bones

“look, it’s sinking. corpses are floating on planks and prisoners are swimming towards the shore after fleeing the ship. its time to abandon our post.” the girls voice was stern, her hand reached out to point people that posed as tiny ants in the distance as the waves were heavy and kept crashing into them.

“which ship, exactly?” he replied back at her, lips lopsided and bring up the spyglass telescope towards his dominant orb, trying to make sense of what she was speaking of.

“one that was banished by the world, see how its drifting further and further away from us and the shore?”

“aye.”

“it’s both a prison and a sanitarium. are any of your friends aboard there? if so…” she cut herself off before turning to look at him, brows furrowed against one another before heaving out a hefty sigh. eyes closed and bringing a hand to her chest. “the report might be a bit offensive.”

“dregs of society…” she started off with. “human scum.” her voice choked out soon after. “terms used to describe its ‘eccentric passengers.’” putting the telescope down to look at her. a frown dawning on his face before quickly shifting back towards a poker face, needing to keep himself in check but the toll of her words felt like he was getting stabbed over and over again.

sure, his pals lacked some sort of discipline and some independence, but who didn’t at this time. with the current state of the world… his shoulders drooped in on itself when he began to bob his head in understanding.

they all had good hearts, their intentions were true, if not understood wrongly. they’ve had heavy pain they had to endure, for christs sake. a click of his tongue came out before balling his hands into fists before punching the railing in front of him.

would they make it to tierra del fuego? it just seems so… improbable.

move waves crash, the winds were too strong. despite being bundled up in multitudes of articles of clothing they wore it was sub-zero.

“do they think of me, suyun?” speaking out softly, voice trying not to break as he was unsure if it was even audible. did the tides drown him out or was she able to make do with what he said? what crew did he have left? everyone got banished. he tried to save them all. they all made sacrifices but it wasn’t enough. wasn’t enough to save them all except for suyun.

no response, of course.

silence.

what was she going to say, exactly? what was she to do to help remedy the situation. he turned around, words faltering and his half-hearted attempt at a smile slipped form his lips at an instant. guess i should have seen this coming, huh? he thought to himself. shaking his head and letting out a breathy, hollow chuckle.

he shot a quick glance towards suyun’s way, immediately backtracking when he made eye contact with her. his stomach lurches as he realizes the source of her difficulties. swallowing back his own grief at the thought- at the idea of losing another crewmate, no… another friend. he’s not ready to let go. despite everything, he doesn’t want to.

and so, slowly, carefully. she extended his hand his way. holding his breath as the girl gave him a wary look. the whole world seemed to hold its breath for a moment, and her alongside it. fingers curling together, comfortably. his eyes now fixed onto hers, widening at the actions she was doing. leering down to fix on their interlocked hands as if he couldn’t quite believe it. he was quick to abolish whatever fears that just built up.

“even everything that happened, cap’n…” her voice spoke softly, leaning in closer to him. “i’m still here for you, oppa. yer’ still my friend. the first one i’ve ever had, really. nothin’s gonna change that. unless, unless - that’s not…?” she trailed off. searching his face for any signs of hesitation. shes never doubted this before, not for a second. but they’d also never had something like this. something so tragic happen to the two of them after all the sea’s they’ve crossed together. never so harsh. never so… personal.

“suyun,” he breathed. “you’re not?” his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. finger’s tightening around the smaller girl’s. “i always thought you wanted out. out of the crew, out of piracy. back to bein’ a landgrubber and being on ‘em ports with the navy.”

“oppa, listen to me,” he says firmly, squeezing his friend’s hand tightly and forcing him to look into his eyes. “my hesitation back then? me considerin’ their offer? that was a mistake. it seemed so easy- so temptin’ to just go back to how things used to be. but i could never do that. not to you, or the crew. i would never betray you, not for anythin’. i swear it to you on my life.”

“tha- that’s good,” breathing out, “fuck, suyun… i-” breath hitches, his free hand pulling upwards to scrub at his eyes with his sleeve. his words dwindled into sniffles, the air between them growing quiet. only the sounds of the waters cascading in on them was heard. the noise kept dragging on for a while, the pair of them reeling in the whiplash of emotions that came about. clinging onto one another amidst the harsh waters even if the world came crashing down around them.

she moved without thinking, her hands on his shoulders before he has a moment to consider the potential consequences. fingers curling around his cheek and tilting his face to look down at her. forcing his gaze off and away from the floor. there’s a heartbeat after she realized what she did. his eyes widening and shoulders tensing. but she didn’t pull away, nor did he. standing eerily still for the moment, neither daring to even breath before he finally leaned into the careful touch.

there’s a glassy shine in his eyes, pale blue a dull grey in the wake of his guilt. his cheeks are flushed pink with shame, and he can’t seem to meet suyun’s gaze- not fully. there’s a world of weight upon his shoulders, his whole body trembling as though ready to crumble.

“oppa, listen to me.” she spoke quietly. “what happened wasn’t yer’ fault. you couldn’t have known what was gonna happen when you took it.”

“suyun'…” his hands raised shakily to return her touch, hands on her hips and trailing upwards towards her face. cupping it with his own large palms.

“i’ll follow you to the ends of the earth, no matter what.” she swore at him. like a church girl going to give her weekly sunday renewals.

he laughed. strained grimace splinters into a watery smile, his whole body surging to wrap her in his arms. a firm embrace after what they needed after so long. his chest hitching with a sound halfway between a chuckle and a hiccupping sob, lifting her up as his arms curled carefully. lifting her up as a surge of protectiveness flares in his chest.