𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑺」ateez au

𝐍𝐨. 𝟎𝟑

"She was a magnificent beast, twice the size of the Aurora, but my captain saw no reason to fear her. To him, she was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes on. Even now, he still tells the tale."

It had been nearly two whole months since San was forcibly brought onto the Howler and he has yet to lose hope. Sometimes, Seonghwa would find himself daydreaming while doing his daily tasks. He would imagine an extraordinary ship dancing along the ocean waves as it neared closer and closer until Seonghwa's very own eyes could see a strong and powerful captain holding on tight to her helm with hellfire in his eyes that screamed vengeance and determination. He would save San, even at the cost of his own life, and San would offer his hand to Seonghwa.

But then reality would fall all around him and he would be quickly snapped out of his thoughts without a shred of mercy. San's captain wasn't coming, even Seonghwa's own captain was starting to understand that much and had been spending less and less time in the captured pirate's cell. All he wanted was the Aurora. If San couldn't help him get his hands on that ship, what use was he to him?

Seonghwa didn't think San to be such a fool that he couldn't realize that his captain was running out of time— that it wouldn't be long before he would become one with the sea. San knew.

After their last encounter, when San had so easily given Seonghwa his name, the young half siren started to spend his nights in San's cell. It was complicated at first, his crew didn't sleep much during the night so Seonghwa needed to do well not to get caught. However, he had gotten better at it and the visits brought him a sort of comfort, like he was no longer alone with San by his side. Their time together started out in silence, neither of them quite knowing how to be with each other. It was enough for Seonghwa to run his fingers through San's hair while the other used his lap as a pillow, Seonghwa liked how relaxed San's body became under his touch and how evened out his breathing got from the comfort.

With each passing day, things began to change gradually. Seonghwa learned fairly quickly that San actually had a very big appetite, even though he wasn't very honest about it. His body refused to hide the fact that he needed food no matter how hard San tried to bury the feeling. Seonghwa started to sneak into the ship's food supply. They were running low on food but he did not care for the wellbeing of anyone else on the ship, San was his one and only priority. He couldn't get his hands on a lot but, over time, San started to regain some strength. He was soon able to move his limbs, although it still hurt him greatly and Seonghwa urged him not to do so unless absolutely necessary. He was also able to speak freely without feeling so weak, this was how Seonghwa learned that San was a very talkative person. He liked to ask about Seonghwa's day, the first time he had asked was so baffling to Seonghwa that he wasn't sure how to answer it.

His days are always spent surviving, keeping his head low, doing as he was told and doing what he could to stay out of sight and mind. There was never anything eventful to tell so San learned fairly quickly that the question wasn't the best one to ask. Still, he liked to ask and Seonghwa felt warm whenever he did because. . . well, it wasn't something he was used to and it made him feel a little more human.

Everything about San made him feel more human.

San also liked to tell stories, this was Seonghwa's favorite part of their visits. The stories the young pirate told were so magical, like fairy tales from the books Seonghwa used to read when he was just a child. They were never his own, San claimed he wasn't much of a storyteller, but his captain loved stories even more than he loved the sea. San was good at imitating them but nothing could compare to the feeling he and the rest of their crew would get from their captain whenever he got lost in one of his many tales. In his own opinion, Seonghwa quite liked listening to San tell the tales himself, his voice was pleasing to the ear and he was very animated and easy to understand.