Elaine:
Elaine stretched, not yet wanting to open her eyes, the morning chill only repelled by Cassius's embrace and the blanket she had stolen most of in the night. The sound of hushed voices reached her ears, and she focused, trying to make out the conversation. It was rare for any of them to care about keeping their voices down, so it was only natural she was curious now that they were.
"What the hell, Aspen!" Alexei exclaimed, slightly louder than whatever he had been saying before.
The two of them did not fight often, at least not openly, in fact, Elaine could not recall listening to a true argument between them. There had always been a sort of frost in Aspen's words, but Alexei usually bent over backwards for his sister. It was strange for him to raise his voice at anyone, much less her.
"How dare he take advantage of your kindness! Did he threaten you into giving him that or something?" he demanded.
"He was freezing, I wasn't just going to let him suffer, shut up," Aspen muttered.
"It's Ptolemus, you should hope he suffers!" Alexei replied, voice slightly quieter as if he seemed to realize just how loud he had been.
"Why the hell are you two so loud this early?" Ptolemus asked, voice soft and slurred from sleep.
"It's actually afternoon," Jules provided.
"What the hell are you doing taking my sister's things?" Alexei countered, his voice trembling with anger.
Elaine sighed, someone needed to interfere in whatever this was, but she did not want to wake Cassius up. He did not sleep well often, it was better he rested as long as possible now, especially with his wounds.
"I didn't steal anything!" Ptolemus shouted, voice higher than usual.
"I gave it to him Alexei, good god!" Aspen defended.
"Exactly!"
"How did you trick her into this?"
"I didn't you dumbass!"
"And-"
"Can the two of you just shut the fuck up? Aspen gave him her cloak, deal with it, Alexei," she interrupted, speaking as loudly as she could.
"My head hurts," Jules added.
"What, you don't care that my sister practically froze to death because of this brat?" Alexei demanded.
"I did not-" Aspen started.
"How dare you speak about me like that!" Ptolemus said, standing, tossing the cloak at Alexei angrily.
"Have you ever considered asking for her opinion on something for once? I'm sure you feel guilty for whatever messed up shit you did, but now you're just suffocating her!" he continued.
Elaine glanced towards Alexei, watching the way he clenched his fist, the way an infuriating smirk broke out across his face, his typical mask to bury his emotions. He had a terrible habit of hiding himself behind a typically impenetrable shield of sarcasm and self deprecating jokes, but Ptolemus had a knack for hitting people where they hurt most, and despite his intentions to hide it, Alexei was obviously shaken by the words. She knew they had it tough as kids, knew that he was raised to kill a king using any means possible, but she had never heard anything about it from Aspen. They had always seemed inseparable, Alexei always protecting Aspen with his life, she had assumed it was simply love, but after hearing that she was not entirely sure.
"I just gave the cloak to him, he didn't ask, ok?" Aspen explained.
Alexei looked between them, waiting for someone to argue, but even Jules remained silent. He shook his head, stalking above deck without another word. Elaine knew someone should go after him, but she found herself not giving a single fuck about his fragile ego. Maybe Jules, being the obvious love struck (in denial) bastard that he was, could go comfort him, but it sure as hell would not be her.
"Fucking disrespectful scum," Ptolemus muttered, cursing like a sailor as usual. He must have been right at home here on the ship.
Aspen was standing frozen, eyes glued to him. Elaine could only hope her gut feeling about them would prove wrong, but it rarely was.
"Did you not care that Aspen would be cold?" she questioned.
"I'm a prince, is it not more important for me to be comfortable?" he retorted, but he was staring back at Aspen, the words feeling loaded somehow, as if they shared some sort of deeper meaning than his cocky attitude.
Just what the hell had happened between them?
"I'll talk to Alexei," Aspen whispered, walking away hurriedly.
"You should apologize," Cassius said, finally sitting up, rubbing his head.
"Why? She was the one who gave me the damn thing! If I knew it would be this much trouble I wouldn't have taken it!"
He truly was a lost cause.
"You know that is not what I'm referring to," Cassius replied.
"What the fuck are you on about?"
"Being a prince does not mean you deserve more than others. You'll apologize not only for what you did, but for your actions as well. Life is not always fair, maybe she offered the cloak, but you still created these problems. Deal with it and fix the mess you created, the last thing I need is arguing right now," Cassius lectured.
"Should I deal with it the same way you deal with people's messes?" Ptolemus demanded, his voice shaking with fury, his eyes reddening.
If Elaine did not know better she could have sworn he was near tears.
"Ptolemus."
He looked to Elaine for a moment, but when she offered no assistance he stormed out, probably searching for a corner to sulk in.
"How do you have the patience for that?" Elaine asked, unable to feel any sympathy for Ptolemus.
"Lots of practice," he answered.
"What was he even talking about?"
"Nothing important," Cassius replied, but he avoided her gaze. How unusual.
"So is there breakfast in this…Fine establishment?" she questioned, changing the topic.
"Alexei will probably feel better after eating too," Cassius stated, standing and offering her his hand.
