This adorable boi was made by Elentori on Tumblr.

I want to pinch his widdle cheeks, if I'm being honest.

xXx

Despite all the things he'd encountered and survived in the last three days, Keith was sure that boredom would be the death of him. There was absolutely nothing to do besides stare at rust spots, and if he moved around much, Kuron yelled at him because it made too much noise for him to sleep comfortably. And of course making conversation was out of the question. So Keith sat there, trying to figure out what to do with himself in the meantime to try and keep a grip on his sanity.

Needless to say, it wasn't going very well.

Counting the boards making up the floor and wall of the cell only lasted about two minutes, and he couldn't see the rest of the room well enough to count all of them. When he tried to do the math to figure it out, all he got was a headache and a strong urge to run and get Pidge. Not that he could do that anytime soon.

Great. Now he missed them again.

Kuron shifted slightly. Maybe, if Keith was lucky, he could start a conversation again when he woke up. Anything was better than sitting in this painful silence.

xXx

Lance did his best to try and keep his mind from wandering too much as he propelled himself steadily forward. If he left his thoughts to their own devices, all he could do was worry about Keith, and he knew that wouldn't do him any good.

What were they going to do to him? If they were going to kill him, they would have done it already. Clearly he was still alive, and seeing as the necklace didn't seem to suddenly spike in warmth, it didn't seem that they were torturing him. Keith had mentioned his crew potentially being sold into slavery. Was that Keith's fate if Lance couldn't save him? Serving some ruthless master until the end of his days?

He felt his necklace grow slightly warmer again, and a thought occurred to him: If, when he worried about Keith, he made Keith's necklace grow warmer, making Keith worry about him, in turn making his own necklace warmer, therefore making him more worried? Ugh, that kind of thinking made his head hurt.

And now he was worrying about Keith again.

He really needed to work on the whole 'not letting his mind wander' thing.

xXx

"You really are talkative, aren't you?"

"I don't see anything better to do."

"Sleep does wonders."

"Not for me."

Kuron sighed. "Listen, kid-- because you really are young, I don't care how experienced you might be-- I don't see why you insist on talking so much. Can't we just sit in peace and quiet and enjoy the sounds of all the stuff we're not drowning in?"

"You have a great way of making even the most simply pleasant things sound malevolent."

"Thank you." There was a small smirk evident on his otherwise relaxed face.

"Hmph." Keith shifted his weight yet again. "Why are you even here?"

Kuron sat up for the first time since he'd come down and looked straight at Keith. "Depends on what you mean by 'here'. I'm down here because I climbed down that ladder. I'm on this ship because I boarded it. I'm a pirate because it was a life that suited me. I'm on this sea because that's where the captain told us to go, and I'm here existing because nothing has put forth enough effort to kill me yet. Shall I continue?"

"You've made your point," Keith sighed.

"Oh, I thought I was making a case. Glad we could straighten that out, though." He smirked and leaned back against the wall.

"You really do enjoy antagonizing me, don't you?" Keith asked exasperatedly.

"It's my one joy in life," Kuron answered as he closed his eyes again.

"Not the sea?"

Kuron paused and reopened one eye. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well..." Keith fidgeted with the ropes on his wrists. "Shiro--"

"Oh, this guy again," Kuron groaned, shutting the open eye and putting his hand to his forehead in frustration. "Don't you ever stop talking about him?"

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm worried about him!" Keith snapped. "He's been missing for almost three weeks! I'd be concerned if I wasn't worried!"

"Except the whole point about not worrying is that you aren't concerning yourself with whatever it is that's going on, so actually, if you weren't worried about him, you'd be indifferent."

Keith blinked a few times as he processed that. He opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't think of a retort.

"That's what I thought." Kuron let out a heavy sigh. "Though I suppose I could listen for a while if it makes you feel better."

It took another moment for him to regain his ability to speak. "Oh, uh, thanks."

"But don't take it personally if I fall asleep."

Keith raised an eyebrow, but took a deep breath and started, "He loved the sea."

"Aw, how cute." Keith glared at him, and though Kuron didn't notice the look with his eyes closed, he didn't continue.

"All of his joy came from sailing. When we were out on the water, there was nothing that could faze him. We could go through the biggest storm, and he'd be halfway up the mast laughing into the wind."

"Ironic how he died in a storm, then."

"He was-- Hey!"

Kuron shrugged. "It's not like it's not."

Keith struggled not to snap at him. "He's not dead."

"So you've said."

"He's not."

"Is there an echo in here?"

Keith clenched his fists, struggling to keep control of his tone. "Look, I don't see why it's so important that I be so irritated by you, but it'd be great of you to could refrain from being quite so annoying."

"All right."

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

Kuron opened his eyes and grinned at him. "Of course not. If you get to talk, so do I, and I don't plan on having a peaceful conversation anytime soon."

Keith groaned and put his head (none too gently) against the wall.

Kuron gasped mockingly. "Did I actually shut him up? Say it isn't so!"

"You wish," Keith muttered, trying not to make his miniscule smirk too obvious.

"Well, if I can't have peace and quiet, I may as well take initiative and try to direct the conversation. All you ever talk about is this Shiro character. Why don't you tell me about yourself? How did you come to be a sailor?"

"I needed the money, so I applied for the first crew that had openings. It just happened to be Shiro's."

