Thassilion's Skin Care Routine.

Thassilion glanced up from his vanity, hearing someone come in.

The quick glance in the mirror was all he needed to recognize Opal bouncing in to see him. She crossed over to him, propping her elbows up onto the vanity table, making the different bottles and jars rattle.

“Brother dearest! You had promised to show me your skincare practice!”

The blonde man jumped from his sister startling him, he nodded and slid over on his bench to make space for her,

“Of course my flower, it is no small undertaking”

He ran his slender fingers through a strand of his golden mane, turning to Opal and bopping her nose,” But it does keep my skin feeling softer than silk.”

Mr. BelleRose carefully aligned the various jars, bottles, and sprays across the surface.

,“And you must do them in order”

Opal gave a quick nod to him, her cinnamon-brown eyes following where her brother’s hands would land.

“Then we had best get started! I was working with mother in the forge all day yesterday and oh it just always leaves one messy.”

Thassilion cringed hard at the thought of all the grime and sweat that one must acquire from working in the forge.

“Oui...tie your hair back my flower, it would be difficult to remove most of zis from your hair...now we will start with the exfoliant. Zis is my personal favourite, it is ground coffee beans in golden jojoba oil.” He carefully brought over a stout round jar and opened the lid.

The scrub could have passed for one of Billie's experiments, as it just looked like soggy coffee grounds dumped in a healthy amount of oil. Opal looked to Thassilion in confusion.

“Brother dear...What, ah, what does this do exactly?”

“My flower zis is to remove ze dead skin and oils from our faces. Zis clears ze way for 0everyzing else to work properly. Watch, and do as I do.”

Thassilion dipped his fingers into the jar and brought out a dollop of it across two of his fingers, rubbing the exfoliant in circles on each cheek, then one on his nose, one on his chin, and two on his forehead (one for either side of course).

Mrs. Hamilton watched very intently and nodded, dipping her fingers into the pot and she gasped quietly, “Oh my, its chilly…” she followed Thassilion’s example. Her fingers dripped a bit of the mixture here and there.

Thassilion looked to her and nodded gently,

“Oui oui. Now zen we have to remove it,”

Almost instinctively, he removed two small towels from hooks on the side of his vanity,

“With zese. I use them to remove the exfoliant, zen rinse zem.” he passed one of the little towels to Opal.

His sister nodded quickly, carefully wiping it off. However, before she could even come close to finishing this; Thassilion had one of the spray bottles out and was misting his face down with it.

Opal could smell it very faintly, it had a light floral scent and an even fainter scent of witch hazel. She squinted her eyes and coughed unexpectedly.

“Oh! Brother dear what is that?”

Thassilion looked to her with a light mist that looked of dew drops on his face,

“Zis is a toner. It helps to freshen up ze skin. This we leave on until it soaks in.”

”Zis one has Rosewater and Witch hazel in it. Zey balance each other well.”

Opal carefully took the glass heart-shaped bottle from her brother and paused. She considered asking him how much to use but, decided against asking a question that struck her as silly. Instead, the ship’s cook simply sprayed it all over her face, giving Thassilion a second coating in the meantime.

Thassilion took a subtle dab at his face with his sleeve and smiled to Opal.

“Oui, now we must let zis set in.”

There was a solid few knocks at the door and Thassilion sighed softly, “Come in.” his tone gave away that he was much less than thrilled to be getting interrupted during his routine.

Through the door, Leo entered.

As the tired Italian man entered, a child’s cries echo out from the nursery, it drew Opal's attention immediately.

"Oh dear...Thassilion I will be back, I believe that Oliver might be hungry....I will be back! I want to finish this Routine with you!"

She kissed his cheek and went bouncing off to take care of her little one.

Leo walked in as his wife passed him by. He was about to leave again, then paused, staring at Thassilion and what he had laid before him.

"What are you doing exactly?"

"Zis is my skin care routine."

Thassilion shook his head a little bit, his tone was annoyed and haughty. As if it should be obvious what he is doing. Leo took this as a personal offense to his intelligence, growling a little.

"Well I knew that! But like. Why the fu- the hell do you have so many steps I mean...You have three different jars that all say the same thing."

"Oui, because zey all have ze different properties. Not say you would understand with your dry unkempt hair and your...How do you say, oily and dry skin."

He clicked his tongue, his yellow and blue eyes looked Leo over,

"You are ze...Paradox of skin."

Mr. Hamilton started feeling quite angry about this and stood his ground in the doorway, hands balled into fists.

"You're ridiculous, no one, and I mean No One does this much stuff to their skin. How do you have time to even get anything done? Y'know what, whatever. Cin and Thomas want you. Don't ask why, they wouldn't tell me." Leo huffed as he left the room, certainly heading back to his study to continue his work on his current story.

