For anyone who's still here an eternity later, sorry for the delay. I promise to try and regularise updating but * shrugs * and lunaleechan, thank you! I love this pairing too :)

3 - Pirates Are Unpredictable

"-ake up, princess!" a voice hisses at him.

Ben groans himself awake, blinking away the exhaustion and trying to identify whoever's waking him up.

"Harry?" he questions as he sees the unmistakable blue eyes.

"Glad to see you've not gone blind," Harry smirks. "Now, are you awake?"

"Yes?"

Amused, Harry rolls his eyes. "Where are you?"

"Below deck. On the Isle of The Lost...?"

He's relieved to see Harry nod, satisfied. His own unexpected relief doesn't last long because Harry's expression turns from smug to inquisitive within the blink of a blue eye.

"I need to know what it means," Harry tells him, "I need to know what it means that we were glowing?"

Ben's eyes widen; he'd assumed the stories were common knowledge.

"You don't-?" Ben cuts himself off as someone opens the hatch that allows passage to where he's slumped.

Harry's alluring eyes widen as he too hears the sound and, before Ben can take another breath, the first mate has carefully dived behind boxes he hadn't noticed and adeptly hidden from view.

"Morning!" an obviously yawning voice calls.

Ben decides it's best not to reply, which seems like a good idea until there's a knife at his throat and he's trying not to move.

"Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"Sorry," Ben gasps, regretting his earlier decision, "good morning?"

"It's not very good for you, unfortunately." Uma steps into his view and kneels down once again, waving away the pirate with a knife to Ben's neck. "Are you ready to tell me now?"

"Tell you what?" Ben asks.

"How to become queen, idiot." Uma's lip crinkles in disgust as she looks over the young king but she's apparently waiting for an answer because she says nothing for the next minute.

"You'd have to, um..."

"Anyone seen my pills?" Harry bellows, wobbling on his feet and faking a yawn that Ben wouldn't know he was faking unless he'd just had a conversation with him.

"What?" Uma asks, clearly surprised.

"Oh." Harry blinks. "I didn't accept anyone to have be here!"

Ben winces at his ridiculous sentence and Uma clearly thinks him to be drunk so she rolls her eyes and walks over to him, grabbing his arm and whispering something in his ear. Harry laughs after a second and looks over to Ben before Uma pulls his chin back to face her and hisses something at him.

Ben frowns at the interaction, wondering why the captain and the first mate have such a violent relationship, but he has no time to draw any conclusions because someone's unlocking the cell he's in and dragging him out, pulling him up the stairs and then depositing him where he'd been kept the first night.

After what his brain classes as forever, someone coughs next to him.

"Ready to eat, princess?"

Forget recognising the voice, all Ben needs to identify Harry is that nickname.

He smiles without meaning to and Harry chuckles again, then curls a finger to tell him to stand up, which he then does, wobbling for a second before mentally telling himself the leather outfit is comfortable and not an absolute menace. Nothing is said as the two of them walk into yet another secluded part of the ship - there's too much space and not enough people, Ben thinks - and Harry gestures for him to sit as he goes to open what's probably meant to be a cupboard but is just a few boxes piled up on each other.

"Thank you," Ben whispers as Harry hands him a sandwich - one with cheese this time. He's not sure why he feels the need to whisper but he can't make himself talk any louder than the quiet hum of people above deck. Harry doesn't object, simply sitting cross-legged in front of Ben and watching as he all but devours the second sandwich of his time in captivity. It's only after he's finished that he realises to ask: "Aren't you eating?"

The first mate grins at him. "Don't you ever get tired of being polite?"

Blinking, Ben shakes his head.

Harry doesn't reply and picks up the hook Ben's ashamed to admit he hadn't noticed the pirate remove. It's a simple act, to pick up a hook, but Ben can see the way it causes Harry's entire demeanour to change. He watches as the blue-eyed pirate stiffen and hold himself to appear taller, more confident, and so much more attractive. As soon as he thinks that, Ben's face and pulse freeze, hoping that pirates can't read minds. He's getting married to Mal, he can't be finding some random pirate, especially the first mate of the captain that wants him dead, attractive. Maybe, he decides, it was just his inner Belle appreciating the beauty in the world, a beauty that Harry happened to have.

"What are you thinking about now, princess?" Harry raises an eyebrow so high it vanishes under his smooth locks.

Using a slow blink as the response to Harry's questions for the second time, Ben has to clear his throat before he can say, "Nothing."

Thanks for reading... Perhaps a review? Until next time!