Stockholm Syndrome

[Kitten Queen Danielle]

Okay, this obviously had large spoilers to the MSN RP. Yes, I made it vague for a reason because being more clear would make you even more confused. So just smile and nod. And like it! Please like it!



Eli looked up as the boat shifted its weight, a couple of things creaking as they threatened to slide from one side of the room to the other, the table he was at being one of them.



Yet, even with all the noise, it couldn’t drown out the giggling that could be heard from up on the deck.



He groaned. “I hate you, Clockwork. I hope we crash-land at your vacation spot!”



After so much turmoil in the club that they had created, the three girls had decided they needed their own vacation. “Hypocrites,” he muttered, rolling his eyes, remembering how they had acted when he first arrived and told them Clockwork’s news. What they didn’t know was that Clockwork planned to have a permanent vacation. He was going to let Eli look over his charges forever. Eli cursed him once again. It was just more proof that the Master of Time was just a lazy arse like he had believed all along. Eli always got stuck with the real work.



More giggling from above him drifted down through the thin, drafty floorboards. Keeping up with them will probably be the most strenuous thing I’ll ever do, he mused. Even more than when I’ll have to pull a girl out from under an elephant and run ten miles to the nearest hospital . . . in a hurricane.



The boat rocked again and Eli scrambled to catch his drink and the bottle before they slid off the table. What twisted and psychotic thinking made them choose their vacation to be on a boat? He had to remind himself who he was dealing with, but still . . . it wasn’t even a cruise ship of any kind! He scowled darkly at his drink and took another swig. Sometimes, he wished he didn’t know how women’s minds worked.



They’d screwed up the time/dimensional streams again. And willingly, this time! They were on the Black Pearl with its main cast, had plopped in several other males from different timelines that they liked, and were now dividing them up between them like a conquering army distributing the spoils.



He’d ducked down here to get away from the madness.


When the door to the cabin creaked open, he looked up, tipping back the last of his glass. ND stood in the doorway uncertainly.



“Hey,” he muttered. He’d followed Degona onto the ship, but the ninja had become scarce recently. “I was just exploring the ship.”



Eli shrugged, pouring himself another glass. “Not much to explore in this junk heap. You should know; you’ve been walking up and down the ship three times now.”



ND’s face went red with embarrassment and slight annoyance, stepping inside lightly and closing the door. “And why are you down here?”



“Same reason as you.”



ND strolled over. “I told you, I was exploring the ship.”



“And so am I. Trying to find a place where you can’t hear their insipid cackling.” Eli tipped back another glass. “Haven’t found it yet.”



“Don’t talk about Degona like that!”



“Oh?” Eli raised an eyebrow. “Then you’re okay with what’s happening here?”



ND shifted nervously.



“Come on over and sit down. Have a drink.”



ND looked up, sliding into the chair across from him as he looked at the bottle on the table critically. “What is that?”



Eli got up from the table, opening a cabinet—which came right off at his slightest touch—and fished out another glass. It was filthy from dust and grime due to what the ship had gone through, and Eli grimaced, trying to find something he could use as a rag that was veritably clean itself. “Jack’s rum. Do you know it’s the only thing he keeps on his ship? I couldn’t find any food whatsoever. It’s a wonder he hasn’t come down with scurvy or some other disease.” Eli paused, tilting his head. “Of course, given his behavior, maybe it’s not such a big surprise after all.”



ND stared at him with wide eyes. “Rum? You drink?”



Eli turned back, setting the glass before him. “Not consistently, no. But I’ve had to every now and then for my job. Chat up someone at a bar and try to convince that person to turn a new leaf. If you’re drinking along with them, it’s easier for them to become more comfortable with you. That happened a lot during this era of history. No one knew anything about how to take care of themselves.”



“Oh,” ND replied, a little uncomfortable. “How old are you, really?”



“More than four hundred years old, give or take.”



“But you look so young.”



“I am,” Eli conceded. “Physically, I’m only nineteen. I just don’t age.”



