Mark of the Damned | 18+

Your Bones

Song - Your Bones by Of Monsters and Men

"You've redeemed yourself, lass," Big Jones slaps his heavy hand down on my shoulder.

Every crumb and smudge was eaten so quickly, it's likely they didn't chew a single bite. I know I should be flattered but I doubt they would leave a spare morsel even if the food was terrible.

Captain Cormac's eyes went round when he took the first bite. He didn't say anything but I know he enjoyed it. That was all I needed. I may have bought myself a few days of security.

"First shift, Big Jones and Florry, out with you. Everyone else, racks." The captain turns on his heels and disappears into his room on the opposite side of the cabin from mine. I have a curiosity to look inside.

Silver ate with the first crew. He's been asleep in his hammock since. I have to actively keep my body from him. My neck wants to turn, my eyes want to glance in his direction, and my legs want to carry me toward him.

I quickly clean the galley as the crew removes their clothes to various states of undress. Some of them are as naked as the day they were born.

Potter stands proudly before me, with no shame in his nakedness. "You're the laundress aboard, aye?"

"I am," I stare at a knot in the wood near his feet.

"Wash and hang by morning," he points toward the large pile of sweat-stained rags.

"I'll get you water to boil," Big Jones says, throwing only his shirt onto the pile.

"Thank you," I smile to hide my panic at all the work I still have to do.

The hours pass as I soak, boil, scrub and resoak item after item. The first watch comes and goes, the second crew to stand watch is rolling out of the hammocks as I begin, finally to bring the clean, wet clothes out to the line Big Jones showed me.

Puffs of white breath hang in the air in the deep black night. The two standing watch are shirtless but hardly seem to notice the biting cold. When my task is finally complete, I climb up into the crow's nest, looking out at the vast, dark, nothingness. There is nothing on the horizon, not a wave in the water. Everything is still.

Shivering, I wrap my arms around myself. Just a few minutes more. I've never seen anything so empty. It's terrifying and beautiful.

"You'll freeze," Silver's voice catches me off guard. Even in the almost frightening silence, I didn't hear him approach.

He climbs up into the crow's nest and tugs my arm, pulling me into his chest. His skin instantly thaws the icy chill in my bones. He feels like a fire, heat radiating from his skin.

Several minutes pass in silence, his arms wrapped around my body, my face pressed into his warm chest. The clattering of my teeth stops and my eyelids begin to droop. There is a place on his chest, a spot so perfectly suited for me to tuck into it's as if we were made to fit together. His body and mine, fitting together like two broken pieces that come together to make a whole.

My eyes flutter open and the strange mark on his chest catches my attention. It glows in the moonlight. Before I even realize what I'm doing, my hand comes up to touch the spot, my curious fingers running over the soft skin.

"What is it?" I've seen men with scars or tattoos on their skin. This is different. This is like a piece of the moon itself lodged in his chest. It's completely smooth.

"Just a mark." His tone is clipped. Clearly, he doesn't want to discuss it.

The cloudless night stretches on in front of us while we sit in uncomfortable silence. I've upset him. I can feel it.