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twig---verginix · 7 years ago

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TASU Secret Santa 2017

@glassesanddreads I was your Secret Santa!!! I wrote a quick little fic that takes place somewhere in the first book and put it under the cut. I hope you like it, and that you’re having a nice holiday!!

@tasusecretsanta

Well?” Santa Elena stared expectantly at Cas. She gestured toward the deck floor.

“Well, what?” Oh, shit. That came out less respectfully than she had intended. She had to stop doing that.

Santa Elena smiled a sort of smile she was quite good at, the one that made Cas feel like a cornered animal. “Well, are you going to try your new disguises on or not?”

At this point, Cas took a moment to reassess her situation.

She was a captive on board an enemy pirate ship; the pirates holding her captive were using her to train a massive sea monster with the potential to destroy civilization as they knew it to use for their own gain. Not the ideal situation, certainly, but doable.

She was also under constant watch by one specific pirate, and Cas couldn’t seem to make up her damn mind as to whether or not this pirate could be trusted. Annoying and, at times, uncomfortable, but very manageable. No big deal.

The captain of this pirate ship had a very, very big knife. The captain also had a penchant for checking in on her monster trainer and monster trainer’s guard, big knife in tow. Said captain was, at this moment, standing on the training deck, alone, smiling down at the two lifeless bodies she had just laid down at their feet.

This had Cas concerned.

“My…. what?”

Swift, who was only on the training deck with Cas and Bao because she had no other choice, stepped forward. “Do you mean, like. The clothes, or…” Her voice trailed off uncomfortably.

“Yes, I mean the clothes. What else would I-” Realization seemed to tickle Santa Elena’s fancy, and she laughed. “What, did you think I wanted you to wear their skin?”

Swift grimaced. Elena smiled wider.

Cas was still very, very confused. The whole “wearing skin” thing that got thrown in there somehow didn’t make her feel any better. “Their clothes? Who- who is this?”

The two people on the floor were lying atop one another haphazardly, and Cas couldn’t tell if they were breathing. There wasn’t any blood staining their clothes, though, so that was probably a good sign.

Their clothes. Overcoats lined with fur- was it real? Who the hell wore real fur clothing these days- overtop a three-piece suit on one and a dress of silk and lace in dark colors on the other, like they were dressed for colder waters. Earrings, bangles, necklaces and rings glittered with every movement of the boat. It was probably a safe assumption to say that these people were absolutely loaded.

“This sweet young couple is- was, I suppose- on their way to a very exciting event that you two will just have to attend in their stead.”

Cas could feel Swift’s muscles tensing a full foot away from her. “Two, Captain.” It was presented as a question.

Elena raised her eyebrows. “Yes, Swift, the two of you.”

Swift didn’t seem to challenge that. Satisfied, Elena continued.

“In three days’ time, the Washington-Oregon Confederacy will be holding a midsummer gala in the middle of the Neo-Pacific; there’ll be presidents, ambassadors, families with old money- just about every important person on the western coast of the mainland will have been invited.

“These two-” Santa Elena nudged the man with her boot, rolling his face over to the other side. “-were invited in order to seal a particular business deal that our little crew could benefit greatly from.” Here her smile broadened, wide and sharp-toothed. “So you two are just going to make it easier for the rest of us to, ah, crash the party, so to speak.”

Cas bit her lip. She was missing something. “So the two of us are going to- what? I can’t leave Bao. He’s not old enough yet, I’m not sure how he’ll-”

“You’ll leave that to me.” Santa Elena cut her off. “He’s bonded to The Minnow, now, right? According to you, that means he won’t ever leave her side. So there should be nothing to worry about.”

Cas felt a rock form in the pit of her stomach as she realized what was going on. “Yes, Captain.” There was nothing she could do, could she?

The captain nodded. “Good. You’re both dismissed for tonight. The clothes will be sent to your bunk. Tomorrow, we’ll go over the specifics of the plan. Come to my chambers before breakfast.”

Swift nodded stiffly and gave a “yes, Captain.” She headed for the steel doors with a sort of exaggerated control that Cas had come to recognize in Swift.

