Work Text:
Soft steps padded down the short hall before the small frame of one Maisie Brumble slipped through the open door of Jacob Holland's room. The moon was high in the night sky, its glow spilling between the curtains and highlighting the girl as she stood at the man's bedside, peering at his sleeping face.
"Jacob... Jacob." The man gave no response, mouth hanging open, rattling snores tearing through his chest, oblivious. "Jaaaaaaacob." She attempted to jostle his shoulder, but the thick meat of him refused to move.
She gave him a dirty look before walking around the bed and dragging his chair - the first one he ever made, wobbly and dilapidated but otherwise fully functional - across the paneled floor, to the window. The blunt feet made obnoxious, stilted sounds across the wood, but Jacob remained undisturbed.
She pulled the throw blanket from the back of the chair and wrapped it about herself, cheek pressed to the cool glass window, dark eyes searching the waters below for an answer. Blue clambered onto her lap, coming from wherever he wanders at night that makes him ten pounds heavier.
Her hand moved idly over his head, "Do you miss it, Blue?"
The blob yawned, indifferent to anything but her scratches and lap-turned-bed. He rolled so her nails moved across his stomach.
"Yea, me too."
She sighed, glancing behind her, to Jacob, on the off chance he had woken suddenly during the last minute - he didn't - before settling in her spot and watching the ocean with yearning.
~
"Lass. Lass, up an' at 'em."
Maisie groaned, lifting her head from the sill before wincing as her neck spiked, pained from her awkward position while sleeping. Meaty fingers began pressing at her nape, loosening the tense muscles there.
"Night terrors, 'gain?" He asked, voice low with the morning.
She wiped the drool from her cheek and the crust from her eyes, leaning into his touch as she did so. "No. Jus' couldn't sleep. Unlike someone."
Jacob chuckled, pressing extra hard on the final rubs before running a hand through her curls. "Go get changed an' come down for brekkie."
She yawned a final time before slipping from the chair. "Ion need to change." She folded up the blanket and pushed the chair back to its original spot in the corner, twisting it left and right until it was perfectly centered.
"Ya don't want to go into town today?" He asked, nudging it an inch to the right with his leg, grinning at the withstanding look she gave him.
"Nah," She slipped from his room and into the bathroom for her morning business.
Breakfast was quick, consisting of scrambled eggs with steak bits and an assortment of fruits.
Jacob bumped her shoulder with his elbow as they passed each other to take the dishes to the sink. "What's on yer mind, lass?"
The girl's first answer was a long silence as she scrubbed her dish. Finally, having shaped her thoughts into words, she dipped her plate into the clean water, rinsing it. "Do you miss it?" She asked simply.
She didn't need to elaborate what "it" was, exactly. Her longing stares out the sink window, out to their pond that bled into a stream and then the ocean, enough of a clue. Her yearning now and prior times, growing more frequent as she got older.
"Aye." Jacob answered, without hesitation. He raised a thick arm, blocking Blue from leaping into the sudsy water.
His answer seemed to surprise her, if her pause was anything to go by. She glanced at him, brows furrowed. "You do?"
He chuckled softly, drying his hands before dropping Blue to the ground. He leaned back against the countertop and crossed his arms, "I grew up on the waves, lass. 'Course I miss it."
A sour emotion pulled at her face as she turned to fully face him. "Why didn't ya tell me? Ya could've told me."
"An' that would serve?" He paused, allowing her to answer if she could. She didn't. "I can see the guilt there, Mase. There's a reason I ain't tell ya. You knew."
"I did, but I figured ya would've told me if ya wanted to talk 'bout it." She countered, voice only slightly accusing.
He shrugged, "Ain't wanna talk 'bout it, then."
She stared at him, baffled, "We could have left, Jacob. Gone back, explored!"
He read her face for a long moment before uncrossing his arms, opening himself up. She mirrored him unconsciously, shoulders loosening. "Maisie. You's 17, now. It was hard 'nough to make sure I raised ya proper on land, where ya grew. I couldn't take ya from all ya knew."
Her face pinched before she sighed in defeat, "I'm sorry."
"Hey, hey." He raised a hand to cup her cheek, tipping her head back, and ducking to meet her gaze. "Don't apologize. I made the choice willingly, for us, not jus' for ya." His thumb brushed her cheek until the remorse left her soft features, "'Sides," He started, smiling, "You're old 'nough now to where we can go, for a long while, if ya wanna."
Her eyes lit up, back straightening. "We can?"
He chuckled, endeared by her yet again. "Aye, lass."
~
"Who's gonna take care of the cabin?" Maisie asked suddenly during lunch. They had spent the whole morning planning their departure for the following weekend.
Three days. Three days and there were back, on the waters. Nothing but blue above and below and all the creatures of the depths open to them.
Jacob paused in gathering their clothes, "We can ask Abernathy. I'm sure she'd be willin'. The cheques Augustus sends'll be 'nough to pay it off, 'least 'til we return."
"'Bout that," Maisie started, pulling out the clothes he stuffed into their bag and folding them, giving him and admonishing look, "How long we gonna be gone for?"
His smile was sly and he didn't look at her as he answered, "However long we want, Mase."
Something warm fluttered in her stomach at the prospect of an endless adventure. She stared down at the clothes she folded, unable to wipe the grin from her mouth.
Jacob glanced at her from his peripheral and smiled at the excitement dancing in her eyes.