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

_nine_

          Jacob Holland was fucking exhausted.
         
          The trip to the castle had been a little too much burden when the man got a little too fucking ambitious last night and drank more than what he could handle the night before an early morning trip. The entire time he was fighting to keep himself from acting like a fool in front of royalty, and when they went to finally leave it started to fucking rain and they had to postpone their trip back to the village. He was glad he sort of managed to catch up on some sleep then.
         
          "How the bloody hell is it already three in the afternoon?" His question sung out as he squinted at the sun in the sky, far from setting but far from at its peak as well. Captain Crow laughs, looking downwards to see him and Sarah sitting across him in the four person carriage. "Lots and lots delays, my boy. The king felt particularly chattier today, especially with that shiny scale Y/N got."
         
          "And the multiple others we got safely, after she risked her life for one." The captain could do nothing but laugh at Sarah's addition, shaking his head as he wiped a fake tear. "Oh, that girl, what do we even do with her. What do you think would humble her, Sarah? Because I think it's time we actually do something about it before she pulls a more spectacular stunt."
         
          "More spectacular than poisoning herself and almost bleeding to death in the span of a week? Gods, I fear the day." Crow laughs even louder as Jacob huffs as his own form of showing amusement in the subject, looking up to see the old stone arch that welcomed them into the village. The carriage jumped slightly as it went from dirt to cobble, rejoining the rest of society as the forest behind them got further and further away.
         
          Even through the relatively tall buildings of the many cobble houses Jacob could still see the tips of the masts of the Inevitable barely peeking over the horizon where the docks lay, thoroughly impressed at how he was able to recognize it from this distance. The still had a long way before it could even get close to the boat, so this was truly impressive.
         
          "I think I'm due for a trim, don't you think?" He watches as Crow removes his hat and runs a finger through his gray hair, an uninterested hum from Sarah as she doesn't even look at him. "You were due weeks ago."
         
          "Well forgive me, the only person I trust with my hair is currently bedridden and covered in bandages, I'd rather not burden the poor lad." He winces as he remembers the poor kid who was still recovering from the tentacle attack and having his literal skin pulled off. "Unfortunate sucker, eh?"
         
          "He's certainly doing better at least." Crow didn't really need reassurance but Jacob gave it to him anyway, the old man grinning as he opens his mouth to say something before being cut off with a holler. "Captain! Sarah!! Jacob!! Hey! Hey hey hey!" The woman gestures for the driver to stop as the carriage slows, you jogging right next to it with your own wide grin. "Glad I caught you! Can I get a ride back?"
         
          "Of course, dear!" Crow's response didn't matter as you climbed on anyway, crashing next to Jacob as you caught your breath, but ironically chuckling. "Wouldn't uh, what's his name, Louis, mind?"
         
          "Laszlo, and he's fine. Got a bet on who could drink more, and now he's blackout drunk and had to be carried by his dad to bed. I don't know, I'll make it up to him later." Jacob watches in amusement as you casually take out a pouch of hefty coins before tossing it to the sack at the back of the ride where the king and queen's payment were, jingling when it landed as you quickly made yourself comfortable.
         
          "Where have you been? Thought we made a deal saying that sleeping in to skip visits was an offence." You turn to him with your own show of amusement, a raised brow as you sort of snickered. "Why? Missed me that much, Holland?"
         
          He fights back whatever growing of embarrassment was there as he challenges you by getting closer, his voice low as he speak, "In your dreams, Cruickshank."
         
          . . .
         
          "So! Now that we've got all those chores done, we set sail tomorrow again, eh?" Crow's voice broke through whatever trance kept you just blankly staring at Jacob's face, so painfully aware of every little detail and line yet being so calm at this close of a presence. You found your eyes drifting down to his smirking mouth, slowly trailing upwards to meet his eyes that looked just as hazed as you are. You looked away, grinning as you caught the captain's line of sight. Nobody commented on how you fiddled with your bracelet. "You sure? Some of the crew may not take to that too lightly."
         
