Lovino realized why Antonio was treating him the way he did: he was flirting. Now that he realized it, he found it hard to look him in the eye without turning some shade of red, so he generally avoided him. He didn't particularly like avoiding him, since there seemed to be so much to say between them, but in broad daylight and in front of everyone just wasn't the time or place. He could only imagine what Antonio was thinking or feeling right now and he wanted to do something about it. He just hadn't figured out what that something was yet, but it occupied his thoughts the rest of the day.

The rest of the day as it turned out passed tensely. Antonio was angry about what happened with Sadık, and the crew wanted to give him space. Unfortunately, the space they were giving him was mistaken for avoidance and it only worsened his mood.

What puzzled everyone is that Antonio doesn't typically care what people thought of his sexuality. He downright flaunted it, no matter who was in his company. Antonio couldn't outright say that Lovino was the reason why he was so upset. How was he supposed to explain the fear he felt in losing him?

At some point, the tension became unbearable and Enzo lured Antonio down below deck. Lovino didn't see him again until much later in the evening.

... ... ... ... ...

Lovino was lying on his back in their little nest, with his arm acting as a cushion for his head. He left the candle in the lantern lit so that Antonio could find his way in the dark, when he decided to come down.

If he decided to come down.

"He's probably fine," Lovino told himself. "He's probably just blowing off some steam."

Lovino didn't actually know what he was doing because he'd never actually seen Antonio get angry. It occurred to him that it might not even be what Sadık said that upset him. Not with that haunted look that sometimes crossed his face. Lovino could tell from the crew's general atmosphere that this was unusual behaviour for Antonio, but how many of them saw what he saw? He didn't want to let himself be troubled by it.

But he couldn't help it. Seeing Antonio angry sent shivers down his spine. It wasn't right for the usually cheerful and constantly smiling Antonio to be furious as he was, and especially not for something he never bothered to hide in the first place.

The sooner Antonio came down to sleep, the sooner they could talk out whatever had upset him. It also meant he could sort out his jumbled thoughts sooner.

The sooner the better.

Rolling onto his side, Lovino did his best to ignore the cold, the creaks, and the creepy shadows that haunted his surroundings in order to sleep, wishing Antonio would come.

"Come on, Toño! I'm tired," said Enzo.

"I'm not," was Antonio's quick reply, still sparring with Enzo, who now refused to cooperate.

He slashed the wooden sword at Enzo, which he made no attempt to block, letting the shaft hit him across his chest. He groaned in pain, and Antonio, now realizing he no longer had a sparring partner, threw the sword across the gallery, his features twisted in frustration.

"I don't think that was very necessary," said Enzo, exasperated that he made no progress to better Antonio's mood.

Antonio just sat on the floor and leaned forward, laying his head in his hands and running them through his hair in order to scratch the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Enzo."

Enzo sighed and sat next to Antonio. "Look, I get that you're upset, but would you please get over it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. It's late, and we should be going to bed."

"Not yet."

"Oh, come on!"

"So this is where you've been hiding," said Alistair, poking his head up from the deck below.

"Yeah! What a merry band of happy pirates we make," said Enzo, barely holding back his sarcasm. "How's the weather up there?"

"Getting cloudy, but hopefully nothing serious. We'll be fine for a few more days," said Alistair. He'd been abnormally sober since the attack. "You know, mate, you can't avoid him forever," he said to Antonio.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Christ!" shouted Enzo, leaning back and laying down, trying to rub the sleepiness from his eyes. He was getting pretty annoyed with Antonio acting like an idiot. He wasn't looking forward to going through the process again with Alistair.

"The whole crew knows," was Alistair's gentler response. "And Lovino isn't stupid, so he probably already knows too."

"I don't think we're talking about the same thing here."

"I'm 67% sure that we are."

"And where did you get this statistic?"

"Shut up!" moaned Enzo from where he lay on the floor. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." For a moment, all three were silent. "Go down and talk to him."

"No."

"What are you afraid of?" asked Alistair. "If it's rejection, then I'll have to admit, I didn't know you were so childish."

"It's not that simple."

"Then explain." Enzo was increasingly losing his patience with the conversation.

"Well he… he likes girls…"

"So do you," came Alistair's logical reply.

Enzo simply laughed as exhaustion took its toll. "So let me get this straight! You're afraid he's going to try to kill you in your sleep because you like to fuck men."

"What?! No! Lovi wouldn't do that. Or… I like to think he wouldn't."

Enzo sat back up and put his hands on either side of Antonio's head, forcing him to look him in the eye.

"Go down there. Talk to him. Now."

"But—"

"Now," he repeated. "Trust me. And if you make me say it again, I swear to god I will make you pay for beating me up with a wooden sword."

"If he does try to kill you, just scream, and we'll come down and save you, princess," added Alistair with a smile tugging at his lips.

"You're both assholes."

"Because we love you," said Enzo. "Now go."

