𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩-𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨 || ʲ. ʰᵒˡˡᵃⁿᵈ

_two_

          "Isn't that just gonna decompose?"
         
          . . .
         
          "Gross." He looks at you weirdly as you still held onto the tendrils anyway, walking the length of the ship to reach the little doctor's office that was set up deep inside the vessel. Afterall, it was the safest place to put a guy that was responsible for almost everybody's wellbeing.
         
          "I'm sure it's fine, I'm sure doc can find a way to like. . .preserve it or something."
         
          "Or use it as an anti-venom, if it is poisoned."
         
          "Good point, good point."
         
          Captain Crow watches with a chuckle as he approaches you both animatedly chatting—at least, you did—stopping Jacob right before he could walk down the wooden steps that led right down below. "Well isn't this a familiar sight!"
         
          "You were right, captain, she has not changed a bit." The man stops as he grunts and lifts you higher when he felt you slipping, yelping slightly when you feel the uncomfortable way your tunic stuck you to him like glue before you tried your best to ignore it. "Okay but to be fair, capitan, at least I'm not bleeding out this time."
         
          Jacob rolls his eyes. "But she might be pois—"
         
          "I might be poisoned."
         
          "Gods, who would've thought that I'd be missing this." He could do nothing but shake his head with a chuckle as he watches his son glare at you, quietly sticking your tongue out before realizing that you were in the presence of higher authority. Both your attention turn back to him just as quickly. "Tell me, how did captain Drakasha ever survive having to deal with you? Or more importantly, how did you survive at all?"
         
          "She didn't have to do a thing, actually. She passed me to her first mate the moment she got the chance." Jacob tries not to scoff. "Wouldn't be the first time."
         
          "Shut up, Sarah just so happened to be first mate, and I just so happened to be reckless, and she just so happened to be not. It's really not the same, Holland."
         
          "Well maybe you should be taking a page out of my book and learning, then." Your entire body froze up upon hearing that all-too familiar voice, letting out an awkward chuckle as you sort of attempted to get yourself even closer to Jacob, as if that was even physically possible. He only rolls his eyes, cracks a smile, before turning to face Sarah head on. "Nice to see you doing well, ma'am."
         
          The woman in question had dark blue blood staining her boot, peg leg, and edges of her coat, one hand wiping away on her own cutlass with a blue cloth as she walks down the steps of the quarterdeck. Jacob was more than a bit sure that the cloth wasn't originally that color.
         
          Her eyes were focused in on you, and you could feel the glare burning through the side of your head even as you tried to ignore her. You failed. "Sarah! Hey! Didn't. . .didn't see you there!"
         
          Her eye twitches as she only glares at you harder the moment you stupidly decided to meet her gaze.
         
          . . .
         
          ". . .have I ever told you how lovely you looked after a battle?"
         
          "Save it, girl." You whisper an 'alrighty then!' as her attention is turned to Jacob, now sheathing her weapon back and handing the dirtied cloth to a passing hunter. He didn't seem phased as he just tossed it wordlessly onto a crate he was holding. "What's her damage this time?"
         
          "Hey!"
         
          "Jumped onto the bloody thing and tried harvesting a scale while it was still flailing around trying to get rid of her." Everyone is quick to ignore your cry of protest as Jacob lifts you up again, being all too aware of the way his own clothes now stuck to his skin uncomfortably. It wasn't a welcomed feeling, no doubt. "She's lucky that it didn't just dive back into the water and drowned her."
         
          "Okay it's different when I make a joke about it."
         
          "And these things?" You felt like a child being ignored by the two continuing to converse, a sympathetic chuckle from the captain as he excuses himself to his quarters and you were left alone with these two. . .two. . .deviants.
         
          Sarah used the tip of her gun to lift the end of one of the thin tendrils, falling right back down lifelessly when it slipped straight off the muzzle. Her face just slightly twitches in disgust. "That thing's tentacle things. But other than that, we have no idea. She said she can't feel her legs, so we have reason to believe it's poisoned her."
         
