Cheater ✯ Kovit x Nita ✯ Market of Monsters

4

Nita moved her hand to cover the drawing in her sketchbook and prayed to the god she didn't believe that he wouldn't glance down at it.

"How can I help you?" She asked. He shrugged, letting his arms limp at his sides. He swiveled his head around, obviously unsure of what to do as Nita honed in on his hands. They were veiny and reliable, looking at the arms attached to them, Nita could only assume how much they could carry.

"I'm Kovit," he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. His eyes were glinting due to the sunlight and his head was tilted to the side as he looked at Nita. She felt very much exposed in front of this man and had the urge to cover her chest. She didn't, moving her sketchbook to the side (the one with his face in it) and answering his greeting with her own.

"I'm Nita."

"Why are you marrying that man?" he asked, holding out a hand. Nita, already slowly placing her hand in his, was immediately taken back, pausing. Kovit chuckled and tugged gently on her hand. Nita followed his movements a line of confusion and curiosity written on her face. She was now standing next to him on the deck, hands still connected.

His eyes flitted to the sketchbook on the bench and nervousness stirred in Nita's belly. When the corner of his mouth flitted up it churned even more. A hand came to rest in the safety zone near her waist and their connected hands raised, poised to dance.

Nita was a horrible dancer, she was very certain of this, her feet were just not as precise as her hands. So as he squeezed her hand in his, she was expecting the worst.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Her left arm still hung loosely at her side.

"You hear the music right?"

"No," she answered. He smirked.

"You need your ears checked then." He laughed to himself. It was not that funny. He stopped abruptly. "You're rich right?"

"My fiancé is." She put her hand upon his shoulder. They swayed.

"Is that why you're marrying him?" She shrugged.

"It's arranged." He nodded.

"D'you think you could lend me some money so I can get off this shithole of a boat?"

Nita stopped. How dare he.

"No," she said. She debated slapping him. "I will be going now." She dropped his hand and felt herself slip out of his arms. Her sketchbook was taken quickly as she walked back up to her room. She would be spending even more time up here now.

Even though she had just gotten up, she was exhausted and debated a morning nap before deciding that probably wasn't the healthiest choice. Talking to the child and then Kovit was draining. Even talking to Fabricio took a small toll on her.

She pushed Fabricio and the annoying kid out of her mind and instead focused on the deckhand's request. Why would he ask such a thing after just meeting? Nita replayed the question again in her mind. Had he smiled after? Was he joking? She couldn't quite recall.

He must have been trying to make her laugh or get a rise out of her because now there's a tiny smirk at the side of his mouth. That had to be true, based solely on her assumptions of him.

But say, he really was asking for money and there was no smirk on the left side of his face where a dimple... say he was being serious, what the fuck?

Nita pushed it out of her head and instead focused on the sketchbook in front of her. Kovit's angular face winked at her from the page. She made a show of ripping him out and stuffing him in between the couch cushions.

Despite her better judgment she lay down on the king-size bed and snuggled under the covers for a nap. What was she going to do here anyway? It was so boring.

She soon found out that her body didn't want to sleep, it just wanted to be alone with her scalpel. Of course, she couldn't bring it on the boat so it had to be substituted for drawing.

Nita groaned and yanked off the covers, grumpily staring at her sketchbook. Damn her need for repetition and familiarity. She felt like throwing the thing off the boat but she had promised to let Fabricio use one of her sketches as a reference. Damn her need to be reliable!

She grumpily grabbed the book and her pencils, carelessly throwing them down onto the desk the room had been provided with. She began aggressively coloring splotches on the pages, breaking a couple of pencils. She didn't know what to feel but whatever emotion this was, it was working.

Fabricio walked in holding an extra yogurt cup. Seeing Nita's outburst of confusion made him sneak around the sides of the room to stay out of her field of vision. Nita already knew he was there and calmed down slightly in an effort to be less scary.

"You can look through my sketchbook now, si lo quieres," he offered. Nita nodded, grateful for a reason not to go ham on something.

He passed it to her and she happily flipped through them, zoning out a couple of times. I mean, it wasn't her fault that Fabricio drew the most boring things. A drawing caught her eye, Las Islas Malvinas. Or, the Falkland Islands if she wanted to be a dick. She had already used up that spot though, and Fabricio hadn't done anything (yet) to warrant that behavior.

"Oye, Nita," Fabricio began once Nita had reached the end of his completed sketches. "I saw you and that one worker talking to each other and you looked super uncomfortable, do you want me to ask for a different one?"