“And Swift.” Elena’s eyes were bright in the dying light as Cas was trying to figure out if being dismissed meant that she was supposed to leave Bao alone with the captain. “I hope you understand how important this ambush could be for us.”

Cas was behind Swift now; she couldn’t see her face, had no expression to read. “Yes, Captain.”

Cas didn’t really want to stay on the training deck anymore, alone with Captain Santa Elena. Still, she had to mentally will herself to step past the bodies on the deck floor, past her captain and her captor, and away from the monster she had been forced to raise.

She followed Swift off the training deck. The doors swung shut behind her.

“You know this isn’t going to work, right?”

Cas waited until they were back in Swift’s room before saying anything. “She’s setting us up to fail.”

“Let’s wait until tomorrow, okay?”

“What, you think this is going to make more sense in the morning? That it’ll sound like less of a death trap in the morning?”

“She wouldn’t do that.” Swift was sitting on her bed and scowling while Cas was pacing. “She wouldn’t bring the entire crew into it if it was-”

Swift stopped speaking.

“What?”

Swift made some noise that was sort of like a growl and flopped over onto her bed.

“Swift, what?”

Swift kept her eyes closed, but put up her middle finger.

Cas was too tired to continue her line of questioning. “Fine. Fuck you, too.” She didn’t even feel bad about crawling into Swift’s bed, not tonight. “And there wasn’t a lot of soap left in the bathrooms, so I hope I still smell like fish guts.”

And on that note, Cas rolled over and tried to fall asleep.

That night, Cas dreamed. She dreamed about dancing.

Not much happened in her dream; it was all colors, and light, and how the two blended into each other as she moved around, walking in between and around countless faceless couples.

Swift appeared beside her, if she hadn’t been there from the beginning- it was always hard to tell, in dreams- and put a white, gloved hand on Cas’ shoulder.

Cas turned, and she was in a long, pale teal dress that swirled when she moved. She took Swift’s hand- Swift, who looked nothing like a pirate in this dream, in a dark three-piece suit with a carnation in her lapel, a bright splash of color amidst the lights. Cas placed her other hand on Swift’s shoulder, while hers moved to Cas’ waist.

Wordlessly, they danced. They danced, around and around, in never-ending circles, until Cas could scarcely make out Swift’s face under the bright lights.

And when Swift woke her up in the morning, she still felt like she was dancing.

In the morning, Swift took Cas to Santa Elena’s quarters to pick up their clothes and be instructed on exactly what the hell they were doing. Upon leaving her quarters, they had accomplished about one of those things.

“Okay,” Cas said on her way back to the dorms, a little uncertainly. Think optimistically. “Okay. That made sense, right? We get in with the ID cards we stole, use my beacon, the rest of The Minnow and Bao come in to mess shit up. Simple enough.”

Swift’s brows were pressed together, carrying clothes in one arm and dress shoes in the other. “Sure, yeah. Did you notice she had her son leave before she started speaking?”

“I don’t know.” Cas’ mind was whirling. The reality of the situation was setting in; they were going to destroy a ship. A ship with many, many important people on it. And they were going to use Bao to do it.

Cas decided, right then, that she wouldn’t let that happen. She hadn’t quite figured out how she would accomplish that, but she was not going to succeed in this mission.

Swift’s mind was at work, too, though probably not for the same reasons Cas’ was. They walked the rest of the way to their dorm in silence.

Two days later, an hour before the Washington-Oregon Confederacy Midsummer Gala in the Neo Pacific, Cas and Swift were getting dressed for the ball.

“Do you think it would work like this?” Cas unzipped her wetsuit about halfway down her back and shoved it into the low-cut dress. It was still very visible.

Swift snorted. “Well, that’s one way to stuff your bra.” Cas felt heat rising up her neck, making her itch under Swift’s gaze. She wasn’t sure she disliked it, though. “Can’t you just throw the coat overtop of it?”

“And wear it the whole night?”

“Hey, it’s not like we’ll need to be in disguise for long.”

“You don’t know that. And besides, the coat doesn’t cover my wrists.”

“Or your legs.”

Cas looked downward, past the skirt of the dress and at her shiny wetsuit-covered legs. “Right.”

