Valentine's Day (Arrogant Cloud Crew)

[Gonna be a crowded topic, so do your best.]

The Arrogant Cloud.

An airship unique. One of a kind. Unique by crew. By creed. By design. Every last piece of the Cloud was of itself. And that made it special. Something to be treasured and cherished.

And that is what Gavin Muldoon did, each and every day.
Thoughts of an old man, he figured. The years were making him nostalgic and...maybe a bit wussy? But he wouldn't change it. It was how he felt, how he lived, and never once did he apologize for who he was. Besides, a bit of age, a bit of wisdom, a bit of nostalgia was good in a crew. Kept the youngsters from being too reckless. At least, that was his intent.

At 47, Gavin was easily the senior on the ship, and by some men's standards hardly old at all. But being locked aboard a levitating vessel with so much youth made it easy for his growing years to pale in comparison. But it was only by number did anyone ever really make any accusations of being decrepit. He hardly looked his age. A tall man at 6'3, long black hair that fell to the base of his neck and obsidian eyes sharper than the edge of a rapier blade. Muscle still clung to his frame, though he was finding that he was having to work harder and harder each day to keep it there...and the black hair was beginning to lighten with silver, as was his beard. And more lines seemed to take permanent fixture on his face.

Age was starting to catch up with him.

It was only because their newest charge, Charlotte Valentine, was so young, that he was thinking thoughts of age. It was her very first day aboard the ship, and at thirteen with most of her life still ahead of her it was difficult for him to feel anything but old. She was a lovely little thing...she would be beautiful someday, most assuredly. He'd have to make sure to teach her to swing a sword, shoot a gun, and punch a man in the jaw before that happened.

..he might have to teach her all of that before she met Romeo...

She was standing on the lower aft platform, leaning against the rail and looking at the rolling hills below scooting placidly by. She held her arms with her hands, trying to bite back the shiver...her sleeveless shirt was not a good plan. They'd have to get her a proper outfit that included a coat. And the aforementioned sword and gun.

"First time?"

Charlotte spun around, her heart racing. Shoot! She had been standing there gazing at the ground, completely lost in the majesty of it all! And now she had been caught shirking off by the First Mate on her first day! This wasn't going to go well! She needed this job, this position...

"A-aye sir! I've...I've never been on an airship." She wasn't quite sure what to do with her hands, so she kept them crossed across her chest, holding her upper-arms. It seemed...impolite, but the chill was too much. Gavin raised an eyebrow, grinning.

"Come now lass, no need to be so formal. Just Gavin. Some of them call me Muldoon. Either is fine."

"Uh...a-aye, Gavin!"

The older man laughed, his dark blue coat rumpling in the air as he extended a hand to clasp down on her tiny shoulder. He used the hand to pull her towards him, away from the rail, then pointed her at the metal door that led to the interior. "Come on now, it's too cold for that sort of wear and to be gazin' at the ground."

"I'm sorry, Gavin! I won't waste time like that again." She spat out as fast as she could. Gavin's mouth was already open to continue speaking, but it simply widened into a laugh.

"Ah, now if only we could get Romeo to have that sort of enthusiasm. Don't worry about it lass, it's your first day, no need to work you to the bone. Besides you need to get your air-legs about you. We should get you acquainted with the crew."

The door scraped open, squealing in protest as it did, and he guided her inside. The frame of the Cloud was metal, and for a good reason: Abby's method of levitation required it. But the interior was still made of wood. Warm, cozy wood that made life in the air somewhat more tolerable than living within a metallic cage, like some of the Principality ships. Their feet made repetitive thuds as they climbed to the first transitional deck. Crag was working silently, tying down crates to the deck. Charlotte had already met him; he was present when the captain had invited her aboard the ship. They continued up a second flight of stairs onto the next deck, one of the largest.

"Oy, Aiden! Take a break from scrubbin' and get over here. This is the new lass...finally you'll have someone to order around, eh lad?"

Charlotte gulped as the blonde boy who had been scrubbing the deck on his hands and knees looked up.

"H-h-h-hi! I'm...I'm..." He was so handsome! So perfectly handsome and impossibly delicate and fantastically beautiful! Her heart was beating uncontrollably...wait! Remember your name you idiot! Say it!

"Charlotte. Charlotte Valentine."

When Aiden Johnson had signed up for a job as a crewman on the Arrogant Cloud not more than a week or two ago, he'd been expecting some... adventure. Excitement.

Not all this cleaning.

Aiden exhaled slowly and glanced skyward, sitting up to stretch out his tired arms for a moment. He'd been scrubbing this deck for what seemed like forever. "Scrub 'til she shines" was what Aiden had been told, and Aiden was beginning to wonder if he'd taken those instructions a bit too seriously. The deck was nowhere near the point of 'shining', and didn't look like it would be for quite some time. It wouldn't have been quite so difficult a task if Aiden wasn't performing it all by himself, but as the newest member of the Cloud's crew, Aiden seemed to be the one that ended up with the the dull, menial tasks that nobody else wanted. And then there were the members of the crew that actually seemed to enjoy giving Aiden all the boring jobs.

Namely, an annoying older boy by the name of Romeo.

Well, Aiden could say the other guy was annoying, but the truth was, Aiden was a little jealous. Romeo thought he was so cool, ordering Aiden around like he did... Aiden wished he had that kind of authority. Not to mention that confidence. Especially when it came to girls. Abby, the engineer on board the Cloud, for example. Aiden still hadn't managed to squeeze out much more than a nervously stuttered word or two when talking to her, but Romeo seemed to have had no problem openly flirting with her, or any other female he found attractive.

Although, maybe Abby wasn't the best example. She was the engineer after all, and Aiden doubted he'd be trying to flirt with her anytime soon. After all, the idea of getting smacked upside the head with a monkey wrench was pretty painful one.

Still, it was a little depressing. In all Aiden's fifteen years, he'd never so much as had one girlfriend... He was just a lowly crewman on an airship at the moment after all. But all that was going to change! A slight smile began to tug at the corners of his mouth and Aiden grabbed the rag again, bending over to continue cleaning where he'd left off. As long as he kept working hard like this, he'd move up in the ranks. Eventually... And he would beat that Romeo! One day, Aiden would be the one bossing Romeo around. He'd move up in the ranks! He'd have all the girls he wanted!

...First, though, he needed to scrub this deck.

Luckily he had those optimistic plans for the future of his still fresh in his mind. After all, they were the only thing keeping Aiden feeling like a proud member of the crew of an airship, and not just somebody's maid.

And that future was going to begin today. Aiden had been told earlier that morning that there was a new crewman coming to work on the ship later today. 'Finally', had been Aiden's overjoyed reaction. Finally he wouldn't be the only one always getting told what to do. He was actually going to outrank someone for once! He'd be able to boss the new crewman around as much as he wanted. Well... if he wanted. Aiden somehow doubted he'd actually use his new power, at least, not like Romeo did. After all, he knew what it was like to be treated like that. But it still made Aiden feel better just to have power over someone else, for once.

"Oy, Aiden!"

Aiden looked up. It was Gavin! Right on time. Just as Aiden had been thinking about the new crewman, here he was...

...wait a second.

"Take a break from scrubbin' and get over here. This is the new lass...finally you'll have someone to order around, eh lad?"

...Lass?

The new crewman was a girl? Great, now he really couldn't order her around. Aiden wasn't about to order a GIRL around, of all people!

Aiden got to his feet as the new girl came into view and introduced herself. She met his eyes and he immediately blushed and looked away, suddenly nervous.

"...H-hey. I'm Aiden. Aiden Johnson."

She was... actually kinda cute! Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Provided he didn't make a complete fool out of himself trying to talk to her.

