When Yao woke the next morning, he found that he was alone in the room. Arthur was nowhere to be seen. There was a blanket covering his body, and when Yao lifted the blanket, he was dismayed to find that he was indeed naked. So the previous night wasn't a dream. It did happen. Yao had lost his virginity to that bastard of a pirate. He wiggled his hips, and realised that his butt hurt. He could even feel the powdery residue of some sort of dried up liquid in his ass.
Glumly, Yao got out of bed to look for his clothes on the floor. However, he heard a clinking sound coming from his leg. Yao glanced at his leg, and to his horror, found a cuff around his leg, chaining him to the foot of the large bed.
Nonetheless, Yao observed that the chain was rather long, and could probably reach the bathroom for him to do his business.
Since the chain prevented Yao from wearing any pants, and since the Chinese top he had been wearing did little to conceal his nether regions, Yao decided to dig into Arthur's wardrobe. Maybe the Captain had something Yao could wear.
Upon opening Arthur's wardrobe, Yao managed to find a button-down shirt that almost reached his knees. Arthur was much larger in size than Yao was, so a shirt that would fit Arthur would be a little too big for Yao. But Yao was not complaining – at least the shirt covered his more intimate regions.
Then, Yao tested the length of the chain. He made his way into the bathroom, and found that he was right – the chain reached the bathroom in order for him to do his business. He could even take a shower if he wanted.
Speaking of a shower, it was something Yao really craved for right now. After last night's… activities, he felt rather filthy. The feeling of Arthur's dried cum in his asshole was not comfortable at all. Yao shuddered in mild disgust.
So Yao made his way into the bathroom and took a shower. He cleaned every orifice and scrubbed his skin until it was raw. But Yao felt no cleaner than before he entered the shower. He couldn't stop his mind from replaying the events from the previous night – how good the Captain was in bed, how fantastic he made Yao feel… but Yao still felt dirty.
When Yao was fully dressed (well, as fully dressed as he could be), he sat on Arthur's bed, wondering what he could do for the rest of the day. Any plans for escape would probably lead to failure, unless he wanted to plunge to his death at the bottom of the ocean – Yao could feel the ship already sailing, and by the sounds coming from outside, they were most likely far away from any land. Besides, he had to figure out to dislodge himself from the bed, and the chain was making it rather difficult.
Then, there was a knock on the door.
Yao glanced up immediately. He was a prisoner! Why would anyone be so polite as to knock the door before entering? Yao cleared his throat. "Come in!" he called.
A stoic-looking blonde young man opened the door. He was carrying a tray with what looked like Yao's breakfast. "The Captain's ordered your breakfast to be brought to you," he announced.
"Oh," Yao perked up. Come to think of it, he was quite hungry – he hadn't had dinner the previous night; he thought he would eat after he did the laundry. But of course, he never finished washing the clothes… "Thanks, aru." Yao stood up and walked over to the other man to take the tray from him.
As the man turned around to leave, Yao noticed a label attached to his jacket. "Hey…" Yao called out. "Wait a minute."
The blonde-haired man turned around. "Yes?"
Yao smiled at the man. "Are you and Mathias… like, an item, aru?"
The young man immediately blushed. "How do you know?!" he shrieked. Yao could tell that he was not used to showing such panicked expressions.
Yao hid a grin behind his palm. "It says so on the label right there – 'Property of Mathias Køhler'." He pointed at the label attached to the man's jacket.
"What?!" exclaimed the man. "Where is it?! I am going to kill him!"
Yao was still smiling. It looked like the man who had kidnapped him the previous night was sort of a prankster. "Come, I'll help you take it off, aru."
Grudgingly, the blonde-haired man moved closer to Yao so that Yao could take the label off him. When Yao had plucked the tag off him and handed it to him, he muttered, "Thanks." He then looked intently at Yao. "I'm Lukas Bondevik, by the way," he said.
"Yao Wang," Yao introduced himself. "It's nice to meet you, aru."
Lukas nodded.
