The boatman watched in silence as the mass of fire began to peek over the horizon causing wavelengths of orange and red hues extended across the night sky, driving away the stars as it swept further and further into the unknown. The Morning rays fell from the sky like fire reaching from the heavens to alight the water below.
It was beautiful, a sight he had never grown tired of despite witnessing it millions of times before.
Reaching into his pocket, the elder man pulled out a cigar placing the tip of it within the corner of his lip as hands deafly searched for the matches he could of sworn he had only moments before. Yet they weren't; his pockets where suspiciously empty of the silver-plated match box his father had granted him within his youth.
Don't tell him Poppy had discovered those as we-
Ka-sshh.
He froze hearing the sound of a familiar friction caused by a chemical tip striking an abrasive surface, smelling the faint burning of wood from behind him. Taking a breath, Samuel turned on heel; facing an amused looking Royal Protector holding lite match in one hand and his silver matchbox in the other.
Right. He had forgotten about the others shifty hands, his habits of picking up everything and everything; even if it was in another's pockets. For a moment, Samuel pondered on wither or not to debate the man but the match was burning and he couldn't quite recall how many he had left within the box.
Leaning forward, the Boatman took a puff of his cigar causing the tip to lite as his other hand closed around Corvo's own and his matchbox. He didn't want to wish the man pocketing it after all- he still wasn't quite sure where everything the younger pocketed went, only that everything he did pocket was never seen again.
"I believe that's mine."
His gruff voice cut into the silence as he plucked the matchbox from the other's hands, shoving it deep into his beast pocket; only to catch slender wrists a moment later as the younger openly attempted to pluck it back out.
A snowy brow rose as if to ask 'really' as the boatman's mouth opened to verbally speak his disbelief before his mind froze, for the first time taking in exactly how close the they where.
Too close.
The boatman could feel every muscle in the younger's body with even the slightest of breathes, he could see every scar on the younger's face- every slight mar and indention caused by time's healing- with an extreme detail, he could feel the younger's scorching breath against his neck.
Samuel could practically hear the warning bells all but deafening him as they screeched inside his head when the younger titled his head slightly, leaning forward with clear intentions.
Too Close, Too God-Damn Close.
Letting go of the other's hands as though they where on fire, Samuel took a step back. Only to feel the back of his leg connect with the edge behind him.
Shit.
He could see dark eyes widening slight right before-
Splash!
"Samuel!"
The water was like ice, seeping through his clothes and into his bones in a matter of seconds. He stayed frozen for only a moment due to the shock caused by the sudden shift in his body temperature before old instincts surfaced and Samuel began to force his way back towards the surface.
As much as he loved the ocean, this wasn't his and only the Gods knew what lurked within its depts.
The thought alone must have tempted Fate as only seconds after it was born, Samuel could feel something wrap around his waist before he suddenly fount himself airborne; landing back inside the Amaranth II with a worried Royal Protector looming over him.
Hogsmeade was a picturesque little village of cottages and shops- thank God there actually was something else out there- though Samuel's favorite part of the village was Hog's Head; a rather small dirty, dingy Pub/Inn owned by an Aberforth Dumbledore.
Nothing quite warmed one's body and soul like a bottle of alcohol and good company. Though it helped Aberforth disliked his brother as much as Samuel and Corvo. Hell, even the Erland appeared to disliked the man- something Samuel had never quite seen before as the Deity appeared to find everyone entertaining to watch.
Speaking of Erland, Samuel couldn't help but wondered what the deity was currently up to.
In the headmasters office...
"Achoo!"
Erland couldn't help but scowl as another sneeze left him causing the bottle of laxative he was holding to completely tip over into the aged wizard's lemon drop instead of the few drops he had originally planned upon.
Opps... Oh well, it'd probably be more entertaining this way.
Back at The Hog's Head...
Eh, The deity was likely bored out of his mind without them nearby to harass. He was probably sulking about with nothing to do expect come up with new ways to be entertained. A shiver rushed down the Boatman's spine recalling the last time Erland had been left alone long enough to do so.
A bored Erland was a dangerous Erland, something his old Elite Unit- thirty of both the Marines and Seals best men- would gladly justify to. If one could speak with the souls of the Dead and the Damned that is.
Just recalling the way the leviathan had... Never mind, seems he's forgotten.
While watching the Professors and Headmaster attempt to change the lava back into a floor, the Outsider sadly shook his head. For a man who came to sea to forget, Samuel sure did attempt to remember a lot of things. His Boatman was lucky he was around to ensure the other never quite managed it.
A cheerful smile came to the deity's face as he heard a blood curling scream echoed in the distance of the castle, it seems he got someone after all. Now to see if they managed to survive.
