.:Speak Slow:.
-p0g0stick-
In a Nutshell… (Just a quick Note!)
Somehow you've stumbled across my first EVER Sorato fic. Congrats! I've written many fanfictions before, and all have been quite successful, I suppose. They were on a different account. I took a break between then and now, but I'm pretty sure you don't want my life story.
I'm worried that this will be a bit…OOC. Sorry if the characters seem…screwy. Give me some pointers if you want, to help me.
I have always been a huge Digimon fan (as a kid I enjoyed the plot, now I enjoy the characters, if that makes any sense), and had always preferred Taiora. Then I warmed up to Sorato.
So I was patrolling, looking for a decent Sorato that was still being updated, and, erm…I only found a few.
So to satisfy my needs, I decided to make a short fic, meaning it won't be extremely long, (Long meaning 20 chapters), but I'll try to make each chapter lengthy. If I plan to make each chapter nice and long, I need you to bear with me ; considering I have a life, as does everyone else, I won't be updating like every single week. Try every other week or even every month.
I'll also keep going on with the story if I get a good RESPONSE.
For now I'll only post the first chapter. :)
Toodle-oo!
p0g0.
0o0o0o0
"When your Love lets you go,
You only want love more,
Even when Love's not what you were looking for."
-Speak Slow, Tegan and Sara.
0o0o0o0
"…and then he told me that it was a 'distance' problem." The girl replied, her lips quivering slightly. She bit down on her tongue to stop the tears gushing from her eyelids, but a single tear still rolled down her flushed cheek.
She wasn't usually one to cry.
The woman next to her shook her head in disappointment.
"They come and go, Sora, they come and go." With a pat on the troubled girls back, the woman walked off, her heels clinking across the wooden Bar's floor.
"…but I was just so sure this one would last." Sora murmured to herself, and sunk down in the chair.
0o0o0o0
It had been an extremely long day. That was a given. It was about a week until the first voyage of the Summer Season on the Indigo Cruise ship, and the entire Chef and catering crew were all trying to organize all the seafood that had just come in. Mountains of shrimp, clams, crabs, lobsters, mussels, were strewn about in the kitchen, and it was pure havoc.
Sora knew it was best to stay away from the chef's, because they'd be on a warpath anywhere they were. Her job had been done. It was to clean the tables, take the chairs from their stacks, place them at the correct tables, and dust off the barstools. She had also taken care of the pools and the sheets to the beds in the cabins. Near the end she had offered to clean the glasses and organize the liquor and alcohol, but her head of staff, a British woman, Felicity Adams, told her that once her job was done, it was done.
The ship was docked in its correct station, and within 6 days every single crew member would have to go through security. This included getting searched and having all their belongings checked and sorted through. Security had been increased dramatically since the Terrorist attacks, and also since all the problems that Cruises have had with little girls getting raped or molested, not to mention all the strange disappearances and deaths of vacationers.
This was the only part of the job that slightly fazed Sora the most, but this was going to be her 6th voyage. Plus it paid decent, in tips and in cheques. She was a waitress, and a bartender when needed, which she could do anywhere, but on a Cruise it just seemed more…magical. Being out at sea, getting a hell of a sunset and sunrise, getting free access to the club at nighttime, and crew member discounts. All-day access to the Tennis courts, too.
Sora wasn't too worried about packing her necessities. It was easy to pack when you were working on a cruise. You didn't have to bring any shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash; it was all there in storage. Also, you didn't really ever have time to wear your own clothes, since your uniform was on your back every day and night you worked.
The sun was setting now, and Sora stuck her hands into the worn pockets of her jean shorts. It was time to leave and go home, but Sora didn't want to. If she went home, she'd have to look at the photo's she had left up of him and her, she'd have to check her answering machine and listen to the coaxing words of her friends reminding her about how they were always there for her.
Of course they were all nice gestures, ones like, "C'mon Sor, let's go get a coffee. I'll pay." Or, "He's an asshole. A jerk. He wasn't worth any of your time. Let's go out dancing!" But truthfully, she didn't want to hear it.
