The ship was quiet, nearly deserted, as we wandered through the silent halls to get to the captains' quarters. I was painfully aware of how the tapping of our shoes and consonants of our small talk echoed against the walls. The official embarkation day was tomorrow, so it made sense that the ship was quiet—but the stillness was almost eerie. I found myself missing Rana and Miki's chatter even though Fukase was with me.

Fukase seemed to recognize the quietness that surrounded us and spoke in a hushed voice. "Are cargo ships much different from cruise ships?" he asked.

"Well, for sure. Cargo ships are a lot more empty, and not nearly as decorated. It's pretty much just a few levels of long planks of wood, and then cargo stacked up on those levels. And then, of course, the captains' cabins."

"That makes sense. Is the cabin different? Or about the same?"

"On a cruise ship, the cabins are a bit bigger... but that's all I'm telling you. I don't want to ruin the surprise," I replied as we approached the bridge of the ship.

"Fair enough."

"Here, this is the bridge," I explained a few moments later, and pushed open the door to the bridge. "It's where the captain and ship crew mainly work, but right now it's empty. The crew's probably somewhere else. All the nautical charts are here, and the controls..."

I trailed off, noticing Fukase's expression. His eyes were wide with wonder, as if he'd just walked into Disneyland for the first time. I couldn't exactly blame hime either; when I had first stepped foot into the bridge, I was amazed too. I had been on container ship bridges, but this was entirely different.

"Can I...go look?" he asked, slightly bewildered.

"Of course!"

He immediately left his suitcase and went over to the large window panes that surrounded the horseshoe-shaped control panel. His awe wasn't unlike mine the first day I had set foot on the bridge of a cruise ship. It was much larger and more luxurious than the bridge of any cargo ship I'd been on.

I couldn't help but smile at his eagerness as he peered out of the window, staring at the bright blue waves that lapped against the vessel. He walked over to the starboard bridge wing and out to the lookout deck, and beckoned for me to follow.

"This is the view we get every day?" he said, gazing out to the back of the ship and then turning to grin at me.

"Yup. Oh, and you haven't even seen our cabin yet! It's above the bridge, so if the view is what you're interested in, then it's even better from up there." I tugged him along with me to the port bridge wing. Tucked in the corner was a small staircase that led up to the captain's cabin.

The staircase was short, but steep. Soon, we reached the top where it leveled out at a small platform. The carpet was short, and a light pearly beige color that was neatly paired with the warmer-toned oak door that stood before us.

"You can do the honors, if you'd like," I said, gesturing to the door.

Fukase smiled slightly and pushed it open. His eyes widened and I heard him give a light gasp when he stepped through the narrow doorway into the bright living room.

Sunlight filtered through the thin curtains, falling in streams over the blue sleeper sofa sprawled next to the windows. In front of the sofa was a teal carpet with sand-colored stripes thrown across it. A black coffee table rested lightly on top.

Further in, to the side there was a door leading outside to the balcony. There was a view that reached out to the front and back of the ship—similar to the bride wing deck we had previously gazed out from.

The entirety of the cabin was themed with bright blues and aquas, highlighted here and there with beige touches like sandy shores to a vast ocean.

Fukase turned to me, a wide smile on his face. "You're telling me we get this whole place to ourselves, for three weeks?"

"Us and Yohio, but essentially, yes," I replied. "By the way, you left your suitcase on the bridge. Do you want to unpack yet?"

"Oh yeah, I might as well get it now." He chuckled sheepishly and quickly left the room.

I sat down on the couch with my hands tucked under my legs as I heard his footsteps move down the stairs. I had spent so much of my thought process before wondering about what his voice would sound like, but after I had heard him speak for the first time I had never stopped to appreciate him for it. His voice was soft, but warm and velvety.

Like chocolate melting in a saucepan to make fudge that would coat chocolate cake.

Although, since his aesthetic was red, maybe he was more like red velvet, so the fudge would coat red velvet cake instead of chocolate—

Wait a second, why am I comparing Fukase to cake of all things? I wondered, forcing myself out of my thoughts.

"Oliver, can you help me with this?" I heard him call from the bottom of the staircase.

"Sure, coming!"

~~~

When we had finally gotten Fukase's majorly oversized suitcase inside the room, we both paused to breathe. "Why does your bag have to be so huge? Couldn't you have just brought two smaller ones?"

"I don't have anything else," he replied, pulling the handle out again. "By the way, where am I sleeping?"

"Oh, I forgot to show you the bedrooms! There's only two bedrooms, but one of them has two beds... The bigger one is for Yohio, of course, and I was planning to take the other. If you want, you can sleep in there or out here on the sofa. It opens up to a real bed, by the way."

"I'll sleep wherever," he replied.

"The bed is probably more comfortable."

"Fair point." He grabbed the handle of his suitcase and continued maneuvering it through the room.

I hurried around him to open the door to our room so he could get through. Please don't run over my feet with that thing... I found myself thinking. Of course, he didn't.

Two beds were lined up against the wall; one for me and one for Fukase. Since I had already settled and unpacked my things the day before, he was left to lay his suitcase down on the unoccupied side of the room, next to his nightstand. He glanced at my small carry-on, now empty, standing in the corner.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just...tiny."

I rolled my eyes. "No, yours is just too big."

He snickered, trying to hold back a laugh. Realization dawned on me and I gasped.

I grabbed a pillow from my bed and threw it at him. "I bet you're all talk and no trousers, anyway."

Fukase was laughing at full force now. "'All talk and no trousers'? Who even says that?" He giggled. "How British of you."

"Is there a problem?"

"No, of course not."

"Good." I huffed and sat down.

"Hey, if this is our room, what type of room did Rana and Miki get?" Fukase asked me after a while.

"I don't know, some empty suite. There are only so many rich folk, but the ship is small and there was only one suite left."

He nodded. "Should we go find them?"

"We probably should. I bet they got lost on the way."

He let out a soft laugh and then stood up, but there was something behind his eyes that told me something was wrong.

"Hey, when are you going to tell them?"

"Tell them what?"

"Well, that you can speak."

His breath caught in his throat and suddenly, his nervousness was much more prominent on his face. "I...don't know yet."

"That's ok, take your time. But please, do tell them at some point..."

"I will." He smiled, in an attempt to reassure us both. "Soon."

A/N:

Heyo! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it...you can probably guess why.

I wrote most of this at 4 AM or something, and even though I proofread it a bunch of times, I might have messed up somewhere so please leave a comment if I did! 

Ok, I'm done now. The next chapter is already half written, so it shouldn't take me too long to finish it. See you then!

~ Stargazer