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One Fish, Two Fish; Green Fish, Blue Fish; in which the gang has greatness thrust upon them
Topic Started: May 13 2013, 10:08 PM (1,672 Views)
NeonCactus
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Farragoic Imbroglio
[ *  *  *  * ]
Sometimes, things just work out. When one suffers hardship without complaint and accepts what destiny has in store for them without giving up hope, they are rewarded for their perseverance. These rewards can be as simple as reconnecting with estranged family, success at work or even something as big as winning the lottery. Sometimes, those can all be the same thing.

Yu-wan's last failure of a business venture had hit him pretty hard. He could always find work somewhere, but owning and running his own place was the dream. He had come all the way out to the Grand Line to open the joint, and it had crumbled like the first.

She had come into his restaurant a few times, and Yu-wan had known since the first time who she was. She had that same face, and he even recognized a bit of himself in her coloration. When he served her, her voice brought wave after wave of nostalgia over him as well. She said her name was Minette. He didn't tell her, of course. His service to her grandparents was meaningless, and would only raise questions he could not answer. She came back a few times, always with that unbreakable smile.

She was sadly one of the only people that came back. On the last week he could afford to stay open, she showed up with a big frown. She had lost an internship at some place and Yu-wan's mind instantly started to follow the path he knew it shouldn't. Before he could stop himself, he offered her a job with him. She brightened up instantly and he knew he couldn't take it back even if he wanted to. Her happiness was more important to him than his own convenience, and even than this business.

They had a great time and Minette became rather popular, but it was too little too late for a small time sushi bar. He broke the news to her and apologized for putting her out of a job again. She insisted that his food was good, and that he deserved better. She revealed that her college fund was rather hefty and going quite unused. Enough for the most glamorous 5-star restaurant-ship on the seven seas, possibly. He had held onto hope, and destiny's reward had finally arrived...

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

Yu-wan woke up. he was laying upside down in his bed, a troubled sleep for some reason. Nothing some good physical training won't fix, surely. He made his way over to the small basket he kept his clothes in and grabbed his black pants. Once he tied them on, he started his 24-form Tai Chi to work out the sleepiness from his stubby limbs.

He felt his unease from his troubled sleep melt away as he took the slow, methodical steps, his arms swimming gracefully through the air. He didn't remember where he picked it up. He had never practiced Tai Chi back when he had reason to know martial arts, but it relaxed him so much in his old age.

He grabbed his apron off the hook once he had finished and tied it in the back. The ship he had gotten was certainly grander than even most palaces he had seen in his day. It was a beauty of a vessel, and he could thank no one but Minette herself. He decided to pay her a visit this fine morning. He jumped into the ingenious water passage system they had installed, quickly swimming down to the exit in his kitchen. The perky little minnow in question wasn't around, but he heard someone else out in the dining hall.

He thanked the gods' gift (and his own fine taste in women) as soon as he saw the curvy little mermaid dusting one of the wooden tables. He seemed to be magnetically drawn across the expensive flooring as he sidled up to his unfortunate employee. Before anything more embarrassing than the look he gave her could come out of his mouth, he felt the boniest of old person fingers lightly tapping his shoulder.

He spun around, not expecting any old people besides himself within the walls of his ship. He was taken aback by the kindly old cephalopod he saw leaning his crippled old bones on those of a long dead fish in the form of a makeshift cane. He stared at Yu-wan for a few seconds, and Yu-wan stared back, still confused as to the elders means of entrance.

"Uh, can I help-"

"I want steak."

They spent a few more seconds staring at each other, the cuttlefish's eyes obscured by his thick-lens glasses.

"Sir, we're not opening for another a week. I can reserve a table for you, but you might be on the waiting list for-"

"I checked the date with your smelly friend upstairs."

Yu-wan was silenced yet again. This guy was a real pro.

"I... will be right back. Aspen! Give this man some coffee or so-"

"Steak."

"Don't give him steak!"

Yu-wan recalled the restless sleep he had last night. As he rushed up the stairs to look for Cosmo, he had the feeling that this day was going to be getting even worse.
Maxwell Rogard
What He Has To Be
Rank: Lieutenant (15) SD Earned: 143 Beli: ::beli:: 34,820,000 Location: Where Justice Dwells
§ Strength: 67 § Speed: 36 § Stamina: 36 § Accuracy: 36 § Fortune: 43 §

For Her Pleasure
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Titan
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Nero's BFF
Minette should have known than to expect a smooth voyage. Not once in her ten month career had the fish waitress completed a delivery without something going wrong, but to be fair, this time she wasn’t totally at fault. Thinking back, the waitress conceded that she probably could have avoided capsizing Cosmo, but that had worked out alright, hadn’t it? She’d found the bistro a customer! Sure, the new restaurant wasn’t officially open for business yet, but their grand reopening was very soon—maybe he could be a trial run of sorts, to make sure everything was shipshape before the big day.

As for Gumbi, well, Minette would have preferred if she had left that ship alone, but she was more concerned about the sickness that the poor girl had developed in the last couple of days. In the three years that Minette had known the sea princess, she’d never seen Gumbi get sick before—honestly, Minette had not thought it was possible. Yet the leviathan’s jaundiced eyes, runny nose, and tempestuous sneezes were all fairly straightforward evidence of Gumbi feeling under the weather. She was noticeably more lethargic and irritable than usual, and since they’d gotten back she’d been cooped up in her room, snarling and glaring whenever anyone else drew near.

She was certainly obligated to ease Gumbi’s suffering, but Minette was honestly quite stumped. The cursory knowledge of sea king biology she’d learned in high school was of little help, and she did not know any specialist veterinarians that she could ask for advice. All Minette had were a traditional herbal remedy that had been passed through her family for generations, although she had to increase the dosage five hundred times. Even though, she had no idea if a treatment intended for fishmen would have any effect on Gumbi. She didn’t have any better ideas though so each morning she’d been waking up early to administer the medicine.

”Gum?” the minnow whispered, her slippers slapping against the floor as she padded into the huge chamber below deck that functioned as Gumbi’s bedroom.

One of the sea monster’s many quirks was that she expected to be treated the same as anybody else at the restaurant, which meant that she threw rather childish tantrums if she did not get a uniform and a salary like the others, although she did not understand money very well so she inevitable ate the few coins and bills that were offered to her as tributes. Even Minette had to admit that her friend’s behavior was downright infantile at times. The caveat was that when human and fishmen babies raged, their thrashing and crying was irritating at worst—when Gumbi was displeased she caused tsunamis.

The perks of working at the Highwater Bistro included room and board, so naturally Gumbi had demanded her own quarters as well, complete with a ludicrously humongous poster bed that had taken a team of ten workers two days to assemble. Gumbi was sprawled lethargically atop her pink comforter, watching Minette as she entered, but with none of her usual energy. Even her scales looked greener than they had the day before, and Minette was pretty sure that it wasn’t just algae.

”You’re still feeling icky, huh?” she began, in the diplomatic voice of someone who knew her next words would not be received well. ”Well, I brought you some more medicine—I know you don’t like it, Gum, but it’ll make you feel better, okay?”

Minette pulled the large tub she’d been dragging behind her and some of the gooey black liquid sloshed over the side. She wanted to get the ordeal over with as quickly as possible, not because she disliked tending to Gumbi, but because the quicker the sea serpent downed the medicine, the less likely she was to grow uncooperative. This morning, though, she seemed determined to avoid the concoction from the beginning, keeping her mouth clamped shut in a firm pout. She simply glared stonily as Minette dipped a giant spoon in the vat and angled it toward Gumbi.

”C’mon, Gumbi, do it for me?” she coaxed. ”Look, here comes the sea train! Choo-choo! Don’t you want to just gobble it up? C’mon, Gumbi! C’mon!”

Begrudgingly, Gumbi opened her mouth and allowed herself to be fed. Especially with her shaky arms and tendency to splash the medicine all over the place if she wasn’t super careful, Minette knew that even at her fastest, it would take a little while to empty the entire tub, so she decided to try and distract Gumbi by talking. She didn’t really know what to say, so she just talked through random subjects as they passed through her head.

”You know, Gum, I really had no idea you could even get sick. Cosmo’s been sick too. Do you think you caught it from him? Golly, I hope I don’t get sick, too. Hopefully you can get better soon, Gum, ‘cause the big re-opening is next week!”

Thinking about the day that she and the Boss had dreamed about for some time now sure was exciting, and Minette didn’t notice, but the spoon began to feel slightly lighter in her arms as she continued to speak.

”Remember all those pretty flyers we passed out? Posing for that picture was pretty embarrassing, but I think a whole buncha people seemed interested. We should get at least a hundred customers at the grand re-opening. We’ll have to start seriously preparing in a few days, I think...Gum? Gumbi?”

Minette frowned as she noticed that the sea monster wasn’t paying attention, and that there was a concerningly vacant gaze in her eyes. Even more worrying was the gurgling that was coming from deep within beast’s stomach.

”Uh-oh...” Minette said, remembering that Gumbi hadn’t made this kind of noise since that night that the minnow waitress had tried to make chili. Fortunately, as traumatic as that experience had been for everybody involved, and the damage that the bistro had incurred as a result, Minette now knew to drop her spoon and dive behind a large chew toy ad Gumbi proceeded to violently vomit a roaring river of medicine, partially digested food, and partially decomposed wood from the ship she’d sunk. Minette thought she heard something else, too, and when she peeked out from behind the toy she saw a person amongst all the bile, and what looked to be a dark blue gum nut. Had Gumbi eaten a tree? More importantly, there was a person who potentially needed help, and if she was a braver fish she would have rushed over to help, but unfortunately this situation was scary and stressful, and when Minette was scared her survival instinct kicked in, and more unfortunately, her ‘survival instinct’ was really a pretty ironic misnomer.

