SEASICK

85- Rock, Paper, Scissors, Tease

"See, it's plenty big." Theodore breathed, winded.
The group of five stared into the singular bedroom. It was nice- plain, simple- but nice. Two queen-sized beds sat side by side with, maybe, a four-foot gap between them, and in the far, left corner of the room sat a cot. On the right side of the queen bed closest to the singular, large four-paned window sat a modest nightstand, adorned with a barren vase.
"We get a lot of guests, but neva a group like y'all." Theodore stepped further into the guest bedroom. "I guess y'all could wrestle for who has to sleep on the little one." Theodore jabbed his thumb in the direction of the cot.
Alana almost laughed, but she realized Theodore was genuine in his suggestion.
"Thank you, boy. You can go now." Ivo's voice was honeyed venom, still seething due to the newlyweds beside him.
Theodore shrugged, satisfied enough, and made his way to the door. "I'll come back for ya' when supper is ready."
The young boy left the group to look between the beds.
I suppose I could take the cot. It does not look so bad. Alana eyed the small bed in the corner, covered in a blue, plaid blanket.

"So, who sleeps with dear, Alana?" Leopoldo broke the forming tension of which she was unaware.
"Anyone but Leven seems fair." Ivo beamed.
"The three of you could fit on one bed, or Leven could take the cot. Alana will sleep with me." Kazumi cut his eyes to Leven.
"Now, Captain," Leopoldo interjected. "I would never go against you, but somehow that seems awfully immoral of you."
"And?" Kazumi mused flatly.
"I think my little dove would be much more comfortable with me than someone who looks so scary in his sleep." Ivo brushed slender fingers through the ends of Alana's hair. His cool fingertips barely kissed the flesh of her neck yet earned a slight jump from the woman, especially deep within her chest.

Her blush from earlier only worsened upon actually hearing them argue amongst each other over which one would get to sleep beside her.

"Husband and wife should share a bed." Leven boldly asserted, adding salt to the wounds surrounding him.
"Mind your place, brother." Leopoldo grinned down to his brother.
He was standing so close that their height difference was more so apparent highlighted by the way Leven had to look up to Leopoldo.
"Or what?" Leven bit.
"Or I'll be happy to put you in it." Leopoldo turned fully to his brother.
Before Alana could witness another stressful, brotherly argument she spoke up.
"What if we slid the beds together?" She offered.
Kazumi thought on it a moment but shook his head initially.
"There is still the problem of who is lying beside you."
"What if we play rock-paper-scissor for the spots beside Alana?" Leopoldo suggested.
Alana scoffed out a soft giggle, taking his words in jest. That would be a sight- grown men, pirates at that, playing a child's game.

Yet, there the four grown men, pirates at that, stood in a circle, each man with one fist resting atop a flat palm.
Kazumi spoke. "We will continue to play until there are only two of us left, any problems?"

I cannot believe they are playing a game, especially to decide who just gets to fall asleep beside me... Alana watched on as she sat on the foot of the bed on the right.
"Is this so necessary?" Alana meekly queried.
"Very." Ivo quickly confirmed without sparing her a glance.
"It's this morning our blades, dear." Leopoldo cooed clashingly with his words.
Alana furrowed a brow and pressed her lips tightly together. He's joking, right? Has to be.

"This is so stupid," Leven muttered.
"You can sleep on the cot." Kazumi cut his eyes to the younger man.
Leven only sighed annoyed, keeping his hands in position.
"Go," Kazumi announced.

Alana tried to peek into the circle from where she sat but she did not have a clear sight of all hands. The fists beating against their palms followed by a tense silence made her skin crawl with anticipation.

"How unfair," Ivo grumbled but kept his smile as he left the circle. "You all threw down 'paper'. if I had known I wouldn't have gone with the rock."
"You're not supposed to know," Leven grumbled, positioning himself again.
This could be the last round, only one of them had to lose for this silliness to be done with. The tension spreading from the triangle of three was palpable as Ivo joined Alana on the bed.
As she focused on the remaining three, wondering how comfortable she felt to be played for like an object, Ivo peered over her form from the corner of his eye.
Pale green orbs traveled her figure, she sat leaning forward, palms pressed into the mattress, her back unwittingly arched ever so slightly. The golden hue of dusk brimmed the room in a tasty orange, her warm, tawny skin glowing where her top gently billowed out at the neckline. Ivo could not help but let the curves guide his eyes, like an evening stroll in summer, down to her thighs that stressed her trouser fabric to a perilous extent at the seams. If he hadn't noticed before, though he surely had, to him, Alana was truly a marveling example of divine femininity. Her long legs crossed at the ankles in front of her demanded attention by giving her a height you could not ignore, her curves kept that attention, and as his eyes traveled back up, her face sealed a fatal concoction. How her full lips pulled him in, how her honey-doe eyes trapped him, but especially her sweet smile. Even when it was barely noticeable like it was at that moment, just a slight tug at the corner of her deep rosy lips, was enough for Ivo. Enough to bring him to his knees for her. In a split second, he had entirely consumed her with sight alone, adoring each feature he already had seared into his memory, salivation- craving- needing, was all an understatement, by miles. It took everything in him, right down to his bones, to his ghost, to not consume her physically in that moment. Ivo was raging with jealousy, grieving a petty loss, and yet here she sat so close, so soft and so, so sweet.