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Hah…hah….
Man, climbing up the ladder should not be that hard. Polites kept his head high, forcing his breathing to stay relaxed as he squinted in the too-bright sun. His head ached, and his arms and legs did too- hell, any part of his body was protesting if he examined them for too long.
So he didn’t.
There was work to be done. There were friends to cheer up. Polites always had a smile on his face, he was famous for it around the ship. He wasn’t going to sit and complain. He’d keep smiling, even if that required his head floating up in the clouds, detached from anything that would actually affect him, like that throbbing headache.
“Hey, Polites!”
Nets waved in his direction. Beside him, Yianni watched and Alexander rolled his eyes, but neither objected when Polites wandered over to join them.
“Hey.” He sat down with a grunt on the steps, the sunlight still flashing in his eyes and making it hard to see their expressions. That was fine. He’d just sit, and listen, maybe throw in a few jokes here and there. Eventually retire to go take a nap, he’d already pushed through his chores that he didn’t quite remember doing but was fairly certain he had at some point. Unless that was yesterday?
“Good to see you’re still up and about,” Yianni smirked, leaning against the steps to the bow of the ship. “I heard Jonas is down with some cold after last night.”
“More like we heard Miron fussing over him. Are we sure he knows he’s not Jonas’ father?” Alexander snorted.
…rain? Right. Last night’s watch shift in the rain. Polites had volunteered for it, so Vlassis wouldn’t have to- he knew how uneasy he got on dark nights- and sat through several hours of cold. And wet. And the faint sound of Jonas shivering on the other side of the mast. Seemed letting him borrow his cloak hadn’t been enough.
“…because Thodoris wasn’t able to!” Nets chuckled, and the other two laughed, right when Polites vaguely remembered to tune back in to keep track of the conversation. When everybody else looked at him, it became clear to him even in his state that he’d been a beat too late.
“We’re not making fun of him,” Yianni clarified, though not exactly enough for Polites to understand what cue he’d missed. “So you don’t get all righteous on us.”
“I dunno, he’s being kinda quiet today,” muttered Alexander. “Thinking hard, Polites? Coming up with new ways to bring sunshine into our lives?”
Polites did his best to clear his throat subtly so his voice would be clear enough to pass without suspicion. “Just…wondering if Jonas is alright.”
“Oh, he’s fine, I saw him earlier,” Nets said. “A little out of it, but the medic said he’ll be dandy by tomorrow.”
Polites nodded, determined to stay focused. If he wanted to act normal, he’d have to follow along and participate in conversations…
…while that didn’t sound as fun as it usually did, it was better then the awkward pauses and side-eye and suspicion when he came back from zoning out.
So, he did his best. Kept his eyes open through the beating of the sun and his head, focused on the conversation and his friends. Just…be happy. Fake it till you make it.
Polites remembered once, putting on a little play with Odysseus, Eurylochus and Ctimene to cheer up Eurycleia after…something had happened to make her sad. He couldn’t remember. But he remembered discovering how much he liked acting. How good he was at it. How deep into the role he got, how for a time, it felt like he became the character…
And so, as his head grew heavier and the sun grew hotter on his skin, he played the character. Smile. Laugh. Smile. Joke. Laugh.
Laugh…
“Gods, Polites, it wasn’t that funny,” Yianni muttered, watching him roll against the side of the stairs, clutching his side.
But he couldn’t stop laughing.
Something weird was going on with Polites.
It didn’t take Alexander too long to notice. Sure, the guy was known for being smiley and positive bordering on obnoxious, but that wide grin hardly seemed genuine anymore- it was like he’d pasted it to his face.
He wasn’t the only one noticing either. Yianni kept his eye on the sunshiny crewmate for a beat longer each time, and Nets’ own smile was slowly growing more confused as Polites laughter rang louder then their three combined. Even a few men passing by had noticed, if the odd looks from Sofoklis and Vlassis were anything to go by.
“So, uh…” Alexander leaned forward, keeping a small smirk on his face, as he played up the dramatic tension. “I told him, ‘you can take that fish, and throw it back into the sea!’”
It wasn’t that funny, and he knew it wasn’t that funny. Yianni and Nets merely scoffed, but Polites burst out into a fresh fit of wheezing- like it was hysterical.
…actually, yeah, hysterical seemed to be a good way to describe him.
“Gods, Polites, it wasn’t that funny,” Yianni muttered, eyeing his friend with a note of concern.
“Yeah, what’s up with you?” Nets piped up, and his head tilted like a confused dog.
Polites didn’t respond to either of them, simply continued to howl. He was clutching his side, slumped against the stairs, and tears were starting to slide down his face as he tilted his head back, making no effort to muffle his cackling.
Nets glanced at Alexander and Yianni, seriously concerned. “Should I…go get Eurylochus? Or the captain?” He whispered, like Polites would even hear it in his current state.
Yianni looked again at Polites, gasping for the air to keep laughing. “…yeah. Hurry.” He pushed the younger man on the back as he got up and jogged off.
