Arthur's ship docked some time near midnight just as predicted. The dock master charged them extra for docking at night but Arthur was in too good of a mood to care. Now that they had docked, he could kick Gilbert off his ship.
It wasn't that he had anything against the albino pirate... He just didn't like that he and Alfred were now friends. The last thing he needed was for Alfred to get any more ideas or learn anything about his past that he wasn't entitled to know. Now that would be a disaster.
Arthur slowly made his way back onto the ship with Ludwig and Elizaveta (Who had had to pay for Gilbert's ship as the git had fallen asleep with Alfred in the crews quarters!) before deciding to attempt a few hours of sleep before the busy day ahead started.
"I plan to spend the next couple of weeks shopping and organising the transfer of goods to buyers, ordering supplies and water as well as getting clothing for the upcoming winter months and I believe I need to find a suitable present for Antonio..." He listed his plans for tomorrow. "I'll be leaving at day break so could you inform the crew that if they have the rest of the ship spotless by the time I get back then they can go out tonight? Anyone who doesn't do there fair share even by a little hold them back to guard." Ludwig nodded before retiring for the night leaving Arthur and Elizaveta alone.
"I suppose I am to bed with you in your cabin again then?" She asked.
"Of course milady." Arthur smirked and bowed to her. With a playful ruffle of the hair, Elizaveta giggled and walked past Arthur up to his cabin.
"Save those British charms of yours for the wenches of Tortuga, Captain Kirkland." She joked as she opened the door. It was nice to have Arthur joking and relaxed again. From what she had gathered, Francis made him tense and uneasy for reasons unknown. She was... Curious, but Gilbert had told her with a strange and unusual seriousness in his eyes that some things were better left unknown.
Once settled in his bed, she found herself quickly drifting off to sleep. Arthur on the other hand sat at his desk, face in hands.
Millions of thoughts ran through his mind but the most prominent one was the thought of Francis. Every single time... Every single time they had to meet he got jittery and nervous like a child. Despite the fact that the incident had happened several years ago he just couldn't get it out of his mind. And to make it even worse that damn git Alfred had to go and remind him even more.
With a loud exasperated sigh, Arthur stood and head for his very near empty alcohol cabinet. 'Two bottles left...' He thought as he grabbed one. He would only need one to be come sleepy and hopefully fall asleep before any more memories could creep into his mind.
Alfred woke the next morning on the floor. Confused and groggy, he sat up to discover that Gilbert had taken his bed and left him to the floorboards. 'Bastard.' He thought as he stood up and stretched his arms out. "Ugh..." He grunted as he made his way out onto the deck. These late nights and early mornings were starting to catch up to him.
Following routine, Alfred first visited the galley to find that the cook hadn't even got up to start breakfast. Frowning, Alfred peered around the kitchen searching for anything edible he could offer to Arthur but the only thing he found was hard tack and that was certainly not breakfast material. With a loud sigh Alfred turned around only to find Arthur standing right behind him.
"Eep! Ar-Captain Kirkland! I didn't hear you come down!" Alfred winced at his rather girlish shriek and hoped that Arthur wouldn't take it too seriously. The green-eyed pirate captain stared at him, his hand placed thoughtfully on his chin before he motioned with his head.
"Come on lad, I told the cook to sleep in... The men won't be getting up for a while and we have a lot to do today." Arthur smirked at him before walking back up to the deck. Alfred hid his face in his hands, hoping the blush on his cheeks would disappear soon.
"Uhh B-but what about breakfast? Aren't we going to eat?" Alfred asked as he ran to catch up to Arthur. The pirate raised an eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder. Alfred paused halfway up the stairs and looked back at him.
"Of course! We'll eat breakfast but at a tavern... Well hurry up cabin boy! And quit staring!" Alfred blushed again and looked down at his feet. He couldn't exactly help it. Arthur was wearing knee high black boots, tight beige pants, a frilly white dress shirt and a long red coat with gold trimmings. He was also wearing the same red tri-cornered hat with gold trimmings. The outfit was just so Arthur that Alfred couldn't help but stare. Well until Arthur stepped closer to him and kicked him on the shoulder.
"Ow!" He whined and tenderly rubbed the spot Arthur had kicked.
"I said stop staring git!" Arthur huffed angrily and walked away. Alfred muttered curse words under his breath as he followed his captain. Alfred walked slightly behind Arthur as they made their way off the dock and onto a coble stone street. For a place Alfred had heard the worst of Tortuga was strangely quiet and peaceful in the morning. There was hardly a soul on the streets to bother them. "First thing we need to do is get you some clothes." Arthur stated. Alfred blinked and looked down, remembering that he was only wearing pants. He had gotten so used to not wearing much that he hardly noticed it anymore.