          Jacob is stuck sort of staring a beat longer before he sits back up properly, subconsciously finding himself just slightly scooching away despite not knowing whether he wanted to be close to you or not. Your conversation with his adoptive father was loud and full of laughter as he sort of zones out, swallowing a lump in his throat and slowly exhaling a heavy sigh as that short moment plays on his mind in an annoying loop. That small scratch you had gotten on your chin from one of the many spike-helmet wearing hunters on the ship, the way your smiling mouth slowly parted open, the way your eyes looked down at his lips and how he—
         
          The entire carriage jumps as it hits whatever stray rock, cutting him out of his weird thoughts and forcing him to get his mind straight. There was a mumbled apology from the driver and it seemed nobody at all minded, one glance catching Sarah look at him in either judgement or concern before she turns back to the captain.
         
          "Repairs should be done by tonight, and the king and queen did say that they expect. . ." You raise a brow as Crow sort of trails off, following his gaze to a building in a corner of a busy block. It was modestly sized with a large wooden sign swinging with the wind, a bird perched atop the beam that held it as it read; 'Calico's Rightly-Priced Haircuts'. Odd name, cute set-up. It had a flower bed outside it with many colorful varieties.
         
          "Sarah! Oh I'll be a sea beast's dinner, the rumors are true! Calico did open up a shop here!" His laugh was boisterous as he asks the driver to stop, the woman at the reins gladly obliging as you watch Crow all but jump off the vehicle. "Come with, Sarah! Best we say hi to the old dog before he kicks the bucket any day now!" You grinned as you see the woman judge the sign heavily, sighing as she begrudgingly gets off the vehicle as well.
         
          "Same destination, darling. You two kids be good!" You enthusiastically wave them goodbye as the carriage gets rolling once more, once deeming it far enough you scooched more to the side before turning your body to Jacob. He only raises a brow at whatever antic you wanted to do this time. "So! How's the castle? Is it broken yet?"
         
          "You know that that's never going to happen."
         
          "Aye, aye, but a girl can dream, right? I'd do anything to be able to either break that entire thing, or live in it." He couldn't help but chuckle as you exaggerated your claims with wild gestures using the both of your hands, one wrong rock letting you yelp as the very same hands struggled to grip onto whatever as to avoid falling off the damn ride. Now Jacob had to laugh.
         
          "Gods, I can stand perfectly still in a storm yet I can't handle a gods-damned carriage ride." The complaint—and slight brag—was more-so for yourself as you sat yourself up properly, moving farther away from the door-less one-way ticket to a face full of cobble. You bumped up against Jacob before you deemed yourself safe enough, the man clearing his throat in an attempt not to think too much about it. Please, you two have done much more intimate things than fucking touch arms, this should be easy to ignore!
         
          . . .
         
          His mind betrays this reassurance by reminding him once more what literally just happened to the both of you—faces close, breaths heavy—once again clearing his throat to snap him out of it.
         
          Although he must've forgotten that actions had consequences, because before he knew it your eyebrows were scrunched and you were moving slightly away from him, making a show of dusting your sleeves off. "Gods man, are you sick or something? Just cough up whatever's stuck inside that ol' throat of yours or I'll punch it out myself." Jacob rolls his eyes, "Can't a guy make a mistake and just breathe the wrong way?"
         
          "How the hell would you even fail breathing?"
         
          The drive back to the port had been filled with small talk and many, many jokes and banter—which totally wasn't flirting in disguise—before you finally got off. The sun was still bright as many people mucked about the busy ports, standing idly as Jacob heaved the large sack of gold off of the vehicle. Your small pouch had tumbled into the compartment, the man staring at it for a moment before tossing it you.
         
          You grabbed hold of it as you continued to stare lovingly at the rest of the shouting and working crowds, the Inevitable high and mighty as the center of this part of town's attention.
         
          You two had gotten off right next to it, and with your pouch in your hands you blindly reached for the driver's hands before all but dumping half the entire bag's worth into them. You mumbled some thanks, distracted and giddy as you waited for Jacob to return.
         
