Object show oneshots

20. Puffries - One Golden Coin

hey yo what's up guys it's jaystation back at 3 am with another BANGER object show oneshot purely so I don't literally die of horror about how badly I am neglecting this fucking account
this probably sucks as I've spent like a year very slowly writing this once every few months

The windswept quays festered. No air could blow away the deeply ingrained stench of sea and storm and fish, that had all rotted their way into the very woodwork of the main pier and burrowed into concrete. It was only 3 in the afternoon, but the lashing snarls of thunderclouds had darkened the air to the hue of late evening. People tottered down the street in envelopes of waterproof fabric. Rain, anticipating its own arrival with horrific glee, danced on the very horizon of the sea. The only living beings that stood still, huddled in one place, were two lovers under a small whaleskin jacket, holding something precious tightly in their palms. They each shot a nervous glance at the other, before the man flicked a small glittering object off his thumb high into the air, slapping it down on the back of his hand as it fell. Curiously, hearts pounding wilder than the storm, they craned in. The hand fell back.

HEADS
The lightning crashed down in furious sizzling bolts that scorched eyeballs and pierced hearts with sizzling fear. On the right side of the quay, the enormous Northern ferry peered its watchful eye down at the young couple sprinting up the boarding ramp, still clutching each other's hand. No luggage.
The two people stumbled into the lobby, the light hum of folks mildly concerned about the storm reverberating around the room. Still clutching the one golden coin, the man rushed up to one of the nearest desks, smacking it down onto the counter with a little too much enthusiasm. The lady behind the desk started, but maintained her corporate cool in a heartbeat.
"Where to, sir?" she asked, giving a seawater smile. The man stared at her desperately, still panting from his run up the ramp, arm holding his partner as if she were about to be taken away forever.
"Just anywhere. The end of the line."
Raising her eyebrows in some semblance of concern, the woman nodded, choosing not to ask any more questions besides asking for passports. She gazed at the two little pictures inside. It was undoubtedly them, yet the man appeared aggressively deadpan, whilst the woman was almost smug in her appearance. Both had much different expressions now. Suspiciously sliding the two passports and their corresponding tickets back across the counter in a shower of leftover coppers, the lady smiled uneasily.
"Have a safe and relaxing journey." she stated, almost questioningly. The two retrieved their documents and melted swiftly into the crowd.
The ship's furnishings seemed to glow more opulently the deeper they fled. Rolling scrolls of wooden banisters polished themselves into burnished brass, layers of deep oak panelled the walls in thick, carved detail, plunging carpets of royal red: glittering opulently in the light from the chandeliers. Their worry quickly dissipating, the two young lovers slowed their raging rush and began to slowly take in the surroundings. The faint happy tinkling of conversation and teacups rang out in the bright depths of the ferry, and behind the panels of human communication lay a secret chamber of music, humming with strings and keys.
"Ok, I think we can stop running now. None of them will think we've gone North." the man sighed, relaxing his bunched-up shoulders in partial relief. Next to him, the lady fidgeted her fingers: a little more unsure, but still willing to follow her other half.
"Where are we even going, though? We need an idea of where our destination is going to be..."
"I haven't thought about that yet. I know - that's pretty unlike me, but for once I'd like to do something unpredictable. We're less likely to be caught if we move in zigzags rather than straight lines, if you know what I'm saying."
The woman nodded. The creases of worry in her face relaxed, ease sailing across it through the much less choppy waters. It was true... unlike the South, there were no friends or family members that could possibly take them in on arrival, if they did indeed manage to arrive at the end of the line. They were completely and utterly alone in the world now, and the frozen North beckoned like a spring-heeled monster ready to pounce. Icebergs aren't without beauty, though: maybe they could make something of themselves in the little wooden hamlets among the volcanic wastelands.
"Puffball, if I'm honest, I'm not confident. I know it's the only way out, but it's not a good one either. I hope you understand that."
A beautiful scene in oil paint that was hung over the cafeteria swung gently as the boat rumbled to life and began to set sail. The two of them both caught sight of the sunset painting at the same time, and were encapsulated in its golden aura for a split second. It teetered on the edge of disaster, but the nail was too strongly rooted in the wall. It held on... and so did they.
The ship cruised smoothly as a knife through butter. Two lovers held in a snow globe of golden confetti, delivered safely to their destination. They arrived in the bitter north, qualms forgotten and all their pains behind them. Maybe they could hack a new life into the snow here. Maybe they could carve a dugout somewhere and grow old in the warm soil near a hot spring. Just maybe.
After all, the world is full of hope.