"Oh um sure but I don't have any money... You took it all." The blond muttered, dropping his voice at the last part. Arthur's boots, which had been clicking on the cobblestones as he walked, came to a stop.
"First and last warning cabin boy." Arthur hissed. "I'll take care of your clothes... You have to look presentable for the party at the end of the week." Alfred raised an eyebrow as he followed behind. A party? He hadn't realised he would have been... Special enough to attend a private pirate function. "Don't get the wrong idea." Arthur continued as though reading his mind. "You'll only be there so I can keep an eye on you and you'll be helping Antonio's first mate with the cooking."
"Oh," Alfred sighed. Well, at least it was off the ship and closer to Arthur and wasn't Francis going to be there too? Alfred barely managed to stop before he bumped into Arthur who had stopped without any warning. "What is it?"
"I said we're here, hop inside lad." Arthur turned to show him a small rather dirty looking shop that hardly looked worth entering.
"Uhh are you sure we're at the right place?" Alfred turned and looked at Arthur who glared in return. "Ok, I think we're here..." He smiled sheepishly and stepped forward. Inside the shop was nothing compared to its outside. Everything was clean, there were various materials hung up everywhere (In a neat fashion) and a young blond girl working in the corner. Alfred peered around at the vast sea of cloth while Arthur walked past him to talk to the girl.
He was just admiring some soft blue material when Arthur re-approached him. "Come on and he'll get your measurements." Alfred blinked.
"He?" He turned around as Arthur led him to the back of the store where the 'girl' was waiting.
"Yes, he, Feliks is a famous seamstress and he'll make you some nice clothes for later... And I'll buy you some clothes to wear now." Arthur stated as he tapped his foot impatiently. Feliks smiled brightly as he swayed over to Alfred, his green eyes sparkled in mirth.
"Come this way sir" His eyes flickered to Arthur's and Alfred frowned as they shared a look. "I don't bite~"
Alfred tentatively followed the man to the back of the shop where he did most of his work. Arthur followed slowly behind, looking smug.
Once at the back Alfred was made to stand on a small box allowing Feliks to move around and take measurements from every angle with ease. Alfred looked down at the dress wearing man and studied him. Feliks dress was a pastel like pink with different versions of that pink that made up the ruffles. It covered his chest, the collar coming up to his chin while the sleeves were long and reached his wrists. If it weren't for the fact that it was a man wearing the dress, Alfred would have said that she was a very cute girl. 'I wonder what Arthur would look like in a dress…' His mind supplied unhelpfully as the image was created in his head.
Of course Arthur wouldn't be wearing a pink dress but maybe an elegant green to match his eyes. Yeah! It would open at the top to show off his pale neck with maybe some jewellery, like emeralds or something like that. The edges would be lined with a dark lace and the whole thing would be fitted nicely to his body. Except the skirt like part would puff out making it look like he had hips. Alfred smiled to himself as he imagined this. That was until he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head.
"Ow!" He yelped and turned to see Arthur glaring at him with a rather red face. "What was that for?" Arthur's eye twitched before he stalked away to the front of the shop, leaving Alfred without an answer. Alfred frowned and looked at the seamstress who was laughing into his hand. "What did I do?" He asked again. Feliks smiled knowingly up at him.
"That smile on your face was because you were imagining something indecent wasn't it?" The Polish man smirked. Alfred felt his cheeks heating up as he realised that that was why Arthur had hit him.
"M-maybe," He mumbled sheepishly.
"That's ok, your secret is safe with me." That fact didn't make Alfred feel any better, Feliks looked like a talker to him but so long as Arthur didn't know it was him (and in a dress) that he was imagining then he was fine!
Arthur didn't return to the back of the shop, leaving Alfred to endure listening to Feliks talk and talk and talk and talk and TALK. He was sure by the time he left the store with his new clothes he knew how to bake chocolate cookies and make them taste 'scrumptious', how much of a 'cow' a lady named Maria was, to always wash your hair and repeat and how good looking a man named Toris was… Honestly, now he understood why Arthur had left. It wasn't that he disliked having someone to talk to, Arthur wasn't much of a talker anyways, but when he couldn't get a word in edgewise it made the conversation rather one sided…
He couldn't deny the job Feliks had done finding him some clothes was a job well done. He now wore a pair of dark brown slacks that were being held up by dark brown bracers. They had managed to find a pair of dull black boots large enough to fit his feet and these reached up to his knee's, like Arthur's boots but less impressive. Covering his chest he wore a cream coloured button up shirt, tucked into the pants. And to wear over that he had a dark brown coat that reached the start of his thighs. Alfred felt very sophisticated in his new clothes and admired himself in the mirror while Arthur paid Feliks and ordered the clothes that were going to be made for later.
