XVI - Sleepless in Amnesty Bay

It was a restless and sleepless night.

During his own nights like this as a child, Orm could always count on his mother coming to comfort him. Not anymore. He couldn't count on anything anymore.

He awoke disoriented and momentarily forgot where he was. There was a dim light ahead of him - Tatiana was sitting at the table cupping a steaming mug in her hands, not looking like she was faring much better than he was.

She noticed when he stirred. "Oh hello. I'm sorry I woke you."

"No need to apologize. Is the storm keeping you awake?"

"Yes." That was when he noticed she was shaking. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and yet she was still shaking, and clearly not from the cold. "Every time I closed my eyes all I could see was the thrashing waves, sucking the boat further from the docks... I was really scared."

"Understandable. Humans are delicate in water."

"That's one way to put it. And he wouldn't listen to me, even when I said I wanted to go back to the docks. I trusted him-"

"And he betrayed that trust," he finished.

She nodded. There was a pause, then, "Can I have a hug?"

Her request rather shocked him. "Oh, um-"

"Sorry I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable-" she quickly said.

"No - please-" He opened his arms. Was he really about to embrace this surface dweller? Yes, yes he was. "It's been a while since I've had a hug from anyone."

"Maybe we both need one then."

Maybe she had a point.

And so he took her into his arms. He stood there awkwardly and stiffly as she tucked her small frame against his large, solid one. However, as soon as she melted into him, he melted into her, as though without the control of his body, and as though they fit perfectly together.

And then she was pulling away too quickly, leaving him feeling - cold? Empty? Certainly confused. "Thank you for that." She smiled, shyly almost.

"Of course." He was still trying to figure it out.

"I've been thinking about it and I think I should terminate my contract with Max's company, especially after what happened."

"I think that is a good idea."

"I don't want to see him anymore. Not as a coworker and certainly not as anything else."

"I think that, under the circumstances, that is a perfectly reasonable request. And if he cannot see that, then that is his problem, not yours."

She nodded. Then she looked up and fully met his gaze this time. "Thank you, for everything."

"It is the least I can do for you after the kindness and hospitality you've shown me." And honestly, he meant it. She had helped him more than she would probably ever know. "It's more than I deserve."

"Don't say that, it sounds like you've had a rough time lately."

Oh yes, the lie he had concocted. Well then, her kindess was certainly more than he deserved, tangling her up in his potentially-costly lie.

"I'm glad we met," she continued.

"Me too." The words came rushing out of him before his brain could catch up, but he found that he did not regret saying them. In fact, quite the opposite. He was glad to have said them.

"I'm glad we're friends."

"Yeah..." He had never really had a friend before, come to think of it. Sure there was Mera, they had grown up together, but they had been betrothed since they were children, so it wasn't really the same. This was different, and new, and, honestly, kind of terrifying.

And, while he hadn't had much experience with friendship, he knew you didn't lie to your friends.

The storm remained persistent. When morning finally came, the skies were dark and dreary. Orm joined Tatiana sitting on the front porch of her cottage watching the storm while covered by the roof.

"I've never experienced a storm from above-water," he admitted. "That's how my mother and her love met, during a storm. She washed up on shore, and he rescued her." Why these words fell from his lips he didn't know, but he had been thinking about his mother and her chosen husband a lot lately.

"Your father?" she ventured.

He scoffed. "No, my brother's father. Though I wish it had been mine. My mother didn't love him, and he didn't love her. He didn't love much, expect for himself."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He's gone now. It's in the past."

"And yet, he sill haunts you."

Normally, he would have snapped back at this. Normally, he would be against such openness in conversation and personal talk, especially with a surface dweller, no less. But her words were warm, gentle, genuine. She was genuinely curious and open and wanted to know, wanted to help him. He wasn't used to such kindness, and from almost a complete stranger. People had been agreeable to him because he demanded authority as their king, but few had been genuinely kind. Mera once was, when they were children, and perhaps Vulko too, but all was an act of a traitor.

"I thought my mother was dead, and I blamed him for it, my brother." Even he would rather talk about Arthur over Orvax any day. "I still blame him for all the years I lost without her."

She nodded. "He's stolen a lot from you. I hope he get's what he deserves."

She was right; just look at all Arthur had stolen from him. "Me too."

Phone number: blocked. Email: blocked. Social media wasn't a concern. Max Preston and his company were no longer her concern. And if Max ended up showing up at her door, she would just send Orm to greet him and scare him away. Hey, it had worked last time.

"Well, it's done," she announced. That problem may be dealt with, but now others loomed ahead. "I don't know what I'm going to do now about my research."

"Well that's what I'm here for, isn't it?" She looked so deflated, and he hoped to return some of her signature glow. "I'm sure I can be much more helpful than him and his company."

This made her chuckle and he took it as a win. "Okay, but I'm going to hold you to your word." Then she sighed, dimming again just as quickly. "And the research is only part of it – I have no idea where I'm going to cough up the funding that Max and his company were providing for me!" The realization of this suddenly dawned on her. Shit, she hadn't even thought of that part. No money meant no expeditions. No funding meant no work.

"Well, maybe I can help there, too." He reached behind the couch where he had stored his meager belongings and withdrew a brown sack. When he dropped it on the table in front of her, gold coins spilled out. He stared down at it proudly while she stared at it in shock and awe.

"Where did you get all this?"

Truthfully it had been part of what he was allowed to take with him for his sentence, not a lot, but enough to keep him afloat. "Well, I am the One True King," he proclaimed.

Now she was beaming, and laughing, and certainly glowing. "You are! Oh, you're a lifesaver!" She threw her arms around him - and then just as quickly drew away. "Oh, I'm sorry-"

He encircled her in his arms and pressed her to him once more. "Don't be."

Guess who's back?! ;) I apologize for abandoning this story, but now with the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom we are back in business! Gear up for lots and lots of Orm!

Thank you for your patience and for sticking with me! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)