          "Oh." Despite the many times you've thrown the word around now there was not a single sense of urgency in the ongoing conversation, having what sounded to be a lighthearted exchange in broad daylight standing on a damaged ship in the afternath of a monster attack while you were probably dying. Fun times being a hunter, huh?
         
          "You look surprised." Jacob finds it in him to chuckle, raising a brow at the woman who only puts her gun back into its rightful place. "What, like I'd just carry Cruickshank around for fun?"
         
          "I wouldn't put it past you two, no." Holland's face heats as he's left in confusion pondering the implications of that passing statement, his mouth only opening and closing repeatedly like a confused fish before he could noise out a small 'what?'. But it seems that it didn't matter anyway because Sarah was more than done with the conversation already, turning on her heel and waving a hand away as if to dismiss you both. "Send her off to the doc, I'll deal with her later once she's rested up."
         
          "Love you lots and lots, Sarah!"
         
          "Flattery won't help you now, Y/N."
          
          You could only chuckle as you took it upon yourself to lift yourself higher again, hands choked around Jacob's neck who took a moment to take the hint and eventually lift you up himself. He still looked distracted.
         
          "You think we should just pull these things out? I kinda wanna see what happens when I do." He's quick to snap back into focus as he practically yelled out a 'no!', his voice sending waves of shock in your ears and your body rumbling when the word reverberated through his chest. "Alright, okay, okay! Gods!" Despite the fact that you were pretty sure you just bursted your eardrums you found enough humor to chuckle at the absurdity, shaking your head as you put the scale on your stomach and used your free hand to pat his shoulder before you point to the stairs. "Then hurry up! I'm running out of self control."
         
          "You didn't have much to begin with."
         
          "Proving my point exactly. Now go, go, go!"
                   
          Getting to the office, and informing the doctor what had happened was a pretty quiet journey. At least, between the both of you. You chatted with the many hunters that were already down here tending to their own wounds, your laugh always somehow managing to overpower everyone else's whenever somebody gave you a reason to. It was an oddly endearing sight, no matter how damaging it was to his own ears. He supposes it was his karma.
         
          "Thanks doc, you're the best!"
         
          "You're welcome and thank you, dear, but please don't think that flattering me is enough to allow you to walk around as you please." You couldn't help but grin widely as the man pushes up his glasses, new bandages around your feet as one hand holds a small box of your wet clothes, and the other gloved hand holds onto the tentacles he pried off your legs. The other ones you've collected were on a cloth on a stool, alongside the giant blue scale that reflected and shone with the room's lighting. "You offend me, good sir! I have not, and would never, go against your orders!"
         
          "Uh huh, and yet all the times I've looked away for a moment and you disappear, beg to differ." He goes to leave this curtained off side of the basement but is stopped when Jacob comes through, hand lightly pushing away at the thin cloth separating this area from the rest as he's dressed in nothing but his pants. He adorns a new scar on his chest that you could barely see the stitches on. You tried not to wince for him.
         
          "Like what you're seeing there, Y/N?" He chuckles as your eyes snap up to glare at him, turning momentarily to the doctor who looked mortified at the handiwork. He reassured him that Lea, despite her hook hand, had excellent control over a needle and did the work wonderfully. That still didn't look like it helped ease his nerves.
         
          "Hey, you came in here shirtless, not me." The doctor leaves after about a few more words of constant reassurance that the stitching was fine, Jacob chuckling as he grabs an extra shirt from literally out of nowhere and goes to put it on. You scoff incredulously, hands thrown upwards as you complain about it. "And you made the conscious decision to not put another one on until after I've seen you half-naked! Jerk!"
         
          "Oh like you don't enjoy seeing me that way." He's quick to exclaim in surprise when you grab the pillow left for you and throw it at him, laughing as it hits his face before he's even quicker to catch it. "What? Don't like the teasing when it's on you, huh?"
         