"How do you plan on attending any sort of official meeting looking like this?" she asked, smiling as she picked straw from his usually well-combed hair.
"Abraxos has a friend coincidentally visiting Sirion as well. He was able to take care of the issue of luggage for all of us except Ptolemus. We will also have an extra day before the meeting to freshen up," he explained.
"Thank the gods for him."
"Yes," he agreed.
"Do you think Alexei is alright?" Jules questioned quietly.
She jumped slightly, she had forgotten he was still there.
"Alexei is fine, Jules. Don't worry," Cassius answered.
"He seemed pretty troubled…"
Elaine raised an eyebrow, smiling gently.
"Then go talk to him, ask him if he's ok, don't ask us," she suggested.
He stared for a moment as if processing her words before nodded and walking hurriedly above deck.
"Is it just me or?"
Cassius shrugged.
"I'm not sure either of them understand their emotions enough for a stable relationship," he stated.
She sighed, but he wasn't wrong. Alexei did nothing but hide from whatever it was he felt while Jules was just, well, whatever Jules was it wasn't quite right.
"Let's go find something to eat," she said, pulling Cassius with her above deck.
The others, minus Ptolemus, were gathered together, nibbling hesitantly on some rather sorry looking biscuits. The sun shone brightly enough she had to shield her eyes, blinking a few times before they finally focused. Alexei looked completely fine, Jules seated next to him staring off into space. It seems he had not made any progress.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Alexei announced as they approached.
"Please take care of that as far away from me as possible, preferably on Ptolemus," Elaine joked, sitting down by a slightly dejected looking Aspen.
"Here," she said, offering Elaine a biscuit.
"Tired?"
"A little, I didn't sleep the best," she admitted.
"Well, only half a day more of this and we'll be there. Then we can sleep in an actual bed, and eat better food." She leaned in closer, lowering her voice to a mock-whisper before continuing, "And we'll be free of those nuisances." She gestured to Alexei and Cassius.
"You wound me so!" Alexei exclaimed, sounding relatively normal.
"Lovely demonstration, thank you for proving me right." Elaine rolled her eyes.
A throat cleared and all heads turned as Ptolemus sat down. Aspen stiffened beside her, looking away.
"Biscuit?" she offered, trying not to let her own disgust show as she eyed the food.
His scowl only deepened and he shook his head.
"If you're going to act like this, go back to crying in the corner," Elaine said, shaking her head.
Alexei nodded in agreement.
"Sorry," he whispered, his eyes landing on Aspen.
Her eyes widened while Alexei's jaw fully dropped. Even Cassius glanced up in surprise at the words.
"Assholes, why do I fucking bother," Ptolemus muttered, glancing at their faces before standing quickly, stalking off as quickly as he had come.
"Did he just..?"
"I think I'm hallucinating," Alexei said earnestly.
"He was worrying over it, and I think he felt a little guilty," Jules said, as if that explained everything.
"Hm, interesting," Cassius stated, going back to eating.
By the time they were stepping onto dry land the sun had set, bathing the unfamiliar island in darkness, clouds obscuring any inkling of light from above. Eerie shadows reached out for them, only repelled by a few sputtering lanterns.
"Thank gods," Alexei said, looking ready to kiss the wooden planks beneath them.
"Didn't take you for one to get seasick," Elaine stated.
"I need a minute," he mumbled, stumbling away from them while holding his stomach. She turned away, not wanting to watch him puke.
Jules took a step towards Alexei's direction hesitantly.
"He'll be fine," she whispered, holding his arm gently.
Elaine was shocked by the cold of his skin, as if he was a corpse, his arm thin despite how well they were all fed.
"You should all get some rest, they aren't expecting us until tomorrow," Cassius announced, already walking towards a dingy looking inn, leaning as if it would fall straight into the sea any moment.
He looked more exhausted than usual, his tiredness showing in the lines of his face and deep shadows beneath his eyes. It was more than he usually allowed himself to show.
"How bad?" she whispered, coming up beside him.
"It's bleeding again and the bandages are loose. I need to clean the wounds and get fresh ones," he explained.
She didn't miss his wince of pain as he took a step, his perfectly crafted princely facade momentarily faltering.
"One day that bastard is going to regret this. When we're king and queen, he'll be sorry," she insisted, glaring at the ground.
"Perhaps," Cassius responded, looking away.
"I hope no one shows up to hear his final words," she continued.
"I would still go, he's liable to give Ptolemus the crown at the last second as some sort of twisted test."
"That would be the most horrid mistake of the century," she said bitterly.
"Do you ever wish it was Ptolemus instead of me?" Cassius whispered, turning back to face her.
"Sometimes. It's tempting to think everything would be easier if you weren't a prince, but you would be a completely different person and I would likely be dead. You shouldn't dwell on what might've been, we'll work through our future one step at a time."
"I wouldn't let you die in any reality," he murmured, slipping his hand into hers.
There was something about the way he stared at her, in the way he gripped her hand like he was desperate, like at any moment she would disappear.
"I'll help with your wounds then let's get some actual food, I'm starving," she said, unable to think too deeply about the meaning behind his actions.