I mean surely, since this was Nocte’s vessel, they would know that he hates vegetables? But he also said that he has meetings on this yacht, so they can’t just eliminate vegetables from the entire menu. Using my spoon, I dipped it in, blew on it a little and took a little sip. As I did that, I saw him staring at me, like he was waiting for an answer.

“Chicken Noodle.” I said with a smile.

“No veg?” 

The way he asked that made him sound like he was like a child who really hates vegetables, which made me chuckle a little.

“Nope. Veggie free.”

“Hmmm….” He returned to his own soup and I saw him take a sip of his own. “Yep, no veg.” He said moments later. “Only noodles, and chicken.”

“You are so weird with the no vegetables thing….”

“Well, it would be a major hassle if I did have them, so it'd be best to avoid them altogether.”

I squinted at him, how could having some vegetables be a major hassle? But there was no point of pressing this further. We all had foods that we didn’t like, that was a normal thing, it just happened to be that he had a HUGE list. 

Eventually, both our soup bowls were empty, and taken away. I was happily munching on a bread roll, as I checked the menu again for a main course. However, I quickly noticed that the menu wasn’t very Greek related. It honestly looked like it was tailored for a….. British person. Literally, there was a roast here. A roast with all the trimmings, even my own mum didn’t do ALL the trimmings, not even at Christmas. I kind of wanted an actual Greek dish, but somehow the good old British ‘Sunday’ roast… It called to me. When the man came back again, I most definitely ordered the roast, and Nocte picked pasta. When the man disappeared through the door again, Nocte leaned on the table.

“Roast, huh?”

Now was a good time to ask him, so I waved the menu at him. “Is this perhaps tailored for me?”

“And why would you think that?”

“I mean have you NOT seen the dishes on this?”

Nocte gave me his trademark smile, that I have come to know really well, as he leaned back on his chair. “You’re in an unfamiliar land, or well sea, and this is your first day, so I thought I would give you something that you’re familiar with.”

In some way, this gesture was sweet, but still wasn’t the point of going somewhere new, where you’re ‘supposed’ to choose something else?

As I sat there drinking, making idle chit chat with the man in front of me, my dinner finally arrived. As it sat in front of me, I swore that it was topped with everything. There were several different vegetables, one of those Yorkshire puddings, stuffing, gravy and, of course, the meat. With a grin, I started to dig in and, just as I thought it would be, it was delicious! As I picked up some carrots, I felt the presence of someone watching me and, as I looked up, I noticed that Nocte’s green eyes were bearing into my soul.

“Something wrong?”

“Ah…. Nothing….” He turned away from me and stared up at the sky instead.

Was he perhaps concerned about the carrots? Or the vegetables that I had in front of me in general? I mean I did have a load. Or was it something else entirely? 

“Awwww! Man, that was beautiful.” I exclaimed as I sat back in my chair again, as the finished plates were taken away. “I don’t think I could eat another bite.”

“So no desert, I take it?”

I mean if the desert was you, then yes…. I mean….. I then mentally slapped myself.

“Of course! There is always room for dessert! Its like a second stomach!”

“I see.”

With a smile and giddiness, I ended up ordering a nice lemon sponge cake, topped with LOADS of vanilla custard! It was kinda similar to the ones that my nana baked, and now it made me want to visit her sometime soon! 

With all three meals out of the way, we moved away from the table and returned back to the huge room from before. I made use of the space on the sofa outside the bedroom that I was assigned. I dragged Nocte along for the ride, as I causally sipped on the wine. I had to admit, I felt rather merry.

“Life is good, y’know….” I spurted out.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for bringing me out here….” I looked up to the sky. “The night sky is always beautiful. It’s like no one really appreciates her, most people go to bed and never really take in the night sky, they take in the daylight sky all the time. But the night? No. It’s a shame really. Both have their beauty, but there is just something about the night.”

“A night fan, huh?”

“Yeah, I suppose I am….” I raised my glass to the sky. “A toast to you, you shine much differently to your counterpart, but equally as beautiful.”

“Just so happens to be a crescent moon tonight too….”

“Huh?” I looked at him as he too was staring up at the sky but, as I looked up, I didn’t see the moon. Just night clouds. “Do you know the lunar cycles? Because I can’t see the moon….”

“Ah, somewhat…. It's a shame you can’t really see the star of the night sky, she’s being shy behind the clouds….”

