Man of War Ch. 08

My reaction made her giggle at first, no doubt blinking in surprise. I'm fairly sure my jaw dropped. "You don't have to ask; you can just stay."

"I will not be undressing, Shepard. But I would like your company this evening. I don't want to feel alone."

"Would you like a drink before bed? Help calm down?"

"If you'll have one."

I poured us a glass of brandy each before we retired to my private quarters, ensuring the partition was closed, before taking a seat together on the lounge. Leliana did her usual thing already, shoes off, stockinged feet curled underneath her, snuggled into my side, my hand holding her side, just below her bosom.

"Can I ask a difficult question, Shepard?" I had a good idea or two what she was going to ask, but I nodded. "How many men have you lost under your command?"

"Since being commissioned as captain, I've lost five men to drowning, sixteen men to illness and disease, two men to hanging, three men to wounds suffered in fights between seaman, four men to suicide, and now one man due to blood loss because of amputation. And, to be honest, my record isn't that bad. In fact, that's just over thirty men in now over three years of commanding my own ship. The main thing that's helped keep men alive is diet. Each vessel takes enough preserved fruit to keep us relatively healthy. And now with these newly invented tin cans, that should help us further."

"How bad was it before?"

"At least half a ship of men could or would die due to illness."

"By the Five," she whispered. It was always a shock to learn of such things. The numbers were sometimes staggering. "What was done with all the bodies?"

"Ceremonies such as today wouldn't be held. To be honest, bodies would just have to dumped overboard to prevent the spread of disease."

I think we both wanted to move away from the topic. To be honest, I think we were both rather tired. Knocking back my glass, Leliana did the same thing and we moved our way to the bed. I removed my coat, overcoat, shirt and boots, though kept my breeches and stockings on. Leliana simply slid under the blankets dressed in her robes. I figured she'd be rather warm, but I could understand her hesitation in taking anything off. That didn't stop her from immediately moving towards me, resting her head near my right shoulder as I wrapped my right arm around her. Her right hand rested on my chest.

"You're very warm, Shepard," she whispered.

"There isn't a way I can think of responding to that without sounding very suggestive and ungentlemanly, Leliana."

That made her laugh out loud for a moment. "You have always been a gentleman with me, Shepard. I fondly remember all those times you walked me home, and I was desperate to invite you in, even if only for a nightcap before you walked home. But such a thing would have been improper, considering I lived with others of the faith."

"What about right now?"

"What I know is that I can going to sleep very well, in the arms of the man I care about most."

"I can handle that."

I blew out the candle, darkness descending, though we could both look out the window and see the twinkling of the stars. After the storms we'd suffered so recently, I had a new appreciation in seeing a starry night. Leliana moved around a little to get comfortable, feeling one of her legs eventually over mine, her fingers gently stroking my chest though her hand never moved. She eventually stopped moving and I could hear her breathing change, suggesting she was now asleep.

Kissing her forehead, I quickly joined her in slumberland.

Work on a ship was a seven-day operation, though on Saturni and Solis, the men were allowed to relax somewhat, as long as the important jobs were completed. Standards could not be lax, no matter what. Waking up that morning, Leliana's arm was now completely across my chest, her body sprawled against mine. I woke with slight surprise before remembering she had stayed with me. My shuffling caused her to slowly wake up. There was no embarrassment once she was awake, only a smile, a hand on my cheek and her lips on mine. "Well, that's a nice way to wake up on a Saturni morning," she said softly.

Though I would have liked to laze about in bed, I had a ship to run, so after kissing her again, I slid out of bed. Leliana made no movement whatsoever, instead watching me as I looked out the window. There were clouds but no sign of any rain and definitely not storms. Turning back, I could see her giving me a good once over. "You are very handsome, Shepard."

"And you're just saying it because I have no shirt on."

She met my eyes. "And that alone is leading to some very unladylike thoughts, Shepard, gods forbidding you were not wearing breeches too. I might not have been able to control myself otherwise."

