Small hands and Little Steps (Sea and Lat; closed)

[Latvia]

Raivis' heart had almost broken when the other boy had held onto his shoulder and begged to be taken along. The poor soul... lost and all alone. He knew what that felt like. He knew what it was to be on the end of your rope. Difference was, he would have jumped off the platform and let the water decide his fate. The blue eyed male had already shown he was more of a survivor than Raivis was. Well, grace had met youth's courage and now hopefully Raivis could restore him to his more usual state.

"S-so..." he said nervously as they walked onto the ship, never sure how to talk to new people, "My name is Raivis... Dr. Raivis Galante actually..." he introduced himself. That still sounded so weird. He was a doctor... what were the odds of that? Back at home, he was the child no one wanted, while at sea, he had become a healer and had a special place on the ship. Truthfully the title was a bit of a farce. He hadn't gone to any medical school. Everything he knew, he had learned from reading on his own and all the practice he had gotten since he had taken the role. "But... feel free to just call me Raivis."

Hopefully, he'd get the other boy's name. It had been a while since he had met anyone near his age or at least, anyone who seemed near his emotional age. As fond as he was of some of them, he never felt like he fit in that well with the others.

"I'll be able to get you some water soon, but I need to run some t-tests before you eat..." he explained. It was possible he'd want the other on an empty stomach, depending on the disease. It would make any medicines less diluted. However, more than likely, a meal would probably soon be appropriate. He stared over at the other... There certainly didn't seem to any physical manifestations...

[Sealand]

It took Peter a great amount of effort to bring himself to actually hear what the other was saying, and another greater amount of effort to process it all in order to form brief, exhausted responses. He didn't immediately register the comment about needing some tests, or even that the other was a doctor. Those comments sank in a moment later, as Peter's head rolled lazily on his neck, leveling his unfocused gaze on the other boy.

"I-I'm Peter," he said, or at least he tried, but he was vaguely aware of his voice coming off as not quite a whisper, something that had once been a voice, loud and boisterous, but was now almost completely lost. He squirmed a bit, tiredly, when he realized that tests meant no food and he needed food and water.

"I-I'm not sick," in insisted as much as he could, given the state of his voice. "Need water...a-and food..."

It was all he could do at this point to even keep himself upright, but he cleared his throat and forced some sound back into his voice as he looked the other straight in the eyes, pleading.

"Please."

[Latvia]

Peter. That was a nice name. Raivis didn't know of any names that he wouldn't label nice, but Peter was certainly one of the nicer ones that he did know. It was easy to say and shouldn't be too hard to remember, especially not if he was motivated. "Peter... I'll remember that," he pledged.

Once again, Peter's words broke his heart. It wasn't an easy decision and if fact, he hadn't even know if his original one had been the right call. Maybe the boy would collapse at any minute if he didn't eat. What good would medicine be to a dead boy? "Huh uh... alright that shouldn't be a problem..." he said, caving instantly.

He told himself it was just the logical decision and it probably was. However, that was hardly the only reason he didn't press anything. "I-I'll just watch you as you eat a-and make my assessment then..." he explained, getting nervous.

"Let's go see the cook..." he said as he started toward the kitchen.

[Sealand]

Peter dragged his feet along toward the kitchen, just the slightest bit more motivated at the thought of food. He knew it had been quite a few hours since he finished off his water, and even longer since he finished off his bread and cheese on that god-forsaken structure in the middle of the ocean. He was lucky someone had actually shown up, though. He knew that the odds were slim, so maybe luck was on his side...at least this time.

"T-Thanks," he mumbled out, head rolling to rest against the other boy's shoulder as he followed, pace slow and weight resting on this boy that wasn't much taller than he was. "Say...how'd you...get to be a doctor, anyway?"

He knew that he shouldn't do much talking in his condition, but Peter was honestly curious how someone so young could be a medical professional. Maybe he was older than he looked?

[Latvia]

Raivis didn't want to fully discuss the question Peter had raised. It wouldn't be good for morale for the others to realize how formally untrained he was. It probably wouldn't be good to have the Captain reminded of it either. But... he couldn't just ignore the question either, he'd have to be careful with his words and not say anything that wasn't at least partly true. For that, he needed to stall a bit. "I-I'll uh... tell you when I get back... sit here..." he said as he eased Peter down onto a chair, "I'll get you some food."

With that, he took off momentarily and after a brief conversation with the cook, was able to get a decent amount of vittles. After all, he was the medical staff and this was a medical issue. Hunger killed as surely as anything else given time. He balanced the plate carefully, a pitcher of fresh water in his other hand.

He set the water down near the chair leg and handed the plate to his patient. "Here... try to eat and drink slowly if you can..." he cautioned. Doing either too fast would make him very sick. He sat near the other and observed him.

