A/N - For once, I have nothing to say.

When Arthur woke, the first thing he noticed was the pounding headache that beat with the rhythm of the waves against the ship's hull. The second thing he noticed drove the former completely out of mind.

There was someone in bed with him.

Not only that, but whoever it was was too close. Arthur looked up cautiously to see Bonnefoy, sleeping peacefully as if it was nothing out of the ordinary to be sharing his bed with a stranger.

Although for him, it probably wasn't. After all, it was true that Bonnefoy was quite good-looking - well, some people might think so, even if Arthur certainly didn't. He was probably quite popular.

Arthur felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of Bonnefoy with someone else, and it surprised him. He'd never really been the sort of person who would get jealous over such trivial things.

Blue eyes opened unexpectedly, and Bonnefoy's lips curled into a smile when he saw that Arthur was already awake.

Caught under that predatory gaze, Arthur suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that he was held firmly in Bonnefoy's arms, and that their legs were tangled in a way that meant he absolutely couldn't escape.

'Last night was fun, Arthur,' Bonnefoy purred. 'You aren't in pain, are you?'

Had Bonnefoy just called him Arthur? With a flash, Arthur remembered something from last night. 'Arthur, come here.' And Arthur had obeyed, and the last thing he could remember was Bonnefoy's graceful fingers unfastening…

'What happened?' He asked in horror, praying they hadn't done anything.

Bonnefoy smirked. 'Wouldn't you like to know?'

Arthur growled. 'You bastard.'

Bonnefoy laughed. 'Arthur, do you honestly think you'd have forgotten if we had gone all the way? I'd have made you feel so good, there's no way you would have blanked it out, mon cher.'

Arthur was torn between relief and irritation, and eventually settled for the latter. 'Of course you would, Bonnefoy.'

'Call me Francis. Bonnefoy is so formal.' Bonnefoy smirked, and another flashback smugly reminded Arthur that he'd told Bonnefoy not to call him Kirkland. Damn, he really had done a good job of embarrassing himself.

'You wish,' Arthur said shortly, and made to leave.

Bonnefoy had let him go surprisingly easily, and it wasn't until Arthur reached into his pocket that he discovered why.

His watch was gone.

'You absolute fucking bastard!' Arthur yelled furiously, storming back into Bonnefoy's cabin.

'Hmmm? Are you missing something, mon cher?' Francis asked mockingly.

'Fuck, Bonnefoy! Give it back!'

Bonnefoy ignored him and stood up languidly, an aura of smugness surrounding him as he stepped closer to Arthur. 'I said, call me Francis.'

Arthur felt his face burn, but that wasn't important anymore. 'Francis,' he ground out.

'What are the magic words, mon cher?'

Arthur held back a growl and forced out the words through gritted teeth. 'Give it back, please.'

Bonnefoy's smile widened and he leaned closer to Arthur. When he tried to move away, Arthur felt rough wood press into his back. Tension hovered taut in the air, and Bonnefoy murmured one word.

'Non.'

'What? Why not!'

'It's my assurance. Do you remember when I said you would either be the ship's carpenter or my pet?'

Arthur felt himself go numb with horror, and nodded woodenly. He knew what came next.

'Now, if I want you to do something, I have bargaining power. I have heard that seawater can be damaging for watches?'

'You wouldn't.'

'Are you sure? If you want to test that…'

Arthur was silent.

For a moment, there was stillness. Then Arthur felt a gentle touch on his chin, softly tilting his head towards Bonnefoy's. He caught his breath, and time stretched endlessly between them.

Then Bonnefoy's lips were on his, soft and warm and surprisingly gentle. Arthur instinctively flinched back slightly in surprise, screwing his eyes tight shut. He berated himself inwardly, knowing he'd never forgive himself if anything was to happen to that watch, and pressed forwards.

Bonnefoy's reaction was surprisingly decent. Rather than trying to force Arthur into doing anything further, Bonnefoy pulled back reluctantly slow, and looked at him immeasurably.

'You don't want this…' He said thoughtfully.

It took a lot of effort for Arthur to stop himself from rolling his eyes and replying rudely.

'I'll wait. After all, you're mine now, and there's all the time in the world.'

Arthur glared at him. 'It's not like I'm going to fall in love with you and beg you to take me! Or don't tell me, you think that's what will happen?'

Bonnefoy grinned. 'Something like that.'

Arthur's pride flared up. 'Then get ready for a long wait. That'll never happen!'

'Then you have nothing to worry about,' Bonnefoy shrugged.

That stupid, self-confident expression never left his face.

Arthur stomped out onto the deck, simmering in fury. Gil was crouched in the sun, carefully disassembling a barrel. And right now, Arthur needed nothing more than a distraction. 'What are you doing?' He asked.

'Oh, hey Artie. Luddy's pissed at me for gettin' drunk last night, so he's makin' me do Feli's job and smash up this barrel.'*

'Why?'

'Make more space. The Ashron's just a sloop, she aint got much room, specially when we got craploads of these things floatin' around.' Gil sat back on his heels and contemplated his work. He grinned. 'It was worth it though. Man, you're a funny drunk.'

Arthur snorted. 'You should see yourself. At least I could stand up.'

Gil flushed and changed the subject abruptly. 'Jeez, this heat's really unawesome.' He started pulling off his shirt.

Arthur caught his breath in horror. The pale skin of Gil's back was criss-crossed by a network of scars. Some were old and faded to silvery lines, but some were more recent and stood out as newly healed wounds. 'Gil, what the hell happened?'

'Huh? Oh. A couple months back, I got double-crossed and ended up prisoner of some army psycho.' Gil spoke casually, but his eyes had darkened with fear or anger or both. 'He was fuckin' creepy, he had this sweet face and Russian accent and stuff, but then he'd just snap suddenly.'

The bottom of Arthur's stomach dropped. 'Ivan…'

'Yeah, that's him. Ivan Braginski.' He shuddered. 'You heard of him?'

'Unfortunately.' Arthur took a deep breath. Gil had told him his story, he deserved the same courtesy, no matter how hard it was to say. 'He killed my brother.'

A/N - The internet told me that apparently one of the important people on a ship was the cooper, who basically put together and deconstructed barrels. If you wanna see more, look at the link below:

http:/ latinamericanhistory. about. com/ od/ Pirates/p/Positions-And-Duties-On-Board-A-Pirate-Ship. htm