...And provided Romeo didn't steal her away before Aiden even had the chance.

Not many ships could fly. Something like the Cloud was such a rare occurrence. Little children down on the surface of the planet would look up at it and wish that they too could be on the that ship, flying away. In some aspects, Romeo sure was a lucky guy. But that was exactly his problem; not many ships could fly.

The lack of traffic in the sky meant that it was completely unlikely for them to get attacked on this particular day. And that put Romeo, the Gunnery, out of his official duty. Now, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if the Captain didn’t think he still had to do his work. Seriously, when Romeo had been given the position those few years ago, he’d thought that the only work he’d ever have to do was blow things up. It was like a dream come true. Unfortunately, he’d thought wrong.

Being complete neat-freaks, some of the few people who outranked Romeo, the Captain and First Mate, seemed to think that it was necessary for him to be doing work at all times. Well, Romeo begged to differ. Why did he need to do work when there were the crewmen? He’d just sit around, pretending to scrub the floor, while the youngster by the name of Aiden actually did all the work. It was pretty simple, because he outranked the kid, who for that reason couldn’t complain, but crouching over with a wet cloth in one hand and a tank of soapy water in the other still wasn’t good for the sex appeal.

Sex appeal. One of those things that Romeo perhaps had, yet lacked the knowledge on using it. At eighteen years of age, he was by no means one of the older inhabitants of the ship, but having been with this crew since his birth made him pretty well known. Tall for his age, he’d look like an intimidating superior if he didn’t make sure that all of his clothes seemed to fit him skin tight. He had his reasons though; his main reason for remaining on this ship was to entice the women of it. All of those hotties who walked around, hair whipping in the wind as they stood on the deck. The women on this ship just seemed to be so pretty. Prettier than the ones down on land. Well, not all of them. Some women, like Abby the engineer, weren’t exactly his cup of tea, but others were pretty damn fine.

The familiar growling voice signalled to Romeo that the First Mate had returned. OK; time to fake scrubbing the floor again. He shot a look at Aiden, telling him to get a move on too and went on to pretend that he was doing his work too as the Firs t Man climbed onto the deck. As he was scrubbing the floor of the deck, or at least, trying to look like he was, Romeo didn’t notice that Old Muldoon wasn’t alone until he actually said anything.

"Oy, Aiden! Take a break from scrubbin' and get over here. This is the new lass...finally you'll have someone to order around, eh lad?"


Lass.

That was the first word that caught Romeo’s ears. Lass? A lady? For a second or two, Romeo was filled with rare excitement as he looked up to see the brand new arrival. The excitement faded quite as suddenly as he found his new comrade to be a mere girl.

Damnit. No boobs. Booorrrrrring.

With the thud of the soapy water tank, Aiden dropped what he was doing and ran off to greet the new arrival, leaving Romeo alone to continue the menial task. He heard the girl introduce herself as Charlotte Valentine, and struggled to suppress a laugh as he saw Aiden attempt, and fail, at introducing himself without stuttering. Looking up, he saw the two of them staring at each other, and noticed there couldn’t be too much of a difference with age. Then it hit him.

Boobs or no boobs, this girl would have her uses.

Dropping his cleaning materials too, Romeo stood up and made his way towards where Aiden and Charlotte were standing, making sure to make an impression.

“Heya, Charlotte, was it?” he said, pushing past Aiden and holding a hand out to the new girl, “You can call me Romeo… you’d be a crewgirl, eh? I’m be the gunnery of this joint. If you didn’t know, I’m the person who shoots stuff with canons and all that jazz…” he made his hand into the shape of a gun and mimicked shooting invisible bullets, “As for you, I think you’re one of those cleaner peoples, right? Oh! That’s brilliant! Now we have somebody who actually should be cleaning. I know, hey Charlotte, why don’t you go and take my place and finish cleaning up this deck? I’m awfully tired,”

He smirked at her before turning back to Aiden, who for some reason, didn’t look happy in the least. How funny. There was actually a chick his own age here now, shouldn’t he have been happy? Ah, whatever.

“You go help her squirt. Go on, you still have to finish cleaning up too,”


He turned back to Charlotte and gave her one of his trademark winks. Those things always won the ladies, regardless of age, over. With that, he turned on the two of them and stifled a yawn.

“…Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a siesta,”

BOOF…

The sound of some sort of small explosion echoed through the hallway. “Damnit…DAMNIT DAMNIT!” The voice bearing Christoph’s uniquely foreign accent rang through all the decks. That could only mean one thing; he was experimenting in the kitchen again. It was a sound all the more common these days as he had not only been on the search for new, fantastical dishes but also assisting Abby in installing and calibrating the aeroponic bay.

The crafty and intelligent man that served as the clouds cook for more then a few years, Christoph, was something of an anomaly to everyone that came across him. He had seen crew come and go, served in a few fights but had never once shown any sort of talent beyond the bare necessities needed to stay alive and overall he could be seen as quite useless when in came to a fight. That wasn’t why the man with the strange foreign accent hung around though; the captain had kept him for his intelligence and foresight for invention. The man had a certain knack with those kinds of things and ever brought a touch of day to day magic into the crews life. There were also the gourmet meals.

“Damnit textures!” a sound of a utensil whizzing through the air and striking the wall soon followed. “Damnit PH levels!” another object whizzed across and hit a different wall, big and large, it could have been a lid of some sort. “AND DAMN YOU, YOU THERMOCOMBUSTIVE MEAT! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!” A larger bang then the other two times followed and it was no doubt the sound of a pot filled with something hitting a wall and spilling of the floor.

A pause announced the presence of a man walking down the hallway. He was average height, a bit skinny but not enough to be called gaunt or weak and he was picking what looked like liquid meat out of his hair and whipping the same substance from his shaded glasses. The collar on his drab brown jacket extended up past his mouth and he had just finished wrapping a red scarf around his neck when he took his first step past Romeo.

“Romeo. Aiden. Mess. Kitchen.” Obvious as the four simple words were with and the ranting and the temper tantrum, the meaning that this was an order to go clean a “real” mess up was even more obvious. This was just how Christoph operated and everyone went with it. He was a nice guy after all but just a little…eccentric. “I’m going out to think.” That was known Christoph speak for him wanting his workplace cleaned and wanting nothing to do with it until it was.

Christoph stopped and peeled his gold rimmed glasses off his face when he saw the new face. Yet another one to add to memory and he might as well salvage the first impression. His back straightened from his hunched over depression and he was now quite surprisingly almost as tall as Muldoon. “Hello new one.” His lips stretched into a weak smile and he reached out a hand in greeting. Christoph quickly pulled it back though, noticing a few pieces of stray meat concoction on and between his fingers. He licked the rather unappetizing substance from his hand and instead walked past, patting the new girl on the head with the cleaner other hand.

Christoph took a few steps by the gathered group only to pause again. “Oh yeah, Gav. Can you tell the Captain I need some more copper piping and have Abby look at the temperature regulator on the stove? I think the thing is three degrees off.”

From all around the ship music could suddenly be heard, and it was getting closer to Charlotte and her companions. The song kept playing, getting faster and faster as it got closer until it was revealed to be being played by a freakishly tall man with a violin and a big smile on his face like he was enjoying it fully. The man was quite odd, he stood about 8'8'' in hight but he looked to nothing but skin and bones, aside from his hight the most predominate feature was his huge afro like a lions mane and the silly top hat just barely keeping it's balance on the top of the afro. The tall man was wearing a completely black suit with a blue bow on his chest, a monocle just bellow the big scar on his forehead, over his right eye and a dark blue cane hanging from his pocket so he had his hands free for playing his violin.

"Oy Brook stop playing that things and come help out...good for nothing freak..."