He was just relieved to see the conversation end.

"Argh!"

Lovino was woken up by the yell and the sound of a box scraping against the floor. In the dim light of the candle still burning, he could just make out Antonio making his way towards the light. It looks like he finally decided to come down. He was still cursing from having stubbed his toe. He sat up in the nest.

"Where have you been?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He wasn't able to sleep thanks to the worry he felt for Antonio.

"Blowing off steam."

Lovino thought about his answer and considered what to say next. He didn't exactly want to set him off again.

"Why?"

"Drop it." But he stopped at the edge of the nest and hesitated. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to sleep near me," he said, clenching his fists at his sides.

Lovino wanted to slam his face into a brick wall due to the sheer stupidity of what he was hearing. Of all the things for Antonio to be upset about, rejection wasn't one he expected.

"Do you really think so little of me? Are you seriously letting that brainless monkeyfuck get to you like that? I'm frankly offended that you assume what happened today would change anything." Truth is, it changed many things.

"Frankly, you're easily offended anyway."

"Fuck off."

"Don't act like my fears are unfounded. I see you clutching that cross around your neck when you think no one is looking. You're a good Christian, right? How does the saying go again? 'If a man lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination and they shall surely be put to death'!"

"Are you seriously angry at me for being Christian?" Lovino was standing now. He felt like he was drowning, and yet he didn't take the plunge; the plunge he meant to take once Antonio came down, but not like this. Not yet. Too soon. He wasn't ready yet.

"No, I'm not!"

"It sounds like you are."

"I just need you to understand!"

"Understand what? That we're both going to Hell anyway?"

"Yes! Wait, what?"

Lovino could hardly believe what he was doing anymore. He knew something changed, and he couldn't figure it out alone. He took Antonio's head into his hands and forced him to lean forward. Before he could protest, he kissed him. Suddenly, softly, and quickly; but it was just long enough for both of them to begin to blush. He felt out of breath, but he kept that information to himself, safely stashed away and out of sight from Antonio.

"Feel better now?" said Lovino.

"Uh—"

"Good. Now let me sleep," he said, dragging the Spaniard down with him.

Antonio couldn't hold back his smile of relief.

Lovino tried his hardest to hide his own. It was just as he expected: he'd fallen for the stupid bastard, but he couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd won him over.

"Come here," he said, pulling Antonio over so he could lay his head on his chest. "Stop thinking stupid things like that."

"Lovi—"

"Just shut up."

Not yet. Too soon.

He wasn't ready for this.

... ... ... ... ...

The next morning, Lovino woke up feeling like a furnace had been sewn to his back. Although dark, he had a feeling Antonio was the one radiating so much heat. No wonder he slept shirtless. But then Lovino felt heat rise to his cheeks when he realized that if he could feel all this heat coming from Antonio's chest, then the hard object that had woken him up and that was currently pressing against his ass was Antonio's morning wood.

His new "friend" was indeed well-endowed in more ways than one.

It wasn't such a bad way to wake up in the morning.

The only problem is that it was pitch black below deck and barely any light filtered through from above. They couldn't know if it was morning yet unless they actually went up as far as the gallery to see if it was morning yet. (And no, 'morning wood' is as much an indication of 'morning' as it was of 'wood'.)

Lovino started to feel like he was suffocating from the heat radiating off Antonio's body, so he started squirming in an effort to nudge him awake. He was entirely aware that it ultimately meant his ass was rubbing against Antonio's crotch. He was concentrating on trying to suppress his oncoming erection, because this was not the time. This, combined with how used to the creaking of wood he had gotten, meant he didn't realize someone was walking towards them until he finally opened his eyes and noticed there was light coming from behind them.

"Well, it looks to me as though they finally made up. What do you think, Enzo?"

"They're as cute together as I imagined, Ally."

Mortified, Lovino slammed his elbow into Antonio's stomach, prompting a groan from him as he was forced awake. Antonio stretched as he sat up. A meek "oh" slipped from his mouth when he saw Enzo and Alistair observing them, and Lovino with his head buried beneath the covers and probably pretending to sleep.

"You two overslept. Captain wants you on deck," said Enzo.

"And Armado sent both of you just for that?" asked Antonio.

"Technically, he only sent Enzo. I just wanted to see the looks on your faces. Lovino doesn't disappoint."

Antonio nudged Lovino, but he refused to poke his head out, still insisting he was asleep.

"Give me a few minutes," said Antonio. "I'll join you guys up there soon."

He waited until they were both above deck and the light from their lantern was gone. Then, Antonio leaned over Lovino's body and just where he imagined his ear would be, he whispered "I was already awake, you know" in a sultry tone.

Lovino sat up as well. "Don't expect the royal treatment every morning." Antonio interrupted him by tracing along Lovino's jaw gently with his fingers, and finding his mouth, he kissed him just a little longer than the night before.

He pulled away. "We'll see about that," he said.