Alfred couldn't believe how captives were treated in this ship. They didn't seem like captives at all. He wondered why the captain even gathered them up for. All the captives he'd seen, were healthy, well-clothed, not sickly, and got along with almost everyone. They had 2 meals a day and captives were allowed on the top deck by permission by crew or the captain himself. Bathroom breaks were almost never turned down. And occasionally, they took bathes in one of the ship's many bathrooms.

They all seemed to live the life of an isolated middleclass person, unlike the sickly peasantry torture they were expecting at all. They all wondered why the captain was so careful with them and not live in a tortured pig hole? Nonetheless, the captives were actually living much better than other captured captives in other pirate ships, so they were actually the few lucky ones.

Alfred soon got well-acquainted with an overly-cheery Spaniard and his aggressive and foul-mouthed roommate who came from South Italy. "I wonder what they're going to serve for lunch today? Maybe they might actually put tomatoes in our food this time," the man, who's name Alfred found out was Antonio, was fantasizing about. "Bastard, it's probably going to be the same old crap they serve every day," the Italian man interjected, who's name was Lovino. "Lovi! You never know what each day might bring, they might even serve that pomodoro you've been talking about in your dreams at night," Antonio said, winking.

Damnit, you! Why do you listen to people sleeptalk?" Lovino cried, ticked off already. "Now, now, Lovi~ I wasn't really tired that night and you were describing it in such a cute way, I just had to listen!~" Antonio said, clapping his hands together in joy. Then Lovino let in the beatdown and Samira told Alfred it was best to leave them be.

Alfred felt bad for Antonio since 1.) The meal they got for their late lunch didn't have a single tomato in it at all and 2.) Lovino wasn't the best roommate to be beside as a captive. Their meal consisted of salted porridge with bits of fish and potatoes in it and a small bowl of stale water. Alfred ate it happily, it was pretty good, except he noted that some of the fish bits he ate were rather stale too, and the water he received looked suspiciously murky.

All in all, their lunch was great and Samira was a great companion to have as a roommate and a friend. She thought the porridge was ok, and wished they could have more fish in the porridge, especially swordfish which she loved. Antonio was trying to calm Lovino down and offering him the rest of his porridge as compensation which Lovino immediately rejected. All of a sudden, the captives hushed and Alfred wondered why. He saw in the corner of his eye, Samira looking up attentively.

"So how are my fellow captives doing, hmm?" a very familiar voice said. It was the captain. Alfred looked up from his bowl. The captain stood in the middle of the scrunched deck, tapping his glinting cutlass on a floorboard. "We're doing fine, Captain," everyone chorused. Except for Alfred.

Arthur noticed this and went to stand right in front of the young man. His tall statue made a looming shadow over Alfred's sitting figure. "Well?" Arthur said, tapping his cutlass more persistently. "Oh, sure, Captain, I'm doing really well," Alfred announced. "Can you lean down a little, please…?" Arthur did. "What is it you want to say, face to face, mate?" Alfred leaned slowly into the older man's ear and blew a puff of air into it. Arthur instinctively jerked back, flustered. "Excuse me?" he squawked. "That was what I wanted to say," Alfred said, smiling directly at Arthur's face. Captain Arthur Kirkland stood, befuddled, a slight tint of red staining his slightly tanned cheeks. "W-well, alright, all! As long as you're all well, that's what matters!" he said turning away and waving his gloved hand.

He stepped up the stairs leading to the top deck and disappeared. Right after that, the soft murmurs of conversation returned. Samira turned to Alfred, looking confused. "What did you say to the Captain?" she asked. Alfred gave a chuckle. "Nothing, I just blew in his ear and he freaked." Samira smiled. "The look on his face was priceless." "Yes, I know," Alfred replied, replaying the moment in his head, the moment where the captain stood, flushing slightly.

"Did you notice his cheeks grow red?" Samira asked. "I sure did, it matched his skin tone nicely," Alfred replied, nodding. "I never saw the captain this flustered before, for all the while I've been here," Samira said, scratching her chin. "You better not try anymore tricks, Alfred, I've heard rumors of mischievous captives getting thrown off deck." "Alright, I'll keep my record clean, just to not worry you, Samira, you're a good, caring friend." Samira smiled shyly. "Thanks, Alfred, you are too."

It was already dusk and a storm was brewing on the sea. You could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. The crew shut the trapdoors to the opening of the lower deck. Although they closed it, drops of water still came through some tiny cracks. The ship rocked unsteadily, and the captives began feeling sick.

"Chigiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Protect me, you bastard!"

