It was a few hours after dinner and the sun had set, leaving the sky twinkling with silver stars up above in the heavens.
Captain William finished his preparations with Doctor Jonathan for their port in Barcelona the next day. It was a very risky decision on the Captain’s part as this was decidedly not a pirate friendly port. He had no real say in the matter as it was an Order of the Sea Captains it was absolutely required. Needless to say, he was more stressed than usual about this porting.
“Johnathan..” He looked to his husband,” I am well aware that everything will turn out fine, should everything go according to plan however…”
Jonathan ceased laying out his clothes for the next morning and turned to face his husband,
“However we both know that nothing ever goes according to plan..”
The old doctor sighed softly as he closed the distance between himself and the Captain,
“My love there has yet to be something that can stop us, hm? What are the chances of this being the trip out that changes that?”
After a moment of consideration, the sharp grey-haired man nodded slowly,
“Assuming everyone keeps to their roles...roughly 45.7%...”
He paused,” Still under a majority but that is a notable chance.”
Jonathan leaned up onto his tiptoes and placed a gentle, loving kiss on William’s cheek,
“I meant that rhetorically love... The point was that it is more likely than not that everything will be fine.” he smiled to him gently,
“Now, you old sea dog, finish laying out your clothes for the morning.” he teased William with a wink. He went back to his own clothes.
The Captain turned his focus back to meticulously laying out each article of clothing he would put on in order from the first to the last. Socks, then pants, undershirt, shirt, trousers, vest, belt….no belt then vest, then shoes, scarf, coat, and finally his Captain’s hat. After triple-checking that everything was in order and in the proper state, he slowly spun around and watched Jonathan stack his clothes atop each other.
Jonathan’s outfit for the next day was carefully laid out so as not to wrinkle it, however, it was not laid out as carefully as the Captain’s. The order was not as clear and it showed one of the differences between them.
The sea doctor, while detail oriented, was significantly more practical in matters. The Captain was very detail-oriented and on occasion would forget the larger picture and lose himself in the fine details. Combined they balanced each other well.
Captain Holmes kissed his husband on the head, “I will do one last check on the crew love. Make sure they are all getting in order as well.” Mr. Wilton gave a nod to the captain as he left their quarters. William paused once the door had swung shut behind him, taking a moment to breathe in the cool air.
The first room he visited was that of Opal and Leo. Better to get them done first in case they should get wrapped up in……... other activities.
As the Captain approached the Hamilton's quarters he stopped and listened for a moment, nodding once he confirmed that they were still awake and available to speak with he knocked firmly on the door. The mattress squeaking and muffled murmuring stopped all at once.
Leo jumped, he was half-dressed in his pajamas, “Hang on!” he huffed and quickly got himself decent.
Opal squeaked, “We’re not decent!” she stumbled into her pajamas, fumbling a little as she got them on, then she bustled over to the door and opened it,
“Oh, Captain! Is there something the matter? This is awfully late for you to be awake.” she had genuine concern in her voice as she looked to the Captain.
William shook his head, “No no, nothing is wrong, Opal. I am just making rounds to see that everyone is properly prepared for tomorrow's port. I want to be sure that we are all prepared.”
Mr. Hamilton made his way over to the door, calling out.
“Mm we just got the children to bed...Had to hunt Billie and Phillip down but they are all in their beds now.”
Opal nodded, “Oh yes! The little ones are all down for the night now, we will be getting everything laid out for ourselves shortly.” She bounced eagerly, the idea of such a fancy port made Mrs. Hamilton very excited.
Captain William paused and looked over the two, perking a brow at them,
“Then I can assume you will be awake on time in the morning?”
He already knew that this would not be the case, as Opal was a very deep sleeper and was hardly roused by anything.
The short writer nodded to William,
“We will be awake and ready to go on time.”
His eyes had wandered to look over his wife and his mind quickly changed thought tracks.
Opal was seemingly oblivious to Leo’s long and raking look over her as she nodded to the Captain,
“Oh of course Grandfather William! Awake bright and early!” She beamed to him.
Mr. Holmes nodded slowly, “Then I had best let you both get rested. Do not forget your cover jobs.” he stepped back out and closed their door behind him.
The Captain took another deep breath of ocean air and then went to his daughter’s quarters. He made his way across the deck he kept his eyes and ears alert for anything unusual sound or movement. William looked over the door to Cin and Thomas’s quarters and nodded gently to himself, he knew he hardly had to check on them, but he always did anyway.