”I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m not here—” she squealed, hiding her face behind her hands and hoping that her problems would solve themselves.
French Last Name: ✓
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ThtGyNmdFsh
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That Guy Named Fish
[ *  * ]
OOC

In her twenty four years, not once had Aspen found a place that she could call her home. Whether it was due to her general lack of trust in others or her own chaotic personality she wasn't sure; but if one thing was certain, it was that Aspen had built up a certain tolerance for loneliness. Aspen didn't like being on her own all the time, she was just good at it. She didn't have any family to turn to, or even any that she knew existed; she had been an orphan for as long as she could remember. Her natural beauty more often than not attracted either the wrong kind of attention, or made her too intimidating to approach. The few remaining spirits who were genuine and brave enough to attempt to befriend the quirky mermaid typically ended up alienating her when they discovered how unstable she is.

Needless to say, Aspen had gotten used to this kind of treatment and didn't really think much of it. She was a tough woman after all; she had survived all of these years on her own, she never got lost, she never had problems finding food or shelter, and she could handle herself surprisingly well in a fight. Aspen's life consisted of near-endless meandering through the Grand Line, collecting objects she found interesting and never staying anywhere longer than she felt necessary. Her constant wandering was attributed to a lack of attachment to any person; she was never given a chance to form strong bonds with people because it always seemed to end up going one of two ways: she would either be rejected immediately, or she would be rejected later.

Things went this way for a while, at least, until Aspen got a job.

She's perfectly fine catching and eating her food herself, and it helps that she has a taste for seafood, but every once in a while even Aspen has cravings for a nicely prepared meal. On one such night, and through a strange twist of fate, she ended up at a small sushi bar where she met chef Yu-Wan and his apprentice Minette. Aspen had an order of Yu-Wan's Rivera Rolls and became such a fan that she promised to stop by every time she was in the area. Unfortunately, her timing could not have been worse; she would return to the sushi bar 3 weeks later only to find it closed and abandoned. This made Aspen unhappy, and she did everything she could to track the two down solely to fulfill her promise (and maybe to have another order of Rivera Rolls).

Turns out it wasn't too hard to find Yu-Wan and Minette, the locals let her know that they were holding interviews for restaurant positions, and Aspen caught up to them within the day. She approached and asked about the restaurant, and the possibility of her becoming a waitress. Yu-Wan was in the middle of preparing a snack and Minette was nowhere to be found. The catfish fishman didn't seem to pay any mind to Aspen's inquiry, at least, until he took his eyes off of the food and got a good look at the attractive mermaid. What followed was a few moments (probably closer to a minute and a half) of awkward silence. Aspen asked once more about the waitress position, oblivious to the ogling of the elderly fishman, but didn't manage to get a response. It wasn't until she asked a third time that he snapped out of it and said the two most important words in Aspen's life.

"You're hired!"





Aspen awoke to the sound of the wall-mounted singing fish that went off at this time every morning, singing the same feel-good song it always did. With a groan and a stretch she rolled off of her bed and sank to the floor, where she remained for another 5 minutes before actually getting up. She sat down on her bed and glanced over toward Minette's bed, which was unsurprisingly devoid of her energetic fishgirl roommate. For the past couple of days Minette had been getting up extra-early in order to take care of Gumbi, who had come down with some form of sickness after their most recent delivery. Aspen didn't know the first thing about medicine or sea king biology in general, so the most she felt she could do was let Minette do her thing and stay out of the way.

"Only seven days until the grand opening!" Aspen said to nobody in particular. She was noticeably excited that Highwater Bistro would soon be open to the public. Though the massive ship was her home and it's staff her family, she was eager to see the place alive, to see Yu-Wan's dream realized. Most of all, she was happy that she could be a part of it, a piece of the puzzle that, while small, still contributes to the whole. With a tired smile she yawned again and rubbed her sleepy eyes open, wincing initially at the brightness of the room. Her smile disappeared as her eyes adjusted to the light, and Aspen made her way over to the walk-in closet. On her way, Aspen took another look at Minette's empty bed, noticing that the teenager had, once again, neglected to properly make her bed. She let out a frustrated sigh and after a moment of deliberation, swam over and made the bed in Minette's stead.

"Is she ever going to make this bed herself?" Aspen grumbled in an irritated tone. She turned and continued to the closet, where she changed out of her sleep tee and into her uniform. When she finished dressing herself and looked in the mirror she noticed that each of her uniforms seem to have the same top button missing, which resulted in cleavage. Aspen shrugged, she would talk to Yu-Wan about getting her uniforms fixed before the grand opening. She tossed her sleep shirt into a basket near the door, darted across the room to the nightstand beside her bed and put on her necklace, bangles, gloves, and bell-strap. She then entered through the first door of the airlock, the water drained from the center room and her mermaid tail split into land legs before she exited through the second door into the Staff Deck.

"Should I check on Minnie?" Aspen looked down the hallway that led to Gumbi's room and considered checking on the two. After a moment she shook her head and instead headed upstairs to the Restaurant Deck, where Yu-Wan would probably be. The first thing Aspen noticed was that the tables had gotten dusty, they weren't cleaned often because Highwater Bistro hadn't actually opened yet. But now that the opening was a mere week away, Aspen decided it might be a good time to really start taking care of the place. She went to a supply closet and grabbed her favorite feather duster, the one with green feathers, and dimmed the lights of the room a tad. Soon after she had started working her way through the many tables of the deck, she noticed that Yu-Wan had snuck up beside her, but before he or Aspen could say anything, they were both surprised by an older fellow.

"Uhh..-" Aspen stood like a statue and simply watched the conversation unfold.


"Uh, can I help-"

"I want steak."

"Sir, we're not opening for another a week. I can reserve a table for you, but you might be on the waiting list for-"

"I checked the date with your smelly friend upstairs."

"I... will be right back. Aspen! Give this man some coffee or so-"

"Steak."

"Don't give him steak!"


Soon Yu-Wan had left to head upstairs and talk to Cosmo about this, the young mermaid assumed there had just been a misunderstanding. The creaky old cuttlefish fishman took a seat in the chair closest to him and looked up at Aspen.

"I'd like steak please." The old man repeated, a request that Aspen promptly discarded; she had every intention of following Yu-Wan's order.

"Well, can I start you off with a drink?" Aspen asked, while simultaneously dodging his request for cooked beef.

"Steak will be fine." The man persisted, showing no sign of changing his mind.

Aspen sighed, she decided that she would just have to try and distract this fellow until Yu-Wan got back.

"Let me start you off with a coffee." Aspen stated before leaving for the kitchen. She grabbed two coffee mugs and the freshly brewed pot of coffee before returning to the table and taking a seat across from the elderly fishman. She poured the man a cup of coffee and then poured one for herself, then decided to try and get him talking about something before he started asking for steak again.

"So.. I'm sure this misunderstanding will get straightened out." Aspen blew over her mug of coffee to try and cool it down some, she wasn't a fan of burning her mouth. "I hope you'll come back next week for our grand opening, there will be steak with your name on it, you are technically our first customer after all." Aspen took a sip of her coffee and gave the man a friendly smile.

"Today is the grand opening, and I want steak today." The man repeated, to which Aspen didn't know how to reply. She didn't want to be rude and tell him he was wrong, but Aspen was absolutely positive that the grand opening was coming up in 7 days, she even had it on her calendar! Nonetheless, something about this situation made her feel uneasy; it was one thing for an elderly man to get the date on the poster wrong and show up a week early, but why did Cosmo let him in? Aspen frowned slightly and took another big sip of her coffee, tapping her fingers nervously against the porcelain mug.

"I really hope Yu-Wan gets back soon."

OOC
Edited by ThtGyNmdFsh, May 14 2013, 08:42 AM.
Nei -- Inventor, Doctor, Marksman, Navigator -- Threat: 0
SD Earned: 110 Beli: 10,100,000 Location: Grand Line
Strength: 30 Speed: 30 Stamina: 27 Accuracy: 50 Fortune: 37 Focus: 65

Dialogue Color: #6B8E23
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Khepri
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Owner of Khepri
[ *  *  * ]
Some several days ago a dank, cadaverous freeloader was brought onto the Bistro. He began with the intention of eating a full meal with his roll of bloody money and leaving, however that didn’t actually happen. He remembered that Minnie’s sandwich had sapped him of more strength than he even had to begin with, and he was afraid what a full meal would do to him. So he kindly attempted to decline any meal upon his entrance. And just why would someone come to the bistro if they weren’t planning on eating? Perhaps they were in search of a job?

Sadly, Cosmo’s hernia was still bothering him something fierce when he came into the bistro, his various shouts of “Oh dammit! My innards are completely twisted!” was taken as nervousness by Yu-awn. When Cosmo was taken into a back room, he simply believed he was going to get some medical attention or help to contact a ship heading elsewhere but no. He was brought into an interview, and in the fever dream brought on by the pain of his intestines coiling around his spine, he uttered some words he could no longer remember, and somehow that combination got him hired as maître d'hôtel. Cosmo would’ve declined, but for the first time in forever he was offered a job that paid.