          "Uh no, I just don't like it when people tease me about things that just aren't true. There is a difference, you know!" You go to throw another pillow but he quickly calls a truce, still laughing even as he 'apologizes' and hands you back the first one. You snatch it away from him just as quickly, a smile breaking out on your own face before you get rid of it.
         
          . . .
         
          . . .
         
          . . .
         
          You two fell into a silence as you stay there quietly fumbling with the blanket you had over you, the table used as a temporary resting place in the doc's makeshift 'office' surprisingly big enough to accomodate you. The last time, many patients were simply forced to sit on stools or tables half this one's size. You were glad it sort of upgraded.
         
          "How're you feeling?" Jacob is the first to break the ice as he eyes the outline of your legs from under the thin cloth, raising a brow as you follow his gaze. "Oh. It's fine. Still still feels kinda tingly, but other than that I should be well enough by tonight."
         
          "Right." That seemed to be enough to reassure him, nodding as he runs a hand through his hair. His tattoo momentarily peeked from under his sleeve. "What'd the doc say, though? Was it actually poison?"
         
          "Eh, sort of. It's poison, but only to fish, according to him." You chuckle as you recall the conversation, "He even said that you could eat the ends of the tentacles, with the right preparation."
         
          He makes a face, chuckling as well. "You literally just said it's poisonous."
         
          "Yeah well I'm not exactly a fish."
         
          You two share a laugh but sounds of new company catches your attention, what sounded to be protest coming from the youngest of the crew. That kid that you liked to only call the Intern was currently being ushered by a worried doctor, some embarrassed 'doc I'm fine, I swear!' being ignored when the man only pushed him in and closed the curtains as if that would be enough to stop him from leaving.
         
          "Oh? You okay, kid?" You tried not to cringe at the fact that, despite only being two years older than you, Jacob acted way too much like an actual old man. You were like twenty-one for gods' sake, and you certainly acted like one, why did he have to act like he was forty?
         
          "I'm fine! It's not that urgent, I swear! Tell him that he doesn't have to worry, Jacob!" There was a scoff from the doctor, and with the hands of a trained professional, rips the shirt right off the kid. He yelps and is further borderline assaulted when the doctor swiftly turns him around, almost jumping out of your seat when you find the biggest, nastiest gash you've ever seen so prominently displayed on the small of his back. Dried blood was dripping down and staining his pants.
         
          "Bastard was unlucky enough to have seven tentacles stuck on him all at once. He was paralyzed on the mizzen, and if he wasn't held back by Old Nick he could've fallen off and died." You watch as the doctor momentarily removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose, only now realizing how strong his accent got the more stressed out he was. You felt bad for him slightly. "Ripped the skin right off his gods-damned back. But oh yes, 'it's not that urgent'! Bollocks!"
         
          "O. . .okay, it's— it's bad. . .but, but Y/N's already here! Wasn't she poisoned by it too? She was here first, tend to her, it's no rush!" He was shaking as he remains on his spot still turned, before the doctor sighs so heavily even you felt it.
         
          "Yes, but difference is, dear, she still HAS HER BLOODY SKIN ON!!"
         
          "Okay, okay! Everybody calm down!" You laugh as you jump off—at least, the closest action you could do similar to that—the table, wobbling for a bit as you raise a finger at Jacob who was quick to jump off his seat. "I'm fine, give me a second."
         
          He frowns but lets you be, and you eventually stand up straight.
         
          "I only really need to rest, and I can very well do that in my bunk. You, Intern—"
         
          "M. . .my name's Mikhail."
         
          "Okay fine. You, Michael, just get on the table, man, you don't have to pretend like that," You vaguely point to his back, "doesn't hurt like a bitch." He also frowns at the way you so butchered his name but only meekly, sheepishly nods, dramatically gesturing to the table before you go to walk off. You trip once again and Jacob pretty much has had enough, standing and catching you with all the worry of a man with five kids. You tried not to groan in protest.
         
