Obsessed With the Thought of You

"Let's get fuckin' crackin' then, you sea-rat," I say and he smirks.

"I see I have a new nickname," he comments. "This way princess," he says and gestures for me to walk in front of him.

Minutes later, we reach a room and enter it. I assume it's the captain's lounge as it is right by the quarterdeck. Matt and George immediately sit down and I figure those are their usual seats. Jorel takes my elbow and leads me to a chair and pulls it out for me.

I warily take it and he pushes me under the table more. He smiles at me as he sits down at the head of the table, which is right next to where he sat me. He then looks at Jordan stood glaring at the other end of the table.

"Make yourself comfortable me hearty," he smirks at Jordan. "You're gonna have to get used to this room."

"Fuck you," Jordan spits and Matt and George smirk at each other.

"Thanks Cutthroat, I'm flattered, but despite many years at sea with a crew full of men, I've never been tempted to bend the ass-bandit way," Jorel jokes and Jordan rolls his eyes.

"When will we be at the next port?" I ask looking at Jorel.
"You wanna leave already princess?" He asks.

"Of course I bloody do," I growl. "When do we reach land?" I demand in a firm voice, wanting to assert my confidence from day one.

"Not for another few weeks, my love," he smiles as my anger grows at his courteousness. "We stocked up on that last trip to see us through for a good long while."

I let out a small girlish cry of despair as I let my head fall into my hands, leaning my elbows on the table.

"I wouldn't do that in front of the men poppet," Matt laughs and I look up at him with a glower. "They find it hard to keep their hands to themselves when Knucks is about. I'm sure they'll be the same with you, especially if you make noises like that."

"Yeah, can you pack a punch?" George smirks at me. "You might need to learn how to fight if you wanna avoid gettin' ra-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Jorel cuts him off. "Ignore them Cat. They're just tryin' to scare you. The men won't touch you."

"Yeah 'cause she's got me and Dylan to protect her," Jordan speaks up and Jorel narrows his eyes at him slightly.

"I'd never let any harm come to a lady," Jorel promises me. "Cutthroat, sit the fuck down," he says sitting up straighter and looking at him. "Let's get down to business before I lose my patience."

There's a knock at the door and we all look over to it as it opens to reveal a crewman. "Captain, the rest of Disgruntled's crew has come over. What would you like us to do now?"

"Set sail, let's get back on course. Find out who we've got and what they did on the Gallow's Tears. Use that information to assign them appropriate jobs," Jorel replies in a bored tone. "We'll sort everything out officially later."

"Very good sir," he nods. "Can I bring you anything or get the cooks to make anything up for you?"

"Are you hungry?" Jorel asks me before looking at Jordan. We don't reply and just give him a nasty look and he shakes his head with a grin. "Just something to drink please."

The man nods again and leaves. The room falls silent again and Jorel sits back in his chair putting his hands behind his head and stares at Jordan who is still standing there defiantly.

A few moments pass by before Jorel slams his hands back onto the wooden table and I gasp as my body jolts in shock. "I said 'sit the fuck down' Cutthroat!" He bellows and bares his teeth as he gives him a hard look.

Jordan puffs out his chest slightly as he yanks a chair out from under the table and sits down. "What were these details you wanted to sort out?" Jordan asks in a gruff voice.

"You new duties laddo," Jorel gives him a fake smile. "Now that you're under my order, I better tell you what you'll be doing."

"I serve under no one but Dylan," Jordan says and George grabs his shirt at the scruff of his neck and pulls him up.

He gets in his face, which causes him to pull Jordan to lean over the table slightly. "You'll respect your captain, Cutthroat," he snarls. "If you wanna last on this ship."

"If you wanna last on anything, you better unhand me this instant," Jordan says through gritted teeth.

"Stop!" I yell losing my temper and standing up. "All this tension: it's ridiculous. We don't like you and you don't like us. That's fine. But right now we're gonna have to put up with each other so let's just be fucking grown up about it."

"You've changed your tune poppet?" Matt smirks. "Two seconds ago you were being just as unwelcoming and this seadog," he says and points to Jordan.

I ignore Matt and look at George. "Unhand him, now, "I say lowly and he looks at me a little shocked at my forceful manner.

He does as he's told and sits back down. Jordan sits as well and straightens out his shirt before looking back up at me and I stay standing.

I look at Jorel to see him staring at me and I can't read his expression. "What duties do you want us to do?" I ask him bluntly and he opens his mouth before closing it.

He shakes his head lightly and looks at Jordan. "You can work alongside Skullcrack and Long Johnny Silver. Disgruntled's gonna be my new first-mate."

"Won't your boyfriend be upset about that?" Jordan asks sarcastically as he nods his head towards George.

"We spoke about this before. Disgruntled won't be happy going from captain to just another crewmember so we gotta meet him in the middle," George explains.

"Dylan won't be happy going from being a captain to anything!" Jordan replies. "You took away his home and title. Being a first-mate to you would be just another slap in the face."

"Well then he's just gonna have to get used to it," Jorel shrugs. "Ada is our ship's doctor," he then turns his attention to me. "I wouldn't have a lady do any work but she insisted and she's the only one with any real experience in that field."

"Good for her," I reply with attitude.

He sighs and blinks slowly, gathering his patience. "You can help her if you like but if you would rather be a lady of leisure, I'm fine with that."

"Splendid," I answer with sarcasm dripping from my voice before I head for the door.
"Where are you goin' poppet?" Matt calls.

"To get some air and don't fucking call me that," I hiss before slamming the door behind me.

"Ma'am," a crewman greets tipping his hat towards me as I walk past him.
"M'lady," another does the same as I make my way towards the perimeter of the ship.

"A fine day, wouldn’t you say fair lady?" One smiles at me as I lean onto the railings.
"Aye," I give him a weak smile. "A fine day indeed."

He nods and smiles before heading down the stairs taking him from the quarterdeck down to the top deck. I look over at the crew as they busy themselves with their duties and fixing the ship up after this morning’s nettle. I find it surprising that they all look like a nice bunch.

They remind me of our own crew. My heartstrings tug as I realise just how many men we lost today. I look at the sea and take a deep breath trying to hold back tears.

"Rest in peace brothers," I whisper as I blow a kiss towards the water. I blink a few times to stop the tears and shake my head. I ball my hands into fists and place them on top of the railing loosening them and spreading my fingers out again.