Onwards to the sunless portion of this awkward morning, coffee cans littered the floor of Cosmo’s drab and clammy room. For once, his headache had subsided, and he could rest easy knowing that he had at least seven days before he had to actually exert any headache causing effort. Before he got out to the podium to buy his time, he did his usual morning rounds: coffee, shower, coffee, cologne, coffee, brush teeth, coffee, casual clothes, coffee, check on Gumbi (to no avail, Cosmo only knew how to treat humanoids), coffee, breakfast, coffee, work clothes, coffee.

Today practice didn’t go as practiced. There was an actual person there in the darkened morning, an old and shriveled man of some hundred or more years. Cosmo tried his best to dismiss the man with some decency, “We’re not open yet, you’re too early, go away before I get my cudgel.” in response the man looked at a flyer, which caused him to leave. There was a bit of a miscommunication in truth; the old man was a bit early, lunch didn’t start until 11, it was still 5. A few minutes later the man returned, flyer still in hand, not remembering ever having entered in the first place. Before Cosmo could shoo him off again, Cosmo had said flyer thrust right into his face, cracking his front teeth.

That was the green youth’s first chance to read the fliers that had been sent out. Cosmo’s bloodied jaw swung open to a blank and surprised utterance of, “. . .” which really emoted the state of disbelief which cut through his apathy. After several long minutes of silence, Cosmo finally found the words to sum up his little bit of feeling, “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding.” Which was met with a full powered whack from the old man’s fishbone cane, he was an old man, and he did not appreciate young men cursing in front of him, even if they were a horrifyingly smelly, alcoholic fishman . Dazed and even more bloodied, Cosmo’s hand swung at the velvet rope, causing it to unhook at one end. Without intent, the old man was given passage into the restaurant.

Consciousness returned to Cosmo only several instants later. He looked back down the stairs, ready to get the cudgel and handle this situation the Skysian way. For a moment their eyes met; the senile old man gazed into the dead eyes of Cosmo, with his own dead eyes no longer able to hide under the black of his sunglasses with the sun in rise. Cosmo let out a long exhausted sigh. It was going to be one of those days, and there wasn’t much he could really do about it.

Purupurupuru

…Unless doing nothing was all he could really do about it.

The hours passed and this day brought on the de jure grand opening, with the de facto and prepared one off by a week. Cosmo’s job meant that he was at the forefront of the chaos, but his demeanor and drug induced haze from his violent hernia correction calisthenics, allowed him to muscle through. The incessant clamoring of the den den mushi, was only second to the incessant clamoring of the crowd forming the line in front of the podium. The air wait was thick with a unique and almost unsettling stench; not of rotting flesh, or cooking, but of the thick, alcoholic fumes of cheap Skysian cologne.

Cosmo stood at his post, his back bent, showing the jutting protrusion of the break in his vertebrae, which poked through the three layers of fancy clothing he wore. His attention was focused on the neither customers nor the den den mushi, but was instead on what appeared to be an opened magazine which took his eyes away from the bleached white skeleton clinging to the podium, and the rather upset lady behind it.

He had since abandoned his bloodied clothes, and adopted far more suitable work clothes. Of course, being a male his choice was rather limited, and he was stuck with a silky white dress suit, a black dress vest, a red bowtie, black slacks, and a very nice pair of polished black loafers. He carried himself like he always did, which hardly fit the upgrade in wardrobe. His look was sullen, although not as sullen as usual, leading to more of a concentration of boredom rather than the usual and much more grim emotions that made up Cosmo’s personal spectrum.

Somehow, over the loudening purupurupuru, and the starved cries of resorting to cannibalism from some survivors from a shipwreck of months past, Cosmo was able to hear the pitter-patter of his boss traveling up the stairs. That seemed to be enough to make him care, because the very thought caused Cosmo to lurch his back backwards into a loud snap. He tossed the magazine aside, and slapped the hand of the skeleton, causing it to creak backwards and scatter into individual bones on the ground.

However, he did not bother to remove the sign that he had put on the edge of the podium’s little table, because he felt that was pretty important. The rather nice bronzed “Luncheon Break” sign had been the ire of Cosmo for the few days he had been hired. So he took it upon himself to scratch out the “lunch” part and simply made it into a sign that stated “on Break”, which worked out better for him in the end. Either way, with his boss coming into sight, Cosmo propped himself onto his elbow and over the sound of neglected customers both near and far Cosmo uttered, “Before you say anything, boss: The flyers said today is grand opening. I was going to check with you, but then I didn’t think it was worth your time or anyone’s, really.”

When he looked down in some attempt to get eye contact with Yu-awn, he caught a glimpse of the cuttlefish in a bit of a word wrestle with Aspen. His head still rang from when the fishman smacked him upside the head with his fishcane, and blood still leaked from the where the bones poked into his skull. Even in age, a fishman’s strength was immense, and Cosmo knew he was lucky to be alive. He sighed, “Old guy let himself in. I would’ve fought him off, but…” He sullenly stated, only to shrug and look back directly as Yu-awn, “Anyway, you can relax. The podium is closed indefinitely, until the scheduling conflict is resolved.”

In the background of all this, there was a sound which could more reasonably pierce through the likes of the den den mushi’s call and the noisiness of desperately hungry survivors. The retching of a sea king, which really should have killed the appetite of most people, as normal and much quitter human retching often did. So that should’ve been some relief.
Edited by Khepri, May 14 2013, 05:52 PM.
Leens & Khepri by Neon


Andrei Myshkin • Holy Paladin • Thief/Entertainer • Underdogs • Rank: Ensign • SD Earned: 285 • Beli: Some number • Location: Khepri

Xanthippe • Sheepherder • Weapon Specialist/Chef • Odd Jobs • Threat: 0 • SD Earned: 40 • Beli: 500,000 • Location: Silent Hill

Percival Aloysius Periwinkle • Legitmiate Businessman • Merchant/Marksman • No Crew • Bounty: 130,000,000,000 Extol • SD Earned: 148 • Beli: 21,000,000 • L: Alabasta

Others
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Shamma
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no fun
[ *  *  *  * ]
He struck in the dead of the night.

Carpenter by day, thief by night; all street urchin. His talents with woodwork served as the perfect foil for his other more devious activities. Clueless sea merchants would seek out his ship work, unaware that all his knowledge and designs were pinched from more creative minds. Though the quality of his resources could not be questioned, his prices were extortionate and justified only by false rumours he had spread about his legendary status as a shipwright. And that was merely the first stage of the con.

As the moonlight reflected against the ocean waves, an impish creature swam beneath the water. In the dark waters he was practically invisible, his dark blue form awkwardly paddling against the currents of the bobbing vessel he had helped construct merely a few days earlier. Once he reached the smooth seastone hull, his stubby fingers grasped at the stone in search for the defect he had implemented into the final draft.

The second stage of the con was kept a secret from everyone that worked from him. The sea urchin was intelligent enough to realise that even a false reputation could be ruined if his lunar activities got out. He made sure to add in the little gaps, the small innocuous hatches that nothing could possibly fit through bar a rather determined midget… he had passed this one off as water conditioning to allow better flow of water through the ship… such devious use of bullshit even for him.

Bubbles of delight wriggled free from Aladid’s sharp jaw as his hand caught hold of the disguised handle on the hull. With a small amount of effort, he pulled it loose and with it a small hatch opened up just barely big enough for his prickly body to fit through. His teeth started to gnash, a silent underwater cackle as he slipped inside the gap and closed it off behind him.

Who would blame the carpenter for the robberies? Maybe one day an investigative team would connect the dots between ships he had been lead carpenter in constructing being robbed a few days after they were completed, but by then he would be long gone. Perhaps settled down with a harem of sea urchinettes, a bathing pool of wealth and the world’s best flambee shark meat…

“Hm?”

The water drifted at just above his waist in this room. The chumps that had tasked him with building this ship were fellow fishpeople and though he detested his own kind less than he detested other species, they were still fishfreaks that he was going to rob blind. Many of the rooms on the lower deck were specifically designed to be half-submerged, this being the largest of them though he had never bothered to ask what they would keep inside it. Clearly it was not vacated, the room pitch black and nearly silent apart from…

“Again…” Aladid muttered curiously, hearing the ever so slight disturbance in the waist high water before it rippled against his scarred belly. He might have notched it up to the simple rocking of the vessel, but this ship was designed with stability in mind as the customers wanted to run a restaurant on it. Ridiculous idea.

A little disturbed, the sea urchin started to make his way towards the set of stairs out of the room. Though it was pitch black in the room, the master thief had memorised the designs of the ship so he could navigate them with his eyes closed if necessary. The floor was at a slight slant, so the water level dropped as he made his way towards the exit of the room.

Until he heard the mighty ”RWAAARGH!”




In moments of extreme danger, the sea urchin always adopted the same curled up position and mentally switched off. He had taken many beatings in this stance, able to drift away and dull out the sensations of the painful blows hailing down on him until they stopped. It was how he emerged from the belly of the beast, rolling to a sudden stop as the wave of unspeakable fluids flowed past him and contaminated the water.

Aladid did not stir right away. The warmth of the creature’s innards had been a little soothing during his slumber, the quilled fishman miraculously avoiding the acidic stomach acids of the beast when his spines had come stuck on the walls of the creature’s cavernous throat. It was the unpleasant aroma that stirred him from the snooze, and then as he uncurled and stretched out in the mix of water and vomit did he realise his strange surroundings.

He was still on board.