The tears starting coming again, drizzling down her cheeks before she could stop them. All those memories, they didn't seem to be any use for her now. How…troublesome. That was the only word she could think of. Usually she was a strong person, and was the person people came to. People cried on her shoulder. She didn't cry on theirs, and after she had thought this over, she felt embarrassed to even be considering crying.
"Sora?" She heard Felicity call out, and she was brought back down to earth. It was now dark; the sky was clear and a bright cobalt blue. Stars twinkled, and beyond the horizon, orange and pink melted into the blue night, signaling the suns leaving, "Sora, you can go home now, you know. Get some rest. You've not only done your job but you also helped chlorinate the pools and wash the sheets in the cabins. I think you deserve some sleep, don't you?" the older woman rested her hand on Sora's shoulder.
Sighing, Sora dried her eyes and nodded, sniffling a bit. A placid smile rose on her features, as if it would keep Sora optimistic amidst the pain tugging at her guts.
"Trust me; it isn't the end of the world." Felicity soothed in her rich voice, and turned around for the second time today and walked off. Her blonde curls bounced and shimmered underneath the deck lights that had flickered on.
'I KNOW it's not the end of the world, but it feels like the end of MY world.'
With that, Sora slipped on her dirty white sandals that she had taken off earlier, and with the help of the current security guard, got off of the boat.
0o0o0o0
BZZZZZZZZZTT.
That alarm clock was going down.
BZZZZZZZZZTT.
It was so dead. Once he got the motivation to kill it, however.
BZZZZZZZZZTT.
Okay. On the count of 3.
BZZZZZZZZZTT.
One…two…THREE!
With that, the young man threw his dirty comforter off from him and grabbed the alarm clock, ripping it from its place on his bedside table, and threw it at the wall.
The battery bounced out, and landed on the floor about a foot away from the clock.
He was panting from such a simple action, and plopped back down onto the bed. Running his hands through his shaggy blonde hair, and getting them snagged in tangles, he sighed. He had a hangover the size of Russia, and it sent pain racking through his body with every pulse of his brain.
"Damnit, Ishida, how could you let that idiot convince you to drink on the day you're supposed to be going…" He couldn't speak anymore the pain was so strong.
The young man sluggishly dragged his feet across his cluttered carpet, kicking cans of soda and stepping on failed lyrics written on crumpled sheets of stained paper and napkins.
He threw two small pills into his mouth and swallowed without water.
Not bothering to place the bottle of pain killers back into the cabinet, he went back into his room, and flopped down onto his bed like a dead fish.
His eyelids slowly closed, sealing him away from the world around him, only to be jerked open by the ring of the telephone.
"GOD. DAMN. IT!" He snarled and threw his pillow in a random direction. It hit the wall with a smack and landed by the fallen alarm clock.
'This is Yamato. I don't feel like talking to you. No, I won't go on another date with you. If you call again I'll change my phone number…again.' He heard his own husky voice speaking to whoever it was who had woken him…again…from his slumber.
Beep.
"MAATTTTTYYY BOOOYYYY!"
Oh, dear God.
"MATT! YOU'RE THERE! I KNOW YOU ARE! C'MON, RISE AND SHINNEEEEE SLEEPY HEAD!" the voice cooed in a mock-feminine voice, "WAKEY, WAKEY EGGS AND BAKEY…"
Yamato searched in vain for his phone and cradle, and found them on the floor underneath a pair of jeans.
Jerking the phone beside his ear into the crook of his neck, he yelled, "WHAT DO YOU WANT, KAMIYA!?"
The young man on the other end chuckled.
"Yamato, I'm outside your Apartment," He heard a faint knock that echoed from the other end and from his front door, "here to tell you we need to get moving if we want to board that ship today. I mean it." His tone was still cheery…but it was dripping with annoyance. Taichi hated waiting. He was actually pretty patient when he wanted to be, but right now he really, really, REALLY wanted to get going.
"I'll be there in a second, just let me pack and get dressed…"
"YOU HAVEN'T PACKED YET?! No wonder Mimi acts like your goddamned mother! You need—oh…never mind. Whatever. Sorry. Just hurry up!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Yamato's voice sounded almost crushed, and he slammed the phone back into its cradle.
What time was it? Didn't he have a clock?!
