Back at the ship, Sinbad had returned to his maps while the crew and the grunts hired by Akalp unloaded the rest of the cargo. Back to Syracuse? No, he had just been there. Greece? No, nothing interesting going on right now. Fiji? Fiji was always an option . . .
"Sinbad, what's going on with you and Dimitri?"
He let his head drop onto the desk. "Nothing. There is nothing going on."
Kale snorted. "Right. So that's why you've both been avoiding each other for the last few days? I thought you were firing him, Sinbad."
"I did! He came back! It was like trying to get rid of something that…something that doesn't want to be fired! I don't know."
The first mate turned and walked over to the wheel, leaning against it while still managing to keep an eye on the crew. "So we have a cabin boy. Why do you keep looking at each other when you don't think anybody is watching?"
Sinbad's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "I – He – we do not!"
"Mmhm." The response was diplomatically neautral.
"And you! Don't you have enough work to do not to have to be spying on other people? What did I hire you for anyway? You're fired, Kale." Sinbad ripped his hat off and threw it on the map table.
Kale just looked at him.
"And hurry up and get those crates unloaded, we're going to Cairo," Sinbad spat as he stormed down off the quarterdeck and into his cabin. The door was slammed shut.
The crew all stopped what they were doing and looked up at Kale expectantly.
He looked back at them, completely unaffected by the temper of the captain. "Well, you heard him. We're going to Cairo."
…
Unfortunately for Dimitri, there was only so much brooding he could do before people really began to take notice. He did stick out more than the usual foreigner, what with his "futuristic" clothing and all. He reluctantly made his way back to the ship, still mentally tearing his hair out over that sonofabitch of a captain who was probably counting his money and being his normal unaffected cocky self. The thought made Dimitri want to punch a wall. Why should he be the only one suffering a crisis? It was all Sinbad's fault for being so… he didn't even have a word to describe him.
As he approached the docks, he prayed that fate give him a small respite and that Sinbad would be nowhere on deck.
…
As luck would have it, Sinbad was nowhere in sight when Dimitri climbed onto the Chimera. The sun was starting to set over Constantinople, casting streamers of pink and purple along the undersides of the clouds. A bell was calling people to worship. Seagulls fought over scraps along the edge of the docks. And Sinbad was still closed in his cabin.
Kale watched as Dimitri made his uneasy way onto the deck. The ship was quiet. Most of the crew was either below deck or back in the city, enjoying their last few hours of dry land.
He waited until Dimitri noticed him and then jerked his head, motioning the cabin boy over to come and stand with him.
Well, at least Kale wasn't Sinbad. He made his way next to him and looked out over the water.
"Productive day?" he asked conversationally.
Kale shrugged amiably, watching the harbor. "I suppose you could say that. You?"
"I saved a child from drowning and I got engaged to a Persian queen. The usual," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Sounds exciting. That probably beats going to Cairo by a little bit." Kale straightened and rolled his shoulders. Out in the harbors a small fleet of fishing ships was being tied off on the other side of the harbor.
Dimitri looked at him, brow furrowed. "Cairo?" he repeated, "What's there in Cairo?"
Kale looked up as he thought about it. "Oh, women. Gold. Temples. About the same things as here but with a lot more sand."
"Riveting," Dimitri replied curtly. He drummed his fingers on the railing, eager for dinner to be ready. It may not be Parisian coq au vin, but he wasn't one to complain about food.
"It's better than Fiji, at least. That's always an option when Sinbad is deciding where we're going next."
Just hearing Sinbad's name made Dimitri's throat tighten. "Cairo's fine," he said to veer his mind away, "I've always wanted to see the pyramids in moonlight."
Kale was watching him closely. "Dimitri, what's going on between you and Sinbad?" He'd never been one for subtlety.
"Nothing," Dimitri said curtly, turning to go.
"Nothing? That must be why he watches you every time he thinks you aren't looking." Kale rubbed his cleanly shaven head and leaned back on the rail.
Dimitri stopped and turned around without thinking. "He what?"
"You heard me." Kale's voice was mellow and calm, the kind of voice that lured people into talking without realizing it.
Dimitri couldn't help but think that Kale could be a really good partner-in-crime when it came to swindling.