Swift sighed. “Fine. Take it off, you can wear the suit.” She spun around and faced the wall.

Cas awkwardly stepped out of the dress behind Swift’s back, her wetsuit clinging to the material. “I still can’t believe that I have to wear my wetsuit under the disguise. Like, I know there’s no way I can change into it at the gala, but still! We’re both going to smell like ocean brine and fish guts!”

“Well, that might be okay.”

Cas stared at Swift’s back.

She shrugged. “Maybe ocean brine and fish guts is, like, a rich people perfume.”

Cas threw the dress at Swift, who made a noise of surprise as it covered her face.

“And we don’t know anything about the people we’re supposed to be. Like, we have their IDs. That’s it.” Cas pulled a small plastic card out of the suit jacket’s pocket. “Jonathan Carriel, age 34. That’s me, guys, that’s me. Couldn’t she have found two women to kidnap, at least? I’ve never even heard of this guy.” She stepped into a pair of long, black dress pants. “Santa Elena could’ve stood to give us a little more information.”

“She could’ve stood to give anyone more information.” Cas looked up just in time to see Swift pull her shirt up over her head, still facing the wall. She quickly looked away. “I haven’t seen or heard anyone else talking about this raid. And this is a big thing, Cas. She hasn’t announced it at all yet.”

Now that Cas thought about it, that was strange; she had been on the training deck with Bao for the past few days, but that didn’t mean she had no clue what was going on around the ship. She had heard no mention of the gala outside of the captain’s quarters.

“Something isn’t right about this.” Swift’s voice lowered. “I don’t think she’s planning on backing us up with The Minnow.”

Cas felt her blood chill. “What?”

Swift was quiet.

“That doesn’t make any sense, why would she leave us- what would she have to gain-”

“I don’t know, Cas.” Swift winced. “Help me zip up this damn thing.”

Cas bit her lip as she tried not to break the dress’ zipper. “So, if that’s true... what do we do now?”

Swift sounded very, very tired. “I don’t know.”

Cas wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to spend every day of your life, for years, putting up with these mind games. Always watching your step. Never quite sure what to trust, who to trust.

She was about to let slip to Swift that she was planning on fucking up this mission on purpose anyway, that she wasn’t going to let Bao destroy the gala ship, regardless of the consequences waiting for them back on The Minnow, when she saw Swift painting a dark ring of black around her eye.

“What are you doing?”

Swift stopped. “What does it look like I’m doing, shoregirl? I’m putting on makeup. I’m a rich person. Rich people wear makeup.”

“Not, obviously, the same way a pirate wears makeup. Wipe that shit off.”

Swift grumbled and reached for a t-shirt. She spat on it and rubbed the black away.

“Now give me that bottle.”

Cas raised an eyebrow, but handed it over. “What, you’re gonna do my makeup for me?”

The cap of the bottle unscrewed to reveal a small brush, like a bottle of nail polish. The eyeliner was more watery than any Cas had ever used, but not so bad other than that. “Sure. Come here.”

Surprised, Swift obeyed. Cas inhaled as she lifted the brush to Swift’s face. Gingerly, with a steady hand, she brushed the bare minimum above Swift’s top row of lashes.

Swift was staring directly into Cas’ eyes. Cas’ breath caught in her throat, and for a moment- maybe longer than a moment- she couldn’t breath.

Hands no longer steady, Cas continued lining Swift’s eyes.

Cas bit her lip and drew in a breath, wind whipping her chopped-up hair around. The suit was too big on her- god, it definitely would have fit Swift better- and it clung to her wetsuit in awkward places.

Swift looked no more comfortable in her dress. It would have looked better on Cas, absolutely- if only the plan didn’t hinge on Cas hiding her wetsuit until the last minute. The purse on her shoulder held Cas’ beacon; Cas felt naked without it.

Swift caught her glance. “Don’t look so nervous.” Against the buzz of the motorboat they were on, Swift’s voice sounded husky, monotone. “We shouldn’t look suspicious, right?”

