Julek stood his ground, adjusting his jumper, the sailor uniform's jacket that he'd gotten when he'd signed up to live a lot like he had in the past.
Boats had become a kind of peaceful tranquility for him, and he loved surrounding himself by the water though he couldn't bring his older sister, Lucia, along to sail. Stupid rules and regulations though Lucia had told him before that she dreamed of being on stage with some of the greats, to be able to sing and play guitar.
He still wasn't quite sure how she'd make it, but Julek would support her past everything. His eyes flickered over to ocean, stepping past to watch it flow past him, not minding at all the fact that they wandered further and further from the safety of land.
Julek wanted to explore, wanted to experience the world, but mostly he just wanted to be surrounded by water that reminded him so much of his childhood, of his father who used to tell him stories of the sea from when he was in the Navy, and how he'd met Julek and Lucia's mother, a beautiful woman that you couldn't help but adore at first sight when she proved the whole world's perceptions wrong.
She liked music loud, loved concerts, but mostly, she didn't talk like any other woman that Julek's father had ever met; she talked almost like a man would, and yet that never turned him away. He said that she talked with her whole soul and spirit, and if she chose to talk that way, why not find it beautiful since it was so her?
Julek knew that his parents weren't normal, that Lucia wasn't normal with how hard she'd struggle, and that he wasn't particularly normal either. Most people didn't find their peace among the waves, but Julek loved water, loved the cool spray of it, was learning to love the scalding sun that started to tan his skin, and he loved the freedom and yet all encompassing memories of his past that the water brought out in him.
He adjusted his collar and stared out over the edge, hearing yet again the voices of the other sailors, roused from wherever they were; Julek knew that he should talk to them more, but he hadn't quite worked up the nerve. He could have joined the Navy and followed his father's footsteps, but Julek wasn't sure that he could fight if push came to shove. Plus, he didn't want to confuse the waves for bullets or be taken away like his father was.
Julek sighed, giving up watching the sea to return to the rest of the sailors, hearing their voices sound just as far away and slightly angry and knowing that he'd have to put his peace at hold to just listen and try to speak with the men that were supposed to be his friends or allies in all of this.
He doesn't know why she changes everything when really she could have been just another nameless face, but she giggles, and it beckons him away from his peace into something kind of fun.
She introduces herself as Rose, and Julek decides that he likes how that name rolls off of his tongue, and he likes her confidence combined with a sort of femininity that he hadn't seen perhaps his whole life over. He was used to his mother and Lucia, not someone quietly content to be female, and he wondered if her confidence though was the defining point that drew him in, because she made him feel comfortable and wasn't afraid to take the lead.
How could someone so feminine lead him? He didn't ultimately care for whatever answer would be provided for him, but he adored the strength of hers to lead him by the hand with chatter and good joy; her pink dress flowing at her feet and nearly tripping her as she walked.
"Would you feel more comfortable in my jumper, Rose?" Julek asked awkwardly though he had no idea if anything else could be just short enough to keep her from tripping.
"No, it's yours, silly." She giggled as she stared up at him, "Do you want to get a bite to eat or would you rather go to one of those places that sailors go to?"
"I'd love a bite to eat." Julek guessed that he was like nothing else that anyone had ever known since he didn't always do the things that sailors did.
"Okay, thank you." Rose smiled up at him like it was a gift, and so he let her drag him and think that. If so, he'd been giving her little gifts since the beginning, and he loved the idea of it, the idea that may be in his own ways, he brought her joy.