Age of Sail
England opened the door to the captain's cabin and walked into the room with a sunny smile. Portugal looked up from the book in his hands. They had been stuck in the tropical doldrums for a few days. He had enjoyed the quiet time together, but the wind had just caught in the sails.
Portugal intended to go up on deck soon, but he had decided to let England have the joy of it first. If he had any doubt about the wind outside, the look of England's hair when he ducked back into the cabin dispelled them.
The wind had caught his hair and tousled it. England had been growing out his hair lately, and it reached to his shoulders now. In this case, it had given the wind even more to work with and left his hair completely tangled.
Portugal found it sweet to see England take such a casual approach with his hair. When they were in society, he was careful to keep it slicked down and in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. But, on his ship, it was a different story. He didn't play the posh gentleman around the sailors.
Portugal personally found it handsome when England was a little windswept. But, this was more than even he liked.
England said happily, "We got our wind back! We'll be to Bermuda in no time."
Portugal smiled at his excitement. He said, "I see that." and gestured to England's hair.
The blonde's face fell a little as he understood what Portugal meant. He said, sounding genuinely worried, "Is it bad?"
Portugal put his book aside and beckoned to England. The blonde followed without question and took a seat with his back to Portugal. He must have already guessed what Portugal wanted to do.
But, to be sure, Portugal ran his hands through the blonde tangles and said firmly, "I'm brushing your hair. It's a mess."
He leaned over to grab his own brush off of a low table. His own hair required enough effort that he knew what he was doing. He took a section of the tangled hair and started to gently brush it.
England said, and Portugal could hear the smile in his voice, "You are very gentle."
Portugal smiled and said as he continued to work through the pieces of hair, "I have had long hair for a while, my dear. I know what I'm doing."
England was staying perfectly still so that Portugal could work, and it was making the process far easier. He spoke again and said, "You're gentler than Francis."
Portugal felt a slight shock. He knew that his partner had once been closer to France, but he had not heard this story yet. He responded, running the brush through another piece of hair, now that the first was dealt with, "Francis brushed your hair?"
England seemed to want to nod, but thought better of the idea because his hair was in Portugal's hands. He said instead, "Yes, when we were kids, I grew my hair out and he brushed it. Then he cut it all off because he said I looked like a caterpillar with long hair."
Portugal felt himself bristle at the old insult, because he could hear the hurt in England's voice, no matter how much he seemed to want to hide it. He knew that France was the source of many of England's insecurities, and they were all from unfair judgements and digging comments.
He finished the brushing the hair, which now lay in pleasant silky waves. Then he said, as he tied the hair into a low ponytail, "He's wrong. You have lovely hair, dear. It just needs a little extra love."
England turned his head to reveal a sweet, boyish smile and Portugal kissed him softly on the lips.
—-
Age of Sail
England knew this had to be an important galleon when he saw the size and the flag that flew from the mast. But as he came to the door of the captain's chambers to ensure the surrender, he got a very strange feeling about how valuable the prize he had captured was.
The captain was standing by the door with his sword in his hand. England approached him and opened his mouth, but the mortal immediately said, "The ship is yours, but I urge you to be careful. This is precious cargo."
England smiled to himself. If it warranted this kind of warning, than this was even better than anything he had been able to steal from Spain thus far. With that same smile still on his face, England opened the door.
He gasped as he saw who was sitting in the chair, with his eyes on the door. New Spain seemed supremely unconcerned with the situation. He smiled in a way that made England feel a bit of warmth under his collar and said, "You look surprised."
England found out from the captain's log that this ship was meant to protect New Spain on his journey back to Madrid. England could not believe his luck; he could use this opportunity to demand a hefty ransom from Spain and it gave him a chance to influence Spain's most valuable colony, and that was an opportunity he would likely never have again.
He wrote a letter explaining the situation to Spain and stated his terms with a rising sense of glee. Spain would be forced to bend to his will if he wanted his precious colony, and his lover if the rumors were true, back.
England then made a point to invite New Spain to have dinner with him, though he could have forced him since New Spain was his prisoner. But, it was courtesy and he did want the conversation. Though he had heard rumors about New Spain and seen him at formal meetings, he had never really had the chance to speak to him.
He had his cook make food that he thought would be acceptable to someone who was used to Spanish cuisine. Then he waited for his offer to be accepted with rising interest. He could have looked for letters in the captain's quarters, but he preferred to let New Spain be an enigma for now.
The door of the room opened and New Spain entered, casting a glare at the man who was accompanying him just behind the door. But he had an incredible grace to him when he settled himself in the chair as far away from England as he could.
England cleared his throat and said the first thing he had planned to say, "I don't want you to think of yourself as a prisoner. You are more like my guest."
New Spain scoffed and he spoke in English that was surprisingly good, if heavily accented, "Then I am free to have my ship back and to go to Madrid? No, I am your prisoner."
England was taken aback by how swift and decisive the response was. He also found it strange that Spain would teach his precious colony English. But, he was about to correct his position when New Spain added, "And you are asking Antonio for a ransom. There is no other reason to keep me here."
England had planned exactly what he was going to say, but the entire script escaped him. He had intended to be clever and try to convince New Spain to doubt Spain. Instead, he spoke his mind, "If you know all of this already, then why didn't you put up a fight?"
New Spain eyed the food suspiciously before replying, "I don't think you intend to hurt me. If you do, Tony will revenge it tenfold, and you know that."
England could not deny that he could not face the entirety of Spain's power. Piracy and war were worlds apart and he couldn't harm a hair on New Spain's head if he wanted to avoid war.
He was impressed that the boy had such an insight into politics. New Spain continued, apparently entirely unconcerned if England was going to respond to him, "And maybe this will make a point to Antonio. He hasn't taught me how to fight."
This struck England as very strange. Forgetting his usual gentleman's manners, he said, "But you are his most valuable colony! Surely he is worried something like this might happen."
New Spain scoffed again and took a piece of bread from the table. He had apparently judged the bread to be most likely to be edible. Then he said, and this time England made note of just how pleasant his voice was, "He worries that if he teaches me to use a sword that I will use it against him. You can't deny that you would do the same."
England was genuinely shocked by the accusation. If he had a colony as valuable as New Spain, he would not put him at the mercy of anyone who could wield a sword. It seemed strangely paranoid to think that his colony would immediately turn on him. This was especially strange considering that the rumors were that New Spain was very loyal.
England took a deep breath and said, "I wouldn't want to put the jewel of my imperial crown at risk, and I would trust the loyalty of my colony. If I treat my colonies well then I would expect loyalty in return."
New Spain shook his head, but it was hard to tell if he was really listening. New Spain changed the subject, "Do you know what Tony calls you? He says you are a thieving heretic."
England was not surprised; he knew that Spain hated him for challenging the church. So he only said, "Perhaps you should not believe everything he says."
New Spain replied, "Oh, it has never occurred to me that Antonio might lie." His tone was such that England found himself completely incapable of figuring out if he was being sarcastic or not.