Prince of Blood

16. Wrapping Up

Seonghwa slept for what felt like ten years, and after he awoke, Hongjoong was still gone in the land of dreams. The quartermaster took his time to look at his captain for a second, studying his long lashes that were brushing his cheeks in an innocent manner and the slight gap between his lips. A little trail of drool had formed at the corner of his mouth that was pressed against his pillow, and it had Seonghwa chuckling at him.

Tikki did that, too.

As Seonghwa blearily lifted his head to look around, he found the light of day falling against the heavy red curtains in front of the window. They blocked out most of it and created a red hue that bathed the room in a bloody glow. It was cosy, in Seonghwa's opinion, and he left them closed so that the light would not disturb Hongjoong.

He checked on his back before daring to rise. The wound hurt less, rather having dampened to the dull throb of pain whenever he moved. He suspected that Yunho might have stitched it up by now, and he already felt far better. Still, he tried to slow his every move as he searched for some clothes and put them on.

One pair of pants, a shirt, and boots later, he was grabbing a coat from the rack and stepped outside. He hurried to close the door as quickly and quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb Hongjoong in there.

He met only a few people on deck. They were still anchored in a bay, and their ship was hidden underneath a cliff and from the curious eyes of Yonghwan's fleet. Nobody had a reason to be outside if not for lookout duties, so Seonghwa was not surprised when he only saw Seungmin rolling some barrel out of the storage area, and Mingi standing leaned against the railing as he looked out over the sea.

The ocean rhythmically crashed against the cliffs, sending a spray of cold water everywhere. The noise was calming, and the soft surges that swayed their ship urged Seonghwa to sit down and bask in the atmosphere for a while.

He did not take a break, though. He just got out of bed, and his back would hate him for such activities.

So instead, he happily greeted Seungmin on his way, before he joined Mingi at the railing. The man threw him a tired smile, but it was not an exhausted and hopeless kind of tired. It was the sleeping for a long time and not having anything to worry about at the time kind of tired. Seonghwa figured that it had been a while since he had last seen such a genuine smile on anybody in the crew.

"'ad a jolly sleep? Ye been gone fer two days. We thought ye an' Joong might be busy, but ye was suspiciously quiet in there."

Seonghwa scoffed as he regarded the tall man with the wind in his hair. He had missed the salty breeze so much, and judging from Mingi's serene expression, he did, too. While Seonghwa could feel it suck all the life from his skin, he still breathed in as deeply as possible. His back gave an annoyed pinch.

"We actually been sleepin'. Joong still does."

Mingi nodded and grabbed onto the wooden handrail as he swung his body back and forth. He seemed alright, his leg and side were neatly wrapped with bandages, and none of his movements was too restricted. Judging from his carefree behaviour, Seonghwa suspected that he might heal soon.

"Savvy. We been checkin' up on ye from time to time, but Yunho said ye would need time. An' Bang said that Joong needed even more."

Seonghwa had not paid attention to his husband's injuries, but he was sure that they were taken care of to the best of Yongguk's and Yunho's ability. He trusted them.

"It be weird. We 'ave never been in this much trouble before, so it also feels as if we did somethin' big, but at the same time, I can barely imagine a life without them umbras. In a negative sense."