Note: Joy to the world! Exams are done! It's summer and I'm graduating! Well, now I can write my stories in peace and quiet for two months. A big thanks to my first two, and so far only two reviewers for my story. THANK YOU HARUNO! You got me in the writing spirit again. Anywho, please review!
Chapter Two: Their Companionship
"You don't like to talk, do you?"
Toan opened his mouth a bit, speechless. He looked out to the sea again, then cleared his throat, mouthing words as if practicing to speak.
"Have you ever been pulled away from the things you want, and pushed towards the things you dislike? If that's how life is, there's not really much of a purpose."
The village boy shook his head a little, listening attentively to the other whom he admired. Max removed the pendant around his neck, holding it loosely in his left hand.
"This ship is simply a shackle binding my neck. I stay quiet at dinner tables, and everyone would say how shy I am. How many times do I have to be nervous in front of other nobles? I don't want a sophisticated life anymore," Max spoke depressively.
Both became silent for minutes. Toan mouthed words again, catching the other's attention.
"Sorry?" Max questioned him with his serene smile, dangling his legs to the other side of the railing, over the roaring waters.
The village boy turned himself quickly to him in surprise, then gathered enough courage to truly speak, "I'm…Toan…Midmorning," The boy began to slightly blush.
"Toan," The blonde adolescent grinned, delighted to hear him say his name at least," Don't be shy around me."
He relaxed himself to the railing, unconsciously dropping the Atlamillia to the wooden deck. With one hand on the railing, he bent to retrieve his father's precious heirloom. His fingers instantly slipped from the metal bar, and his whole body slithered through the railing.
"GAH!" he yelled as Toan hastily clung his hands around the smaller boy's forearm. "AH! HELP! PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!"
"Hold on to my arms! Don't let go no matter what! I'm going to pull you up! Don't panic!" Toan kept his grasp on the poor boy, obliviously yelling whatever came to mind.
The people at the dining hall looked around, wondering who was screaming. The mayor and his daughter hurried to the deck. Officers in navy blue uniform dashed across the Titanic towards Max's distressful yelling.
"Pull yourself up!" Toan shouted.
With that, Max put one foot on the railing and pushed himself forward, landing on his savior. Toan, unable to support Max's lounging weight, quickly flung him and himself to the floor before he accidentally throws him overboard. The village boy panted, hovering above the shocked, tensed, first class lad.
"What is all this?" An officer with an Irish-like accent spoke.
Toan darted his eyes upward, noticing a surrounding crowd of officers. Max, seeing his reaction, turned his head to eye the person who spoke. His father, the mayor, and Claire stood motionless, surprised and wore expressions of disturbance.
"Oh my gosh! Get that boy away from MY FIANCE!" Claire ordered the officers.
They seized Toan, hauling him to his feet and away from Max. Gerald lifted his son, placing his black and white jacket onto his shoulders.
"SPEAK BOY!" The Irish-accented officer demanded," Tell us your motives for attempting to fiddle forced love with the Palm Brinks' mayor's daughter's husband-to-be!"
Toan rolled his eyes in his mind, "This guy has air Wait a minute…FIANCE?" He gazedat Max with a somewhat depressed expression, which came out to be a look of worry. At least, that was what Max perceived.
"Honestly, I never thought first class men would conduct such vicious behavior!" Claire stared at the boy and twiddled her curls in a snobby manner, assuming he was a first class guest from his attire.
"Uh…um…actually," Max trembled as he spoke. All eyes fell upon the young boy.
"Well, Mr. Midmorning here saved me. I was looking over the-uh-the…railing to observe some fish. Ha ha…silly me. Fish…heh, so then my pendant fell. I reached to grab it," Max pointed to his atlamillia, eyes darting around. " And I slipped. And if it weren't for Mr. Midmorning here, I'd be swimming with the Nilers. That's all."
The crowd gawked at him. The officers began to loosen their grip around Toan's arms.
"Well now," Mayor Need spoke in loud volume," It was just a misunderstanding. We may all return to dinner now."
The men released Toan and walked behind the mayor.
