Black-eyed Blooms
The caring captain of a pirate ship decides to spruce up the place, but doesn't necessarily have a green thumb. The last one you'd expect helps out in the dead of night.
Conway rolled his silver eyes as he climbed the ship's mast that night, deciding to start with the hardest part first. Of course the captain had decided flowers would give some new life to the place. And of course they were dying less than three days in. Flowering vines adorning the crow's nest was more effort than it would ever be worth, between the unpredictable weather and the crew having far more important things to remember. The altitude definitely didn't help either. But it puts a smile on that damned man's face, and Conway didn't need that extra sleep anyway.
Once he got to the crow's nest, the daiten got to work. Clawed hands gently brushed the wilting petals of the black-eyed Susans as the snake at the end of his tail held the watering can. A soft hum rumbled in his throat as he worked, no specific melody other than what came to mind in the moment. Only because flowers like music, obviously. And anyone who suggested otherwise would receive a swift punch to the arm. That's exactly the reason this work wasn't done in the light of day; he didn't need the others making assumptions and especially no jokes. Only when everyone else was asleep did Conway do the less rugged jobs around the ship.
After the crow's nest was the bowsprit. How in the world the captain thought these wouldn't fall off at the first sign of rough seas was beyond his grasp... but then again, most of the night jobs were for things the captain hadn't thought ahead for. Sure, it didn't allow for much sleep or free time, but if it kept those eyes shining and the bravado in his voice it was a worthy sacrifice- one that Conway was content to keep hidden from the rest of the crew. He sighed as he put one hand over the arrow-shaped hole through his chest once this particular section of flowers was tended to.
The vines along the ship's helm were struggling far less than the others, at least. Conway carefully stroked a soft orange petal by the wheel while being careful not to catch any of his rings and bracelets on them. When they stopped at port again he would need to get some fresh soil for them, figuring the salty sea air would ruin it fairly quickly. Not to mention fresh water wasn't exactly in large supply around here...
A seagull's call snapped him from his thoughts and he shook his head. First he needed to focus on keeping them alive until then. Quickly finishing up this section of watering, the daiten brushed himself off and looked around at his work for the night. The flowers really did look beautiful in the moonlight, giving Conway some nice scenery to enjoy while he finished his other odd jobs. It would be a long night- it always is- but that's the drill. He'd rather not keep anyone else up having to deal with it anyway, and it gave him some quiet time alone to relax and think... It really was a pirate's life for him.