S. Welles - To Ocean's End

She raised an eyebrow. “I have favorites like you, but do you really want to hear about all the other men I sleep with?”

“Probably not. Have you ever wanted to settle with any of them?”

She wrapped her legs around me and began massaging my neck and shoulders. “You poor thing. You’re not trying to get me to marry you, are you?”

“No.” The thought had rolled around in my mind, but it didn’t feel right to settle with anyone anymore, not after hunting down Rhode lookalikes for over two hundred years.

She laughed, running her fingers over my graying sideburns. “How old are you?”

“Probably ten times your age,” I said offhandedly. “What if I told you there really was truth to some of the curse rumors, but only now I’m no longer cursed?”

“I’d say you’ve been listening to the stories so much that you’re starting to believe them.” She grabbed both my glutes and squeezed as she pulled my body to hers and started kissing me. My body responded but for once my heart wasn’t in it. Bearing my sexual reputation in mind, I forced myself to get back into it, pretending I hadn’t asked her to settle with me. Making Delilah happy was more important than my own unobtainable wants at the moment.

Sauna netted us a huge shipment to Newport the day we left. Ports all over the world were sending in supplies to help the recovery. Sauna asked me if I was okay with returning home so soon. I didn’t mind at all. Anything to help repair the damage my stupidity had caused.

We pushed off with the huge payday in the evening, and with the thoughts of Rhode weighing heavily on my mind. Mido and Jessie whipped us up a hearty steak dinner with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, and some fantastic butter rolls with a honey glaze. I ate slowly while most of the crew devoured theirs. Jessie and Mido ate with us on the stools positioned at the edge of the table, and O’Toole hovered near me, totally quiet and eating his mashed potatoes with a finger. Jacobi exchanged pockets of small talk with Jessie. Both of them were comically awkward, but he clearly respected her now, and she clearly didn’t know what to do with his new behavior.

The crew laughed, talked, and teased each other. It was a perfectly normal dinner with the crew going on as normal, as if all the crap my curse had put them through was nothing. It was a wonderful sight. I quietly listened to their stories and banter, and joined in when it was prudent, including a need to come to my defense that my scars hadn’t scared away the ladies. In fact, she’d been intrigued by them.

In all, I couldn’t have asked for a better last meal with them as their captain.

The crew sat and talked long after the meal was gone. Jessie and Mido washed dishes and served us all some coffee and chocolate chip cookies made from scratch. Once everyone had their fill and the techies headed to the engine room, the cargo pushers headed to their cabins to wind down and get some rest. I gave Rammus a meaningful glance, then headed to the wheelhouse.

The stars shined away overhead, with the waxing moon making the ocean sparkle like there were millions of sprites dancing on the rolling surface. The wind was light and the atmosphere peaceful. I slid a few windows open and left the door wide, then check my compass and our course. We were still on track.

Rammus’s heavy footsteps slowly clunked up the stairs, then he appeared in the doorway and stopped, his gaze serious. I gestured for him to take a seat in the chair. He wordlessly obeyed. I leaned against a window frame and stuck my hands in my coat pockets.

“I think I know why you called me up here, Captain.”

“Are you ready for me to step down?”

“Are you?”

“I’ve lived on the sea since I was fifteen,” I said calmly. I was more than happy to step down and let Rammus take over. I felt at peace with myself and the world. It was the right thing to hand the crew over now. “I became a skipper at age twenty five, bought my first boat at age thirty, and lost my first crew at age forty five, along with got cursed. Since then, I’ve watched the world fall and rise, dozens of people I’ve cared about die, helped keep cargo shipping alive and well enough, and provided so many people with lifelong careers under me. I’ve been around for almost two hundred and seventy eight years. I’m ready to retire.”

“What will you do?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t think retirement suits you, Captain.”

“Neither does remaining skipper.”

“That doesn’t leave you with much else.”

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Don’t worry. I’m not abandoning you and the rest of the crew. I’ll figure something out.”

Rammus looked at his lap and swallowed.

“I’ve been around a long time,” I said quietly. “A really long time. If anything, I’ll stick around and just relax and enjoy life. It’s something I’ve forgotten to do all these years.” After Delilah, I felt like I didn’t have it in me to give love any more tries. I’d loved many women over the centuries and that was enough. It wasn’t perfect but it was enough.

He nodded. “When do you want me to take over?”

“Right now, actually.”

“If you’re dead set on it, then consider it done, Ca—uh, sir. Or Dyne.”

“Alan. My name is Alan. Alan Lavere. I’ve changed my name a few times over the centuries to avoid questions about my longevity. You can call me Alan or Dyne. It doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll stick with Dyne. It’s what I’m a little more used to.”

“Fair enough.” I had no preference. I’d forgotten my given name for so long. Watching my home get rebuilt had stirred up the memory banks. I looked around the wheelhouse. “Let’s announce your promotion to the crew so I can get started on the paperwork and get everything put in your name.”

He slid off the chair. “Sure thing, Ca—darn it. This is going to take some getting used to.”

“I apologize in advance for every time I still respond to ‘Captain.’” I said lightly.

The crew took the announcement well. It was bittersweet. They were all happy for Rammus, yet sad to see me step down. I watched Sauna’s reaction carefully. He listened with a serious gaze, his eyes full of sadness at first, but then he began to watch Rammus as he had me. Rammus was in the seat of power now. Sauna would gravitate towards that. Sam looked sad as well, since he was the only one who knew about my selfish wants that were no longer there. I took him aside after the announcement and put his worries to rest. However, I did admit to feeling ready to go, yet was prepared to live out however many more years I had left in me to the fullest, if I had to.

The next night the crew threw a retirement party, complete with cake and cheeseburgers. The crew got me good right after my first bite of the best meal on earth. Scully, who was manning the wheelhouse, called everyone to arms for a pirate sighting. I cursed up a storm as I led the crew’s mad dash onto deck, only to find a bunch of boxes laid out on the bow and no pirates in sight. Scully set off all the fireworks and Mido handed me my cheeseburger. I savored every bite as I enjoyed all the pretty explosions.

Once the last explosive was spent, Jessie and Mido brought up the cake that was decorated to both celebrate my retirement and Rammus’s promotion. He and I cut each other slices from opposite corners and exchanged the slices. Then, right as I put two and two together as Ed and Ted stood behind us, they reached for our paper plates and mashed the slices in our faces. Once our initial shock subsided, it became a two captains versus one crew food fight. Handfuls of cake filled the air like confetti, and Sam took pictures of everyone once we all ran out of ammo.