"So, it was a mistake. Alright," Claire linked her arm to Max's," It'd be lovely if you had dinner with us tomorrow. To tell us your tale of bravery. And thank you for rescuing my dear fiancé."
Toan nodded vigorously, scared stiff that they would make him speak in public. With that, the two strolled back to the dining hall, Max glanced back to him.
"My son will continue the rich Daedulus bloodline," Gerald smiled and slightly glared at him, "That is quite a suit, Mr. Midmorning."
The man followed after the crowd, leaving a speechless Toan watching them leave the scene.
"Toan Honey "
The boy shivered at the voice and immediately tensed. He knew where the source of the voice was, but refused to look. Almost instantly, Ruby appeared before him, puckering her carmine lips and waving at him with her elegant fingers.
"What?" He asked rudely, folding his arms to his chest like an irritated child.
"Oh I saw everything! Hee hee! Darling, I saw chemistry!" Ruby chirped excitedly," you plus him produces passion. All we have to do is increase the temperature of the reactants, and more passion is produced! I can help with the temperature!"
"…You're nuts," Toan began walking to his suite.
"Toan darling "
"…YES?" He spoke through gritted teeth as he stopped in his tracks.
"Return the suit, please?" she played around with the lavender braid behind her ear.
" Why? You said you wanted to buy me something," he pointed a finger at her.
"But Toan, you ran away before I approved of it. And you called me NUTS you coy pervert!" The damsel stomped her rose shoes on the deck.
" But what am I going to wear tomorrow for dinner?! You said you'd help with the temperature!" Toan began to worry a little. This woman joked far too much, and he couldn't tell when she meant what flew out of her mouth.
"Change of heart, Toan. Hang the suit in our suite's wardrobe and don't approach it," Ruby warned, "I'll KNOW if you touched it or not."
"Awww, Ruby…"
"AH! – No 'aw-Rubying'," she wagged her index finger at him.
The boy gave a weary sigh and nodded, returning to his room.
&&
Night fell shortly afterwards. Toan sat at his bed doodling away in a sketchbook he bought recently. He covered himself in the vermilion bed sheets and tried his best to ignore his companion. Ruby lay in a bundle of blankets on the other bed, pouting and constantly stared at the boy.
"Look, we've got first class tickets, sweetheart," she muttered lazily, "We can definitely dine in the rich snobs' dining hall. But I'm just scared for you."
"Scared what?" Toan mumbled, resting his chin on the palm of his hand.
"Oh, you know, 'Tell us your tale of bravery.' You sure you won't be lip-zipped tomorrow by your habit?" Ruby asked.
Suddenly, Toan realized that Ruby was right. The whole point of a dinner is eating and conversing. He could only talk to Ruby freely, but he was not sure if he could do so in public. And he promised to join Max for dinner!
"Oh crap…"
&&&
The next day's afternoon, Max and Toan happened to meet each other on the busy decks of the ship. Max kept his hands in the pockets of a mustard vest he wore. The village boy noticed the white dress shirt he always had on, under a different-colored vest. He, on the other hand, wore his casual garments.
Both boys walked beside each other, a little apart. Every now and then, Toan sneaked a glance at the boy he admired.
"So, Toan, you are joining us for dinner tonight, right?" Max asked.
"Um…"
The night before…
"You sure you won't be lip-zipped tomorrow by your habit?" Ruby asked.
Toan closed his sketchbook and looked straight into the damsel's greenish eyes.
"I did it today when I saved him, when I grasped his arm. Said everything I could think of at that moment aloud. I'm going to try it again tomorrow," Toan smiled at the woman," You'll be there tomorrow too, right? So, there'll be less stress."
Ruby held her face with her two hands, a little touched by his words.
"AW! Come here you sweetie you!" she jumped at the boy, pulling him into a gigantic embrace," you are so full of surprises."
"Agh! Stop! Ok!" Toan tried hard to squirm out of Ruby's arms.
&
Toan nodded to Max, earning a relieved smile from the boy. Max whirled around to face him, stopping his footsteps. He playfully gazed his verdant eyes into the other's chestnut ones. Toan flushed instantly and strove to repress it.
