Quinn Hearts was bored. Wrecking havoc on the Isle was getting old, so she decided to pay a visit to Pirate's Bay since she had nothing else to do. All her other friends were busy. Mal was grounded (and Maleficent was sure to bolt the windows this time), Evie was with Dizzy Tremaine, and Jay and Carlos were doing God knows what.

So since she was craving adventure, Quinn wanted to sneak onto Uma's ship; have a look around (not just with her eyes), and maybe she would be satisfied.

Yes, variety was a rare thing on an island with no magic, wifi, or way out.

The salty wind blew through Quinn's blonde-red locks, letting a chill tingle down her spine. She had snuck through the pirates, choosing not to wear as much red this time around as not to be recognized. Quinn hid behind a couple of barrels when she was getting closer and closer to the ship. This is where she began to regret wearing heeled boots. Their clicks on the aged wood would be a dead give away, but fashion was fashion.

She found herself drawn to a wooden door. It was small, tucked away in the large mass of the ship. No door knobs were present, so Quinn assumed that pushing the door would be a lot quieter than pulling a doorknob. Making her job easier.

With one swift motion, Quinn hurried over to the door, pushed it, and watched as it swung behind her. She now hoped that nobody used this room anymore, and Quinn dared not make a sound.

The room was some sort of storage closet. Old dressers were covered in miscellaneous objects; rolled parchment, strings of faux pearls, aged jewelry, ships in bottles, old compasses, and maps, lots of them. They covered the dressers and tables. Their edges were rounded and also aging. The parchment was crinkled with water stains. So were the walls and floors. Everything in the room had either aged or been washed over by flood water.

A bottle of ink, with a quill submerged in it sat on the desk. Quinn frowned. Shouldn't a supposed 'forgotten room' not have a fresh bottle of ink," she thought.

Her frown turned into a look of worry when she saw a signature at the bottom of a page of paper. It seemed to be some sort of letter to someone, signed: Captain James Hook, Captain of the Jolly Roger.

Quinn raised an eyebrow, panic emerging. She opened one of the desk drawers to reveal one filled with hooks in it. Ones that could replace the one that was in Captain Hook's hand. Her hand brushed against the bottle, causing jet black ink to pour over the letter. One thing was for sure: Quinn definitely wasn't supposed to be in this room.

Her suspicions were only confirmed when Captain Hook's son suddenly entered the room. Quinn shut the hook-drawyer with her waist, trying to play it casual in the presence of a person who possessed a sword.

Nothing about Harry had changed since the last time she'd seen him. Same messy hair, same red coat, same hook in his right hand. And his two orb-like eyes. As blue as the oceans, as deep as the seas. Unfortunately, his attitude wasn't the same as his looks. He was a scoundrel; an arrogant fool. Or so Quinn thought.

"Ugh, It's you," Quinn said with an eye roll.

Let's make this clear: Quinn hated Harry Hook. She hated how he was able to flirt with her and somehow give Quinn this jittery feeling that she couldn't describe. She hated it. Fooling hopeless guys was her thing, but apparently, it was one of many of Harry's talents, too.

"Princess," the pirate responded, his soft voice sending an unwanted chill down Quinn's spine as he scanned her figure up and down, "What are you doing here?"

"Sightseeing."

"Last time I checked, we don't offer souvineers."

Quinn huffed as she emptied several of her pockets, containing various objects that she'd previously nicked. Most of them being forgotten items that sat on the old drawers and desks. Who would've known that Harry Hook had noticed.

"Alright, here," Quinn put her arms forward, indicating some sort of kidnapping to commence, "I'm sure your captain would love a kidnapped princess." She wore her smirk proudly. There was no way that a pretty girl like hers would be handed over to a gang.

But the next thing she knew, Quinn was being hauled off to the main part of the ship. She was bundled up in thick ropes tied to one of the ship's wooden posts, where prisoners were usually kept. Her smirk was gone.

"I didn't actually believe that you would actually hand me over to Uma, in case you were wondering," the princess snarled, "I  really underestimated you."

