Transient Waters

13

SeongHwa woke up slowly, and it was rather sluggish. He could not quite force himself into the present, something which unnerved him. He blinked his eyes open slowly, not wanting to over do anything. He felt...unnerved already. There was a lack of warmth that he was used to. He felt something pulled over his shoulders, something which made him want to rip it off of him. Which was what he did when something more pressing began to flood his senses. Where is WooYoung? The thought had him ripped the fabric away from him and jolting in the matress that he had evidently been placed on. He glanced about the room nervously, but there was no sign of the boy. SeongHwa quickly spiraled into panic.

He was here when I fell asleep...well...not here...where...where even am I? The realization that he was not in the Medical Bay with that one doctor, YeoSang, had him throwing himself even further into a panic. He was with me when I fell asleep. That...That Alpha was with him, San or whatever he called himself. WooYoung would never have just let me be taken again...right? The fact of that thought...though, was that he was not sure. He knew how stressful the time with the Navy Royal was. He doubted it was much easier being a pirate but...but he had more support with his pirate friends. He would be safer, that is for sure.

SeongHwa swiftly felt a sense of despondency come upon him at the thought. I can barely even handle myself. It was more lucky than anything else that kept WooYoung safe. I...I did not really even do anything. He thought sadly. I just...was there. Probably more trouble than I was worth. SeongHwa grit his teeth. This can't possibly be the Royal navy though...He realized, with a start, furrowing his brows in confusion. They would have for certain put me back in the cells. Always refusing to take a risk of me jumping off the side of the boat. That meant that he had to still be on that Pirate ship. At least...WooYoung hasn't...hasn't left yet. SeongHwa allowed himself to be comforted by the thought somewhat.

"WooYoung?" SeongHwa asked to the air, his voice quiet, tentative. He did not know if the other was nearby but...he did not like not knowing. There was no answer, which clearly meant that WooYoung was either not in the area, which was quite likely the more SeongHwa thought about it, though he could not say that he cared for it. He disliked not knowing where the other was. He would never admit it, much less aloud, but it sort of hurt that WooYoung was not having the same difficulty. He knew that it was because WooYoung had other people to care for, and...Seonghwa only had WooYoung. The thoughts of his being annoying and worthless had never felt more...clear ringing in his ears.

He sighed, realizing quite quickly that he really...had no reason to be on this stupid boat. Why did I even bother? He thought to himself as he curled his body into the back of the bed, allowing the cool of the ships wall to seep through the thin shirt he had been wearing. Challenging a captain, going against an Alpha, and for what? These are WooYoung's people. I do not belong with them...He sighed, the depressed and helpless feeling flooding him with a sense of chill. He wrapped the blanket tighter around him, allowing the scratchy fabric to dig into his skin, letting his tears fall as he realized how utterly stupid he had been. WooYoung really doesn't need me around anymore. For some reason, that hurt more than anything that the Royal Navy had done to him...and they had done quite a bit, in their experiments. He bit his lower lip, not sure what else to do now. It was not as though he could just leave...they were at sea. Unless...

Seonghwa looked out the window, allowing the blanket to fall. Rushing, not really sure what he was doing at this moment, he bolted out of the room, and to the main post of the ship. His eyes, stared at the waves...a sense of longing washed over him. It would be so much more peaceful. Before he could even expand on that thought, though, he felt an arm wrap around his waist and haul him off of the side edge.

"What are you doing?" It was a voice that...to now...he had not heard yet. the illusive Mingi, he supposed. He had overheard Yeosang muttering under his breath about him, but had never really given it much thought as he had been looking forwards to WooYoung. There was not much more to look out for now though, was there? Since WooYoung...Wooyoung did not need him anymore. The tears began all over again as that stupid chilly feeling wrapped around his heart and pierced it painfully. He felt as though he could not breath, for some reason, despite no imedaments. Distantly, he heard someone screaming, but he was not sure if it was someone else, or him, or anything, all he knew was that in a few more moments, he was wrapped in a different scent.

He did not instantly recognize it, and he could not place it...even though he knew that he had smelled it before. His brain was too out of it to even really register anything, he barely even noticed that they were moving until he felt himself being placed on a different bed. His eyes kept going in and out of focus, his breathing was more panted gasps than anything, and that chilled piercing feeling was still wrapping its knives about his heart.

He heard something...other than the whispy breathing that was his own, a small...humming sound. His eyes searched frantically for the person humming at him, and when they finally met them, he could not make out the figure. His eyes still going hazy. He felt his eyelids want to shut, but fought it. A whine tore itself from his throat against his will as he reached towards the mystery figure. He did not know who it was, but...he...he knew that this person calmed him down...sort of. He liked their scent either way. Wanted to bathe in it. The person, SeongHwa's vision still refused to focus despite his being able to get some more air in his lungs as compared to before.

They chuckled, but gracefully sat down on the bed, allowing Seonghwa to curl around their torso, fingers clentching the back of their shirt at the base of their hips desperately. Fingers carded their way through his hair, and SeongHwa felt himself slowly coming down from...whatever the hell sort of overreaction that was. He felt exhausted. More exhausted than that time that he had spent an entire day and night fretfully watching over WooYoung when he had stupidly tried to escape on of the first days and had not realized how dangerous that it was to try and force the cage doors open and ended up getting injured...severely. The stupid navy sailors had refused to help SeongHwa so he had done what best he could, and had merely watched unable to do more the next day and night. WooYoung had been okay, by some miracle, but this...this was a different sort of exhaustion. His limbs felt heavy, and he found it hard to keep his eyes open.

"What's wrong?" That he did register, a soft tone coming from his mystery human. "What happened?"

"W-WooYoung...d-doesnt...w-want me anymore." SeongHwa huffed out, not entirely sure why he was answering this person in the first place. They did not deserve it, but for some reason...he felt compelled. "I-I am u-useless now." The words were a barely there whisper, but it was heard, if the slight pause in his hair carding was any indication. SeongHwa did not manage to get what they had said in response, as he merely curled up further into the person. "You feel safe." The words were a scarcely there whisper befpre he passed out for what felt like the millionth time the last two days.