"Say," Max wondered," you have a voice. Why don't you use it?"
Toan's eyelids lifted a little. His mouth opened to speak, but as always, he remained speechless with the many people walking around him. His pupils darted from side to side. Max studied their movements.
"Well, that's ok. If you really don't want to talk let me do all the talking tonight. I'll make sure you won't be nervous," Max reassured him.
&&
Meanwhile, Claire and a few other women drank tea together at the dining hall. She chirped about her arranged marriage while the other dames seemed less interested in the subject.
"Oh, it will be dazzling! I'm thinking of having it here on the Titanic!" she siped her tea again.
"Oh look over there," one of the women quickly changed the topic of the conversation," It's Raybrandt's daughter."
A girl, about the age of 14, walked across the dining hall. Her lengthy rosy hair was tied back with a purple bow hair ornament. Her attire consisted of a sleeveless ivory top that exposed her stomach. The same material covered her thighs and a violet garment spread from her waist like wings. She pulled at the long purple sleeves that hugged her arms and walked towards the ladies in her high-heeled lavender boots.
"How unlady-like. She fights as the warrior men do," another dame whispered.
"Hello, ladies," she greeted them, "Claire."
"Monica," Claire forcefully smiled.
"I thought of joining you for tea if ya don't mind," She grinned, one hand on her hip.
Claire and the other women stood up from their seats slowly and gracefully.
"My apologies, but you are too late. We were going for a walk on the deck," The blonde-haired girl said.
"Oh, perfect! I was thinking of going for a little stroll too," She clasped her hands together.
Claire lifted the corner of her lip in a very small smile and continued to the exit with the group of high-class dames.
&&
"Have you ever been on a ship like this, Toan?" Max asked the boy, sticking his head out of a window frame in the ships corridors.
Toan shook his head, keeping a light smile on. The blonde-haired boy admired the scenery of azure-blue ocean and pale clouds swimming in the sky. He was lost in thought as the village boy was as well. Unconsciously, he drew himself nearer and nearer to Max.
"Ahem."
Both snapped back to reality, turning rapidly around. Claire and her party of noblewomen stood eyeing them.
"Ah, hey, Claire," Max greeted her," you remember Mr. Midmorning, right?"
Toan nodded politely to her, only to be scanned by her teal eyes.
"Charmed," she answered blankly, " You cleaned up nice. I suppose you will do so for dinner?"
Toan looked at Max, who realized his promise.
"Yeah, 'course he would," he answered.
"Dear, let the boy speak for himself," she pet her fiancé's arm.
"Actually, he prefers to not talk. It's something," Max explained.
Claire gave an unpleasant look to Toan,"…Interesting."
All the other damsels gathered around the boy, intrigued by the odd personality he had. Some told him to not be shy, others asked him of Max's rescue. Claire, on the other hand, remained outside the ring of women. Abruptly, a French horn was heard blowing; the call for dinner.
"My gosh, they should at least have some other kind of way to tell us dinner time. It sounds like the stuff they use at war," Monica commented.
All the women marched to the dining hall with a stream of other wealthy people. Claire linked her arm around Max's, earning a quiet, irritated groan from him.
"Well, see you there!" He called back to the brunette.
Toan waved at him, oblivious to everything else. Monica wagged her hand in front of him.
"Hey? Hey!" She snapped her fingers between his eyes.
Toan blinked and gaped at her.
"Focus, man. You can keep your eyes off him for two minutes," she winked.
Toan blushed, putting one hand behind his head in a shy manner.
"What are you going to wear to dinner?" she asked.
The boy shook his head and lifted his shoulders; clueless. Monica nodded, pulling him to her suite.
"Yeah, figures. Come on, let's slip you into something fine. Even boys need to look their best when dining with the tough crowd," the girl explained.
&&&
Author's note: LOOOOOOOOOOOONG chapter! Hope it didn't bore you. I really do hope so. But I can't stop ya from pressing the back button. Expect some romance in the next chapter! WEEEEEEEEE! This took long to write, and I couldn't have done it without reviews. Thanks again and please review!