pirate king (pirate!au) ➵ ateez ✔️

little mermaid

You're back on the ship.

"So," Hongjoong eyes Jongho with an unamused look, "You got so drunk yesterday night you tried to ruin the eyes of everyone on board, went diving into the ocean butt naked and made Seonghwa save you, then drank a bottle of my finest gin and caused an explosion in town."

Jongho swallows quietly. Yunho had taken one look at the still dead drunk maknae and tossed him into the sea himself. The poor battlemaster had awoken splashing furiously in the sea and had ended up with a crab in his hair that refused to let go.

You would have pitied him, but after all the nonsense he'd put you through, the vindictive part of you whispers that he kind of deserved it.

Mingi groans as he mentally calculates the cost of damages he'll have to pay on behalf of the crew. "Oh my god... maybe we should just sell Jongho off to pay for it."

The younger battlemaster looks up in horror.

"Of course we should!" San calls from the door of the sickbay, shaking his head in disappointment, as if he himself didn't almost do the exact same thing yesterday night. Seonghwa nods in agreement from the galley stairs.

"We'll cut down a lot on our food expenses. Half the barrel of apples went missing again."

Jongho splutters in protest.

"But who would want to buy Jongho?" Wooyoung calls from the rigging on the main mast, swinging back and forth in the wind. Hongjoong scratches his chin thoughtfully as he ponders this, much to Jongho's shock. They're actually considering this?

"I was drunk!" Jongho tries to explain himself, but Yunho snorts derisively, shaking his head in mock disappointment with his arms crossed.

"Yes, everyone could see that."

"You were trying to make out with the main mast, you know." You remind Yunho quietly, and he pretends not to have heard you.

"But... because we love you so much, we'll keep you." Hongjoong finally sighs dramatically, and it's only then that Jongho realises everyone has been playing him the whole time, all hiding grins behind their hands. The maknae scowls.

He's been played.

"Hey, captain!" Jongho calls, and Hongjoong stops laughing to look at him curiously.

"Yes?"

"Remember that time you got drunk and-" He's cut off when your captain leaps at him, pinning him to the ground, one hand over his mouth to prevent him from talking anymore.

"Shut up!"

You shake your head, turning to San. At this point, you're not even surprised at what is happening. "I'll be in the sickbay if you need me."

Your master raises an eyebrow as he watches Yunho tackle both Jongho and Hongjoong in a flying hug, sending the two crashing to the ground and rolling across the deck. "Do you have something to do?"

"I'm going to kill you if you every speak a word about it again!" Hongjoong screeches and Jongho bites the hand over his mouth. "Yunho, get off me! Jongho! How dare you bite your captain-"

"I was thinking about reading the book I got in town." You hold up the book the shopkeeper had given you earlier. San glances at the cover even as Wooyoung swings down from the rigging onto the human pile with a crash.

"Ow! Poo Young, what the hell?"

"Shut up, Yun Hoe!"

"That's a kid's nursery story. I think I read that when I was five." The healer tells you in a completely deadpan tone and you hold the book protectively to you, eyeing San with puffed cheeks.