Jane sat perched on the edge of the ship rail, toward the back. Perfectly balanced, one leg crossed over the other. And her nose in a book. It was another romance novels she collected. Dozens upon dozens lined her shelves at home, along with everything from mystery, horror to medical volumes. She was addicted to the written word, in every bag she carried one, on every bedside table a wonderful story awaited her.

At this very moment she was meant to be on watch duty. But that seemed silly, they were out in the middle of nowhere. If anyone planned on sneaking up on them, they be spotted a loooong way off. So, what better time to dive into a tantalizing love story.

She kicked her boots off, let her dress hang over the edge, a cool breeze ghosting across her naked legs. This quiet time was definitely enjoyed, for she knew.... just as soon as anyone of the mates caught sight of her lazing about. Serenity would be interrupted, bloody pirates.

The ship was in dock, which always made Ivar slightly unsettled. He loved the open sea, the rolling waves and the spray of sea salt in the air. Being in harbor, even at Moon Bay was depressing. Low tide, no real movement... it was all rather boring to the old salt. Even with such a depressive mood, Ivar was not one to slink away from his duties as an officer aboard the ship. He had to give several junior crew members a good thrashing when they did not reseal the fire pits. He loved Aiden like she was his own sister, but the woman lacked a disciplinary edge to her commands. Why be a disciplinarian when you had Ivar?

Walking up onto deck, Ivar looked across to the back of the deck and found Amelia sitting at the edge. She was reading another romance novel. I will romance her... wait, that didn't sound right. he thought annoyingly. "Best not read at the edge of the ship like that, else you will...." Without finishing his sentence, Ivar heard the telltale splish splash of a dirty romance novel drowning while its poor unfortunate reader's mouth gasped for air.

... her pleas caught in her throat. He held a fistful of her hair, keeping her head turned away, her jugular exposed to him. With one free hand, he traced her ears, her delicately arched eyebrows, her forehead dusted by stray wisps of hair. He cupped the back of her neck beneath her hair, his thumb outlining the wildly pumping vein in her throat. At first she stood like a rabbit under his icy hold, her breath coming too fast, thinking she was about to have her throat ripped out. As his fingers ghost lightly over her, her nerves calmed. "Mon amour.." he breathes, pressing his cold lips..

She was entranced, totally, and completely. The Vampire Amadeo, first of his kind.. tall and so gorgeous that any woman or man would fall at his feet. With a sigh she carried on. But then out of nowhere Ivar's deep voice rang out. Hitting her like a bullet. Her eyes widened and her entire body lurched as she and her beloved book toppled over the edge.

A shocked squeal escaped her lips as she cascaded to the water below. And hit the glassy water with a SLAP. Deeper and deeper her body sank into the cold water, her lungs stung for a breath of air. It felt like ages to finally kick her way back to the surface. "HALP!" she gasped, coughing and thrashing about.

"Damn girl" Ivar blurted as he unlatched his clothes and shimmed towards the edge. He had shed his leather and cloth uniform and was now clad in a linen undergarment that most of the sailors wear. Stepping up to the top of the rail, Ivar dived into the water head first. The water was salty and cold, filling his hair with its freshening low tide smell.

Gasping for air, Ivar launched himself under the water. The ship's undercarriage was studded with barnacles, it was in desperate need of a good cleaning soon. He pushed past the hull and found Amelia, her arms thrashing about. Wrapping a free arm around her, Ivar held his mouth over Amelia's and transferred air to the woman.

It wasn't a normal kiss and Ivar knew that, but it still had the same result. Electricity charged through his brain as it raised that his lips were connected to Amelia's. Pushing off from the hull, Ivar drove the two up above the water.

As she sank like a stone, everything around grew darker, panic overcame her. A terror that was foreign, it twisted in her gut, and everything that ever meant anything flashed before her eyes. It'd only been a matter of seconds and forever at the same time. Suddenly there was a paralyzing regret for all the stupid things she'd done, said, thought. As the non-swimmer kicked feverishly something grabbed her.

