust me. I’m too good of a captain to make a mistake like that, right?”

“Right.” He pauses, running the conversation over in his head again before sighing. “So you do intend to proposition her, then?”

Marvelous doesn’t answer, but the happy grin on his face is confirmation enough.

Sighing once more, Joe turns away from the pirate with a slight shake of his head.

Hopefully Marvelous really is as in tune with his crew as he thinks he is.

* * *

“What type of man is he?”

The question has no context, coming in the midst of a lesson that doesn’t seem to be holding Ahim’s attention well at all. Joe has a sneaking suspicion he knows exactly what brought it about, though. Waiting three months probably took all of the self-control that Marvelous had.

“He’s…” How did one go about describing Marvelous? “A good man, at heart. A kind man, though it’s not quite… normal. Determined and loyal when he feels he should be. Also brash, arrogant, lazy, and prone to acting on a whim or impulse if he sees no reason not to. I’m sorry if he said or hinted at something that upset you.”

Ahim smiles at him, raising her right hand with her sword to place it next to his, in the proper position. “You say that in such a resigned voice, sensei.”

“There’s no need to call me that.” He’s told her that multiple times, and she usually tries to use his name. It’s almost always when she’s distracted that she falls back into formal habits, and Marvelous is enough of a distraction for anyone. “And I suppose I am resigned to Marvelous being Marvelous.”

“So you don’t wish for me to take him as a hand-maid?” The princess doesn’t tense or flinch as she says it, none of the tell-tale signs of nervousness.

“I…” How does he keep having conversations like this? “Is a hand-maid a… a…”

“A lover?” Ahim pulls gently away from him, so that they’re face to face. “Yes. A lover for a noble with no heirs. Someone that they care for deeply, and wish to share certain intimacies with, but not someone they will create children with. At least, not until heirs have been created.”

“Oh. Well. That’s how your people work?”

Ahim smiles pleasantly at him and nods, as though it’s the most obvious system in the world.

“Don’t people worry that these… handmaids… will become something more? That the heir won’t actually be the expected heir?”

“Very few, at least in my country.” Her eyebrows bunch together, just slightly, the first indication of confusion or discomfort that she’s shown. “An heir is produced for political purposes. Everyone knows that. Expecting someone to wait to find emotional intimacy and physical satisfaction until they’ve been married off—and then expecting them to find emotional satisfaction with someone they’re marrying solely or at least primarily for political purposes—it’s quite mad.”

Put that way it does sound mad. Then again, none of the royalty he’s ever seen or heard about has been exactly sane.

“I’ll tell him no if you want me to, Joe.” She covers his hand with hers as she says it, and gives him another small smile. “It can be hard to share the affections of someone you care deeply for with another.”

“I don’t… I mean, I…” He’s blushing furiously, can feel how hot his face and neck are, but he can’t do anything about it.

Especially because he doesn’t actually know what he wants.

“You want him?” He doesn’t look at her as he asks the question, though he manages to jerk his gaze to her face before she answers.

“I do. He’s a handsome man, quite charismatic, and very… different from anyone I’ve known.” There’s a quiet sadness to her features as she says that last, and Joe takes her hand, offers a slight comforting pressure. “If he wants physicality, I have no problem with making that a part of this stage in my life.”

“It’s important to him.” His voice is deeper and gruffer than it normally is, and he takes a moment to try to clear his throat. “The crew. Anyone he… anyone he would make that offer to. They’re all important to him. If you’re just doing it on a lark, then—”

“I don’t make large decisions like this on a lark.” She sets the sword down, gently, and turns their bodies until they’re chest-to-chest, face-to-face. “I won’t do anything to hurt him. And I won’t do anything to hurt you. This crew has become quite important to me, Joe. The four of you… you’ve saved my life and, more dearly, my heart and soul. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t found me.”

Silence descends between them, deep as the gulfs that Marvelous had dragged them each from.

“I’ve become a part of his world.” Studying her hands, Ahim says the words slowly. “I see no reason not to participate in it fully. Unless, of course, you object.”

