Camren (One Shots)

Safe at Sea (Part Three - Final)

  Warnings: cannibalism, scars, nudity, violence, starvation, murder, parental death. 

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It was true that, for the last weeks, if she let her mind sufficiently wander, there was a certain quality to Camila's song that was... different.

Her song had never been constant, of course. Like the wind, like crystallized salt, like grooves in shells and patterns in sand, her melody must always shift and alter itself to be kept alive. But even accounting for all that and also her moods which were still sometimes unpredictable, it was absolutely undeniable that something in her song had fundamentally changed.

She refused to attribute this change to any one thing or, especially, anyone. But still, it was also true that, for the last weeks, if she let her mind sufficiently wander, it had a tendency to wander in one very particular direction.

When she saw the small boat approaching, along with the usual resentment and regret, Camila felt a tinge of relief. For once, it felt like she could use a distraction. She licked her teeth in anticipation and ran her fingers lightly over the necklace she was likely about to replace.

But then she recognized the black head of wild hair, and her song died in her throat. No. It couldn't possibly be –

"My lady, the everlasting light of my life! I have come for you!" Lauren Jauregui the human pirate bellowed as she vigorously rowed her pitiful little wooden boat closer. Camila covered her face with a palm.

Lauren babbled on and on as Camila dived into the water next to her boat to save her the climb – not out of kindness or any such nonsense, but merely because she had no patience for all that. Then Camila spent the next several minutes maneuvering around Lauren's boat and splashing water in her face, trying to thwart Lauren's persistent attempts at serenading her.

Finally, her hair and torso already completely soaked, Lauren seemed to recover from her musically induced delirium.

"Aw, shit, it happened again!" she cried, getting up from her position bent on one knee and vigorously shaking her head, sending tiny drops of water flying. "I was going to be so dashing, Camila," she said mournfully. "So dashing, you wouldn't have believed how dashing I would've been."

"Yes, I'm sure," Camila said.

"I don't think you should be so sarcastic, as a creature of legend," Lauren told her, sighing.

"I don't think you should be so susceptible to it, as a supposed menace of the sea."

Lauren shrugged. "Well, at least I kept my shirt on this time. Never mind. Come on," she said, offering Camila her hand and smiling crookedly, half self-assured, half hopeful. "It's time you ditched this rock."

"I can't leave," Camila told her, frowning. "The sea is my home."

Lauren looked at her as if surprised. "Don't be ridiculous! We're not leaving the sea," she said. "I'm a pirate, you know. The sea's my home too."

"We're not leaving? So where are we going?"

"We," said Lauren, and twirled her hand in an impressively ungraceful motion, "are going on a treasure hunt."

There was a pause. Lauren looked at her expectantly, waiting for an awed gasp, perhaps. "Oh," Camila said finally. "How... mundane."

Lauren deflated, dropping her hand and pulling a face. "I spent so much time looking for you, you know. So much time that I could have spent eating smoked eels in some tavern. And I even found us a probably-legitimate treasure map!" She pulled a creased piece of piece out of her waistcoat and flapped it around. "I just thought we could, you know, spend some time together. Plunder a little."