With that, the Frenchman scrunched his nose and poked his head out of the room, shouting down to Leo’s study,

"Ah, oui perhaps zey have real questions about how I take care of myself!"

To this, Leo stuck his hand out from his study, a certain finger raised up to Thassilion’s general direction. Thassilion huffed, getting flustered by his brother in-law’s rude behavior. He turned around to head to his parent’s room, nose in the air until he reached the door and knocked gently.

Thomas had opened the door, his dull grey-blue eyes full of love.

"Aye! Thassilon we wanted tah as' ye abou-" with that Thomas got cut off.

Thassilion’s one-track mind betraying him, "Oui out, my routine.."

He breezed over to his mother Cin, plopping onto the bed. He began petting her hair, humming softly to himself,

"Ah mother you ave ze very smooth and..Silky hair...You must take very good care of it oui? Ze conditioner and ze moisturizing spray. Tre bien!"

Cin paused, staring down at her son for a moment, mild confusion in her blue eyes. Her deep voice muttered, "No...I wash it with soap, then I rinse it. And then I dry it. Nothing else."

Thassilon’s jaw dropped at this for a full moment, he looked at his mother with shock.

"You have been blessed by les dieux des cheveux! You are very lucky…" he sighed wistfully.

"Although your skin is so rough...zis is not bad but you could have ze soft..Smooth skin to match your hair, non?"

"Soft skin is easier to cut. I prefer it rough. Acts like armor."

Thassilion blinked at this and nodded slowly, he twitched his nose slightly. He got up and smiled sweetly at his mother as she return back to craving a little wooden creature.

"Ah...Oui yes...Ah father! Allow me to see what the condition of you is."

Thomas watched Thassilion as he circled him, his hands behind his back as he did so. The Welshman decided to humor his eldest child for the time being.

"Aye alrigh an' wha's mah diagnosis..?"

Thassilion frowned a little, taking Thomas’s paw and giving him a bit of a feel. Then his attention shifted to the wavy salt and pepper hair of his father, running his well-trimmed fingernails through his hair.

"Your skin is not as rough as mothers...But your hair is very…" he paused for a moment

"Dry. Not ze breakable though so. Zat is good! Oui oui allow me to do we care for you."

From this, Thassilion produced one of his smaller bottles out of his pockets. He shook some of the product onto his hand, rubbing it thoroughly between his hands

"Zis is like ze lotion but for your hair. You rub it in at ze roots, zen leave it to keep ze hair feeling soft and healthy!" He cheerfully explained as he rubbed it into his father's scalp.

Thomas was not entirely a fan of the slightly greasy feeling on his head, however he waited it out until Thassilion was finished.

"And zere we are! All ze taken care of! Here here, I more of zis on my vanity. You use zis once a day, oui?"

The Frenchman seemed absolutely thrilled that his father had let him help.

"Aye thank ye Thassilion...It certainly feels... interestin. Now I don' wan' tah be rude bu' yer ma an' have gotta finish discussin our plans fer teh nex' port. We wan’ teh check on ye, see if yer holdin’ ok..”

Thassilion felt a bit defeated at this. He let out a sad chuckle and said through a tight-lipped smile.

"Ah, oui oui of course. You both stay safe, I will be out and about if you any more of ze questions." He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Pausing on the deck, feeling the cool sea air on his skin, Thassilion took a deep breath in,

"Ah ze ocean air…"

As he cleared his mind, that was when the idea struck him to try to teach Phillip and Toby.

Partly because he wanted to, and partly to spite Leo. A new goal in mind, he set off towards the nursery, headset on teaching these boys how to take care of themselves.

Phillip and Toby were reading together in the nursery, it was part of their "independent work" for their studies. They both knew that this really meant that Leo needed time to cool off from whatever was bothering him this time.

Thassilion strolled into the nursery, a place he never would be caught going into. His attention turn to the young boys.

"Oui! Brother, Phillip, let me teach you somezing." And without a word of confirmation from either of them Thassilion took out his small jars of exfoliants, cleansers, and creams and set them all out on the floor in front of the boys.

Toby carefully marked the page they were on and set the book aside, confused as to what exactly was going on. The ginger 11 year old figured it would be best to just...Go along with it for now. Phillip, on the other hand, was feeling rather grumpy about having his time with Toby interrupted. As Thassilion set out what seemed like a million jars, Pip began to zone out. Staring off into the distance, in Thassilion's direction.

Both boys were just amazed at how many jars Thassilion was carrying on his person at one time.

"Ze exfoliant has some very small rough things in it. Like ze coffee grounds, and this helps it to take off the layers of dead skin…" he trailed on.

"Ze cleanser removes ze dirt in ze gentle way for your skin but ze very rough and mean way to be dirt…" he still continued on.