Even when fate had dealt him an awful hand, the thief had managed to crawl out on top. Aladid was quick to take stock of the situation and glanced around the room. He spotted the beast that had surprised him in the night time right away, and also noticed the chubby minnow covering her eyes and squealing.

Was she also to be a victim of the sea monster? He could make excellent use of her distraction.

The diminutive fishman flipped onto his front, not particularly caring about the grotesque substance he was about to crawl through. In his life time, Aladid had scrambled through much worse things than mere seaking vomit and survive. Fortunately the room was lit up, it was probably daylight outside too if his body clock could be trusted. There was a minor groan from his belly, the alarm bell that signaled breakfast had regrettably been missed and no early luncheon had been served to replace the missed meal. The sea urchin ignored his belly as he swam/crawled towards the exit of the chamber.

If he could escape undetected, the thief was confident in his abilities to hide away in one of the empty compartments of the vessel until a better opportunity to strike presented itself.
Piper • Pirate • Martial Artist/Weapon Specialist • Hot RocketsBounty: 343,000,000 • SD Earned: 881 • Beli: 259,500,000 • Location: Raijin Island

Jija Juju • Marine • Inventor/Marksman/Scholar/Doctor • FioreRank: Rear Admiral • SD Earned: 579 • Beli: 188,000,000 • Location: Couture Island, Grand Line

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Leens
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To fully describe what happened to Natalie in the past month would be paramount to describing some of the most awful life-changing events, ever. I mean, the first week wasn't so terrible, but it all turned nightmarish pretty quick. Like, when your house burns down and all your family is killed but you. Or when you lose all your limbs in an accident and then can't get disability. Getting swallowed whole by a massive sea monster and living in the creature's stomach for a whole week.. Like, most of these can be pretty traumatizing. And most of the time, that person would be wondering how it could get any worse? Well, Natalie was one such unlucky person.

Well, 'unlucky' didn't quite cover it. It had been a bad day already; The Duchy's funding was dead and the ragtag group was disbanded as such. Cosmo's body had been found later that day, an axe in his forehead. Upon being pronounced dead, the marines caringly (or not) gave him a viking funeral. Their time spent together had been short lived, but it was well spent- actually, Natalie had not cared much for Cosmo. His apathy was mildly humorous, at best, so his passing only bothered her slightly. It was always unsettling to see someone you had met and been around die, but not so bad when the two of you weren't close. Well, Cosmo was probably in a better place anyway. After that you had Hugo and Mary, and I guess they were worth missing. And then there was Cyrus. Despite being in a sort of psychotic breakdown during his time as the small unit's leader, he had managed to leave quit an impression on Natalie, and perhaps the rest of the group as well. His conviction to his ends, whatever they were, were certainly admirable, even going to so far as to get blown up by the St. Jesus...'s engine just to get the ship up Reverse Mountain.

"Damn, what do I even do now?" The easy answer was probably stick around Gesso and get a job or go back home or something equally boring. The less obvious answer was to get a ship and keep sailing the grand line. The bright-haired girl had already done so much traveling alone in her lifetime, so much so that she dreaded the prospect of more solo work. But if there were even the smallest chance that she could meet another quirky group of people to hang out with for awhile, that boring traveling was probably worth it.

So Natalie went to the docks to rent a boat, but the marines decided they didn't have any. The local place was fresh out for some reason, something about a "Republic" messing with the joint. The only thing left for the fiery youth was to take the St. Jesus.... Any nervousness Natalie had felt at the prospect of traveling alone had multiplied about one-thousand fold.

The metal deathtrap had sputtered out onto the ocean without too much trouble, but Natalie couldn't help but miss the fresh air while sailing on the thing. If there were a being watching over this girl, it's existence was not evident. So the first day wouldn't be so bad. For some reason the ship was stocked to the brim with eggs, so that's all Natalie had to eat. "Protein isn't all that bad a diet I guess." If the St. Jesus... hadn't also been stocked with drinking water, this might have actually been a dismal situation. Natalie played Go-Fish with herself for about five minutes before realizing how dumb it was and switching to Soulitar.

Day two was spent with more card games and broken up by meals and pacing. The teen had quite a bit of energy and had no desire to do exercises on the slimy floor, so walking circles around the ship would have to do. "Hopefully we will find land soon.." she said, to nobody in particular.

Day four was an especially boring day. Natalie stared at the wall for awhile and mused on the whereabouts of her late comrades. Had Cosmo found peace in death? Probably not, that dude was bound to be miserable no matter what. Whenever Cyrus's memory came up Natalie would roll the prayer necklace around her neck, giving a slight smile to break her usual frown. Cyrus had most definitely "cracked" right around the end there, but even his company would have been welcome to pass the time around the St. Jesus.... Mary would also have been a good companion; it had been nice having another girl around. Natalie couldn't help but miss the bunch of misfits.

Day eight. Eggs had long since become a bland flavor and they often resembled frowning faces in the pan. Natalie couldn't figure out why they were so displeased. Was it because they missed the company of side-dishes? Were eggs capable of 'missing' things they lacked? "Well, can you?" Unsurprisingly, the eggs didn't respond to the inquiry. She turned to the wall opposite the stove now, glaring at the faces that stared across from her. The King, Queen, Jack and Joker all met her gaze with unwavering fervor, almost as if in spite. If they didn't want to be plastered to the metal wave, maybe they shouldn't have conspired against her in their latest game of Go-Fish.

"Day, um, thirteen?" The girl gave an honestly confused look at the wall as she counted the marks, before nodding to herself and striking the metal with all her might, adding a thirteenth small dent in it. "Yeah, thirteen." Her knuckles would probably be bleeding at this point, but she had wrapped her hand in cloth a few days prior, and it seemed to inhibit further self-injury. Natalie had found a black felt marker earlier that day, and now she went to draw on one of the adjacent walls. To draw some company.

Day sixteen. "Day one. Well, maybe not. Time doesn't work the same these days. Time seems to have abandoned me. I've been our here three years and- no, of course I'm not exaggerating! As I was saying, if time passes, can it go backwards? Sometimes I think maybe I'm going backwards. Nothing about my condition on this ocean changes, so is it possible that I'm actually retreating through time back towards Gesso? Will I see Cyrus and Mary, Cosmo and Hugo?"

"No, probably not."

"But why not?.." The girl had genuine sorrow in her tone as she hopelessly questioned the figure. His outline was in black because that's the only color on hand, but one look could tell anyone that he was a watermelon. He had a small monocle, and was obviously very wise. He didn't answer Natalie's question this time.

Day twenty. Natalie was awoken from her delirium by sudden shaking, presumably of the ship, and intimidating roars. In her suspension of reality she wasn't aware of what was going on until it was too late. She had put up no fight, and now an angry somewhat melodramatic tsundere's life was forfeit. When Natalie finally came to her senses she was in some slimy cavern, and all she could hear was the terrible gnashing of great jaws.

"There you have it, wasted all my time in that stupid awful boat just to be eaten by some monster! Now Jean is gone and I'm all alone! I just..I just..." Natalie broke into sobs, which caused her to choke from taking in that nasty smell of stomach. She clenched her necklace tight now, as if to hope for some sort of salvation. It didn't really need to be Cyrus or any of his gods, anyone would do. Natalie waited..but nobody came. Her cries went unanswered. She crawled about and did her best to avoid the stomach acids, clinging to a low-hanging bit of St. Jesus...'s wood that was sort of stuck to the stomach lining.

Day two. We've come full circle now. It's not until faced with one's own death that most people ever come to terms with it. Well, this was certainly to be Natalie's time of dying. She had affixed that bloodied red bandana to her forehead, giving her already grim visage a sort of war-time guerrilla look. Covered in bile, engine fuel, and god-knows what else, Natalie did her best to stay strong. She was only crying every other hour now, and only for minutes. The reality of the situation had long since sunken in; all the girl could do was continue to hold on and wait for her end.

Day five. Beyond the creature's normal diet, it has been ingesting black liquid that is beyond foul. The stuff would come in such quantity as to be difficult -nigh impossible- to avoid, and as such Natalie ended up getting soaked in the stuff. She had somehow managed to survive for nearly a week in a sea creature's stomach, at one point trying to eat a fish that had come down as a whole. It was disgusting, and Natalie lost her appetite. The effects of dehydration were strong now, and the orange-haired teen was having trouble keeping consciousness. The Reaper would be here soon.

Dawn of The Final Day. Natalie had been awoken from something comparable to a coma by the vague rumbling sounds. It was apparent the sea creature had been sick for awhile now, but it seemed the condition was coming to fruition. Against all odds, Natalie King had survived a week inside a Sea King's stomach. She was probably going to die soon, being pretty malnourished, but here at this moment she felt invigorated; actually maybe just angry, she felt really exhausted. So the sea monster was sick? Well who cares! It had eaten Natalie whole, not even giving her the courtesy of killing her right off the bat. Not even having the energy to think out loud like usual, Natalie cursed the beast mentally.

"You..suck..."

She brought one weak fist up and smacked the thing's stomach, as great as she could muster..which wasn't really great at all. Then she closed her eyes, probably for the last time. It was time to give up..

