Blood In The Water ~ Shadow & Bone

8

Marina climbed up to the deck after leaving Nikolai to take Alina and Mal to their bunk. She grabbed one of the nets and pulled herself up to sit on the railing. She sat there in silence for a while before glancing back as she heard footsteps approaching her. She smiled a bit as the blond wrapped his arms around her from behind, a bit taller than her even with her on top of the rail.

"Morning, love," he muttered. She rolled her eyes and pried his arms off of her, swinging her legs over the other side of the railing to face him.

"It is quite literally the middle of the night, Nikolai." He shrugged, resting his hands on her waist protectively as he looked down at her.

"It's morning somewhere." She sighed, though she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her lips. Nikolai grinned. He always did when she laughed. "Mal and Alina are in the back. Told them it was the most private suit we had." Marina's jaw dropped, but she grinned.

"You bloody liar," she said, making him laugh. "You know perfectly well it's not."

"Well I'm not giving them your room."

"Why not? I usually sleep with you anyway."

"No, you don't." Marina sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head on Nikolai's shoulder.

"You prick..." Nikolai laughed, and she smacked his shoulder. "Shut up, you know what I mean." He nodded and gently pulled her head away from him, gazing down at her with soft eyes for a moment before pressing his lips to hers sweetly. Marina smiled into the kiss, sliding her hands around the back of his neck.

"Oi!" The two pulled apart quickly as Tamar walked over to them with a grin. "You lovebirds wanna help with your ship?" Nikolai grinned and gripped Marina's waist tighter, lifting her off of the railing and setting her on the ground.

"I'll find you later," he murmured. She nodded, and he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before walking away. Marina turned to Tamar, sighing when she spotted the sly smile on the woman's face.

"What?" the brunette asked flatly. The Heartrender simply shrugged and shook her head, turning to walk away with Marina behind her. "No, no. Tell me, mate, what's that look for?" Tamar chuckled and shook her head.

"It's not for anything," she said. "It's just still strange, to see him be so... enraptured. By anything." Marina jogged to catch up with the taller woman, furrowing her brows. "I've known Sturmhond for a long time, and you're the only thing I've ever seen that makes him as happy as he is." She stopped walking and looked down at the girl. "You know, sometimes I used to see him smile. When he was alone and thought no one could see him, when he was just thinking to himself. It was more real than any other time." She smiled and shrugged. "My guess? He was thinking of you." Marina rolled her eyes as Tamar tossed a rope up over a beam, letting the younger girl catch it as it fell on the other side.

"I seriously doubt that," she muttered, tying the rope around a bag of fabric to raise to another crew member perched on the main yard. "He had more going on during the years I was gone than thinking about me."

"He still missed you," Aurelie said, jogging over to the two women. "I can read everyone on this ship-" It was true that the girl was severely empathetic and could tell what nearly everyone she met was feeling. "-and the Captain was more happy after you joined the crew than I'd ever seen him. He still is." Marina rolled her eyes, grabbing the rope on Tamar's side of the main to help her hoist the bag.

"Saints, you two are worse than children," she muttered. "I never had to deal with this before I met you." Tamar grinned and looked down at her.

"And yet you stay."

I absolutely do not know why these chapters are so short so I probably will add the next chapter to this as well

there may or may not be a chapter coming up that I go absolutely feral for :]

- C