One of the crew man shouts to the tall skeleton like man while he was mopping the floors inside something that looked like a storage room not far from the new girl and her current companions.

"Yohohohohohohohohohohohohohohoh!"

The man laughs with his smile bigger then ever and stops playing, gracefully turning around to face the inside of the storage room, he then quickly makes a kind bow as the thanking the audience for cheering him, which no one did but he didn't care and lifts his head showing the same kind smile that will never leave him

"Yohohohohoh! My apologies but I heard there was a new lady on board of the ship, I need to make sure Romeo and Christoph don't lead her...in the wrong paths..."

He says and starts walking towards Charlotte. As he passes by the two crewman inside the room take a step outside of the room and look not at Brook but at Charlotte. One of them gives a little tap on the shoulder of the other and whispers in his ear.

"Oy, oy...think he'll say it?"

"Of course not, she's just a kid...at least I...think not..."

"I bet 5 gold coins that he says it..."

"...fine...your on..."

The two say shacking hands while Brook reached the new crew member. The freakishly tall man gets down on his knee and still bends his back forward so as to sort of reach her hight, the same smile on his face while his right hand crosses his abdomen as if he was making a bow.

"Yohohohohoho...young lady...welcome to our glorious ship...would you like me to play a song for you? Any song, I know them all, I can play them all...but first."

"Oh here it comes..."

"Oh crap..he's gonna say it..."

"Told ya..."

"Would you mind showing me your panties?"

Brook's face didn't change, he just kept the same kind smile. The other crewman just busted into laugher and tears as they walked back into the room, it was quite normal for Brook, every girl he meets, young or old, ugly or beautiful he always asks the same thing, with the same kind and innocent smile.

[Changing Charlotte's color]

A, pandemonium and chaos. Such was the average day aboard the Cloud when there was nothing to do. Gavin Muldoon had long learned that an idle crew was an unhappy crew. They might audibly suggest otherwise, but when it came down to it boredom was far worse than any day of hard labor. What the crew needed was a job. And fast.

First thing was first though...

"Oy, you lazy-arsed Don Juan!" The collected demeanor of the first-mate vanished as he furrowed his deep brows to look at Romeo. "I have half-a-mind to toss you off this ship! Again! And keep you there this time, captain or not! That idiot-savant aim of yours can only save your arse so many times before even the captain'll get sick of it. Now I told you to make sure all the starboard cannons were prepared for a firing test and when I went by there this mornin' were they ready? Of course they weren't! Get it together Veralaquez! If you're gonna make poor Aiden do your scrubbin' the least you can do is tend to your gunnery duties."

He spun around and glowered down at the innocent Aiden. "And you lad! When the captain said to scrub the deck until it shined he didn't mean it literally! Don't just follow orders, think about their purpose. A loyal man obeys orders blindly, but a smart man thinks about who's givin' them and why. Loyal men are honorable but smart men live, got it?"

Odd advice and Gavin knew it. But Aiden did need to learn to start taking things into his own hands. Romeo might've been lazy, but he at least knew who he was. A slimey, irritating man he was, but a man nonetheless.

He was going to continue with his tirade when Christoph swept through, his own tirade coming to a brief conclusion when he entered the deck, ordering the two lads to go clean up his mess while he licked away some...thing. Gavin found it was a better practice not to inquire further than what he saw of Christoph's concoctions, whether they be chemical or culinary. He then gave Chralotte a pat, and whisked off to the lower decks, no doubt to stare into the horizon. Again.

"That there is Christoph. Cook and chemist...sometimes a bit of a medical man. Eccentric bloke, but he's been a loyal man for many a year with the Cloud...just don't go trusting your life to him, the mate once lost a fist fight to a mouse." He hadn't, but it was a good tall-tale. Sky-Legends, Gavin liked to call them. "Well you heard 'em mates. Aiden, Romeo, get to the kitchen and clean it spotless. You know better than to get on Christoph's bad side...unless of course you want to re-live last year's birthday party for the twins, Romeo?"

Charlotte was dizzy trying to keep up with it all...especially since she kept becoming distracted with the showery blonde locks of the timid Aiden. They had made eye contact once, but he pulled his gaze away abruptly, something that made Charlotte's heart sink. Was she that ugly? Maybe she was too young...she still had the body of a little girl, a tiny maiden, and she knew it. Maybe he was only in to older women...or maybe he already had a girlfriend?

"Come on lass...we best go-"

His sentence was cut off as the massive violinst strut onto the scene. He was sickly, almost a skeleton. The emaciated spectre loped gracefully across the deck, speaking of songs...

Charlotte blushed brightly, her eyes wide in complete shock. Gavin snarled, grasping the violinist by the front of his coat.

"You sick little prick! One more lecherous comment to Charlie here and I'll toss you overboard myself! As for you two!" He growled, looking at the two men who had egged Brook on, "I'm dumping you at the next stop. Lazy good for nothings is what you two are, causing more trouble than being of any help...and don't think that we didn't catch you stealing food. That Christoph's got an almost obsessive penchant for inventory."

He shoved Brook away and the color was draining from Charlotte's face. Charlie...? Well, that was certainly an interesting approach to her name...not one she had thought of herself. It was kinda...cute.

"Come on lass, let's go see Abby...she's not gonna be happy. She and Christoph have been feuding about that temperature gauge for three months now, and I don't think she's gonna suddenly change her mind about it."

"Oy, you lazy-arsed Don Juan! I have half-a-mind to toss you off this ship! Again! And keep you there this time, captain or not! That idiot-savant aim of yours can only save your arse so many times before even the captain'll get sick of it. Now I told you to make sure all the starboard cannons were prepared for a firing test and when I went by there this mornin' were they ready? Of course they weren't! Get it together Veralaquez! If you're gonna make poor Aiden do your scrubbin' the least you can do is tend to your gunnery duties."

Romeo had barely taken a few steps towards the bench where he had planned to sleep off the next few hours when he heard the familiar growl for what seemed like the millionth time in his life. Such overused words; they just seemed to pass through Romeo's head these days, he didn't know, nor really care for their meaning. Who needed all that threatening when you've got excuses.

"Uh-huh," he responded half-heartedly, not even bothering to turn around and look at his superior, "Like I told the Captain, one of them canons is like stuck. The ball is like, jammed inside it or something. Last time I checked, I just fire the canons. Not fix them. Cap'ain told me to get down here and scrub the deck instead. Oh, and I was meant to get Abby to look at the Canon... but disturbing her when she doesn't want it usually results in a wrench to the head, and I ain't the kind o' guy to go looking for trouble,"

Stretching and yawning again, Romeo left the first mate to yell at Aiden instead and made towards the bench where he lounged himself down, listening to the bliss that was others getting lectured.

"And you lad! When the captain said to scrub the deck until it shined he didn't mean it literally! Don't just follow orders, think about their purpose. A loyal man obeys orders blindly, but a smart man thinks about who's givin' them and why. Loyal men are honorable but smart men live, got it?"

Well, that made very little sense, but whatever. Romeo closed his eyes, raising a hand to block out the annoying rays of light. He had barely even passed into slumberland before loud annoying noises woke him up. And these loud annoying voices weren't the First Man's voice, either.

“Damnit textures!”

“Damnit PH levels!”

“AND DAMN YOU, YOU THERMOCOMBUSTIVE MEAT! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Christoph was the weird cook guy that Romeo usually avoided because he was well, weird. Always trying out silly experiments for no apparent reason that almost always resulted in a mess. And whenever anybody in this ship seemed to make a mess, the person who had to clean it up was always...


“Romeo. Aiden. Mess. Kitchen.”


