"Captain, are you really sure this is such a good idea?" asked the Pirate with a Scarf nervously.
"Of course, I am, Number Two," smiled the Pirate Captain reassuringly to his first mate, taking his hand into his own and giving it a little squeeze. "When have I ever steered you wrong?"
"When have you ever steered me wrong!?" repeated the younger pirate in disbelief, remembering all the times when indeed the Pirate Captain had led them wrong during their numerous adventures.
"Oh, come on, Number Two!" retorted the Captain in response. "These are our loving crew, after all. So they'll obviously more than likely be accepting of us when we tell them."
Ever since the Pirate Captain had confessed his love for the Pirate with a Scarf after it finally hitting him the reason why he had bought him that mug on St. Valentine's Day, the two had been keeping their relationship a secret from the rest of the crew. Although the Pirate Captain saw no real problem with them knowing about it, it was his faithful first mate who had insisted upon it, afraid to lose the affection of his fellow crew members. This was, after all, back in the day when homosexuality frowned upon, to say the least, by most people, despite it being a common occurrence amongst sailors, and very possibly pirates too. Though his friends were very dear to him, hence why he also felt a deep pang of guilt in his heart about keeping such a big secret from them, he also feared that they would also be against that sort of thing. He had no way to be sure, since it was something none of them had really discussed, certainly not in his presence anyway.
Though the Pirate Captain seemed so sure that even after they had all been told, he and his first mate would still have the respect of his beloved crew all the same, so he felt now it was time to do just that. No matter how much it worried him though, it seemed to the Pirate with a Scarf that the Pirate Captain had already made up his mind. Once the rather reckless captain's mind had been made up on a decision he had made, whether it be a good or bad one, it was impossible to shift, no matter how much pleading and persuading the younger pirate would do with him. So he saw no use in arguing anymore and decided just to go along with it.
"Oh well, if you absolutely insist," said the Pirate with a Scarf at last, not all that enthusiastically.
The Pirate Captain just looked at the worried expression on his beloved first mate's face for a few seconds before putting a comforting hand to his shoulder.
"Don't look so worried, Number Two," he said softly. "The lads all love us very much. We are more than just their captain and the ship's first mate. They look to us as if we were their mother and father. So I'm sure that once they are told about us, their opinions of us will remain just as high as ever. In fact, they may very well see us as their mother and father even more."
The younger pirate gave a small smile in response, somewhat comforted by his beloved captain's words. "Can you promise that they won't hate us for it?" he asked him once more.
The Captain just placed a loving hand to the younger man's cheek. "Of course they won't," he answered, his voice now lowered to almost a whisper. "Trust me."
Still unsure about the whole thing, the Pirate with a Scarf just stared into the elder pirate's dark oaken brown eyes, filled with deep love and affection, for a few moments before answering at last, "Yes, sir."
Smiling, the Pirate Captain leant forward and placed a soft kiss to the Pirate with a Scarf's lips. The younger pirate eagerly returned the kiss, feeling that it calmed him as it slowed down heart, which had previously been beating rapidly due to his anxiety. That was one of the many things the Pirate with a Scarf loved about kissing his captain. It always helped soothe his nerves and relaxed him. Though sadly, the kiss only lasted for a short while before the Captain pulled away.
"So, are you ready?" asked the Pirate Captain.
The Pirate with a Scarf nodded. "Yes. Yes, let's," he answered, wanting really now to just get it over and done with.
"All right," said the Pirate Captain, giving the first mate's hand another reassuring squeeze before turning the doorknob and opening it. Sure enough, there were the crew, once again fighting each other with cutlasses, pistols, planks of woods, live lobsters, anything they could find. Another one of their discussions that had gotten out of hand, they both supposed. The Pirate Captain just rolled his eyes and turned to look at his first mate, whose face now conveyed the same annoyance he was feeling at that moment. Reaching for his own pistol, he pulled it out and fired a warning shot into the air, stopping the brawl in front of them immediately. The pirates, now frozen in their positions, just stared in absolute fear at the pair, who were both now glaring sharply at them. Just for good measure, the Pirate Captain blew away the smoke that was now slithering from the opening of the pistol in his hand before putting back into his pocket.
"Sorry, Captain," said the Pirate who Likes Sunsets and Kittens, letting go of the Pirate with Gout's throat, letting him drop to the floor.
"Ow!" cried the Pirate with Gout when he hit the floor. Rubbing his backside, he then added. "We were just discussing, what's the most important thing in a relationship?"
"Oh, you were, were you?" asked the Pirate Captain, his voice now lowered to an intimidating level.
"I... suggested that it might be... um... sheer and utter devotion," said the Pirate who Likes Sunsets and Kittens.
"Whereas, I contend," added the Pirate with Gout, standing and adjusting his old, tattered hat. "It's complete understanding."
