Yo Ho Sebastian

Chapter 3

Seb was sweating profusely, the sun was brutally hot on his skin. He finished tying a knot on the vast sales and flexed his sore hands, surveying the deck with squinted eyes.

Seb spotted Jim and he didn't know if he'd caught Jim looking at him, or Jim had caught Seb looking over his way, so he brushed it off and smiled at him.

Jim smirked and nodded back. He was always smirking, and he always had this strange out-landish look in his eyes. It was often what Seb noticed first. How his lips would curl slightly like it was second nature to him. Seb wouldn't be surprised if he smirked in his sleep. 

He didn't, though. Seb had seen what Jim looked like in his sleep because he rarely slept himself. He'd lie in his hammock, with his hands on his stomach and listen to the creaking and low grumbling of the ship's belly. He'd sway with the ship but he wouldn't sleep till the early hours of the morning- he felt the night was the best part of the day, as well as the most dangerous. He didn't want to be vulnerable. Ever. 

Jim, however, seemed to revel in his sleep. Judging from his intensive snoring, anyway. That and how, no matter how much his hammock swung, or the boat rocked, he stayed very still- not a hair on his head moved.

He did pull funny faces though, he'd wrinkle his nose, or raise an eyebrow and keep it there for hours. On the second night they'd been on the ship, Seb had seen him throw his arms in the air and pull them back down again, fists clenched. Seb had to clasp a hand over his mouth so he didn't wake anyone up with his laughter, he tried so hard not to laugh that his face turned a bright shade of red and his eyes stung.

This was not helped by the mumbling. Jim mumbled in his sleep, sometimes it wasn't anything at all, others, Seb would pick up words like "Billy", "Bastard", "Piss-Pot", and one the third night he heard something that sounded rather like his name,but he ignored that.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Jim shout,

"Well, how about you just fuck off then?"

Seb looked over quickly to see one of the crew members towering over Jim. He was huge, bulky and bald, a crude tattoo decorating above where his right eyebrow should be, he didn't have them though. Instead of eyebrows, he had angry burn scars across his scalp, reaching down over his forehead and all over one eye, leaving it a palid grey.

He saw him raise a fat fist, his other clenched in Jim's shirt, and he acted instantly. The blonde stormed over and slammed his fist into the man's jaw with a sickening crack. Seb hadn't noticed until now that the man was even taller than him. He ignored this and stood between Jim and the giant, who was about to throw Seb over the side of the ship and into the angry grey waves, it seemed, because he was seething, eyes quinted and breath heavy with a little blood trickling from his lip.

He was about to, that was, until Jim clasped Seb's hand and dragged him below deck. Seb followed, as shocked as the giant, who stood confused instead of acting out.

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Jim pushed Seb against the side of the ship by his shoulder, Seb didn't push him back- he didn't know why. There was silence apart from the hammocks swinging around them and the faint sound of water, until finally Jim spoke.

"Why the fuck did you do that?!"

Seb shook his head, confused.

"What? Stop him from slogging you around the face?"

Jim rolled his eyes and poked Seb in the chest,

"Of course! What else?? Idiot..."

The blonde narrowed his eyes at Jim, brushing the man's bony finger from his chest.

"I'm not an idiot."

Jim smirked, noticing how venomous Sebastian's voice could become. So that was his weak spot,Jim thought, he was insecure about his intelligence.

Jim ran his tounge over his teeth,

"You can't read, you don't get enough sleep and you get involved in fights with 7 foot ex-boxers when a man you barley know is at risk."

Jim casually brushed Seb's shoulders of imaginary dust before placing his hands on his hips.

"But no, I don't think you are an idiot."

Seb smiled, but then shook his head at Jim, "Wai-how..I. "

Jim smirked and put a finger on Seb's lips.

"Shush."

And he did. He still didn't know why. But Jim continued quickly, not giving Seb enough time to contemplate why he was taking orders from this tiny man with big brown eyes.

"Why did you do it?"

Jim took his finger off Seb's lips and Seb sniffed,

"He was going to hit you." He shrugged , as though it was simple and straightened his postyre, Jim rose a dark eyebrow.

"So?"

"I- I dunno."

Jim groaned. "Idiots, idiots everywhere. "

Seb scowled, "I thought you said I wasn't an idiot two minutes ago."

To this Jim laughed, a little giggle that echoed eerily in the cavernous cabin. His brown eyes lit up and Seb found himself staring, until Jim spoke again and he snapped out of it.

"You really do crave people's approval." Jim said, examining his nails and leaning against a beam behind him before looking up at Seb from under his lashes.

"No I don't." Seb grunted, looking at his feet

"So it's just mine then? Oh I find that quite endearing. "

"No" Seb grunted again.

"Don't speak in long sentences much then? Shame, I like the articulate kind." Jim drawled, holding his palm out in front of him and frowning at it for no apparent reason.

To that, Seb frowned.

"I can speak perfectly well if I want to."

Jim smirked, pityingly, and put a hand on Seb's shoulder, pouting.

"And you just proved my point, Sebby."

He sauntered off then, exuding confidence and leaving Seb conflicted.

"Sebby?" He said to himself in quiet.

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Jim closed his eyes and listened around him to the mumbling of the men surrounding him, getting into their hammocks, talking about pointless, boring stuff. Boring.

He heard Seb get into the hammock and smirked.

"You do that a lot. "

"Do what?" Jim said, placing his arms behind his head, not opening his eyes.

"Smirking. You're always smirking."

"Problem?" The small man rose an eyebrow and Seb chuckled.

"No, I like it. I mean, it's fine, the-there's no problem."

Jim sat up, smirking even more at Seb's blush.

"Cute."

"What?" Seb looked up from his shoes that he was pulling off , one already dropped haphazardly to the floor..

"Nothing." Jim swung his legs from the hammock, innocent brown eyes wide.

"Why was he gonna hit you today, Jim?" Seb said as he lay down in his hammock. Jim huffed, lying down and turning his back to Seb.

"He told me what to do."