[crow]

They didn’t know how long they stayed there like that. When their breathing finally slowed and calmed, they took one last deep, shuddering breath and looked up.

The old man was still there, humming a tune now as he whittled at something with a knife. Ambrose sighed. They didn’t know what they expected. But then, they supposed they ought to be grateful--- no, they were grateful. He was courteous enough to pretend he hadn’t seen, and even the illusion of privacy was better than nothing.

[crow]

“Some advice, if you would like,” said the old man. Ambrose did not look at him, and neither acquiesced nor refused. The old man seemed to take this as acceptance enough, and took a breath that he might speak again. “Not all journeys are easy… Yours certainly hasn’t been, has it? But everything is easier with good company,” he said.

Perhaps it was because they had cried so much after holding everything in for so long, but Ambrose felt curiously… weightless, detached from themselves.

[crow]

Now, hearing this, they laughed aloud. “Are you making me an offer?” they asked.

“Me? Oh, I would never,” the old man said, laughing right with them. “A pretty young creature like you would waste away in the company of this old dog.”

“Then I’m afraid we are at an impasse,” Ambrose replied lightly. “Alas, I am quite alone.”

“Oh?” said the old man, his wispy brows arching in surprise. “There’s a saying, you know. No man is an island.”

[crow]

“Very bold of you, sir, to assume I’m a man,” said Ambrose. The jest came easily, almost as though they were flirting with someone across the table at a bar, fishing for patrons, rather than speaking to a stranger on the deck of a little ship, fleeing for their life.

Maybe this was just who they were now. Ambrose wondered what the people from their old life would have thought if they could see them now.

... No, actually, upon second thought, they were sure they didn't want to know.

[crow]

“I suppose that’s true, isn’t it?" the old man conceded. That surprised them a little; they hadn't thought he would take their jest even a little seriously. "But even if it is poorly worded, I stand by the idea, at least. We are never as alone as we think we are, child,” said the old man.

“Are we not,” Ambrose replied noncommittally. The smile had disappeared from their face as they stared out at the wide expanse of night ocean. “You could have fooled me.”