The ship had just launched, and already you were sentenced to dish duty below deck in the galley. Silver was preparing for dinner, and he told you that the plates hadn’t been washed since the last journey this ship had taken, so they needed to be cleaned. You were a little upset that you would have to clean plates, see them get dirtied up, then clean them again, but Silver was adamant that it needed doing.
As much as your job sucked, it was better than Demy and Jim’s jobs. Demyx was up scrubbing the deck on his hands and knees with a little scrub brush and a soapy bucket, and Jim was off polishing the metal rigs in the shrouds and then he was supposed to sandpaper the railing.
You had been at it for hours, listening to Silver sing and whistle, while Morph ‘helped’ you scrub by turning into a rag and wiping them off when you were done...only he wasn’t very good at doing it by himself, so you either had to hold the plate while he ran around it, or you would risk him dropping and breaking it if he did it by himself, but you appreciated the help, nonetheless.
Finally, Silver let you have a break and said you could go up to the top deck for some air. You had only just gotten to the top step when you saw Jim pinned to the mast by the large spider like red alien. There was a crowed around them, like kids at a school fight.
“What’s going on?” You asked Zack, who was setting down a rather large looking crate a few feet away.
“That Jim kid just picked a fight with the wrong guy.” He responded,
“Well, we have to do something.” You began to walk away, but Zack grabbed you by the shoulder, “Like what? You’re just going to get yourself—” You slipped Zack’s grasp and ran over to the spider. “Into trouble…” He finished with a sigh as you demanded the spider let go of Jim.
“Lookssss like the cabin vermin ssssssticksss toghther.” He hissed at you, dropping Jim and grabbing you with his claw by the front of your shirt.
“Funny, I'm being called vermin by an insect!” You shot back, trying to grab at his claw to keep your shirt from ripping. He slammed you into the mast, and brought one of his claws up to your throat, “Any lassst wordssss, cabin girl? He sneered.
You were about to say something when Zack yelled out, “≈≈≈≈! You shut your big mouth!” He knew you too well, as you were about to insult the lobster-spider. You struggled to find a foot hold to try to get away, when Sliver grabbed his free claw.
“Mr. Scroop,” He began, biting into a perp, “You ever see what happens to a fresh perp,” His grip tightened around Scroop’s arm, “when you squeeze, real hard?” And his mechanical arm clamped down on Scroop’s arm, making him cry out in pain and drop you, holding his sore claw. You hit the hard deck, landing on your knees. Scroop looked like he was about to bite Silver’s head off, when Mr. Arrow, and his assistant, Reno walked over.
“What’s all this then?” Arrow asked, and the men all lined up while Arrow paced by them. Reno dashed over to you, still on your knees. ”You okay?” he asked, pulling you up.
“Sure.” You responded, watching as Arrow spoke to the men.
“You know the rules, there will be no brawling on this ship. Any further offenders will be confined t—“ “Confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage!” Reno finished, earning a sigh from Arrow, but Reno just gave him a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.
“Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?” Arrow turned back to the spider alien.
“Transparently.” Scroop hissed, but he backed off nonetheless.
“≈≈≈≈, don’t let these slimeballs push you around.” Reno nudged you.
“It’s a little late for that.” You mumbled, and everyone began to clear out of the area.
“Well done Mr. Arrow, sir. A tight ship’s a happy ship.” Then he turned to Jim, “Jimbo! I gave you a job to do.”
“Hey, I was doing it until that bug thing—“
“Belay that! Now I want this deck swabbed spotless, and heaven help ya if I come back and it’s not done. Morph? Keep an eye on this pup, let me know if there be anymore distractions.” Silver said, walking back to the galley, and Morph flew over to Jim and began scolding him.
“≈≈≈≈≈! Get yer frilly head down here and help me with the cookin’.” Silver called, and you tentatively followed, “...but I can't cook…”
As you got to the bottom of the galley’s stairs, he stopped you, “Eh actually lass, couldja go on down to the supply room and pick me up a lunar roller?”
“Well, okay.” You said, turning around to go back up the steps, “Not that I know what that is…” You mumbled, then you turned back to go ask Silver what a lunar roller was, when a short little hear of an alien yelled “Piss off!” at you, and there was a murmer from the aliens around you in the galley.
"Are you deaf?" It yelled at you.
“I will stomp you, you little—”
“≈≈≈≈, do I have to throw you in the brig?” Reno asked, and you rolled your eyes as you headed to the supply room. “That thing started it.”
~~~~~~~~~
You fiddled around in the storage room until you gave up, grabbed the first round thin you could and headed back to galley, that was now completely empty aside from Silver.
“Ahh, ≈≈≈≈, where’ve ya been girl?” He asked, not looking up form his work.
“I was getting your thing.” You said, laying down the carrot like vegetable you grabbed.
“Oh? What in the world did I ask ye to get this for?”
“You didn’t say.”
“Oh, oh well then. Could you give me a hand here?”
You sat on the counter beside him. “Sure, if I can. What’s cooking?”
“Some simple soups, now, dash over and grab me some plates.” You sighed and set off for the dishes you washed earlier, and placed them on the tables throughout the galley, arranging them with the fork to the left, and the knife to the right, and the spoon above the plate.