Oh. Yeah. He threw it against the wall.
Right.
The hangover was slowly fading for now, and he found that he could easily pull on a pair of jeans over his deep blue boxers and put on a plain white t-shirt without stumbling or falling asleep again.
He threw as much as he could hold into his worn leather suitcase, which was from what he could make out, 3 boxers, 5 shirts and 3 pairs of jeans.
He'd live with one pair of shoes.
Wait…wouldn't he need a suit or something?
And those…brushy-teethy-things.
He really hoped his mind would be clear by the time they got on the ship.
0o0o0o0
It was 10 to noon, and Sora was adjusting her black skirt, making sure her legs were smooth and her stockings were run-free.
The boat had just shipped off from its starting port, and people were slowly becoming accustomed to the area, walking around, and getting settled into their cabins.
She buttoned her white blouse and tied her hair up in a small ponytail, and watched in her mirror as a few of the strands fell, framing her heart-shaped face.
So, who cared if she didn't have a fiancé to dream about and keep her spirits up during this voyage? There were always good looking young men around her age who would gladly want to be in her company!
Ha!
She could bounce back. She could do this. It'd be easy.
No, it wouldn't.
Sigh.
Even if she could do all of that, even if there were guys on her who liked her, she couldn't do it.
It was too soon to bounce back anyway. She still felt crushed every time she even remotely thought of starting a new relationship with someone.
All that time, wasted, and for what? A beautiful princess-cut diamond on a white-gold band she didn't even get to keep!
Not that she wanted to keep it.
She plastered a smile on her face and exited the cabin. Boarding the elevator, she pressed a plastic button labeled 11, and leaned against the metal railing as the button lit up and the elevator slowly rose upward.
Elevators were nice. Sora did feel confined in them, though, but it gave her time to think.
The cool metal felt nice against her aching hands. Last night she and a fellow worker and friend, Andres, had decided to 'test' the tennis courts to make sure they were good. They had played a mean game, and soon enough two more workers, a chef and a maid, had joined in so they could play a good game of doubles.
Tennis had never really peaked Sora's interest until she had joined the Cruise. She had always been a Soccer-type-girl, and had tried Softball, Basketball, American Football, Swimming, Lacrosse, Kickball…but not tennis.
Growing up Sora never really fit in with the girls in her class. She didn't like those flirty skirts they wore, hated her school uniform with its pleated skirt the most, hated earrings and all jewelry, and hated, most of all, their taste in music.
Sure, Music was nice. When it wasn't excessive…and not when it had whiney girls moaning about how men left them and…
…well…maybe it made sense now.
But still. Sora didn't fit in with them. She never had, and not only until recently had she really fit in with any female.
She guessed that it was probably her…sporty streak that caused it. Sora was driven and liked to be active. She loved the feeling of scoring a goal, of receiving and heading, tackling the players from the opposing team. It felt good. But that was just for Soccer. Softball was equally as good, that's why when Soccer season ended she bounced into Softball and joined the school team. Then, as each season passed, American Football, Basketball, Swimming, Lacrosse, and even Volleyball, Sora had been apart of all the teams.
Her mother had never really liked this. She was proud of her daughter's accomplishments, head of the soccer team, MVP of the year, so on, but she sometimes just wanted a daughter who'd beg her for money for a new pair of shoes or lip gloss instead of a new soccer ball to help her with her juggling.
But, once she joined the cruise, the only sport they really had to offer (besides swimming in the 50-meter pool and rock climbing) was Tennis. And then outside of these things, there was the gym, which wasn't open in her free hours which were usually early in the morning.
Rubbing her sore hands, she remembered how nice it had been to get some of her bottled up energy out. She never liked Tennis before, but now she loved it and lived for it. Her backhand was a bit wobbly, though, and she could most definitely improve on her defense and concentrate on it more than her offense…
The elevator silenced her thoughts, and the doors slowly slid open revealing the top deck, and she walked out and leaned against the railing, waiting for the loudspeaker to come on.
In a matter of minutes, the Captain would announce the Mandatory Lifejacket and Safety drill. This was a routine that took place before every voyage, and whenever new people joined the Cruise from different Ports.