          "Thank you, at least somebody here has common sense!" Despite the doctor's harsh and sarcastic tone, you knew well enough by now to know that he only really does it out of love, assisting the guy onto the table as you and Jacob take your leave. You didn't know why he was coming with, but you decided that asking him wouldn't do much good.
         
          "If it still feels weird by sundown, you know where to find me, dear!" The doctor calls out from behind you right before you could climb up the stairs, voice cutting through the commotion of everybody else chatting and doing repairs. You send him a thumbs-up, before he closes the curtain and you turn your attention back to the stairs.
         
          Those gods-damned stairs.
         
          . . .
         
          "Say, Holland. . ."
         
          "Just get on, Cruick."
         
          "You always know what to say!"
         
          The sun was still bright as you two emerged from the steps, Jacob grunting as it took a while for his eyes to readjust and continue walking. You yourself were having the same visual difficulties, but it really didn't matter when you were slung on his back like a sack and just piggybacking off his hard-earned patience and balance.
         
          The ship was in chaotic disarray, now that you had a better chance to look at it, Miss Merino and Sarah shouting orders for repairs as you see Captain Crow lugging around boxes and crates like he wasn't at the highest of this ship's hierarchy. It was a nice show of his nature as a humble man. "Do I really have to carry you all the way to your room?" Jacob grunts as he sends an apologetic smile to a hunter he almost runs into, side-stepping out of the way before he continues. "I'm not sure I recall any more stairs on the way there."
         
          "Oh, I was going to, but that was before I knew I could be taller than you for a little bit. Lovely view up here, by the way." Despite the absurdity of your sarcastic retort he couldn't help but still scoff a chuckle at it anyway, and despite the fact that you could very well have accepted just walking to your cabin, he lets you stay on his back anyway. Neither of you decided to comment on that decision.
         
          "Hey Captain!" Jacob stops when you so loudly call out and enthusiastically wave a hand, catching the attention of said man who raises a hand in response. "Oh, Y/N! Looking better already!"
         
          "Thanks, you like my new ride?" Jacob has to talk himself out of ideas of just throwing you overboard, hand teasingly petting the top of his head as he watches his father slowly approach the both of you with a growing grin. "Isn't exactly new, is it now?" Crow joins in on the teasing, snickering at the growing look of disdain on his son's face.
         
          "Yeah, but it's still functional, so why not use it again, right?"
         
          "Get to the point, or you'll be having a fast reunion with Sir Tentacles down there." He vaguely gestures to the edge of the ship, and you only shake your head. But he's once again caught off-guard when you gasp loudly, hand slapping on your forehead as your eyes widened. "Right! The scale! I left it in doc's office!"
         
          "It's alright, it's alright, I'll have Sarah fetch it for me later." Captain Crow reassures, and you sigh in relief before you nod. "Right. Anyway that wasn't my point. I was just going to ask, will we be docking any time soon? Or do you think she can take on another attack?"
         
          That question catches his attention now too, the three of you looking to the rest of the vessel in judgement.
         
          One of the sails were ripped and was currently being removed to be stitched back up, the lookout platform on the main mast where you previously were basically having only half of its original wood left. There were currently three people working on it, passing and nailing on new planks swiftly.
         
          There were some already working on repainting the ship, and many others were left either hauling cargo back to their rightful places or mopping away the disgusting overabundance of that monster's blood. Sarah stood on top of the quarterdeck overlooking most of the operation, while Miss Merino walked around giving specific help and continuing to shout orders.
         
          "Hmm, I'd say she can take another one. Even two!" Crow laughs heartily, slapping a hand on your back as the force is enough to even throw Jacob slightly off-balance. "We've been through worst, don't you think, lass?"
         
