Fandom: Pirates of Dark Water. Pairing: Tula/Bloth. Title: What She Can Give. Author: min_sora. Rating: PG Disclaimer: Pirates of Dark Water belongs to Hanna-Barbera/Warner Brothers. Summary: Branching from a slight what-if idea (what if Tula had agreed, for one reason or another, to become Bloth's commander, as he offered in the episode 'Victory'). On an odd night, as she lies in an unfamiliar bed, Tula finds herself confused and struggling to grasp what has lead her to this uncomfortable position.
Tula lay in the bed; blanket pulled up to her chin, her breathing fast and ragged. The events of the last hour or so still hadn’t truly sunk into her mind and she was desperately trying to piece it together. She had agreed to be Bloth’s new commander, she remembered that, and had quickly gotten to work on the monstrous ship, even allowing herself to enjoy it slightly. She remembered a few days that had been particularly odd though, she couldn’t recall them in too much detail in her current broken state but she could remember Bloth acting very strangely toward her. He had been watching her the whole time, commenting on her work in a strange tone and making quiet remarks about things she could to that his former commander, Mantus, could not.
This night had been different though. She knew she’d had dinner with Bloth, she’d thought it was a celebratory dinner, and there had been massive amounts of food that were far richer and more high-class than she’d ever been used to. She’d wondered briefly why this kind of food had been on a pirate ship but her appetite had suppressed any further questions she might have had about it. What did stand out in her memory, though, was the wine she had been given to drink. She hadn’t really drank wine before and wasn’t sure of its taste but this wine had had a strange, almost chalky, quality to it. She hadn’t liked it at all but knew that offending Bloth was a very dangerous idea and so had drunk as much as she was given.
It was the next hour or so that her mind was drawing a real blank on. She’d felt funny, a pleasant but odd feeling, and she could recall Bloth speaking to her although she couldn’t really remember any sound of concern from his voice. The weirdest part to her at this time was that she remembered being happy and feeling very good inside, she had expected to remember Bloth doing something horrible and traumatic to her but she had felt, possibly, pleasure. Now, she was worried and truly confused.
She turned her head slowly to look at Bloth who was sleeping soundly next to her. A few moments ago, when he was still dressed in his everyday attire, he had gotten up from the bed and Tula had prayed that he was going to leave. To her dismay, he was only changing into what she assumed were his nightclothes, though they didn’t look at all like nightclothes. She made several quick glances around the room, checking for any possible escape route but it looked as if there was only way out and it would involve climbing over Bloth himself. She realised that must’ve been why he made sure she was sleeping against the wall, he was a very large man and he must’ve known that she’d have to disturb him to get out of the bed.
Tula sighed quietly, her eyes were drooping and tiredness was taking over her. She also began to realise just how cold she was, her frantic thoughts had previously blocked out the feeling, and even the blanket did nothing to fight away the cold. She looked at Bloth again, a look of deep confusion on her face, and, swallowing her pride, she curled her body up and lay against him. Bloth opened a yellow eye and looked down at her curiously but she refused to meet his gaze. The coldness soon gave way in Tula’s body as Bloth’s body heat quickly warmed her up but, as satisfying as the warmth felt, a feeling of disgust lay in the pit of her stomach and refused to budge.
She sighed and settled down to sleep, knowing that she’d have to get used to that feeling.