"and finally ze cream. Zis is what keeps ze skin smooth and soft like silk. It is ze key final step to keeping your skin clear and clean."

He reached over to adjust something on the shelf that looked about to fall. In doing this he noticed that Phillip was not actually looking at him. Thassilion clapped his hands and then rested them on his hips in a sassy fashion.

"Phillip! Ave you been listening at all? Zis is very valuable information."

Phillip snapped out of his trance, "Uh yes! Of course Uncle Thass you were telling us about…" he blinked, unable to read French on the jars in front of him, "About uh these wonderful jars!"

Thassilion scrunched up his nose, "Non, zat is not what I was telling ze two of you about."

Toby shook his head, "This is a lot, Thass......Why would you need to do all that stuff? Yeah you need to like...Wash with soap but...This seems like a lot."

The ginger was disgruntled at his older brother’s attitude towards his best friend, with a sassy stance to rival Thassilion’s stance.

"Besides, we didn't ask you to teach us this stuff."

Thassilion quickly gathers his jars, nearly dropping them a few times in his haste. He looked at both older children. A pointed offended look stuck on his face.

"Oui zen you will not come crying to me when you have ze acne during puberty." He shook his head, "You boys will ba happy to know all of zis some day!"

His determination was starting to wear a bit thin as he faced repeated rejection for what he wanted to teach. This was one of his passions. He paused and considered who would be willing to listen to him and he shrugged a little.

Pondering about who was left on the ship he suddenly remembered like a lighting strike to his brain, "Ze doctor and Captain!" He sped off to the Captain's quarters as quick as a cat high on catnip.

He knocked very rapidly on the Captain's door and then waited patiently for the door to get opened. He was determined to give it his all this time.

The Captain looked to the door, then stood to open it, his coat swished behind him from side to side as he strode to the door and opened it,

"Mmm? Thassilion..What can I help you with..?"

Thassilion walked in and started setting out the jars on the desk, "I am 'ere to tell you both about my skin care routine. Oui?"

Captain Holmes took one look at Thassilion and could tell that he had been trying to do this all day. While he had no intention of holding back anything he had to say, he decided to let Thassiilon give his little speech to help him feel better. Dr. Johnathan on the other hand was less than thrilled about this hullabaloo that was now going on in his bedroom.

Yet, in his never ending British politeness he was most certainly not going to interrupt Thassilion, so he merely nodded to him.

"Well I am very interested to know what you have to say." He smiled to Thassilion gently, hoping that this would be quick over all.

.

Thassilion beamed happily, under the impression that he had finally found people that were genuinely interested in learning about his skin care routine. He got about half way in when the Captain spoke up.

"Thassilion I hate to interrupt, but why would you use that combination of ingredients. The oils can separate from everything else and that would result in clogged pores. You see for all of this I only have three very simple steps."

With this the captain stood and acquired his own skin routine from his nightstand.

"A mild exfoliant, a light and gentle cleanser, and finally, a simple lotion. Unscented and quick to absorb. I do this once a week."

He nodded, "The first two-" he was cut off by his husband smacking his arm.

"Be nice! Dear Thassilion is merely telling us what he does." John protested and shook his head. William blinked at his husband, then continued.

"As I was saying. The two exfoliants you showed me would cause skin irritation if used more than maybe every two weeks or so and that cleanser is more dying that your cream is moisturizing. All in all not bad so far, but could do with some improvements."

"Ze skin gets used to how you treat it. Zat is what you do, zough I would suggest zat you add in a cream anyways. Help keep ze skin springy and...Fresh…" he did not want to say "young".

He nodded with finality, "As I was saying…" he trailed on to continue explaining the final steps of his routine.

By the end of it Jonathan quite thought it could have ended when Captain William had made his comment. However, he just nodded along patiently the whole time once Thassilion wrapped everything up.

"Yes yes that was truly fascinating and very educational. If I have any further inquiries I assure you I will go to you first.." he smiled a little bit tightly.

Thassilion could read his audience well enough to know that neither the Captain, nor ‘The Good Doctor’, were particularly interested at this point. He nodded gently, packing up his supplies again.

"Oui...I will be happy to assist you with anything zat you should need on zis front. Zank you for listening.."

The Frenchman’s disposition was one of disappointment, he sighed and walked back out of the room. “Perhaps Opal does not want to know either…” He pondered as he slowly trudged back to his room. His heart was heavy in his chest as he slumped down at his vanity.

However, after a few moments of him sitting there, Opal came back into the room, looking chipper as ever.

"Thassilion! I'm so sorry it took so long, first Oliver needed fed, then changed, then Billie had run off and I had to find her and- Are you alright..?" She blinked and slid into the seat next to her brother.

"What's happened..?" She mewled to him as she nuzzled into him, much like a cat would.