          "My, she's a big one!" You heard some laughter from on top of the main deck as you look up, a small crowd having gathered at the sight of the heavy sack on Jacob's back. You couldn't hear the rest of the conversation as they disappeared further into the vessel, no doubt going to dump the sack into the captain's cabin where whoever he put in charge of it got to counting. You'd go after them, but honestly you needed a small moment alone.
         
          Your conversation with Laszlo earlier had been short and sweet, and the rest of the time you spent with him was time spent messing around and genuinely being good friends. Which was nice, but the excitedness from that had slowly dispersed into worry as you once again conflicted with this thing you had with Jacob.
         
          Jacob Holland was a handsome individual, and you knew that since you were eleven. Little you had gotten it right the moment you deemed him worthy of your affection, what had started out as admiration for a kid older than you quickly developing into realizing that, oh shit, he looked kind of cute.
         
          Then that crush. . .honestly you didn't know where that crush went. You wouldn't say that you had never stopped crushing on Jacob, it just became such a big part of your daily interaction with him that you sort of just. . .forgot about it? Would that be the right word? Whatever, you digressed. You supposed that the feeling had only gotten stronger but much less noticeable with time, the moment you accepted that those feelings were more than platonic being the longer you spent away from him. Gods, the first few months at the Poison Orchid were downright miserable, and you promised yourself then that the moment you got back to Jacob you'd tell him to date you. Not ask, not confess, but just straight up tell him to date you.
         
          . . .
         
          But things didn't go as planned, because of course they didn't. And. . .and well that plan sort of just got thrown out the window and forgotten, because at that time you finally accepted that you liked him you ended up meeting and falling for Ca—
         
          "Hey, you okay?" You quite literally jump out of your thoughts when you see Jacob had returned, back now free of his previous burden and having just finished the last couple of steps of the ramp with his signature raised brow.
         
          You didn't answer, and Jacob half-wondered if you were zoned out as badly as back when you were in the water again. You were sat on one of the many crates next to the edge of the port, shadowed by the Inevitable and currently wiping your dagger mindlessly. It took a few more agonizing moments before you seemed to have finally noticed him for real, and acknowledged his presence with a large grin. "Hey! You good now? I just remembered something."
         
          . . .
         
          "Yeah no, I'm free now." He decides not to question it as you giddily stand up, sheathing your weapon back as you wasted no time in grabbing his hand breaking into a sprint somewhere. Jacob's eyes widened as he struggles to find a momentum to keep up, laughing all the way as you weaved through passing fisher and worker.
         
          Despite his many attempts at asking you where the actual fuck you were leading him to, you gave him no answer other than a laugh or asking him to shut up. He wanted to keep prying of course, but found it best to just try and guess where you were taking him.
         
          You two jogged the length of the edge of the small man-made lake—never letting go of his hand, by the way—heading for one of the large stone towers that held up the nets ceasing access to unwelcomed visitors. The house were getting more and more scarce the closer you got to it, and you only slowed down to a proper walk when you were right next to the tall building.
         
          It loomed over the two of you ominously, but where he was concerned if you were planning to either scale it or break into the damn thing, he was surprised to find that you were tugging him to the left.
         
          To the right was the water, in front was the tower, and when he turned he confirmed that the left was a small stone wall you could jump over that had sizeable trees, the start of the expansive forest that circled the more mountainous regions of Three Bridges. You had let go of his hand now, from sizing it with his sight alone he could conclude that maybe it was about three feet in length. You stood on top of it proudly like it was of ten. "Come on, we're almost there!"
         
          He approaches the wall cautiously, looking up to see you smile at him widely. He only gazes back down at your boots and the wall. "Is this. . .is this even legal?"
         
          "Oh who cares, we already pay our taxes," You playfully took a few steps away as he heaves himself up the wall easily, having to look up when he stands next to you at his full height. "How much more law-abiding do we have to be?"
         
          "Preferably all the way."
         
          "Well that's a bummer, we already kill for a living."
         