"And I thought it was it was the flowers and poems on St. Valentine's Day," the Albino Pirate chirped in as he stood next.
The Pirate Captain just looked at the Pirate with a Scarf, whose hand was still in his, their fingers interlocked. The younger pirate still had his own serious expression on his face as he looked up at him, the look in those gorgeous ocean blue eyes indicating just to give his on views on the matter so that they could get straight to the very reason why they came out. The Pirate Captain nodded and looked back at the crew.
"Well, you're all of you wrong," he said. "The most important thing in a relationship, isn't devotion, or understanding. It's not the flowers, or the romantic dinners, or the sappy poems. The most important thing in a relationship... is respect."
"Respect...?" asked the Pirate with Gout as he and all the other pirates looked at each other, confused expressions now crossing all their faces.
"Yes," answered the Pirate Captain. "When in a relationship, it is very important to make sure that your significant other really loves and respects you. It's important that they treat you like any other human being, and not just a tool for them to use for their own selfish purposes. You must always make sure that this person is utterly selfless and will treat you with all the love and respect you deserve. That is what makes a very happy relationship after all, you see?"
Just then, all the pirates looked about at each other, letting out exclamations of awe as they all nodded at each other, agreeing now that the Captain's answer was indeed the correct one. After a few seconds of watching this, the Pirate Captain cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.
"And speaking of relationships," he went on. "That is exactly what Number Two and I are here to discuss with you."
As the pirates all turned back to face the pair, the Pirate with a Scarf immediately froze, the fear starting to return to him. This was it. This was the moment which he had been dreading for so long. The moment when his friends would be told his and the Captain's big secret. As if the knowledge alone wasn't enough to rekindle his anxiety, he watched as the now eager pirates just stared at the two of them, waiting to hear what the Captain had to say. For a few moments, the dreadful silence, broken only by the lashing of the waves and the creaking of the ship's worn down rigging, just roared in his ears and his breathing became a little erratic, until the Pirate Captain began to speak again.
"The fact is, lads," he began. "The Pirate with a Scarf here and I are... we're, um..." he trailed off, obviously struggling to find the correct words to tell the crew his announcement in a way which he thought they would understand. The Pirate with a Scarf just rolled his eyes and shook his head as he let out a frustrated sigh. As dear as his Captain was to him, he was never really that great at discussing matters of the heart, especially to his own crew. So, obviously it was up to him to reveal to them what they had been hiding from them for a good few months now.
He stepped forward. "We're in a relationship, lads," he finished for the Captain, motioning to the both of them.
For a few moments, the pirates said nothing. They just stood were they were, each with their mouths gaping and one eyebrow raised, as they just stared at the pair.
Clearing his throat, the Pirate with a Scarf said, "We're lovers, lads."
Again, the pirates said nothing. They just scrunched their brows together as they looked between each other again.
"What exactly do you mean, 'lovers'?" asked the Albino Pirate.
"You know, lovers," the Pirate Captain answered this time. "Just like in those Jane Austen novels. Only much less dramatic, and this time, the romance is between two handsome young men instead of one handsome young man and a pretty young woman."
The Pirate with a Scarf just put his hand to his forehead at the Captain's rather corny choice of comparison.
"But... is such a thing even possible?" asked the Pirate with Gout.
The Pirate with a Scarf looked at his friend in surprise in response to such a question. Did he hear that right? Were his friends really that oblivious to such a fact?
"Well, apparently yes," the Pirate Captain answered. "I was unaware of such possibilities myself. That is before I discovered that the Pirate with a Scarf harboured such feelings for me, and indeed before I discovered that I harboured such feelings for him also."
"So... you two..." the Pirate who Likes Sunsets and Kittens began. "You... and the Pirate with a Scarf... are an couple then?"
"Yes, indeed we are!" chirped the Pirate Captain proudly, putting an arm around the Pirate with a Scarf and pulling him close.
Yet again, there was another short period of the pirates just staring at the pair with utter confusion, though with a little bit of surprise mixed in there as well. The only one whose face wasn't showing such emotions was the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate. "His" eyes had now sunk to the floor and a look of slight melancholy could be seen crossing "his" face, even underneath that huge red beard of "his".
"That's..." the Pirate with an Accordion began. "Why that's... that's..." He, like the rest of the crew, was just so speechless and simply could not seem to find the right words to describe how he was feeling about it. It was at this moment that Pirate with a Scarf really started to cringe. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth in absolute dread, expecting now to hear some sort of curse or a full handful of abuse thrown at them now from his beloved crew about how they thought that sort of thing wasn't right.
"Fantastic!" cried the Albino Pirate, clapping his hands excitedly as he jumped up and down on the spot.