I raised my eyebrow, the moon being shy because it’s a cloudy night? That isn’t a phrase that I’ve heard of before, but I found it very intriguing. As I continued to observe his side profile, as he continued to look up at the sky, I felt my stomach start to do flips. This man was really beautiful, inside and outside, I’ve come to notice. I may have only really known him for a month, but honestly? It feels like I’ve known him for a lot longer than that. But with the stomach flipping and the sensation of ‘butterflies’, I realised that I was most definitely enraptured by him. I’m not sure if he knew that, but I most definitely knew that, even if I did tell myself a few weeks ago not to fall in love. I just happened to do the complete opposite. But was it worth me telling him my feelings? I mean what would he say? What happens if he answers me wrongly, what would happen after that? I was used to boys coming to me and asking me, so I had no experience with the other way round. But it was hard to tell if he liked me, he seemed to be quite friendly with everyone that he met. Man! Why isn’t this easy? 

“Is there anything you want to do for the rest of the night?”

Yeah you.

I mean no, brain. NO!

“I think I’m just going to relax here for a little while more, while drinking this lovely wine….” I raised the bottle up, it was still half full.

“Of course you will. Tonight is your holiday I say, meanwhile….” He stood up. “I need to make some preparations for work.” He fumbled into his pocket and pulled what looked like a buzzer out. “If you get hungry or need more drink, just ring this and the guy from earlier will answer.”

“Oh… I mean, sometimes I do get peckish at night….” I took the buzzer. “So thank you.”

“Have a good rest of your evening, Miss Valentine.” He bowed, and left me in a little bit of a daze.

Hmmm. Was that the first time he referred to me as ‘Miss Valentine’? Hmmm. As I kicked off my shoes, I just relaxed onto the sofa even more and stared up at the night sky some more. I kinda missed the chance to tell him, but I wasn’t exactly brave enough to even tell him and find out what the answer was. As I sat up, I felt just urgh, I knew it was because of me not being brave, so I picked up my glass and bottle and started to drown in my own silly sorrows. 

I’m not sure how much time had passed, but I do remember ringing the buzzer and asking for another bottle, which I did actually get. For some reason, I thought I wouldn’t get another bottle of wine, but I did. As I poured the last few droplets of the bottle into my glass, i finally realised that I was most definitely drunk, since I was swaying all over the place. Man. Drunk again, Lexi? Even after HE pointed it out. As I swigged from the glass, I looked up at the sky. Through my haze, I saw that the sky was even more cloudy than before. Perhaps it was a sign that I should head to bed. As I stood up, I think I ended up standing up too quickly, because everything started to become really dizzy. 

“Woah.”

Man, the boat should really stay still. As I tried to move, I felt the presence of someone watching me and, as I turned around, I saw that there, just a few metres from me, was a figure. I tried to squint to see who they were but, with my blurry vision and the inability to really see in the dark, I couldn’t make them out. 'Maybe it’s just a pole' I thought to myself as I waved it off. But, as I turned around, there was a weird jolt coming from the ground, and I lost my balance and fell to my knees. 

“Ahh. Poo….”

Grumbling to myself, I stood back up, and tried to walk forward, but my legs said otherwise and I fell forwards again. But,  instead of hitting the floor, I landed into something quite soft.

“Drunk again, huh?”

“Hmmm?” I gingerly looked up and, in my blurry, hazy vision, I saw a set of really pretty eyes. “I see an Angel….”

“Well, you’re not wrong, but seriously, you shouldn’t exactly get drunk on a boat alone….”

“Ah shussh, angel.” 

“I leave you for two hours, and this is the state I find you in?”

“I don’t live in a state, I’m not American.”

“Indeed, you are not. Come, you should lay down.”

“Yep.”

I felt myself being steered and then the feeling of something really soft, it must be the bed and, as I looked up, I noticed that my vision was somewhat clear, and I could see Nocte standing in front of me.

“Oh, it’s just you, not an Angel.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, I suppose?”

“That reminds me…. Were you out there earlier?” I rubbed my eyes, I was most definitely drunk, but some of my senses were ‘somewhat’ on tack.

“What are you on about?”

“I don’t know, I saw a figure earlier, and then I just thought it was a pole….”

“Did it do anything?”

“Ehh? The pole? No, it’s a pole….”

“... Not the pole…. Nevermind, it probably was just the pole.”