"Stop loving yourself git! It's time to leave." Arthur motioned with his hand for him to follow as he left the store. Alfred quickly turned and waved good-bye to Feliks who winked back at him. Hopefully he hadn't mentioned any of this to Arthur…
The irritated pirate captain brought him to what he guessed was what a bar looked like this early in the morning. Most of the tables were littered with drunken pirates some covered in their own puke while others were drenched with what Alfred smelt was rum. Arthur stepped over the passed out bodies with ease to the counter where a tall blonde was standing slowly wiping the bench. The blonde glanced up at him as he approached and appeared to be glaring at Arthur. He nodded briefly at the pirate. "H' ll' 'Rth' r'" He muttered, dipping his head slightly. "N wh' s' ths?" He continued nodding his head towards Alfred.
"Oh him," Arthur shrugged nonchalantly while Alfred bristled at the lack of caring in his voice. "My new cabin boy." He answered simply.
"Call me Alfred," The American cut in, holding out his hand to the scary man just to spite Arthur. The man smiled and it, if it was possible, made him look scarier. Alfred almost regretted deciding to shake his hand.
"My n'm' s' B' rw' ld." He introduced him self. Alfred was caught. He hadn't understood exactly what the man had said; and from the sound of Arthur's stifled laughter he knew that Alfred was stuck too.
"I, uhh, N-nice to meet you." Alfred answered, hoping that it was a good enough statement to get him through. A soft chuckle caught his attention as a man around the same height as Arthur stepped behind the counter.
"Hi there! My name is Tino, I work here with Berwald." He smiled knowingly at Alfred.
"Really? N-nice to meet you!" He sent Tino his best smile to say thank you. Tino chuckled again and turned to Arthur.
"He's new?"
"Yes unfortunately…" Arthur sighed. "You guys still do breakfast right?" Berwald and Tino nodded simultaneously.
"Of course! The usual for you Arthur? And for you Alfred?" Alfred licked his lips at the prospect of food but then looked at Arthur who was his only source of money. Arthur raised his eyebrow before it clicked that Alfred was waiting for approval.
"Uh, I'll pay for you," He mumbled, hoping that Tino and Berwald wouldn't mistake this act for kindness. Alfred's face lit up as he turned back to the pair behind the counter.
"What do you serve?" If only Arthur had realised what it meant to pay for Alfred to eat.
Arthur now sat across from Alfred, his expression a mixture of awe and disgust as he watched the boy wolf down his breakfast. It was like he thought he was going to die the next day and this meal was his last! At least now he understood why they ran out of food on the ship so quickly…
"Hey, why are you staring?"
The question caught Arthur off guard and he quickly picked up his drink, trying his best to pretend that he had done no such thing. "Sod off, I wasn't staring." He grumbled, tilting the cup back further so he could hide his blush. But of course the git wouldn't leave it alone.
"But you were looking right at me, with this kind of… Spacey expression." He added with a smile. Arthur frowned and brought the cup down hard onto the table the liquid almost spilling.
"I was NOT staring, now leave it alone." He growled. In the background he could see Tino hovering about nervously while Berwald continued to look… Frightening. They had seen him get into frights before over less… Most of those fights had been with Francis though or even Antonio. Alfred decided to play it safe and was silent while he finished the rest of his meal.
They were just waving good-bye to Berwald and Tino when Alfred decided to ask. "So what are we doing today?"
"Today we are going to visit some buyers, so keep your mouth shut or I will tear it off." Arthur snapped as he strode into the slowly growing crowds.
"Oh… Ok." Alfred couldn't answer with much else as he hurried to fallow the angry blonde. He had no idea why Arthur was so angry today. Maybe he hadn't slept well? Alfred sighed and moved faster as Arthur was speeding up again.
The next place looked almost as shady as the first they had visited leaving Alfred feeling apprehensive about going in there… especially seeing as Arthur had said that they'd be doing some selling. "Hey Arthur…?"
"Captain Kirkland lad… What do you want?"