"OFTFGFBFA" With a great heave Natalie was caught up in all that nasty liquid around her, being enveloped by it entirely and swept toward some opening. The plank that had been her lifeline had become dislodged, and she curled around it as she was puked into salvation. The fall had been sort of violent, and with a *thud!* Natalie fell to and slid along the floor of whatever ship she had been deposited in. She promptly uncurled from the plank and sputtered and coughed, desperately breathing in the first fresh air she had been exposed to in a week. This allowed her to now fully grasp the smell of her clothes and hair and entire body, which prompted her to gag and vomit a little herself. The whole thing was pretty gross, but so was being stuck in a goddamn sea monster's belly for a week. Finally, the girl uttered her first words in what felt like a millennium-

"..where..am I.." it was too much effort to try and stand up, so Natalie just did her best to sit up, but she just ended up laying on her back in the filth. She closed her eyes and breathed deep; disbelief didn't remotely cover the range of emotion that Natalie felt at this moment. She was so overwhelmed that she cried once more.

But these were tears of joy. She had survived probably the most terrible event of her life, and now she was ready to just forget about it and repress it like normal people do. It didn't matter where she was. Natalie King cried tears of joy, an honest-to-god smile on her face.
Edited by Leens, May 17 2013, 11:44 AM.
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Titan
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Minette often wished that she could do something about her tendency to freeze up in frightening situations, because she was fully aware that such a reaction was inevitably inconvenient and counterproductive—honestly, she knew better, but she couldn’t help it. Courage wasn’t a physical attribute like strength or stamina, which could at least be trained through exercise at the gym. How was she meant to get braver? After she’d been kidnapped by the mafia, back when Minette was just a young guppy, she’d had a couple of therapy sessions, and her therapist stressed that she wasn’t a coward; she just had sensitive nerves due to a highly traumatic experience. Well, that might have been true, but at the moment, Minette’s highly sensitive nerves were really not cooperating.

”Not here, not here—” the minnow girl continued to repeat, as her breaths grew shallower.

With her eyes hidden as they were, Minette was effectively blind, but she was able to hear Gumbi’s snorts and growls as the sea monster finished retching. Gumbi sounded remarkably relieved, actually, as if she was glad to rid her belly of whatever had disagreed with her digestive system. These softer cries quickly gave away to more aggressive growls, as she was apt to emit when faced with foreign and potentially hostile creatures. The prospect of nearby lifeforms was both interesting and alarming, but not enough to coax Minette out from the shell that she had retreated into. Fortunately, she could not stay hidden forever, and was eventually pushed to action by two different sounds.

The first was a faint rumbling noise that noise that most people might not have picked up on, but as an experienced waitress, Minette was able to instantly identify the whimper of a hungry stomach. As a representative of the restaurant industry, Minette felt obligated to wage war against hunger whenever she could, so if someone needed food, she would deliver it! The second noise, however, was of greater priority—sobs, and a fragmented question, coming from either the same person, or somebody else.

”W-who’s there?” Minette asked, tentatively dropping her hands to her sides, only to shriek and clasp her hands over her mouth when she saw the filthy, blackened woman in front of her. ”Uwaaah!”

Now, Minette was a fairly level-headed young fishwoman who rarely jumped to irrational conclusions. However, less than a week ago she had been shocked to learn that the undead were not limited to the fictitious realm of ghost stories intended to frighten little minnows, and considering that this girl seemed to have just been ejected from Gumbi’s jaws, it seemed reasonable to assume that she was another zombie as well. However, despite identifying the girl as a zombie, Minette was surprisingly calm. She believed in treating others with respect regardless of race or state of decomposition—Minette certainly wasn’t racist! Besides, Cosmo was a friendly enough guy, even if he was a bit grumpy in the morning. Well, and in the afternoon. And evening.

”Oh, h-hey there,” Minette said, not sure how to proceed. ”Sorry, um, you just startled me. D-did you get eaten by Gumbi? I’m so sorry about that! She didn’t mean it, you know, Gum just—she’s usually pretty good about not eating people, but she still destroys ships a lot. Are...are you okay?”

It seemed like a silly question to ask, because Minette was sure that if she got eaten by a sea monster, she would definitely be anything but “okay”, but at the same time she didn’t know what else to say, and when she was lost for words she tended to mostly apologize incessantly. It was also hard to focus with Gumbi still growling.

”Stoppit, Gum! Leave her alone, okay? You should say sorry to this poor zombie, too.”

Reluctantly, the beast muttered some kind of growl under her breath, but nobody else could know if it was really an apology or not.

”Anyway, miss, we’d better get you cleaned up. Are you hungry? You probably are... But if you are, then you’re in luck, because you’re at Highwater Bistro, the best restaurant in the world! We’re not opening for business for a week, but I’m sure I can find at least something yummy for you. You can wait right here, or...”

Frowning, Minette glanced at Gumbi. If she had eaten this person once, would she do it again? Maybe it would be best if they went to look for Yu-wan together.Minette wasn’t confident in her ability to handle situations at all, so whenever possible she tried to deflect responsibility onto the boss. He didn’t seem to mind cleaning up her messes for the most part, and although Minette felt bad about relying on him to bail her out of trouble so often, she knew that everyone involved would only feel worse if she tried to take care of matters herself.

”Come upstairs with me and we’ll get you taken care of. It’s this—eek, a spider!”

Minette pointed at a dark shape scuttling across the floor. It was by far the biggest bug that Minette had ever seen! Well, actually, was it an insect? She hadn’t gotten a good look, but the thing somewhat resembled a sweet gum nut, which reminded her of her favorite plant.

”H-hello? Is somebody there?”
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NeonCactus
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Yu-wan had half a mind to tear Cosmo's head off. It would probably come clean off at this stage, but his anger was swallowed up by his fear as he heard Gumbi's awful retching from below deck.

"That slimy menace is still sick!?"

He regretted opening his mouth as a few of the people in line gave him funny looks. This crowd would spread word of his failure to open along with health concerns. This could even lead to an investigation! He would need to get Minette behind the Den Den Mushi to sort this PR nightmare out. People loved her so much they would forgive a misprint in the otherwise kill-or-be-killed business of restaurant criticism.

He didn't like using her like that, but he did a lot of things for her, and it wasn't hurting anyone to grow the brand some more. Minnie herself certainly never raised any serious qualms about her face being plastered on everything they could think to sell. To be safe, he would check the size of the crowd and ask her first. Be a good grand- ...boss. For once.

He shook these personal thoughts from his mind and focused on the work at hand. Completely ignoring Cosmo's failure to overcome a man literally older than dirt, he forced himself past the mass of people trying to come in as politely as he could. The line was mercifully short after he really took account of it. Only 50 people.

He took a short breather outside in the fresh air. He couldn't really say everything was going better than expected, but it wasn't going quite as poorly as it could. Even without the rest of the first shift onboard, they could handle 50 people.

'A bit disappointing for opening night though.'

As if the fuse in a giant stick of dynamite, this single thought that flashed through his mind at this moment caused a strange calm in the ocean. There wasn't enough noise, no seabirds calling, the wind too still even for a slow day, and then they started to pop up. Small shadows on the horizon, almost as many as there were people in line. Even as they came into view, Yu-wan's mind failed to process it. They covered the entire skyline before he could identify them.

He could make out a sail.



"C-customers."

He dashed as fast as his feet could carry him back inside, knocking over the people in line without a second thought. They were all so meaningless now. They were a mere fraction of the problem, as important to the Bistro's life as a grain of sand to a beach. He stopped at Cosmo's podium and flipped open the scheduling book the zombie had failed to open before now. He grabbed the small pen that had also gone untouched and drew a thick black X in the middle of that days box. An unusable 15 minute deadzone in which no one could get tickets. He gave Cosmo a very serious look.

"No one."

Without confirmation or pause, he slammed the pen and booklet down in front of his absent minded employee and made a beeline down the stairs. There were more pressing matters to attend to. He was not only the only decent chef on this vessel, half the work force had to be waitressing as well. Speaking of waitresses...

"Aspen! Seat him and report to the kitchen." Yu-wan's whiskers pointed her to the small corner table near the kitchen door without his legs stopping for an instant. He rushed over to the door leading to Gumbi's garage. He needed everyone for this, maybe even Gumbi, but especially Minette. Hopefully she was in good form this morning, because nothing else was.
Maxwell Rogard
What He Has To Be
Rank: Lieutenant (15) SD Earned: 143 Beli: ::beli:: 34,820,000 Location: Where Justice Dwells
§ Strength: 67 § Speed: 36 § Stamina: 36 § Accuracy: 36 § Fortune: 43 §

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ThtGyNmdFsh
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The short exchange between Aspen and the cuttlefish fishman was interrupted when the two felt a slight rumbling beneath their feet, followed by the sound of sick retching from the deck below. Aspen knew that the sound had likely, no, definitely been caused by Gumbi, who had been fighting some sort of illness for the past week or so. The fishman had apparently noticed and simply gave Aspen a look, one that made her feel like she should explain the sickening noise and shaking.

"Umm, that would be one of our waitresses, Gumbi, poor girl has been very sick recently." Aspen hoped that the fishman would be satisfied with her short explanation and wouldn't want to investigate further. The fishman didn't seem to pay any mind to her explanation and took a single sip of coffee before opening his mouth to speak.

"Get your outift fixed, you won't be taken seriously with your chest hanging out like that, miss." The elderly fishman stated in an almost chastising tone, with a shaky finger pointed toward Aspen's less-than-modest uniform. Aspen glanced down and sighed lightly, she had totally forgotten to ask Yu-Wan about getting her uniforms fixed. Aspen looked back at the cuttlefish fishman and frowned slightly, though she didn't give any kind of response to his remark.