“Ey, what’s up with you?” Alexander scooted closer and grabbed Polites’ wrist. “You sick or something?”
Polites’ eyes widened, and in the erratic mirth Alexander saw a flash of alarm. The other man sat up. “No! No, I’m fine,” he chuckled breathlessly. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah?” Yianni scoffed, crossing his arms over his knees but also scooting closer. “Why the hell you laughing at every little thing?”
“‘Cause it was funny.” Polites wiped at his face, and his movements seemed to stutter when he came across the wetness of his cheeks. That dumb smile went back up regardless. “Fish. I’m alright.”
“You’re still kinda shaking,” Yianni noted.
“No.”
“What do you mean no?” Yianni reached over and grabbed his wrist holding it up; indeed, Polites’ fingers were trembling.
“Don’t mind that.” Polites pulled away and stood up in front of the stairs, still grinning under Alexander and Yianni’s deadpan stares. He spread his arms. “See? I’m fine.”
“Bullshit,” Alexander called.
“What’s bullshit?” Eurylochus, closely followed by Nets, walked over. He scanned Polites over. “Are you alright, Polites?”
“Yes, I’m fine! Could a fine- I mean, coulda- pfft- could a not-fine person do this?” He backed up and started spinning in circles, arms outstretched.
Eurylochus watched him for a moment, baffled, then turned to the other three. “Alexander, what did you do to him?”
“Wha- me? Fuck did I do?!” Alexander retorted. “We were just sitting here and he’s been acting all weird and loopy! What are you blaming me for?”
“Anytime something happens on this ship, there’s a fifty percent chance it’s your fault,” Eurylochus returned. “I was right about the barnacles being you, wasn’t I?”
“Guys?”
“What, and so I’m instantly the instigator of every little thing to go wrong? How petty are you-“
“Guys!” Nets grabbed Yianni’ forearm and started pulling him up to where Polites was spinning more out of control, worryingly close to the edge of the ship. And he was laughing again.
Wheeeeeeee.
Man, the air felt good on his hot skin. Really good. Really…hot. Voices kept arguing in the background, but Polites had given up on paying attention.
Whoa, the…everything was getting blurry. Was it the spinning? Was he still spinning? Blue, brown, white, another shade of brown. A blinding flash of white. The voices were getting louder and he was getting nauseous, he should stop spinning. Was he still spinning? He needed to stop. Take a deep breath. He couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard.
Yianni grabbed his arm, yanking him away from the railing while Nets took his other shoulder. “Okay, no more spinning, sunshine. Sit down.”
Alexander and Eurylochus followed, the latter with a deep frown, who held out his arms for his friend. “Let me see him.”
Before Yianni could pass him over, the hysterical giggles suddenly faded, and Polites’ legs gave out without warning.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa-!” Eurylochus grabbed Polites from the other two, picking him up as the curly head lolled. “Shit. Nets, go get Od- Captain. He’ll want to know about this.”
Alexander and Yianni, along with a few others, watched as Eurylochus adjusted the crew’s sunshine in his arms and hauled him off the sick bay.
Cold…
Hot…
Cold…
Huh?
Where’s hot and where’s cold…
Hot skin…
Cold forehead…
Cold skin…
Warm shoulder.
Isolated temperatures flickered over his body, fighting for domination. Chills on his spine, sweat on his neck, his legs, arms, everywhere. Taken out of a stove and placed onto a block of ice. Laying on something cold and flat and hard. Nothing except the steady rocking of the boat and a warm hand moving across his shoulder.
“Ahhh…you with me, son?”
Polites slowly became aware as his eyes opened on their own, taking in a brown ceiling, a familiar room he often spent time helping out in. Not as a patient. Sick bay. What was he doing here?
Maybe it had something to do with the way sitting up made him almost pass out again.
“Whoa, hey, stay down.” The warm hands and steady voice caught him and guided him back to lying down. When Polites turned his head to the side, Miron sat there, between two cots. Jonas was on the other one, faced flushed but sleeping peacefully.
“The others tell me you started acting funny and fainted on deck,” Miron murmured, squeezing Polites’ sore shoulder. “Worried the hell out of Captain and Eurylochus. Apparently you didn’t escape whatever Jonas got, either. But you’ll be all right, medic checked you out and said you just need some rest.”
Polites listened dazedly as the older man answered his silent questions, even if he didn’t follow half of what was said. His tired eyes rolled over to meet Miron’s.
“You need to take better care of yourself, kid,” Miron muttered, reaching out to peel off a compress Polites hadn’t realized was there. “No shame in asking for help or showing weakness. Which is odd saying to you, I thought you believed in that philosophy more firmly than anyone on this ship?”
Polites winced, swallowing painfully before croaking out a low answer. “It- it’s different when it’s me.”
“No it ain’t, son.” Miron’s hand pressed down a fresh cloth over his skin. “…but I’ll lecture you more on that later. Just rest, now.”
Polites nodded in surrender, and closed his eyes.