Romeo sat up on his bench, his face quite revolted as he looked at the Cook. Okay, sure the First Mate could boss him around, but the Cook? What the...? Romeo was responsible for all that important stuff, like canons and explosions. Whereas the cook... cooked stuff! Romeo was pretty sure that he outranked this guy. And besides, cleaning the kitchen was a crewman's job. Not the Noble Gunnery's work.

"Yeah well, that's not my place if you haven't realized, so Aiden can go ahead and I'll just-"

"Well you heard 'em mates. Aiden, Romeo, get to the kitchen and clean it spotless. You know better than to get on Christoph's bad side...unless of course you want to re-live last year's birthday party for the twins, Romeo?"
...

The twins.

Olivia and Maria. The Pilot and Navigator. The two most beautiful women on board the whole ship. They were one of the few reasons Romeo actually stayed on this ship instead of going some place else. Oh, how he loved them so much. And he was going to make them love him. And to do that, he needed to ensure that their birthday party was not messed up again. Of course, he could ensure that without personally having to do any work...

Sweeping himself off the bench, Romeo strode briskly towards where everybody else was crowded around Charlotte Valentine. He noticed Brook, the strange old musician enter the room, but pretty much ignored him. He had hearts to win, after all!

"You heard him Aiden," he called the small boy, more enthusiasm in his voice than there had been all day, "We've got the kitchen to clean, so come on..."

"Would you mind showing me your panties?"

...

Romeo couldn't keep himself from laughing. Not at Brook. That guy was a creepy old pervert anyway, Romeo was used to it. Not at Charlotte, either. If you're a young girl who comes onto a ship full of men, you're bound to get that sort of thing anyway. But at Aiden. The little squirt was just standing there and blushing like an idiot when the girl he so obviously loved was getting pryed on by a desperate pedophile. Roaring with laughter, Romeo swiftly grabbed Aiden by the collar and began to drag him off as Old Muldoon launched his tirade at Brook.

"You sick little prick! One more lecherous comment to Charlie here and I'll toss you overboard myself! As for you two! I'm dumping you at the next stop. Lazy good for nothings is what you two are, causing more trouble than being of any help...and don't think that we didn't catch you stealing food. That Christoph's got an almost obsessive penchant for inventory."

Still laughing, Romeo entered the next room and shut the door behind him, keeping his firm grip of the flailing Aiden's collar.


"You sure are pathetic!" he said, the humor still in his voice, "The chick you dig is being attacked like that and you just stand there like a girl... so pathetic!"


He came to a halt at the kitchen door and opened it, throwing Aiden into the kitchen. He looked around at the mess around him before turning back to Aiden, grinning broadly.

"Anyway. Here's the kitchen. Cleaning stuff's in that cupboard. Go on. Clean!"

He watched Aiden pick himself off the floor before striding over and heaving himself onto a nearby counter, where he lounged quite comfortably.

"Whooo~ Maria and Olivia are gonna be mineeeee~!"

...And there went Romeo again, right on cue.

Augh, he was so talkative...trying to win Charlotte over by showing off and bragging about his position like that. Though it was more likely he wasn't trying at all. That was just Romeo for you, always showing off. Still, Aiden was starting to get the feeling that Romeo would have a lot more luck with girls if he could just keep his mouth closed for five seconds. Even girls could get sick of his endless bragging and his annoying habit of bossing everyone around...right?

But it seemed on Aiden's end, things were just the opposite. He'd never get a girl if he didn't open his mouth for once. Now though, there would never be a chance. Gavin was already going off on Romeo about something or other, and Romeo was making some sort of excuse, something Aiden was used to by now. But Aiden had gone and lost his only opportunity to talk to Charlotte. Glancing back in her direction, she looked kind of... disappointed. Great, so much for first impressions. Oh well, there'd be plenty of time to talk to her later.

"...And you lad!"

Aiden started, looking up quickly. Gavin had turned on him already. He prepared himself for some rant on how the deck wasn't as flawlessly clean and shiny as it should be but to his surprise, what Gavin had to say next was just the opposite.

"When the captain said to scrub the deck until it shined he didn't mean it literally! Don't just follow orders, think about their purpose. A loyal man obeys orders blindly, but a smart man thinks about who's givin' them and why. Loyal men are honorable but smart men live, got it?"

Aiden hadn't been expecting that kind of advice, that was for sure. He'd thought Gavin wanted the deck to be as clean as possible. So... what was the first mate trying to say? That Aiden should think for himself more? Well, he might have a point there. Especially as far as orders from people like Romeo were concerned. Aiden made a mental note to remember that advice for the future, even if he wasn't so sure he completely understood Gavin's meaning. Anyway, at least Aiden was through with cleaning the ship for now...

“Damnit…DAMNIT DAMNIT!”

...Or not.

Aiden winced at the sound of a small explosion somewhere down the hallway and the outburst that followed. When he'd first come aboard the airship Aiden had been more than a little startled by events like these, but he was used to it by now. Aiden had quickly learned that commotion like this was just commonplace on the Cloud, with its... unique crew. Especially when it came to Christoph, the Cloud's cook. And Aiden had no doubt as to who was behind all the chaos in this situation.

Sure enough, the cause of all the noise soon came walking calmly down the hall as though nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened. Aiden had the sudden urge to back away slowly and resume his deck-scrubbing duties. Sure, he liked Christoph, the man was nice enough and a good cook, but he had a tendency to... experiment. And Christoph in experimenting mode was downright scary. At least, in Aiden's eyes. It was even worse when things went badly, like right now.

Because when Christoph's experiments went badly, he made a mess.

And when someone made a mess, it was always Aiden, the Cloud's resident housemaid able-bodied crewman's job to clean up.

Definitely not the best way to look cool in front of Charlotte, Aiden realized with an inward sigh, but he turned to go do his job all the same. Something stopped him though, as the sound of music playing nearby reached his ears and Aiden looked back just in time to see the arrival of Brook, the Cloud's musician. Like Christoph, this man was something of a mystery to Aiden. Aiden had never actually talked to him, the man always seemed rather preoccupied with playing his violin. Aiden wasn't exactly sure why the Cloud needed a violinist onboard but... hey, he wasn't one to complain. Aiden was rather fond of music, and Brook was good at what he did.

Though Brook, apparently had a question for Charlotte.

"Would you mind showing me your panties?"

...

Charlotte blushed, Romeo burst out laughing, and Gavin launched into another tirade in "Charlie's" defense, but Aiden just sort of... stared. He hadn't realized Brook was... that sort of person. But that thought was the farthest one from his mind right now because at the moment, Aiden was just hoping his face wasn't turning bright red at the sudden mention of Charlotte's panties. He didn't need her thinking he was some kind of pervert on top of all the ways he'd already managed to embarrass himself in front of her within the short amount of time they'd known each other. He had the feeling that in a situation like this, he was supposed to somehow defend Charlotte, but the words just weren't coming out. It seemed the best response to this situation would be to retreat.

And it seemed Romeo agreed. The older boy, still roaring with laughter, had grabbed Aiden's collar and was proceeding to drag him down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen.

Finally out of sight of the others and, hopefully, out of earshot, the boys entered the kitchen and Romeo sort of... unceremoniously tossed the still-flailing Aiden on the floor. Luckily he'd managed to land on a... clean-er section of the room than the rest, for the majority of the room, walls and ceiling included, was covered in a strange sticky substance, no doubt the result of Christoph's experiment gone wrong. Utensils and dishes littered the floor where they'd been hurled in the heat of the cook's little tantrum earlier. It seemed that nothing had been broken, fortunately, and Aiden got to his feet, moving to collect them all, but froze as Romeo began to speak.

"You sure are pathetic! The chick you dig is being attacked like that and you just stand there like a girl... so pathetic!"