Thomas looked up as he heard the knock on the door, he was taking his hair down for the night as Cin was changing into her pajamas, “Aye, whose tah?”
Cin took about two steps to cross their room and she opened the door,
“Captain.”
Her ice-blue eyes looked down into her fathers,
“It is late.” she stepped out of the door frame, which she blocked with her tall frame of a body, letting William into their quarters.
Captain William nodded to her, “It is. I am checking in with each member of the crew to be sure that we are ready for port tomorrow. This will be a challenging one, however, it must be done.”
Thomas nodded and walked over, standing next to his wife,
“Aye, so long as we stick tah our roles ye gave us, I’ shoul’ be alrigh, aye?”
His warm gray sapphire eyes gazed at the captain as he leaned into his wife.
The contrast between the tall, muscular danish woman and the slightly shorter, gentler looking welsh cannon master was stark. Yet they seemed to be a perfect match.
The Captain nodded affirmingly to Mr. Thomas,
“Yes. so long as we all stick to our roles in every sense everything should work out tomorrow...All of us. Regardless of how we feel about the roles.”
This caused Cin to grumble softly, she was not one to uphold traditional femininity and her “role” for the next was very traditionally feminine,
“Ja. But we will not all be happy about it. Captain.”
The woman's stoic expression did not give away that she was far more anxious than she would care to admit about stopping in such an unfriendly port.
William gave an understanding nod to her,
“So long as they are upheld while in the public eye, we will all be fine. Remember, it is for the safety of the crew.”
Captain William was not the most socially adept person, he was trying very hard, in this case, to emphasize to Cin the importance of putting the crew’s safety before her own comfort.
Thomas bit his lip, his tongue running over his facial hair as he mentally resigned himself to his fate.
“Aye captain, we’ll be sure tah remember our roles.”
The welsh man had his nerves for other reasons, unrelated to the roles or even this specific port and his worries were written on his face.
The Captain stared at him with a stern,
“Remember, cannon master Thomas, we will not leave without you. Get rest, both of you. Being tired will not help any of us at the port.”
He stepped back out of their quarters smoothly, almost gliding away like a ghoul.
Thomas nodded to him, “Aye captain. Yerself as well” and he closed the door quietly, returning to Cin’s side as it swung shut.
The Captain's eyes glided over the deck of the ship to the second to last room of the night. His grandson Thassilon’s room. He breezed over to the door, eager to be done with the checks so he could return to his bed with Johnathan. He paused at the door for a moment before he knocked.
There was a thud and a loud clattering, presumably from Thassilon jumping and hitting his leg on his nightstand. William smiled to himself, Opal's brother was much jumpier than she was, though given the differences in their histories this was unsurprising.
Thassilon scrambled and opened the door, the Captain had caught him partway through his skin routine. Which he did every night, and as such his hair was held back, he had either a mask or lotion on his face. Whatever it was, it smelled very strongly of flowers and pomegranate,
“Oui? Captaine, what is zhe matter?” he listened anxiously and glanced behind the Captain, he gripped a small dagger with a white-knuckled grip.
Captain Holmes watched his nerves calm a bit before speaking,
“Thassilon, there is nothing wrong. I just wished to check in on you before I went to bed myself. I felt it was necessary to check in with everyone before tomorrow’s...trip to Barcelona. I know you will be the most in your element of all of us, however, you still must be awake on time in the morning..”
Thassilon perked up, his heart rate slowing down. He nodded,
“Oui! Of course Captaine! I will also assist with being sure that everyone ‘as ze proper...fashion, to match ze crowd better…”
He paused and blushed hard as he remembered he was never asked to help,
“If zat would be approved by yourself of course..”
The Captain’s brows perked, slightly amused by the short Frenchman’s enthusiasm,
“Of course Thassilon. You, out of all of us, will be most familiar with what will be expected of us. I trust you to handle everything, and handle it well.”
Thassilon collected himself and nodded,
“Of course mon Capitaine. I will see to it all myself.”
He kept a serious expression for another moment, a grin spreading across his face.
“Then rest well tonight, you have quite a task on your hands for the morning.” With an exchange of quick goodnight’s William stepped back and closed the door.
The moon and stars were shining brightly over him as the Captain nodded to himself. The silver stars twinkled above William’s dark grey mane, the sound of crashing waves against the shoreline brought some type of solace to the old Captain.
All his checks were done. He walked back to his own quarters on the other side of the ship and slid in the door quietly. Jonathan was half awake when the Captain settled into bed, still, he cuddled into the arms of his love almost instantly.
In this position, they both slept soundly through the night.
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