Page 63 of Meeting Her Mate

“My captain,” Alexis said, batting her eyelashes and clasping her hands. “For you, the bugle trills.”

“Avast!” I said, feeling the surge of the sea that captains get when they first get behind the wheel of their ship.

“How does it feel, being back on your ship, getting to sail it again?” Alexis asked. “Also, I’ve never been on a boat before. Am I going to get seasick?”

“It feels tremendous. I feel like I’m back to my original self. As for your getting seasick, you don’t have to worry. The sky’s clear. The sea is very tideless today. It’s all very idyllic. You’ll have a heck of a great time.”

“Let’s do this then!” Alexis gleamed and clapped her hands. She even jumped up and down in excitement, making the entire ship bob with her.

I loosened the rope tying the ship to the dock and lifted the anchor. The engine roared to life and propelled the craft out of the harbor. Alexis immediately steadied herself by holding on to the rails on the side.

“Engines?” Alexis asked.

“It’s got both sails and engines, depending upon the captain’s choice. On windy days, the sails suffice. But when it’s pretty stagnant in the sea, or when we need to maneuver the ship, we make use of its engines,” I said while guiding the ship out of the harbor and into the open sea.

“All this time tending to ships in the warehouse, and I didn’t even know that,” Alexis said, then whistled slowly to exhibit her astonishment.

“Back when I was in Germany, I was, among other things, a naval engineer. Sailing out to the sea was one of my favorite hobbies. There was a little seaside town named Wilhelmshaven. My father named me after that town. I remember there was a bridge known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge. It spanned across the Grosser Hafen port. Whenever I’d sail the Grimm Reaper under it, it would make for an excellent sight. The sea below me, the bridge above me, and the horizon in front of me waiting for me to venture into the unknown.” There was no use stopping me now. I was already deep into nostalgia country, reminiscing to Alexis about the good old days in Germany.

“I bet you were just as handsome back then. Didn’t the German frauleins flirt with you? Even though those hypothetical German dames are all dead, I’m still getting jealous thinking about the fact that they might have flirted with you,” Alexis said. I sensed right away that she was jesting, as her face was on the brink of a sly smile.

“Ah, yes, the port city of Wilhelmshaven was infamous for its wenches and ladies of the night who would woo sailors coming from far-off voyages,” I said. It felt good to jest with her.

“Shut up,” Alexis grinned harder, slapping me on my shoulder. “Be serious. We’re mates now. Hell, shipmates as well. Was there someone who struck your fancy back when you were like a little teenager or in your early twenties?”

“You must understand that back in those days, people did not flirt with each other. It was considered the height of indecency to ogle at women or to catcall after them. The Germany of that time was very conservative. Women wore loose and long dresses. Men were still getting used to coming out of the Victorian era, hence dressed in coats, hats, and carried canes. Even the younger ones wore caps and were always dressed in suits. Flirtation was limited to a lady accidentally throwing her handkerchief and a gentleman picking it up and passing it back to her. The two would share a gaze, and that was it. But none of that happened to me because, well, I knew that deep down, I was different. I was a werewolf, and all these were humans. Back then, I hadn’t controlled my beastly self as well as I have now. I was always afraid that any act of intimacy with anyone would result in me shifting into a wolf. Thus, I kept my distance.” Funnily enough, now that we were on the ship and out in the open sea, reminiscing about that time made me feel like I was reliving it. After all, here was Alexis, a spitting image of her grandmother. The same yet so different.

“If you don’t mind my asking, did you have any romantic endeavors of that sort with Ariana?” Alexis asked, her tone cautious.

I shook my head. I was far too good in a mood to be concerned by her spontaneous inquiry. I was already thinking about it as it was. It only made sense that she was thinking about it too.

“Ariana and I barely ever verbally communicated, let alone go on a romantic adventure. The most she had ever done was look in my direction and smile once or twice. But even that was just a formal acknowledgment. Not a confession of affection. Compared to what we have, she and I had nothing but the faintest infatuation,” I said. It was the truth.

“I’m glad to know that I’m the first woman in your life in that sense,” Alexis said.

“Am I? The first man in your life in any sense?” I asked.

“Of course. Up till a few months ago, I thought I was asexual, having no feelings for any person whatsoever. It wasn’t until I met you that I started feeling things that I’d never felt before,” Alexis said.

“What’s asexual?”

Alexis took a deep breath and said, “So, modern science has understood that sexuality is sort of like a spectrum. You can be straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and even asexual. Asexuality is where one doesn’t feel sexual feelings of any kind. I used to identify as an asexual because I never felt sexual towards anyone.”

“But you do like me, right?” There was some insecurity in my question, which I was not ashamed to show.

“I love you, silly,” Alexis said, squeezing my hand.

“I love you, too,” I said.

We shared our first kiss on the open sea, the ship in the direction of the setting sun, bobbing idly as the ocean engulfed the red sun. I kissed her gently and warmly, holding her body close to mine, our heartbeats loud and rhythmic.

This officially kicked off our romantic getaway. Alexis wanted to be at the wheel, which gave me the perfect opportunity to go below deck and prepare some wine, cheese, and charcuterie for a nice evening drinking session.

I headed downstairs and fixed a tray filled with the fixings of a nice, romantic evening of drinking.

When I went above deck, I opened the lights I had fixed to create a nice ambiance. Alexis was already sitting by the deck-side table, staring into the sea and the darkening sky. Upon seeing me holding the tray, she lifted her hands to her face in shock.

“Is that a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape? Will! Those are extremely expensive!”

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