He could. He should, all the years he spent as a marine tell him. She’s asking his permission to seduce his lover—or, more accurately, to be seduced by his lover.

But…

“Don’t hurt him.”

“I won’t.” She smiles as she says it, clasping his hands in hers. “Truly. I am bound to this crew until the Zangyack Empire falls. If—when—that happens, I will need to return to my planet. He’s aware of that. We will deal with what that means when the time comes.”

“Right.” Picking up her cutlass, he gently presses it back into her hand. “Then I’m all right with you two doing whatever you want to do.”

“You are a very wise and magnanimous man, Joe.”

He’s not entirely sure what magnanimous means, but the way she says it makes it clear that it’s a compliment, and he feels his cheeks heating again. “Crew’s as intimate as you get. It’s what he’s always saying. And I believe him.”

“I know. You believe in him.” She surrenders her body to his gentle correcting touches, shifting her stance until it’s more centered and balanced. “It’s why I think this is a wise move, and not a mistake.”

“Ah. I hope so.” He hesitates, directing her through a series of maneuvers while he debates whether or not to say the other thing he’s thinking. “If you… well, you might want to talk to Luka. I think—”

Ahim laughs, the sound pleasant and bright, but a faint flush creeps up her neck. “Luka is an amazing woman. Were we in my home country, I would already have asked to have her as one of my ladies-in-waiting. Believe me, she will be aware of any relationships I enter into.”

“Oh.” He blinks a few times, processing the information that Ahim gave as much through her tone and body language as through her words. Though her words might have spoken the same volumes if he knew what lady-in-waiting meant on her home world. “Good, then.”

* * *

Marvelous loves him fiercely, possessively, utterly brilliantly for the next three days, though he’s suspiciously late to bed the second night.

On the fourth night Marvelous doesn’t come to bed but Luka does, sliding in next to him in only a shirt, and he knows what she wants even before she kisses him gently on the lips.

They all have their own beds. He’s made sure of that, despite Marvelous’ protestations that they can have at least one less bed than crew-member. He appreciates it, too, in the hectic months that follow. It gives everyone the room to choose who they need and when they need them and what kind of intimacy they need.

Luka prefers him and Ahim, though she’s boisterously fond of Doc and seems to enjoy her flint-and-steel, spark-slinging relationship with Marvelous.

Ahim prefers Luka and Marvelous, though she comes to him sometimes, and they talk or hold each other or gently, quietly make love.

Doc cuddles with each of them, seeming to prefer the company of at least one person to sleeping solitary.

Sometimes there’s just the two of them in Marvelous’ now-ridiculously large bed. Sometimes there are three, a few times four, and often after awful battles all five of them are there, at least for a night, taking comfort in each other’s presence.

Marvelous seems to have no preference for individuals or groups, though his relationship with each of them is unique, at least as far as Joe can tell. Hot, fiery energy and competition with Luka; dancing somewhere along the line between refinement and coarse pirate with Ahim; always the perfect gentleman with Doc, and it doesn’t escape Joe’s attention that he spends an equal amount of time with the blond as he does with the rest of them.

Equal, but unique, and Joe finds his loyalty and devotion to the strange pirate growing by the day.

And then the Earth-boy joins the crew.

* * *

“Eeeeaaaaauugh!”

Gai’s scream is ridiculously loud, shifting octaves several times, and so impossibly long that Joe and Marvelous have a chance to break apart, summon their weapons, realize that nothing’s actually attacking them, drop their weapons, and are in the process of staring at the Earthling with something approaching boredom when he finally stops.

“What’s the matter with you?” Marvelous glowers at the human, expression sour, body taut with tension.

Joe raises his hand to touch his captain’s shoulder, just a small comforting gesture. Marvelous had actually been relaxing for the first time since Basco appeared, his grin back to its proper bright charm, his lips warm against Joe’s. It hurts to see the strain and distress come back so quickly.

The attempt at physical comfort backfires, though, with Marvelous tensing even further and shifting just slightly away from him while Gai gives another squawked scream and points at the two of them.