"Aww, Lovi, are you scared? You can cuddle into me if you want to."

"F-f-fine, just this once, don't get any wrong ideas…"

"Hmm~…?"

Samira was trembling from the fluffiness of the scene before her. Lovino was reluctantly leaning his head onto Antonio's chest and slowly pulling his arms around him. Antonio was overjoyed, nonetheless, and embraced his roommate back. Lovino's cheeks were flushed a very bright red, much like a tomato as Antonio always said when he saw Lovino blush.

Alfred sighed silently. "Those two were meant for each other. I wonder if something like this will ever happen to me?" Alfred thought.

"Mm? Alfred? Is something wrong?" Samira asked.

Alfred looked up.

"You have a very serious face, like you're thinking of something deep or remembering past memories?" Samira said.

"Ah, something like that."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Samira asked. Alfred nodded. "Those two over there."

He pointed over to wear Lovino was still cuddling shyly into Antonio.

"They look perfect for each other, don't they?" Samira smiled. She had a relaxed, dreamy look in her eyes in that moment.

"Yeah, I hope soon that I'll meet someone that's right just like that for me," Alfred sighed happily.

Samira looked at Alfred right in the eye. Her face was soft and calm.

"I'm very sure you will, Alfred."

"You too."

Alfred woke up. His surroundings were dark, he couldn't see well with his bleary eyes. He patted the ground absentmindedly. It was still the same floorboards. It was early in the morning but from the looks of the storm, you would've thought it was in the evening.

"Muh?" Alfred groaned groggily.

He rubbed his throbbing head and rubbed his bleary eyes.

When his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Alfred could see that the trapdoor was still snapped shut. Of course the captain never ordered the door to be closed permanently, there was a loose lock on one side if an emergency happened. Alfred turned to see Samira sleeping soundly two people away. Her features looked even more youthful when she was asleep. She looked like a little girl who began dozing off near a tree on a hilltop. Alfred smiled warmly at this. Alfred closed his eyes for a second and leaned back. He imagined this scene in his head and savored each rich detail. The slight sunbeams dancing off her face, her chest rising and falling as she breathed steadily, the book in her hands sliding to her side, maybe she had a little dog and it dozed next to its master, protecting its master's life, and the air was balmy and tropical with the thick scent of tropical fruit and seawater.

Then Alfred opened his eyes and his mind got hit with the sudden reality he was still in the lower decks, the decks dim and not a single ray of sunshine passing through the floorboards, just slightly but the sight of this looked rather eerie. Alfred wished Samira was awake so they could exchange stories or talk of their favorite things, but he didn't have the heart to awake her. He glanced over to where Antonio and Lovino slept. This time Antonio was leaning sleepily onto Lovino, his head resting softly on Lovino's lithe shoulders.

Alfred felt one of his heartstrings pull. He wished something like this could happen to him. Alfred felt a pang of jealousy in his heart. But he wished them good luck with their growing relationship and watched them a little more. Antonio was smiling dreamily in his sleep and snuggled softly on Lovino's shoulder. Lovino shifted a little in his sleep and Alfred could faintly see a small shy smile on his lips and a thin shade of pink was coloring his tanned skin.

Alfred sighed softly to himself and leaned back on the wooden wall of the ship. Not one single was awake yet. Maybe it wasn't even morning yet. Alfred couldn't tell. He couldn't see a shred of light anywhere this time. The light had disappeared and the room had grown even more darker and Alfred was wondering he was imagining this, but he could feel an invisible ominous aura in the air.

Violently the ship began rocking furiously and Alfred could feel the churning waters of the sea filling his ringing ears. The captives began sliding over from their spots and some yelped in surprise as they tumbled onto each other. Samira fell onto her face and squeaked. Alfred quickly came over to aid her and lifted her up. "Are you ok?" Alfred asked.

Samira smiled painfully. "Yes, I'll be fine."

A red mark was beginning to form on her forehead. "Well, we better sit down or else we'll begin tumbling into other people," Alfred said quickly.

"Good idea." Samira agreed. She quickly sat herself down and gripped a ship pier and held on tight. Unfortunately, Alfred had nothing to hold onto, and steadied his body so he couldn't fall over easily if a rough wave came by to violently lick the ship over and over.