"She's not being attacked! Brook wouldn't actually do anything, I... I think..." Aiden trailed off, realizing too late that he was defending the wrong point here as the real meaning of Romeo's words sank in. "...H-hey! I don't... I wasn't..." 'I don't like Charlotte that way!' was what he wanted to say, but in reality, Romeo had hit the nail right on the head. Sure, Aiden didn't know Charlotte all that well yet, but she was cute, and she seemed nice so... what else was there, really? But... how could Romeo guess Aiden's thoughts so easily? Maybe he really was just way more experienced at this sort of thing... Aiden scowled. He didn't see how, though. Why was it that a jerk like Romeo had so much more experience with girls than Aiden did?

"Anyway. Here's the kitchen. Cleaning stuff's in that cupboard. Go on. Clean!"

Aiden glared.

"Whooo~ Maria and Olivia are gonna be mineeeee~!"

Aiden lost it.

"Not unless you actually do some WORK for once, they aren't! I'm not your maid," he insisted angrily. On any other day, Aiden would've listened to Romeo and just gone about his cleaning duties as usual, but today was different. Charlotte was here now. There was a cute girl on the airship, and Aiden had ended up looking like a complete idiot in front of her. It was all Romeo's fault. Besides, Gavin's advice was still ringing in his ears.

A loyal man obeys orders blindly, but a smart man thinks about who's givin' them and why.

Aiden wasn't about to do all Romeo's work for him just because the other boy was too lazy to do his share. And he certainly wasn't going to let Romeo make fun of him. That wouldn't look good in front of Charlotte at all. "And I do NOT," Aiden continued, grabbing hold of the pot that held the charred remains of Christoph's experiment. "...look like a GIRL!" Once again slightly too late, Aiden wondered if picking a fight with Romeo of all people was really what a 'smart man' would do. Somehow, he doubted it. Oh well, Aiden had started this, and Aiden would have to follow through with it now. Hoisting the cooking pot up into the air he dumped the contents, meat chunks and all, straight onto Romeo. He'd kind of... missed, though, and ended up splashing most of it all over himself, but he'd gotten his point across. Hopefully.

"Clean THAT, Romeo."

Functionally dysfunction. That was the best way to describe the crew on any given day and truth be told the growing quiet sometimes made Christoph uneasy. Bad things brooded in silence so when those attitudes started to fester in the day to day stagnation, the rather unique man liked to throw a wrench into the whole ship. He had an understanding with Muldoon about this. When there was nothing else to keep the crew busy, Christoph would provide and in turn would earn himself some well needed alone time. Old Muldoon had figured out a while back there was more to the simple cook then met the eye but still the Sion felt his secret safe as long as he kept up his simple service.

A feeble thumbs up rose over the man’s right shoulder as he walked away from the scene without another word. This was Christoph’s alone time and he pretty much shut out the rest of the world and he continued walking. He was going out to stare at the sky and there he would be until someone came and got him or something needed to go wrong again.

The 8'8'' feet tall musician was a bit, shocked by Gavin's reaction, usually it was the girl that kicked him in the face or punched him, he only received a slaps a mere 5 times in his whole life. When Gavin was, for a lack of a better word, scolding Brook he remembered the last time he was punished for asking females to see their panties, if he remembered correctly the targets were actually the twins Olivia and Maria, he was actually hung upside-down to the side of the ship for a couple of hours, the surprising thing was that Brook kept playing the whole time, it kept him from actually shitting his pants.

But Brook was not one to not acknowledge his own mistakes, after being shoved aside by Gavin he got to his feet, picked up his hat from the top of his big afro and made a bow, extending his left arm, with the hand holding the violin, his right leg even crosses behind his left leg making a pose of a true gentleman.

"Yohohohoho...How harsh Mister Gavin. But you are right kind sir. My dear lady, I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies."

He then got back into a straight, normal position and looked back, at that moment he was thinking that if he stayed there he would slowly be dragged into helping the crew clean up, thus why he decided to accompany Gavin and Charlie.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the three walked Brook kept humming a little tone until he suddenly stopped when he saw a child come out of a room around 10 feet away from their location, it was indeed Natasha Petrovic or Tasha as everyone in the crew called her. A young, 11 year old, girl left by her mother one year before, a known pirate in Bartona that didn't want her daughter to lead the same life she had. Tasha looked a the three from the corner of her eye and passed her fingers over her cleavers at her waist, she was giving an intense glare at Brook, in fact it was a known fact that Brook didn't have that huge scar on his forehead a year before, she was known for being the one that gave Brook the most brutal reaction after his usual question, but then something caught her attention, rather someone, Charlotte.
Now, Tasha was known for being a silent type, she only talked with the captain, Gavin and Brook once, but she was also the territorial type, she didn't let anyone enter her room, she didn't allow anyone to work near where she was working and she didn't like it when weak people entered her larger territory, the Cloud. Thus Tasha's peering glare didn't leave Charlotte, she didn't care about anything Gavin may say, she wanted to show the girl who was boss.

Ah, his crew; there was no doubt commotion above. His bones always ached when this happened. Why? He had not a clue. It never hurt, per se, but what just uncomfortable. Like an itch. Dull, and mildly annoying. It had surprised Gabriel, actually, when he first had the reaction. Or, at least, realized what it was. Gavin had been right, the old bastard. "I know it! You'll take to being a captain like a duck to water." Gabriel scratched his thin, calloused hands over his beard. The man chuckled a bit, studying his hands. He had thin fingers, like a pianist, and creamy white skin. His hands were from his mother, but Gabriel had hoped that working in the fields with his father would erase some of that. No such luck, however, and he had only succeeded in making them worn. Gabriel yawned, stretching, and slowly pushed the blankets off his body. He rubbed his hands together, shifting his legs from his cot, and stood.

"Hn..."

Gabriel, looking down at the floor, began to scratching his chin furiously. The question he faced nearly everyday popped into his head once again: shirt or no shirt? Gavin had yelled at him more than once about walking around without a shirt. Something about "decent ladies" being aboard. Well, he supposed he'd look at the agenda today. They should have been arriving at the village today or tomorrow. Gabriel shifted over to his desk and began sifting through the various letters and papers. Shoving a large pile to the right, a small envelope caught his eye. Gabriel opened it and skimmed the letter with quick eyes.

Oh. Right.
The girl.

He had forgotten about that. It hadn't been his idea, after all. Gavin seemed to have this thing about "molding young minds". True, they did make better soldiers and crewman in the future, but... Gabriel never felt comfortable submitting them to this fate forever. The ground was a far better place for children. Aiden, Tasha, and now Charlotte. Gabriel sighed, picking up a baggy white shirt from the floor. Well, if it was any consolation, they at least had three now. The bonds between other people their own age would be important. Gabriel ran his hands through his hair, fixing it as best as possible, before tightening the black belt on his waist. Gabriel contemplating getting his gloves, to cover the four seals on his hands, but decided against it as he smoothed his dark denim jeans. He has covered the seals the first few years of his life. It still surprised Gabriel as well that he continuously had the urge to cover them. Habit, he supposed. Or a disorder. Gabriel usually never ruled out that he was diseased.

It seemed like a simple explanation for everything in his life.

Of course, he had always been as healthy as a horse. Farmer blood, no doubt. Gabriel sauntered out of his quarters and down the main part of the ship. He moved quickly and with some agility, bounding this way and that. Hopefully, Gavin wouldn't be mad. Gabriel hadn't been sleeping, he wasn't that lazy, he had simply been in his quarters. Sitting. Gabriel needed the silence before dealing with his crew. A good bunch, through and through, if a little eccentric. Gavin had acted as the captain for many years until, well, he had asked Gabriel to fill the position in his place. This crew, originally, had been Gavin's and Gabriel always had to be mindful of that. This was a crew of misfits more than anything. Gabriel had seen the advantages of this from the very beginning, of course, but it always made some things more difficult. With misfits, anger could be turned into strength. Hatred into power. It was people that the Arrogant Cloud harbored that changed the world...

