A/N : Forgive me for the months I've left this hanging...I really wanted to make sure this scene was worth it!


"You know, captain, that was a mistake...when you're in the water with the sharks, nothing quite excites them like the scent of blood, hm?"

Kiriyu growled, twisting desperately against the sailor; he brought one knee hard, managing to hit Kaname's bleeding side, and earned a quick convulsion of pain and surprise; dragging one hand free of Kaname's grip, Zero drew his elbow back as far as he could and smashed his fist forward. Whether Kaname had ducked or Zero's aim had been completely off in the pitch dark, neither knew, because the blow came up empty; in a moment, though, Zero felt a sharp jerk on his neck that nearly broke his spine, and found his remaining captive wrist being tied to a bar of the cell.

Having satisfactorily bound his captain with his own necktie, with one of the many showy trappings of rank, Kaname flattened himself against the wall and stayed as silent as he could. Zero flailed wildly, cursing; when he was met with nothing but silence and darkness, he quietened to a heaving, quivering wrath, straining his ears and eyes in vain. He didn't know which was worse – to suffer the indignity and humiliation of being found tied up by his sailors, or to have Kaname waiting and cackling gleefully in some corner of the gaol out of his reach.

The gaol was small, and the foreign madman (to Zero's mind) was no pixie; if Kaname were to be out of his reach, there was only one corner he could be in. Grimly, Zero set about working his right boot off with his left hand and foot; in a few seconds, he had it dangling on the edge of his right foot, and kicked his leg as hard as he could in the most possible direction of Kaname's hiding place. Success! Evidently the monstrous he-witch was as blind as he, for the boot hit something that was definitely not the wooden hull.

"I know you're there," Zero said, although it was, at the moment, an empty threat that gave the captain meagre comfort. He concentrated on picking the knots around his bound wrist with his left hand's fingers. Sweat had given the once smooth cloth enough friction to make Kiriyu's fingernails hurt; Kaname had made the knot as tight and as fiddly as was physically possible, and Zero only had brute determination and a few clumsy non-dominant-hand appendages to loosen it.

Deprived of food, company and sex, bleeding from Zero's knife wound, and nursing, unexpectedly, his captain's sturdy leather boot print on his chest, Kaname was extremely tempted to snare Zero there and then. Though a peek at the mess hall and a bath had much restored his spirits, a week of loneliness and starvation had left him absolutely bereft and miserable, and he had been conjuring up past memories of warmth and camaraderie to keep himself from desperation.

Of course these included memories of his exploits in and out of bed, and Kaname, as most knew, had a selectively excellent memory for the scandal. "If he comes back for more," Beak had said, meaning Zero had to look for Kaname on his own grounds. No man, Kaname knew, would look for something or someone that sprung up like dreaded cyclones on ship running late. No, people had to lack something before they looked for it. Far be it for Kaname to deny any man pleasure, especially himself, but money was at stake. There were few things Kaname would choose over a roll in the hay; but, money to buy more and better rolls in the hay was one of those things. A man of his own desires, Kaname had made up his mind for the money.

Hence, he waited till he was sure Kiriyu was occupied with his own knots, then slithered forth with as much grace as hunger weakened legs could muster. Unable to see, Kaname was off in his estimate; both were caught unawares when Kaname's outstretched palm pressed itself over Kiriyu's ear. Kiriyu smartly turned his head and bit down hard onto Kaname's fingers. His tied arm left him with little freedom to move, but by jerking and twisting like an eel, Zero caught Kaname's forearm, yanked him close, and when Kaname stumbled into him, found the back of his neck and slammed the sailor forward. There was a satisfying crack as Kaname hit the metal bars forehead first, and Zero pinioned him there with his body.

Despite being shorter and slenderer than his man, Zero straddled Kaname with his legs and held the bars securely. If finding his nose in Kaname's shoulder was somewhat disconcerting, he was aware that a reversal of places would have given Kaname the upper hand. Kiriyu assumed he had the advantage now, and so much the better.

The one thing Kiriyu seemed to have forgotten was that Kuran had a unique ability to think and act the complete scoundrel.

Realizing that his captain's weight was comfortably against the back of his thighs, and noting his polished fingers grasping the bars on either side of his head, Kuran's first thought was that he should have had removed their pants before giving Kiriyu a chance to move. He discarded that thought, but almost immediately recalled it, musing along a tangent. Kiriyu's legs might be clothed, but his forearms certainly weren't. Hm.

Kuran ducked slightly to one side, and before Kiriyu could protest, ran a hot tongue up the inside of his captain's forearm from the elbow to his wrist. There was a shudder and a perceptible intake of breath from somewhere behind his ear, and the wily man chuckled softly. He latched his mouth onto Kiriyu's wrist, putting his tongue onto the vein there. Kiriyu's pulse rate increased noticeably, and Kaname grinned, nibbling the skin there. The inside of one's arm has much more sensitive skin the outside, and Kuran had the pleasure of feeling his muscles tense under his lips as Kiriyu fought against the ticklish but not unpleasant sensation.