"I sort of... fell into the position. I worked with other doctors on the ships I used to work on... I guess like an apprentice. But this ship didn't need an apprentice... it needed a doctor... so you could say I graduated early..." he said, not knowing how that would sound or if the other would even care now that food and water was in front of him.

[Sealand]

Peter was aware of the fact that if he ate too fast he would probably make himself sick, but it took a lot of willpower he didn't know he had to resist shoveling all of the food into his mouth at once. He hadn't realized before just how starving he was until the sight and smell of food reached him and his stomach twisted, letting out a hungry, angry growl at being empty for so long. Peter took the food and very carefully and deliberately began to chew slowly, his eyes closing as he simply enjoyed for a long moment the fact that there was real food in front of him, and he was eating it and not dying of starvation after all.

He was barely listening to the other speak, but after a few long moments of chewing and swallowing and taking care to make sure that he was doing so slowly enough that he would be able to keep the food down, Peter grabbed at the pitcher of water and poured himself a glass, drinking it earnestly down before pouring another one and sipping at this one much more slowly.

He turned his attention back to the young doctor for the first time a matter of minutes and smiled, feeling surprisingly more rejuvenated now that he had some food and water in his stomach. He picked at the food some more, taking small bites and watching the other with a brilliant smile, thanking him between bites.

"This is so great, I'm glad that I didn't starve to death," he slurped at some water here and continued on talking between bites, "I mean, that's probably got to be a really awful way to die, huh?"

He rambled on about nonsensical things, energy and speed of his words increasing as he continued to consume the provided food and water until both were completely gone and Peter was draining the last drops of water from his cup, looking quite full, flushed, and satisfied.

[Latvia]

As he had thought, his credentials were only the target of the conversation for a very short time. Peter didn't seem to mind once he could fill his stomach instead. Raivis didn't blame him. He doubted he would care much in the others position. Hopefully the subject wouldn't come up again. He didn't really have much of a leg to stand on medically but it had been working out so far.

He observed the other boy as he ate, trying to see if he could collect any data at the same time. It would be have been better if he could ask some questions or maybe do a few tests during the meal, but he didn't have the heart to stop the small sailor. He didn't have much of a choice anyway. He knew if he tried, the other would just look at him with those blue eyes like he did before... Thinking about that look turned him red all over again.

“Ah... yeah... it'd start to feel like your stomach was eating itself... you're pretty small, so I don't think it'd take too long... your kidneys would fail, your liver would shut down... It'd actually take a bit if you were able to find water... but on that platform... I think you'd die of dehydration first.” He thought about that a little more. Yeah, that platform couldn't have been holding any fresh water juding by how fast his acquaintance was gulping down the pitcher's contents.

Momentarily caught up in the details, he wasn't thinking how grimm that sounded. His face quickly changed from neutral to worried as he realized he wasn't just testing himself. “D-did you feel any of that?” He almost felt like crying, “That must have been so horrible...I'm so sorry...” Hesitantly he reached his hand out, wanting to give some kind of reassuring touch, but as his hand approached he got nervous and instead pulled it back, hoping Peter didn't notice.

(sorry for the delay ;; )

[Sealand]

Peter blinked at the other as he spoke, describing what would happen to a person's body if they had begun to starve to death. It was actually a rather disturbing subject, and not something he found that he'd want to think about...well, ever.

He shook his head as the young doctor seemed to panic a bit, reaching out and apologizing. Peter almost lifted his hand to take the others', but he pulled away so quickly that the young English boy didn't actually have the chance. Instead, he folded his hands behind his head and grinned a bit cheekily, face rosy and full of life and color now, a severe difference from before.

"Nah, my stomach wasn't eating itself or anything," he tried to play off the others' worries, finding that for some reason he really wanted to comfort and reassure the other boy that he was alright. "I'm just glad that you found me when you did~!"

He grinned and laughed a bit, trying to ease the doctor's mind by showing that he was in high-spirits. However, he remembered something and sat forward quickly, hands falling onto the table as he leaned toward the other.

"Hey wait, what did you guys do with my stuff?" he tried not to sound extremely freaked out, however he couldn't help but think of his worn down, antique copy of Peter Pan sitting all by itself on that platform in the ocean, possibly left behind. His eyes prickled with tears at the thought and he sniffled, trying not to let the tears fall.

[Latvia]

That had been inappropriate, totally inappropriate. He was a doctor, a physician. In this case, the food was essentially the medicine he was giving to fix Peter's problem. No where in his books did it say the doctor was supposed to hold hands with his patients. That more than likely fell under misconduct. He had made the right decision by moving his hand back. No doubt about it... although the other did seem like he was fully alive again, which meant his “treatment” had worked.

He sighed in relief. ”Th-that's good,” he said, a small smile forming on his lips when the other boy said he saved him. ”I-I didn't really do that much,” he blushed as he waved it off, ”Just wasn't your time.” The Latvian didn't believe he could be any kind of hero.

