The Relic: Deadly Liaisons at Sea

Chapter X: A Mistake Made Is a Lesson Learned

When Olivia meant she was grounded, she really meant it. Except Charlotte was not put into confinement with a lock and key as a reflecting child would. No, she was outside with Damien and Cesium working on any and all tasks assigned to them. Currently, it was their job to scale and paint a variety of the components on the deck. Normally, this wouldn't be a civilian job, but Olivia mentioned that it was an appropriate haze for her sudden disappearance a couple of days ago.

Damien and Charlotte were scrubbing the paint away for what seemed to be a couple of hours while Cesium was lying on its haunches beside them. Sitting on the top of the rail was their supervisor, Aden, reading one of his untouched books to pass the time. She watched from her peripheral their raven-haired babysitter flip the page and continue reading. Damien noticed her looking and tapped the top of her hand with the scraping tool he was using. She gave a nervous chuckle before continuing in their long process of scraping the old paint away.

Damien shifted the paperboy hat on top of his blond hair and wiped a line of sweat from his brow. Today was humid but not so hot that it made it unbearable to stand, but luckily, they were in for some good sunny weather without the clouds within the next couple of days. He was surprised by the progress that they were making since it was only the two of them, but luckily, Charlotte was a diligent person who worked at the task at hand. He would never have guessed that she was this type of person, but that assumption was mostly due to previous actions like her breeches being put on backward.

She wore comfortable clothes that suited her, even though she worked outside. A white button-up shirt with a flared collar accented the black form-fitting vest that wrapped around her waistline and shoulders. Her choice of shorts were a pair of puffy black shorts with white trim and white buttons gathering the fabric at the front middle portion of the shorts. Then as a belt, she used a navy blue sash. She also adorned thigh-high socks that were mismatched but matched the outfit oddly. Her sock on the left leg was pure navy blue, and the one on the right leg was pure white with black lines running down straight. To finish the look, she wore black flats and had rolled up her long white sleeves to her elbows. Cesium was working beside her, trying its best to scrape off the paint but failing miserably. It looked like it used enough strength in its paw to make a noticeable dent.

Charlotte began to feel unnerved by the blond's inquisitive glances and whispered, "Did I get some paint chip stains on my shirt?"

In response, the blond shook his head and began to chip away the old paint again. His hands were killing him, and they weren't even halfway down with the main mast. They finished scraping the old paint from the railings, which Aden was sitting on top of, and they had then decided to move onto the main mast. Needless to say, it was the longest and troubling job they took on.

Olivia had told them early that morning that they had to work and work only. She wouldn't allow any chitchat when they were being punished. Not able to bear the silence anymore, Damien whispered back, "No, I was just wondering when you got an outfit in the time we were in Refrazzya and grounded."

The girl in question scraped another piece of paint of the mast before smiling. "Remember the raiment orders that Olivia wanted from the tailor? This was one of the many outfits she picked for me. Super cute, isn't it?" she whispered to the boy but kept her sight on the mast in front of her. She didn't want to alert the guy with super hearing. It was like he was a cat or something, being able to hear even the faintest of noises.

Damien tapped his scraping tool up and down his khaki uniform pants to clean it. The paint started to accumulate on the edge of the sharp tool, making it hard to peel off more paint. Whispering back, he continued with the last bit of rustic-colored paint of that particular side of the mast, "I didn't peg Olivia to know a lot about fashion. Normally, she's in her lab coat, black shirt, and slacks working around the clock."