Chapter 6
BO
My whole body ached from a whole day of preparing for Mei's show. We'd be picking up her team at the next port, and that meant getting all of the staging ready. We were lucky that we had the time to do it, with nothing showing on the stage she was going to be using until the big night.
I pushed all of that out of my mind as I made my way out of the main body of the ship and onto the deck at the front. A couple were so deep in an embrace that I doubted they even realised I was there, and I turned away to give them privacy, heading towards the bow of the ship so I could watch the waves and hopefully ignore them.
The soft watery swoosh of the sea hitting the ship filled my ears and I leaned against the railing, enjoying the salty taste in the air and the peace it brought with it. I missed the sea, far more than I thought I did. It had just taken me until now to realise it.
Footsteps against the hard surface of the deck broke through the tranquillity. I listened carefully to try and work out whether they were coming by me or not.
Whoever it was came to a stop and I turned, a smile stretching over my face as I found myself looking up at Neptune.
"Hello, Bo," he said.
"Hi." My voice cracked and I licked my lips to wet them. His gaze instantly lowered there and I found myself thinking all kinds of things that I shouldn't. I wasn't sure what exactly had changed when it came to how I was thinking about him, but something was different. Maybe it was because now I knew more about him. Or maybe it hadn't changed at all, I just now also had the pertinent information about him being a god.
"It's a lovely night," he said, leaning against the railing next to me and looking out over the water. His muscles flexed under his shirt, making my mouth dry and it difficult for me to focus on what he was saying rather than just admiring him.
"It is," I finally managed to say.
"I've always loved nights like this. It's always so still, it feels like the world is untouchable."
"Maybe if there wasn't so much noise coming from the bar," I murmured.
Neptune chuckled. "Perhaps not. But that's just the noise of happy people looking for love."
"Mmm."
"You don't agree?"
"I don't see how it'll work. They're drinking too much and making a racket. How is that going to find them love?"
"You were drinking last night," he pointed out.
"I had one cocktail at a cocktail party. It's not the same," I said.
"Some people have probably had just as little."
"Maybe. But it's still not going to help with love." The idea of going to a bar and hoping to make a connection had never sat very well with me.
"You never know when you might meet the right person," he pointed out.
"I wouldn't have put you down as a romantic."
"Because I'm a god?"
I shrugged. "How long have you been alive?"
"I'm not exactly sure," he admitted. "I think it's something like two thousand five hundred years. Give or take."
That was a long time. I couldn't imagine being alive that long, and my lifespan was already longer than that of a human. "And you're single?" I asked, keeping myself on track for my point.
He grinned. "Are you asking to try and prove some point, or because you want to know if I'm dating anyone?"
"Trying to prove a point." My heart raced at the idea of the latter.
"Very well. Yes, I'm single now. But I haven't always been."
"So basically, what you're saying is that love is fleeting and it goes away?"
"Everything always goes away. It doesn't matter if you're mortal or immortal. Things begin, things end."
"That's an interesting take from someone who is going to live forever," I said.
"Who says I will? As far as we know, we're immortal, but maybe we just live a really long time."
I opened my mouth to argue, but shut it again when I realised I didn't actually have any argument. "Do you want to die?"
"Right now? No. In the future sometime? Maybe. I don't know. There are gods far older than me who still seem to be enjoying their lives, maybe I'll be the same as them."
I looked out over the sea, thinking about what he was saying. "Sometimes when I think about my lifespan, it feels infinite."
"What is your lifespan?"
"Three hundred years or so."
"And how old are you now?" he asked.
"Thirty-four. I've got a long time left."
"Shouldn't you be in there drinking with everyone and acting like a teenager rather than looking out to sea with an old man talking about philosophy?" he asked.
I snorted. "You're hardly old. You just said that there were older gods than you."
"There are. Most of the Egyptian and Greek pantheons are older than me, same with some of the pantheons from Mesopotamia. I think even some of the gods from your pantheon are older."
"I don't need a list," I assured him. "So if there are lots of gods older than you, then you're not an old man. You're middle-aged at most."
"Mmm, fair point."
"And to answer your question, I don't want to be in there drinking," I responded. "I spent a lot of time in the human world rather than amongst my own kind. My experiences are in line with my human peers."
"Ah."
"Which does make life seem rather infinite. The friends I went to school with are already married with a child and careers. And here I am, going around the world and managing a musician."
"Do you enjoy it?" Neptune asked.