“You do realize you’re seavrin’ space-hardy men, ey lass?“ Silver mocked you as you set up.
“Shut up~.” You sang, dropping the napkins into place as Silver rang the dinner bell, bellowing that it was time to eat. You walked up the stairs, hoping to see your friends, when a flood of aliens rushed in, and you were almost taken out by Sora as he charged in, and Zack snatched you up form behind as you tumbled down the steps.
“Don’t worry, no one saw that.” Roxas reassured you, and Riku tired to hold back his laughter. You brushed them off and grabbed a bowl of soup, sitting between Demyx and Riku, with Sora and Roxas across from you.
“So, how have your day’s been?” You asked everyone.
“Terrible.”
“Sucky.”
“Bad….just…bad.”
“Do you have to ask?” came their answers.
“Oh come on, guys. It’s not so bad. It’s kind of fun being on an old fashioned ship.” You tried to cheer them up.
“Your as bad as Sora.” Riku sighed, nudging you.
There was a commotion at the galley entrance and you all turned to look as Reno descended the steps.
“Make way, make way, the mythical, magical Axel fairy has come to eat, passer by-ers be warned.
“Hey.” You waved to him and he walked over.
“Well someone’s having a good day.”
“Of course she is…she hasn’t been scrapping crap off the bottom of a ship all day.” Sora said sipping his soup with a sour expression.
“Well, it looks like Sora is finally in a bad mood.” Deidara laughed from the stairs.
“Move it Deidei.” Axel pushed past him, and you gasped as you caught sight of him. He was cranky and there were large blots of dark coal stains on his shirt and arms, where his sleeve were pushed up past his elbows, and he was covered, head to toe, in back dust.
“Axel!” You rushed over to him, taking the cloth out of the apron Silver made you wear and you began to wipe his hands off. You were about to get his face when he grabbed your hand to stop you, in no mood for this.
“Whheeeewww~~~, I’m starving!” Gippal sang out as he jumped down the stairs, and you nearly screamed at him.
He had grease dripping from his clothes, and there were black oil stains everywhere, and when he pulled the goggles off his face, there was a distinct difference between the skin around his eyes and the rest of him. You let go of Axel and charged Gippal.
“Get over here!” You commanded, and he sighed as he saw the cloth in your hand.
“I don’t mind, I can eat like this.” He assured you, but you jammed the cloth in his face, wiping the sludge away furiously.
“I have to clean this place up. If you make a mess, I have to clean it.”
“Well then I really don’t mind dripping all over the place.” He joked.
“Let me rephrase, you make a mess, and I’ll kill you before you get up the stairs.” You threatened as you wiped at his arms.
“Hey, look! Sora just spilled his soup!” he pointed over you shoulder, and you turned to look, and Gippal took his hand back and began to walk away.
“No he did—hey! Get back here!” You took off after him, scrubbing at his fingers as he sat down.
“≈≈≈≈≈, please, I’m so hungry.”
You sighed, “Fine, but don’t touch anything.” You snapped him in the arm with the cloth and sat down. With the sound of a bowl cracking, you stood up, looking around for the source.
“I’m going to kill myself…” Axel sighed, the contents of the soup dripping into his lap. You sighed, replacing the broken bowl with a fresh bowl and handing him a clean rag to get the soup off him.
“It’s okay, you’ll be fine.” You said wiping up what spilled on the table.
“…thank you…” He mumbled, taking a sip of his new soup. You made Zack scoot over so you could sit by Axel.
“Was it that bad?”
“I’m stuck under the deck for every hour of the day, with no fresh air, and it is hot, and it smells like sweaty gym socks and coal. It’s about as bad as it gets.”
“Least you don’t have to do any heavy lifting. I am so sore.” Zack fussed.
“What’s so bad about that?” Axel scoffed.
“Carrying 200 pound boxes from one deck to the next, going up and down stairs and trying to fit 4 foot boxed into 2 foot spaces.”
“You both have it easy, I am in a toxic room with steaming hot pipes everywhere, nuts and bolts flying from every which way, steam spitting out at me, grease drenching me, burning gasses, and turned the sticky valve. Everything else would be fine, if the engine cooling valve wasn’t sticky.” Gippal sighed. You and Reno looked at each other. He just had to follow Arrow around all day, and you mostly just had to do dishes and clean.
“At least you get to do something! I just have to stand up there all day, twiddling my thumbs. At least you guys get to help out around the ship.” Roxas said.
“Help out the ship? I scrape freaking barnacles from the bottom of the ship!” Sora fussed.
“I have to stub up the mess everyone leaves behind, that’s not fun either!” Demyx complained.
“I sit in a room with cannon balls. I think I hear them…talking to each other…” Deidara said, in a delusional state of hunger.
“I have to clean things…and dishes…” You said, and they all glared at you, and you pointed at Reno. “He just follows Arrow around!”
Reno gave you a death glare and Axel laughed.
“Well, would you look at that, a smile.” Zack joked.
“Are you feeling better?” You asked Axel.
“Yeah, I just need more food.”
You got up and got everyone another round of soup, then waited until they all ate their fill.
Then Silver had you put to work, doing the dishes once again.
Ending it like we started it. With the dishes.