To Live on the Land We Must Learn from the Sea

Chapter 10

 I know this chapter is a little shorter, but the next one will be longer.

Word Count: 1,390

 Stede woke up in the middle of the night having to use the bathroom. He sat up slowly, trying to keep his painful, stab-wound-induced gasping to a minimum to avoid waking the captain sleeping on the chaise lounge. They had an argument about where to sleep–well, as much of an argument as one could without using their voice. Blackbeard had insisted on Stede sleeping in the bed and said he was used to firmer surfaces anyway. 

  The blond shuffled past the sleeping captain and opened the door quietly. A lot of the crew was sleeping on the main deck, but perhaps he'd have some privacy near the prow of the ship. 

  Stede sighed as he took care of business, glad to have the insistent pressure from his bladder gone. Now that it was just pain from his wound he was feeling, maybe he could get a few more hours of sleep. 

  He peered over the side of the ship as he heard splashing from the water below. Three figures were floating alongside, gazing up at him. 

  "Enjoying the body, Bonnet?" a familiar raspy voice asked. 

  Stede opened his mouth to say a few choice words before remembering that he couldn't. Because of him. He settled for aggressively pointing and sending him a couple of crude hand signals he knew he'd understand. 

  Izzy only chuckled. "I came to see how the seducing was going. Your first week is almost up." 

  Stede glared at him. 

  "I also wanted to warn you about a part of the deal I forgot to mention: Don't even think about telling Blackbeard or anyone else that you're a mermaid or about any part of the deal, or the whole thing is off, got it?" 

 Stede nodded, wishing his eyes would burn a hole through Izzy's head. This was entirely unfair! 

  The siren smirked. "Good luck, Bonnet!" he called before disappearing under the waves. Ivan and Fang, who had floated silently beside him the entire time, followed. 

  Stede slunk back to the captain's quarters. It's not like anybody would believe him if he told them about the deal. However, Blackbeard apparently started to believe in merfolk. 

  A mischievous grin spread across his face. Izzy said I couldn't tell the others I'm a mermaid. Jokes on him, I'm not a mermaid, I'm a merman! He stopped at the door to the captain's quarters, sighing. Izzy would probably still find some way to call the deal off. Better to just play it safe. 

  He pushed open the door and latched it as quietly as possible behind him. Facing the room, he heard rustling. He walked further in to see Blackbeard tossing and turning on the chaise lounge, kicking his covers to the floor. 

   Stede hurried over right when Blackbeard sat up with a gasp, panting. The blond went to his own bed where a glass of water sat beside it and returned, handing it to the captain. 

  He watched as Blackbeard downed the glass and set it on the table beside the chaise lounge. His panting was gradually beginning to slow. "Thanks," he whispered.

  Stede sat down next to the captain, recalling the time Mary had comforted a distraught mergirl who had spent the night in their dwelling after getting separated from her parents at the other side of their village. His wife had hugged her, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. He remembered watching her run a hand through her hair, realizing that nobody had ever done that for him as a kid.