The captives could hear shipmates shouting above the deck and ordering each other around quickly. "Keep everyone safe! I don't want anyone hurt or killed!" a voice shouted over the raging winds. It was the captain's voice. "Well how thoughtful of him," Alfred thought absentmindedly. A growing sleepiness caught up with him and Alfred fell asleep despite the starting turmoil of the storm.o

Someone was shaking his arm. Alfred wanted to sleep some more. He didn't feel very hungry at all. He elbowed the person and snuggled near a wall pier. "Come on, Alfred, please wake up," a voice pleaded. The person went back to shaking his arm. Alfred finally gave up and opened his eyes. He could faintly see a silhouette of Samira's figure. "Samira…?" Alfred said softly. "Come on, the Captain wants us to help him out since some of the crewmembers are sick from the turmoil of the ship," Samira said. "Oh, is that so?" Alfred said. The trapdoor was now open again. Bright honey-colored sunlight filtered through the opening and sunbeams danced in the light. Alfred wished he had paint and a canvas to catch this simple scene in.

"Hurry, they're going to pick our roles soon," Samira said hurriedly, grabbing Alfred's shirt sleeve. Alfred lurched forward and was dragged by Samira to the upper decks. Alfred tumbled up the stairs and waded in the blinding light. "Ah…!" he exclaimed. He shielded his eyes with his free arm. The light reflected too brightly into his glasses.

Soon, Alfred adjusted his eyes to this sudden brightness and was still being brought over to where the other captives stood shyly looking their way. "Oh great, they must be getting ideas we're turning into a couple, well, I only see Samira as a friend, goodness!" Alfred thought, rolling his eyes. He stood at the end of the line and a long-haired young man tapped his shoulder timidly.

"Um, sir…? May I ask you a question, please?" the man said, his voice shy and nervous. "Well, you already asked me one, but yes, what do you want?" Alfred replied looking at the man. "Are you and Miss Samira…?" the man started. Alfred stopped him. "No, we're not, we were hurrying and she wanted me to come here as soon as possible, please don't misunderstand things, please, sir." The man ducked his head in embarrassment. "I-I-I'm sorry, it wasn't my question in the first place…it was my friend Feliks…"

A long-haired blonde man appeared by the long-haired brunette and looked over his shoulder at Alfred. "Oh, I see, I'm sorry for bothering you, sir," he said with a sniff. "Please, you don't need to be so polite, just call me Alfred," Alfred said. "Alfred…? It's a pleasure to meet you," the brunette said giving a warm smile and held out his hand shyly. Alfred smiled back and shook hands with the man. "My name is Toris. And this is my close friend, Feliks." He brought over his friend face to face with Alfred. "I'm sure we'll like, get along, right?" Feliks said stiffly but with a hint of shyness. "I'm sure we will," Alfred replied.

"Hello, I'm Samira," Samira said holding out her hand. "Ah! Miss Samira, it's pleasure," Toris said quickly. "It's nice to meet you…" Feliks said pulling his hand into Samira's also. They all shook with much energy. "Now we've met, I wonder what the Captain wants us to do?" Feliks said. He shook his head in disapproval. "He's taking like, totally too long, I'd say."

Toris gave a nervous chuckle.

"I'm sure he'll come out very soon, we'll have to wait."

"You totally know that I'm bad at waiting, Tor!"

"Ah…yes, I'm sorry, but can you please be patient? For me, alright?"

Feliks turned red.

"Fine…but like, it's only for your sake, don't misunderstand this!"

"Ok, ok, but please don't be so loud, I don't want you to cause a scene…"

"Sure, sure, like, I'll really do that."

A few minutes passed and the captain finally appeared. "Alright, gits, some of my fellow sailors have gotten sick from this morning's storm, so I'll be letting you all to do their roles. Understand?" The captives replied in almost-unison: "Yes, Captain!"

"Alright, you there, you'll be assigned to do…"

Alfred was assigned to wash the 'poop decks'. Alfred was miffed by this and it was most probably due to blowing that puff of air into Captain Arthur Kirkland's ear. "Well, it can't be that bad, right? They don't look so disgusting right now…I wonder what job Samira has to do? And how about Antonio, Lovino, Toris, and Feliks? Oh, I better get back to work or I might get yelled at," Alfred thought scraping waste from the poop deck.

(*In this story, the poop deck really is the poop deck, yeah, you get it now.) Alfred was collected in his thoughts that he didn't notice that he was edging close to the end of the plank. "HEY, MATE, HOW IS THAT POOP DECK COMIN' ON?" cried Captain Arthur Kirkland. Alfred turned a little too fast to look at the captain. "What?" Alfred yelled, the waves were too loud and muffled the captain's voice. He felt his foot hold slip and deep darkness engulfed him and a wave of loud voices rang in his ears before they quickly faded away.