The human spirit was a powerful thing.
His father had taught him that.

Turning a corner, Gabriel moved past the engine room and continued forward. Moving quickly still he turned down another passageway before smirking. Oh, there they were. Gabriel quickened his pace, jogging a bit, before spotting Gavin, the new recruit, and Brook moving about the background. Gabriel was about to greet them, his smirk still in place, when his face suddenly fell. Gavin's face was slightly red, the color rising in his cheeks, and his breath was slightly quickened. Gabriel frowned completely, crossing his arms, and shaking his head.

"Have you been yelling again? Gavin, honestly, you're going to kill yourself like that. You should leave the captain-ing to the captain," Gabriel said, putting a hand on Gavin's shoulder before looking down at the girl. Small, petite. No obvious skills to speak of. Yes, she could probably do..."Charlotte Valentine, yes? I am Captain Black. Follow me; we have much to discuss." Gabriel smirked again before holding up a hand to Gavin. "I'll take it from here. Oh, and, Brook... play me a song, will you."

The sharp screechings of Brook's violen echoed thorugh the ship. More importantly they pierced through the confines of a certian Quartermaster's room. It didn't take too long for the wood door to burst open. What came out from the eerie dark room was a teenage boy. The bed-head cranium shift back and forth looking down the hall. He wasn't much of a morning person, nevermind the fact hat it was the middle of the day. His eyes were heavy from the lack of sleep he got the night before. Abigail's poor engineering was always a bother too him, she always did things by the book. Seriously what kind of self respecting mechanic does that?

Flynn stepped out into the cold hallway, his arms stretching up and out as he left out a long tiresome yawn. Well if they were going to keep him up then he should atleast get some food and a cup of coffee. He wondered if Christoph had anything prepared, or atleast something he could heat up quick. Flynn's bare feet slapped across the waxed wooden surface of the ship's halls. It's not wrong to say that his bare body was always a shock. the only thing sparing the few girls on the ship from seeing his privates, was the thin cloth of his boxers. Thier bright light blue color almost comical with thier little wrench design sewn in.

The first stop on Flynn's journey for food was..the tiolet. He stood there quietly, releaving himself into the small pool of water in the john. He lefted his leg just as he was finishing, and while shaking himself off he used his oes to pull down the handle that let the waste flush away. He let out another small wyawn as he grasped a toothbrush and put it into his mouth as he walked out into the hall again. Brook's music was still echoing through the ship. Flynn didn't know whether to like it, or shove the thing down his throat.

Flynn rounded the corner, the view of the Kitchen dorr entering his gze. He smiled a bit at the thought of some food and a hot cup of coffee. He heard voices coming from the room and moved a bit faster, not knowing they didn't belong to Christoph. As he turned to enter the kitchen he twitched his head as a fork was plunged into the wood of the door. The metal of the fork let out a small hum as it wobbled up and down from the force of it slmming into the door. Flynn was a little confused, sure the cook got a little tempermental with his cooking but htis is a little..

"What are you two doing here? Where is Chirstoph I need something to eat."

Flynn lifted his left leg, using it to itch his right, the toothbrush jumping around in his mouth as he spoke. He looked like nothing less then a deadbeat. However he was a damn good looking dead beat!

This was an outrage!

It was unthinkable!

You would think your thoughts would think, but when it came to this, your thoughts were thoughtless!

This place needed order!

It needed a commanding authority!

It needed...um...a Captain! But not just any captain, the best captain in the land....aaa...air, right! The best captain of the air! On that had fought both the air-kraken and the air-giant-squid at the same time, with nothing but an empty bottle of rum and a pistol with a single shot! He was the greatest air-pirate in all the air-land. Not only that, but he was at the air-head of the best air-ship, the Blackish Pearly Cloudy Mabober, that's right! It was raised from the ground by Davy Jones' Gym Locker, and set afloat upon the air so that he could be the captain for 13 years, that was 15 years ago. This place needed him now more then ever for he was the one, the 1, the uno, the singular. He was...

"Captain" Jack Sparrow!

The doors of the kitchen bursted open, and in walked a tall man, a proud smirk upon his face. He carried with him a mop and bucket, but to him it was a pirate flag and...bucket! His one-piece jump-suit was dark blue, the proud symbol of his air-ship, you know, that pearl thing that he just thought about. Hey, he was awesome, and awe-inspiring. Pretty much, he was all things that stated with "awe". "Yo Oh, me mateys, yo ho! Avast and all ye scalawags, tis war we have on our hands!" Aiden and Romeo could never get this mess cleaned on their own, and for that they needed their captain to show them how its air-done! The loony man began to happily whistle the tune to Dead Man's Chest as he dropped his soapy bucket and began to mop the floors.

I, tis an air-pirate's life for air-him!

--------

Meanwhile, back in the world of the sane, Abigail Darling stood overtop the main engine room, looking down upon a very small metal orb. Over her right eyes was strung a magnifying glass, which made her face distorted, as though she had one giant blue eye, which gazed down upon the very small objects she held in one of her hands, as the other one lowed carefully to fine tune the devise. "Come on, you stupid thing." Just as Abby finished that sentence, a spark lit up within the quarter of the devise that wasn't attached, and a bright flow began to illuminate from the interior as the sound of spinning could be hear. "Yes!" The girl quickly dropped the tool she had used into her pouch, grabbing out the missing quarter piece and snapping it into place. Luckily, her gloves were keeping her save from the violent vibrations of the device, but once the final piece was in place, the girl just let go of what looked like a small metal sphere.

However, gravity was denied a victory on this day, for once not within her hands, the device stabilized and floated! Abby bent over the railing of the walkway she was on, looking down to the far larger scale engine, but realized that she was still wearing the magnifying glass over her eye. Lifting it up, the girl quickly swiped her body around back towards the small device, pulling out a tiny metal rod that was plunged into the shut off switch, and grabbing the sphere before it fell. The girl, quickly, and happily ran down the pathway. Passing through a metal door, Abby entered a completely different world, of of wood instead of metal. However, that was only because the engine, muck like the outer haul, needed to be encased in metal. While this might weight it down more then most ships, it made the outer haul thicker, and the stirring and flight more stable, since instead of magic, the Arrogant Cloud road upon the magnetic force of the world below.

"Captain! It works!" The girl was so excited that she didn't even notice Gavin or the new girl when she had found the captain. Tapping the same area she had to shut it off, she sent the sphere afloat once more to demonstrate the smooth stability of the orb. Working on the real engine while the ships flying would be far to dangerous, so Abby did the next best thing and built a miniature, baseball sized, copy to tweak. "Next time we make port I should be able to do the upgrades, so that we won't have the same...um...problem." Abby was a little embarrassed to say it aloud, but he original design hadn't accounted for electrical interference from thunderstorms. The weather wasn't the only thing that turned for the worse the last time...

Gavin Muldoon was relatively sure the crew of the Cloud was never going to get this right...
Not that Gabriel Black was a man who cared for formality, but Gavin liked convenient excuses. And this looked about as convenient an excuse as anyone was ever going to find waltzing about the ship.

"Captain on deck!"

He looked around at the remaining crew on the main deck. Flynn, Charlotte, Brook, Tasha and now Abby.

Nobody moved.