An awkward silence then seemed to fall over the two. The young mermaid's anxiety was only increasing with every passing minute as she went over nightmarish scenarios in her head. What if today truly was the grand opening of Highwater Bistro? They were not prepared to open by any stretch of the imagination, the tablecloths hadn't even been brought up from storage yet!

"Do you serve eggs?" The fishman's question cut the silence like a knife, and Aspen responded with a simple nod.

"Well I'd like eggs with my steak, and a glass of juice" Aspen thought for a moment to ask what kind of juice, but she figured anything would suffice and simply remained silent.

Aspen looked down into her half-empty cup of coffee and thought, maybe, she wasn't cut out to be a waitress. Minette was so much more sociable than she, and so much more energetic; though, she was also much more clumsy. Aspen's thoughts then drifted toward the events that led up to now, this customer showing up and being adamant that today was opening day, and her tapping against the mug cupped in her hands became less nervous and noticeably more frantic. She wanted Yu-Wan to get back already so she would know what was going on. Aspen brought the mug to her lips to take one large swig and finish off the remaining coffee, hoping that it would calm the nerves somewhat.

"Aspen!"

Aspen was surprised mid-drink as Yu-Wan came rushing downstairs and shouted her name. She spat an entire mouthful of coffee out, which probably ended up hitting the customer she was sitting across from. Immediately after she realized what had happened, Aspen's eyes widened and she shot up from her chair, grabbed the cloth that she kept tucked in her pocket, and started cleaning up.

"Seat him and report to the kitchen."

"B-b-but boss, h-he's already sea-.." Aspen was in such shock that she couldn't manage a better response before Yu-Wan had continued downstairs to the Staff Deck. Aspen growled, she was becoming slightly irritated at this whole ordeal, and it was beginning to show.

"I'm so sorry-.. uhm, actually, I never caught your name sir." Aspen continued cleaning off the table before turning her attention toward the Fishman, who seemed to be unphased by the accident. He cleared his throat once, twice, three times before taking a sip of coffee and clearing his throat an additional time.

"I'm Mortimer, and you are.." Mortimer leaned in closer to get a good look at Aspen's nametag as she was wiping down the table. He adjusted his glasses and squinted his eyes a bit before continuing with "Aspen?", to which the mermaid simply smiled and nodded at Mortimer. When she was done cleaning off the table she tucked the now dirty cloth back into her pocket and pulled Mortimer's chair back from the table.

"Alright Mortimer, Boss says I have to move you to another table, I hope it's not too much trouble." She said, offering her arm to help him to his feet. Mortimer waved his hand and shook his head, and with a simple "I've got it." pushed himself to his feet with his fishbone cane.

"Right this way, sir." Aspen walked Mortimer over to the corner table closest to the kitchen, which took a couple minutes. In the time it took them to close the distance a ruckus had erupted from upstairs, where Cosmo's workplace was at. It seemed to Aspen that her worst fear had come to fruition; in the time she had known Cosmo he had never caused nearly the commotion that was going on, it was at least definite that he was no longer alone at his podium upstairs. Aspen grimaced slightly, refilled Mortimer on coffee, and went through the nearby door into the kitchen. The lights were already on and thus, the kitchen was significantly brighter than the dining room.

Aspen walked over towards the center of the kitchen and leaned against the island with her arms crossed. Her frustration had reached it's peak, she wanted to know exactly what was going on and she wanted to know now. She scowled and tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for her boss to show up with the others.
Nei -- Inventor, Doctor, Marksman, Navigator -- Threat: 0
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Khepri
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When Cosmo first met Yu-awn, all he had heard was his voice. His first bit of reasoning told him to look up, despite how painful it was for his neck. The man had a heavy presence to his voice, the bellowing and deep wise voice of one of those fishsages, if they were a thing. Having to look down make eye-contact with Yu-awn was still something that Cosmo hadn’t gotten used to. So whenever Yu-awn addressed him, Cosmo had a tendency to look inattentive, first snapping his neck upwards, as if he had given his half-assed respect to a giant, only to slowly turn down and give an awkward smile to the short and pudgy man who stood before him.

Not too much had to be gathered, though. For Cosmo’s first day of real work, things were already going a bit south. Although, in Cosmo’s defense, that old man could pack a serious wallop with his cane, and Cosmo’s now fractured skull could attest to that. The mention of Gumbi’s ongoing illness could only be met with a nod, “Yeah, she must’ve eaten something, maybe a person. I did a little research, and red hair dyes contain some chemicals that react poorly with a seaking’s digestive enzymes.” He blankly stated, whilst he still looked upwards. He had neglected to notice that Yu-awn had gone to take count.

Before long the old man was back, and he made quick work of Cosmo’s closed book. Much like the likes of the cuttlefish that had broken his skull, the old fishman Yu-awn had little trouble peeling back the hard leather cover of a new and unopened hard covered tome. There was a bit of surprise as Cosmo learned that this was not a novel, but an appointment book, but he at least took ease in the fact that there weren’t any appointments yet, and not for a while. Yu-awn’s utterance of “no one” was met with a nod, and a twist and a shrug towards the crowd who didn’t seem to notice or if they did, care.

Cosmo made the mistake of thinking that his original strategy was going to be perfectly valid. If he just ignored the crowd he’d be doing a perfectly acceptable service to the Highwater Bistro. So atop the book he rested his magazine and continued to read its vapid text. Every so often he’d repeat a bit of the passage he had read, making note of whatever the bubblegum popstar of the hour was up to in Jollywood.

The blended and unintelligible clamoring of the ground narrowed into a singular and more clearly, although no less welcomed voice. The one lady who had been there since moment one, a pudgy red-haired woman of noticeable impatience, “Sir. Please we are very hungry… She stated, thinking that would make a difference. After several seconds of silence from Cosmo she continued on, “Isn’t this place supposed to be open?” She went on, her already lackluster patience reaching its near end.

To end this once and for all, Cosmo closed his magazine and opened his mouth to utter a simple word of, “We’re currently not accepting any customers.” Which he thought would’ve been reasonable enough. However, among the angry and growing customers was a guant little girl or boy clutching a teddy bear, who broke from the crowd to look Cosmo in the eyes, “Please…” It uttered in a soft and weak voice that didn’t help to distinguish the gender of the child.

Of course, Cosmo put his head back down and put the bronzed “on break” sign up in full view. Their complaints were falling on deaf ears and all Cosmo could be bothered to do was utter a pre-programmed response, “I’m afraid I cannot let you all or really any of you people in at this time; you’re going to have to wait.” Cosmo frankly answered, not bothering to lift up his head, and instead putting the effort required towards reopening his magizine. Every so often a sound would break his attention for a moment, causing him to skip or stop at a word. However, Cosmo never thought it important to look up and see just what was happening. He was sure that that hammering and snapping of bowstrings wasn’t all that important, or he fully realized what was happening and he just didn’t care enough to stop it yet.

Something particularly undisputable came about. From the voice of the woman he had tried to shoo away, came a loud, shrill cry of, “cry havoc and let and let slip the dogs of war” which finally compelled Cosmo to give the woman his full attention. The moment he gave his attention was a moment and instant and terrible regret. His eyes crossed as he realized that a pitchfork was being sent directly at his head, with probably lethal intent. Mild hunger often made people cranky, but this was just ludicrous.

Cosmo’s reflexes took over and the open book made for a good enough shield or at least partially. The middlemost death spike on the pitchfork struck the book in the dead center, being slowed and eventually stopped by its pages. However, pitchforks, being the basis for tridents had more than one prong. Between the gaps of his fingers, Cosmo felt a sharp pain as the bladed sides of the pitchfork sliced through a thin layer of flesh and let loose a cloud of dust, as he had no more blood to spare. He fell backwards, wincing as he was taken aback by the full force of the thrown pitchfork.

He lowered the pitchfork carrying pierced leathery tome from his face and he looked up into the still ceiling of the restaurant. There was a lull in the violence for a moment and he was alone behind the podium, so he let out a sigh of relief. He tore the pitchfork from the book and slowly tried to stand up. There was a hard thwack as he was staggered again, only this time by the likes of a flaming metallic sphere. Once he regained his footing he stomped the ball, hoping to put out the fire before it spread to rest of the ship.

With the fire defeated he looked up, and his eyed widened once they returned to the crowd. The hungry customers had cobbled together a wheeled battering ram and within seconds the machine was en route to the podium, its wheels grinding and creaking, although still much less than the rattling that made up Cosmo’s movements. To either side of the battering ram was a stagnant trebuchet, both being loaded with balls of hot lead. Cosmo’s reaction was but a simple blink, which truly emphasized bewilderment. The haste in which this escalated was quite staggering.

Before the iron seaking head of the battering ram could begin to smash into the podium it came to a complete and total halt. From behind came an angry woman who had since painted herself in woad dye, and was now carrying a sword which she had set afire. She climbed atop of the battering ram, raising her sword to the sound of the beat of makeshift wardrums, “Mr. Hostess tear down your podium! Allow us entry so we may eat hardy.”

Cosmo’s lips emulated a straight line and his eyes showed only slight shock by this point, “Hold up. Hold up.” Cosmo dully repeated, standing behind the podium, swatting away the occasional ball of lead with the now beaten tome. There was more silence as he stood up, looking down as they halted their violent advance. Cosmo’s face showed obvious signs of trying to think of something quickly, and he ended up failing in that regard, “Now listen.” He calmly said. This time there was no more listening, no more reasoning.