Just then, the Pirate with a Scarf opened his eyes and was immediately met with the Albino Pirate staring right back at him and the Pirate Captain with a huge grin plastered across his milky white face. And if that wasn't surprising enough, he took a look around at the rest of the crew and saw that they were all smiling from ear to ear as well.
"What? Really?" he asked, still a bit unsure as to what he was hearing.
"Well, of course!" answered the Pirate with Gout happily. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"So... so then... you don't think it's wrong?" asked the first mate again.
"Not at all!" the Pirate with Gout told him reassuringly, waving his hand in a dismissive fashion. "In fact, if anything, I think it's quite cool, the idea of two people of the same gender falling in love with each other. Makes a change from the same old male-on-female romances we're always hearing about."
"We're all very happy for you two," smiled the Pirate who Likes Sunsets and Kittens. "Looking at the both of you now, I can't help but feel that you make an adorable couple."
At first, the Pirate with a Scarf just let out a huge sigh of relief.
Thank goodness for that, he thought. He actually felt a little bit silly now for fearing that his adoring friends would hate him and the Captain for telling them something he knew was seen as an abomination by most people who lived in that day in age.
"Why, thank you, Pirate who Likes Sunsets and Kittens," said the Pirate Captain, returning the burly pirate's smile. At that moment, the Pirate with a Scarf couldn't help but smile too. Not only now was he happy that nothing terrible would befall them both for coming out, but that they now had just received the crew's blessing, which warmed his heart to no end.
"Thank you, all of you," he said to them.
"You're welcome!" chirped the Albino Pirate again.
"No problem," said the Pirate with Gout, winking.
"Don't mention it," said the Pirate who Likes Sunset and Kittens.
If the Pirate with a Hook for a Hand still had both his hands, he would've given the pair a two thumbs up. Though sadly, he didn't so he could only give them a one thumb up as he grinned happily at them. The Pirate with an Accordion expressed his approval by, of course, starting to play a sweet, romantic tune on his beloved instrument.
The smile remained in the Pirate with a Scarf's face until his eyes fell upon the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate. Then his heart sank a little when he saw that although "he" was also now smiling at them, there was still a hint of sadness in "his" eyes. Even before the Pirate with a Scarf realised his own feelings for the Captain, secretly, he was pretty much the only one out of them all that knew that "he" was actually a "she" wearing a false beard and that she had had a crush on him as well. He hoped then that she would soon comes to terms with it all, because it always pained him to see his fellow crew members unhappy.
"Now, if you'll excuse us," the Pirate Captain began, tightening his grip around his beloved first mate. "Number Two and I have some very important business to discuss. We shall meet you down in the dining cabin later for dinner." As he said this, he and the Pirate with a Scarf turned and headed back towards the door to his cabin.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" the whole crew answered at once.
The two lovers went into the cabin and closed the door behind them. The Pirate Captain turned to face the Pirate with a Scarf and grinned down at him.
"See? I told you it would be all right, didn't I, Number Two?" he told him, patting him affectionately on the back.
The Pirate with a Scarf chuckled. "Yes, Captain, you certainly did?" he smiled back at him. "I can't believe I was foolish enough to worry about such a ludicrous thing like that."
The Pirate Captain just laughed heartily. "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about it now, Number Two," he reassured him. "I'm sure everyone has their moments when they worry about something which turns out to be really nothing at all."
"I suppose you're right, Captain," the younger pirate replied. It was at this moment that he finally felt a peace. Since he first discovered about his feelings for the elder pirate, he had felt completely insecure and kept them from the whole world. He dared not to breathe a single word about it to anyone, the chances of finding a single person understanding enough to accept him for who he was having been very remote. Even after the Captain himself told him he had worked him out and then confessed his own love for him that he still worried about what would happen to them should they be found out. But now that their secret was out, and that his closest friends had accepted them, all the worry that had been weighing him down all these months was finally lifted from his shoulders and he could relax again. Looking back on it now, getting it out pretty much felt like a welcome release.
Seeing the relieved expression on the younger man's face, the Pirate Captain leaned into him and kissed him passionately on the lips. The Pirate with a Scarf immediately returned the kiss as he wrapped his arms around the Captain's neck. The elder pirate then wrapped his own around his lover's waist, pulling him into a loving embrace as he deepened their kiss. When the two felt themselves begin to run low on air, they reluctant pulled away and just stared lovingly into each other's eyes.
The Pirate Captain placed a calloused hand to the Pirate with a Scarf's face, brushing the soft skin there with his thumb. "I love you, Number Two," he whispered softly to him.
The Pirate with a Scarf smiled sweetly him as he put his hand over his lover's. "I know," he whispered back. "I love you too."
His smile now evolving into a grin, the Captain leaned in for another kiss with his precious first mate.