the night watch. @maddox-keyes @treacherous-kane

Gideon woke up in the morning like any other day, in a villa owned by a pirate where he was held captive on an island prison. But on this day, he knew it would be the last time he woke up on the island. Tonight was the night he would make his escape. And tomorrow or the day after, the island and all the pirates on it would burn.

There were no preparations to make, really. At sundown Gideon went to the empty villa he used to store the knife and retrieved it. Once the island was shrouded in darkness, Gideon took a shortcut from the villas to the docks, walking with a focused sense of purpose. Walk to the docks. Cut the lines. Sail away. He’d kept careful tabs on who went to the docks at night--when the guards changed and the docks were free for up to twenty minutes at times. The lax atmosphere of the island was something to use to his advantage.

Gideon waited briefly under the cover of trees to ensure the dock was empty before quickly making his way down toward the targeted fishing boat. There was no time to spare--he needed to be far in the distance before anyone spotted him.

It was 8:45 AM, exactly 45 minutes later than when Aaron was supposed to beat Maddox’s villa for the daily list of chores. Rather than go up to the front door, Aaron circled around to the back, expecting to find Alexa, who he’d have to negotiate some sort of trade to make up for his lateness. Instead, his blonde friend was nowhere to be found, her presence replaced by a dark haired pirate that should have been asleep.

“Hallo, Maddox. You are awake early.” Aaron offered a closed smile with squinting, tired eyes. Maddox wasn’t supposed to know he was late. “Alex has the day off?” he asked. Again? he wanted to add. This seemed to be a frequent event, which Aaron minded only in that she made for a good conversation partner, sometimes enough that he could stop working for small spells. He needed that today since he was running on two hours of sleep, which he knew would make him cranky and even less likely to behave well in the gunner’s presence. Aaron tried to keep his smile out of fake territory, but it was difficult. “What is on the agenda for today?”

Bo was very excited to see The Deadly Tide. She missed the ship terribly while she had been away. Standing at the edge of the gangplank, Bo gazed up at the ship with her hands gripping the sides of her oversized sunhat to keep the wind from blowing it away. With her stuffed tote bag of goodies at her side, she finally made her way onto the deck. The ship was quiet except for the sound of somebody tinkering with tools near the bow. She made her way over to the dark-haired gunner she came in search of. 

“Hi, Maddox.” Barely containing a grin, she took two items out of her bag and thrust them both at his chest. “I gotcha a Bible cuz you need Jesus. And a hat for when you go huntin with that crossbow of yours.” The book was a pocket-sized version of the New Testament with a bit of water damage on the pages, and the outdoor camo hat was a little worn around the edges. Then she beamed at him, expectantly waiting for him to try on the hat.

Now that the sun was down, it was borderline cold on the island. Aaron tugged the fabric of his blazer and buttoned it up to guard against the strong sea breeze, the net effect of his blazer being buttoned absolutely negated by the fact that Aaron was wearing shorts.

Whatever, he wasn’t here to win a fashion contest, and he was just meeting up with Mina for their once weekly meeting outside of the villa. Catching up on the week without the prying eyes and prying ears of pirates and other royals was important to him, especially because...

“I’ve been here for three fucking weeks and I haven’t kissed anybody,” he complained aloud when he heard someone approach. Statistically, in this specific spot him and Mina met up at exactly 9PM every Wednesday, Mina should have been the person coming down the path. Except when Aaron turned his head to greet his sister, he saw a man. A pirate. Oh, Christ.

“Hey?” he said with a surprised smile. “Sorry, I--thought you were someone else.”

For each “💬” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses.  

OOC.

Eli ranting out his frustrations to Maddox. He doesn't lose his calm often but sometimes the strangest things just push him off the edge. Maddox can just sip his drink while Eli vents or debates himself out of the problem.