She had half a mind to struggle against it, until it kissed her. And breathed wonderful air back into her aching lungs. Its lips were soft, the kind a girl would kiss all afternoon and be perfectly content. As she threw her arms around his neck, that long dark hair ghosted across her hand, broad chest and shoulders pressed tight to her. Ivar, of course.

He was only giving her breath, but it felt... different. He'd not pulled away, not even as they reached the top or as she deepened the kiss. There was a deliberateness behind it, or perhaps she'd been without air for so long she'd gone bonkers....

"Gosh...." a shaky gasp sipped out as she pulled back slightly. Gosh? she thought. What a thing to say. Not a thank you, or cursing him for scaring her over the edge of a bloody ship!

Ivar looked incredulously at Amelia, even as he huffed through the water with her under one arm. The woman had no sense of shame or even a sense of decency. She had fallen into the water after nonchalantly sitting on the side of the ship. No proper sailor ever sits on the side of the ship. As the two approached the shallows of Moon Bay, Ivar released his grip and growled, "Damn girl, haven't you been warned about being on the side of the ship like that?"

Leaning over, Ivar felt his legs and arms were about to fall off. Being in Moon Bay was exhausting, since it was below the surface and the pressure was higher. Whipping his head back, he wrung the water from his hair while glaring at Amelia. "Read your books in doors, or on one of the crates... not on the side of the ship. What in the sam hell would you want to read out here for? The ambiance? Its a damn cave, there ain't no light that isn't artificial."

His harsh attitude sliced right trough any tender moment that may have been shared. If there had even been anything.. "You're such a brute!" she hissed, wriggling from his arm as he began to let go. Now she was angry, bloody pirates didn't have one tender bone in their body! With shaky legs she stumbled into the beach, cold, wet and PISSED! "Damn Pirate, hasn't anyone told you not to walk up and frighten people. I was perfectly fine..." After all of that she found it difficult to get out more than a few words for being so exhausted.

The chilly air hit her dripping wet skin, and she looked down only to realize that her gown clung embarrassingly close. Immediately she crossed her goosbump covered arms in front of her chest and swallowed down the awkward lump in her throat. All of this emotion was so to compete with, first off she nearly drowned to death, and then a weird connection with Ivar, he was also standing there with his amazing body, barely clothed... she was completely freaking out inside and on the verge of tears.

Quickly she tore her eyes from him and huffed. "Merlin! you're completely impossible, I do everything you ask of me and still it seems you hate me. I was not raised in this life, the only reason I joined was out of support for my friend. Bloody doing the best I can..." her eyes twinkled as tears nearly spill over.

"Because you do things wrong!" replied Ivar. He was angry with the young woman, but a part of him felt horrid for yelling at her. Amelia was not a sailor, she had no where else to go and decided to support Aidan completely. Ivar respected that of her even if it was going to get her killed. Looking into her eyes, Ivar's heart softened when the tears in her eyes welled up. He looked down, his mind filled with a sense of shame for what he had said to her. "I am sorry I scared you..." he murmured under his breath.

As Ivar stood in front of Amelia he noticed something. The water was cold and Amelia could show that to everyone. Her erect nipples, piercing through her thin gown made Ivar's mind flow with immoral thoughts. Naked, wild, passionate love making. Closing his eyes tight, Ivar attempted to refocus. "Lets go find that book of yours."

"I do things wrong?! No bloody way, only been on this ship a week. I'd like to see you mend a broken limb or perform surgery! Believe it or not, I was not born knowing everything." Once you get Amelia going it was hard to calm her, most often at this point on her anger meter, she was crying. "You're just saying that.." about being sorry. She bet he got some sick rouse out of it. Flinging Aiden's silly friend off the ship, like he claimed he might do a million times.

