The Sole Prince

I won't kill ya or anything. [part 3]

"Aye, it's lunch," the deep voice yells from the outside. James recognizes it instantly. And for some reason the prince can't pinpoint, his anxieties fall away. "You coming?" the voice continues, but the prince is already up from his bed and putting on his shoes. He reaches for the handle of the door, pulling it open, revealing the man standing on the outside.

Sage wears his signature outfit. One of his arms is extended so that it grabs the top of the doorframe, leaning down onto the arm slightly. In the bright sunlight that's present today, the prince is able to see the captain's features in a light like never before. James hesitates, albeit slightly; but still, he hesitates. The prince stares at the taller man for a brief moment, and the captain stares back before he begins to speak. "Shall we?" Sage prompts, taking his hand off the doorframe and turning on his heels to walk away. The prince walks after him, closing the door shut behind.

After navigating through a conglomeration of hallways and turns, the captain leads the prince into what appears to be the mess hall. The kitchen seems to be in the back, with a few pirates scrambling to and fro. The rest of the room consists of more-than-filled long tables. The noise of the room itself is something in which to be in awe; pirates eating lunch sure can make a lot of noise. There's a small sliver of uninhabited floor that Sage walks down in order to get to the kitchen, and James follows in his footsteps. He can feel the eyes of the burly pirates all around him as he walks through the crowd. Eyes piercing into his shoulders, and torso, and hips, and legs, and feet, and everything. The prince cocks his head downwards, hoping to make himself smaller. Invisible is the desired result. A long table extends on both sides of the duo, and some of the pirates are even turning around to look at them. Would they do this if it was only the captain? James only has to travel a few more steps, when one of the seated pirates stands up in front of the prince.

"Well, ain't it the prisoner. Pretty little thing, you are, aren't ya?" the pirate says, moving his face to be shockingly close to the prince's. The prince can smell the rum on his breath, and hear it in his voice. "Shame that the captain's keeping you all to himself," he continues with a grin. The prince takes a step backwards, but the man follows. "Come down to the bunks sometime, mate, and I'll be sure to show you a good time." The pirate continues to inch closer until a hand appears on his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

"I can show ya a good time," the captain says is a deep voice. Low, controlled, planned. "Well, it'll be good for me. Won't be so good for you," he adds, sliding his hand to the man's collar and pulling him towards the captain. "Or you can just sit down," the captain finishes, pushing the pirate back into his seat. The pirate quickly turns around and stares at the food on his plate, choosing not to try to push his luck any farther. The prince and the captain stare at each other. Sage contorts his eyebrows to ask a question which James responds to with a quick nod.

"Thanks," the prince mutters out softly. Eventually, the two sit down at a smaller table than the rest of the crew, plates of food in front of them. The only other people at the table are people the prince has already met, or at least heard of: Eric, Scotty, and Celine. Eric looks the same as he did those few days ago, his smile etched onto the dark skin of his face. Scotty looks a tad bit different; he must have shaved for the brown skin above his lips and on his chin and cheeks doesn't have the hair it used to. Having not seen Celine before, the prince spends a longer time looking at her. Her black dreadlocks fall to either side of her face, the light that's seeping in from the outside bouncing off her dark skin. They sit at a small round table with the prince seated next to the captain. It must usually be a table for four. The prince must be an exception.

"Sorry, that happened... again," Sage says in the direction of the prince. James stares down at his food.

"It's okay. Nothing really happened," he whispers in response, stabbing at his rice.