TAILS
They fled for their lives up the ramshackle gangplank of the Southern Ferry, dashed with cold rain that struck off their clothes onto the left side of the quay. Fries grabbed onto Puffball's arm. She was all he had.
The two staggered in a dripping mess into the lobby-of-sorts, which was thrown together from damp and creaking timber into an unpleasant space with a smell that rivalled that of black mould. A twinge of regret creeping into the couple's expressions, they came forward to place all the money they had on the counter in front of the ticket master. The man gave a grimy smile.
"Where to then?"
Fries held Puffball tighter to his side than ever, almost as if he were anxious the wind would tear its way into the cabin and sweep her out to sea. Thunder thudded against the lightning-studded sky.
"Just as far as possible away from here. The end of the line."
The grinning hyena of a man seized the one golden coin, slipping it into his coat pocket and gesturing them on. No tickets. No checks. No change. Puffball looked as if she was about to say something but Fries had already led her out of the room in his desperation to escape.
Nobody was in the main lounge either. The windows rattled against the gale as the lights winked in their sockets like broken eyes. There was a bar with nobody behind it. The storm swirled and turned in the distance past the gloom of the horizon, which even from a few miles away could be seen as a mass of large waves. The sordid boat didn't feel as if it were safely anchored, and the entire vessel rose and dropped dramatically with the sea swell. The harbour festered with seagulls crying for their lives as the rain lashed down, trailing the windows. The boat left dock.
For hours Fries and Puffball simply shivered in the lonely sea freeze, holding onto each other wordlessly as the sea threw itself against the panes. Dread washed over them like the ocean drenched the prow. Please let this ferry be seaworthy. Let it take us home, wherever home may be.
Until the last straw finally snapped the camel's back.
A rogue wave catapulted into the window of the ship, shattering the glass pane like sugar with its intense force. The lights snapped out as the lounge filled with seething water, both lovers screaming as they realised their fate. The sofa they were sat on was roped by the swell towards the empty frame, the two ragdolls struggling weakly and wetly to hold onto a sturdy object. They found nothing meaningful. Only handfuls of storm and salty water.
The ferry tipped and peaked dangerously over the top of another monster wave, the jaws of the ocean yawning wide in their faces, stopping their hearts as the sofa lurched, catching on the window frame, threatening to tip them in to be swallowed whole. The boat levelled off, but the water did not. It just kept coming.
They were both crying now. It wasn't over yet, but it would be - miles from any coast or any other boat, they were left to the horrors of an ocean that wanted them dead. Just like everybody else. Maybe the way everyone had treated them was an omen.
Lightning split the sky, clawing the waves hungrily in a dizzying bout of light. The water was close to the ceiling as Puffball and Fries found themselves neck deep in freezing water, a few cheap plastic bar stools paddling around them. The storm didn't worry them anymore. Nothing but the muffled buzz and roar of towering acceptance above. Their hands found each other in the gloom as the ship was dunked under the waves.
Full of hope for the unknown, and what might be next to come.

—

They each shot a nervous glance at the other, before the man flicked a small glittering object off his thumb high into the air, slapping it down on the back of his hand as it fell. Curiously, hearts pounding wilder than the storm, they craned in. The hand fell back.

"Well? What did it land on?"