"Useless, the lot of you." He muttered under his breath, waving an arm in the air in disgust before turning away. "Valentine, that's Abigail Darling, Flynn Calahan, and Tasha Petrovich. Be sure to meet them later. An' don't be worried about the Cap'n here. Just stay away from that voracious beard of his, I've seen it chew the arm off a man."

As Charlotte and the Captain began walking away, Gavin let loose a cruel grin. He was beginning to get a headache, but he knew just thing to cure it. Wheeling around, he leaned forward into Flynn's face, hovering just an inch or two away.

"For all that's good and holy, Callahan! Go find yourself some respectable clothing and don it before I have you swabbing the topside deck with even less than what you're wearing now you lazy bastard! I don't suppose that while you were dreaming you had gotten around to finishing the new cabin assignments did you? Or fixed up our course for tomorrow, or did your final manifest check, eh? No, I don't suppose you could do that while you slept the day away! Now get to work! You don't eat until that list is completed. If you wanted breakfast, you shoulda woken for it."

He spun around from Callahan, letting out a satisfied breath. Ah, he felt much better now. He gave a nod to Abby, strode past Brook, and scruffed Tasha's hair. Oh she hated it something fierce, but he did it all the same. Then casually he made his way to the lower observation deck where he had scooped up Charlotte and where Christoph now occupied. He felt around the inside of his coat pocket, finding the small cylindrical bottle within. He needed a drink, and a man to share it with.

--

"Uhm...uhm..it's okay." Charlotte said meekly to Brook. It wasn't okay, actually...it was rude and it made her feel uncomfortable, but Gavin had done enough yelling for her, for him, and for anyone else that might be walking about. No need to worsen things on her first day, she figured.

The captain was an imposing man...though she felt safe looking at him. Why, she wasn't sure. There was just an air about him...a confidence that seemed to swirl around him.

Like father did.

He didn't look like her father, but his presence felt very much the same. And for that, Charlotte smiled at him immediately, almost a thank you. She hadn't felt a presence like that in years, and it felt nice.

"Aye, Captain!" She said cheerily, a fiery determination in her eyes...though it was soon quenched when a man in his underwear stumbled onto the deck. She felt color rushing into her cheeks and she turned away quickly, unsure if proper rules of modesty applied on an airship. So far she had seen one pair of underwear and had been asked to expose her own, so perhaps not.

It was when she turned away that she saw the woman that Gavin identified as Abigail Darling. She was pretty...so very pretty. She was obviously smart too, because she had some sort of flying sphere near her grasp, hovering gracefully. Her tools and her outfit looked intimidating, and Charlotte was pretty sure she would never really be able to understand all of what she wore.

"It's a pleasure." She mumbled in a daze, nodding to each of the names that Gavin pointed out. Then, as the captain continued away from the deck, Charlotte followed behind.

"Captain, sir, thank you again! For letting me join, that is. I'll earn my way and prove myself, I promise you that!" The fire of determination was back in her gaze, and the left side of her mouth rose in a confident half-grin.

Now if only the butterflies in her stomach would stop.

A wisp of smoke and a back blast of heat swept through the doorway and met Gavin in the face as he ventured out onto the observation deck. It was strange beyond any bit of imagination. The entire observation deck had the sudden feel as if it had been bathed in fire only a moment before Gavin had laid eyes on the area for the second time but the upper atmosphere and speed at which the craft cut through the air soon left nothing but a light haze and the figure of a pacing Christoph in the center.

“You know you can knock from time to time old man,” Christoph’s accent was not as thick as it had been when he introduced himself to the new girl and for the most part that accent was more of an act then anything. The fact that he wasn’t trying to keep it up now meant that he was lost in serious though about something. Things he would most likely never tell anyone on this ship. That was just the kind of person he was.

In reality, Christoph had been using his time alone to work on a certain Stylus Divination. It was a eccentricity and since he was labeled for death already the Sion had never fully let his Atlas studies fall away. Of course he had to do his work in secrecy and an absolute one at that. He had taken great care to never write anything down on paper and instead did all of his transcription in flame. Flame that Gavin Muldoon had almost happened upon on accident…yet again.

The unique cook turned his head back towards the door and smiled. His hand grasped the loose ends of his large red scarf and tightened the garment around his neck; it really got cold out here when not surrounded by flames. “Kids get boring already? Or did the Capt’n finally get out of bed?”

Oh, just like Gavin. The old man usually ignored him when Gabriel said something he didn't like. Which, really, was nearly everything that popped out of his mouth. Of course, Gavin simply changed the subject or moved his attention elsewhere. This time, for example, he simply announced his presence. Oh, Gavin. Gabriel really didn't like announcing his presence. It made him seem... contrived. Gabriel liked it much better when he was a part of the crew and simply not separate from it. But, oh well. When he had taken the job as the captain he signed himself over to being different. Now if he could only get Gavin to stop taking his job... Eh, he'd do that later. Gabriel supposed it was simply habit on Gavin's part. He saw something he didn't like, he yelled. He saw something that needed to be done, he yelled. He saw something he liked, well, he yelled then too. Damn, if only--

"Aye, Captain!"

Gabriel turned his gaze downward, looking at the girl. He cracked a smile before laughing outright. Well, now, wasn't that just adorable? Trying to be a big soldier, he could see. Gabriel patted Charlotte on the back before they turned around. However, Abby was already there speaking excitably about her next work. Gabriel smiled, eying the small toy-like object with depth-less curiosity. Abby had always left Gabriel awestruck. The things the girl could do with a few screws and some scrap metal. Gabriel moved his hand towards the sphere and pressed the same button Abby had earlier. It fell and Gabriel caught it gently, cupping it within his hand. He offered it to Abby, waiting for her to take it.

"Excellent, Abby. I really don't know what I'd do without you. We should be docking in the next day or two, so you'll have some time to do the upgrades then."

Gabriel smiled as Charlotte mumbled something. Then, Gabriel turned his attention to Gavin's yelling. Poor Flynn. Gabriel liked a bit of freedom, too, from time to time. Maybe it was a young man thing. Gabriel looked toward Flynn, attempting to catch his eye, and gave him a single, subtle thumbs up before turning towards Charlotte. He gestured in another direction, toward a set of stairs, before nodding to Abby, Brook, and the rest of the present crew. Charlotte followed behind him, spouting off more about hard-work and dedication. Man, this girl had some enthusiasm.

"Captain, sir, thank you again! For letting me join, that is. I'll earn my way and prove myself, I promise you that!"

Gabriel shrugged. "Gavin. Gavin is the man you want to thank. I merely agreed to his choice. I usually don't like children aboard." Gabriel scratched his beard before turning another corner, heading a bit deeper into the hull of the ship. The first part of leadership was, of course, honesty. Honesty proved you were trustworthy and of a sound mind. People appreciated honesty and Gabriel usually used that to his advantage. "Of course, I wouldn't worry. I know you won't disappoint me. I've got a captain's eye about these things." Gabriel smirked, turning halfway around to point directly below his left eye with his index finger. A little joke to hopefully get Charlotte a little more comfortable.

They turned a final corner into a hallway with a single door at the end. Gabriel moved toward it an pushed it open. Inside was a small greenhouse like room. It was humid and quite hot inside. Gabriel walked forward, moving towards a small apple tree sapling. He set his hands forward, on the right and left sides of the tiny plant, and beckoned Charlotte over. "Put your hands over mine; I have something I need to show you."

Gavin didn't say anything at first. His dark eyes merely swiveled around, watching as whisps of what seemed to smoke mixed within the steam exhaust of the Cloud and vanished into the sky.

"You know you can knock from time to time old man."