He watched questioningly as Peter moved in his direction abruptly. At first, he was worried that the other boy was collapsing and the appearance of restored health had been just that. But, before he could get out any words of concern, the other was speaking to him.

”Your stuff?” he asked, not completely over the surprise of the other's movements. ”Oh right! Th-the stuff that was with you on the platform,” he realized, as if Peter could be talking about anything else, ”I think someone took it down below. Did you have something very precious to you?” he asked. He was pretty confident none of the others would steal from a kid, but he couldn't make that promise if he had a gold statue. They'd probably call it a finder's fee...

[Sealand]

As soon as his mind registered what they other had said, Peter quickly settled back down, sinking into his seat with a sigh of relief. He was still slightly tense, thinking of his book in the hands of a bunch of pirates who probably didn't know how to treat a book like that, however the knowledge that the old tome was on board with him was enough to ease his nerves in that moment.

"Something...precious? Oh, well, I guess so," he let out a weak, slightly embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. Okay, so he had been a little extreme, practically launching himself at the other, but...that book was the only thing he really had to his name, and the only thing that really mattered to him at all.

"It's just...this book I have," he explained after a moment, smiling a bit and swinging his legs in his chair, the tips of his toes skimming the floor each time they swung. "It's really the only thing I have, and...yeah, it's really important to me."

He flushed slightly, feeling silly all of a sudden, and turned his attention elsewhere, looking toward the floor. 'He must think I'm some silly little kid, only caring about some book...'

[Latvia]

Raivis looked intently at the other. He wondered what kind of things he could have collected. He hadn't really paid that much attention to Peter's belongings, so it could really be anything. Plus he was little, so sometimes things seemed more important than they actually were. Or maybe things just were more important when you were younger. Raivis wasn't a philosopher or a psychologist, so he wasn't really sure how that worked out. He'd just believe whatever it was could be important because Peter said it was important.

He continued to stare as the other boy tried to laugh it off, waiting to hear more about it. Raivis really hadn't left his home with much, so he didn't have anything all that important. Most of the things he had owned were hand-me-downs his cousins hadn't wanted to part with. But he knew how it felt for something to be yours nonetheless and it could be a pretty strong attachment.

”A b-book...?” he questioned, taken off guard a bit. Raivis loved books, but he didn't think it was a very common love. The fact a boy a little younger than him had one he liked enough to be considered precious was very odd. ”Is really that good? I-I mean, it must be really well written for you to be that worried about it.”

He got worried when Peter looked down. Maybe his reaction wasn't quite as encouraging as he had meant it to be...”A-ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. Y-you just... I mean I... y-you see the thing is... I guess I-I just... didn't expect anyone else would like books that much...”

[Sealand]

Peter's mood instantly brightened as the other attempted to correct himself, and he heard the phrase that sealed the deal, anyone else, and Peter resolved right then and there that he would be friends with this doctor.

"So you like books, too?" he asked excitedly, sitting upright again and bouncing a bit, feet swinging again. He continued rapidly, "I mean, I like books alright, but this one is really great and I love everything about it! The man that raised me told me that a lot of books became banned after the war and that nobody reads anymore and that it's really important to treasure books, especially this one, because there aren't that many copies of it left!"

So he had just admitted that his single most treasured possession was pretty rare, aboard a ship full of pirates, no less, but Peter didn't care because he had found someone he could connect with, someone his age who liked books. His smile must have looked like a hundred watts in that moment, feet swinging furiously below himself, toes scraping the floor gently in a repeated way that could likely wear ruts into the boards. To say he was pleased would be an extreme understatement.

[Latvia]

Raivis was enjoying watching the ranging emotions that Peter had. He didn't seem to have much of a middle ground. Naturally he hadn't been through the best days of his life recently (or at least Ravis would hope not), but he still seemed to be genuinely expressive. Raivis definitely liked this expression that best and he didn't know what he had said to make it happen.

The Baltic boy stared at the onslaught of words that came at him. As soon as he opened his mouth to comment on one part, something new was said and then when he finally resolved to just wait, it seemed like the other boy was done. This talking to people thing was a lot easier when they didn't care as much about your opinion. Still, Raivis was eating this all up. He wasn't sure if he should still answer the original question or just comment on the anecdote. The confusion wasn't helped by the warm feeling his face was getting at the way the other boy was looking at him. He was so happy!

”A-ah well, that's all true. My m-mom used to have a lot of second hand books and I would read them,” he nodded, ”People should really uh... read more I think,” He agreed. ”I spend most of my days on the ship reading.” It was a lot more non-fiction these days so he'd know enough to keep everyone healthy. But when he got a chance, he loved a good written story.

So then... you weren't raised by your parents, right? I-if you're not calling that guy your dad... He must have been nice to take you in like that...” It was probably none of his business. Why did he ask that? Stupid... He probably didn't want to talk about that...