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The Captain's Cabin

“A toast,” the Captain says, “to what I hope is just the beginning of something.”

By AthanPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
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“Take that to the Captain’s cabin,” Chardonnay says pointing to one of the boxes on the dock.

“The Captain drinks wine?” Pappy asks after seeing the label B.C. Merlot.

“Gets this kind at every port,” she responds.

Pappy obeys his orders and carries the box to the cabin doors. He’s been aboard the Triton’s Revenge for nearly three months now and has never set foot in the Captain’s cabin.

Pappy lightly knocks on one of the doors and, after a brief pause, hears Captain Unknown yell, “aye, come in!”

He opens the door and sees that the cabin is large in comparison to the conditions that he and the crew sleep in down below. The furniture and decorations look like they were new and expensive in another lifetime. And, the obvious style differences give away that the Captain has collected them from different ports and ships throughout his years at sea.

Captain Unknown comes around the corner without a shirt or hat on, neither of which Pappy had ever seen him without.

“Pappy,” he says with a large grin, “what’s this? Me merlot?”

“Cap-Captain,” Pappy tries not to look at his overexposed Captain, “sorry to bother you, I didn’t know—”

“Not a worry, matey,” Captain Unknown says and looks down at his lack of clothes with a laugh, “you caught me in the middle of a wardrobe change! I was thinking of trying something new. Set that over there,” he points to a dresser on the far side of the room.

Pappy passes the Captain’s desk with all sorts of maps and tools on it, his bed that’s neatly made, and then… comes face to face with himself. After almost dropping the box of merlot, he takes in his reflection for the first time since coming aboard the ship.

Captain Unknown lets out a laugh, “bit different than the city boy we picked up?”

Pappy’s reflection was of someone he’d never met before. His skin was tanned, beard unkept, hair grown shaggy, and he could see muscles developing from all the manual labor of the ship.

“Aye…” he says unable to break eye contact with himself, “a different person.”

He sets the box down, forces himself away and sees the Captain has put on a new shirt and is holding two hats.

“Which hat should I wear for this voyage?” the Captain says.

Pappy walks toward him, and pointing to the one with a thin red line he says, “this one, it’s got some red on it.”

“Is that your favorite color?”

“Yeah,” Pappy says, and after a moment of silence adds, “I should get back to Chardonnay before she thinks I left her with all the hard work.”

“It’s one of mine too,” Captain Unknown says, then adds, “would you join me for dinner tonight? Here in my cabin. After we set sail.”

Pappy’s heart began to race. From the moment he saw the Captain at the dock back in Australia, he’d been drawn to him. Anyone else could have given Pappy a way to escape his old life and he wouldn’t have taken the opportunity. The Captain only had to say two things to get that land-dwelling young man named Bruce Papilony to come aboard.

-

A clean shaven, suit-wearing Bruce was aimlessly walking through the docks on his lunch break from his apprenticeship. The weight of societal and familial expectation heavy on his shoulders, as he mindlessly watched sailors clean boats and load supplies for voyages that'll take them far away.

Toward the far end of the dock, he saw a ship called Triton’s Revenge with a skull and crossbones flag waving on the tallest spar. It wasn’t unheard of to see pirates docked in Bruce’s city. The local government thought it was better to be on cordial terms with the pirates than be a potential victim of their raids.

Bruce continued down toward the pirate ship and watched crew members taking supplies onboard and doing various things on the deck.

He was pulled out of his observations when someone yelled down, “Ahoy! What’re you looking for, matey?”

Bruce looked up at who said it, and saw a man on the bow of the ship that was undeniably the Captain.

Hesitant of what to say back to a pirate, he stumbled over his words, “I— me?” Looking around to be sure the man was talking to him.

“Come aboard if you’re looking to run,” he said then disappeared from view.

Bruce was unsure of how to take the statement, but considered it for a moment. If he was aboard a pirate ship, he wouldn’t be forced to court one of the girls in his city this summer, he wouldn’t be expected to continue an apprenticeship he didn't want - he would be taking control of his life. His feet moved toward the inclined plank before he even knew he’d come to a decision. When he reached the top and stepped onboard, the crew members within view all turned toward him. Then the Captain emerged amongst them.

"Welcome aboard," he said walking toward Bruce, "what would you like to be called?"

"My name is—" he began.

The captain interrupted, "no, what would you like to be called, matey?"

"Oh," he paused, "Pappy."

"Crew," the Captain yelled, "this here is Pappy!"

He turned back to Pappy and said in a softer voice, "Pappy, this here be crew. And, I’m Captain Unknown."

-

Trying not to sound too eager, Pappy says, "I’d like that."

"Great," Captain Unknown says with a grin, "let's say two hours into sea?"

Pappy agreed and went to help Chardonnay load the rest of the boxes onto the ship. Unable to contain his nerves and excitement, Chardonnay could see something happened.

"What happened to you? Captain reveal where the treasures’ buried?"

"No," Pappy laughs, "he invited me to his cabin for dinner with him."

Chardonnay didn’t show any signs of surprise, "I knew he was looking at you a little differently than everyone else."

"What do you mean?" Pappy says.