“No longer will we listen, it is time to die. We shall dine, and no force on this blue planet or from your wretched underworld can stop us, and even if you could, reinforcements are on the horizon. This siege is already lost, and surrender is no longer an option, you aloof, green fool.” The child uttered, sitting atop the throne crafted from waiting room chairs. It rested its cheek on its chin, and gave a wave of its hand. The battering ram began its move once more, and the snap of the trebuchets sent balls of fiery lead launching towards the podium, whilst the battering ram hammered away at the wood.
Leens & Khepri by Neon


Andrei Myshkin • Holy Paladin • Thief/Entertainer • Underdogs • Rank: Ensign • SD Earned: 285 • Beli: Some number • Location: Khepri

Xanthippe • Sheepherder • Weapon Specialist/Chef • Odd Jobs • Threat: 0 • SD Earned: 40 • Beli: 500,000 • Location: Silent Hill

Percival Aloysius Periwinkle • Legitmiate Businessman • Merchant/Marksman • No Crew • Bounty: 130,000,000,000 Extol • SD Earned: 148 • Beli: 21,000,000 • L: Alabasta

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Shamma
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no fun
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It turned out that being eaten by some gigantic seamonster was a hunger inducing affair.

Having slept for most of his time inside the beast, Aladid was not either physically tired nor was he mentally tired from the stress of it all, a lifetime of misfortune giving him the mental fortitude to handle all future scenarios. Yet as he crawled/swam across the semi-aquatic room, his scarred belly started to rumble and his mouth watered at the mere thought of food. Being short in stature, the sea urchin did not require much substance to satisfy his hunger, unlike his unsatisfiable greed for other things.

Yet this was supposedly a restaurant boat and Aladid liked to think such a place would provide some fancy cuisine for his tiny rows of teeth to sink into. Not that he was going to pay for any of it, he was the infiltrator at that very moment, not the paying customers (Aladid also much preferred to be the paid customer). He was assuming it was daytime, and that meant the kitchen would be busy preparing food for orders. He could easily sneak in and steal away a dish without being noticed...

Yes, he would target the kitchen first. Then stow away in some hiding place until dark.

“Perfect, perfect.” The prickly thief muttered, pausing in his schemes when he felt a set of eyes on him. As an individual that got picked on often, the fishman was overly paranoid about being stared at, to a point where he had developed an almost sixth sense to alert him when others were staring... it was always warning him when he thought about it, but in this instance he really did feel like someone had noticed him.

Aladid half turned to glance over his spiky shoulder, nearly poking his own eye out on one of the spines. The panicky minnow girl was looking right at him, the fright in her eyes and hesitation in her words telling the small carpenter all he needed to know. This chubby girl was in a state of panic and needed calming, so the sea urchin raised one of his stubby arms and gave her a thumbs up.

“Just a figment of your imagination, ma’am.” Aladid reassured with a toothy smile. “Good luck with the baby.”

Aladid turned back round and continued to scurry away, leaving the pregnant minnow with the seamonster and zombie creature. It would be a terrible loss of life if they were to conform to their stereotypes but there was little he could do about that. The sea urchin reached the stairs, designed unfortunately for normal sized people, so he had to take exaggerated steps to actually climb them normally. Sometimes when no one was looking, he would just clamber up steps like a toddler as it was easier that way.

Reaching the top of the small stairway after much effort, Aladid decided to stop and wipe away some of the smears on his clothing from his time in the seamonster. All sorts of disgusting gunk had settled on his threads. He was not in worse shape than the other creature the beast had coughed up, but he would not be against finding a bath after raiding the ship’s kitchen.

Were those footsteps?

“Hm?”

Suddenly the door at the top of the stairs swung open, knocking the sea urchin off his feet and flying across the room.
Piper • Pirate • Martial Artist/Weapon Specialist • Hot RocketsBounty: 343,000,000 • SD Earned: 881 • Beli: 259,500,000 • Location: Raijin Island

Jija Juju • Marine • Inventor/Marksman/Scholar/Doctor • FioreRank: Rear Admiral • SD Earned: 579 • Beli: 188,000,000 • Location: Couture Island, Grand Line

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Leens
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"Zombies...?" No, Natalie was not a zombie. Most definitely, positively, one-hundred percent not one of the living dead. She had known a man comparable to one, however he was gone and dead now. Certainly not coming back from the grave, at least. The girl would have felt bad for Cosmo, but at this moment she could feel nothing but sorry for herself. It wasn't a lot to ask honestly; being stuck in a seaking's stomach for a week is generally pretty traumatic and all. This all sort of wove into the whole not being okay thing. Like, who would be okay after that? Pretty much nobody, and definitely not Natalie.

"Food, however.." Yeah, maybe after cleaning off all the bile and disgusting-everything-else, food might seem like a good idea. The orange-haired teen was used to eating quite often, as was necessary for a growing girl who exercised way more than was usual, but at the moment it was tough to prepare for a future with food. A proper shower was in order. "Or a dip in bleach."

Natalie turned over and, with a groan, began standing up for the first time in awhile. It sort of hurt to move, what with being starved and in a generally weakened state, but this young girl was fairly tough and managed with only molar-clenching levels of effort. After a few moments Natalie was standing and surveying the room, only just now seeing the fish girl who had been chatting her up this whole time.

"So, did you save me, or what?" Minette wasn't too striking at first glance, what with her meek demeanor, but as events went progressed it seemed that this girl had dominion over the seaking (who was still growling for some reason). Natalie totally wasn't accepting her half-assed apology.

Natalie wanted to snap an angry comment at Minette about the whole ship-destruction thing, but she held her tongue at the mention of being on a restaurant. The only way this could be amended was a nice bath, new clothes, and lots of good food; Natalie didn't give a shit about replacing her boat. Minette had already promised two out of three, so for now Natalie would go along with the minnow and try to make friends. She was about to move when the journey was ruined by the appearance of another strange creature, this time with spines. Natalie wasn't too fond of spines, or sea urchins, because they definitely weren't cute.

"You're obviously real.." There was no way Aladid could fool this smart gal, no sir. Well, his ruse was pretty dumb, so I suppose anyone could have seen through it. Natalie managed to keep a straight face as he scurried away, but she couldn't help but chuckle when hit with the door. "See, it's like nothing ever happened. I'm fine and not scarred in any way." The girl was obviously not fine, and she would definitely take scars away from this whole experience. Mental breakdown was imminent, but somehow Natalie was showing an amazing talent at repressing awful things.

She was having a hard time repressing the stink that clung to her, though. The girl rushed ahead towards the newly-opened portal, hoping and praying that there would be a bath just beyond it.
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NeonCactus
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[ *  *  *  * ]
I'M SO SORRY I'M A FAILURE IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN

Yu-wan walked in, the room smelled. He ignores Aladid's possibly carreer ending injury, mistaking him for inanimate Gumbi-vomit, which he pretty much is. Natalie ran up to him. 'She doesn't look half bad, get a little cleaned up, she'd look okay in the waitress outfit. Way too young though. Aspen looked amazing. She'd look even better with-' He slapped himself, focusing on issue at hand.

She is obviously either a customer that snuck in through the back, or a victim of Gumbi's ship-eating tendencies. Either way, he has to be polite to her, lest she refuses to eat here/sues them.

“Ah, madame. So sorry for this inconvenience. We're actually not open today, if you head to the kitchen a server will help you to a shower and then the door.” Maybe not polite enough...

Yu-wan rushed over to Minette and hoists her over his head with both whiskers. There is little time, and the crowds can hardly be contained any longer. He feels their hunger from the decks above. He pushes past the smelly teenager, being decidedly impolite now, and runs to the kitchen himself.

“Aspen, the crowd thirsts for our lifeblood. Some diabolical agent of the underworld has nearly ruined us. I need all the employees awake and ready to go work... ten? Ten minutes. Minette is running damage control. Hopefully, Cosmo survived the outburst...”

He left as quickly as he arrived, probably disappointing Apsen's curiosity still. He also completely neglected to tell her about the vomit stained teenager he had pointed in her direction. Hopefully that just worked out, somehow.

He set Minette down gently at a nearby table. The dull roar from above filtered down the stairwell. “Do you hear them? That crowd out there thinks we're opening today. The masses are impatient and violent when hungry. People have skipped meals for God's sake!” He stopped and collected himself, taking a deep breath. He could tell she was still shaken by what had happened with Gumbi and he needed her in perfect condition. “I can't calm them down. I'm not strong enough, but they love you. You're the face of the Bistro and... I know it's asking a lot after you've done so much for me, but you have to tell those people the news. Can you do that for the Bistro?”
Maxwell Rogard
What He Has To Be
Rank: Lieutenant (15) SD Earned: 143 Beli: ::beli:: 34,820,000 Location: Where Justice Dwells
§ Strength: 67 § Speed: 36 § Stamina: 36 § Accuracy: 36 § Fortune: 43 §

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Titan
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Eek! It talked! For an instant Minette was alarmed by the prospect of a talking bug, before she reached the more reasonable conclusion that the purple creature was in fact not an insect at all. The minnow girl was emboldened by this realization but mostly she was confused by the nonsense that the prickly person was spewing.

What was he saying about her imagination? Honestly, Minette didn’t daydream much at all, not because she lacked imagination, but because she was usually busy—and besides, goodness knew that she was clumsy enough when she was trying to pay attention, so she hated to think what havoc she might wreak if she allowed her thoughts to wander!

