sun or storm
Remus did his best to coach Regulus through his first official day on deck. Being the navigator, Remus didn’t spend much time working the gritty jobs anymore, but was able to demonstrate to Regulus some key skills; looping knots, coiling the ropes, swabbing the deck. Regulus watched with a keen interest that surprised Remus. It seemed as if Regulus was actually willing to dedicate himself to the ordinary, even banal, tasks of a new mate.
As he and Regulus secured the rigging, Remus chattered. Sweat licked down his forehead and creased into the scars across his cheekbone.
“So Peter’s the boatswain, you’ve seen him up in the crow’s nest. He handles all the rigging and sails, inspects their condition, replaces them if need be. Technically, he also is supposed to manage mates like you, but no one really takes that seriously, least of all him.”
“So who do I report to?” Regulus’s shirt stuck to his back with the heat.
“Probably Padfoot.”
Regulus was silent. Remus scrambled to his next words.
“But that would be slightly improper, all things considered. James is better suited to checking up on you. I think he’d probably prefer it so.”
Regulus yanked the rope around the mast.
“James captains,” Remus continued, “and I navigate. You know all that. Padfoot’s quartermaster and first mate, meaning he has second authority to James. Everything’s fairly calm in the realm of conflict, we all get on fine, so he’s more a coordinator than anything else. If it came to it, he would captain. He settles fights, the few there are. Most importantly, he’s the first to board any ship we conquer on the waters.”
“Why not James?”
“And leave Lady Lily so vulnerable? Never,” Remus shook his head playfully, “Padfoot disposes of the old captain and whips the crew into obedience. Then we all board, take what we can grab, and haul arse to the next target.”
“What do you mean by ‘disposes’?” Regulus inquired.
Remus swallowed. The subject touched a nerve.
“I don’t like to ask,” he said vaguely, “Mary’s the cooper, which is why she’s always down in the galley. She’s the only one of us who can scrape together a decent meal, but she also keeps stock. Lily’s a woman of many talents, however, she’s best at patching up us sorry blokes. She’s a killer with a short sword too. Speaking of which, Marlene is our master gunner.”
“She blows shit up,” Regulus said, by way of explanation.
A grin split across Remus’s face, warping his scars, “That she does.”
“And I have no title,” Regulus led.
Remus shrugged, “You’re a mate. You’ll get the hang of things.”
He paused, “This must be the first time in your life you have no title, huh? What are you, anyway? Back home?”
Regulus pondered this.
“Something of royalty, I would assume.”
“Like a prince?”
“No. A lord. My mother is a duchess and my father was a viscount of sorts. He technically married above his status and lost his title, making my older brother a duke.”
Regulus was quiet for a moment and amended himself, “He is presumed dead, though. So I suppose I am duke now.”
Remus stopped working. He looked on at Regulus with sorrow.
He doesn’t know about Sirius. He should know. God, he needs to know.
“You think you can handle the rest of this?” Remus asked. Regulus gave him a thumbs up, but his affirmation did not quite reach his eyes.
Remus found Sirius in the galley with Mary, helping her knead dough on the countertop. Their conversation was soft. Mary looked up at the sound of Remus opening the door.
“Remus! Come help!” she said cheerfully and moved aside to make room for him at the countertop, “We’re rolling out some new dough for tack. With Sirius’s heavy hand, it should be extra hard and chewy,” Mary giggled.
Remus slid in next to Sirius, who was absently punching at the dough with mindless abandon. The line from his mask were starting to fade, but concern still clouded his features. Remus reached over and picked off a piece of dough from Mary’s bowl.
“How is Regulus doing?” asked Mary patiently.
“He’s adjusting. It’s not the work he’s used to.”
Sirius sneered, “He’s not used to doing any work.”
“I’m sure he’ll pick things up. I’m not surprised James managed to convince him to hang around for a bit,” Mary said.
Remus had to agree, “Anything for our Prongs, I suppose.”
“Has he asked about me?” Sirius’s tone was flat.
“Yes,” said Remus truthfully, “He wanted to know what you did as quartermaster,” Remus bumped his hip against Sirius, “He also said that you were a duke back home.”
Sirius blinked, “He referred to his ‘brother’ though right. Not me by name?”
“Yeah of course.”