“You can’t!” The negative is a heart-broken wail as the human points at them accusingly. “You just can’t. You’re role models! You’re heroes! How could you…”

“I don’t know what you’re babbling about.” There’s a harshness to Marvelous’ tone that Joe hasn’t heard directed at any of the crew before. “If you’ve got a problem with something I’m doing, spit it out.”

“You kissed him!” Gai’s finger stabs toward Marvelous’ chest in fierce accusation. “He’s a man, and you’re a man, and you kissed him! Do you have any idea—”

“You’re right. I kissed him.” Stalking toward the Earthling with slow deliberation, Marvelous stares him down. “And?”

“But…” Gai leans back slightly, expression shifting from panicked disbelief to perturbation. “I mean, that’s… look, you’re role models to children. All the sentai teams are. There’s the occasional anti-hero, sure, but they still come around to understanding the heart of a true hero and the importance of teamwork. There’s not really… romance. The occasional relationship, but not many, and certainly nothing… homosexual.”

His voice drops to just above a whisper and his eyes dart first one way and then the other, clear evidence that this topic is taboo among his people.

“Homosexual. Between two guys?” Marvelous speaks evenly. Too evenly, the steady, clipped words belying the angry gleam to his eyes.

“Or two girls.” Gai shivers slightly, voice still low, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. “It’s just not done. It’s not something respectable adults would do. Certainly not something they’d show others. Definitely not something children need to deal with. I mean, kids aren’t really ready to deal with sexuality, period, let alone something as debauched as—”

“Who says it’s debauched?” Spitting the question in over Gai’s explanation, Marvelous takes another step toward the other man. “You?”

“Well… I mean… everyone. It’s not something kids should have to think about, the problem of homosexuality.”

“Problem?” Marvelous sneers the word, glancing at Joe for conformation. “He thinks it’s a problem. When he’s the one who barged onto my ship and insisted he was crew, he thinks my relationship’s a problem.”

“Well, I mean, it’s just not right.” Gai holds his hands up in a placating gesture, and his words are spoken kindly, but Joe still tenses.

“It’s my ship.” Marvelous’ voice has dropped to a low growl. “He’s my crew. If you’ve got a problem with me loving my crew, then go.”

The human man shrinks in on himself as Marvelous’ words strike him, shoulders hunching defensively, hands shifting to grasp his own arms. His expression is deeply pained—disappointed, hurt, confused at how things have gone wrong so fast. It strikes at Joe’s heart, though he doesn’t want it to, because it’s an expression he’s seen on the face of every crewman they have.

It’s an expression he’s worn himself, when his life tore itself apart in a cataclysm of betrayal and confusion.

“Marvelous.”

Joe waits until the pirate’s facing him before continuing, though it’s hard. There’s a hurt beast lurking under Marvelous’ calm, controlled façade as well—a grieving, scared, confused man who’s seen his whole world ripped away from him once and won’t risk losing it again.

Joe never thought he would hate anyone as much as he hates the Zangyack, especially after what they did to Sid, but Basco’s running a close second right now.

“Trying to kick him off the crew’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” He speaks calmly, watching Gai as he does.

The Earthling’s eyes light with hope, and Joe can’t help thinking of all the work the man did to earn Marvelous’ grudging acceptance in the first place. “I don’t want to leave, and I don’t want to cause you trouble. I’m sure it’s just some kind of… galactic misunderstanding. We’ll talk it out, and then—”

“I love him.” The words aren’t spoken challengingly. They’re a simple, loud statement of fact. “I love Luka. I love Ahim. I love Doc. I enjoy sleeping with Joe, and have fun playing the rogue in Ahim’s bed, and Luka’s fantastically innovative and domineering when we sleep together. If Doc ever decides he wants to experiment, I’ll have fun teaching him. Any more confusion?”

