Sailor Proof (Shore Leave 1)

“And I can do Derrick too.” He grinned big as he replaced the headphones with sunglasses of a similar style to ones I’d worn that week. Giving a stern look, he did a whistle that wasn’t a bad imitation of mine. “Listen to Arthur! Arthur’s the best.”

He finished with a dopey lovesick look that made the audience laugh loud. And made me think. Hard. That wasn’t me, was it? Hanging on Arthur’s every word, following him around, looking at him like he personally had stapled the sun into place. Except maybe that was me, and I wasn’t even sure it was a bad thing. Who wouldn’t be a little lovesick over Arthur?

As the audience applauded for Taylor, I chewed on my lip, brain still churning. Vince was next and took three tries before kicking apart a flimsy board.

“Next, Seth is bringing us his special super-fast singing.”

An extremely twitchy Seth shot me a nervous look as he stepped forward. I gave him a big thumbs-up and mouthed, “You got this.”

My chest pinched hard. All week I’d considered this project as something I was doing for Arthur, a way to help him. But maybe it had been for me too. And I wasn’t sure I was ready for all these deep realizations about myself and life, but at the same time, I wouldn’t trade the small smile Seth gave me. This show had meant something to all of us.

Seth’s fast renditions of several classic songs earned him lots of applause, and he exited with a far bigger grin than he’d started with.

“Way to go,” I called to him as Arthur assembled everyone for the next musical number. This song was all about the importance of trying, with lots of big arm movements and earnest singing. Like with that look from Seth, it felt like the universe was trying to tell me something via the song, a message that maybe I didn’t want to hear right then.

Trying and failing is better than never trying at all. I wasn’t sure where I’d learned that. Possibly Grandma. As Arthur led the kids through their steps, I stopped fighting my own emotions, let the song wash over me, let myself wallow in the pride and admiration I was feeling. In that moment, he was my guy, and it was wonderful, and I couldn’t wait to get him alone, let our bodies do the talking.

Maybe it was time for me to try too.

“Now for our winners!” At the end, Arthur handed out the prizes. Every single kid got an award and a round of applause. Watching their faces light up, I finally understood why Arthur had fought so hard for this. It wasn’t that he didn’t like winning, but rather that he wanted everyone to have that thrill of victory. And he’d done it, given each of the kids a moment to shine. At the end, I applauded harder than anyone else.

“That was so fun! Thank you for all your hard work.” Arthur’s mom came up to him after the show, when the kids had all rushed back to their parents, who were busy taking pictures and admiring costumes. She had a tight hug for Arthur before adding, “I’m not sure we needed quite so many winners, but the kids seem happy.”

“They’re all winners.” Arthur disentangled himself from the hug.

“Yeah, they are. Nice job, bro.” Oliver came over right then, unexpectedly agreeing with Arthur. He had a hearty slap on the back for Arthur and more words of praise for the show before turning to me. “Are we going to see you for cards tonight?”

“Nah. I think... I have plans.” I glanced over at Arthur. We hadn’t said as much, but he had to be all jazzed on adrenaline from the performance, much like a successful mission, and I wanted to be there for him.

“Oh, I see how it is.” Oliver gave a knowing eyebrow waggle.

“How what is?” Calder came loping over, friends following behind him.

“Romeo here is ditching cards again.” Oliver was rather gleeful in delivering that bit of news even as Calder frowned.

“Is he?” Calder had a speculative look for me, one that matched his deceptively casual tone and promised a lengthy inquisition later, but I had run out of fucks to give for bets and card playing. I had better things to do. Also, it was the last night here, and there was nowhere I’d rather be than with Arthur. No way was I ditching Arthur to play cards even if it earned me a lecture from Calder.

“Sorry. Already made plans.”

“I see.” Calder’s mouth pursed. He’d have questions for me later, undoubtedly ones I’d rather not answer, but I’d rather brave that gauntlet than lose my chance with Arthur.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Arthur said a few moments later when we were packing up his speaker and other supplies. “You can go play cards.”