The inside of the wrecked ship is surprisingly larger than they had all expected. And strangely enough, the structure of the vessel is rather intact, considering how old it must be. Dust is gathered in every corner and the interior is fairly dark, save for the few cracks of light sneaking in through the gaps in the walls.
It was oddly relaxing to spend the night on the beach. Now with the break of a new day, they are refreshed and ready to get to work.
At least, most of them are.
The moment they enter, Regan freezes in the doorway, staring distantly at the sight of the ship's interior as though he's just had an out of body experience.
Cree cocks a brow his way and goes to question him on what's wrong, when Regan rushes ahead to stand in the center of the massive open area, clapping his hands together.
"If we're going to be staying here, this place must feel comelier!" he exclaims.
J rushes in after him and huffs. "This is my home! What do you mean it needs—"
Regan shakes his head, not even looking at her as he's still taking in everything about the space they're all going to be occupying. "No no, some changes must be made to spruce this place up," he purses his lips and walks to a random wall.
"Fix some patches in the walls... Maybe get some nice shag carpets over there... Oh, and matching armchairs. Maybe some flowers there... And..." he gasps and claps.
"We need drapes! These windows are far too bland!"
Cree sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose as Edith steps up beside him, keeping her eyes on Regan with concern conveyed through her gaze.
"Is Regan okay?" she asks quietly.
"He's definitely... Regan," Cree mumbles with a low chuckle.
J groans and rolls her eyes. "What the hell, go for it. Free home renovation!"
Regan jumps happily and hurries off to start doing whatever Regan does when he gets like this and J chases after him, making Reela giggle and follow both of them.
Reela peeks into a corner, seeing what looks like a dog bed made from dead grass and leaves, and in the center of it is something that can't be described in words that are anything other than what it is. That is simply a poorly taxidermied rat with seagull wings and a tiny tiara.
The girl sits in front of it and pokes its nose. Regan turns and sees her with that and he hurries over to move her away from it.
"What on earth is that disgusting thing?" he grimaces.
J gasps and sprints towards the thing, picking it up and holding it like a baby, frantically stroking its head.
"Its name is Bartholomew and you will show it the proper respect it deserves!" she cries on the verge of tears.
Reela smiles and walks over, reaching up to 'Bartholomew' and poking its nose.
"He's dead!" she giggles.
"IT isn't dead! It lives off of my love!" J shouts and lifts the dead seagull rat over her head to keep it out of the child's reach. "You stay away from it, tiny demon!" she turns into a seagull, holding Bartholomew in her mouth, and she flies away.
Regan clears his throat. "Well that happened," he sighs. "Come on, Reela. Let's get to work."
Colin walks further into the space and looks around, seemingly with the same curious glint in his eyes as Nisha has on hers.
"Is this an Aramora ship?" Colin questions.
Nisha walks over to a wall and runs her hand over a dusty wooden frame, feeling the intricate etchings brush against her palm.
"Kinda. This is an ancient Narvadin seacraft," she inspects the etchings closer. "'Lunsaety.' N'Fel for 'Firefly.' Pretty common name for Narvadin ships, since it's in Tus'Felnis culture that fireflies are seen as symbols of luck and guidance. Both are important to have when navigating the seas," she snickers and steps back to look around the whole room.
"Somethin' tells me they could've used a little more luck."
Malachi slowly nods, also examining the carvings. "This thing must've crashed here before the barriers went up, then. Don't see any other way this could've got here."
Edith stands beside him, curiously glancing between him and the markings in the wooden trim of the ancient vessel. "How long ago was that?"
Malachi shrugs and laughs softly. "Dame, I'm old but not that old. The Dev'al Ordon might've had some tomes on this stuff, but I've never seen 'em," he says with a grin towards her.
Biting her lip, Edith chuckles and narrows her eyes up at him.
"You don't look that old to me," she winks.
Malachi tilts his head and returns the coy look with his own.
"Is that so?"
Colin stands behind them, glancing between the two with a look of bewilderment.
"Are you two seriously flirting?"
Edith just starts laughing while Malachi shrugs and turns back to face him with a smirk.
"What can I say, I'm a silver fox," he winks at Edith and she feigns swooning. "Looks like I'm the ladies' man now. Sorry to steal your thunder, Colin," he teases.
Colin sighs and shakes his head. "That's not all you're stealing..." he mumbles, lightly chuckling. Edith walks over and gives him a kiss on the cheek, throwing in a warm smile to punctuate the gesture.
"So, I guess we're redecorating, huh?" Edith sighs.
Colin nods slowly. "Guess so. Hopefully it won't take too long so we can get to making a plan soon."
"Agreed. Let's help out to make it easier," she says and turns towards Cree. "Hey, metal arm, wanna help me fix up some walls to get some rooms in order?"
Cree glares at her. "I'm not cheap labor."
"Of course not!" Edith states. "We're friends. That means you're free labor. Now, c'mon. Let's get to work!" she giggles and grabs his arm, dragging him away.
Colin watches them go and calls out to her, "Doll, remember to take it easy! Come get me if you need anything!" he says with a sigh as she and Cree vanish further into the ship.
Naomi and Nisha take off to start helping as well, and Colin and Malachi go join Regan and Reela.
Reela sits on the floor with Toya and Romeow, carelessly playing with them while Regan, Colin and Malachi work on fixing up the walls of what once was the kitchen and will serve that purpose again once they're done making repairs.
Regan hurries back to the main room to do a bit of work out there, leaving Colin and Malachi alone in the unfinished kitchen.
Malachi takes advantage of the moment alone to glance at Colin with a mischievous grin while they both work on repairing the gaps in the walls.