Gai stares at the pirate, face frozen in an almost comical mask of horror and disbelief. “You… you can’t…”

“Luka sees Ahim as a sis-mate, which is important on her world, someone of the same sex who loves and protects you no matter what, and sleeps with Ahim more than with any of the rest of us. Ahim won’t let a penis anywhere near her vulva until she’s had a proper heir to her throne, because she’s fiercely aware of and loyal to her people—what remains of them after the Zangyack took her world, at least. Joe’s a fast learner and fine with creativity, though he doesn’t like violence or bonds anywhere near bed. Even biting too hard gets wires crossed in his head and makes something that’s fun and bonding into something that’s threatening and frightening. Doc loves cuddling, and loves being held with his heart covered, and is curious about a lot of things, though he doesn’t have the physiologic drive to actually have sex.

“They’re my crew. I know them. I love them.” Marvelous pauses, and he’s standing right in front of Gai now. “Who are you to come in here and tell me it’s wrong? Any of it?”

“But…” Gai’s words are whispered, his eyes fixed on Marvelous’, and the horror is slowly mixing with confusion and disbelief on his face. “You’re a sentai team, and it’s—”

“It’s my ship. It’s my world. It’s my crew.” Marvelous grabs Gai’s hair and pulls his head forward. Their lips lock briefly, violently, and Gai’s arms are flailing desperately in the air when the pirate releases his hold. “I love my crew, and you will accept that if you want to be a part of it.”

The human stares at the pirate, and there’s a bright glisten to his eyes that suggests tears. His right hand rises to his mouth, and a soft keening sound slips through his lips.

Before Joe can think of anything to say Gai has spun on his heel and fled the room.

“Well.” Joe speaks to his captain’s back. “That was handled very well.”

“Damn it.” The words are a quiet whisper, and Marvelous drifts toward the door, his movements jerky. “Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.”

The pirate’s fist connects with the wall with a dull thud. Once, twice, three times, more, and it’s somewhere around eight or nine that his knuckles break open and blood spatters the frame.

Joe catches the man’s hand before the next blow can land. “And that isn’t making anything better.”

For a brief moment Marvelous struggles against him, eyes gleaming, pupils wide. Then the man relaxes, eyes slowly closing, and he allows himself to lean against Joe’s body. “Yeah. That isn’t helping.”

Joe stands quietly, giving Marvelous a minute to breathe and gradually relax against him before continuing. “There may have been a bit of over-reacting involved in the situation.”

“Definitely. You’d think he’d never seen two people kissing before.” The quiet humor in the pirate’s voice feels forced.

“I hadn’t really, you know.” Joe waits for Marvelous to straighten slightly, eyes slitting open so the pirate can see his face. “It just wasn’t done. You didn’t show affection like that in front of other people. It was between you and whoever you were romantically involved with.”

“Yeah?” Marvelous sighs, a silent exhalation of breath against Joe’s neck. “You adjusted pretty well.”

“I’d been thrown out of my home. I was primed to question their moral values.” He takes Marvelous’ hand, squeezing it gently. “Gai’s home is here. We’re the aliens, using symbols that he sees as important to his planet.”

“You like him?” Marvelous frowns as he asks the question, though he doesn’t tense up again.

“I think he’s got a strong heart. You do, too.” They all did, watching Gai fight. A strange man, but a strong one and a good one. “Or are you inviting just anyone to be crew now?”

“He was saying I was wrong.” Marvelous sounds petulant—he looks petulant, his eyes dropping to the ground and his hand fiddling with the edge of Joe’s jacket. “For kissing you. For loving you. For acting how I want on my ship.”

“He’s only been with us a few days. And you did assault him with rather a lot of fairly personal information.” Wrapping both arms around the pirate, Joe holds him tightly. Like he had intended to do, before Gai barged in on them. Like Marvelous has needed for the last few weeks but been unable to get, with Basco and the Zangyack and then Gai taking up their attention. “His world sounds like it has different values. We know this isn’t wrong—you and me and Luka and Ahim. But I’m not surprised if it’s… at least disconcerting to him. And what you did…”

“I’m a pirate. Pirates take what they want.” A shiver runs the length of Marvelous’ body, and there’s a hint of self-loathing to Marvelous’ expression that belies the statement.