Cas raised her eyebrows. “Are we still pretending this is going to work?” She laughed, hysteria creeping into her voice. “We’re on an obviously stolen private motorboat pretending to be two people who should be arriving on a yacht, we know next to nothing about the people we’re trying to impersonate- we don’t even look like the people on our cards! Tell me, do I look anything like this guy?” Jonathan Carriel was a blond white man who was, according to his ID, an inch shy of six feet tall.

Swift was bouncing her knee. “We’ve been through this, shoregirl. No one’s going to pay that close attention to us. We get in, send out the signal, Bao comes and does his thing. We leave.”

You put your hands over your eyes. Swift didn’t want to hear it, and why would she? Why would she want to hear that her captain purposefully assigned her to a mission doomed to failure- and for what? What had Swift done to deserve this? Wasn’t she one of Elena’s favorites? What had changed?

The motorboat rocked as Yatori, who was not terribly pleased to have been ordered to escort the two of them instead of manning The Minnow, steered, and Cas bit through her cheek. She tasted blood and felt her insides churn.

“Yatori, if you’re driving us, and Swift’s here too, who’s driving The Minnow?”

He eyed her. “That,” he said, adjusting the radio at his belt, “is a good question.”

Swift swore under her breath. Cas felt sick.

“She can’t be sending us to die, or get captured. That can’t be what this is about. That doesn’t make sense, there’s gotta be something else.” Cas didn’t know what else. At this point, she was was just talking to avoid the silence.

“Is this some dumbass test? Does she want to see how I’ll respond to a hopeless situation? Or does she want to test my loyalty, even when loyalty is fucking insane? You know what, fuck it, Yatori.” Swift tried to stand up in the cramped space they had. “I know I’m not in a position to give orders, but turn this ship around. We’re not doing this. I’m not doing this. Captain can say whatever the fuck she wants to that, but this is a dumbass plan that’s gonna get us killed. Turn us around.”

“Finally,” came the voice from Yatori’s radio. Another said, “Go ahead, Yatori, you’re good to come back now. Swift, your test is over.”

Cas was glad Santa Elena couldn’t see exactly how far her eyes had widened. Swift went white.

“C’mon, Swift! I bet on you figuring it out days ago, now I-” That voice, a third one, was cut off by Santa Elena saying, “Thank you, your test results gave me some much-needed information. Good job, the both of you.”

The radio clicked, and that was that.

Swift and Cas were silent as Yatori turned the motorboat around.

The closer they got to The Minnow, the more pissed off Swift seemed to get, though she didn’t say anything until the ship was in sight.

“Fuck.” She shook her head, knuckles white in her lap. “I can’t believe this. That she would do something like this.”

“Can’t you?” Cas wasn’t angry, she was just tired. All the tension that had been building up inside of her on the way to the gala- the gala that didn’t exist- dissolved into nothing but aching muscles and a throbbing headache. “She tests you guys because she’s training you, right? This was just a test, like he said.” Yatori didn’t show any sign of recognizing that he was part of the conversation again- the green light on his radio was off and hooked on his belt. If he wanted to clarify anything for the two of them, he wasn’t showing it. “Maybe she got bored, and wanted to try out a new testing style.”

“Bored? You think she’s gonna put the others up to some dumbass stunt like this?” She rubbed her face. “And the others. I heard Varma’s voice at least, who the hell knows who else was on the other side of that radio?”

Cas grimaced. The last thing she needed was for Swift’s enemies to have more ammunition against her.

Members of the crew whooped and wolf-whistled from the deck as the motorboat drew near. Yatori muttered something about a raise as he pulled in closer to the hull of the ship. A few meters away, Cas saw Bao surface from underwater, curious.

“Bored, my ass.” Swift ground her teeth. “I’d kill that woman if I could. Give me your pants, I don’t want bare legs when I get up there. I have a feeling I’m gonna have to knock someone’s teeth out tonight.”

As Cas awkwardly shuffled out of the suit- she felt more comfortable in just her wetsuit, anyway- she wondered how much truth there was in what Swift just said. Slowly, she replied, “I think I’d kill her if I could, too.”

Cas slept alone that night, on the training deck. Under the clear skies, she dreamed about colors and lights and dancing with Swift.

#the abyss surrounds us #tasusecretsanta

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