Setting
Bucky had known that there was no hope of him waking once he'd fallen asleep, so he'd stayed awake to wait for the prince. And he was exhausted. He knew he'd be paying for it for days, so hopefully the Prince was good on a ship. Once his watch told him it was approaching their arranged time, he headed up onto the deck. His crew was to remain on land. By the time anybody missed the prince, they'd have enough of a headstart to avoid any ships that came in pursuit.
The coughing fit that came as he leaned against the mast almost made his knees buckle. They just seemed to be getting worse, and there wasn't a thing the doctors could do. It was just a matter of time now, and Bucky knew it wasn't long. So this was his last adventure. And he was determined to make it grand.
Eventually, he caught his breath again, and straightened up, scanning the docks. He loved the night- if only it didn't come with such exhaustion for him. It was so quiet, and there was nobody fussing over him. No merchants selling their goods, no police pursuing thieves, no aristocrats swanning around talking loudly about the "scum". He'd been, and still was, one of those scum. But now that he could afford to dress a little better, it was harder to identify him as a criminal. That and they had an... agreement, of sorts, with the navy. If they left navy and local merchant boats alone, the navy would cast a blind eye over whatever they did to incoming boats. And so there weren't posters with his face on them plastered all over the town, even if he was known as a pirate. So they made their livings, and they also avoided jail. People still frowned upon them though, especially those aristocrats. The pirates stopped them from getting their exotic, expensive goods, which was most definitely a crime in their books, regardless of if doing so helped local merchants or not. But among the lower classes, the pirates were looked fondly upon.
He pushed off of the mast and stepped into better light, allowing him both to be seen better and to see better.
When the girl he was supposed to marry fell ill, he wasn't sure if he should count it as a blessing or a curse. It wasn't like he didn't like the girl, she was kind and even pretty, they got along well but neither felt much of a spark for each other. Their relationship, from the beginning, had been awkward and more... brotherly and sisterly than anything. If his parents could tell, they didn't care, and thus he tried to ignore it as well. As the wedding approached he felt increasingly more numb, trying to block out the events that would happen in just a few days time. Until it didn't.
He spent every day at his fiancee's side. He cared for her, truly, and she seemed grateful to have a friend amidst all the unknown faces in this new place for her. It was never romantic, and he began to think, perhaps they could have made due with what they had. Maybe if he had just.. tried a bit harder, the gods wouldn't have struck the poor innocent girl. And when the dream came, he knew what he had to do. He fought tooth and nail with his parents to let him go looking for a cure, for days on end, and when that proved useless he spent more time scouring the docks, asking and begging and bribing anyone who had a boat to take him where he needed to go. And finally, in a moment of luck, he'd met the pirate that would be his ticket out of there.
The only person he told was his bride-to-be. And the words that she wheezed out as he sat beside her bed and held her hand would remain a scar on his thoughts forever. They haunted him still as he made his way down to the docks, worn leather hunting boots making little sound on the wood underfoot, the moon just bright enough to light the path in front of him while still keeping him concealed in the darkness of the night. When he finally reached the boat, a bit later than they'd arranged, he took a nervous look around before hesitantly making his way on board the vessel he would be stuck on for the next who-knew-how-long. "What took you so long, Captain?" The prince joked sarcastically, keeping his voice low as if raising it would shatter the silence of the night.
Eventually, the prince appeared. His posture was apprehensive- perhaps understandably so. After all, he was setting out on a mysterious, and probably dangerous, adventure with a pirate. He must have been desperate. Well, Bucky had gathered that much from their first conversation. He really must love that princess of his. Although, Bucky had heard rumours about the prince's sexuality- rumours he'd never really paid much attention to. On the streets, you heard a lot of rumours, and you learned what ones were worth paying attention to. Rumours about hidden treasure were worth considering. Rumours that Mr. Christianson had bought his wife a necklace worth thousands were definitely worth investigating.
"I could ask you the same thing, Your Majesty," he said, tauntingly emphasising the title. Bucky wasn't intending on using the prince's title except sarcastically, and he wanted to get that across straight away. This was his ship, and as far as he was concerned, he was in charge. He approached the prince, looking him up and down. He looked in to be in decent shape- but in a rich way. His physique came from good food, horseback riding and other princely sports. Bucky's physique came from manual labour and fresh air.
The prince wasn't bad-looking, that much Bucky had to admit. Even if the aura of money rolled off of him from several feet away. If it wasn't for the sheer cleanliness and perfection of him, he looked like somebody who Bucky could have grown up alongside. But his skin was far too perfect for that, and his manners far too impeccable.
"My name's Bucky," he said, before his mouth quirked up in a grin. "Sir Bucky, lord of the tides. But you can just call me Captain. Or Bucky," he added, shrugging. He barely had time to turn away before yet another coughing fit took hold of him, gripping his chest and making it hard to breathe. He swore mentally to himself. He'd hoped that he could have lasted a little while longer before giving his illness away. But now the prince knew that all was not entirely well.
But the coughing fit was shorter than usual. After only a minute or two, he straightened up, wiping his mouth. "Sorry about that," he said nonchalantly. The chances were he was going to have a bad day in the next few days anyway, so may as well give it all away now.
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