{ meme } | accepting ;••••; @firstmatesharksteak asked▬
💋
The Devil’s Doom had lulled herself into a speed that matched the intensity of the waves: slow and slow. Nassau was still a week away into the north west from Hispaniola where a new crew member was acquired, no, traded for. A series of minor transactions to be completed for a larger deal. The undead often crossed paths among their own, but not those that were far more seabound than the Romanian and his own. The first mate was a new sight and a new specimen aboard the Devil’s Doom. As loyal and as harsh as they come, too. Respectable and desireable traits to be had in a crew member. The vampire captain’s own had no choice but to be loyal, for he knew their every thought and move before they could speak it. But this...Maccus, and the rest of Jones’ lot were immune to the invasive powers belonging to the lifeless corpse of a captain. It was infuriating at first, and still was, but it left the former Count to resort to more practical and ordinary means of getting what he wanted from the mind of Maccus.
Days turned one into the other, the daylight hours forcing most of the vampiric crew to find rest in the belly of the ship, though their leader would often pass his weaker hours out on deck -- even if the sun did its best to obliterate the unholy thing, but only did his flawless skin show signs of irritation and resistance to the power of light which did little to purge the black-blooded demon from being.
And as time dragged on, entertainment was sought. A few rounds of Karniffel were played, and bets were made if any player did not win the set number of tricks had to pay up. And Vladislaus was among them -- and a few laughs were to be had at the price to be paid: a kiss for the first mate to the loser. A master of both showing his thoughts and concealing them chose the latter. He would pay the price, but it was not specified as to when or where...
The sun began her descent the next day, the sky, a bursting canvas of orange, deep mauave and lavender on the underbelly of rippling clouds, and Maccus was found by the vampire to have completed an assigned duty. “You’re relieved, Vlad said flatly, but with no less authority. “But, first--a fulfillment on my end.” Ringed fingers caught beneath Maccus’ chin to draw him in for a kiss. It was not chaste, nor brief -- for Dracula in all his life, in any chapter of it, never settled for, nor gave half. Perhaps that was his only redeeming quality. His hard, cold mouth sealed about the first mate’s own, paying the price in full.
The vampire drew himself away slowly, his fingertips the last to leave from where they had rested. “Carry on,” he spoke in a hushed voice, after clearing his throat like a typical mortal caught in a precarious situation.