"So... You and that dame, Edith, seem... close."
Colin accidentally hits his hand with his hammer and he mentally thanks himself for not being able to feel pain, though the dent isn't really ideal. He looks over to see the sly look on his friend's face and he clears his throat.
"Well... yeah. You know... we've had time to bond over being stuck here for over a month."
"C'mon, man. Don't be coy with me. You know what I'm talking about," Malachi snickers. "Are you two... You know," he wiggles his eyebrows.
Colin looks away and tries to keep his focus on fixing the wall. "I..." he sighs. "I don't really know how to describe it..."
"Try."
"I have a complicated relationship with that complicated woman," Colin chuckles and it ends with a sigh. "I don't know if you could say we're... 'together', but..." he bites his tongue to contemplate his choices here.
He knows Edith told him about not wanting to worry others with the knowledge of her being pregnant, but they'll have to know eventually, especially Regan. But Malachi is his best friend and he feels as though he deserves to know.
But would Edith be upset if he told him? She seems to be starting to accept him as he is now, and he would hate to ruin that by breaking her trust. But would this amount to that level of betrayal?
As if summoned by being the topic of conversation, he's pulled out of his thoughts by Edith's voice appearing from the entrance to the kitchen.
Colin and Malachi both turn and look at her approaching Reela.
"Hey, Reela, um... Nisha is looking for you and Regan for some reason," she says to the girl and Reela lifts her head from Romeow and Toya to look up at her.
"But Toya is about to declare civil war on her mortal enemy, Romeow!" she whines.
Edith chuckles and ruffles her hair. "Well, Romeow is akin to Regan's court. Maybe before Toya can declare war, a trial must be held with Regan. But to do that, you've gotta go find him and see what Nisha wants, okay?"
Reela nods and gets up, lifting Toya into her arms. "Okay! Toya, let's go wage a war!" she exclaims and sprints out of the room with Romeow chasing after her.
Edith sighs with a content smile. "I love kids," she says and turns around to face Colin and Malachi as well as look over the work they've done on the kitchen. "Damn, not bad. Can't believe we're actually managing to make this place feel comfortable."
Colin smiles as well and walks over to her, gently rubbing her shoulder. "How're you feeling, doll?"
"I feel fine. Better than I have been now that we actually have something to do. And besides, Cree's doing most of the heavy lifting. So I'd say I'm doing pretty good," she says pridefully. "How about you?"
"I'm doing fine as well... I'm just catching up with Malachi a bit more," he says.
Malachi waves at Edith with a wink. "Hey, Edith."
She glances over at him and winks back. "Hey, Malachi," she giggles.
Colin clears his throat and steps slightly to the side to block Malachi from her view, bringing her attention back onto him.
"Doll. I was just wondering... Would you be okay with it if I told him about..." his eyes dart to her stomach, then back to her eyes. "You know."
Edith also glances down and she puts her hand on her stomach before looking up at him again and nodding. "I don't mind. He's your best friend. I'm planning on telling Cree and Regan here soon, anyway. So don't worry too much about keeping it secret," she says with a smile.
He returns it and nods as well, then planting a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Thanks, doll," he says and looks back towards the door. "Any clue on what Nisha wants with Regan and Reela?"
"No idea. She just asked me to find them and send them her way."
"Interesting. Anyway, we should get back to work. I'm sure Tyrell is lamenting in your absence as we speak," Colin chuckles and steps back from her.
Edith laughs and nods before hurrying back to the room she's been working on repairing with Cree upstairs.
Colin turns back towards Malachi and gets back to fixing the wall.
"You were saying?" Malachi eggs him on with a grin. "What about your complicated relationship with that complicated woman?"
Colin bites his lip and takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the strange feeling that goes hand in hand with the thought alone.
"She's..." he chuckles nervously. "...She's pregnant with... my child."
Now it's Malachi's turn to hit his own hand with his hammer, only he can feel it and he grunts before dropping the tool and turning to face the SRL.
"Pregnant?" he laughs and shakes his head, looking Colin over. "Damn, even after all these years, you still know how to get it on."
Colin jumps back and covers his mouth while also glaring at his best friend. "Malachi!" he barks, which just gets the old man to laugh.
"Couldn't help it, my bad. But really though... That's... Wow," Malachi shudders. "Somehow, out of everything I could've guessed held you up all this time, the thought of you being a father never occurred to me. I mean, you're definitely more fitting for that kinda role than I'll ever be, but still."
"What do you mean? I think you'd do great as a father, Malachi," Colin says.
Malachi laughs and picks his hammer back up to resume working on the wall. "You're a shitty liar. Colin, I'm an alcoholic, stone cold asshole with an affinity for cursing," he snickers.
"Well, that Naomi girl seems to look up to you quite a bit," Colin points out. "She's an orphan, isn't she? Like you?"
Malachi chuckles and shakes his head. "She is. And she's annoying, but that's to be expected from a teenager. But, well, I guess she does kinda grow on you. Slowly."
"Give yourself some credit. I'm not saying you have to act like her dad, I'm just saying that maybe realizing and accepting the role you probably fill for her will help you out, too. If she looks up to you, then maybe just try being someone she would admire in a parental way. For an orphan, that kind of appraisal means a lot. You would know," Colin smiles and nudges his shoulder.
Malachi shrugs as he keeps working, but that thought sits in his brain far longer than he expected it to. When he was younger, he always just looked up to Colin. But that's because he was his best friend. After his parents died, he didn't have anyone older than him to view in a parental sense. Maybe this is why he made as many poor choices as he did. And maybe being that figure in someone else's life can change that for not only himself, but for Naomi.
Just a thought.