“What exactly . . . I mean, why . . . ”



Eli smiled at him sympathetically. “It’s really complicated. It’s better if I don’t try to explain it to you.”



ND nodded, convinced already, and glanced at the cup in front of him. “I can’t drink. I’m only fourteen.”



Eli blinked in surprise, sitting up to stare at him. “Oh, yeah. I kind of forgot about that. I mean, it seems like you’ve all matured because of everything that’s happened.” There was another loud chorus of giggles from up above and Eli rolled his eyes. “Some more than others.”



ND winced and looked away, sighing. “You really thought I was older?”



Eli gave a shrug, reaching over to pour another glass. “I guess I knew your age . . . but it just didn’t register how young that actually means you are.”



“You’re not of legal age either, you know.”



“Four hundred and something isn’t old enough?”



“You said you were nineteen.”



“Four hundred.”



“Nineteen!”



Both grinned at each other before ND frowned. “I’m going to be like you. Fourteen forever. I don’t even know if counterparts die. Maybe when Danneh dies, I will.” ND shivered involuntarily. “He sure has a lot of people that want to kill him already.”



“You’re not going to die soon. Believe me, I know that,” Eli consoled.



“Thanks,” ND breathed out. “But I’ll probably miss out on a lot of things this way, being so young.”



“Like?”



“Like drinking, for one. I mean, Mom and Dad . . . Danneh’s mom and dad, I guess. They taught me not to, that it was wrong. And I agree with them. But now I won’t even get the choice on whether I want to or not.”



Eli shook his head. “There’s always a choice. I know that more than anything. People choose how to live their life the way they want despite all the advice and knowledge they’ve been given. No matter how much it will hurt them in the end.”



ND stared thoughtfully down at the table. “You’re saying I can if I want to.”



“If you want to. I’m not stopping you; that isn’t how my job works. I can’t force anyone into anything. Nor am I condoning it. You decide how you want to live your life.”



Silence prevailed for a bit as the ninja contemplated lots of things. “How I want to live . . . ”



Eli frowned. “Are you okay?”



ND nodded. “I’m fine.” He squinted at the bottle then shook his head. “I don’t think I will—”



ND had only a second to wonder why Eli had suddenly snatched the bottle and both glasses off the table before a loud bang jostled the ship. Captain Jack Sparrow stood in the doorway, scowling at both of them suspiciously.



“Hey, you lot! You aren’t gettin’ into my rum, are you?”



ND shook his head viciously, looking completely guilty even though he hadn’t been the one drinking. Jack narrowed his eyes at him, opening his mouth for an accusation.



“Jack, what are you doing down there?” Degona’s voice yelled down in chastisement. “Stay up here with me and everyone else!”



Jack cursed openly. “She’s found me! Neither of you blokes saw me here, alright? And don’t drink my rum!” He closed the door, running off quickly.



Eli glanced over at ND who had stiffened visibly at Degona’s voice, his expression slowly turning bitter and cold.



“ND, I—” He was cut off as ND flung out an outstretched arm, hand open.



“Give me the bottle.”


---


Eli smiled lazily at ND as the ninja continued talking animatedly. They’d gone through two other bottles by that time—ND drinking most of them—and his brain was getting fuzzy, blanketing his senses, and all of the centuries that he had to deal with in his head every day were no longer at the forefront of his mind. They had fallen back to his mind’s recesses, an annoying buzz at the back of his mind, but now he could ignore it. He wondered why he’d never gotten drunk before. The constant headache he always carried with him had dimmed as well, though he realized it’d be back with a vengeance tomorrow. Still, to not be weighed down with all of those people’s lives, to his duty to them all, and just be himself again . . . .



“Could she be any more of a hypocrite!” ND had been ranting for a half an hour now, the alcohol taking away his inhibitions to finally express himself, if it was only to Eli. “Has she forgotten that we’re engaged? Obviously, we have different ideas on what that means!”



“Uh-huh,” Eli slurred tonelessly, taking another long drink. He’d been doing this when ND paused in his ranting every now and then for the last half hour. There wasn’t much to say at this point anyway, as ND was beginning to repeat himself.



