@intolerablexsacrifice [x]

Adaptable though he surely was, Theodore would be the first to confess that he was not the sort of person who was used to loneliness. There was always someone to lean on – and having never been in a position where he was thoroughly isolated, he’d never saw need to test his capacity for striving onward without companionship. 

Though he had never thought of it ( and likely would not, until someone saw fit to point it out ) Theodore had chosen a profession that would ensure he would always be surrounded by a sense of family. A brotherhood as opposed to the sisterhood he came up in, if one wished to wax poetically upon it. 

Going from first lieutenant aboard a ship with over eight hundred souls, to a pirate of circumstance aboard a far smaller vessel with absolutely no connections or allies ought to have been terrifying – but Theodore had seen the adventure for what it was and thrown himself into the work as though he had chosen to be there all along. 

He had made a few friends among the crew, even, but there was no denying he’d made a favorite of the captain himself. Some likely saw it as pandering, or some method of payment for his place aboard the ship, but such manipulative measures were rather beyond Theodore. He felt a gratitude toward Flint for setting him free, and for giving him work, but he had felt gratitude toward many people he would not be so keen to lean on as he was the quiet man beside him now. 

In truth, it was simply a familiarity – Flint had a grumpy and reticent air about him, but he was gradually accepting of contact and seemed to thrive from it, though nothing about that was ever said or acknowledged. It reminded Theodore a great deal of how Daniel used to be, and that alone was encouragement enough to maintain his quiet favoritism – for if Flint was anything like Daniel, he surely needed kindness a very great deal, even if he’d never ask for it, let alone admit to wanting it. 

The silence was companionable, and Theodore maintained it even when he noticed something he felt might be of interest to Flint. Patting the man’s arm lightly, he pointed toward the forms rising above the crest of the water, spray indicating their exact positions. Theodore wasn’t sure how many – he could count five, for certain, but there seemed to be smaller forms that were harder to make out in the growing dimness as the sun settled toward the last of its rays for the day.