Larry Stylinson One Shots II

Cruise Ship

Summary: Louis is a deck officer on a cruise ship, and Harry is a not-so-innocent passenger.

-

"Hey! No running!" A man shouts from across the deck. Harry stops running and looks around, past other cruise ship passengers, and workers dressed in white uniforms, and sees a man looking right at him. Oh.

"I'm sorry, sir." Harry gives an awkward smile and an even weirder wave. Why would he wave at a man who just scolded him? He thinks of explaining himself to the deck officer, who is still looking at him through his black aviator sunglasses. Instead, he watches the man subtly lick his lips, then give a small nod before going back to watching over the deck. Harry should pick up his bookmark that he was running after and go back to the poolside, but he does not. He finds himself walking up to the man who scolded him, intrigued and slightly turned on. "Hi," Harry simply says, looking at him almost expectantly.

"Hello. Can I help you?" The man keeps his arms clasped together in front of him, and he doesn't fidget at all under Harry's stare.

"Um, what's your name?" Harry asks, unsure of what else to say. All he knows is that he wants to find out more about the man in front of him.

"I'm Officer Tomlinson. Is there something you need, young man?"

"Young man?" Harry blurts. His cheeks burn crimson--and it's not because of the sun beating down on them. "I didn't mean that. I just thought we looked close in age," he sheepishly adds, looking down at his bare feet and short, navy blue swimsuit.

"Well how old are you?" Officer Tomlinson asks. He licks his lower lip and keeps his eyes on Harry, or that is where Harry assumes his eyes are; it is difficult to tell through his almost opaque sunglasses.

"I'm 24. How old are you?"

"30," Officer Tomlinson curtly says, and Harry immediately drops his head to look at the man through his eyelashes. Fuck.

"30," Harry repeats with a smirk; he can definitely work with a six year age gap. "Okay, well, I'm gonna get back to reading. It was nice meeting you," he smiles, then puts too much effort in trying to walk away normally and without embarrassing himself.

-

Officer Tomlinson has been on Harry's mind ever since their short conversation. All throughout dinner, Harry kept looking around in hopes of seeing him. As he leaves the restaurant for his first dinner on the cruise ship, his jaw almost drops at how beautiful the water is. The ship is calmly rocking in the pitch black ocean, and the moon reflects onto the water in discrete, flowing lines of light.

Harry folds his arms over his chest as he walks across the deck, as the cloudless sky and bright sun is no longer there to keep him warm. Goosebumps form on his forearms when he rests them on the wooden railing, and a smile finds its way to his face as he takes in the calm atmosphere.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Harry jumps when he suddenly hears a voice behind him.

"Officer Tomlinson, hi." Harry cranes his neck to look at the man, who he almost doesn't recognize without his white uniform, epaulets, and sunglasses. Instead, he is wearing black joggers and a grey sweater, and his hair looks soft and unstyled compared to the neat quiff it was in earlier.

"Hello. Is this your first time on a cruise?" He wonders. He comfortably rests his arms on the railing like Harry, but doesn't appear to be cold.

"Yeah. How could you tell?" Harry smiles, looking at Officer Tomlinson after deciding he is a prettier view than the moonlight and the ocean.

"Because it's nighttime and you're wearing a t-shirt," he chuckles, and Harry's cheeks burn red once again. "It's alright, though," he quickly adds when he sees Harry's smile vanish.