Archive of Our Own

Loading up the bounty happened in a flurry of feverish haste, and before anyone really knew it, they were headed steadily through the clouds. Nya sighed for the umpteenth time, making her third round of checks on the supplies. They’d been careful while packing up, but it all happened so fast. Too fast, even for Lloyd. 

Sure, he wasn’t the best ever example of think before you act, but he also wasn’t the worst, and had been getting much better as of late. So what was this, then? A relapse? A re-relapse because of the severity? No, worrying. That’s what it was. Worrying. 

That worry ate its way from Nya’s gut to her brain. She shoved herself to her feet and stretched in a vain attempt to quell the worry out of her (fruitless, as she knew it would be) as she pushed through the door that led to the deck. It opened directly to helm and directly to Lloyd, who stood at the wheel where she’d left him. 

Well… stood was a bit of a generous term. 

Lloyd leaned heavily up against the wheel, arms hooked over the wheel itself and head dropped past the spokes. His knees were soft and saggy and he listed dangerously to one side, actively inching further and further off center. 

And he tipped, all at once. Nya sprang forward with a yelp. One hand seized Lloyd’s shoulder and the other grabbed the spokes to stop the wheel from following him. She did not need everyone to be dumped off the deck from an abrupt turn. 

Nya ensured the steering was steady, Lloyd’s arms removed, before she glanced down at him. He blinked at her owlishly once, twice, and then the absent confusion in his eyes dissolved. He jolted, fumbling for his own feet. 

“O-oh, hey, Nya! How’s it going?” 

Her eyebrows pinched together before she could stop them, “Lloyd—” 

“Great, yeah! I’m great,” Lloyd floundered, a bit madly, and tried to spin back to the helm. Nya caught his shoulder. 

“Hey, take a breath,” she said, and Lloyd sucked in a breath like he was dying, then burst into a forced bout of awkward giggles. Nya’s frown deepened. “You should go lie down for a bit.” 

“Lie down?” Lloyd gaped at her. “Nya, I have to navigate.” 

“No, you don’t. The Bounty is fine without someone at the wheel all te time.” 

“But—” 

“What she isn’t fine with is someone falling asleep and accidentally steering her way off course by leaning on the wheel.” 

Lloyd stared at her for a long moment, face slowly twisting into something desperate and pleading. “I’m the only one who knows where we’re going. N-no, I don’t even know where we’re going. I’m just chasing this stupid feeling, and there’s nothing else to go off of, and no one else has the feeling—” 

“Hey.” Nya stepped forward and gripped his shoulder. He’d started pulling at his hair some way through his rant and was swaying with the feverish movements. “Are you still not really sleeping because of your visions?” 

Lloyd just sniffed and let her untangle his fingers from his hair. She’d thought he’d at least been sleeping a little more, but evidently, she was wrong. 

“You’re not thinking straight right now, Lloyd. You’ve been in freak-out mode since yesterday. You aren’t going to be able to properly lead us anywhere if you can’t even keep your eyes open. Come on, just take a nap.” She tried to tug him to the door but he dug his heels in. 

“Nya, no, please.” His voice cracked and the sound squeezed Nya’s heart. “I promise I’ll stay awake. I won’t fall asleep again, I can do this, I’ll sleep when it’s over.” 

“Lloyd—” 

“No, Nya, I can do it.” 

“Lloyd—” 

“Please, please, please—” 

Nya spun Lloyd to face the rest of the deck. “Look at this, Lloyd. Look at them.” She waved vaguely at Sora and Arin, training in the open space. “I came up here just in time to stop you from accidentally spinning the wheel. Do you know how badly that could have ended? Imagine if you managed to dump everyone off deck? This is what— who— you are risking by not taking care of yourself. Do you really want to risk this?” 

Lloyd was quiet for a long moment. He stared at nothing. 

Nya carefully steered him around and guided him through the door and down to the bunk room. He shuffled beside her without too much fuss. 

“What if we get way off course while I’m sleeping?” Lloyd finally murmured as she tugged him into the bunkroom. 

“Then we turn around and go the right way once you know what way that is.” 

“But what if—” 

“Lloyd,” Nya chided, pushing on his shoulders to make him sit on his bed. “It will be fine. We’ll wake you up if we really need you, and I’m sure your ‘feeling’ will wake you up if needed, too.” 

“You think so?” Lloyd asked, lying back and blinking droopily at her. 

“Your visions probably have a reason for their timing, don’t you think?” 

Lloyd mumbled something that sounded vaguely like “I guess,” as he shimmied sluggishly under his covers. When he got there, he sighed heavily as though he was deflating. Nya ran her fingers through his hair and he didn’t have the energy to swat her away. He did, however, crack an eye open to glare at her with the likeness of an offended kitten.

“You’ll feel better once you sleep,” Nya encouraged. “I promise that flying is a little easier with your eyes open.” 

Lloyd pinched her and fell promptly asleep.