Soon enough, the voice garbled over the speakers and she took the Lifejacket that one of the cabin boys passed to her as they sluggishly moved across the deck, handing jackets off to the other workers who had come to participate in teaching the passengers how to put on the jackets if, heaven forbid, the boat crashed (on what, though, could it crash on? This wasn't like the Titanic. They were in the Caribbean. Well, they were in Miami, about to enter the Bahamas and the Caribbean,) or sunk or something.
People of all ages, weights and heights loaded onto the decks. Sora scanned the crowd in front of her. It was summer vacation so there had to be a lot of people on the ship. Gulping, she worried about who she'd have to serve at dinner. She and Andres worked usually at the same table. She was the polite one who spoke with the elderly and the adults and he was the one who performed and entertained the younger kids, cracked jokes, you know…that stuff.
Sora scanned the crowd again, and decided to shut them up,
"Hello!" She called out, and all eyes were suddenly on her.
She could feel her cheeks warming up.
Then the Captain began to speak.
"Listen to your instructors and do as they do…" He began, "Place the jacket over your head and tighten the belts to adjust to your size.
Sora did so, lifting up the jacket for all to see, placing it over her head and adjusting the straps.
"Next, locate the whistle," Sora lifted the fluorescent orange whistle that was attached to the jacket's side, "and blow to alert those that you need." She mock-blew into the whistle's mouthpiece.
By accident, a few squeaks were heard amongst the crowd.
Sora hated this. Sometimes little kids blew on their whistle tops, and if the jackets weren't used, they had to be sanitized or replaced.
The captain droned on, and Sora did all that was instructed. It was nothing new to her.
0o0o0o0
Taichi elbowed Yamato.
"She's hot." Taichi whispered, motioning to a blonde girl in a pair of white capris' and a pale yellow tank top.
"She's okay." Matt shrugged, stuffing his lifejacket-free hand into the frayed pocket of his jeans.
"No, she's fine." Tai chuckled.
Matt smiled at his friend. It was actually good to get out with his best friend and have some fun instead of being cooped up in the smelly apartment and being hassled by phone calls from his family demanding he get a job.
"Hello!" A young woman in front of the crowd they were standing in called out. She had an interesting voice. Angelic and yet sort of…raspy.
But not annoying.
The crowd averted their gazes to the young woman, who was wearing a white blouse and black skirt as Yamato had seen many of the crew members wearing. The muddled talking of the passengers ceased as she moved their attention from whatever it was they were going on about (in Yamato and Tai's case it was the 'hot' girl standing a few feet away from them) towards her so she could start whatever it was they were doing.
She was…average. Pretty and yet not in a stunning way. Not in an eye-catching way. She could woo any man but they'd not even know it until it was too late, and she'd be on her merry way. Her skin was slightly tanned and her hair was a deep reddish brown with blonde highlights, most likely from the sun. Her eyes were exotic. From what he could see, they were…red. Or maybe brown. But they looked like a bright red. She looked Asian-American, from what he could tell.
How interesting
"Listen to your instructors and do as they do…" A rough voice began, coming from out of the speakers situated around the boat. Yamato guessed he was the captain or something. "Place the jacket over your head and tighten the belts to adjust to your size."
Oh. Yeah. This was a Lifejacket drill.
It was quite unnecessary, he concluded, but shrugged and put the jacket over his head.
"You know, she's kind of cute too." Tai nodded to where the girl who was their instructor was.
"Mmm-hmmmm." Matt hummed, nodding, now a bit bored with the drill.
"So do you agree? You think she's pretty?" Tai inquired quirking an eyebrow.
"She's okay."
Tai rolled his eyes, but laughed anyway.
0o0o0o0
"What a big crowd." Another crew member, a maid, Cassidy said as Sora and a few others boarded an elevator once everyone had cleared out. Cassidy had been the one who'd joined Sora and Andres' tennis match last night.
Sora nodded, "I don't think I've seen so many during a summer voyage before."
A few others added their input, agreeing with both of the girls.
"There are a LOT of good-lookers, though." A second-timer and British girl named Sarah replied with a giggle.
Sora used the word Second-Timer because Sarah was rather new to the Cruise Ship workforce, and this was only her second time on the ship, working while they were out at sea.
