The Fire in the Wind // Book One (Complete)

Thirteen - The Captain's Quarters

Thirteen: The Captain's Quarters

Phoenix was warm. He languidly rolled over onto his stomach in his barely conscious state, surrounded by soft fabric. He sighed contently, the light of the morning sun held him in a warm embrace, the world behind his eyelids was a soft orange. He sighed as he began to wake, not wanting to leave the most comfortable sleep he'd had in months, his eyes opened of their own accord.

He blinked against the light that filtered into the room, and noticed with muted curiosity that the light was iridescent. He frowned and sat up, immediately, pain consumed him, he cradled his head and hissed out a curse, closing his eyes tightly. What the hell happened?

"Phoenix?" a voice asked, he couldn't bring himself to look at the owner, instead he took a few breaths before opening his eyes behind his hands. A hand gently encircled his wrist, and led it away from his face, he nearly gasped when he saw who it was.

"Captain?" He said tentatively, Nico hummed, and released his arm.

"How are you feeling?" He turned back to his desk as he asked, and Phoenix swallowed when he realised where exactly he was. The captain's quarters.

"Uhm..." his cheeks burned as the thought of sleeping in the captain's bed raced through his mind. He looked around the room, and found it quite tidy, his desk was organised nicely, a map was hung onto his wall above it, the only thing on the floor was two pairs of shoes, his and the captain's. He noticed that built into the windowsill was a cushioned seat, and he sighed in relief when he saw a rumpled blanket and the captain's coat lying on it. He must've slept there and let Phoenix have the bed... but why?

"Pyrkagiá?" Nico prompted, Phoenix's head snapped back to the captain, who was waiting for an answer.

"I'm fine..." He managed, the captain looked unsure.

"Does your head hurt?" He asked, Phoenix nodded, and immediately regretted it, he went to touch the back of his head, but the captain grabbed his wrist again.

"Don't touch it, you'll make it worse." He scolded, Phoenix pulled his arm back and sighed, the captain observed him for a moment before speaking again. "Do you remember what happened?"

"No." He admitted, trying to retrieve his memories. "All I remember is the storm and..." He paused, thinking, and then looked to Nico in awe. "You made the ship fly."

"I did." He said, his voice was strained. "Thanks to you it stayed in the air."

"Thanks to me?" He asked, Nico nodded.

"You told me to relax, said my blessing was a part of me and-" Nico cut himself off. "You told me not to think too much about it. It worked."

"Oh..." Phoenix stared sheepishly at his hands, he didn't remember any of that, just a vague sense of pain in his head and the rope burn on his hands.

"You hit your head." Nico told him. "The waves knocked you off your feet and you fell off of the quarterdeck."

Phoenix blushed, great, now I've embarrassed myself in front of him twice. "I... was... just practicing my diving skills. I missed."

Nico's lips twitched upwards. "Right. Of course, it's too bad that wave threw you off, I'm sure you would've had it."

Phoenix nodded, glad the captain was playing along. "Of course. Honestly, I meant to do it, just for the theatrics of it, you know?"

"Obviously." The captain pretended to agree, then he shook his head. "The storm has passed, we're back in the water..."

"Was anyone hurt?" Phoenix asked, he hadn't seen much of Alexander during the storm, his mind turned to the worst.