I sat on the temporary bed, whilst travelling on this yacht, quite merrily drunk, and he was standing in front of me. My stomach was doing all those flips again! Even if some of what I say comes out like nonsense, or some motor functions are loopy, the man standing right in front me plagued my thoughts. I would very much like to deny it, but it was true, and I felt kinda sweaty just thinking about him.

“I’ll get you some water. Change into this….” He handed me a nightdress. “It seems like you aren’t as ‘out’ of it as last time, so are you ok changing?”

“Yes.” I took the nightdress from him, and he smiled and exited the room. 

As I stared at the little black nightdress, I thought to myself that I need to tell him. If I drag it out any longer, it would just consume me. Slapping my cheeks, I gingerly stood up, this time much slower than before. I was still a little unsteady, but perhaps walking on the shaggy carpet was better than the hard floor out in the opening. As I slid the dress off me and let it fall to the floor, I changed into the nightdress. I sat back on the bed, and Nocte returned carrying a glass of water.

“Here.” 

He handed it to me and I started to take long sips, using the glass to hide my face.

“Maybe I need to limit your drinking, so you don’t hurt yourself.”

“I’m ok…." I move the glass to my lap. “Think it’s just because I’m preoccupied….” Ok, now I’ve done it, I swear it's the alcohol talking right now.

“About what?”

…… It was now or never.

“.... You….”

I shifted my sitting posture, and I gingerly looked up to his face. My vision was much clearer than earlier, and I must’ve been seeing something because his face changed for a split second. It was stupid, but it ‘looked’ like he was putting on an invisible mask. Was I that pissed?

“Lexi….”

I jumped at the sudden announcement of my name, he didn’t really say my name like that before.

“I mean you can just ignore me.” I laughed to myself as I finished drinking the entire glass of water.

Nocte took a step forward, took the glass from me, and placed it on the ground.

“Why am I making you preoccupied?”

Oh lord, how would I even answer that without sounding stupid or desperate? Maybe saying the truth would work?

“I don’t know…. I actually don’t know when I started to feel like this….” I suppose there is no stopping now, huh? “It’s like you’re on my thoughts all the time, and being with you is…..” I really didn’t know what to add to that, so I ended up trailing off and looking down towards my bare feet.

I wasn’t looking down at my feet for long, as my face was pulled up as Nocte took me by the chin and he knelt down slightly.

“What exactly do you want?” Was his question.

I was a little confused by that question, what exactly do I want? I didn’t answer him and just looked back at him with what I could hope was a confused face. But it seemed like he caught on as he spoke again.

“What do you expect of me?”

“What?” Ok now I’m even more confused.

I tried to search his face for an answer, but even though his skin was still flawless as ever, his expression? Was just emotionless, it reminded me of a doll. It was, I had to admit, rather eerie. Maybe I could explain myself better? As he removed his hand from my face, I took in a deep breath and, with the alcohol sadly giving me the confidence boost I needed, I opened my mouth.

“I have come to like you, I don’t really know why or when it happened. But you ‘plagued’ my thoughts the first few times I knew you but, over this past month? It’s gotten worse. To some, it might be considered 'too quick'. But I think that, if I didn’t say anything, I would eventually explode.”

Ok. Great. Now I’ve done it. It’s probably the world's worst confession ever and, if he denies me now? I have to spend another day stuck with him out at sea. I could feel my hands getting sweaty after saying all that, but I bravely looked at him. Nocte still showed no emotion but, unlike last time, he seemed to be searching for something. At least that’s what I could gather. But, in a rather quick movement, he moved directly in front of me. The action made me make a noise, and I leaned back as he had both of his hands beside me as he leant over towards me, his hot breath stinging the skin on my face.

“Do you want to explore a relationship?”

I blinked. The way he said that was oddly robotic, and it seemed well rehearsed, like he had asked that question many times before. But I couldn’t deny myself anymore.

“... Yes.”

“Is that what you truly desire from me?”

I blinked again. He really is asking weird questions, and his attitude? Was really different to the Nocte I’ve come to know and love. But my hands were increasing in claminess, with his extreme closeness. The smell of strawberries is surprisingly strong right now! But I wanted to touch him, and most importantly I really wanted to kiss him.

“... Yes.”

As I said this, a shadow fell over his face and he lowered his head slightly. I kinda felt a little self conscious as it was like he was staring at my boobs. But I had the feeling that wasn’t the case, as he lifted his head up again and leaned forward, towards my ear. Hot breath on my ear made me shiver, as he spoke once again.

“Do you truly desire this?”