Chapter 4: Cornelius

Docks, The Outskirts, New Azazel Empire, Galia

Aegir's face reddened, and so too, his vision. He fisted his hands, ready to punch the captain of the ship, only to see the slimy bastard quickly retreating after giving him a nasty smile.

"Aye, we don't do violence here. " he tsked.  "But I'll make an exception if it is on a matress." He then once again made a move to grasp Aegir's hand.

Miyu, face overshadowed by dark lines, quickly made a move to distance his good friend away from the pervert with a horrified expression.

"Ah forgive me, for when I see such a beautiful little rose, I cannot help a caress." The Pirate said, sporting a helpless expression.

Aegir really wanted to punch the guy.

"Ah it's not gonna be a problem if we cut off your hands, no?"

Miyu: " You do know that my friend here is a grass rather than a rose, do you not?"

This time, it was the Pirate Captain's time to be speechless.

"....Eh?"

Ten minutes later, after a battle of words, a tired Pirate Captain looked like he went under a soul expulsion, body devoid of any will to live. He was laying on his giant hammock, swaying himself lifelessly.

"I thought you were just a flat-chested little rose. Who could've known....who could have.." He slumped, handsome face scrunched up like a child.

Aegir looked at him blankly from the wooden chair they were given to sit on, using the offensive language that Miyu had taught him on the way to the shore. He is now very, very greatful for his friend's insights.

"Well, who told you I was a fucking plant? A rose at that too."

"Oya? Why so snappy?" The pirate Captain spread his hands and shrugged.

Miyu snorted, choosing to eat the grapes that Tobi has served a few minutes past instead of wasting his saliva talking to a lunatic.

One of his humanoid upper limb supported his head, and eyes glinted of sadistic pleasure once the black orbs reflected the other two's interaction. He had observed that the pirate meant no ill will, he was annoying, sure, but he was not annoying to Miyu, but his to bestfriend instead.

The human suddenly stood up,  invigorated, which had cause Aegir to look at him in shock and foreboding, the correct feeling, as the pervert walked towards him with slow, deep steps.

"..But you know, I wouldn't mind taking in a grass as beautiful as you, just call me Dadd—"

*Pa!*

Aegir's fair hand went to meet with the pervert's face. The fine fingers stretching out as the palm went in contact with skin, both turning pink for a few second, his face the darkest it had ever been. He cracked his joints, giving off a popping sound with every scrunch of his fist.

...Miyu..Miyu was choking on a grape.

"Ah..hah..nghh.."

The Pirate bowed his head, groaning and caressing the slapped cheek.

Aegir was about to feel guilty, afterall, the slap of a Siren was something no normal human can withstand against, and the guy looked to be in so much pain.. however, to groan like he was doing some shameless things..

But the guilt vanished entirely when the man looked up with stars dancing inside his brown orbs.

"Aye, honey, I didn't know you had it in you oh~ why not do it again on the other cheeks to make it symmetrical la~."

"....." please shut up.

The Siren was about to hit the idiot once again when the other had a change of tone, expression turning sincere. It made Aegir wonder if he had but imagined the lascivious guy from earlier.

"Cornelius, my love." He said suddenly with a bow.

"Pardon?"

"The name of I, your future husband."

Aegir directly chose to ignore the second sentence, and said with an expression filled with pity.  "Your parents must've hated you, you poor child."

****

Cornelius Draff was not ugly, in fact, he had a kind of rugged beauty, with a wild and unrestrained aura surrounding his sharp features and paired with his ever present lazy, dwaddling smile and manly scars, he was quite a sight to behold.

However, all of his good points seems to be drowned by his flirty, almost forceful behavior. And so in Aegir's eyes, the man had as much as an appeal as a sea cucumber. So he'd looked on boredly towards the flirting advances the pirate throws at him during the otherwise serious discussion of Miyu and Cornelius.

Aegir had never felt so drained in his entire life outside of his prison.

"So You want me to take you to The outskirts of Chhaya?" Cornelius rubbed his stubble, making sure to direct a lascivious smirk towards Aegir.

"But.." he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "What's in it for me?"

Miyu frowned, faltering, "But Ms. Myrre's request.."

To this, the Pirate Captain laughed boisterously, "Hahaha! Silly, silly Kraken. Do you think I would endanger my men and me just for a favor from Ms. Myrre? I would have considered sending you without fee to anywhere else but Chhaya. "

A sea dweller that has yellow skin upon morphing to a human by the use forbidden transformation techniques is not rare. To pinpoint the race of each case, one must have a special means.

Miyu straightened up, wondering how the other found out his identity. Subtly, he worriedly looked towards Aegir's direction.

It would be bad if the guy finds out Aegir's Identity. But the pirate was only silently raising an eyebrow at him.

And the Siren in question just looked at him in passing, not at all focused and not having the energy to be worried.

Instead, the Siren was frowning upon the 'exchange' that the pirate captain proposed.

Miyu felt like a worrywart worrying for nothing.

"What do you propose we exchange for the ride, then?" He looked at the man's brown pupils, straight faced; unafraid.

To this, the sea voyager's scar ridden face lightened up in a smile.

"A kiss from my beautiful flower~ just one kiss."

" Alright." Aegir hummed, not seeing a reason to reject, to which Cornelius had smirked upon.

"Ae!" Miyu was shocked. "You don't have to!"

But Aegir just looked at him lightly, long tired from their travails and of the haunting past. He just stood up to pat the Kraken's shoulder. Aegir then nodded to cornelius and left for a breather.

The gaze rendered the Kraken a statue, strucked by the realization of his failing to notice the other's odd behaviours; of his exhaustion and struggles . It left him feeling absurd, But he was not a person that gives up halfway, he stood up abruptly to chase after the Siren, leaving a hurried: 'excuse us'.

Left behind by the two, Cornelius licked his dry, chapped lips, feeling it hydrated and soften.

"A kiss from a Siren~ I wonder how it'd feel like~"