Porcelain Waters

White Linens

Golden eyes with their slight narrowed pupils glared down at you.

"...Hehe?" You giggled awkwardly and fumbled with the hem of your sleeves.

Thin brows knitted and a pressed frown deepened.

"Umm..." A subtle shrug assailed your shoulders. "Sorry?"

Those eyes squinted at you at the mention of your half baked apology and his entire face scrunched a little in distaste.

This was not going the way you had hoped.

Well, you weren't really sure how you had hoped it would go, if you had to be honest. You had never interacted with the captain before and you had just jumped aboard his ship without an invitation. Furthermore, had it not been for his powers, you would have certainly splatted upon the deck and your journey would have ended before it even began. Although, looking at his expression now, the possibility of that was still quite high.

He was anything but pleased with your performance.

"You shouldn't be here." He spoke tartly. Flicking a brief glance at Bepo, he handed out his next order with haste. "Bepo, turn us around. We're going back to drop this one off."

"Wait!" You exclaimed and scrambled to your feet. "You're not even giving me a chance to have any input on this?!"

"Why should I?" The captain gave you an incredulous look. "You jumped aboard my ship, insisted on joining my crew, and forced me to use my powers-"

You crossed your arms and side eyed the floor. "I didn't force you to do anything..." Came your mild grumble.

"You would've died!" The captain huffed, already frustrated with your rebuttal. "You're out of line and you're going back. End of story."

A sense of panic washed over you and your stomach churned. "If you take me back, I'll jump into the sea and drown myself!"

Shachi and Penguin flinched back at your threat. "No way?!" They shouted together.

"Are you out of your mind?!" The captain hissed at you, brows furrowed so deep, you swore they were about to shake hands in the center of his forehead.

"I'll do it!" You insisted. Maybe it was better for you not to try and grab and shake him to emphasize your point so you opted instead to just ball your hands into fists on either side of your thighs. "I will! Once I've decided on something, I'll keep trying even if it kills me!"

The captain rubbed his temples, frustration building. "You can't stay here! You're just a simple village girl, what can you even do?"

"I can cook! I'm a great cook, I cook all the time!" You nodded eagerly. "I also clean well! I've helped Isha at the clinic so I have a little bit of medical experience. And I'm an ace when it comes to haggling prices; I'm so cute, no one can say no to me~"

The expression on his face could not be less amused. "No."

"PLEASE!!!" You wailed, clasping your hands together. "Please, please! I swear I can be useful!"

"Can you even fight? Having a crew member that can't hold their own- I'm not about to bring someone on my crew that I have to protect all the time."

"Um..."

He scowled. "Bepo, the helm-!"

"I'll learn! I'll train and I'll practice! Every day! Round the clock, if I have to! I swear, I'll do whatever I have to!" Your plea came from deep in your chest; the very depths of your heart. More than anything in this world, you wanted to go along. Even if it was rife with danger and peril, even if the end of the road promised your death, you wanted to go. You needed to go. "I want to go with you, more than anything I've ever wanted before. I need to know what's out there; I need to know what this world holds for me outside this tiny, nothingness island. I want to taste freedom too!"