"It was nozing my flower….You do not have to be here if you do not wish to be...You may leave if you have ozer business to attend to.." he looked over to her, still very hopeful that she would stay and let him finish running through the rest of the routine with her.

Opal paused, then shook her head, "I am all yours!" She purred, "Now...What comes after the spray again?"

Thassilion perked up with this and started resetting out all his jars and products to take care of himself and his sister.

Cookie Caper, Issue 2#

It was a couple of days after the events of Barcelona, the crew was recovering from that event day. Thassilion was on the mend, still bedridden, thanks to the doctor’s orders.

The children were left to their own devices as their parents fulfilled their duties on board. In the nursery, the two toddlers were setting up wooden blocks with great disinterest.

Billie nudged Kit, "Les get cookies!!"

Kit grinned at her, nodding in agreement as she looked up to the older blonde toddler. Billie looked around, smirking,

" Kit, we we got be sneak...." She squeaked with a strange serious tone to her voice.

Billie began toddling nursery out of the nursery. Kit nodded and bounced after her, grinning wildly. She paused, turning to the coppered haired little girl, whining,

"Kit kit, we gotta be real real sneak."

Kit nodded quickly, "I gotcha, real sneak…”

She nodded firm and moved from hiding corner to hiding corner, pretending she was a spy. In Billie’s mind, she was on a top-secret mission, believing herself to be sneaking around the British Government.

She was not at all being subtle about sneaking around the ship.

Kit was following suit, but being a little bit more successfully sneaky

Both toddlers rolled along the floor to the barrel that was 10 feet away. The pair got strange looks from Pip who watched them. Billie’s oldest brother walked over to the barrel and peered around at them,

"What are you doing??" He blinked and furrowed his brows.

Kit hissed, "Sneaking! Shhh!!”

Billie stuck her tongue out and rolled away behind the barrel, Kit scrambled after her.

Pip rolled his eyes and kept going on his way.

Billie panted," That close..."

She wiped imaginary sweat from her brow and looked at Kit.

Kit nodded and squeaked, "Too close!"

She nodded in agreement with the younger girl, looking at the kitchen.

Mrs. Hamilton was busy bustling around in the kitchen. A warm folksy smell emerged from the doorway. She was dicing carrots, cabbage, potatoes for the stew she was making. Her golden blonde hair was tied in a messy bun.

Kit nudged Billie and held a finger to her lips,

"Extra Sneak."

Billie nodded and crept into the kitchen, crawling behind the clothed kitchen bench. She began waving her hand to have Kit follow. Kit nodded and snuck over, almost tripping

Her eyes widened as she held her breath.

Opal turned around, humming to herself, moving to pass the girls into the pantry. Kit covered her mouth and looked to Billie. Meticulously, Kit managed to run to where Billie was hiding.

" Careful." Billie whispered.

The two little bandits managed to shimmy up onto the countertop. Kit was on look-out duty, while Billie began to try and raid the cupboards. Not even 5 minutes into their endeavor, Kit nudged her when Opal started to turn around,

"Billie!!"

Billie looked over and shrieked as Opal caught them.

"Babies! What are you doing?"

The cat-like mother rushed over with the speed of light.

Opal scooped them both up,

" Girls! What in love’s name are you doing?" She rose her brow to the crafty tots.

Billie mewled loudly.

"Mama!"

Kit whined softly,

"N-nothin.."

She looked up to Opal with big milky blue eyes.

Opal looked at both of them and frowned seeing two of the cupboards open. She set them down on the kitchen bench,

" What are you two looking for, sweetheart?'

Billie huffed, "nothin."

"She might know.." Kit whined softly and looked to Billie.

The stubborn Hamilton girl pouted, she begrudgingly took her mother’s help,

"...Cookies!"

The woman looked to the younger girl and smiled warmly, purring,

" Oh, girls, why didn't you tell me?'

Kit blinked up at her with big eyes, offering up an explanation,

"Cause we wanna be sneaky…?"

Her heart melted," Oh I see-" she paused and giggled," I don't see I suppose..."

She bent down to the two,

" I will give you each a cookie if you go get your father for me...he's been working..."

Opal set both onto the ground. She booped Billie's nose and ruffled Kit's hair.

Kit nodded quickly and grabbed Billie's hand, running off with impressive speed for a 2-year-old. Both ran to the other side of the ship, bouncing down the steps into the common room, and down the North hallway. The children stopped at Mr. Hamilton’s study.

Billie lifted Kit to reach the doorknob, fortunately for the pair, the door was unlocked. The girls tumbled in with very little grace.

Leo’s daughter toddled to him and hugged his leg,

" Papa papa!"

Her father looked to the girls,

"What do you want..?”

He held his quill in his rough hand, his glasses pushed down to the tip of his nose. The poor man looked to be in horrid conditions, he clearly had not slept very well or bathed, in 3 days.

