The Ties That Bind

Walking in front of Sinbad as they made their way to the tiller, Maeve suddenly staggered a little.

Swiftly, Sinbad grabbed her by the arm to stabilize her. "Easy, easy. You alright?" He asked, concern shining evidently in his sea-blue eyes.

Maeve blinked back a few times to shake off the dizziness. "Yeah, just…a little bit sore that's all." Her whole body was sore but at the moment, it was mostly the back of her head that was throbbing.

"Why don't you go down and rest. Call it a day," Sinbad offered, not really asking for her opinion on the matter but more like intently suggesting her to do so.

"No, I'm fine," Maeve replied, shrugging him off. She kept on walking, rubbing the back of her head carefully and hiding a wince.

But Sinbad saw it right away and insisted. "Maeve, you've been chained and gagged and dragged across the forest all day, it's-"

"Yeah, thanks to you..." Maeve muttered under her breath.

Sinbad froze on the spot with his jaw dropped, staring back at her in utter disbelief. "Are you still blaming this on me?"

Maeve let her hands fall down innocently. "What? Is it my fault if you have lousy timing?"

"Unbelievable…" Sinbad shook his head. His shoulders sank down in bewilderment as he looked at her, his annoyance growing by the minute. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to show some gratitude once in a while!"

"Forgive me if almost getting sacrificed to some hideous oversized gnome is not stirring my gratitude!" Maeve snapped back, irritated.

A few sailors close by gazed at them curiously, with that idiotic grin they always wore when they heard the couple bicker.

"I-" Sinbad started but caught himself. "We saved you, didn't we?" He stared at her with an astounded expression.

"Just barely!" Maeve exclaimed, growing more and more upset by the minute as well.

"But we did!" Sinbad firmly insisted. He was getting angry now. Whereas in other situations he would have restrained himself, this time he chose to let it all out. Everything he had been cumulating all day suddenly came blurting forward. "For crying out loud, woman! Is a simple "thank you" so much to ask for? No, you know what? Don't answer that. Seeing as Eyolf, who so gallantly stood up to protect you every step of the way while you were his prisoner, is the official grand hero in all of this, it's obvious I'm not going to get any credit for running around through perilous brambles all day, going crazy because I had no idea whether you were still alive or if you were…being shred to pieces by some hideous oversized gnome!" Sinbad shot an angry dark glare in the other sailors' direction. "What are you looking at?"

Immediately, Maeve flinched. Grabbing him by the arm tightly she lead him down below deck. When the door was closed behind them and when they were out of sight, she hissed at him angrily. "Have you lost your mind? That was not the time or place for a jealousy fit!"

But Sinbad didn't care. He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. Sighing, he tried to get a grip on himself, letting his outburst of anger simmer down. "Look…If you want to consider Eyolf as your grand savior, fine, really, I don't care." He stepped away from her and walked over to the table to put some space between them before continuing, meeting her eyes. "But don't come out on me as if I didn't give a damn about your safety." He paused, his features suddenly growing serious. "Because I do."

Maeve looked at him, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest as she began to realize where this was now going. When she finally found her voice, she tried to sooth him down, letting her own frustration dissipate. "I know."

"Oh, really?" Sinbad instantly replied, and the gravity on his features caught Maeve by surprise. "Do you have any idea how scared I've been today?" He emphasized every word he said, meaning every single one of them and Maeve could see it on his face, in his eyes. "I was going mad, Maeve. With this voice inside my head that kept repeating I might never see you again…That I might be too late-"

"Stop." Maeve's voice caught in her throat. She stared at him, knowing he was dead serious but refusing to let him go on, because he was heading towards tricky topics that they usually avoided, and Maeve didn't want to go there. Not now.

Sensing he was about to cross a line he shouldn't be crossing, Sinbad silently obliged to her request, a heavy silence settling in between them. He lowered his eyes. He didn't know whether to be mad at her for interrupting him, or whether to be glad since he knew he was about to wander on a dangerous edge.

After a moment, he glanced up at her, deciding to drop the whole subject and relieve some of the tension in the room. "Next time you're being abducted, just…scream louder will you?"

Maeve's chest instantly unknotted at his words, the air properly filling her lungs again. She smiled at him, a thin-lipped smile that was genuine and thankful, but not without a little playfulness of her own. "What makes you think I screamed?"

Sinbad returned her smile, glad to see she was agreeing to settle back to a lighter mood. He walked back towards her to head back on deck. "Go to bed," he ordered her with his authoritative captain voice.

But Maeve grabbed him by the arm again. She didn't want their argument to end this way even if they had managed to find a way out of their silent issues. Their eyes locked. She leaned on him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

It caught Sinbad totally by surprise, his heart jolting, nearly jumping out of his chest.

For a moment her scent was the only thing he could smell, with her lips warm and light as they gently pressed against his cheek, at a spot very close to the corner of his mouth. She lingered there for a split of second, but just long enough to bust the limit of time permitted for a simple peck on the cheek. And during that endless little fraction of second, Sinbad was just about to explode, just about to turn his head to capture her lips with his own and pull her against him.

But then Maeve broke away. And it was too late. She locked eyes with him again, flushed, knowing pretty well how dangerous what she had just done truly was. "Thank you," she said, finally giving him all the credit he deserved for coming to her rescue that day.

Sinbad swallowed hard, looking into her dark brown irises, having trouble finding his voice. "You're welcome."

Letting go of his arm, quietly, Maeve disappeared around the corner and into the alley where her cabin was. Sinbad's eyes lingered on her retreating form.

When he heard the latch of her door closing, he let out a breath, taking a moment to gather his composure and his wits before heading back out on deck.