“Degona erupts and yells at me at the first sign of competition from Danrei, but she doesn’t see any problem with coming out here to the middle of nowhere and claiming whomever she wants as her ‘husband’! How many does she have up there, six?”



“Uh-huh.”



“I’ve been loyal to her all this time. Loved and protected her when I could and this is the thanks I get? All of those times when she proclaimed that she loved me were just lies! You don’t love someone, agree to marry them and then go and marry six other people in front of that person! Or maybe she’s even forgotten about me! How could she do this to me!”



“Uh-huh.”



“Well, I refuse to be another one of her trophies!” ND scrambled out of his chair, causing it to fall back and bang against the wooden floorboards, snapping Eli out of his monotone repetition. Eli blinked and watched ND yank the ring off his finger, the one that he’d put on along with Degona’s to show how serious he was about the engagement, throwing it across the room. “She can find someone else to follow her around like some lost puppy! I don’t want anything to do with her!”



“Hey, now, try to settle down,” Eli coaxed. “You’re going to regret all of this in the morning.”



“I’ll regret nothing. She brought this on herself by gallivanting off with all of them! Half of them are villains! If she likes them so much, why did she go to so much trouble to turn me good? But now I realize why she fought back then when all I wanted was for us to be together. She never wanted to marry me in the first place! All of this has all been a lie!”



“ND, don’t—” Eli stared as ND grabbed the bottle itself and took a long swig.



“I should go and find Danrei. Of course, she’s probably been lying to me, too.”



Eli stood up. “Stop it! Now you’re just attacking whomever you can!”



“What do you know?” ND spat angrily. “You don’t know what I’m going through.”



Eli grit his teeth, a temper he didn’t know he had rising up. “At least you have a girlfriend! At least you can be with someone!”



“Why would I want to after this?” ND folded his arms stubbornly.



“Not all relationships turn out bad! Like I said, it’s all about choices! Degona’s obviously made the wrong one.”



“You can say that again,’ ND pouted, losing some of the steam he’d accumulated through his rant.



“At least you have a choice! I have to sit here as you all complain and dance around your love lives, knowing that I’m never going to have one of my own! I’m going to outlive all of you and it’s never going to happen!”



“I . . . ” ND shrank back apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”



“I know,” Eli murmured, sitting back down in his chair and taking another drink. “It’s never been something I’ve proudly admitted.”



ND stepped around the table softly, looking unsure. “Can’t you do anything about it?”



“No,” Eli remarked sullenly. “Fate governs what I do. It’s always been that way.”



“Then,” ND said slowly, “you need someone to make the choice for you.”



Eli shook his head. “No one will. I’ve seen—”



Eli was pushed back as ND threw himself at him, pressing his lips to his determinedly and wrapping his arms around his neck. Eli protested in shock, trying to push him away.



“ND, what are you—”



“Making a choice.” ND interrupted him for the second time that night and kissed him again. Eli fidgeted uncomfortably, knowing that this wasn’t supposed to happen. But some part of him—the inebriated part, he’d quip later on—wanted this. He’d never have a chance like this again. ND was drunk; heck, both of them were. They’d regret this the next day and never speak of it again. And Eli didn’t have enough resistance to push him away anyway.



Eli closed his eyes and leaned back into the kiss, tentatively kissing back. This felt strange, alien, but sent a rush through him as well. But perhaps that was just the act of kissing and being with someone romantically for the first time in hundreds of years. He idly wondered if he was doing this right. ND drew closer and Eli wrapped his arms around his waist instinctually, their kissing getting more passionate.



The chair Eli was sitting in was, of course, wooden. And the amount of water the Black Pearl had taken on at some points had, over the years, rotten most of it. Jack had never replaced any of the damaged furniture and woodwork, believing his ship to weather out anything that could be thrown at it. But when ND climbed up into Eli’s lap, the chair reached its limit. There was a terribly ominous cracking sound and then the chair fell apart and out from underneath them. The two tumbled in a mess to the floor.



Both were too preoccupied to notice.