Chapter Text
When Corwin was told to go grab a bottle of wine from the cellars to celebrate the success of their most recent treasure hunt, he hadn’t expected to find a boy.
The boy was young—around his own age—and was curled up in the middle of three barrels of dry food, eyes closed and head leaning on one of the barrels. Either fast asleep or passed out. His face was serene but smudged with dirt, and his hair (pink, from what Corwin could see) had been stuffed inside a cap.
Corwin had never seen this boy before in his life, and he’d certainly never seen him on the ship. So that only left the question...when had he sneaked onboard? Was it when they’d docked in that little town three days ago?
“Oi,” Corwin said, poking the boy’s cheek. The boy frowned and moved his face away but did not awaken. “Oi.” Corwin poked him harder.
The boy woke up with a start, one hand flying out and smacking Corwin right in the face.
“Ow!”
“Sweet mother o’—” the boy started before catching himself. He stood up carefully. “I mean. Sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Yeah, yeah, as you like.” Corwin rubbed his nose but the soreness was already fading. “Who the hell are you?”
“Oh, I’m—I’m Benedict.” The boy winced and adjusted his cap. “Ben. Ben’s fine.”
He had a strange accent that Corwin couldn’t quite place—too posh for the town he’d initially suspected this kid to be from but too similar in how he spoke certain words.
“Ben.” Corwin tasted the name on his tongue. Ben. It fit him. “And what're you doing here, eh?”
“I’m...” Ben adjusted his cap again. “Uh. I’m just hanging here.”
“No shit.”
“There’s nothing unusual about this.”
“Uh-huh.”
Corwin peered at him curiously. Ben didn’t meet his gaze. “When'd you come aboard?”
“You...” Ben glanced at him, then looked away. “You wouldn’t believe me if I said I’ve always been here, would you?”
“I've eyes and ears enough.”
“Unfortunate,” Ben muttered.
“What was that?”
“Uh. Nothing. I said nothing.”
Corwin grinned. “Why're you so frightened?”
“You’re a pirate?” Ben said, but he sounded like he wasn’t quite sure. “Pirates are—terrifying.”
“Why sneak aboard a pirate ship, then?”
“I might have been kidnapped. You don’t know.”
“Believe me, lad, if you'd been taken, you'd be in far worse case.” Corwin grabbed the boy’s face to scrutinize it. Deep green eyes widened in surprise, a faint blush tainting his pale cheeks. “A town boy?”
Ben blinked several times before he answered, “Huh?”
“You a town boy?” Corwin asked again.
“I—am I—uh. Yes—no. I mean. Not exactly.”
“A would-be sailor, then.” Corwin brushed his thumb against Ben’s lower lip. Soft, unchapped. Now he knew why their water rations had been short the past few days.
Ben neither affirmed nor denied. Corwin pulled his lip down. “Healthy teeth.” He let go of Ben. “Lose the cap, though.”
Ben stared at him. “Uh. Sorry?”
“Lose the cap. Looks foolish.”
Corwin watched Ben not move for ten seconds before taking matters into his own hands and whisking off the hat. Ben made a noise of protest as Corwin flung it somewhere behind the wine barrels, but before he could make his way over to find it, Corwin grabbed his arm. Ben’s hair lay flat and melancholy on his head, so Corwin reached out and ruffled it up for him as a favour.
“Hey!” Ben ducked, swatting away Corwin’s hand. “Don’t—don’t do that! I’d just tamed it!”
“You'll be in the wind every day. Best get used to it.”
“Why would I be in the wind everyday?!” Ben demanded, evading Corwin’s hands. Corwin raised an eyebrow at him.
“We're not about to let you sit below all day, you know.”
“We?”
“You came to join us, didn't you?”
Ben froze.
Taken by surprise, Corwin froze, too. “Didn't you? You're either crew, or you're feeding the sharks.”
When Ben remained silent, Corwin’s smile slipped from his face. He withdrew his hands and looked at Ben.
It would be a shame to let him go. There were hardly any boys here of Corwin’s own age, and while the older men were great company, Corwin had always wanted a closer companion.
“Ben?”
Ben took a sharp breath. He straightened up, standing perfectly upright.
“My name is Benedict,” he said. “I’ve run away from home to join you. Please don’t feed me to the sharks.”
Corwin felt the smile come back. “No promises.”
(“When were you going to come outta the cellars?”
“Uh. I wasn’t. Not really.”
“...What the hell?”)