“Maybe pirates do.” Joe’s hand traces the edge of Marvelous’ face, from his eyebrow down to his jaw. “But you weren’t a pirate before the Zangyack made you one, were you?”

It’s true, and he knows it from the way Marvelous stiffens, lowers his eyes, and smiles just the faintest bit. “AkaRed said we were pirates. So we were pirates. It’s not such a bad profession, all told.”

“We do seem to end up doing a lot of looting, at any rate.” Leaning in, Joe kisses his captain, slowly and with a gentle thoroughness that they don’t always take the time to use. “But you really believe in the crew as… as family. As intimate.”

“I do.” Marvelous sighs, straightening and pulling away. “And before I get a lecture, no, I’m not kicking him off the crew. What I did was stupid. I do occasionally make mistakes. I’ll go talk to him and—”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Marvelous hesitates, clearly uncertain. “He’s my crew, and it was my—”

“He’s part of my crew, too.” Clapping his captain on the shoulder, Joe smiles just slightly. “Besides, given the talks I’ve had with the rest of you, I think he and I might have a better chance of communicating clearly about these things.”

* * *

He finds Gai huddled in the crow’s nest, knees drawn up to his chest, nibbling on his thumb in a way that seems painful.

It’s a good sign, that the man hasn’t completely fled the ship yet.

“Hi.”

The man startles, though it should have been obvious that someone was coming up the ladder if he was paying any attention. Tensing, Gai eyes the ladder down and then Joe, obviously assessing his ability to escape.

“I’m not going to do anything to you. Promise.” Joe walks to the other side of the crow’s nest, which still only puts a meter or so of space between them. “Neither will Marvelous.”

Gai nods, though his face shows skepticism.

“You don’t believe me?” Crossing his arms over his chest, Joe frowns at the human. “Why?”

“It’s not you. I mean, it’s just… they say that gay men don’t… don’t always know how to take no for an answer. Like Marvelous.”

“He’s not gay, you know.” Joe keeps his tone light and conversational, masking his disappointment and anger at the Earth-boy’s attitude. Sure, Marvelous was way out of line, but it’s not like he actually attacked the man or anything. “He’s crew-sexual. But only to the point that the crew wants it. I’ve never seen him kissing Doc, because Doc’s not into it. He gave me the chance to opt-out, too.”

“Why didn’t you take it?” There’s bitter accusation in Gai’s tone. “What kind of heroes are you?”

“We’re not heroes. We’re people.” Taking a deep breath, he manages to keep his voice calm. “Just people, who’ve lost our homes and our family to the Zangyack.”

“You’re heroes. People look up to you. They have since your first fight.” Gai’s absolutely certain of what he’s saying, and his head comes up, his stance loosens. “The Gokaigers, the 35th Super Sentai team. I was looking forward to being a part of the crew.”

Joe waits for Gai to continue, but the human’s head falls back onto his knees, utter dejection radiating from him. “You still can be a Gokaiger, you know. He didn’t really mean he was going to kick you off the team.”

“All the things he said…” Gai’s face draws into a grimace of horror again. “I could never be a part of that. I really couldn’t, Joe.”

“Then don’t be.”

“Eh?” The human stares at him as though he’s just said that the Earth’s sky was green.

“Don’t be a part of it. Don’t sleep with him. Don’t sleep with any of us. You’ll still be crew. You’ll be as intimate as the rest of us are. It’ll just be a different kind of intimacy.”

“That’s not…” Gai laughs, the sound shaky, and runs a hand through his hair. “I mean, nakama is intense and intimate and everything, but you can’t really mean that it’s the same type of intimacy as—”

“It is, here.” Joe stares into the human’s eyes, willing him to understand. “Or do you think Doc can never be intimate with anyone because he doesn’t want to sleep with them?”

“I didn’t say that.” Gai shakes his head, pausing after a moment. “Though that’s really more than I ever wanted to know.”

“Don’t you mean that? That somehow sex makes it more intimate?”