"So… crewmates are allowed to be in relationships with one another?" Yao asked. He wasn't sure how a pirate community worked, but he was sure no sane captain would allow that.
Lukas shrugged. "As long as we don't shirk our duties, the Captain allows it. He says it's better that we're happy than being miserable and not performing our duties well."
"That's very open-minded of him, aru," commented Yao.
Lukas nodded. "The Captain is a pretty nice man," he informed Yao. "Strict sometimes, but fair. He treats his crew members and staff like family."
Yao frowned. That didn't sound like the man who had practically raped him the night before. "How so?"
Lukas looked thoughtful. "There was one time Mathias angered a noble of some country. We were stopping by to replenish supplies or something, and Mathias thought it would be a good idea to explore the surroundings."
Yao nodded understandingly. Apparently, Mathias liked to wander a bit farther from the ship – it was how Yao got kidnapped.
"So he came across this noble, and hurt her feelings. I don't know the details. So Mathias, that idiot, was clearly in the wrong. But the Captain went and placated the lady and even offered her a large sum of money as compensation. And when he returned, he didn't even punish Mathias!"
"Wow, that's… rather kind of him, aru," observed Yao.
Lukas looked at Yao. "That's why his crew is so loyal to him – you treat them well, and they'll treat you well in return."
"I guess," Yao shrugged. Well, it made sense. "It's been nice talking to you, aru," he told Lukas with a genuine smile.
Lukas nodded and looked at his pocket-watch. "Well, I have to replace the guy on look-out duty – it's the end of his shift, so I have to go now," he explained to Yao. "I'll catch up with you some other time?"
"Sounds great, aru," Yao replied.
As Lukas turned around and left, Yao could not help but stare longingly at his back. How he wished he were free to walk around the ship. Not that Yao wanted to walk around, but staying put in Arthur's quarters, chained to the bed was going to be so boring.
Yao headed towards the table where his breakfast was. He opened the lid covering the food and sniffed it. Well, it didn't smell too bad – he had expected worse coming from pirates who didn't know a thing about cooking. But then again, Yao supposed that Arthur, with his charm, had managed to hire a few cooks in the kitchen.
Yao sat down and began to dig into his breakfast.
That afternoon, a kind-looking maid entered Arthur's room to clean it. Yao had hastily gathered his clothes from the floor and placed them in a pile. Then he plopped himself morosely on Arthur's bed, bringing his knees to his chest and thought of the events of the previous day.
The maid raised an eyebrow when she saw the pile of clothes on the floor.
Yao immediately turned red. "I can clean that up," he explained. "It's just that…"
The maid smiled gently in return. "Let me. It's my job," she replied. She walked over to the pile that was Yao's clothes and picked them up, dumping them into a basket she brought with her. "I haven't seen you around before."
Yao sighed. "I've been here since last night, aru," he replied glumly.
"Really?" the maid's eyes widened. "They took you from a raid? That's impressive."
Yao frowned. "What's so impressive?" he enquired.
"Well, it's just that…" the maid seemed unsure of how to continue. "They usually don't leave anyone alive when they're raiding a place. You must be really special if they saw fit to keep you alive."
Yao's jaw dropped. "I… I… I…" he sputtered.
"So what are you doing in the Captain's quarters?" the maid asked friendlily. Her eyes then scanned Yao's body, and she noticed the chain around his leg and what he was dressed in. "Much less chained to the bed and wearing the Captain's shirt?" she wagged her eyebrows playfully.
"It's not what it looks like, aru!" Yao cried, blushing brightly. Oh, it was indeed what it looked like, but the maid didn't have to know that.
The maid giggled. "Oh, you're so cute," she told Yao. "You must be particularly special to the Captain if you're in his room," she observed. "But I do hope you are the one to make the Captain happy. I've never seen him happy – he has never smiled or laughed." She began sweeping the floor.
"Really?"
"Well, he smiles at his crew members when they've had a job well done, but I can tell that the smile never quite reaches his eyes," the maid told Yao.
