Royce

When Pete nudged me awake, I hadn’t realized I was still in the captain’s chair. I hadn’t planned on falling asleep in the chair, but it seemed prudent given the man that was in my bed. 

“You slept here the whole night?” Pete asked.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“You could say that. How’s Marcy?” I asked Pete, trying to divert him from asking more questions I didn’t want to answer. Marcy was his current crush. She owned a coffee shop in town and Pete would visit her when we were in port. To answer, Pete produced two coffees and a box of baked goods that smelled divine. 

“If you don’t marry her, I might, just for the baked goods alone.” Pete abruptly closed the box and moved it out of my reach. 

“I refuse to give you the object of your affection unless you swear right now to leave her alone.”

“Do I get baked goods for life if I’m your best man?”

Pete silently handed me the box and I grinned at him when I pulled out a bear claw. “So you are getting serious. When are you thinking about asking her?”

“Soon.” Pete said, with all the hopes and dreams you could imagine wrapped up in that word. “I want it to be perfect, you know?”

“Sometimes we don’t get perfect, we get almost perfect instead. You shouldn’t wait if you’re serious. Do you think she’s interested?” I asked as I took a huge bite of the bear claw.

“I think so. I mean, I’ve caught her looking at dresses, but she tries to pretend she isn’t. She’s sweet, and a bit shy, and has plump curves for days. We’d make beautiful kids, I’m sure of it.”

“You’re a goner.” I laughed. 

“Laugh all you want, some day you’ll find someone that makes you a goner for them too.”

I cleared my throat. That statement hit a little too close to who was in my bunk right now. 

“So what happened? Why are you sleeping up here?” Pete asked again. Before I could answer, Troller appeared at the bottom of the steps to the captain’s nest. 

“Royce?” Troller’s sleepy voice and form squeezed at my heart. His long red hair was still matted, and his beautiful face was still touched by sleep. I couldn’t speak for a moment. Pete saved me.

“Hi, I’m Pete, Royce’s first mate.” Pete glanced at me then back at Troller and took a few steps down to hold out his hand to him. The red head looked at Pete’s hand then looked at me. 

“He wants you to shake his hand. Come here, Pete.” Pete came back up the steps and I demonstrated for Troller. “Like this.” We shook hands and then I nodded to Pete to do the same with Troller. 

When Pete went to Troller, they shook hands and he replied. “I’m Troller, I’m Royce’s friend. I’m visiting. Excuse me.” Troller disappeared back down the hallway, and I got up to go after him.

“Was he wearing my clothes?” Pete asked as I squeezed past him and headed for my room. “Royce?” 

“Pete, give me a minute, please.” Pete held up his hands, shrugged and backed off as he went back up to the nest. 

When I opened the door, Troller sat on the bed, the tablet in his hands. He looked up and held it out to me. “It’s broken, Royce. Can you fix it?”

I walked over and looked at it. It was out of power. “It needs to recharge. Maybe we can do something else today.”

“What’s in the box?” Troller asked. I’d completely forgotten it was in my hands. 

“Pastries. Would you like one?” I opened the box and Troller’s eyes lit up. “It’s like bread, but different.”

He took one out of the box and bit into it. His eyes widened and he practically moaned. I wasn’t sure what to do with that. “Royce, this is good! Better than the sandwich. Where do they come from?” His excitement was contagious.

“I can show you, but we should probably get you cleaned up and dressed in something better suited for going into town.”

“What’s wrong with my coverings?”

“They’re sleeping clothes. Plus, you’ve worn them for a day or so. We should change them.”

“Are you going to change your coverings as well?”

“Yes. After I have a shower.”

“What’s a shower?”

I tried pretty hard not to imagine being in a shower with Troller, and failed. Thankfully, my cabin  shower wasn’t large enough for me, let alone two people, so that wasn’t possible. 

“I’ll show you. Give me a few minutes okay, I need to talk with Pete. I handed Troller the box and went back to the nest. Pete gave me an amused look and my cheeks heated like I was fifteen caught sneaking someone into my house for a makeout session. 

“So, Troller huh?” Pete asked sweetly.

“He came aboard the other night.”

“And why is he wearing my clothes?”

“Because he didn’t have any.”

“Why did you let a naked man onto your boat?”

“Pete.”

“Royce.”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“Try me.”

“It’s him, Pete.” I quieted my voice. “The merman that rescued me. It’s him.”

Pete’s eyes darted from the stairs back to me and back to the stairs. He looked at me and grinned. “So it wasn’t a hallucination.”

“No. Seems it wasn’t.”