"And you still manage to talk about him," Kuron sighed.

xXx

Lance bit his lip. He was catching up, sure, but in the meantime, anything could happen. What would he do if the necklace suddenly flared up before he could get there? What if Keith was in the very middle of the ship where Lance wouldn't be able to reach in time?

He swam through a school of fish, and as their tiny shiny bodies shimmered around him, he slowly filled his lungs with water. He wasn't sure if it really even affected him, but it would be dumb if he had lungs underwater just so they could be destroyed by something that was actually difficult not to do occasionally. He assumed it was just something he could do. Plus, it was fun to shoot a lungful of water at floating seabirds. All things aside, it relaxed him, didn't it?

As he moved past the school, a pod of dolphins circled around it, herding it into a tighter bunch to eat the fish more easily. A dolphin darted through the cluster, managing to catch one of the iridescent fish in its jaws. As it moved out of the swarm, one of the other fish darted out of the school, almost seeming to chase after the dolphin. It managed to get a considerable distance from the rest of the school before another dolphin took notice and quickly snatched it up.

Keith was okay for now. He was clearly in some level of danger from where he was, but he was fine. There wasn't any threat currently looming over him, ready to strike him down. It was going to be fine. He would get there and--

How was he going to rescue him?

xXx

"Here." Kuron put a cup of water just inside the bars of Keith's cell.

Keith blinked the sleep out of his eyes. The first time he'd dozed off was also the first time Kuron had gotten up since he'd come down, and the pirate was already back to his position at the base of the ladder, settling down for more sleep.

He picked up the cup and raised it slowly to his parched lips. He took a sip, staring into space somewhere by his outstretched feet.

"What, not going to say anything?" Kuron asked with closed eyes.

Keith shook his head. "Nothing much to say," he said in a slightly raspy voice.

"Hm." Kuron resisted the urge to say something about how talkative Keith wasn't as he watched the sailor slowly sip the water. His gaze was unfocused, and Kuron couldn't help but wonder if his stay on the ship had had more effect than he'd anticipated. Now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn't the healthiest experience to be tied to the mast of your own ship and sunk, almost drown, go to rescue your crew only to be captured yourself, then sit in solitude with only an antagonistic pirate for company.

Now that he thought about it, Keith was actually handling it pretty well.

He chewed his lip uncertainly. What could he say? It would be completely out of character to just be nice, and general niceness was completely out of the question. A backhanded compliment? Ew, no. That would just make them both uncomfortable. A vague offer? Of what? An extra stale biscuit?

"You seem pretty optimistic," he said finally. He had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but that was what came out.

"I've got reason enough," he said hoarsely.

So he hadn't given up yet, after all. "Well... what reason? I need to know whether I ought to crush your hopes." Keith didn't say anything, just took another sip of water. "Come on, what am I gonna do? Even if I decide to give up your secret escape plan, who'll listen to the pirate who can't even sail?"

Keith set the empty cup on the planks next to him somewhat awkwardly because of the restraints, then his hands drifted to his collarbone. "I've got help coming."

When he didn't elaborate, Kuron leaned forward slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I... I can feel him coming. He's on his way. He'll be here in a day, give or take."

Kuron tilted his head. "Who?"

"Lance."

Word traveled fast on the ship. "The mermaid? It's coming here? To rescue you?"

"He," Keith corrected. "He's not an it."

"That's beside the point. A mermaid is coming for you? Why?"

"He's my friend. Maybe it's because he doesn't want me dead."

Kuron paused. "How do you know? How can you feel him coming?"

"I'm not about to give everything away," Keith said with finality. He sighed deeply, then closed his eyes and curled up in the corner where he was sitting.

The pirate stared at his turned back for a moment. Was that a just his overly optimistic outlook, or was he actually going to be rescued?

When he was sure Keith had fallen back asleep, Kuron quietly stood and climbed the ladder to the top deck to try and organize his thoughts.

xXx

Lance was closing in. He could feel Keith getting nearer and nearer. He would reach him within the hour, if he kept up this pace. And he could do that easily.

Wait. Keith wasn't moving anymore. They'd stopped.

Now he would reach them that much faster, but nothing good could come from the ship stopping. Nothing at all.

It took about fifteen minutes of furious swimming before he could see the ship rocking gently on the surface of the waves over the edges of a sandbar. He could feel his necklace pulse with warmth, slowly growing warmer against his throat. What was going on?

He swam to the surface and slowly lifted his head above the water. He couldn't see much of anything on the deck of the ship, though he did see one pirate turn away from the railing facing him and walk to something on the other side of the deck. Lance took this as a good sign, since now he wouldn't be seen.

He slowly swam closer, leaving the lower half of his face underwater. Now that he was somewhat closer, he could hear a number of voices on the deck, all talking at once. Since he wasn't much of one for hearing through air, Lance couldn't distinguish what any of them were saying, but it seemed to excite them.

He focused on Keith's location. He was still on the ship, which could be good or bad. But... he was on deck... where all the commotion was.

His necklace grew steadily warmer. "What's going on, Keith?" Lance muttered. He ducked below the surface to get ready to swim below the ship to the other side, but the temperature of his necklace suddenly plummeted alarmingly. He slapped his hand to the shell, his eyes wide as he heard a splash coming from the far side of the ship. He turned to look for the source of the noise and saw a figure rapidly sinking to the ocean floor.

All his pent-up worry and fear escaped in a single wail. "Keith!"