A/N: Here it is! This is just for funsies since Halloween is this month. It's just about some random, silly things that might happen to Harlock and his crew from time to time. There might be a few spoilers here for Invictus, just so you know. Enjoy!
The mess hall on board the Arcadia was in essence the central hub of activity. However, most nights after dinner it was deserted save for the few people who remained to clean up. This particular night, when most of the crew would have been asleep, the chairs were practically full and the tables were laden with cakes, homemade sweets and mugs of cider and chocolate.
Every year it was the same; the lights were dimmed for effect and Magi stood on the center table telling the same ghost story that he did every Halloween. Harlock himself fought to not roll his eye and sipped his cider laced with spiced rum. Adalyn of course would have pestered him about not being able to have a drink without some form of alcohol in it had she known, just as well as she'd have complained about him being asocial had he opted out of this.
But damn, there was only so many times he could hear these repetitive stories and idly contemplated eating himself into a diabetic coma with all the sugary treats around. He mouthed along with Magi's story of a vengeful ghost who had been walled in an old castle while still alive, knowing exactly when and where he would drop and raise his voice for dramatic effect.
He glanced around at his crewmates wondering if anyone else was as bored as he. The only other person who seemed the least bit uninterested was Masu, but only because she was waiting to tell her story next. Masu's ghost stories were probably the best, and the fact she never told the same one twice gave him hope that he would find it enjoyable at least.
Harlock went back to half listening to Magi's story, grateful that it was coming to an end. Once the chief engineer finished a light round of applause broke out and Harlock again sipped his drink. A startling poke to the ribs made him sputter and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Can't you at least try to act like you're enjoying yourself?" Adalyn hissed lowly, having been unable to ignore his sighing and fidgeting next to her. As he wiped up some of his drink that had fallen onto the table she furrowed her brow when she caught a whiff of alcohol. "Really? You can't enjoy a single cup of cider without pouring rum into it?"
Realizing the jig was up, Harlock reached in his pocket for a silver flask and poured more of the amber colored liquid into his mug under her scolding glare. Earlier he had been a bit more tactful in slipping it in, but what was the use now? At the moment he really didn't care if he had to listen to another one of her lectures about the dangers of a failing liver or stomach cancer; in many ways it would have been more entertaining than listening to stories that he didn't find scary at all.
"My idea of enjoying myself doesn't involve listening to wild fantasies about things that don't exist," Harlock said matter-of-factly.
"You don't believe in ghosts?" Adalyn questioned, astonished as she swiveled in her seat to fully face him.
"The captain doesn't believe in anything he can't see or touch," Kei stated with a hint of dryness. "Just like this one over here stuffing his mouth."
She pointed to Daiba next to her whom was preoccupied with a large slice of glazed cinnamon cake. Realizing he was the subject of inclusion, Daiba quickened his chews and swallowed hard.
"The only reason I have my doubts is because I haven't seen one!" he retorted loudly, gaining a swift reprimand from Masu who stood to tell her story.
"I call this one 'The Swing-set Murders'," the old cook grinned at her choice of title as the group of four ended their short discussion to listen quietly to Masu's tale.
Despite its promising title, Harlock again let his mind slip and wander as he swirled his drink, which was growing rather cold. He reached for the carafe at the center of the table and refilled his mug. He also took note of Adalyn's arched brow and sideways stare as he splashed his drink with more rum. He knew her intentions to curb his desire for alcohol were all well and good after a startling round-a-bout with cirrhosis, but he felt as though he wouldn't be able to last tonight without it.
He couldn't help but smile when Adalyn partially refilled her own mug and held out her hand to him without looking. Drinking alone was never any real fun, Harlock decided as he handed her his flask. Unfortunately for him, he watched as she emptied the contents into her mug, handed his empty flask back to him and then proceeded to drown the drink. Harlock's only reaction was to frown when she set the mug back on the table with a loud 'thunk' .
Touché, he thought as he narrowed his gaze. That was one way to make sure he couldn't get any more alcohol in his system for now. He really needed to stop letting her outsmart him. One day she was bound to realize just what kind of hold she had on him and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it.
