Part of Your World

Les Poisson

"Washed up from a shipwreck?" Carlotta sadly said as Arius popped a bubble in the air, then blew more with the soap from the washtub. "Oh, the poor thing." She dumped a bucket of water on him. "We'll have you cleaned in no time."

Sebastian peeked his head through a pocket of Arius' sail, hiding when Carlotta picked it up. "I'll just, eh..." She grimaced at it, then smiled politely. "I'll just get this washed for you."

She took it into the washing area, where other maids were gossiping.

"Well, you must have at least heard about the boy."

"Well, Gretchen says..."

A woman took the sail from Carlotta and scrubbed it down the washboard, Sebastian getting stuck in the bumps and soapy.

"Since when has Gretchen got anything right? I mean, really. This boy shows up on rags and doesn't speak..."

She wrung out the sail, crushing Sebastian in it.

"Not my idea of a prince. If the princesses are looking for a boy, I know a couple of available ones right here."

Sebastian crawled away and into a pocket of a shirt that was slid away. He fell on his head. The first thing he saw was fish on a chopping block, seafood being boiled, and, once he saw the stuffed crabs, he fainted.

-

"Oh, Erica, be reasonable," Grimsby sighed, Erica still looking out at the ocean. Y/n sat quietly at her chair, trying to balance her fork on the table with one finger. "Nice young men don't just...swim around rescuing people and then...flutter into oblivion like some -"

"I'm tellin' you, Grim, he was real!" she insisted. "I'm gonna find him!" She looked back out just in time to see a wave crash on a rock and leave its foam. "And I'm gonna marry him."

"Come on, honey. Don't be shy."

Arius walked out, looking around the room, before looking at the three, smiling at them in a pink top and pants with long coattails behind him.

"Oh, Erica. Isn't he a vision?" Grimsby rather strongly hinted.

Y/n looked up, then away, suddenly feeling warm. "He's...something, alright." She still said nothing about knowing him for obvious reasons and because it would not matter - Arius had completely forgotten about her.

"Uh, you look wonderful," Erica responded, smiling down at him.

He smiled back, looking away sheepishly.

Grimsby got up, guiding him to a chair and pulling it out for him. "Come, come, come, you must be famished. Let me help you, my boy."

He sat across from Y/n, looking around some more until his eyes landed on her, suddenly frowning. He looked intently into her eyes. Awkwardly, she went back to her fork.

"Are you quite alright?" Grimsby asked, concerned, noticing his demeanor shift. Shaking his head, he nodded at him, trying to force a smile. Grimsby returned it before sitting.

"It's - it's not often we get such a lovely dinner guest, eh, girls?"

Arius noticed the fork that Y/n had, his eyes lighting up. He reached across and grabbed it, brushing his hair with it. He looked at each one of them, Erica looking confused with an eyebrow raised and Grimsby bewildered. Lovely, indeed.

With them looking at Arius, Y/n caught his gaze and pretended to stab with her hand, then bring it to her mouth and chew.

Embarrassed, he was about to give it back, but, remembering it was in his hair, slammed the fork down and awkwardly passed the one he was given to her.