Kit looked up to Alexander, "C'mon!!"

Billie whined, tugging at his trousers," Papa! C'mon!" She started yanking at him, causing his trousers to slide down a little bit.

Leo pulled them back up, "Billie! Alright alright...I just need to finish this page.."

Kit whined and looked up to him.

"No! Mama wants you now!" The little blonde girl squealed and crawled up onto his lap and grabbed for his quill. He huffed and pulled the quill away,

"Billie, I need to finish this page! I'll be right there"

She growled and squinted at him and then at the page, there were only a few words on the page. Billie wrinkles her nose and hissed,

"C'mon Kit."

Leo blinked, "Billie there aren't many words on a page of a children's book!"

"I leave! And and and you sorry!"

Billie huffed and climbed down from his desk. Mr. Hamilton picked her up again and set her on his lap,

"No no no.."

The little child screeched and kicked around. It was late in the afternoon and she had yet to take her nap. She squirmed in his lap as she tried to climb out,

" Get gammy!!!" She barked at Kit

Kit whined and ran off.

Cin was in the forge, sharpening a sword. The fire in the forge was dying out, it crackled against the splintering wood. The sweat glistened off of Cin’s biceps, her long straight black hair was messily braided.

The little copper-haired girl ran in, "Mama!"

The forge master’s piercing blue eyes looked at the small girl,

"Jä? What?'

“Billie tell me to to get you!"

Cin paused and got up, setting her sword on her workbench. She swooped up the child.

"Where am I going?' She asked, a little annoyed.

Kit nuzzled into Cin, explaining as best as a 2-year-old could,

“uh uh uh Billie’s papa. Billie’s mama wants me and Bille to get him..but he being stinky..”

Cin rubbed her back and growled," I see." She stalked over to Alex's office and shouted,

“LEO!!!”

After a while of kicking and squirming, Billie stopped and huffed, slumping against Leo’s stomach.

Leo jumped and thankfully yanked his quill sway from the paper, "What?!"

"Outside!" She snarled loudly, setting Kit on the ground. The wolf-like woman marched over to the stairs of the common room. Billie bounced off of his stomach and ran out to get Kit.

Leo growled, rubbing his index finger and thumb along the bridge of his nose,

"It is THREE WORDS AND I’LL GO TO OPAL"

The 6'9ft woman with raven black hair growled and threw open the door and went in there.

"Let’s leave!" Billie squealed, tugging Kit along.

The two little girls fled up the steps and to the other side of the ship. They ran across the deck back towards the kitchen, blindly knocking into Toby and Thomas on their way.

Thomas smiled a little, looking down at the girls,

"And where are you two runnin’ off tah?"

Toby frowned as he hopped over a canon, seeing his little sister,

"Kit, what are you doing? The captain doesn't like it when you two-run.”

"We on trip!" Billie squeaked, rubbing her head a little.

"Aye a trip?" Mr. Holmes mused.

Kit looked to Billie and nodded, "a trip yeah!"

The blonde girl nodded, she paused and looked around," Do do you see any cookie?"

Thomas chuckled slightly, shuffling past his son to pick up his daughter and his granddaughter scooped Billie up, "Lookin for cookies are ye?"

"Uh uh uh ye.. Ganpa…” squeaked the 3-year-old.

Thomas nodded gently, "Let's find you both some.."

Billie and Kit squeaked excitedly as Toby pouted.

"Pa, what about the canons?' Toby huffed

Thomas nodded gently, "Aye kno, but tha cannons don' jus walk away, won't take a minute to get these two settle..”

Thomas took the girls to the kitchen, with Toby following behind him and grumbled loudly.

Opal looked at her father and purred,

" Mhm! Father, you're just in time!"

She bounced over and held a spoon of soup to his mouth. Opal’s father was bewildered for a minute with the steaming spoon pushing against his lips. He smiled tiredly and took a sip,

"Mmm! Tat’s real lovel’h Opal."

Opal beamed excitedly," I think it needs a bit of salt- perhaps some parsley....or more carrot."

She looked to the girls and purred,

"Billie, have you gotten your father"

Thomas blinked, "I saw yer mothe’a go over te his study.”

The blonde woman frowned and then panicked,

" Oh... Watch the stew, father!"

He sighed gently and nodded as he set the girls down,

"Ay'll keep an eye on it! Don take too long!"

The greying man looked to Toby with an apologetic smile. The ginger 11-year-old was fuming in the corner, his arms knitted in a pout. He gritted his teeth, huffing deeply. Opal rushed over to Leo's study.

The girls went to work, they began to tear the kitchen apart looking for the cookies. Both worked quickly to keep every nook and inch of the kitchen, they couldn't even find the empty jar of cookies.

"Where the cookie?!?!"