He woke to a salty breeze and the sound of waves beating against the Amaranth II's hull. If one was to ask the aging boatman he would claim it the most relaxing sound in the world's history; as it never once failed to smooth his nerves and wary mind.
His Father once claimed it was because Samuel was born of the sea, a small miracle from its darkest depths that always sought his way back. Samuel had laughed then, in a way he supposed his Father was. The sea was his home, of where he was the safest and of where his physical body will likely die upon. It was his paradise; just him, the Amaranth and the body curled into him for warm-
Wait...
Body?
Emerald eyes flew open, quickly darting to the side to figure out who was intruding on his boat and his being only to pause as they met the sleeping face of the Royal Protector. Oh right... Another world, another Amaranth, and Corvo; Samuel had forgotten for a moment. He could of sworn he had laid Corvo on the other side of the Amaranth II though, yet there he was; curled into an old man like him with the boatman's jacket pulled over the both of them like a cover.
Samuel had half a mind to get up and move to the other side of the boat after taking his jacket and covering the younger with the blanket less then two feet away but to be honest, the boatman was rather comfortable and quite warm. Either way, what's to say moving wouldn't wake the younger? After Samuel first retrieved the man from the sewers of Coldridge; Corvo had woken to even the slightest of things: breathing, light steps up the stairs, a shift in the weather. He was a rather light sleeper who when woken always seemed to find his way outside and into Samuel's Huddle- a haunted look within those dark eyes as he attempted to hide from a threat that wasn't quite there.
The younger looked so peaceful now the Boatman fount himself wavering. Maybe, just this once; Samuel would allow it. They where well out of sight of both Hogsmeade and Hogwarts; No one would ever know.
Closing his eyes, Samuel aloud himself to drift back to sleep.
Everyone knew.
Samuel could feel the heat on his face as he quickly moved down the hallway towards the medical wing; his fingers clenching at his side with the urge to strangle the smug bastard walking next to him. How was he to know the Amaranth II would drift into Hogwarts' bay while they where asleep? How was he to know students would be relaxing on the shore as they drifted in? How was he to know Corvo would be the first to wake and start sprouting nonsense. Lovers? Falling asleep within each other's arms on a romantic boat ride?
Never happened.
Why was it so hard for anyone to believe that? Where the hell had Corvo got that nonsense from? What was romantic about two drunks managing to set theirselves adrift? Yet everyone believed the younger insistently- Samuel supposed it was apart of the younger's natural charm- while taking his denial as embarrassment.
Even McGonagall had smile knowingly- what was there to know- as Dumbledore's eyes had twinkled even brighter with a soft sigh of 'Young Love'. He wasn't young and he wasn't in love.
NOTHING HAPPENED!
He should have threw the younger overboard while he had the chance.
The Boatman paused- causing the Royal Protector to collide with his back- upon setting foot in the Medical Wing. The place was flooded, every bed and even mattresses on the floor covered with people from all three schools. Samuel could barely see a sliver of floor within the whole wing. Poor Poppy was running herself ragged attempting to attend to all her new fount patients at once with little success.
What the hell happened while they where gone?
The boatman had half a mind to step back out of the room and relocate himself to the library- all the while pretending he didn't see anything. It wasn't to be.
"Samuel!" Poppy had finally noticed them. "Where have you been? No, never mind that; Help me!"
He didn't even have a moment to protest before the Boatman fount himself being dragged into the room.
"I'm going to kill you."
Dark Wizard? Ha, Dark Wizard his arse. Samuel knew Erland's handiwork when he saw it.
"Now, Now, Samuel. Lets not do something you'd regret."
"Regret? Oh no, I'm going to enjoy every second of this. "
Considering the day he had, someone needed to pay and why the immortal deity? He was just as responsible as Corvo. Maybe when he was finished here, Samuel would hunt down said bastard and teach him a lesson as well. Then Dumbledore- The boatman wondered if anyone would blame him if the man happened to trip off the Astronomy Tower?
Now that he thought about it, this was all Dumbledore's fault wasn't it?
If the elderly wizard had left them alone; Samuel would be happily carting Emily across the sea while telling her stories most girls couldn't care less for, he'd enjoying the brief moments of life. Not trapped here in another world where even the sea felt different.
Maybe if they weren't here Corvo and Erland wouldn't- wouldn't what? A soft frown drifted onto the boatman's face before he shook his head hard enough to cause snowy bangs to fall out of place and into his eyes.
Never mind, he's forgotten again.
Watching his Boatman leave the room, The Outsider couldn't help but sigh in relief. That had been close, a few more moments and...Well he'd rather not think about it.