The captain turned his attention back to Masu, and listened to her tale that evoked gasps and wide-eyed looks of horror. Harlock himself had to applaud his cook's originality and the way she wove a harrowing tale of a rabbit-masked murderer who targeted small children; only to end up tormented by their ghosts until it drove him mad.
Still, he was nowhere near being frightened, especially not like the three people closest to him. Kei seemed rather enthralled while Daiba sat perturbed and wide-eyed like so many others. Adalyn he found, was hanging on Masu's every word and chewing at a piece of caramel that he knew was to keep her from biting at her fingers.
A wicked thought entered his mind and he couldn't resist the urge to grin slightly. He sat back in his seat, paying extra close attention to Masu and Adalyn's reaction to her. A lapse of suspense visibly gripped Masu's audience, and judging it as the right moment Harlock lashed out, grabbing at Adalyn's waist and causing her to shriek in fright.
Her loud cry startled others; she even caused Kei and Daiba to jump. Harlock innocently drank his drink as if nothing had transpired while Adalyn glared daggers at him amidst the snickers of several crewmen. With a huff she turned back around in her seat -away from him- and paid him no mind for the rest of Masu's story.
Clearly she was irritated with him, and while Masu wrapped up her story Harlock had already devised a way to win back her good graces. Adalyn was easily appeased by free food, and the pirate captain thought it was about time they had another one of their private dinners anyhow. In a few days they would land on the tropical planet Casmar where he would to appeal to her by using crab legs, lobster and shrimp.
Masu's story ended with a standing ovation from the crowd, and while he too clapped along with everyone else Harlock glanced at his wristwatch to discover the time was a bit later than he expected it. Now all he wanted was to get back to his cabin and go to sleep. The lights came on and while some lingered to enjoy the rest of the food laid out on the tables, Adalyn along with several others began helping Masu clean up.
Harlock himself finished his drink before rising, taking his mug along with the dirty dishes at the table. He zigzagged through the thinning crowd and behind the serving counter where he handed the dishes off to Ace who was loading them into the large dishwasher. Immediately afterwards he looked for Adalyn and found her close by putting leftover tarts and peanut butter fudge into storage containers.
"I see you're setting aside some of that for yourself." Harlock inclined his head at the two separate containers of fudge.
"I made it, so why shouldn't I have some for myself?" she questioned, eyeing him indifferently. "Besides, if I don't there probably won't be any left in the morning. Not that you'd care of course. You never eat anything I make."
"That's because everything you make has peanut butter in it," Harlock replied contemptuously. "Peanut butter fudge, peanut butter cookies, peanut butter cream pie, peanut butter popcorn, those peanut butter stick things," he checked off his fingers.
"Peanut butter haystacks," Adalyn corrected him. "It's not my fault you have no taste. Besides, you didn't complain about the pancakes I made you until after I told you there was peanut butter in them," she harrumphed as she stacked the container of tarts with one of the fudges and put them away.
"When you're stuck on a busted ship drifting in space for nearly a month with only peanut butter to eat it's not something you ever want to see again for the rest of your life." His grumblings fell on deaf ears as Adalyn retrieved her fudge, wished Masu and everyone else goodnight and promptly left the mess hall.
Harlock didn't follow for multiple minutes. He and Adalyn didn't always hide their verbal flirtations, but there was no need to flaunt their relationship in front of their crewmates. They also did not want to make anyone think there was a physical relationship when the two of them remained platonic. The less awkward everyone felt the better.
Eventually he did follow her, but only after retrieving his flask and complimenting both Magi and Masu on their stories before bidding those left in the mess hall a goodnight. The corridor was thankfully free from crewmembers, sleeping or otherwise when he came upon Adalyn waiting for the lift.
"Are you going to forgive me for startling you?" Harlock asked as he sidled up next to her.
"I don't know yet," she replied, folding her arms tightly across her chest. "It was uncalled for, so you may be on my bad side for awhile."