Billie grunted, pushing over a jar of nuts with no regard. The jar shattered as Billie tossed things out, she sat on the counter and huffed. Toby jumped, snapping out of his daze, he growled.

" No! Don't be a brat!!!"

Thomas stormed over and tossed her over his shoulder,

"Billie!"

Billie squeaked being held over Thomas's shoulders. "Ganpa!"

Toby sighed and looked to Kit, grabbing her off of the counter.

Thomas sighed as he held Billie over his shoulder.

Kit whined softly. Billie's eyes widen as she saw the Captain standing in the doorway and holding the cookie jar, he had the biggest smirk on his face.

Thomas turned to William, "Captain.."

He raised a brow, "Mmm yes?"

The little blonde girl was fuming really angry, she looked at the captain with such hate as only a little 3 year old could. Captain William was stoned face to Thomas, he set the jar back where it belongs,

"Yes, Cannon Master Thomas..?"

Thomas sighed, "Did ye happen to hear wat was goin on in Leo's office?"

The blonde girl nodded towards the jar to Kit and rose her brows, motioning for her to grab it. Kit whined and shook her head. She gritted her teeth, squirming around,

" Ganpa! Down down!"

Thomas growled and patting her back,

"Billie...yer are in trouble young lady."

Captain William raised a brow and cleared his throat, "Mr. Thomas. Consider having Billie clean the mess she made up."

Billie huffed glaring at the captain as she squirmed down to the ground, running out with Kit. William mused softly, shrugging a little, "No Thomas, I have not seen what went on.”

get back to your cannons I'll watch the stew."

The little blonde toddler panted as she wiped her forehead dramatically," That close."

Little did the small children know, the captain was behind them.

Captain William smirked and cleared his throat,

"Billie, Kit."

Both children jumped about eight feet into the air, scared from the captain’s magical appearance. Kit squeaked and jumped around quickly, "C-captain!"

Captain Holmes chuckled softly, "Mmm Billie. Come with me for a moment.”

"Why boss man...?"

She whined and looked at him, chewing on her lip. He raised a brow,

"Billie come. You are not in trouble."

Little Billie Hamilton toddled over to him and grabbed his hand as gently as she could.

“Boss man....?" She asked as he leaned down to hold her hand.

Captain Holmes didn’t answer, he went on walking to the Captain’s quarters. He opened the door and led the toddler inside. He turns to her with a massive grin on his face.

"Billie...If you're going to be sneaky like that you've got to be better at it'

" W...whaaaaa?” She looked up at him

"Billie, little gremlin. I knew what you were trying to do. Try again if you will but be more careful."

Her eyes widen," You magic..." She gasped with childlike wonder. William winked to her as he set her onto the desk

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll see." He mused.

The young girl’s eyes followed the Captain as he glided about his cabin, looking for something,

“ You magic..." She repeated

William shrugged gently to himself, very amused. He called out from behind a mirror.

"Is that what you think little one?"

"Y....yeah!" She squeaked, looking over his maps and coins. Captain Holmes came back around from the mirror, producing the jar of cookies. He stalked back over towards his desk, jar resting it in his arms,

"And why is that?"

Her eyes were glued on the cookies,

"Cause you you, you Bossman. You gotta be magic."

"Is that so..?"

Billie nodded and yawned, rubbing her eyes as she cuddled into him. William looked to the cookie jar and chuckled to himself, setting it on his desk. The Captain hummed gently and kissed her head,

"Mmm well then let's lie you down for a magical nap "

She whined as she muttered," I don't wanna nap.." her eyelids grew heavier.

The Captain hummed gently and carried her to the nursery. He held her close to his chest as he ducked to walk down the stairs. Billie protested weakly, half-awake as she wiggled a little

" Nooooooo....not sleepy...Bossman..."

"Well you're not in bed are you little one?"

Her eyes shut as she cuddled into his shoulder

" Mhmm..."

Mr. Thomas was already in the nursery laying Kit to sleep. The Welshman kissed her head gently, signing softly to her as he slowly knelt down.

The Captain smiled softly and kissed Billie’s head gently as he laid her down.

Billie curled up in the bunk and cuddled up into her blanket, after being tucked into bed.

Once both girls were fast asleep, Toby looked to Captain Holmes as he walked out.

"Captain! Captain!" He whispered

Mr. Holmes paused and looked to him, "Mmm?”

"ARE you really magic...?" He looked up at the old grey-haired man.

William paused and smiled a little, "Mm what do you think young Toby?"

Toby furrowed his brows, shrugging,' You look like a normal man to me..."

Captain William Holmes knelt to him, "Mm anyone can be magic, you dig deep enough." He winked to Toby and there was almost a literal light behind his eyes for a moment, "Sleep tight little one."

The ginger boy’s eyes widened as he walked the tall lanky Captain walk away. He crawled into bed and smiled to himself," He is magic...."