”Baby? What baby?” Minette asked, looking around the room. She was seriously concerned that Gumbi might have actually devoured an infant child. However, despite the keen eye for detail that she’d developed after months of working in a crowded environment, the waitress neither saw nor heard any signs of a potentially undead baby in the vicinity. So Minette really could not fathom what the not-bug was talking about at all. Was it possible that he was so delusional with hunger that he could not even form coherent sentences?

She was briefly distracted by the few words that the zombie girl spoke. She really didn’t say much, but she could hardly be blamed. Spending days inside Gumbi’s stomach had to be a traumatic event.

”S-save you?” Minette echoed, before shaking her head. She tended to reflexively deny taking credit for anything. ”No, I was kinda just here...”

The waitress had more to say, but a flurry of movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention back to the other person that Gumbi had coughed up.

”Oh no!”

The poor soul’s suffering must have been quite extreme, because he proceeded to scurry up the stairs instead of waiting for Minette to find him something to eat. Perhaps he smelled the food upstairs? However, Minette had mistaken him for a creepy crawly and the Boss’s eyesight was not exactly what it used to be, so she thought that if he were allowed to run rampant upstairs he might find himself on the wrong end of some unpleasant business, like being swatted. Before she could warn him through, the door swung open and swatted him off his feet.

Gumbi growled, her voice saturated with irritation. As a young, maturing sea monster she appreciated—needed—her privacy, and she had made it clear that she expected visitors to announce themselves, or at least knock, before barging in on a potentially personal moment. It was because of rude intrusions like these that she had been incessantly lobbying for a lock for her door. Was it not bad enough that she was already ill? Did everybody and their grandfathers really have to congregate in her personal quarters? By Neptune...

”Boss!” Minette exclaimed, a little surprised as the old fishman rushed in and slapped himself. Well, maybe there’d been a mosquito on his face. In general, because she saw Yu-wan as the resident expert on all matters restaurant-related, she didn’t like to question his actions, even when they made little logical sense, but when he mistook the zombie for a customer she knew that she had to say something.

”No, no, Boss, she’s here because Gumbi—uwaah!”

Before she could finish her explanation, Minette was lifted off her feet and carried out of the room. If she hadn’t known Yu-wan she would have thought she was being kidnapped, and even then, she still had a faint flashback to her encounter with the fishman mafia. Dazed and bewildered, Minette found herself not doing or thinking much of anything before she was set down next to a table. A little dizzy, she nearly fell over.

”What’s going on, Boss?” she squealed. ”Lifeblood? Underworld? Damage control?”

Uh-oh. Were they being besieged by zombies? Minette thought she could hear their inhuman moans coming from upstairs. Tears of fear and sadness started to well up in Minette’s eyes as she contemplated the likeliness of never seeing her home or family again. Maybe her father had been right—if she’d gone to Clamford like he’d wanted her to, then she wouldn’t have been in this situation! Now she was going to be devoured by the undead because she had not listened...

”What!? They think we’re opening today?”

That was even worse than a zombie outbreak! Well, perhaps Minette’s priorities were wrong, but from her perspective it would be one thing for the Bistro to fall to monsters, but if they disappointed hordes of customers, their reputation would be absolutely ruined! Minette knew she wasn’t very skilled or useful, but she had to try her best to salvage this situation for the sake of the restaurant she had essentially invested her future into.

The question was which side the miscommunication had stemmed from—the public’s, or the restaurant’s? Frowning, Minette reasoned that for so many people to think that the grand re-opening was today, they must have gotten the wrong information from some type of advertisement, like a flyer—

Minette paled.

”Whoops,” she whispered under her breath as she remembered jotting down the information that she sent to the printing company. She must have made a mistake! That meant that all of this was her fault! The minnow was too mortified to confess her guilt, but now she was doubly certain that it was her responsibility to get upstairs and take the heat for what she had done.

Despite the urgency of the situation Minette knew that greeting the hungry patrons after attending to a sick sea queen would be a bad idea, so she took a quick minette to rinse off and don her iconic waitress uniform before ascending the staircase toward her redemption. She expected to find a fairly ugly situation but the sight of the medieval siege weapons was somewhat more than she had expected. Still, the little minnow that could gripped all the courage she possessed tightly, took a deep breath, and stepped forward in front of the podium with her arms spread protectively.

”Stop it, everybody...” she requested somewhat meekly, before scrunching her eyes shut and trying again. ”STOOOOOP!”

Despite the valiant waitress’s best effort, it was virtually impossible for her to be heard over the din of the raucous crowd and the customers only grew louder when they saw her, but fortunately her presence also seemed to have a positive effect on them, as the loud voices began to sound slightly less angry, and the siege was temporarily halted. Most of the men and women assembled on the deck seemed somewhat pleased to see her, actually. After some time the surge of excitement began to die down and Minette was able to address the crowd, taking the microphone from Cosmo.

”U-um, good morning, everybody!” she began, flinching a little at the unnatural volume of her own amplified voice.

Then she hesitated. She had been in such a hurry that she had not had time to plan out her words, but then, knowing herself, she probably could not have come up with an elegant speech anyway. The boss seemed to want her to apologize to the patrons and tell them to come back another day, but as Minette stood there and looked upon the hopeful, hungry eyes that looked toward her for the promise of delivery from their famine, she knew that turning them away would not be an option, so she thought quickly.

”S-sorry, but um, we really didn’t expect so many people to show up for the Grand Re-opening, and um, if you would please just be patient, we’re trying to set up accommodations for you all as quickly as possible! Just so things don’t get too chaotic, we’ll be accepting you guys inside in small groups, if that’s okay. It’s just for the—”

As the patrons started to frown and look around at each other, Minette recognized what the problem was. Nobody was going to want to wait while others got to go in ahead, unless...

”W-wait!” Minette cried, holding a hand up before they started to riot again. ”For those of you who are willing to wait, I’ll um...take some pictures?”

For three seconds the crowd fell absolutely silent, leaving Minette uncertain as to whether or not they had been appeased, but then they erupted into a deafening roar of excitement, rushing forward with unstoppable force.

”We love you, Minette!”
”Me first, me first!”
”Outta my way, you idiots!”
”I saw her first!”
”She’s mine!”

Instantly Minette was swarmed by dozens of hands and drawn into the mob, disappearing into a vortex of fans and camera flashes.

”Nooooooooooooooo...
Edited by Titan, Jun 2 2013, 01:01 PM.
French Last Name: ✓
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Leens
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If Minette had not saved Natalie from the monster's innards, what could have?

"Wait a second.." The gears were turning in the orange-haired girl's head, and now things were starting to make sense. This fishgirl was on good terms with an allegedly vicious sea king? Before Natalie could inquire about the matter, as well as many other matters like where she currently was, a goofy-looking fish grandpa came through the portal that had opened seconds before. Though the old man was attempting to be polite, his apology could only be received as impersonal and lacking in the strongest sense of the word. It most definitely was not polite enough, and Natalie's expression began to turn sour.

"Just an inconvenience? I was in there for days, you jag!" With this statement Natalie's features went beyond her usual pout, and more to an angry glare. How dare that old coot try to clear up being eaten by a monster like it was some sort of minor misunderstanding! Natalie found herself barely able to contain her sudden outburst of anger, but the catfish hurriedly pushing past her and out the door made it a bit easier.

Haah....hoo...haah...hoo.." The girl's sighing was almost therapeutic, but what helped the most was the white-knuckle state of Natalie's clenching and unflinching fists. It seemed she had retaken her natural vigor, if perhaps in the extreme. From crying to elation to extreme anger, being swallowed and spit up came with a flurry of emotions. Natalie would have to work on quelling that and going back to being a hard-to-deal-with teenage girl. For now though, shower was top priority, so she stomped on up the last few steps and into the rest of some huge deck. It seemed to be filled with bedrooms, so Natalie wandered around aimlessly to let off some steam, but mostly to find a shower. It would be obvious to see where the orange-haired girl had gone by the tell-tale blotches of sick/medicine.

"I hope it's a lot of work to clean up." Natalie wasn't usually so sinister, but a girl's heart is certainly fickle. "Well, maybe just a little bit of work, if it's that nice minnow girl." Yeah, fickle.

After awhile Natalie arrived in some random room, apparently unused in the grand scheme of things. It was barren, but it had a fairly large closet door that seemed misleading as to it's intended purpose. Upon opening it Natalie found herself in a room even bigger than the one containing this area. "It's bigger on the inside.." It was a silly statement, and Natalie was glad nobody had been around to hear it. Oddly enough, this room only had what looked like a shower in the corner. Hurrying into the large empty space and towards the glorious salvation of cleanliness, Natalie began emptying the contents of her puke-soaked pockets out onto the floor, each item making a distinct *plop* as they hit the ground.

Carefully disrobing as to minimize gross-clothing-to-face contact, Natalie stripped down in a quick fashion and nearly ran into the shower, fussing with the knobs to get the water going as quickly as possible. At first the water was cold, but it didn't really matter; anything to purge this awful stench. Natalie smiled now, her previous anger being washed away with much of the filth as the shower grew warm fairly fast.

"Ah, thank god! Or gods, or highly-evolved life forms in place of god, or floating casserole monster, or whatever!" It truly was a divine cleansing. Unfortunately, Natalie had left all the doors open on her way in. And she had forgotten about it. Hopefully people would just ignore the previously unoccupied room anyway, because if someone walked in on her the results would probably be pretty bad.

Probably.
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