Imagine a pirate AU where Stiles is a young man who dreams of sailing on the oceans, however, every time he tries to convince someone to let him join their crew or work a fishing boat, they laugh and turn him away. One day, he goes to the local tavern to ask the fisherman for work, but the man laughs at him and tells him he’s too scrawny and weak to work the boat and the only thing he’d be good for is siren bait. He tells Stiles that he wouldn’t last a week at sea.
“How much do you want to wager on that?” a man across the tavern asks.
“What?”
“How much do you want to wager that he won’t last a week at sea?” the man reiterates.
The fisherman and the stranger make a wager on whether Stiles will last a month at see as part of the stranger’s crew or not.
Stiles follows the man to his ship and meets the crew: Boyd, the gunner; Erica, the navigator; Isaac, the quartermaster; and Cora, the boatswain. And, of course, the stranger--the captain, Derek.
They set out to see and Stiles proves that he can hold his own, he pulls his weight and proves himself to be surprisingly strong.
They battle storms and rough seas, and Stiles proves he belongs at sea. However, when the crew encounter sirens, Stiles is helpless. A few notes of their sweet melodies and he’s hypnotised. They lure him into the water.
Derek dives in after him, saving him.
The next day, they’re attacked by sirens again. This time Boyd saves him, but Stiles comes away wounded; a siren claws at his arms and chest.
Erica does her best to bandage the wounds and Stiles grows disheartened. He tells them he’s detrimental to the crew’s and they should lock him in the brig to keep him and themselves safe.
Derek laughs that off, telling him that they won’t let sirens catch him.
The next few days are calm sailing. Stiles recovers, still working--trying to prove that he belongs there. But he doesn’t need to; everyone knows he belongs there. He’s part of their crew.
A month after they left port, the stranger returns to the tavern. He orders a drink and sits in he corner.
“He didn’t last, did he?” the fisherman boasts, laughing.
A second later, a young man enters the bar.
Stiles.
The fisherman is shocked. ”Lock him under deck, did ya?”
“On the contrary,” Derek says. “He’s my first mate.”