"It's probably ruined, it was a special signed copy too. Now it'll be worthless." she drops her arms with a sideways grin, noticing his attempt NOT too stare at her almost naked body... payback. As if to say, here they are, you cannot have them. Torturing his manhood. Taking back her power. Breasts were an amazing tool.

"Oh lovely, we won't have to go find it then!" Ivar said in a tone loaded with mocking tension. Stepping past Amelia, Ivar began scanning the low tidal bank that had been left in the small dock. The ship was moored several feet away from them in water only a foot or two deep, the ship was enchanted to have twice the buoyancy of a normal ship. There were some skeletons of fish that had not made it out of the bay, along with puddles of foul smelling water. The smell was god awful, like a wet dog mixed with trash covered in vomit. Ivar had been use to the smell of lowtides for years, growing up near docks made the venture around such stench tolerable but not desirable.

"Been a week? Now, I will say that you are good at mending bones and the likes... but in your week hear you have already destroyed one canon and nearly took down the main mast." Ivar had fixed both of the broken articles but only after having to undergo hours of work. In Ivar's opinion, Amelia was an awful distraction, not only because of her accident proness but also because she was drop dead gorgeous (but Ivar would not believe it himself).

While he walked, Ivar's eyes looked around the muck searching for a book. He found it, dry as a bone ontop of a DeJulio's Pizza box. "Looks alright," he said, kneeling down and examining the book.

Scowling she tromped forward, there was no use in looking for the book, it'd be long gone. Or soaked in fish guts. "That cannon shot prematurely! It wasn't my fault. Besides I was brought on as healer, not master off all things piratey." grinning quite the devious grins, she turned to him. "Perhaps the First Mate could teach me how to really work his cannons? All the tricks of how to make them shoot... correctly."

It was fun teasing Ivar, a man so wrapped up in his work it seemed he had forgotten how to let loose. Perhaps not take everything so damned seriously. Her attempts to make him smile usually failed miserably, and ended in being ordered more work. "How can you stand that smell..." the fish, and odd foam that built up on the edges of the beach and dock was revolting. It always turned her stomach.

"OH!!" about to make a comment about how some of the crew must use it as cologne she caught sight of her book. Ivar bent to fish it out.... "You wonderful, wonderful man!!! Oh look it's even dry!!!!!" Oh the relief, she couldn't help but squeal and bounce around. Snatching the book and holding it close to her chest, then pressing her nose to the pages and taking in the scent. "Mmmmm,I could just kiss you!" Before she realized it she'd flung her arms around his neck, hugging the man so tightly it would be a miracle if he could draw a breath.

"Grew up in these places," Ivar grumbled under his breath as he handed the book to Amelia. Her excitement was touching, almost endearing to the old pirate. It was like watching a young child get excited over a new toy or their first Christmas. What Ivar was not anticipating from Amelia was the hug. Her arms wrapped around him like some sort of monster wishing to devour Ivar, sorta like a siren from the Sargasso. Ivar tentatively put his own arms up around the woman and gave her a small embrace in return.

Unbeknownst to Ivar was that Amelia's rather pronounced nipples and breasts were crushed into Ivar's chest and he could feel every inch of them. The warmth from them on his cold, wet, muck covered skin, was alluring. The smell that enveloped them faded in Ivar's mind and was replaced by the thought of ripping open Amelia's shirt and... shaking his head out of that thought, Ivar growled into her ear, "My bubble, you are violating it... please, take a step back."

His bubble. "Right." she laughed. Feeling his arms wrap around her small body was nice, strangely enough. Ivar was warm, his strong body felt safe. But suddenly he went tense, became uninviting. "Silly bubble." Wow, awkward. Making a note to herself, never do that again. "So..." She rocked back and forth on her heels, tapping her pruned fingertip on the book. "Lets get you dry before you catch a cold, last thing I need is an even crankier First mate."