"Oh." Yao now felt a little depressed.
The maid then moved to make the bed. Yao stepped away to give her space to do so. "He's like a son to me, you know," the maid said conversationally. "I'm not married, you see – so, I don't have any children of my own."
Yao didn't say anything to that, and let her continue.
"I knew his mother. I watched him grow up," the maid began. She had a contemplative expression on her face. "When I couldn't get a job after being fired from my last one, he offered me this job. And the pay's not too shabby for the amount of work I do here as well!" she finished with a wink.
Yao looked away. He didn't know what to think of Arthur now. Clearly, from the descriptions of his crew and staff, he was a decent man. But Yao felt that Arthur had a long way to go if he wanted to win Yao's heart especially since he basically raped Yao the night before. … But the way Arthur made him feel… Yao had a nagging feeling that he wanted to do it again. Yao's eyes widened when he realised what was on his mind, and he smacked his own cheek lightly with his hand.
The maid stepped out to retrieve her mop. She gestured for Yao to climb back onto the bed and proceeded to mop the room.
When the maid was done, she made to leave to work on the rest of the ship. "It was nice meeting you," she told Yao.
Yao smiled and nodded. He waved at her.
The maid waved back and shut the door.
Yao was left alone once again to his thoughts.
In the evening, just like how his breakfast and lunch were brought to him, Yao's dinner was brought to him. This time, however, there were two sets of the meal. Yao looked quizzically at Lukas.
"The Captain will be joining you for dinner," Lukas informed Yao. "So wait for him."
"Oh." Yao immediately turned white. He didn't know how to face Arthur.
Lukas placed the trays on the small table and went on his way.
Yao sat on the bed and waited for a few minutes for Arthur. When Arthur didn't show up, Yao made his way towards the window closest to the bed. He folded his arms and stared out at the sea. The sea was calm and there was nothing interesting to be seen, but Yao found that the scenery comforted him.
Shortly after, the door opened silently and Arthur entered, his cloak billowing behind him. Yao was so engrossed in the scenery that he failed to notice Arthur enter. It was not until Arthur had wrapped his arms around Yao's small waist that Yao was aware of Arthur's presence. Yao made a squeak of surprise.
Arthur sniffed Yao's hair. "Mmm, you smell good." His eyes then scanned Yao's back. "Is that my shirt?"
Yao quickly turned around and pulled himself away from Arthur's embrace. "I'm sorry, aru!" he cried, not daring to meet the captain's eyes. "I had nothing to wear and…"
"It's okay," Arthur smiled gently at Yao.
Yao looked closely and quickly into Arthur's eyes. He didn't dare stare into the captain's eyes for too long. Yao now vaguely understood what the maid said when she said that Arthur's smile never quite reaches his eyes.
"Are you hungry?" Arthur asked Yao softly.
Yao looked down. "A bit," he admitted.
"Come, sit and eat," Arthur beckoned Yao to the small table where their food had been laid on. "Just let me get a bit more comfortable." Arthur then took of his hat and his cloak and hung them on the coat rack.
Once Arthur was seated opposite Yao at the table, he looked at Yao, who had his head bowed. Arthur could see the marks he had made the previous night on Yao's neck, making him look entirely delectable. And what more, Yao was wearing Arthur's shirt, making it very hard for Arthur to not slam Yao against the wall and kiss the daylights out of him.
But Yao seemed to be shaking. Was he frightened of Arthur? Arthur reached out and took Yao's chin, forcing Yao to look at him. "Are you afraid of me?"
"I…" Yao's eyes were wide open and he was clearly trembling. "… Yes," he finally said in a small voice.
Arthur looked a bit hurt at Yao's admittance. "Well, you don't have to be, okay? I will take care of you for as long as I live."
Then why did you rape me last night? Yao wanted to ask. But he decided to remain silent lest he anger the captain.
Nevertheless, Yao nodded a bit hesitantly. But his shaking had not ceased. "Okay, aru," he said softly.
Arthur smiled, partly in joy and partly in relief.
