Stephen plight

part 1

Bondon sat in his cot studying Steven, who was sawing a man's forearm bone. His shoulders worked, pushing forward and pulling back on the saw. There was a bit of blood on his face from him swiping at the sweat on his forehead, and bondon followed it down to his protruding collar bones. Stephen was skinny, all skin and sharp edges, but bondon still found him beautiful in a strange way.

A flash of anger surged through his body as the captain entered the haul. The captain made his way to Stephen without stopping when the old sailors spoke to him.

"Stephen dear?Looking concerned, he asked as he came up beside him.

"Hmm," Stephen muttered, his eyes fixed on his work. Without looking up, Stephen handed Jack a rag and asked him to be a dear and mop some of the blood off his table.

Jack glanced at Stephen and realized there was blood on his face. He reached his hand out to wipe it away.

Bondon stood up, his face now flushed, and he pushed through the crew until he reached the doctor and captain.

The captain's importance to Stephen puzzled him. He was rude to him and kept him on a short leash. He never let the doctor wonder like he should.

"Stephen," he said, to get his attention.

After spotting him, Jack hastily pulled his hand away from Stephen's face and glared at Bondon with annoyance.

"Yes, dear," Stephen responded and glanced up. He briefly caught his gaze before returning to his tasks. Removing the saw from the man's's arm. After a second, Bondon formulated a response, using a timely nod to Jack as an alibi.

"Want me to take the arm?" He motioned to the arm Stephen was now pulling from the man's bod's body. "I could bring some water to help clean up."

Stephen passed the arm to him with a small smile. "That would do nicely, dear. Would you fill a basin up in my room too? A quick glance at Jack exposed his glaring expression. Taking the arm, he smirked to himself. He let his fingers touch Stephen's. While their fingers met, he noticed Stephen's eyes fixated on the moment, darting up to meet his own before swiftly turning away.

As he departed, he took a final look at Jack. Jack watched him, and in a deliberate action, he firmly gripped Stephen's arm right above the elbow and brought him towards his own body. Stephen, being much smaller, came close to hitting his chest. Just before the last moment, he raised his hands and placed them on Jack's chest to prevent himself from colliding with him. He gave Jack a furious look, but upon seeing who Jack was looking at, he blushed and went back to work without a word.

Bondon discarded the arm over the ship's edge before heading to refilling Stephen's basin.

In Stephen's room, he inspected the surroundings, touching various objects. He noticed a journal on his bed and felt tempted to flip through its pages, but he stopped himself.

He pondered whether Stephen had written about Jack's controlling and rude behavior towards him, his desire to leave the ship, and his fondness for Bondon.
Bondon flushed at the thought. He wished it were true. It appeared that Stephen liked him. He would offer to braid his hair and secretly observe him when he wasn't paying attention.

But there was Jack.

When Bondon first joined the ship, Jack liked him, but as his relationship with Stephen grew, Jack became hostile towards him. When Jack had to assign someone to take care of Stephen; it had always been Bondon till one day. They had been on a longboat when Stephen fell overboard. He had jumped in after him. He pulled him from the water, holding firmly to his waist. After helping Stephen back onto the boat, Stephen had tried to help him in, but he fell on top of Stephen.

He could still feel Stephen beneath him in his memory. He was so small and thin, his hip bone had pushed into bondon's thigh.

As they locked eyes, Stephen's initial shock turned into a smile, and they both burst into laughter. Suddenly, a hand grabbed bondon's collar and forcefully pulled him away from Stephen.

Jack pulled him to the side. "If you would remove yourself from my doctor, mister bondon."

"Yes, sir, sorry, sir." He said, but his eyes linger on Stephen, who looked at him worriedly.

Since then, Jack had assigned Stephen to Faster doubler. He hadn't minded at first, but as the weeks passed on, he started missing the doctor, and he found himself going down to the sick bay for any minor inconvenience.

When he returned to the haul, Jack had left, and Stephen was cleaning up his station.

He came up beside Stephen and took his elbow gently. He was aiming to feel comforting, but Stephen jumped at the touch.

"Ahh oh bondon, you frightened me," he laughed and took bondon arm, patting it gently.

"I'm sorry, doctor, it wasn't my intent." He put his hand atop Stephen's and smiled down at him. "You look stressed. Perhaps i should take you out on the longboat to catch some fish?" Stephen looked around.

"That would be nice. Let me finish this, and wash up."

"Course."

Stephen meets him by the ladder. He had already lowered a boat, so all he had to do was help the doctor down.

After some effort to get Stephen safely down the ladder, they set off a little way away from the ship. Bondon threw out a net and turned to Stephen. He sat at the end of the boat on the little cushion bondon had brought for him, his knees protruded out in front of him. But he seemed content as he looked out over the water.

He looked over at bondon and smiled when he noticed he had been watching him. "Dear?"

"Yes, doctor?"

"I feel i can speak my mind out here, so." He shifted uncomfortably. "You shouldn't instigate him, Jack, that is. It'll only end badly, i fear."

"So you wish to be treated badly?"

"He only treats me like that when you spur him on."

"Spur him on? Do you mean when i so much as look at you?" Stephen flushed and looked away.

"I dont know what to do, bondon. If i interact with you, he gets so mad. But if i don't, then i-- " he broke off.

"Hey, it's alright. If we need to stop interacting with each other for a while to keep you safe, then that's what we'll do. Don't worry. When he calms back down, I'll still be here." He smiled and reached for Stephen's hand. "We can continue my reading lessons then and maybe--"

"Stephen!" Jack's voice broke through the quiet. He was standing on the quarterdeck, a look of hatred burning in his eyes.

"Come back to the ship now." Bondon immediately let go of Stephen's hand and grabbed the oars to take them back to the ship.

He watched Stephen as he rowed, "Stephen."
Stephen answered with his eyes.
"Just blame it on my. Say I bought you out here without your consent." Stephen toyed with his sleeve and looked away.

"I don't think that would be right."

"Who cares? Did you see the look on his face? I should have never suggested this, now he'll berate you for just trying to relax. How is that fair? It's an overstep of his command."

Stephen's eyes shot to his. "Hush now, I'll hear nothing more of this. I'll do what must be done, and you'll make yourself scarce." His face held no room for argument, so bondon relented. But still, his heart beat fast, and his anger only grew as they neared the ladder.

Jack helped Stephen up the ladder before angerly grabbing his elbow and leading him to his quarters.