In a hurry to get far away from the waters edge, this moment, and get out of this wet dress. Most of all, out of this bubble Ivar put around himself. "I have a random question. Have you ever seen a mermaid? Are they as frightening as the crew say? I've only read about them in books..." It was an honest question. And an attempt to change the subject. "Muggle stories depict them as beautiful and alluring, creatures who sing and lure sailors to their deaths."

"Yes, dry would be good." Ivar said quickly, following Amelia towards the dry side of the cave. "Mermaids? Onry little shits, don't like people mucking around their kingdoms. Their females ain't too alluring, seen a few and they were positively ghastly. They have a kingdom in the Gulf of Mexico, but their main one is in the Indian Ocean near Seychelles. Heard that some could speech their tongue, doubt it... its just a bunch of shrieks." Ivar liked this sort of conversation, he had been to many places in his few years but what he knew about the seas and the wizarding world that existed around it could fill libraries.

"They exist all over the damn oceans, mostly keep to themselves see. Don't want to pick a fight with them at all, last nation that did that was Japan in the 40s... didn't work out too well for them." Ivar walked next to Amelia, even through the cold clothes he could feel her warmth. The bubble that he had fabricated was just an excuse to get her away from him before he became too enamored with her alluring nature. Ivar was considerably older than Amelia, they would never have gone to school together. "What's this about wantin' to learn how the ship works and the first mate teaching you?" Ivar said with a slight grin on his face.

Amelia sighed hopelessly. Muggle stories concerning all things magical were always much more.. romantic. Turning an ugly, screeching Mermaid into this beautiful creature ,who wanted nothing more than to fall in love with handsome sailors. "Oh well, remind me not to try and pet one if we come across them.." she said with a sarcastic giggle.

"I want to be good at my job.." making up some kind excuse about WHY she wanted HIM to teach her. Ivar wasn't that bad, he just needed to loosen up a little. Maybe spending time around the most un-serious person on ship would help. "And you have been doing this longer than any of us. I like men with.. experience." Harhar. She thought, flashing an innocent grin at him.

Once at her small lodgings she opens the door, cold air hitting her skin like ice. "Eesh!" almost squeaking. "Come in.. if you like. I will get you something to dry off with, and tea." Wasting no time to actually wait for him to agree.. or not, she tiptoed in. Trying not to get nasty sea water all over the clean floors. And then whipping 2 big fluffy towels from a closet.

"Yes well, you are the medic. I only know how to quickly patch someone up so they can get back to raiding," Ivar said nonchalantly as he followed Amelia towards he small room. All of the crew members kept a small set of quarters in the Cave, just a little place to keep treasured belongings between acts of unspeakable piracy. Ivar preferred to stay aboard the ship, he was the only crew member who did not maintain a room in the Cave; being a First Mate gave him considerable perks.

As Ivar walked with Amelia, his eyes watched her enter her house. The faint lines of Amelia's considerably exquisite bottom showed through the wet linen garments she wore. Something deep within Ivar stirred, like a dragon wishing to unleash himself upon the young woman burning and ravaging her until his passions were slaked. "Uhm, sure... he said quietly, stepping into Amelia's apartment.

The apartment was smallish and drafty, qualities that the other apartments shared. A chill crept up Ivar's back, stifling the raging dragon within momentarily. "I remember this room. Use to use it for storage."

"Storage!? Oh, you've shoved me in a closet now have you, like a house elf?" she looked offended. "I see, and here I was going to make you tea, and cake, and regal you with stories of..." she stopped to ponder that, nothing came to mind. "never mind that!" she tried not to laugh while tossing a warm towel to him, and waving her want at the hearth where a fire sprang to life.

His quietness was noted. This was not a side of the First Captain she'd ever seen, most often he was brooding, loud, harsh. "No need for shyness here... I won't bite you, you know." she grinned quite the devious grin. "Unless you give me a reason.." Inching around him her hand moved to close the door, not only for privacy from the others who might be lurking around. But it was kiiinda cold out in the bay.