Along with this was the fact that Sarah was younger than Sora and a bit of a gossiper and predator. She was constantly hooking up with and breaking up with boys, whether they were working on the boat, passengers on the boat, or just random guys she met on her off-days in the ports or when they weren't on a voyage.
There was a scoff from Andres, also in the elevator. He had his long black hair slicked back so that he looked presentable. Still, most of his curls were untamed around the base of his olive-skinned neck.
"Be careful, Sarah." Andres had first dated Sarah when she joined the crew on her first voyage, and needless to say it didn't end too great. But Andres still looked out for her, like she was his younger sister or something.
Sora loved this and teased him about it, because she was pretty sure that he still had feelings for Sarah.
"Oh, have a little fun, Andres." Sarah laughed and he rolled his eyes with a threatening scowl.
"Yeah, Andres, cool your jets." Sora laughed at the look he gave her.
"You know, Sora, I saw a couple of guys looking your way, you know. They were pretty handsome, if I do say so myself." Sarah had an impish grin plastered on her face.
"I doubt they were looking at me." Sora replied.
"No way, I saw them too," Cassidy added, "A blonde and a brunette. I was on your left side, Sora, I saw them."
Sora scoffed and was thankful when the elevator doors opened to the casino floor, and stomped out. Her cheeks were burning.
Andres followed her while the others went on their own ways, and placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her around to meet his gaze.
"Sora, don't feel put off if guys were actually," he gasped, terror on his face, "Checking.You.Out." He laughed as her expression turned even more angry.
"Oh hush it, Andres! Aren't you supposed to be keeping track of Sarah?" she hissed, smirking when she saw his smile dissapear, and glare back at her.
'Andres: one. Sora: two.'
She began walking towards the Casino's exit and towards the Poseidon restaurant to start setting the tables.
He shook his head, and caught up to her, so that they were both walking at the same pace.
"You know, Sora, it's really okay to have guys looking at you. You're not with whatshisname anymore, and you're able to check out whoever you want, and I think they're allowed to do the same." He followed her into the back of the restaurant, and grabbed the cart full of the trays of forks, knives and spoons before she could touch them.
His face was stoic and serious.
"Alright, alright." She sighed, and grabbed the cart full of the trays from her friend and wheeled it out into the empty restaurant.
"C'mon, give me a smile, Ms. Gloom."
Sora offered a forced, crooked smile, and stopped the cart in front of the first round table nearest to the giant glass window at the other end of the restaurant.
"During this voyage I'll guarantee I'll see you smile a real smile. And I hope it's caused by one of those guys who were checking you out, just to make it all the more ironic." Sora rolled her eyes, her lips twitching upward slightly at the thought, "AND," he continued, "I'll get a picture of it and I'll rub it in front of your face every change I get!" He grabbed 4 main course forks and 4 more dessert forks, arranging them in each space where people were to be seated.
"Sure." Sora chuckled, and began to help him with the Salad forks, spoons and knives, taking what he had already laid out and tastefully wrapping them into clean, white, cloth napkins.
0o0o0o0
Whoopee!
Now, if you are actually planning on commenting on this, remember, try not to be too horrid to me x.x
Constructive Criticism is appreciated, but nothing like: WHAT A HORRIBLE IDEA, THIS SUCKS, and THE CHARACTERS ARE ALL WRONG (of this I'm aware of; I need to develop them more and need to make them more…themselves-y.) HOW CLICHÉ (I tried to be original ) : ), etc, etc, etc.
I've already heard it all already.
And truthfully, it only makes you look like a meanie. XD
Or a part of the Hitler youth, or something.
Anyway, thanks for actually reading this, I hope it wasn't too boring or too long. I also hope I avoided spelling errors and grammatical errors. .
Please Review, it would make me oh-so-happy.
But all questions will be answered in due time, I hate it when authors list the names of people who commented and reply to EVERYTHING that EVERY SINGLE one of them said. Sometimes those things are just too, too, TOO long, like a page or something. (Well, I'm pretty bad since I just ramble on and on.)
If I just say thanks or list your names, you'll know who I mean. :)
Thanks again!
-p0g0.