Sham of the Sea

Chapter 38

Jennie felt restless in the evening.

Her own shadow- well, it was not like that double was that friendly, to begin with. It had still keelhauled Jennie once, and the pirate was still bitter about it. However, her shadow liked to play her little games now the same as all that time ago. So when it was time to light a fire and settle around it with Y/N leaning against her shoulder comfortably, she was constantly expecting an ambush from that noisy bitch.

At least Momo and Nayeon had calmed down again, harmlessly whispering with each other but not actually making any trouble.

"Tell me then. How did you discover that trick?"

Y/N turned her head, smiling a little when she found Jennie's eyes on hers. Y/N's eyes strayed over the scar on the pirate's nose, her tousled hair, and her bare neck. Jennie wore her shirt half opened, as per usual, and Y/N's gaze dipped down low with the V of it, straying off somewhere. Jennie suppressed her knowing smile.

"I asked her about it one day. Mom's new lover had been telling me some stories about you while you were gone, dear pirate queen. Sook-Hee told us of how the world by now fears you for meddling with dark magic and the demons accompanying your crew - I figured out myself what those might be. And when I consulted my own double about it, she actually told me how smoothly we could work together if I wanted to. I agreed, because if she gets my soul either way, then why defy her?"

Jennie smirked at her, noticing the obvious changes about Y/N. She had become more rebellious, the time she had spent within pirates obviously getting to her. The captain was dying to hear some pirate speech patterns from Y/N again, just like when they had parted. The deep and smooth drawl of the other woman's voice had still rung in Jennie's ears weeks after she had returned to her ship.

Y/N would make a mightily fine pirate. And in a certain sense, she was already. She did join Jennie's crew, and she did define as a pirate. Jennie just wanted to take Y/N away again, make her fall in love with the sea so she would never leave its side. "That was very courageous of you. I take it she did not trouble you further?"

Both of them seemed to shudder at the memory of Y/N's double, Y/N subconsciously lifting her fingers to touch the right corner of her lips that was still cut open more than it was supposed to be. Jennie carefully reached out to her, pulling that hand away. Y/N blinked as if waking up from deep thought, painedly lowering her eyes. The pirate just gripped her fingers tighter, spending strength.

"She did not lay a finger on you, right?" Jennie repeated her question more urgently, feeling Y/N's work-rough fingers gently slip between hers. Y/N's fingertips were gentle when she caressed Jennie's knuckles with them, slowly shaking her head.

"No, I just- I had to discuss a lot with her. She could easily explain to your double, but I'm not quite ready to meet them again yet."

Jennie relaxed, pushing every heated thought about ripping Y/N's double apart a second time out of her head. She was shocked by herself, of how deeply she still felt for Y/N after two whole years. Did Y/N reciprocate these feelings? She always enjoyed her touch, that was for sure. "Sure, take your time. I'm really curious about it. Sure, we fought side by side with our doubles, too, but we did not consider merging. You are still in control then, right?"

Y/N nodded, casually poking the burning logs with another branch. She watched it catch fire with empty eyes, lost in her memories. "She's still controlling me. I choose the move, and she chooses how to do it. Sometimes it still scares me. I fear she takes over. I think it's no safe thing to do."

Jennie nodded, respecting her will to learn and improve. Her adventure with Buccaneers had left her scarred and with a lifelong curse, and she still made her best out of it.