Nate anNadya

Sheheren Janaj He'Sseri (future stepmother)

Rawen Janaj He'Matke (future stepbrother)

**Biography:** Born on a ship to the captain of that same ship, Nate was destined from birth for a life at sea. That destiny never bothered him; he loves his ship and he loves the sea. Taken on as first mate after the death of his father and much of his mother’s crew, Nate advanced in his career much younger than he ever wanted to or should have been forced to do. But even though everything he’s ever lost has been lost to the sea, Nate still loves and respects it and wouldn’t want anything else out of his life. And when the sea saw fit to give him a stowaway with a mouth and an attitude to love, Nate did that happily, and never let anything stop him from doing what would make him happy.

**Notes:**

* Nate was five years old before he ever set foot on dry land. In his life, he’s been on dry land for a cumulative total of six weeks
* The vast majority of Nate’s earnings go into savings to buy his own ship someday
* Nate very much considers the entire crew of the *Sparkling Wind* and now the *Coral Witch* his family, down to the last deckhand
* Though Nate would like his body back, he will happily spend his life as a medallion if it means he gets to spend it with Pax
* After the time he spent sharing a body and mind with the Sea King, Nate feels that he understands him a little, and that worries him immensely
* Nate wanted to sleep with Pax five seconds after they met. He wanted to marry Pax five days after they met
* Nate’s father was killed by a piece of shrapnel to the neck thrown by a broken railing when he was tying down a line. Nate feels that if he had tied down that line like he should have, his father would still be alive
* Nate has only very blurry memories from his time with the Sea King, mostly focused on the Sea King himself rather than his surroundings
* Nate is reasonably educated, but his knowledge of non-nautical things is limited—or was until he started sharing a brain with Pax
* Nate has never been quite sure he was worthy of being Natalie’s first mate, and took the position only because nobody else would

**Quotes:**

* “The fuck, Cap’n? A guy can’t sleep?”
* “You’re on a ship now. We don’t really do the modesty thing.”
* “You’re adorable. Kind of like a kitten, but I kitten who I hope will fuck me, you know?”
* “Just be careful. You’re my favourite cabin boy, it would be a shame if you got eaten by sharks.”
* “Stop comparing yourself to people; you’re not allowed to decide how attractive people are going to find you.”
* “Careful, or you’ll end up like the Sea King.”
* “It doesn’t need to outsmart you. It’s older and stronger than you. The ocean always wins, Pax.”
* “I promise that we’ll always be together, no matter where we are. And I promise to be a captain worthy of you.”
* “Especially Pax’s. He’s got the best eyesight this side of the sun, you know. It was gifted to him by a hawk spirit in thanks for protecting its eggs from a ravenous cheesemonger. But he really only wanted to eat the eggs because he didn’t realize cheese was edible, and once Pax explained to him what he’d been selling all this time he was finally able to understand what the big deal was. Though his wife was annoyed when he took all the cheese he’d been using as doorstops and fenceposts and ate them, because then they had to buy lumber and everyone knows that forestry is full of corrupt people with terrifying axes and nobody wants to deal with that.”
* “This is going to sound weird, but I think I’m in the medallion.”
* “My boyfriend has a bigger dick than God.”
* “You know, I know all your thoughts, and still you surprise me. I’ll tell you a secret. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve been married since you came back to the ship.”
* “You’re really taking in stride this whole thing that there’s a monster out there shaped like all the bugs in the world.”

**Trivia:**

* Nate grew up speaking three languages, all of which he was proficient in the profanity of before anything else
* When Nate was seven he fell off the ship, nearly drowned, and was pulled to a rope by a strong swimmer nobody else saw, whom he insists to this day had scales and fins
* Nate has always had a bit of a fascination with foreskin, always wanting to see it on people who had it and, for many years a child, disappointed that he didn’t have any
* As a kid, Nate always wanted a pet dolphin or, failing that, a tamed kraken
* As he moved into adolescence it wasn’t unusual for Nate to masturbate with other members of the crew, and he’s had sex with a number of them as well
* At thirteen, Nate had a four-hour-long experience with an octopus that got stuck in the ship’s netting, then clung to him and wouldn’t let go
* Nate wet the bed until he was twelve
* Nate is an appalling gambler with a terrible poker face and atrociously bad luck, and twice in his life Nate has had sex with strangers as a result of losing a card game. This has also happened a few times with members of the crew
* Nate harbours a dislike for most vegetables, and avoids eating them if he can
* When Nate and Cecelia used to play as children, she was always the boss because Nate just assumed that girls were always the boss, a notion that neither Cecelia nor his mother felt the need to disabuse him of

**Modern AU:** Modern Nate co-runs his mother’s ground shipping company, Seaworthy Shipping, with his mom and now his fiance, though he secretly suspects that his mom and fiance just run it without him, and let him do deliveries and put his name on things, which is what he has fun doing anyway. When not working for his family business or spending time with Pax on video games, movies or just acclimating him to being a regular person, Nate plays football on his high school team, maintains a lot of friendships through that, swims recreationally and is looking into studying folklore in university when he’s ready to go there.