"E-enough, Kuran!" Kiriyu demanded, but gone were the days when he could command any form of propriety from this man, gone and forfeited that fateful, fantastic night. Worse, the memory of it rose unbidden, bringing adrenaline to his blood, and blood to his - elsewhere. With his mind nearly distracted and his muscles preoccupied with denying his forearm pleasure, his grip on the bar weakened. Kaname, still held in place by Zero's legs and body, slid one hand behind his back, edged it between their bodies. Kiriyu instinctively pressed himself closer when he felt the intrusion forcing its way in, guessing, at the back of his mind, Kuran's intention.

"Not working, captain," Kuran said, pushing himself back with his other arm and rubbing his hips against his captain's growing lust. Kiriyu's grunt was only half bitten back, and then it was the devil's hand sliding in like a – like a shark, touching, biting him through his pants. Stiffening his palm, Kaname moved it in a tight circle around Kiriyu. He heard hissing, an agonized moan, and he felt the body behind coiling and tensing against his back.

Had there been any light, the scene would have been extremely arousing; a well dressed gentleman with all the touches of wealth and station, down to the golden epaulets on his shoulders, lock-jawed, standing ungracefully wide-legged and holding onto the bars of a dirty prison cell; sexier still was the tall and well built labourer between them, dressed in a simple worker's shift, body pressed into the bars, head tilted back and smirking, with a hand twisted uncomfortably behind him.

"This won't go unpunished, Kuran," Kiriyu whispered. Kaname could feel his hot panting on his shoulder. He tensed his fingers and dragged them downwards, digging his thumb along the ridge of stiffness. The panting became a deep, noisy gasp for air and self control as Zero closed his eyes and swallowed a moan. His head fell forward onto Kaname's shoulder, and Kaname leaned back slightly, putting his mouth by Kiriyu's ear as Zero groaned softly.

"Then whip me again, captain."

Kaname's voice was harsh and erotic, like velvet and thunder, against Zero's ear. Goosebumps leapt up along Zero's skin, not only at the sensation but at his sultry words. Kaname's fingers curled, and this hard against each other, his nails grazed against Kiriyu; unbidden, the silver cried out and pushed himself forward into the grasping fingers. His breathing came in puffs against Kaname's shoulder, wet and ragged.

"I'd much rather you have me whipped by your own hand."

Kaname gripped him hard, squeezing and scratching the flesh there. Zero whimpered as five individual nails, crescents made pinpoints of pain and delight, shot through his nerves like poison. His muscles sagged like ropes and Kaname flashed about; too late, Zero threw his weight forward again, but they were already chest to chest. Whether the buttons had come undone or Kuran just had the hands of a devil, his torso was already exposed.

"But for the forty lashes that you charged me with, captain...those were uncalled for except by your own guilt!"

It was Kaname's turn to clench his jaw, remembering the injustice at his superior's hands. For any man to be pegged down by someone like Hern, knowing that he was better in all but rank, coupled with the anguish of public humiliation, the complete helplessness in front of shipmates that lasted for days later; Kaname was well aware of his own beaten pride. Their physical needs clashed together, and through two layers of fabric, Kiriyu still jumped, unaccustomed and sensitive. The captain had slumped somewhat; he was still straddling Kaname but now had his head buried in Kaname's shoulder, seemingly ashamed for his actions earlier and his weakness now. Sharp, racking gasps burst from his lips and were muffled there.

Kaname unlaced Kiriyu's breeches, sliding his fingers in and prodding him. There was an odd keening noise at his shoulder as the hips against his bucked forward.

"You left me with no choice!" came Zero's voice, strained to hoarseness and tight with something between remorse and desperation. The agitation he had suppressed for more than a week coiled and wound in his chest, trying to give voice to the fear he had felt, the horror and self loathing that had come crashing around his ears – for it was he who had sent his officers away, it was he who had capitulated to the primal drive that had been stifled for decades – and his inability to reason his way out of blasphemy and sacrilegious facts. Struggling to piece together the remains of his morality, Hern's hatred for Kuran suddenly became a scapegoat when their squabbles got out of line. Yes, this sinful man, this heathen unconverted vagabond, it was he who planned for my downfall – and all the relief of abnegation had gone into doling out this wrongdoer's discipline. "I had no choice!"