"I'm full of surprises, lass," if Harry wasn't annoying the blonde than, he was now. Quinn didn't know what annoyed her; the nicknames, or the fact that she was tied up.

"You're infurriating," she mumbled, running her fingers over a token she'd stolen in the form of a silver pin, shaped as a hook.

Next thing she knew, another silver hook was planted on the right side of her head. Harry's of course. A single strand of golden hair attached to it, it's red tip gruesomly pinned onto the post by the cold metal.

Harry just smiled.

Quinn, however, played the game. The game she'd dominated since she was born. "You've just been dying to get this close to me, haven't you?" she cooed.

"You're the one who wanted to be tied up."

Quinn rolled her eyes at the proud smirk on the pirate's face. She'd expect him to start laughing like a maniac, per usual. But no laughs were needed. To him, the princess knew that it was 1 to 1 in the flirting game.

"Can we just get Uma or Gil already," Quinn requested, "Or even Harriet, I don't care. Just anyone but you."

The brunette dryly chuckled, still close to Quinn. "But this is oh so fun," he said, bringing the hook to Quinn's face, "Isn't it, pretty face?"

"Quit flirting with the bait!"

A sassy voice and turquoise hair was enough to get Harry out of Quinn's face. Quinn didn't even need to look beside her to know who the voice belonged to. She knew from Harry walking back that Uma was present. Harry was one who followed his captain's orders more blindly than his siter, Harriet did. And let's not forget Harriet's massive crush on Uma.

"What do you mean bait?" Quinn asked.

"Fish bait, princess," Uma scowled the last part, revealing herself.

Uma hadn't changed since Quinn last saw her. She still rocked the same turquoise braids and turquoise leather. Her leather pirate hat, embellished with sea shells and glittered fish nets encasing the top of her head. The good news was, no shrimp scent followed the captain anymore.

"I wasn't flirting," Harry irritably reasoned.

"You were deffietly flirting," Quinn reasoned, "Called me pretty and everything."

Uma glared at Harry. "You're supposed to hate her," she scowled, sitting down on the wooden steps.

"This feud between you and Mally-Mal has got to stop. Please. It's getting annoying hearing Mal ramble about 'shrimpy' or whatever," Quinn vented, "She dumped a bucket of shrimp on your head. Big deal!" Quinn said, "Just get your revenge and get over it."

"That's why I'm throwing you to the sharks."

Harry frowned. He didn't recall any plans about throwing Quinn Hearts overboard Uma's ship. Especially not to the sharks.

"Um, care to tell me when we discussed throwing Quinny overboard?!" Harry asked.

"Since when did you care?" Uma asked.

"Aw, coathanger feels left out," the princess cooed.

"You're very irritating," Harry scowled.

"And you like it."

Uma groaned. "Cut it you two," she said, putting her head up, "I should've sent Harriet to guard you instead of putting two of the Isle's biggest flirts together." She stood up. "Now I'm leaving. Harry, keep an eye on the princess."

The woman strutted off, Harry's eyes following her retreating figure. Out of nowhere, he sprang up and pulled out his sword. He began to harshly cut the rope?

"Harry, what on earth do you think you're doing?" Quinn asked, still clutching onto the hook pin.

"Saving your life," Harry said through gritted teeth, "Now don't ever come back here, understand me?"

Once the ropes were loose, Quinn easily wiggled out. She examined her arms, which were slightly hurt from the ropes. She smirked at the pirate. Maybe manipulation was on her side for this one time.

Quinn took a step closer to the pirate, lightly smiled, and patted his cheek. "You wish, Hookie," she lightly tossed the pin, quickly catching it before Harry got the chance to.

Quinn speedily walked from there. She quickly stopped walking, looking behind her. She sent Harry a thoughtful gaze one last time, who returned it with a wink.

Who would've known that Harry Hook could be thoughtful?

₊˚.༄ release date
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v.i.mxxii ; may 1, 2022