Now it was my turn to laugh, even blush slightly at her tone, as she slid out of bed too, walking across to the lounge to sit down and put on her shoes. I at least found a relatively clean shirt and overcoat, putting on my boots, and we wandered out to the table, where breakfast was served by Jeeves, who had probably been up before dawn preparing. It was always the same thing once any ship ran out of fresh supplies. Porridge, or oatmeal, depending on where you were from. Thankfully we had sugar on board. Sometimes there would only be enough for officers, but Taylor had ensured we had enough that most of us could enjoy something to sweeten breakfast for most of our voyage.

Wandering out of my quarters together a little later, now with hat and coat on so I looked like the captain, I offered my arm and escorted her to the deck. It was a cool morning as we walked around the ship, stopping every so often to gaze out over the water. Apart from that one little island, we still hadn't found a single sign of life, at least life that wasn't below us in the water or above us in the sky. We'd changed tack again, and were heading on our original course, that Pressly knew the storm had blown us all over the place, but he was confident he knew where we were. Well, he could tell us where we were in relation to the Empire. As for where we were in the world, no idea.

We must have walked around the deck at least twice before I escorted her to the wardroom, as I needed to at least do some work. I didn't even have to ask her to dinner that evening. It was a given that Leliana dined with me nowadays. There were no comments or complaints from anyone. In fact, most seemed happy for me, particularly Jane. The Normandy, its mission and its crew was something unique, and entirely different to any ship before. And I hadn't given a thought to myself eventually involving myself with someone.

Returning to the bridge, Moreau and Pressly were in position as always. With seas calm and a light breeze, we were only at half sail as, frankly, it was Saturni and there was no rush. We hadn't found land yesterday, I doubted we'd find land today, and I was already doubting we'd find land on Solis.

"Mister Pressly, how are we looking today?"

"We've averaging four knots at the moment, sir. Wind from the south east, relatively light, but enough to keep us moving on. Sea is rather calm as well."

"Very good. Let's see if we can remain at that speed. Moreau, are you well?"

"As can be expected, sir."

"Feeling better after the recent trials and tribulations?"

"I feel fine. Ten hours sleep for two nights was good. Thank you for that, sir."

"No problem."

"Can I admit something though, sir?"

"Sure."

"I really want to see some land. It's been six weeks at least now..."

"Actually, we departed on the twenty-fourth of Morning Star, Mister Moreau. Today's date is the seventeenth of First Seed. It's been over seven weeks since we left Arcturus."

"No wonder some of us are going a little crazy," Moreau muttered, "We're usually in some port by now when we're patrolling." He glanced in my direction, as his complaining merely amused me. "I guess I should shut up right about now?"

"No, I'm sure many below us are feeling the same. Seven weeks at sea is a long time and nothing any of us would have experienced before. I'm sure we'll find land soon. Or, at least, I hope so. I find it impossible that we live on the only landmass on this world."

I remained at the bridge for most of the day, only disappearing for a quick lunch and another wander around the deck, chatting with all officers under my command. Alenko had his marines running drills as always. Marines would usually perform the same tasks as ordinary sailors while on a vessel, but as they would be the only fighting force if finding land, they needed to be kept ready for battle, so would perform numerous drills each day.

Each day, in the afternoon, we would hear gunfire as they fired their muskets into the ocean. We had more than enough gunpowder to fight off an invading army. In fact, apart from drowning, that was another thing all sailors feared, the gunpowder stored below us somehow catching alight and blowing the ship to smithereens. The worst accident happened to a gunship called the Viking, blowing up while docked near Arcturus. Not only did all hands on deck die immediately, but part of the docks disappeared with the boat, and a fire raged for hours.

So sailors generally tried not to think of the gunpowder far below us.

"If not land, then at least another ship, sir. Who knows, maybe they'll turn out friendly?"

Moreau tempted fate. Yes, we did finally meet another ship.

No, they were not friendly.