She was playing him, Harlock realized with a sigh. She must have known he would make up for his prank, otherwise she wouldn't be giving him a look that clearly said 'I'm waiting.' "What if I apologized to you by buying you dinner?"
Adalyn's expression instantly changed from one of feigned annoyance to enthusiasm before dropping back to indifference. "Well, it's certainly a start." Harlock certainly didn't miss the half smirk on her face as she stepped onto the lift when the doors opened with the captain close behind.
"Now, tell me that wasn't so terrible," Adalyn said as Harlock looped his arm around her waist and signaled their deck on the lift's paneling. The doors shut and they thankfully had it to themselves, Harlock more so than Adalyn. He wasn't comfortable holding her close in front of their comrades and tended not to, despite his strong desire.
"It wasn't so terrible," he stated flatly to appease her, only to be elbowed lightly in the ribs.
"Alright, I know it wasn't that fantastic for you, but I'm proud that you didn't sit it out in your cabin." She leaned against him and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "Really though, you don't believe in ghosts?"
"No," he stated, lightly fingering the lid to his flask. "I've been from one side of the known universe to another and I haven't ever seen anything resembling a ghost."
"Always the practical one aren't you?" she sighed. "What if you ever saw one? Would you believe it then?"
"I don't know," Harlock admitted. "You know some people say 'ghosts' are actually beings from a realm of existence parallel to ours and we only see them when they overlap for unknown reasons."
"Is that what you believe?"
"No, I'm just saying that could be an explanation about why people think they see them." Harlock watched as Adalyn frowned. "What?"
"Nothing." She shook her head before sighing. "With Halloween over I just realized that Christmas will be here before we know it."
"So?" Harlock really wished he had something left in his flask when he realized this would be their first Christmas together as a couple. He'd have to get her something, and unbeknownst to her he was a notoriously lousy gift-giver.
"Do you have any idea how much eggnog we're going to have to stock up on? Not only do we drink it all month long but you and Baines have your annual eggnog drinking competition Christmas Eve on top of that. There's all the food and cookies we'll have to get, Ace and I will have to dig out the decorations and we'll have to get a tree—"
"Hopefully without a squirrel's nest in it this time." Adalyn nodded her consensus at his interjection. "That's the last time I ever let Daiba pick it out." Harlock never knew squirrels could adapt to life onboard a battleship so easily and it took weeks to clean them out of all their tiny hideaway places. No one was too happy neither when Zero and Harlock decided that all crew members were to take a round of rabies vaccinations as a precaution.
Unlike his other blunders, Daiba had yet to live that incident down.
"For now, how about you not think about all that." Harlock regrettably let his hold on her go as the lift's doors opened and they walked out into the corridor. "How about you come stay with me in my cabin tonight?" he questioned after making sure no one was around to hear him.
"Why would you want that?" Adalyn tried not to smile and look impassive but failed horribly.
"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" He sighed and stepped a bit closer to her. "It's because I'm starting to like having you there when I wake up."
"You know, I could get used to you saying these sweet things." Adalyn stopped outside her bedroom door but not before pulling him to her and planting a kiss on his lips. "Alright, just let me grab my pajamas."
Harlock waited outside as she went in to retrieve her nightwear. Before she returned the communicator he had stashed away in his pocket started buzzing. Hoping it was nothing urgent that would keep him from getting a decent amount of sleep, he pressed the button to answer it and recognized Sabu's voice.
"Hey captain, we're passing by a weird asteroid field and we're picking up a distress signal."
Damn it all to hell, Harlock mentally cursed.
"What did he say?" Adalyn asked when she appeared out of the doorframe clutching a bundle of soft clothing.
Harlock motioned for her to stay quiet as he answered. "Are we able to tell how many life readings there are?"
"Funny thing is we're not getting any at all. That itself is not unusual, but the signal we're getting is an old one, it hasn't been used in nearly a century."
"Weird." Adalyn breathed Harlock's very line of thought. "You want to go up and have a look at it?"