"Well, don't look to me for answers. It's not like I'm holding a big sign telling him to stare," he said, crossing his arms.
"And that's why you keep looking back when you think he isn't looking? Of course."
"I don't—" he started forcefully, but his voice gradually went quieter, "Do that." Damn Kale for looking so intimidating.
"You're a bad liar, Dimitri." He looked back over at the cabin boy. "Sinbad has been moody and distant and you've been running off every chance you get. What's going to happen when you're trapped on the ship together? Still going to try to avoid each other?"
"Hey, hey!" he said, "I take offense to that. I'm an excellent liar under normal circumstances. This—" he pointed at the boat's floor, "Is not normal! And how should I know why Sinbad's so moody, he's the one who—" He stopped himself and waved carelessly. "Forget it."
"Who-?" Kale raised an eyebrow.
"Look, just forget it, alright?" he snapped. Of course, he instantly regretted it; Kale was probably one of the people he got along with the best on this ship. He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, it's just… God, I've never met anyone who gets to me so fast."
"Is that a bad thing? I mean, Sinbad has a hot temper but he cares about what happens to his crew. That makes him a lot different from other captains I've worked for."
Did Sinbad give a hand job to every crew member? Dimitri couldn't help but wonder with no small amount of venom.
"Yeah, how much does he show you he cares?" he asked hotly, "Does he hand you gift baskets and flowers?"
Kale shook his head and smiled. "No, but he does make sure that we get our fair share of any take. And he looks out for us. Did you see any of the crew die when we took that navy ship?"
The last thing he needed to hear was how great Sinbad was. "Look, I appreciate you being loyal to your captain and all, but I really think it's best that Sinbad and I just keep contact to a minimum." He spoke with a tone of finality he hoped Kale would pick up on.
"Wouldn't it just be easier to join a different ship if you're so eager to keep away from the captain?"
Dimitri quickly opened his mouth, struggling to find a retort. When none came out, he promptly closed it and looked away with a huff.
"It's not that simple," he said, "What do you want me to do, go kiss and make up? Oh God, I just said kiss. Great, now I've said it twice." He dropped his forehead on the railing.
Oh, so that was what this was about. Kale chewed on the inside of his lip, trying to figure out how to word this.
"Dimitri . . . you just have to tell Sinbad 'no' and he'll leave you alone. He's not the sort of person to force somebody into a . . . situation like that."
That was clearly not what had happened, Dimitri thought. Unfortunately, there was that tiny, tiny (fine, it wasn't so tiny but let him have some delusions) part of him that didn't want to say 'no'. And he was so tired of keeping it all bottled up. Kale was probably the best person to talk to.
"Look," he said, trying to meet Kale's eyes, which required him to look up, "It's complicated. I know you don't think so," he said hurriedly before Kale could interrupt, "But it is for me. Do you know what happens to men caught being with other men in my time? At best, you get sent to prison. Most of the world pretends that it doesn't exist." He flattened his hair in a nervous habit. "I've never even thought about it before, why would I? I love a woman who I want to go back to, I…" He sighed. "I can't be attracted to a man."
Kale walked over to a barrel and sat down. Rat had come up from below deck and was swinging through the riggings to light the lanterns. A light came on in Sinbad's cabin.
He pressed his hands together and sighed into them. "So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know," Dimitri admitted. If only he didn't feel so helpless. "I don't even know if I'll ever go back home." He swallowed the lump in his throat that had formed at the thought.
Kale reached over and patted his back with a hand the size of his head. "If it were up to me," he said slowly. "I would enjoy myself where I could. It sounds like there's enough trouble waiting for you back in your home to have to worry about it here as well."
His knees buckled as Kale's large hand sent him reeling forwards. He grabbed onto the railing for support.
"Thanks for the advice," he choked out, having just had the breath knocked out of him.
"Any time." Kale stood up and walked down the steps to the crew's quarters, leaving Dimitri above deck with his own thoughts.
He glanced at Sinbad's lit cabin as an internal battle raged within him. He decided then and there that he would stay on the ship and sail to Cairo for certain. The rest, he would think about tomorrow. He didn't believe he'd get much sleep tonight anyway.