"Very much. I get to travel to all kinds of places. I get to try all the food I could possibly imagine and more, and I can get away from the pressure of doing all of the things my friends are doing." I sighed. It wasn't that I didn't want a family, it just felt like a far-off thing to me. But when I went back to my village and saw my school friends, they'd all ask me about when I was going to settle down and have a child for theirs to play with. It wasn't my idea of a perfect life.
"Travel is one of life's true pleasures," Neptune said.
"Exactly. And I'd never have gotten to do it without doing the job I do. Even if it is kind of exhausting at the moment."
"Oh?"
I sighed. I shouldn't really be talking about this with him, but if I didn't talk to someone then I was going to explode. "It's just constant. Normally, I have a separate hotel room from Mei. Sorry, Mimi, I should be using her stage name."
"You can use whichever you like," he responded.
"Well, yes. Normally there are separate rooms. And up until a few months ago, she was alone in hers. But now she's started seeing Chiguo, he's there a lot. Don't get me wrong, he's nice, and he helps her with her music, but it's a lot for me to take. Especially because we're all in the same suite, so the only place I really have to escape them is one tiny room, and I can still hear them making music through the door."
"Is that a euphemism?" he asked.
I chuckled. "I wish it was a euphemism. That would be understandable. But no, they like to write music together. It's sweet, and the songs are great, but it's also kind of nauseating at the same time."
"I can imagine."
"Anyway, you don't want to hear about my problems." And I probably shouldn't spill too many of them to a virtual stranger.
"We're having a conversation, Bo," he pointed out. "I'm happy to hear them."
"Thanks." A light sea breeze brushed past me and I let out a contented sigh. "I could stay out here all night, it's so peaceful."
"I wouldn't recommend it," Neptune said. "But if things become too much, I have one of the biggest suites on the boat, and I can promise there's no music-making there."
"Are you inviting me back to your suite?" I asked.
He made an uncertain expression. "I guess I was offering it to you to use while I wasn't there. I'm working tomorrow night, so you can have it to yourself until I get back around midnight. If you want some peace, that is."
Even though I knew I should be sensible and say no, there was a large part of me screaming that it was a terrible idea and that I had no reason to trust him. And yet I did.
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course." He sighed and leaned further out on the railing. "It really is a beautiful night."
"It is," I agreed. "I love how the stars twinkle against the sea. It makes me think that there's magic in the air."
"There is," he agreed, turning slightly so he was facing me.
"I think you've fallen under the Jinx spell," I teased.
Neptune chuckled. "That's the point. We're here to meet people."
"And yet you're out here talking to me rather than in the bar with all of the people you claim are looking for love."
"Sometimes, you find things when you're not looking for them."
The way he looked at me had my stomach doing flips within me. I could pretend that I didn't know what he was getting at, but that didn't feel right. "Is that the real reason you want me to use your suite?"
"No," he responded, an earnestness in his voice that I didn't expect. "That's a sincere offer, with no strings attached."
"It's okay, I know your intentions are good."
"Well, maybe not that good," he joked. "Maybe I want to see you again."
"It's a small ship," I repeated his own words back to him. "That was going to happen anyway."
"Maybe it's not small enough."
"A cabin suite is definitely smaller. So what are you going to be doing tomorrow night?"
"Keeping the sea calm," he responded. "We're about to cross over the border where Poseidon's domain runs into mine. It can get a bit choppy."
"Let's guess, contrasting personalities?"
He chuckled. "More like it's just the nature of the sea. I don't think either of us has enough magic to influence how something as huge as the sea acts."
"Shouldn't you be telling me that you have the power over it?" Without meaning to, I leaned in so the two of us were closer together.
"That would be a lie."
"It would make you sound impressive though," I pointed out.
"Do you not think I'm impressive already?" His face was so close to mine that his words were merely a murmur and I could feel the heat radiating from him. One step closer could change everything about the way things currently were between us, and I wasn't sure whether I wanted that or not.
I met his gaze, the intensity of his sea-blue eyes taking my breath away. I licked my lips, and he broke eye contact to look down at them, making me realise that I'd judged the situation right.
The breeze brushed through my hair, and the only sounds were our breathing and the waves around us. Even the noise from the bar had faded to nothingness.
Until a loud shout came from further down the boat.
We pulled away from one another, and I couldn't help but think we'd missed an opportunity for something. But if it was real, then there would be another chance for whatever it was soon enough.
And I was looking forward to that more than I thought I could.