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Chapter Five: Dance a little

By the end of the night, they had arrived at the port, too late to go into town and buy supplies and too early to go into the nightlife of the town. The way they worked during the night might be different from the way that they operated during the day, but it would give relief to the men who had been stuck at sea for too many weeks to count.

So, with nothing better to do, they tied up the ship at dock and settled on the deck, with music playing loudly and everyone on deck. Any sleep that other ships were trying to get was ruined as every single member of the crew broke out the rum, broke out the dancing, and started to actually enjoy themselves.

Well, everyone except Mabel. Kicked out of the captain's room, Mabel had to find refuge somewhere else. It had been a long time, not feeling comfortable in the sleeping quarters with the rest of the crew and the rest of the storage rooms completely full. Tad had offered her a place in his room, but she hadn't trusted him enough to take him up on the offer, despite how he actually seemed genuine about the offer.

So she ended up wandering around the last night they were at sea until they got to port, more excited about that than anything else. She had been looking forward to something to do, and more that she would actually have a chance to get away.

Bill kept giving her strange looks, watching her wander around deck and find random things to do until it was night and she was exhausted from work. It hadn't been long until night fell and she could barely keep herself on her feet, leaning against the rail. Someone, a man who Mabel was sure was the man who stared at her the first time she got aboard the ship and she snapped at, brought her a barrel to sit on and allow her to relax.

"Thank you." Mabel said softly, accepting a drink from someone. She sipped at the hard liquor, trying not to choke on the feeling as it dripped down her throat and settled in her stomach. She couldn't remember the last time she ate something, but all that it did was make the warm feeling spread from her stomach to her chest.

"Um, mi-miss?" A rather light, stuttering voice asked her, making her look to the side to see a smaller man standing there. Mabel hadn't seen him before, but with the way his eyes were glued to his shoes, Mabel knew he wasn't a threat.

"I'm Mabel." She grinned, taking another sip of her drink. All she had to do was last long enough until almost everyone had left the ship, and she would be able to get out of here. Getting back home was another matter, but she would think of that later.

"I-I'm Kryptos." He muttered, actually blushing when he glanced up and saw her smile. "Would you li-like to dance?"

Mabel hummed, tapping her chin in thought for a moment that was obviously just to tease, but all it did was make Kryptos squirm and give Mabel another chance to take a long swig of her drink. For a moment, she actually considered saying no, but then she saw the others starting to dance and the captain making his way over to her. He was the last person that Mabel wanted to see.

"Sure!" She chirped, hopping down from her place and taking another long swig of her drink and placing it on her seat. Kryptos was a blushing mess when she took his hand, leading him to the throng of people dancing around as though it was the party of the century.

Kryptos was an awkward dancer, but Mabel didn't care, she hadn't had one chance to relax and get along with someone in the whole time she had been there. It was a kind of dance she had only danced once before, where it was spinning and swirling and going through so many different partners. One moment, she was dancing with Kryptos, the next she was dancing with a burly man who reminded her of Ghost Eyes on Gideon's ship, then it was Tad, and Mabel had never had so much fun before in her life. She was laughing and not caring, and a part of her blamed it on the rum in her system and the music in the air.

Meanwhile, Bill stood where Mabel had just been sitting, looking just like any man in his crew with his jacket and hat down in his room and just a plain white shirt on with the sleeves rolled up. He stared at her as Mabel danced with everyone on the crew, and marveled at the fact that he had yet to see her smile.

"Hear you kicked her out." Tad panted slightly as he got out of the dancing group, standing next to his captain. "Where did you expect her to go?"

Bill shrugged slightly. He hadn't really thought that far ahead, but he wanted his bed back, and he wanted to get his head in order. She was getting too close, and he couldn't let her get too close. She was a prisoner, she didn't need to think she had any sort of freedom.

"Oh, so I guess that you won't mind if I share my bed with her. She doesn't have anywhere else to go." Tad smirked a little, watching Bill's face darken with a frown.

"Wouldn't mind at all." Bill muttered through clenched teeth, watching Mabel closely as Kryptos spun Mabel around with a laugh. He didn't know she could be so happy.

"She's very pretty, isn't she?" Tad continued to say, watching Bill get more and more tense the more he watched. "I think I'll go steal another dance before she gets more tired. Worked herself pretty hard today."

Bill couldn't help the small growl that left his throat as Tad went back into the throng of crew to quickly cut in between Kryptos and Tad. Mabel's face was surprised for a moment before she dissolved into laughter, with Tad actually lifting her off the ground to spin her around. Bill crossed his arms, absolutely seething with jealousy as Mabel actually let herself relax and had fun.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there by where Mabel had been sitting and her drink that was still waiting for her, but it was long enough for one of his crew to actually come up, shoving him from waiting on the sidelines to into the group. Bill sent a glare in the direction that he had been pushed from, standing there awkwardly for a moment before Tad noticed he was there, and sent Mabel tumbling into his arms.

