Phillips sat down, motioning for Jackson to sit down as well. He recieved his food, just handing then entire plate to Jackson; he didn't eati nfront of others. There were perhaps a total of ten other pets on the ship. The one who stood out the most was actually standing, since there was no room for him elsewhere. He looked scarred and deadly, but his owner was petite girl with
light pink hair.
Jackson looked at the plate full of food. “Aren’t you going to eat first?” He whispered to Phillips. On his way inside he saw the human pets eat only the scraps of what the plate had left.
"I don't eat," Phillips said casually, leaning back on the bench.
"At least, not this kind of food."
He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Jackson started eating, but ate only half of the plate. He then just pushed the plate away and then sighed.
Phillips sat there, half-listening to what the other crewmates were saying.
"Hey, Phillips," one said. "I thought you were saving up for that lass in the market; why you get this runt?" He nudged Jackson with his foot. Phillips shrugged.
"You're assuming I'm not still gonna get her."
Jackson closed his eyes and bit his tongue. He took a deep breath and payed no attention to Phillips and the other person. He wondered if Hunter brought his spell book.
"Really? I never saw you as someone to get one pet, let alone two. You gonna mate 'em and sell the kids in the market? Might be a good way to make some cash." Phillips shrugged, patting Jackson's head.
"Probably not."
"Why? You need the cash, last I checked, with that diet of yours. Cap'n can't cover all of your expenses."
Jackson tapped his fingers, then intertwined them together. He looked at them and frowned and then took them apart. It was obvious that he was bored.
"Says who? She's done so for a long time, I doubt she's gonna stop anytime soon."
"Still, you can't keep mooching off your sister like that." Phillips rolled his eyes, noting that Jackson was bored. Most of the others had filed off, back to work or to go to sleep. Phillips, because of this, reached down and easily pulled Jackson onto his lap, playing with his hair as he talked.
Jackson looked up at Phillips. His expression was natural, no hint of confusion, anger or anything. He noticed one of the human pets trying to leave its master and he sighed.
Poor person.
Both Phillips and the man he was talking to noticed, but they both ignored the situation. The master, a big burly man, smacked the pet, bringing her to her knees. The girl gave a small cry of pain, and the man bent down, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder.
Finally, Phillips looked up when there was barely any light to see by.
"Guess it's time to go light the lanterns," he noted. The other nodded, getting up and leaving.
Jackson looked around the dim place. He was used to living in almost complete darkness so he saw perfectly good. Jackson eyes turned similar to the one of a cat and he smiled slightly.
Phillips's eyes were different too; they glowed softly, a long black slit going through his pupil.
"Shall we head to the bunks? There isn't much to do at night here. The night crew isn't very… lively." He chuckled, as if he had made a pun.
Jackson nodded as he looked around. He noticed a silver ring on the ground, picked it up and started inspecting it. There was a small gemstone in the middle of the ring and Jackson put it in his pockets.
Phillips raised an eyebrow at Jackson's actions.
"You sure about that? People here can get really possessive of their stuff." Phillips stood, stretching, acting as if he didn't care. In reality, if the owner of the ring found Jackson with it, Phillips would have to punish him, and he really didn't want to do that.
“Well, whoever owned it lost the ability to get it back about ten seconds ago.” He smiled and looked at Phillips. If the owner came back, Jackson had two choices. One was making a deal with the owner and the other was burning the person alive.
Phillips returned the smile, but Jackson wouldn't be able to tell with the mask that Phillips wore.
"Just don't kill anyone, okay?" Phillips rolled his eyes, making his way further into the ship's bowls to get to the hammocks the crew slept in.
"We're gonna have to share a hammock," he said to Jackson.
“Can’t promise you that.” He had a eerie smile on his face, but then it immediately turned to a ghostly smile. He shook his head and the smile disappeared. “Ah, alright.”
Phillips's hammock was above two others, both of which had sleeping occupants. The very bottom one held the giant burly pet and the tiny owner, the two of them snuggled close. Phillips easily climbed up to his laying down and motioning for Jackson to join him.
Jackson quickly climbed up and looked down at the other hammocks. He sighed and closed one of his eyes. You’ll just have to wait.
Phillips closed his eyes, knowing there were crewmates watching him. There always were, with his sister being the captain. He had to sell this. When Jackson laid down next to him, he wrapped his arms around the other boy, playing with his hair.
He opened the closed eye and looked up at Phillips. He put his hand up just a little so his fingers touched Phillips. Jackson heard a meow even though no one could hear it from here. There was no way he was going to be able to go out tonight.
Phillips let out a small breath, trying to relax. He really did feel bad about getting Jackson into this position, but it was that or his sister eating him, and Phillips didn't want that for him either.
"Good night," he said quietly.
“Goodnight.” He responded quietly. He closed his eyes and pretended to be sleeping. He heard the cat meow again and every time it did meow would be a little softer.
Phillips began to fall asleep, his mask slipping off to reveal sharp, jagged teeth. He mumbled something in his sleep, moving a bit closer to Jackson.
Jackson looked at the sharp, jagged teeth. He couldn’t help, but to feel scared. He silently said a spell and made himself into a small animal. He quickly climbed down and ran to the main deck.
The only person on the main deck was the captain, who was busy eating… something. Probably a person.
Jackson, who was a small mouse shook his little head. She is one sick person, what type of person would want to eat another person. Isn’t that Human cannibalism? He sighed and ran fast past the Captain.
The captain pulled away from her meal for a moment, revealing the same sharp teeth that Phillips had. Her eyes flashed gold once, and her hand darted out, managing to catch Jackson by his tail.
"What have we here? A mouse, on my ship?" She held Jackson up.
Jackson looked directly into her eyes and sighed, saying another silent spell. He turned into a large eagle and bit her hand. Same sharp teeth, oh holy gold. .