"At first, I thought he saw a piece of himself in you," she pauses, "but he was born on the ocean and not in some fancy house, so it didn’t make sense."

"Then I thought maybe he liked that he was corrupting a proper city boy with piracy, but some of the other mates got money bet on Captain fancying you."

"There are bets?" Pappy couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen what the other crew mates have seen. He thought his draw toward the Captain was one-sided.

"Some think you’re too young for him, but I said ten years isn’t much and you’re a grown man too so how’s that too young? Go freshen up while we’re still docked so you don’t look like this for your date," she grimaced, "a mess."

"Ouch," Pappy laughs, "you good to finish up these boxes?"

"I’ll get Vinny to help me finish," then yells, "Vinny! Come help me with this."

-

By time they were reaching the mark of two hours at sea, word had spread that Pappy was having dinner with the Captain.

"I lost a thousand Yen because of you," Gorgie says as Pappy passes him.

"Sorry, mate," he says, "I didn’t know there were bets."

"Don’t worry, Pappy," says True, gleaming and waving a few bills in her hand, "I made a hundred Euros because I knew the Captain fancied you from the moment you stepped aboard. I got a sixth sense about some things!"

"Ignore these heathens," Chardonnay appears behind Pappy and lightly pushes him through the small crowd, "let me know how that merlot tastes!"

-

Pappy nervously knocks on the Captain’s cabin doors. He hears footsteps approach the other side and one of the doors swings open.

The Captain’s wearing an outfit that looks less mismatched than usual and the hat Pappy chose earlier. Oddly, he feels underdressed since he’s wearing the same clothes he had on earlier, but thankful he washed them.

"Pappy," the Captain says with his usual large grin, "come in!"

Pappy walks in and sees that the Captain has turned his desk into a table for two. Mismatched plates and silverware, two different styles of wine glasses, and two different chairs.

"Bedroom turned dining room, I like it," Pappy says.

"A multifunctional room, mate," Captain Unknown says, "I’m glad you’re here. And, I must say, I’m thankful you were on the dock that day, otherwise this wouldn’t be possible. Please take a seat!"

Pappy moves to the seat facing the expanse of the cabin so he can continue to take in the eclectic items in the room.

"I’m glad I walked toward your ship that day too," Pappy says while he sits down.

"Our ship," the Captain corrects, "I may be the captain, but this ship is all of ours."

"Yes, I’m sorry, our ship," Pappy says, "I wouldn’t have come aboard if you weren’t the one to call down to me."

"Well, I made a good choice that day then, didn’t I? Would you like some wine?"

Pappy sees the captain reaching for one of the bottles of merlot he delivered earlier. A tall, dark glass bottle with red lettering, B.C. Merlot.

"Please," Pappy says feeling a tinge of excitement knowing he’ll be the only one to try some of the Captain’s special wine.

The Captain uncorks the bottle and closes his eyes as he smells the rim. He lets out a soft sigh and then pours them both a glass of the merlot.

"A toast," the Captain says, "to what I hope is just the beginning something."

Pappy smiles and adds, "cheers!"

The two clank their glasses together and take a sip.

-

"Just before I’d reached the other side of the creek, the rope snapped and I plunged in the water!" Pappy laughs, finishing a story to the latest of Captain Unknown’s series of questions. They’d been together for over an hour now and are halfway through their third bottle of merlot.

"I have a question for you," Pappy says, "why’s your name Unknown?"

"Oh.. easy," the Captain says, "my parents were both pirates and I was born on the ocean unknown to the civilizations of land."

"Is Unknown your actual name, or is that just what you’re called?" Pappy asks.

"It’s what I am called, just like you are called Pappy," the Captain says, "and I’m sure your birth record says something different, but should that make 'Pappy' any less of your identity?"

Pappy smiles and takes another sip of merlot.

"Want to see something I’ve been working on," the Captain says just as shouts irrupt from the deck and pounding starts on the door.

"Sorry Captain," Chardonnay bursts through the door, "The Royal Navy's up ahead. Tiny says from the tower they look ready to sink us."

"Right, full defense then," the Captain demands, "I’ll be out in a second."

Chardonnay turns to leave and begins shouting orders at everyone listening.

"Sorry our evening is being cut short. I had more things to ask and more to show you, but I hope you’ll join me again," the Captain says.

"Of course, I—," Pappy pauses, "What are we about to do?"

"Have ourselves a fight," he smiles, "but first..."

He pulls Pappy in close and gives him a kiss. After a few moments, Captain Unknown pulls away and says, "stick close to Chardonnay," then disappears through the cabin door.

The first cannon fires from below deck and rumbles the boards under Pappy’s already unsteady feet. Still drunk on merlot and their time together, he goes out into the chaos to find Chardonnay.

Chardonnay jumps down in front of him.

"Pappy!" She shouts over the cannon fire, "how was the merlot?"

"Unlike anything I’ve ever had," Pappy says, "everything was unlike anything."

"That’s great!" She says grabbing his shoulder, "now sober up, we have a ship to sink!"

dating
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About the Creator

Athan

Writer living in the Southern California desert | website www.byathan.com

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