Cavia Lover – don't worry the pairings will become clearer soon if you don't know what they are already.
Ckhushrenada – lol. Thanx. I did have those actually for breaks between one character to another but I hadn't realized was getting rid of them when I'm posting. I'll fix that as soon as possible.
Dragonlady222 – That's very true. We gotta love our tough guys who try much too hard.
B R E A K
Early the next morning, while it was still dark out and the tiniest of light was starting to break on the horizon, retching noises were heard throughout the deck. Yami, being on guard for any trespassers that night or possible traitors (though he doubted anyone would try knowing who the three in charge were) started checking around swiftly. He peaked around the masts and inside barrels, underneath cannons and over the side of the ship. Yami was checking the posterior of the ship lastly and he found little Yugi sprawled over the rim of the ship giving up the contents of his stomach to the sea, sweat matting down hair around his face and cheeks tinted green.
Without really paying attention to what he was doing, Yami hurried over the spiky-haired boy and started rubbing in between his shoulder blades. "Are you feeling better now," he questioned when the heaving began to slow.
"I'm just not used to the constant swaying," Yugi croaked out, dropping in pure exhaustion to the ground and leaning his head back against the wall. His arms were wrapped around his stomach loosely and his breath came in large pants.
Nodding, Yami continued to rub the sick boy's back as he once again heaved into the water. After what seemed like hours and it finally seemed the boy was going to get a break, the first mate led Yugi to his own quarters and laid him on his bed. Then Yami went over to his small, crowded desk and pulled out a small canteen from one of his few drawers, removing the cork as he went to Yugi's side once more.
"Drink this slowly," he ordered, "I keep it for whenever my throat gets dry." He helped Yugi up so he could sip from the opening, pulling it away whenever the sick teen would start pressing for more as his body desperately tried to put nutrition back into it.
When Yugi was finally done he moaned sickly and lie back down. "I feel like I've been up all night," he groaned tiredly.
"Get some sleep then, rookie," Yami told him, soothing his hair back. He left but returned quickly with an empty barrel. "Use this if you're going to be sick again. I have to finish off the rest of the night but I'll be back when the sun's all the way up." The first mate headed towards the door."
Yugi nodded and watched the pirate leave. As he clicked open the door he smiled and whispered just loud enough that Yami was a very kind pirate before he drifted off to sleep.
Freezing mid-step, Yami turned swiftly on his heel with crimson eyes narrowed. He couldn't tear his eyes away and the image was burned in his mind now with the same words repeating. Eyes hardening, he stomped away in his slightly fury to return to his duties, not caring that the door slammed shut. I'm kind?? I'm kind!? I'm kind!! He growled between his teeth as he brought his fists down harshly against the railing of the ship. During the short hour it took for the sun to rise and his night duties to be finished Yami had only become further and further drowned in his rage. Me, the most feared blood-for-eyes pirate!! I am NOT kind!! How dare he think otherwise? That rookie is much too comfortable on a ship made only for the outlaws and rogues of the sea!
B R E A K
Yugi awoke a few hours later when the morning sun started to glint through the open window and glare into his sleepy eyes. He rolled over with a tired moan and a chuckle reached his ears.
"Really, Yugi, you were never a morning person," the familiar, accented voice said from the other end of the room.
Amethyst eyes shot open and the teen sat up quickly, nearly tumbling over the edge of the bed. "Ryou?" The albino teen was sitting in one of the chairs by the open window with a book on his lap and his legs crossed.
"Good morning, sleepy-head. Yami had some things to do so he asked me," rather grudgingly and rude, "to check on you and bring you something to eat. He briefly told me about last night. You should try eating something and rest a little longer before walking around." The teen stood, stretching and letting a few things pop, and gestured to the tray on Yami's desk. He walked out of the room with a small smile to Yugi before he closed the door.
Yugi eyed the foor wearily before sighing and deciding there wasn't much else he could do except eat it. Glaring certainly wasn't going to do anything except make a headache form. He stood on shaky legs and went to the desk, sitting down gratefully on the wooden chair. He picked measly at his food with a wrinkled nose and tried to trick himself into putting some of it inside his mouth.
"You should eat something, you know that, right," a cocky voice noted from the doorway.
The teen in the chair squeaked in surprise and fell out of the chair, landing on his back and staring up into violet eyes.
"Otherwise," he continued, "You won't survive very long out here and then even I would be too afraid to think about what the pirates would do to somebody as useless as you."
"That not a very nice thing to say," Yugi whined up at Malik. "Now help me up." He held out his hand.
Malik raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Why in the seven seas would I help you? You got down there all by yourself and you're not on your deathbed, so help yourself up."
"If you hadn't surprised me I wouldn't be down here in the first place." Yami's so much nicer than you! You're more like a pirate than him!
Rolling his eyes, Malik helped the teen up. "Don't get me wrong, kid, I don't like you and I'm only on this ship to keep from marrying the bitch queen from hell."
"You're a very mean person, you know?" Yugi scowled up at the older teen, brushing off his pants.
"Thank you," Malik smirked. "At least I have something useful to offer the crew unlike somebody else I know."
Pouting, Yugi crossed his arms and turned away, feeling tears press against his eyes. "Just go away."
"Aw but I actually came to bug you for a reason, kid."
"I'm not a kid," Yugi shouted angrily, glaring over his shoulder.
"Whatever you say. Look, the captain wants you down in the galley. He's eating right now and he wants to talk now."
Standing, Yugi stormed past the other teen and outside into the salty air, ignoring the meal Ryou had brought him altogether. He immediately regretted not eating something though when his stomach jumped at the air and the heavy weight at feeling empty.
He collapsed to his knees and covered his face with his hands, not caring if the other pirates saw him or made fun of him for it. He felt miserable and sick and he wished he could just lean over the ship and empty what else could possibly been left to give up inside him.