Kaname was silent. Feeling wretched, because Zero was nothing if not an upright man, he admitted, "By Heaven, no, we always have a choice...you were right...those were my transgressions you bore..." Zero's free hand was inside Kaname's shirt, feeling the lacerations along his muscled back, tracing the pus and fever that oozed from the untended, raw wounds. Forty, he had said, and even though nobody had spoken out, tension and disbelief had been palpable amongst the men after Kuran's flogging, and Finn had had to rally the men to gruffness. His fingers dipped into a deep gash and came away sticky and wet. Father forgive me, for I have sinned...that night, the day after, and right now...

"Then take this as payback, captain..." Kaname had found his way to the silver-haired man's rear, cupping the hard, sweaty flesh there.

Seven hells, stop, please, or just bloody move...Zero would have screamed and cursed, but with two hands in his pants, one behind and one in front, he had been robbed him of words, and could only rock back and forth, muffling his moans onto Kaname's damp shoulder.

Kaname set his captain against the bars and held him with work roughened hands. Used only to quality fabrics, Zero's skin felt the callouses of each finger and palm like sandpaper around his waist, sliding up, down, inching everywhere...driving him mad.

And from there, it was this madman's game of touch and go that would haunt his captain's dreams for nights to come.

Kaname's hands were devastating enough, but in the dark, unable to see and even less able to think, invisible lips marked him and tasted him, and everywhere they touched his mouth set Zero's skin aflame, deadly as a scorpion's touch. Zero's head lolled back against the bars, his one hand twisting in its bonds, the other clutching Kaname's thick hair. He arched and bucked unnaturally, slamming his hips forward and coming up only with Kaname's scratchy linen pants, searching for feverishly for warmth and friction. Pushing back the captain's livery, damp and rank with sweat, Kaname held his sweat slicked waist and coaxed his throbbing length to an impossible hardness. Unthinking and yanking Kaname's hair demandingly as the sailor worked his way from Zero's ear to his abdomen, Zero moaned and rubbed himself in Kaname's hand, wanting nothing but for this to never stop, to only intensify.

"One for your temple, two for your cheek...three on your jaw, the fourth by your lips, five, six, seven, for the shark's white neck...eight and nine, for your shoulder's hollow edge...ten, eleven across your chest...twelve to eighteen, one on each rib," Zero thrashed his legs and arched into his mouth, caring only for the elusive warmth of a whisper, "nineteen on your hips, and twenty...just shy of your need...I'll stop at twenty, captain, because I am the kinder man."


Through the haze of intoxication and rapture, Zero barely made sense of Kaname's voice, lilting and husky through his heavy breathing, counting for every kiss he gave. But suddenly, just like that, Kaname stepped back, taking his hands and lips with him. Zero was left hanging high and dry, flailing, growling incoherently at the loss of his warmth. Stop, come back, no, NO, NO, Zero wanted to scream, frustrated and kicking against the wall in a tantrum. It was then, furious, stymied and with his pleasure unslaked, that Zero made a very big mistake.

"KURRAAAN!!!!!!" he roared.


Blessed with a voice that could bellow commands in a gale, Kaname's name was sent reverberating stridently throughout the entire Seamaster, much to the shock of the men who looked first in the direction of the cabin, then at Rhon, who blanched and indicated the ship gaol underneath.

"The captain...he...Kuran locked himself in the cell..." he trailed off lamely.

"Back to work!" Hern scolded, and the conversation was adjourned till two hours later, where they sat in their bunks resting.

Beak snorted, feigning disgust to cover up admiration. He tugged out the pair of silken maroon boxers, belonging to the captain, that Kaname had stolen and draped like a flag on his hammock, saying, "can't be. Ain't no sane bloke gonna have a show a week after forty lashes. Why, he wun' ev'n be a-strollin down t'stairs much yet. Betcha tha' was jes a quickie...who's seen 'im take a piss? He has nuthin' we never seen, all that high talk about having the thickest spear from the Orient to the Nile..." but he looked up anyway, catching Finn's gaze. The Norseman raised his golden brows and shrugged. "That foolish brat..."

"Captain Kiriyu is an honourable man," Miles intoned doubtfully, looking at the maroon boxers for a misplaced reassurance of his statement. Keith patted his massive shoulder sympathetically, knowing that his friend wasn't very bright.

"So am I," came Kaname's voice, and as one the men turned to see their fellow climbing gingerly through the door. He tossed a damp cloth at Finn, then lay carefully, chest down, on his hammock. "It's good to be back," he said, before drifting off into a satisfied slumber.

Finn held up the cloth for all to see, and they noted its smooth lace trimmings and golden embroidery. It was their Captain's necktie.


A big thank you for all the encouragement so far!

IT has been. Long. Tiring, very tiring. Reviews would be very good, any criticism is welcome, any thought on the language, the description, the flow of the story, and of course, the yaoi! Not complete yet, I'm intending to rewrite the earlier chapters to make them longer and more detailed...any opinion on that?

REVIEW!