Chapter Text
Ben stared down the round blade of his wooden sword at Jonas who held two of his own. The kid was smiling as he and his friends howled with laughter. Ben smirked as Jonas charged, hacking and slashing his way across the deck. Ben parried his wild strikes and kicked out, making the younger boy stumble across the rocking motion of the ship. He heard the whoosh of a stick and sidestepped as Desiree swung down to try and hit him from behind.
“You’ve taken us all down one on one, let’s see if you can take 2,” She said, standing by Jonas’s side.
Ben chuckled and cast a glance over to where Carlos, Uma, Harry and Evie stood on the upper deck, above the rest of them watching with amusement. Ben saw Carlos lean over the banister, watching intently. He held that eye contact as he dropped his sword and slowly pulled his shirt off, exposing his sweaty form to the watchful gaze. He smirked at the sudden coughing fit filtering down from the banister.
Ben picked up his fake sword and placed the blade between himself and the pirates. Jonas and Desiree glanced at each other before moving in tandem. They circled him, forcing him to think on his toes as he blocked their strikes. He managed a hit to Desiree’s calf and Jonas’s upper arm, but they continued to fight. He had to trip them up until they fell on their asses for them to give up.
“Alright, kiddos. My turn,” Ben grinned as Gil walked past where Jonas was rubbing his ass after a tough whack. Gil eyed him up and down before very intentionally glancing over at where Carlos was finally recovering. Ben watched as Gil smirked and matched him, taking his sailing vest off in a slow strip-tease. Ben wanted to laugh as the man shot Carlos a wink. The poor guy had just recovered.
Ben had to look up to meet Gil’s eye as he picked up Desiree’s fallen practice sword. The two readied up, holding swords in front of themselves as they stared each other down, assessing and waiting for the other to move. This was a fighter, Ben realized. The others were competent. They were capable in a way most Auradonians weren’t, but they were just fine. Gil, however, watched the way Ben’s hips moved to accommodate the shift in gravity as the boat rocked. Ben watched as his eyes tracked his stance and looked for weak points he could overcome, and when that was finished, he met Ben’s eyes, staring him down in order to understand him and see in his mind. See what move he was going to make and figure out how to overcome him.
Ben ended up moving forward, realizing he didn’t want to give Gil too much time to figure him out before Ben fully understood the pirate. Gil responded quickly. Neither seemed to miss a beat as the air filled with the strong clacks of wood on wood. Ben’s shoulders ached from the pure brute strength if Gil. Whenever their swords clashed, Ben could feel the blow in his bones. Gil, likewise seemed to fumble his footing keeping up with the speed of Ben’s attacks. For every five blows Ben struck against the wood of Gil’s defenses, one of Gil’s would nearly split the wood they held on to.
The King was relieved he was fighting Gil, though. It was the only way to really prove himself as an asset to the crew. Sure, he wasn’t exactly looking for a spot on the ship, but he wanted them to like him, and he certainly wasn’t going to outmaneuver Harry or Carlos as the creative, chaotic minds of the crew. Perhaps he could go toe-to-toe in leadership with Uma, but it was a different style of ruling. Gil was their fighter. He was a damn good one too, but he was the one who protected them, and his display seemed to win some respect.
Seeing that on the Crew’s faces was the slightest of distraction that Gil was more than happy to capitalize on, swinging out and knocking the sword from his grasp, readjusting his sword to point at the now-fallen King.
There were a few moments of silence before Gil broke out in a wide grin and reached down to help him up. Ben matched the smile, accepting the help as the crew whooped and hollered at his defeat. He got a lot of pats on the back and had to chase Des down to get his shirt back. The girl had said she wanted to keep him half-naked as long as possible.
Ben laughed with her as Gomez convinced her to give it back. By that time, Harry, Uma, and Carlos had made their way to the main deck. Carlos pretended to complain as Ben smothered him with his sweaty form. Carlos squawked in indignation as Harry shoved him further into the King’s chest. The white haired pirate pushed at his waist until the King let him go with one last squeeze. The others laughed at the pair before Ben managed to pull his shirt back over his head.
The rest of the night went as expected. Quiet and calm. Laughter and love.