"There's not a real reason why," he stated making sure to end the communication as he spoke to her. "I don't see how a ship can keep a signal like that going for so long though."
"Maybe someone went to check it out and ended up stranded on it," she suggested. "You know how some people like to search old shipwrecks for treasure."
"Still doesn't explain why there wouldn't be any life readings."
"Maybe we're too far out."
"It doesn't work like that." At his words Adalyn shrugged, her usual motion when she was out of ideas. "Still, I can't help but find it odd."
"Well, that's a good enough reason don't you think? It wouldn't hurt to just fly by and make sure would it?''
It wouldn't, Harlock realized with a sigh. "Sabu." He opened to communicator back up. "We'll pass by just to make sure no one is aboard. Be on the lookout for other ships in the area."
"Sure thing captain!" Harlock flipped off the device and placed it back in his pocket.
"You coming?" he questioned, but already Adalyn had thrown her pajamas back in her room and shut the door.
"Of course!" She beamed, taking his hand and ushering him back down the hall. "I wonder what kind of ship it was."
"We'll find out soon enough, I'm not exactly sure where we're at right now. It could be anything." Harlock jerked back his hand when they spotted Kei and Daiba walking off the lift.
They weren't talking, Kei was currently yawning and Daiba was eating a blueberry scone from a container of mixed snacks taken from the galley. A rather large container too. Geez, Daiba was almost twenty now, not a ravenous, hormonal teen anymore; just how much did he need to eat?
"Where are you two going?' Kei questioned with a quizzical eye.
"Up to the bridge," Adalyn answered with an innocent tone.
Both Daiba and Harlock exchanged an uneasy glance. Kei and Adalyn were highly unpredictable around one another. There were days when they'd laugh and act like best friends, and then there were the times they looked like they wanted nothing more than to tear each other's eyes out. It was Masu who had to explain to them that was just how women were and advised them not to get involved when they were at odds.
The old cook didn't have to tell any of them twice.
"Sabu said there was a ship sending out a distress signal," Harlock elaborated further, hoping to dissolve any animosity that might bubble up between them. Luckily, it seemed they were on agreeable terms for now, despite their small exchanges in the galley.
"Funny thing is, the type of signal is nearly a hundred years old and there's no life signs aboard." Adalyn ginned wickedly as she explained the situation to them. "Spooky huh?"
Kei's face lit up with enthusiasm while Daiba visibly shrank back with wide eyes. Harlock couldn't understand their reactions, but it was Halloween and they'd just spent hours listening to horrible ghost stories. The idea of investigating an old shipwreck must have been exciting, or terrifying in Daiba's case.
"Is it alright if we come?" Kei questioned looking to Harlock for an answer.
"I don't care," the captain responded with a shrug of his shoulders as they started back towards the lifts.
"Hey! Don't I get a say in this? I'm tired!" Daiba cried as Kei dragged him by the arm onto the lift.
"This won't take long," Kei promised, though in truth she had her suspicions that it would. "Where's your curiosity tonight anyway, Daiba? Masu's story didn't scare you that bad did it? You practically jumped out of your pants when Adalyn startled you."
"I did not!" Daiba retorted, his face turning red when Kei winked at him.
Adalyn couldn't resist shooting Harlock a look as he pressed the button that would take them up to the bridge. He ignored it and stuffed his flask in his pocket. Unfortunately, Daiba was unable to put his snacks away and shifted them from one hand to the other.
The doors to the bridge slid open, the heavily armored metal clanked noisily and all four filed out with Harlock in the lead. Sabu was on duty along with two others and they had already pulled the mystery ship up on the main monitor. It was old and reminiscent of a romantic era liner painted white and black with gold detailing. It also had a flat deck with railing and towering false smoke-stacks. On the secondary screen beside it ran the mayday signal along with an additive line of numbers that kept repeating.
"One, one, five, seven, seven, nine, eight?" Kei raised an eyebrow when she read though the text.