Taking a step back to steady himself, his arms instinctively wrapped around the still giggling woman who didn't seem to realize who was holding her up or she simply just didn't care. He stared down at her carefully for a moment, watching her finally look up at him and take his hand.

Then they were dancing, with Bill spinning her around with a light smile on his face, unable to resist her giggles as she held onto his hands. It was so easy to see the strength behind her movements, to see the woman who slapped him when he called her a pet name she didn't like, who took everything in stride and didn't even care that he kicked her out to find a place in the crew.

The song finally seemed to have to end though, and Mabel stared up at him, panting slightly but with the brightest smile that Bill had ever seen before. Maybe he had spent too long at sea to be falling so hard, or maybe there was just something about her. She didn't look at him with hate, or disgust, and while there was a little bit of fear in her eyes, but in all ways he deserved that.

His hand, once more, went to cup her cheek, and Mabel was still staring up at him with those eyes, but pulled away the moment she could feel his hand on her face. Whatever spell the dance had put over her was broken, and the inevitable hurt came over her face.

"Thank you for the dance." Mabel mumbled, watching some of the men realize the nightlife of the town was waking, and took her place back to where she had kept her drink.

"Smooth, captain." Tad whistled, watching Mabel drown her drink and go to get another one. "Haven't seen anyone mess up their chances like that in a long time."

"Shut up, Tad." Bill groaned, scrubbing at his face for a second. There was a strange moment as the two men watched Mabel sit back down, a brand new drink in hand and a light blush on her cheeks.

"Such a nice captain we have." Tad sighed dramatically, putting a hand to his forehead. "So you don't like her?"

"Not one bit. Why are we even talking about this?" He still had his eyes on her, watching her lean her head against the ship and continue to drink. Bill wondered if she was a lightweight, she didn't seem like someone who would be able to handle too much liquor.

"Just wondering. Guess that means you don't mind if I pursue her." Tad examined his nails, smirking when Bill's gaze snapped over to him. The pirate captain wanted to scream, but instead he bit his tongue harshly.

"Go for it."

"With pleasure."

Tad stepped away from Bill, walking casually over to Mabel and met with a smile from her. He leaned against the railing over her, getting as close as he possibly could without actually touching her. Bill couldn't hear what they were saying, but he only lasted a couple seconds of standing there before he marched over.

"Alright, shouldn't you be getting to bed?" He addressed Mabel, taking the drink out of her hand despite her whine of protest. He gulped it all down before she could even think about taking the drink back from him.

"That was mine." Mabel hiccuped rather loudly, giggling a second later and even reaching for the cup even though it was empty.

"Mabel was just telling me how she decided to take me up on the offer to stay in my room, you know with you kicking her out and everything." Tad mused, reaching down and taking a piece of Mabel's hair to twirl between his fingers. "Isn't that right, Mabel?"

Mabel nodded drunkenly, giggling again when Tad twirled her hair. She took his hand away from her hair, but still nodded again and started trying to braid her own hair. She couldn't do much in her haze, but she did try her best.

"You're drunk." Bill stated, sighing slightly. "Come on, you can stay in my bed tonight."

"And then I'll stay with Tad!" Mabel declared, dissolving once more into giggles as Tad had to cover his mouth to stop his laughter.

"That's right, I mean you don't have anywhere else to go." Tad reassured, patting Mabel on the head like a puppy.

"Okay, we will talk about this in the morning." Bill said, setting the cup on the ground where it would probably sit there for way too long before someone would bring it down, but that didn't matter right now.

"Aw, bu-but Bill," Mabel hiccuped a little, reaching out and taking his arm, which Bill had no problems with, "I mean captain!"

She gave him a mock salute, which Bill really didn't want to admit was as adorable as she probably thought it was, sighing and scooping Mabel into his arms. She made a noise at the sudden movement, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. To her, the world was spinning.

"We'll talk about this later, Tad." Bill muttered, giving Tad a sharp look and carrying Mabel downstairs to his room. Really, where had he expected her to go? She couldn't very well go and stay with the rest of his crew without risking herself, and she couldn't very well stay with Tad. Maybe giving up his bed wasn't too bad of an idea.

Mabel was a slurring mess by the time he reached his room, close to just falling asleep against his chest and burying her face against him as well. There wasn't going to be any more alcohol for Mabel for a long time, not with the hangover she was going to be feeling in the morning.

Though this could be to his advantage. She wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon, and with how drunk she was, Mabel would no doubt that she would sleep through the whole day tomorrow. He placed her into bed, pulling the blanket over her and making sure she was fast asleep before he pulled away.

Sometimes, things just couldn't work out better for Bill Cipher.