curious

♜ VIII ♜

Ben and I stand up against a pole on Uma's ship, tied to it.

Harry hops in front of me and takes a step towards Ben, putting his face in between ours. Ben turns his head to try and avoid Harry, which he fails at. Harry runs his hook along Ben's jaw saying, "Coochy-coochy coo."

I give him a weird look as he starts laughing, taking a step back.

"How's it feel to be the king now, eh?" he asks Ben, putting his arm between us. Ben stares at him boredly and Harry starts laughing again. He walks around the pole, going to poke Ben's cheek.

"Give it a rest, Harry," Uma says, pushing his hand away. "Give it a rest." She sits on a chest in front of Ben as Harry climbs onto a rope. "We don't want damaged goods."

Harry points his hook at Ben. "You said I could hook him."

"I said at noon," Uma says.

Harry glares at Ben as he turns his head and smirks a little. I snicker. Harry glares at me before he hops down and walks over to Ben's other side, putting his arm against the pole. He dangles a stopwatch in front of Ben.

"Twenty more minutes," Harry says.

Ben moves his head to look at the clock. "That says eleven thirty."

Harry sighs and move the stopwatch. "It's a wee bit off."

I look down at my watch and click it open. "No," I say, closing my watch. "It's definitely eleven thirty." Ben nudges my arm with his and smiles a little.

"You better hope your girlfriend comes through," Uma says, getting our attention.

"Mmhmm," Harry hums walking over to my side.

Ben's face drops and he shakes his head. "She's not my girlfriend anymore."

I look over at him. "What?"

Harry chuckles, putting his hook under my chin to make me turn my head to look at him.

"Leave us alone, Harry," Uma says, not taking her eyes off Ben. "And take the girl with you."

He starts untying me, gripping my shoulders before leaning towards Ben. "Nineteen minutes to go now."

"Go," Uma says, earning a look from Harry before he starts steering me towards a different pole.

He ties me to it with another rope before sitting down on a box in front of me. He studies me as I look around.

"You're very pretty when you're thinking," he says randomly.

"I'm always thinking," I say lightly.

He hums and nods. "Exactly."

I tilt my head at him. After a moment of looking at him, I shake my head and look a different way.

"Now what's that mind thinking of now?" he asks when a smile dances on my lips.

"I was just imagining what a goldfish would look like playing the clarinet."

He shakes his head. "Keep imaginin'. That's impossible."

I look over at him. "Why sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

"Harry! Switch!"

Harry sighs and salutes me when he gets up and walks over to Ben to terrorize him a little more. Uma comes over to me and sits down on the box.

"Your hair is quite pretty," I say, tilting my head.

She smiles a little. "Thanks, girl. You think a lot of things are pretty, don't you?"