"Yeah, I have no clue what it means either," Sabu commented as he swiveled around in his seat at the navigation console. "The rest of it is a basic distress call, but the ship is identified as a passenger cruiser called the Dionysus. It's entirely possible that because it's so old that it's a glitch in the ship's system, but who knows."
"Still no signs of life?" Harlock questioned as he moved towards the helm.
"None, sir." Sabu replied. "We've been able to do a scan of the ship, there's no apparent physical damage and our scans are finding nothing dangerous like carbon gas or anything. There must have been some mechanical failure that caused the ship to be abandoned."
"This just keeps getting stranger and stranger," Adalyn muttered. "Let's go check it out!"
Harlock nearly jumped at her startling suggestion while Kei enthusiastically agreed and Daiba viciously cried 'no'.
"It's nearly midnight!" he exclaimed. "Why would you want to go look at some old ship no one's been on in nearly a century!"
"Because it will be fun!" Kei argued. "Honestly Daiba, what part of exploring a spooky ship on Halloween doesn't sound appealing? Unless of course, you're afraid."
"I am not!" he pouted, his face turning red again. "I'm just saying there's no way we can know if it's truly safe or not! It's been floating out here for who knows how long so why risk it?"
"I'm inclined to agree with Daiba," Harlock finally spoke on the matter, instantly drawing the vexing stares of both Adalyn and Kei. Unlike the previous times he had been at odds with women, Harlock felt horribly disadvantaged when faced with these two together.
"Sabu said there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it," Adalyn countered sweetly. "Just let us go look around for a little while, you can stay here and go to sleep."
"I don't trust you to go unsupervised, especially Daiba," the captain retorted sharply.
"Hey I—!"
"I'll look after him, captain, and make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Kei cut off the young man and placed a hand on his bony shoulder. "I think if we told the first mate he'd like to come too, you know how he enjoys things like this."
The chance to look at the mechanics of a ship that old would be right up Yattaran's alley if he were not already preoccupied, Harlock thought. He still had his doubts however, letting his crew run amuck in a ship that had been abandoned for years would undoubtedly have some kind of consequence.
"Is there an efficient air supply on it?" Harlock practically groaned.
"Doesn't look like it, but the artificial gravity is still engaged." Sabu said after scrolling through some information on the panel before him.
"We've got those new space suits that Baines gave to us. Why not take this opportunity to try them out?" Adalyn looked to Harlock who seemed more and more likely not to contest their request. "It doesn't look like there's anything dangerous and if something happens we'll come right back to the ship," she promised earnestly, finally cracking Harlock's resolve.
"Fine," he grumbled. "But stay in groups and don't take long, if something happens you get back on the ship immediately. And for the love of heaven, don't bring back anything that might kill us." His last comment was directed more towards Daiba who huffed and muttered something under his breath.
"Then it's settled!" Kei clapped her hands together. "I'll go get Yattaran and meet you all down by the space walks!"
"I better go put this up then," Daiba sighed, mentioning the load of snacks still in his hands as he followed Kei back to the lift.
"Hey," Harlock motioned to Adalyn before she could follow the other two. "You be careful, alright?"
"You know I will." She winked as she left, leaving Harlock and the rest of the men on the bridge to guide the Arcadia to a docking position alongside the other ship.
As soon as he heard the doors close Harlock knew he made a mistake letting them go. He trusted Kei and Yattaran not to do anything stupid, but Adalyn was too curious about things and Daiba was well...he was Daiba. He was an excellent fighter flyer and good with the ship's cannons but he was the worst trouble magnet Harlock had ever come across.
Yeah, he would feel better if he was there to make sure nothing went horribly wrong.
As soon as the Arcadia was ready to connect the space walk to the unknown ship, Harlock had made up his mind and headed towards the lift with one final order. He wasn't too surprised that Sabu had decided to join in on the expedition as well. The Arcadia's second navigator scampered onto the lift with a smile.
"The chance to explore a mysterious ship on Halloween is too good to resist!" he explained as they headed down.
Harlock wished he could agree. Halloween was quickly becoming his least favorite holiday.