“I…” Gai hesitates.

“You do mean that, though you don’t think you do.” Turning away from the human, Joe looks out over the city. “I was in a… military once. And that’s how everyone thought. We thought that sex was what made it an intimate relationship—more intimate than anything else. More intimate for love, more intimate for violence. But we had it backwards. It’s the intimacy that was important in the relationship, and then we’d give that person the sex, too. Marvelous’ people are just… more straightforward about it than most.”

“It’s not right. It’s not moral. It’s not normal.”

“Which part?” Smiling slightly, Joe turns to look at the human, who’s leaning hesitantly against the rail next to him.

“The whole people of the same sex thing.” Gai shrugs, turning away from him slightly. “I mean, there are hints thrown into some shows, because for some weird reason a lot of female geek fans like to imagine two guys in a relationship, but most people know they’re just friends, or brothers-in-arms.”

“We are friends. We are brothers-in-arms. And that’s the important part.” Slowly, tenderly, Joe sets his hand on the Earthlings shoulder. “That’s all that you need to accept if you’re crew.”

“I don’t know if I can.” Gai stares up at him, expression troubled. “I mean, it goes against everything I know. Against our religions. Against nature.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s entirely natural.” Tilting his head to the side, Joe eyes the Earthling. “Unless your people are very different from any of ours.”

Lowering his head into his hands, Gai ruffles his own hair until it’s practically standing on end. Straightening abruptly, he screams a battle cry to the clouds around them.

Raising his eyebrows, Joe waits for the human to explain himself.

“All right.” Gai turns to face him, expression grim and determined. “I’ll try. But no doing anything where people can see. There are children who follow you guys, and they don’t need to see anything risqué.”

Marvelous’ snort breaks the mood, and the pirate swings out onto the other side of the crow’s nest with practiced ease. “It’s not any more risqué me kissing him than me kissing Luka. Are they both off limits?”

“Yes.” Gai crosses his hands, facing down the pirate. “No kissing anyone where Earth cameras might be watching you. And no kissing me period.”

“I’ll do what I want with my people when they want it. Your Earth weirdness can go hang itself.” Marvelous drops his eyes for a moment before sighing. “But I do owe you an apology for earlier. I shouldn’t have done that, and I won’t ever do that again. Not unless you want me to, anyway.

“You’re crew.” Marvelous offers the Earth-boy his trademark grin. “I’m your captain. I’ll give you this.” Touching his lips, Marvelous holds his fingers toward the man. “Or this.” Holding out his hand, Marvelous pantomimes a shake. “Or nothing physical at all. Whatever you want from me, whatever you need. We’ll find the physical intimacy that works, because the emotional intimacy’s already there.”

“Because I’m crew.” Gai eyes the man, still seeming slightly disbelieving.

“Because we’re all crew.” Marvelous smiles, and offers his hand. “All right?”

After a moment of hesitancy Gai shakes his head, takes the pirate’s hand and gives it a firm shake. “All right.”

* * *

Gai isn’t completely comfortable with them. He’s prone to twitching, and small cries of distress, and occasionally even running from the room, especially if Luka and Ahim are cuddling or Marvelous is being too forward with Joe.

Joe chastises Marvelous after the first week for using that as a tactic to get the Earthling to disappear for a few minutes, but it doesn’t change the pirate’s behavior at all.

Gai does relax, though. Slowly, surely, the human stops panicking quite so much at any display of physicality. He enjoys eating with them; he’s brilliant at fighting with them; he even seems to, gradually, relax enough to take pleasure in just sitting next to them and participating in their rare quiet times together.

He won’t ever join them in Marvelous’ giant bed—at least not for a few more years, at the rate he’s adjusting—but that’s fine. Five people is more than enough to keep them all warm, and it doesn’t make him any less crew.

Nothing they prefer makes any of them less crew.

It’s different than any arrangement Joe ever expected to have.

But all things considered—those all things mainly being a pirate, and a thief, and a princess, and a technophile, and a spastic young Earthling—it suits Joe just fine.