A diminished accent. Yes there was something very very strange about their beloved cook, and yet Gavin had never managed to crack the mystery. He surmised that Christoph was probably too smart for him, that he was playing in a realm that he had no business or ability to be playing in. He was just an old airman who knew ho to yell and to get things done, how to swing a sword and shoot a pistol. If Christoph was even half-way as interesting as he often imagined him, then he would be in possession of some very intriguing skills.

“Kids get boring already? Or did the Capt’n finally get out of bed?”

"Both." His hand slid into his coat pocket and grasped the neck of a small bottle, about the size of his hand. He grasped the top of it with his other hand and twisted it open with a pop. He brought the opening to his nose, letting the stinging pleasant stench of alcohol rise into his nostrils. Then, he slipped it into his mouth, tipping it upward and letting it burn his throat. Simultaneously, he found a second one in the opposite coat pocket and offered it forward to Christoph.

"A little early, but I doubt it'll be alcohol that finally does me in...we'll be pulling to port soon. If you need anything special to be acquired by Flynn, just make a brief list. Your usual orders will be filled, of course. But if you want to head out and buy it yourself, just let Flynn know and he'll give you the money. I haven't a reason to think after this many years you'll start buying women with our food money...are you going to take it or just look at it?"

He shook the bottle in his hand, taking another swig from his own.

--

"Of course, I wouldn't worry. I know you won't disappoint me. I've got a captain's eye about these things."

The words relieved Charlotte. She had wanted to be formal with the captain, make a good impression, but she was too ill-disciplined to keep up that air forever. Immediately she regained her casual walk, her eyes drifting around the airship as they continued to walk along.

Steam poured out of the door as it swung open, the captain leading her inside. The wet warmth hugged her, pulling her into its depths. It was such a delightful relief from the chill that she had acquired outside in the air and had settled in her bones. The smell of heat and water mixed with the smell of...plants? She looked around in wonder, gazing up and down the length of the apple tree sapling, watching as droplets of moisture collected along the leaves, gathering at their tips and shimmering down into the soil beneath.

"Put your hands over mine; I have something I need to show you."

"...uh...right sir!"

She did so. His hands were much larger than hers...and rough, well-worn. But there was a certain unmistakable grace about them, as if they had almost been meant for something else in this life than the toil that he had subjected them to. She looked up, wondering what was about to take place.

Christoph flashed quickly from his position to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gavin. “You know I am not one for the ladies,” he said with a smile and a genuine chuckle, snagging the bottle away from the first mate and taking a swig. Gavin’s choice in alcohol had always been less then palatable but to turn down a free drink was a sin. It wasn’t very often he was left to have serious conversations with someone who could understand on some level. Christoph was a young man in relation to Old Muldoon’s years but sat pretty close when it came to matters of maturity. Even though the two looked at the world through different pairs of glasses they were what could be considered friends…if Christoph would ever let himself have a friend.

The lone wolf of a cook tilted the half empty flasket down away from his lips. The liquor warming his insides ever so slightly and pushing him towards answering Gavin or more like what seemed requesting. “You know the only woman I have ever spent any money on in my four years here is Abby. Granted she breaks everything, threatens me and is always wrong so I think I’ll just stay on course.” There was another half-hearted chuckle that escaped Christoph’s lips. His relationship with Abigail Love was strained at best and was founded more on intelligence and respect then an attraction of any kind. Anytime they spent more then five minutes together trying to resolve a problem it resulted in a fight.

Cristoph raised a single hand and sat it down on Gavin’s shoulder as he took another long swig. “I don’t think I’ll need any money but I will take the shore leave. I truly hate Sin City but I have some business that is long overdue.” The hand lifted. That gesture was simple but almost seemed like a pseudo-replacement for last words. Christoph had done this from time to time over his years on the ship but always came back. Nothing made this time seem any different. “Who knows, maybe I’ll find you something that tastes better then this Old Mans’ swill.”

[[Whoooo. I finally snagged myself some computer time. Rest of my family's going to the pool but I faked sick so I wouldn't have to go 8D. as such, I'm going to post now. I have no idea if it's my turn or not, but it's the only chance I'm gonna get in days, and I don't want to hold anyone up ;_;. I don't want the topic to diee]]

"Not unless you actually do some WORK for once, they aren't! I'm not your maid,"

"Yeah," said Romeo, lounging further against the kitchen wall, "...But you are my inferior,"

He was pretty nonplussed about Aiden's courage. This sorta thing happened all the time. Little Cabin Boys thinking they had more authority here than they actually did. It had gotten pretty old now. But still amusing none the less.

"And I do NOT, look like a GIRL!"

Romeo gave a mock sigh.

"...Squirt, you were blushing harder than Valentine was out there. Last time I checked, that's called looking like a gir-"

"Clean THAT, Romeo."

Some kids just never gave up, did they? As though he thought himself to be some kind of brave hero or something, Aiden had moved to pick up one of the many pots of god knows what and hurl the contents at Romeo. Of course, Aiden failed at doing that just like everything else. Most of the stuff ended up on Aiden, and the small percentage that didn't had stained Romeo's shirt. Damn. All of his other shirts were out to dry. Looks like he'd just have to go to the twins' birthday party shirtless.

What a pity.

"Listen here kiddo, don't go giving me orders," said Romeo smugly as he undid his soiled shirt, "I've been on this here ship eighteen years. You'd think I know who's in charge here, wouldn't you?"

Removing his shirt, Romeo hopped off the countertop and began to walk around the kitchen, still looking at Aiden, forcing back a laugh at how pathetic this guy was.

"Alright. I suppose I've been a little unfair. That old loony of a first mate ordered us both to clean up this joint - and he outranks me, so I should be listening - but disrespecting your superiors still warrants punishment," he said, looking all sincere and thoughtful about it, "Throwing stuff at them counts at disrespect, in case you couldn't tell," he added as an afterthought.

"Now as far as punishment goes, they generally threaten to throw me overboard, but I'm not a harsh guy, am I? I generally say fight fire with fire. So according to that theory, I'll just have to throw stuff at you,"

Rolling it up into a ball, Romeo chucked his shirt at Aiden, before proceeding to pick up a nearby pot of his own and launching his own share of Christoph's mess at him too. Unlike his target, he didn't fail either; to put it simply, the only reason Romeo still was on this ship was his aim, after all.


"...And by the way, Old Muldoon only ordered me to clean up Christoph's mess. Yours is none of my responsibility, so I'll leave you to it,"


Thinking that oughta shut the kid up, Romeo returned to his countertop once again, were he planned to drift off to sleepland for the millionth time that day. But just like all the previous times, he found himself interrupted. Not by Aiden though.

"What are you two doing here? Where is Chirstoph I need something to eat."

Eww. Flynn.

This guy really pissed Romeo off. For some reason, the First Mate always told Romeo off for being lazy and disturbing. But at least Romeo actually got up in the morning to perform his duties before dozing off. He didn't stay in bed till noon. Nor did he walk around in his underwear like Flynn. This guy was not just disgusting, he just didn't seem to realize that he was. Oh, and the worst part was, so many of the chicks on board were in love with this guy.

"Have you no shame, dude?" Romeo spat in disgust, "Put some bloody clothes on. This is a kitchen for goodness sake. And I have no idea where Christoph is. We're here because we're supposed to be cleaning. Only Aiden here is just making life harder for himself by making some more mess,"

Like usual, Flynn seemed to take no regard to what he was saying. Hungry eh? Romeo chucked a fork at him.

"Listen to me when I'm talking. If you're hungry, actually make yourself look decent idiot. That's disgusting, touching the food that's set out for the twins' birthday with the hand you just scratched your butt with. Put some clothes on!"

It was somewhat hypocritical, what Romeo, who was shirtless, was saying, but he just hated this guy. The twins were somewhat gaga over him, just like every other chick on this ship.