A Neverland Tale - HOOKED (eng)

Chapter 6.2 - Fiona

Soap beaded like the veil of a wedding dress, a special train around Fiona into the water, dissolved as a milky mist and colored it whitish. She had no intention of letting the chance of a bath pass, scrubbing salt, seaweed, and sand from herself with impressive precision until, finally, everything had seeped into the bathwater. Gradually Fiona felt better - above all, she has reasonably warmed up again and felt less stiff than before.

A cautious sideways glance slid to Filou before she noticed that he hadn't even tried to look away. Fiona suppressed the soft snort, and though she would have liked to continue looking at the dainty curls of smoke from his cigarette, she demonstratively averted her eyes. Let him stare; she couldn't change it anyway.

Fiona knew she was enjoying her time in the tub far too much. She may have tried to elicit some information from him about this place, maybe about the captain. No... she didn't assume that Filou would have told her anything. With every word, she would only show him more and more how lost she was. Already she felt under his probing gaze as if he could see all her thoughts on a silver platter. It took some strength for Fiona to tear her gaze away from the bars of soap and turn it to him. I wonder what he was thinking.

For a moment, Fiona looked at the pirate's face, now illuminated by the light candles on the ledge. They gave his features more softness and made him seem less threatening. The shadow of his beard was neat, as she had noticed before, and his hair shimmered in the candlelight... it was the color of a raven's feather. Fiona caught herself imagining touching it and... he was an attractive man, but that didn't change his unpredictability. Indeed he resented her because he had now picked a fight with his men for her, and now he had to play the overseer. At the same time, - Fiona was quite sure that the guys from the beach would have gladly relieved him of this task. Nevertheless, she hadn't necessarily been grateful for his protection or the hot bath so far.

As if her thoughts had attracted Filou, he pushed himself away from the window. Fiona turned her head and directed her gaze back to the water. Slowly she dipped the brush and washed out the rest of the soap. With unhurried steps, he approached, his leather boots leaving a dull thump on the damp wooden floor. Fiona closed her eyes briefly, gathering strength for - whatever would follow. Oh yes, she guessed that he neither liked the answer nor was it enough to end the questioning. She even expected it... only what should she do now? What would he do? How important was her answer?

Rough fingers came to her chin, and Fiona almost flinched, but he didn't grip tightly... it was more a certain pressure with which he drew her attention back to himself. The full lips curled in dissatisfaction while Fiona still toyed with the idea of not looking at him but then followed the slight tug and lifted her gaze. It was good that he couldn't hear her wildly beating heart... it might have told him right away how scared his threats made her. But it wasn't just that; his nearness made Fiona nervous in another way, so she pressed her lips together a little tighter without noticing it.

"Is that really all?" He was silent for a moment, the dark tone fading. "Tell me everything you know. Our captain won't be lenient or patient if you don't talk." (Filou)

Her eyes narrowed a little as she regarded him suspiciously as if confused. Was this a threat? A warning? A hint? Ah, damn it... Fiona had no idea what these guys would do to her if she didn't tell a story they were satisfied with. She couldn't even imagine what the captain would even want to hear. Intending to say something back, Fiona opened her mouth but changed her mind and closed it again. Filou certainly wouldn't help her invent a story that would please the captain - apparently, not even he believed she had no memory of anything before the beach.