"Sit, dry off. I will make something warm to drink" On a nail hung her favorite fluffy bath robe, she flung it over her shoulders and sighed. The warmth was comforting as she move around the tiny dwelling. Knocking stacks of books over to make room.

A devilish smile formed at the corners of Ivar's mouth. "Not at all, the house elves stayed on the ship in the steerage deck. They preferred that over something we might consider fancy, like a storage shed." Ivar was deliberately trying to gouge Amelia into a discussion, something about how she looked when she was upset made Ivar's dragon burn.

Amelia's room reminded Ivar of a bookshop that he once went to in Salem. It was shady, cramped, slightly gaudy with books, but quaint. Amelia's room fit that description completely. He took a seat on something that resembled a chair in a former life, a stack of old teenage romance novels was to his left and crime novels to his right. One book drew Ivar's attention, picking it up he stifled a chuckle. "I see you have kept your reading within the realm of annoying," he said as he picked through the pages of Breaking Dawn. "Friends don't let friends read this."

Her face turned bright red as he held up a copy of Breaking Dawn. "Oi... that, I.. it was -" her mouth stood open, frantically searching for a decant excuse. "Aiden made me do it. She loves the sparkly one, fancies him, if you will." For now what would do. She could not help but smile as she darted behind her dressing screen.

"Help yourself to some tea! and there are cookies in that jar above the fire. Just don't finish off the chocolate ones, those I would fight to the death for." Cookies were her downfall, having grown up in the home of a baker, and her first job working in a candy shop.

As she quickly undressed, and redressed, articles of clothing flew over the screen. Once she peeked over to make sure he was not looking... or worse, discovering her more embarrassing reading materials.

"Ah, she does like shiny objects. I had assumed that was just gold." Ivar found women to be a complete and bloody mess; their emotions were contradictions in motion and they actively attempted to enlist men in their insanity. Over the screen shade Ivar did notice the articles of clothing that Amelia stripped off and threw over the top. For a split second he had a mad desire to break that screen down and take Amelia in a manly way, but he was not sparkly and smelled of low tide.

"Thanks," he exclaimed as he took the jar from atop the stove. There were a few chocolate cookies, but mostly there were lemon cookies with sprinkles. Ivar helped himself to two of them and a cup of tea. As he drunk his fingers played along the bookshelf admiring the literary abilities of Amelia. She had some fine story books, but mostly trashy romance novels. "You ever consider reading something practical?"

"Practical.." she chuckled, her father used to say that. Always pushing his daughter to dream less of all things fantastical. "Sure, all the time. Actually something in Aiden's office that caught my attention. A map-" emerging from behind the screen, wearing comfy leggings and oversize knit sweater. "That man, Scurlock, the one I am to watch at the Casino. It was of his ship. What's hidden there, and why does the Cannibal need it so badly?"

This was not the first time Amelia had questioned the crew, and her Capitan. Most of them were kept in the dark of this items use, why is was so important. "If I am to do my job, it's only fair I know... and before you say it's a pile of jewels. I know better. Nothing that meaningless is that well guarded."

Amelia knew Ivar, and it was not likely he'd tell. The man never seemed to trust her much, or anyone else for that matter. "I won't breathe a word of it to anyone.. cross my heart." curling up in a chair just next to him, making an X shape over her chest.

"You shouldn't..." Ivar breathed, his voice full of astonishment. Amelia could be executed for secreting such things away from Aiden, but Aiden would never kill her best friend nor would Ivar consider doing such a thing; that did not discount a very strong flogging. "If Aiden catches you..." he began softly before stopping when his eyes caught the curves of Amelia's breasts as she ran her finger across her chest.

"I-I... uhm... alright," he resigned, sitting down next to Amelia. "We are going to be doing a heist on his ship for that Cannibal. Aiden and you are to go all polite like onto his deck and carouse the crowd a bit. While I break in and crack the safe."