"Rookie, you're just trying to get attention now." Somebody huffed as they lifted him from under his arms and hauled him to his feet, letting him lean against him. Yugi looked up and smiled lightly at Yami, whispering a weak thanks.
Yami rolled his eyes and shoved a half-eaten roll into Yugi's hands with a glare that clearly said 'eat it or I'll leave you here to be sick, be gone the consequences.'
The younger teen took it and snatched small bites, feeling a little better as the bread settled.
"That's better. Now, let's go see the captain. I doubt you'd be able to get there in your condition," Yami told him as he started to half-drag him towards the galley below deck.
B R E A K
"Ah, Yami, Yugi. Good of you to join us at last." Bakura waved them over to the two empty seats beside him and Marik.
Yugi looked up and saw a large assortment of different fish piles on the table and nearly felt the small half of the roll he'd eaten start coming up his throat, but he forced it back and made himself look up at the captain and his other first mate rather than at the food.
Bakura smirked at Yugi and gestured for him and Yami to sit down once more. "Well, Yugi, it seems you don't exactly have the stomach to be on a sailing ship. You do realize it wouldn't be fitting to have you getting sick every night and then be weak the whole next day; I won't stand for any of my crew members being nothing more than a sickly bug during the whole journey."
Violet eyes widened as Yugi stared at the captain from his seat. "I just need to get used to it. I've never been on a ship before, please don't throw me off," he begged desperately, causing the whole of the crew that was in the galley eating to stop and stare with curious eyes.
Bakura chuckled and stood, motioning for Yugi to follow him. Yami was about to help out of pure reflex, but Yugi pushed him away and stood himself, leaning against the table to keep upright before following after the captain.
Yami turned back to Marik and asked, almost bored, "What do you suppose Bakura will do?"
"I don't know. Maybe if the boy's lucky he'll get to stay on just until we reach another port or island and then dump him off. He really is a liability to us. There's no one in the crow's nest right now," he sighed and finished off the rest of his meal before standing to leave.
"He called me 'kind' last night," Yami whispered so only Marik could hear. "Something like the nicest pirate…something like that."
A large smile broke over Marik's face before he burst into maniacal laughter. "You? Kind? That's impossible!" His words could only be heard so well over his fits of mirth, but the meaning was clear enough.
At least Marik doesn't think I've changed… "All because I gave up my bed..."
"That's the first time you've done that since you let that wench join us that one time," Marik mused, mostly to himself. "You haven't let anybody else but the captain or I in your room since she betrayed you for that one scawny fellow back at Port Dristal years ago. Why the sudden change of heart?"
"I don't know," Yami growled, hating the memory of what happened to his only love. "I won't fall for him," he swore to himself. "Yugi is nothing compared to her."
"Sure you won't, Yami, just like I'll start dancing around in a bodice singing the perfect long song for an old woman on her deathbed whose going to meet your husband who died years before."
Yami raised an eyebrow at Marik and scowled. "Where in the seven seas did you come up with that?"
Shrugging, the other first mate grinned. "Didn't feel like making you wait for something more interesting to come along."
"That's not surprising. The ting that surprises me is that you don't have spiders coming out your ears from those cobwebs that must be in planted in your head from lack of use."
"You're just jealous because I come up with better plans than you using my completely more gorgeous head than you do with your own ugly and spiky despicable one."
"Keep wishing that, Marik. I'll think your go alone with be enough to sink the Sennen someday."
B R E A K
Ryou looked up from where he was scrubbing the deck to rest his arm a bit. The job itself wasn't as bad as he first thought it would be, but it was still hard work. He looked over curiously when he saw Captain Bakura and Yugi walk across the deck and into the captain's quarters. He wondered briefly if something was going to happen to Yugi because he got sick. It wasn't like he was used to being on ships like he was and, possibly, Malik too.
I hope not. I wouldn't be able to stand it if they did something awful to Yugi just because he has a sensitive stomach. It took me a whie to get used to the rocking of waves years ago. Ryou clenched his eyes shut and clasped his hands together almost painfully tight, ignoring the soap running down his arms. Please don't let anything bad happen to him. Please let hi m get a chance to get used to the ship before the captain makes a decision He prayed desperately to anybody that was listening.
B R E A K
Bakura shut his doors behind him and turned back to Yugi, who was eyeing him fearfully. "You needn't be afraid you know. Yami told me what you said to him last about not being used to the rocking. I'm going to give you this one chance to redeem yourself for your friend's sake."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"I see the way you look at him when you think no one's looking. It may have only been a day since I've known you, but I do watch everyone very closely when they're on my ship. I can tell just by the way you stare at him that you have feelings for him, but you don't know if he feels the same for you."
Wearily, Yugi nodded, embarrassed that he was caught staring and disheartened at hearing the truth to his ears.
"If there's one thing I don't like messing with it's with my crew's personal feelings. As long as you work on this ship you are part of the crew whether you admit yourself to be a pirate or not. If somebody is in love I'll let them be together without worry. As long as you love Ryou I won't shove you off this ship unfairly, but I'll warn you now that my patience isn't as thick as I'm making it seem. I'll give you nothing more than a week to get over your seasickness before I throw you off at the next seen bit of land. Understood?"
"Yes, sir. Of course?"
"Good. I believe you were given a job at the lookout post. What are you waiting for?"
Yugi just up and scampered out of the room and over to the his ladder quickly, his sickness gone for the time being.
B R E A K
Seems that munchkin got a break then Malik smirked. Oh well, not like it matters to me. I just need to do my duties and I won't have to worry about going back to Miss Tea Talk-A-Lot. He turned and headed back into the galley to help Mako finish up with lunch, a tightness in his chest easing up.