          Jacob opens his mouth to retort but you jump into the dirt and sprint deep into the forest, his eyes widening in surprise as he sort of jumps as well on instinct. "Y/N!"
         
          "Like, royalty pay us to take lives. I don't think that sounds very legal either!" He only saw glimpses of you weaving in and out of trees, barely being able to catch you disappear into the next one each time as he finds out the hard way that he unequivocally hates unsteady footing. He's gotten too used to running on smooth wood, he hasn't seen or walked on dirt in quite literally forever.
         
          "Well I'd say it's pretty different," He narrowly avoids a branch that decided it wanted to hurt him, holding onto a tree trunk for balance as he sort of has to catch his breath a little bit. Were you going uphill? You had to be, right? He was pretty fit, it was unusual that he was running out of breath this quickly. "They're beasts! Can't be compared to actual murder."
         
          "Yeah but it's still taking a life, isn't it?" You peak from behind a tree once more with a cheshire-like grin, one look up seeing you slightly taller than you usually were confirming it for him that you were currently scaling a large hill, or a very small mountain. Either way he felt like his lungs were collapsing on him. Gods, since when did nature smell so much like urine?
         
          He opens his mouth to answer again but finds that you were long gone, groaning as he steels himself and heaves himself up to catch up.
         
          Jacob Holland was fucking exhausted; the unwanted sequel.
         
          You barely suppressed your laughs as you climbed up the dense forestry, the dirt below you finally managing to sort of even out as you see less and less trees. Your eyes widened and your excitement picked up as you rushed for it, the edge of the tree-line bright before you finally emerged into the clearing, dancing and hollering.
         
          It took a bit for your eyes to adjust from the relatively still-bright sun, slowly tilting more and more to behind you where it plans on setting in but a few more hours. Dinner would be starting soon, and the prospect of eating food that wasn't either fish or the rare crustacean made you regret thinking about food in the first place. Now you were getting hungry.
         
          But you're not given much time to deal with that as Jacob finally emerges from the trees, slightly panting and currently holding onto a tree for balance. You grinned, and tried not to think too much of his chest that heaved up and down when he did. "How did. . .how did you. . .huh??"
         
          "Sea legs, mate! Worse than any beast you'll ever face." You chuckle as he collapses to the grass beside you with a huff, humming as you stared at the water in front of you. He raised a brow. "Sea legs?"
         
          "Aye, that was what captain Drakasha called them. Every month we'd dock at a random island, then have a three day expedition where we do nothing but run around the forests. She said it'd help us better in balance, and that even if the enemy was in the water, it doesn't mean you should be complacent in land." You shrug, fondly recalling all the times you've puked in those trips. "Sea legs is when you get too comfortable at sea. It was bloody wild! But confusing and fucking painful, 'cause your body's constantly having to readjust between vessel and land."
         
          . . .
         
          He slowly nodded, now that he had caught his breath and had a reason for why he somehow felt inadequate scaling that, he could respond once more. "Fascinating. I'm gonna assume you found ways to avoid participating?"
         
          "Many, many ways!" You chuckled, head tilting to look at him exaggeratingly as he, as usual, amusingly raised a brow. "Fake blood, hiding under my bed, making a deal with her kids— I basically memorized every little nook and cranny of that ship trying to hide."
         
          He tries his best not to clear his throat to avoid suspicion, only moving his head slightly backwards to look at yours better. You were doing that thing you always did back when you were younger, eyes fluttering purposefully but your attempts at whatever being betrayed by your barely contained laughter. He'd be ashamed to say that it still worked on him—especially because of the snickering—so he just entertained your teasing with a tilt of his own head. "Really? That doesn't exactly explain how you're still good at it."
         
          You tried not to think too much at the passing compliment as you shrugged, "Well I eventually started joining again. Because. . ." That same smiling face returns in your memories again, and your chuckling turns awkward as you avoid eye contact. You were fiddling with your bracelet again. "Well I guess I just realized I needed the exercise, not much of a story there ha-ha!"