A/N: Thank you again for you lovelies who read and reviewed! Hope you're satisfied with the story so far! Please recommend it to those who love the PiL game too :) I'll be uploading new chapters as often as I can this week as I have a new job starting the week after, so I won't be able to update as often then. But I'll definitely still spend some time working on this story so don't fret. I'll try update every 4-5 days. Much love x
Episode 8
They landed at Dahlia Island very early in the morning. There was still fog floating around the port, but the air was crisp and cleared the airways when breathed in. Thomas woke Mara up for breakfast and afterwards, everyone gathered on board for Captain's debriefing.
"Right then… Eduardo, let's get the ship repaired as fast as we can and set sail again by tonight. There are no Navy bases in this island and Russell didn't see any of their ships here. Even with our flag down, we don't want to take any chances of being recognised since Mara's bounty is as high as the moon!" Captain turned and winked at her, but before she could protest, he continued, "Christopher, you go with Eduardo. Nathan, get more food… and alcohol. Get Russell and Mara to help you. Thomas, you can come with me to the bar to err… blend in."
Mara gave Captain a funny look, "And what makes you think you won't be recognised at the bar?"
"You got me there, kid!" he roared with laughter, "I'll have a couple of drinks only, I promise! Let's go!"
They all followed Captain off the ship. Thomas whispered to Mara as they walked behind the other men, "He's probably not going to stop after two drinks. Happens every time."
"Why am I not surprised?" she whispered back. Then they both chuckled when they saw Captain take out a metal flask filled with gin from his coat pocket.
"Yo woman, hurry up over there!" Nathan's voice ordered from further ahead, where he was waiting for her with Russell.
She said goodbye to Thomas, who went off to catch up to Captain, and ran towards Nathan and Russell.
"Can we get some vanilla custard, Nathan?" Russell asked in an extremely hopeful tone.
"We've already got plenty of those," Nathan replied.
"You've got custard in the pantry?" Mara asked, baffled at the fact that these pirates liked custard. The Sirius pirates sure weren't your typical pirates, she thought.
"Of course we do! Anything you ask for, Nathan can cook up for you," Russell grinned at her, then continued to tell her about the amazing things Nathan can create in that kitchen of his.
Nathan walked a bit further ahead than the other two but he was still within earshot to their conversation. He shook his head and sighed to himself.
"But if you ever step foot in his kitchen," Russell said in a hushed voice, "He'll probably rage at you. And don't get me started on the fridge…" But of course, he went on about it anyway, "This one time, I was really drunk and hungry, so I thought I'd grab a slice of cheese from the fridge. Nathan found out and I wasn't allowed to have any food for a week! Worst of all, he still made my portion but he gave it to Thomas in front of me!"
She tried holding back her laughter at Russell's outrageous hand gestures. Suddenly, she bumped into Nathan's back. He turned around and glared at his companions.
"You two are giving me a headache," he gave them an annoyed look, "Now shut up and keep up before I chop the both of you and cook you for dinner!"
"Y-Yes Nathan!" Russell replied, doing the motion of zipping his lips.
"Yea, sure." She said, copying what Russell did but grinned at him afterwards.
Nathan shook his head as they continued walking to the marketplace.
By the late afternoon, the crew assembled back on board the recently fixed Sirius. Captain was slightly drunk and smelled strongly of alcohol and cigarettes and who knew what else… and Thomas was completely intoxicated. He was hanging off Mara like a baby monkey, being overly affectionate and praising her for being a 'wun-dar-ful pah-son'.
"Thomas, you idiot," Russell pulled him off Mara, only for him to escape and clung to her again.
She didn't mind that he was extremely happy, but she wasn't impressed by his impaired judgement on the concept of personal space. He was basically slobbering all over her.
"If you can't handle your alcohol, why did you drink so much, you silly boy," she muttered, turning her head as he showered her with kisses on her cheek and cuddled into her like she was a giant soft toy.
"Ahm," he gulped, "Not… drunken! Whoa… I feel…"
Christopher shook his head and with Russell's help, dragged Thomas away from her and took him to the sick bay to have a lie down before dinner, much to his protests. Captain followed them, badgering Christopher to let Thomas keep drinking.
Mara took a deep breath and smiled to herself. She wondered how they all became pirates. Then she started wondering about their background, when she caught Eduardo staring at her as he navigated the Sirius away from Dahlia Island.
"Um- Do you need me to help you with anything?" She asked him, sort of hoping that he would say no.
Even after what he'd said last night, he acted as if nothing had happened today. She felt like she was back to square one with him.
"No, I don't need you. Go see if Nathan needs help preparing dinner if you really want something to do that badly," he responded coldly.
"What an asshole…" she muttered softly as she headed to the kitchen. When she arrived there, Nathan was nowhere to be found but a large pot was steaming on top of the stove and there were various vegetable on the kitchen bench waiting to be peeled and cut. Forgetting what Russell had told her earlier, she stepped into the kitchen and started peeling some potatoes.
She shivered a little as she felt Nathan's breath on her neck. His voice was stern when he spoke into her ear, "What do you think you're doing?"
She turned around abruptly, holding a potato on one hand and a knife on the other. Nathan took a step forward and her lower back pressed onto the bench.
"I- um… I saw these needed to be peeled, so I started them for you," she said, locking gaze with him.
"And who said that you can?" He frowned at her, raising his voice slightly.
Mara put down the potato and knife behind her and crossed her arms, not wanting to be intimidated by Nathan. She brought her face closer to his and said, "No one. I thought I would help you so that dinner can be served faster. Got a problem with that?"
She didn't like the way he spoke to her and if her father was there, he would've told her to tell Nathan to stick it up where the sun didn't shine.
Nathan just stared into her eyes in silence, his brown eyes unfaltering. When she didn't back down, he relaxed and backed away.
"Make sure you peel them properly. If I find even a tiny patch of dirt, I'll skin you alive," he said, going over to check on the boiling pot.
"Why do you have to be so-" she started, but stopped herself from starting a fight with him. Even though she was trying to help, Russell did say that Nathan was particular about his kitchen.
"Just peel those potatoes and don't get in my way," he said as he started chopping the other vegetables next to her.
She couldn't help but feel annoyed at him for being so rude. But she kept silent and peeled the potatoes as fast as she could. She was taught how to cook by the Navy fleet's chefs, surpassing their expectations whenever she was on board the Navy ships with her father. She knew a trick or two up her sleeves and she was able to finish cutting the potatoes the same time Nathan finished.
"I didn't ask you to-" he began, but stopped when he saw how many potatoes she'd chopped into pieces in a short amount of time.
She raised her eyebrow to dare him to insult her, but he just picked up the potato pieces and dropped them onto the pot.
Then he told her to grab various things from the pantry and he told her not to touch the fridge – Only he was allowed.
She didn't complain – she was feeling rather amused at his demeanour as they cooked dinner together. She even ignored him whenever he would threaten to boil her instead of the vegetables.
End of Episode 8