A Ship Full of Bakers.

It was a peaceful afternoon on the ship.

Opal had decided to make her seasonal favorite recipe; Pumpkin Bites. She had made up in her mind that Leo was going to help her.

Her plan to rope him into this adventure was to fairly heavily tease him with that was to come afterward.

Opal huffed softly at the rather crude comment Leo had made, “Leo…”

Leo smirked as he stepped away to grab a bowl and sack of sugar for her,

"Mmm yes my lovely Opal dear?” He eyed over his wife with a tomcat smirk.

The blonde baker chuckled at him, "Naughty.." she knew damn well where her husband’s eyes were. It was not on the bowl he was failing to pick up.

He gave her big, innocent eyes,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

His voice was playful as he finally got his hand onto the sack itself and grabbed it. He tugged the heavy sack of cane sugar over to his wife.

She smirked and crossed her arms,

" Mhmm fetch the bowl now dear." she shook her head a little, tutting at him.

He huffed slightly and brought the bowl over, giving her a coy smirk, "I love you~" he purred into her ear.

Opal purred loudly to Leo and kissed his head gently when he had finally retrieved the bowl,

"Fetch the butter and eggs as well, will you darling?"

She was determined to keep him as focused as possible on the task at hand.

Figuring her dearest husband could handle the relatively simple errand she turned back to the spice mix she had in the bowl, she had developed it herself and was very proud of it.

Leo nodded, as he walked across the kitchen his eyes stayed fixed on Opal as she bent over to grab her mortar and pestle.

The eggs and butter were possibly the furthest things from his mind. The lewd writer did manage to tear his eyes away from her orange silken dress for long enough to gather the butter and eggs, though the gaze of Mr. Hamilton quickly returned to his wife.

Opal, still with her back to Leo purred happily,

"Oh isn't this wonderful Leo? Oh! We should bring the children in so they can help too!"

She was blissfully unaware of Leo’s wandering eyes as she focused on evenly blending the spices.

He smiled gently and set down the ingredients on the counter,

"I think that's a brilliant idea love…”

He paused for a split second, remorseful to give up any time with Opal, then offered, “'I’ll go get them for us." He gave her a snug squeeze before he went to leave the kitchen.

Opal jumped and blushed, "Darling!"

She went to give him a pat on the cheek, hitting him a bit harder than intended.

"Go on now! Quick Quick!”

Leo was all too eager to repay the favor and gave a resounding smack onto Opal rear which made her jump and blush harshly, "Oh, Leo!"

He gave his wife a haughty smirk and wink as he left the kitchen.

Leo stepped out onto the deck of the ship, considering which little ones to retrieve first. Then after a moment’s consideration, he left tot he nursery to pick up the two youngest first.

He located Oliver first, he was not that challenging to find as he is only a baby. With a nod his youngest he ventured further into the nursery in search of Billie.

Billie was to be found atop the dresser in the playroom that contained the children play clothes, how such a small child had climbed up there was beyond Leo,

“Billie! Come on down, mama’s baking and she wants your help.”

Billie turned in her Gremlin-like pose, “What mama baking?”

It seemed as though she was weighing the advantages of helping, versus staying on her perch and plotting whatever her small child mind had created.

Leo sighed softly, very sure of the response he would receive upon telling her what was being made,

“Mama is making her pumpkin bites Billie, like las-”

He was cut off by an excited shriek that anyone unfamiliar to the child may have thought to be some unearthly creature.

After her screech, Billie leaped down from her perch onto her father scrambling up to his shoulders,

“We go NOW!”

Once Leo had recovered from the aerial attack by his second youngest. He started to regret not coercing Phillip into wrangling Billie as he walked out to the main room and scooped Oliver up in his arms as well.

On the way back to the kitchen Billie let out another screech,

“K I T!!”

Not moments later, her young friend was clung to Leo’s leg. The poor man nearly tripped, which caused Billie to release another shrill howl, but also Oliver to squeal loudly as Leo regained his footing.

Eventually, Leo made it to the kitchen once more, where Billie launched herself off his shoulders and onto the table, bouncing around chanting “Punkin Bites!”

Kit carefully climbed the leg she had been residing on and stood a few steps back from Opal so as not to get in the way.

Opal spun around excitedly upon hearing the little ones arrive,

“Billie, Kit, Oliver! Oh lovely! Only three more and then we will have all the babies!”

She cooed and handed Billie a bowl, “

Now little one, mama needs you to hold this as hard and tight as you can, because Kit is going to help mix!”

Billie huffed, “I Wanna mix.”

The bubbly woman nodded, “I know Billie dear but, you mixed last time, so now it is Kit’s turn.” with that she lifted Kit up to the table and handed her a spoon.