“Is it true?” said Mary, buoyantly eager, “Are you a duke?”
Sirius chuckled, a little uncomfortable with the confrontation, “Yeah, so I was a bit of a spoiled prat in my day. So what?”
“You never told me that,” Remus said with a smile.
“Would you have still fallen madly in love with me if I had?”
“Well if I had known I had an opportunity to marry rich-”
“In it for the money, are you Moony?”
“I’m just saying that I would have put in a shift sooner, is all.”
“He’s in it for the money.” Mary singsonged.
Sirius joined in, “He’ll only settle for a duke, he wants a rich boy.”
“You’re a rich boy-” sang Mary.
“And you’ve gone too far ’cause you know it don’t matter anyway-” Sirius finished.
The pair continued to berate Remus with the entire song before pealing off into laughter, throwing pieces of dough at each other playfully. Mary squealed with delight and Remus was hit on the cheek with sticky dough and Sirius got so much flour in his hair he looked like he was going grey but goddamn it he seemed happy for the first time since Regulus arrived and Remus wouldn’t have traded all the gold in Wiltshire to miss it.
When Lily arrived upon the mess in the galley, she promptly shooed the boys out, her face nearly as red as her hair. Remus and Sirius stumbled out into the hallway, roughing and teasing each other up.
“I’m deeply sorry Lord Black,” joshed Remus, purposely knocking Sirius against the wall, “I’m terribly sorry you had to share the oxygen of a poor commoner like me. Can I pretty please lick your boots clean?”
“Sod off Moony,” Sirius dragged Remus with him.
Remus snickered, “Seriously, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why’s it matter?”
“It doesn’t. I’m just curious.”
“If you’re a gold digger, you can just say so-”
“C’mon Sirius.”
Sirius groaned dramatically, knocking his head back against the wall. He reached out and pulled Remus against him by the hips, “I didn’t want you to like me any less for it. Or for you to think I was taking the piss when I tried to flirt.”
“Ah, so you were embarrassed by your exorbitant wealth. I see.”
“Remus,” Sirius persisted, “When I first saw you, with your sabre and your scars and your big soppy smile, I didn’t want to fuck up my chances. Yeah, I’m technically a fucking duke, but that was never really me, you know? But now-”
Sirius tugged Remus closer still, cupped Remus’s face in his hands.
“Now, here, with you, in the middle of the giant fucking ocean on our beautiful Lily, I’ve never been more of the person I’ve always wanted to be.”
“A swashbuckling racketeer?” Remus guessed.
“No, you bloody idiot,” Sirius teased, “A goddamn pirate with the most amazing man in all the seven seas to love.”
Remus’s eyes shone. “So you don’t mind if I marry you for your money?” he said, choked with affection.
“Moony, I would marry you under every star with nothing at all if you’d have me”
Remus closed his eyes, leaning their foreheads together.
“Let’s do it.” He whispered.
“Hm?”
Remus tipped his head back to look Sirius full in the face.
“Let’s get married,” Remus repeated.
“Moony-”
“I mean it, Sirius. Let’s do it. James is captain. By law, he could marry us on Lady Lily if we wanted,” Remus stuttered, “If you wanted, of course and-”
“Moony-” echoed Sirius.
“Sirius, please,” said Remus, “I have loved you ever since I have known you. Duke or pirate, land or sea, sun or storm, I will love you. I will love you with every rock of this ship, with every beat of my heart and with every breath I have, I will love you.” Remus inhaled, sharp and shaky, “Please Sirius.”
The noise from Sirius’s mouth was something between a cry and a plea.
“Oh Moony,” he said, “Haven’t I already said yes?”
The boys laughed together in that moment, in the quiet of the berth, their hands and hips and jaws and spines aligned and moving in perfect agreement. And as they embraced, Remus realized something very odd.
He had never given much thought to his wedding, or marriage at all really. He had never taken pleasure at dreaming of his future matrimony, of the suit or the ceremony. But one thing he had always known, one thing so plain and clear in the moment, was that it was always going to be Sirius he was meant to marry.
Breaking away, Remus added, “Does this mean I get to be a duke too?”
Sirius shook his head, “Not duke, but another title.”
“Which would be?”
“The Most Bloody Handsome Husband of Duke Sirius Black.”