          "Aye, that's the spirit!" You laugh just as loudly even as your back stung and you had to fight back tears, honestly finding it comical that being away from Crow made you less used to the force of which he usually gave his reassuring pats. Gods, was that trip a mistake??
         
          "Alright, I gotta go help the others."
         
          "I'll help too." Jacob offers, once again lifting you up with a small grunt. "As soon as I get rid of this thing on me."
         
          "Aw, don't be so hard on yourself, your face isn't that useless, don't worry." His, well, ironically enough, face, crumples as he takes a few moments trying to decipher that statement, knowing that you meant it as an insult yet managing to make it sound like a compliment all at the same. Gods, he hated when you became such a smart-ass with words. He almost forgot that you liked doing that.
         
          "Alright, rest well, dear." He chuckles one last time before he waved you two off, walking to go back to do. . .whatever it was he was doing.
         
          "Yeah, rest well, dear. Not walk around further jeopardizing your health." He parrots Crow in an attempt to mock you instead, lightly slapping his hair as you only chuckle. "Oh please, like you're any better."
         
          "Oh I am better. Because when I jeopardize my health, it's usually to help someone else." He chuckles as you feel just the slightest pang in your heart, memories of a bloody boat making you clear your throat before you chuckle with him and just as easily get rid of that thought. "Alright, alright, fair enough."
         
          You finally arrived at your room and he pulls the door open, expecting to be met with the same messy state it was left in when you exited it. But surprisingly enough, it was well kept.
         
          The bed was made, your books were tidied— hell, even the dagger that fell earlier was put in its rightful place with the rest of your displayed weapons. The entire situation screamed of Sarah's handiwork, and it warmed your heart seeing her do all that despite her scolding.
         
          . . .
         
          "You're just as surprised, aren't you?"
         
          "Gobsmacked."
         
          He sets you down on your bed and you flop down back-first easily, an exaggerated groan of relief making him roll his eyes as he cracks a smile. He reaches over and closes the small window, before pulling down the small section of curtains that further throws the room into lower light. "Get some sleep. I'm gonna bet my bottom dollar that Sarah's got a cruel chore waiting for you as soon as you can stand up."
         
          "Ugh. . ." You groan again, but this time one that was all too real, kicking your blanket off before better adjusting it to hide yourself with it.
         
          You watch Jacob frown, and you raise a brow.
         
          . . .
         
          "Oh. Right." You pull the blanket up then kick off your boots, letting them land unceremoniously beside your bed with a thud before you turned to face the wall. "Goodnight, Holland! Close the door on your way out."
         
          . . .
         
          He watches as you don't move anymore, and he could only sigh as he leans down and grabs your boots himself. They were worn out and heavy as he carries them next to your door, where two other pairs lay dormant and were practically collecting dust. He couldn't help but snicker. "I still don't understand why you've never worn these other two."
         
          "Well one works enough y'know. There's no point switching it up." You turn your head momentarily to meet his gaze, and you shrug from underneath your blanket. "Why? You want them for yourself or something?"
         
          He scoffs. "No thanks. I doubt they would even fit."
         
          "Your fault for having man feet, man-feet." You turn right back to the wall and Jacob could do nothing but watch in silence, only scoffing out a chuckle as he shakes his head goes to leave. Some feeling in his heart blossoms into something he couldn't describe, only pushing open the door and turning to you one last time as if you could see him.
         
          . . .
         
          He shakes his head, and closes the door.
         
          The small, corridor-like structure of the back of the ship was dark as he stares blankly at his bedroom across yours, biting the inside of his cheek as if in thought, but in reality being an attempt to stop himself from grinning widely like an idiot. He got you those boots two years ago as a parting gift, mainly as a small joke. You had rolled your eyes back then, claiming that you'd toss them right out the moment you found better ones.
         
          . . .
         
          "Weird girl." He mumbles as he finally gives up and lets himself smile, before turning to go join with the rest of the hunters for the cleanup.