"Oh right, um why would you bring me along to one of these? What if I escaped and told my superiors where you were selling stuff to?"
Arthur didn't even flinch as he answered. "Because the only way you'd escape would be if I cut open your throat and threw you over board." Alfred shuddered at the bluntness of the answer and nodded, deciding to never ask Arthur another question while he was in such a mood.
The meeting went by quickly. Far quicker then Alfred had anticipated for something so shady... And so did the next two. Arthur was incredibly organised for a pirate and his quick temper helped to move things along smoothly. Who wanted to argue with someone who could turn an entire ship with one glare?
Alfred had stayed wisely silent the whole time, observing the transactions between Arthur and the various merchants.
This continued for the rest of the week, the only time they didn't visit merchants was when Arthur had stopped to buy a small green turtle from the only decent looking shop they'd gone in to. The shopkeeper had laughed and said that he was the third person to buy one in the last week. Arthur had grunted in reply and paid him the money, eager to leave the shop.
It was after a few days that Alfred started to notice that Arthur's foul mood was not only directed at him, but the rest of the crew too. The slightest mistake sent Arthur into a rage and the poor crewman would cower in fear while the infamous pirate captain attacked him was a barrage of hurtful words.
Even Ludwig and Gilbert got yelled at, albeit Gilbert DID make fun of his eyebrows in a stupid attempt to 'relieve his tension'. Though the two brothers seemed to be the only ones who knew why Arthur was acting out so much. Alfred often saw them whispering to each other, casting worried glances at the captain. When Alfred decided to walk over and see what they were talking about, Gilbert jumped up and declared that they have a random sparring match and he ended up forgetting why he had walked over in the first place!
It was their last day at Tortuga and Arthur and Alfred were walking back to the Polish man's shop. Feliks had done a good job with his new clothes as well as the last ones! It was practically the same except this time the coat, boots and pants were black instead of brown, giving him what he liked to believe as an 'air of elegance'. He was also given a pirate hat; not nearly as nice as the one Arthur was currently wearing but nice enough.
They thanked Felick's and headed off on their way to the party. On the way Arthur explained to him who would be attending.
"The party is being held for Antonio, he's a Spanish pirate that I have frequent bouts with. Gilbert will also be attending and then… Francis, a frog of a pirate will also be attending." Alfred glanced at Arthur, as he said this, not missing the bitter look that crossed his face when he mentioned Francis' name.
"…And why am I going there again?" He asked, hoping to move onto a friendlier topic. Arthur appreciated the change but said nothing of it.
"You'll be helping Antonio's… First mate with the cooking and in case you're wondering why Ludwig won't be attending is because he doesn't like to be around his brother when he gets drunk… And I suppose a fair word of warning is that a lot of grog shall be drunk tonight." He smirked. "Also, having you, the Navy pirate hunter, as my cabin boy will be a big kick in the face to those gits!" Alfred pouted but remained silent.
"Oh, Romano doesn't speak English… And he's very violent." Arthur added, pleased at the nervous look Alfred now sported.
They weren't walking that long before Arthur stopped him and pointed out the building. The tavern was far fancier looking then the one they had eaten breakfast in. In fact, it didn't look like it should have been anywhere near a pirate port!
"The 'Sea Unicorn', this tavern is specially for Captains or higher members of the pirate community," Arthur explained. "It is the nicest, cleanest tavern for miles around and it's where we meet every time we're here." He opened the door and walked inside, Alfred following close behind gasping in shock when he saw Arthur was right.
Inside the tavern was set out like every other one, but there were no passed out drunks, no fights and it actually smelt ok. It reminded Alfred of the taverns they had back at his naval port. He never would have expected something like this to be maintained by pirates!
"Olla Arturo!" A cheery voice greeted them as they entered. Arthur turned to his left to where a cheerful looking brunette was waving at him.
"Evening Antonio, you're looking well." Arthur replied gruffly as he walked over.
"Si! Thank you! And you your self are looking well too!"
"Oui Arthur, you are indeed looking… Well."
Arthur grit his teeth and felt his hand clench into a fist as a second man made their way over to the small group. Alfred turned to see a man with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes slowly walk in their direction. His clothes whilst slightly feminine looked very manly on his body. His smirk was filled to the brim with smugness and his swagger was one of a confident man. The bushy-browed captain barely managed not to spit out the name of the pirate whose blue eyes were set on him and him alone.
"Francis Bonnefoy."
And I have nothing more to say. D:
Francis is here.
Enjoy.