As the two girls were sorted, Leo buckled Oliver into his baby chair, he nodded in approval at his handy work. He slipped out to retrieve the three oldest children of the ship, he figured the older children would be less difficult to gather, so long as Newt was not reading.

After a while of looking, Leo had found Phillip and Toby! Yet no Newt yet.

Due to this, he enlisted the boys’ help to find the last of the children on the ship.

Newt had several places he liked hiding out all around the ship, which could make him difficult to hunt down.

Toby and Pip had set off to search the upper deck, and did they not find him; they were to go to Opal anyway. Leo searched the lower decks which included three of Newt’s reading spots.

Leo rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the dark underside of the ship. He sighed gently, strongly suspecting Newt was at the furthest hiding spot. Despite his instinct, he checked every single place where his son was known to hide, under one of the blankets, behind a cabinet, and then finally at the far end of the ship, he found Newt.

Newt thought the furthest spot was the best because, he was usually left undisturbed. The boy hid in the side opening of a long broken barrel.

Mr. Hamilton called for him, as much as he hated to admit it, he did not know where the hiding place was specifically, he just knew that it was in the far storage room,

“Newt! Newt! Mama is baking and she wants your help! I know you’re probably reading but, it would mean a lot to her if you would come with me to the kitchen, I’ve found all of the grem- I mean your siblings and their friends…” he squinted into the darkroom.

Newt paused and considered, his little brows furrowed in quizzical manner. He had just finished the page he was on.

The young lanky boy nodded slowly to himself and quietly blew out the candle he had with him and very cautiously made his way out of his hiding spot.

Newt thought that no one knew where this spot of his was, and he was almost correct. None but, the Captain knew.

Leo watched as Newt emerged from the pile of barrels and boxes and nodded to him,

“Let’s go pa.”

Leo couldn’t help but smile, “Thank you Newt, you know how much her baking means to her..”

His father took Newt’s hand as they both made their way back up to the deck.

Phillip and Toby arrived at the kitchen before Leo and Newt did, as they had an easier search. Toby walked in and up to Opal, who had settled Oliver back in his chair once more,

“Mrs. Hamilton? You wanted us..?”

Opal jumped and turned quickly, “Oh Toby! Yes dear, I have been making pumpkin bites and I wanted to let all of the little ones help!”

She smiled happily, looking around,

“Pip baby boy, where is your brother?”

Phillip blushed hard and grumbled,

“I’m not a baby. And I don’t know he wasn’t on the deck where we were looking.. I think pa’s probably going to find him downstairs in his hiding spot..”

Opal blinked, nodding a little bit, “Well since I have the both of you here I need your help with measuring and pouring all the wet ingredients. Billie and Kit mixed up the dry ones all ready!”

The older boys followed all her instructions as best they could while Opal wiped up the powder that had gotten knocked out of Billie and Kits bowl,

“Once we have all the ingredients mixed up, we can all mix the dry and wet ingredients together by taking turns, and then we shape them and into the oven they go!” She cooed happily.

By the time Phillip and Toby had all the wet bits mixed up together, Leo walked in with Newt.

“We have all of them!”

He smirked, rather proud of himself for rounding up all the children on the ship.

Opal popped over to him and kissed his cheek,

“Lovely! Then we can let Newt have the first go at mixing everything together!”

She cooed as she picked up Newt, setting him up on a chair so he could mix the bowls together on the counter.

As each of the little ones took their turns, the mess in the bowl slowly but, surely formed into a an orange dough. Opal beamed happily as her hands flapped from excitement,

“It’s ready for us all to make our pumpkin bites! I made enough that everyone can shape two of them!” She beamed happily

Billie immediately dug her little goblin hands into the dough and pulled out an amorphous chunk, she split this in half and set both halves onto the baking sheet as they were and grinned.

Kit tried her best to make little ball shapes but, her’s ended up more like ovals. Phillip, Toby, and Newt all made roughly spherical shapes.

Leo “helped” Oliver make his, then finally Opal and Leo formed two each for a total of 16 pumpkin bites, which perfectly filled the baking tray.

Opal set the tray into the oven and squealed happily,

“They just all look so wonderful! Thank you little ones for all your help with this batch!” She was grinning ear to ear at all the kids,

“And a special thanks to Leo, my love, for rounding up all the little bakers of the ship.”

Opal gave him a big kiss.

Leo kissed her back happily and nodded,

“Mm the bakers of the Baker.” he chuckled softly and held her close.

“Alright little ones, we’ll come and get you when the pumpkin bites are ready to eat.” Mr. Hamilton waved away the children, who all dispersed back across the ship.

Leo grinned to Opal and held her close to him, giving her another firm squeeze,

“I think I know how we can keep busy till the cookies are done~”

Opal blushed harshly at this, “Oh Leo!~” she purred to him.