“Me too,” he admitted somewhat shyly, keeping his voice low.
Soon enough, Mr. Livingston was fully in the water. He swam over to the edge closest to James.
“Do you know how to swim?” Mr. Livingston asked.
“Not well.” James huffed an embarrassed half-laugh. “I can flop around a little, but that’s the extent of my skills, I’m afraid.”
“Ah, that’s unfortunate for a sailor, isn’t it?”
Laughing some more, James retorted, “I’m not a sailor. I’m a steward.”
“On the most luxurious ship in the world.”
“Yes, well, I’ll be sure to have my lifebelt with me if it comes to it.”
Mr. Livingston shook his head, playfully flickering his eyes up to the ceiling.
“You won’t need it. Not on this ship.”
“In that case, I have no need to know how to swim properly, either,” James reasoned.
Mr. Livingston narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips like he was considering something. And then he swept his hand through the water.
Letting out a loud “Fuck!,” James staggered back a couple of steps when the water hit him. Mr. Livingston only laughed. And then James laughed, too.
“Bastard,” James said, pretending to scowl at his wet trousers.
“For language like that, I’ll have to report you to the White Star Line,” Mr. Livingston chided.
“Go ahead. You’ll freeze on the way to the inquiry office.”
Mr. Livingston heaved an obviously fake sigh and floated onto his back. “I’ll report you later, then.”
Crossing his arms, James let out a scoff. “Can’t wait.”
Almost immediately, Mr. Livingston began kicking his feet in an exaggerated manner, his erratic and vigorous movements splashing more water onto James’s clothing. James chuckled and walked backward another meter or so from the pool.
“I’ll have to report you, too,” James taunted. “I’ll find the captain himself and tell him that we have an unruly passenger on board. ‘Mr. Livingston is a menace,’ that’s what I’ll tell him. And then they’ll... well, I’m not sure what will happen. Maybe they’ll toss you overboard.”
“Cassian,” the other man said through a laugh as he righted himself in the water. “You can call me Cassian.”
James’s face warmed. “Are we friends?”
There was a pause.
“We can be.”
The two locked eyes and smiled at one another.
“Alright, well, maybe I won’t report you, then,” James said.
Cassian’s smile broadened. “Good.”
And then, as James ought to have predicted, Cassian fucking splashed him again.
“Bloody Christ,” he spluttered. “You’re borderline intolerable.”
Cassian chuckled. He waded over to the edge of the swimming bath closest to the stairs.
