Chapter 10: Dining With The Crew

Victoria woke up with the sun shining brightly on her face through the window of her and Erisa's temporary room.

Uh, I hate it when I have weird dreams. Victoria thought to herself as she sat up in the bed and stretched as she looked over at a still sleeping Erisa.

I still do feel bad about totally ditching her in the men's bathroom yesterday. And she still seemed pretty worked up about it even when we went to sleep last night. Victoria thought as she huffed to herself quietly so she didn't wake up Erisa as she started switching out of her pajamas.

Even though I'm going to hate every minute of it, it would make me a crappy friend if I don't try to at least somehow fix this. Victoria thought to herself as she silently left the bedroom and went to go look for Ace and Marco.

It took Victoria quite a while but she finally spotted Ace and Marco sitting and talking on to barrels of sake.

"Uh-Hey Marco, Ace, can I talk to you real quick?" Victoria said, starting to feel nervous as she saw the two of them agree then motioned for her to sit next to them.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Ace said, looking at her curiously as Marco still had his normal tired look on his face.

"Well you see, uh yesterday Erisa told me what happened," Victoria said as she watched both of the boys turn a light shade of red, obviously embarrassed about what had happened.

"Did she happen to tell you why she was hiding out in the men's washroom?" Marco said, looking at Victoria with an expression that she couldn't quite place.

"Yeah, the whole thing was my fault..." Victoria said, nervously running her hand through her blonde hair as she looked down at the ground.

"Explain," Ace said as Marco nodded his head as they listened to Victoria tell them all about how they were bored, and how she had forced Erisa to go in the men's bathroom in the first place. And she even admitted that she was the one who had kicked the door in Ace's face.

When she finished the whole story, she looked nervously up at Marco and Ace who took her by surprise as they both looked at each other and then busted up laughing.

"Some friend you are!" Ace said as he looked over at Marco who was also laughing.

Thank God, they find this whole thing funny! Victoria thought to herself, totally relieved that they weren't angry as she had pictured...

What Victoria pictured...

"Ace, Marco, what happened yesterday was all my fault."

"Grab her!" Marco yelled to Ace as they sat up angrily from the barrels they were sitting on.

"Wait! I'm sorry! We were just bored!" Victoria yelled as Ace and Marco grabbed her by her wrists and magically picked her up like she was a light as a balloon. They then threw her overboard, leaving her yelling as the boat went on without her.

"So, do you think it would be OK that when you see Erisa to act like that little incident never happened?" Victoria said, smiling at them as Ace then suddenly cleared his throat.

"Yeah sure, it doesn't really matter. I mean it was an accident in all," Ace said as he causally put his hands behind his head as he bite into a red apple.

"Yeah all's forgiven, since it was a accident" Marco said as he seemed to stare at Victoria as he said the last part of the sentence. Almost as if he didn't believe that Victoria wasn't somehow more involved than what she had said, making Victoria return his stare with equal amount of force.

(~o0o~)

"Are you sure that they are not pissed off or anything?" Erisa said as she paced back forth in the bedroom. She was waiting for Victoria to get ready so that they could actually make it to the dinner she so badly wanted to go to.

"Like I've said for the millionth time; when I talked to them they were just busting up laughing at the whole thing when I was explaining it!" Victoria said as she then came out of the bathroom and smiled at Erisa.

This is going to be so awkward! Erisa thought to herself, heading out the bedroom door with Victoria as they headed to the mess hall.

When they reached the mess hall they were surprised at what they saw. There were pirates singing and dancing, swinging huge mugs of sake through the air. Some were gambling, some were arm wrestling, and some were even dancing on top of the wooden tables, yelling pirate songs from the top of their lungs.

Victoria was surprised when she looked over at Erisa, expecting to see her to look very freaked out, but instead found that she was smiling and laughing at the sight of it all.

Thanks to all this commotion, I doubt I'll even run into Ace or Marco! Erisa thought to herself joyfully as she looked at all the pirates before turning to look at the shocked looking Victoria.

"Well I'm pretty hungry! Let's go get some food!" Erisa said as she weaved her way through the crowds of pirates over to the food line.

"Wow the food actually looks good!" Erisa said out loud as a deep voice sounded behind her, making her jump.

"Yeah, the Old Man makes sure we are well feed," a deep voice said as Erisa turned around to see a rather massive man with thick tightly curled hair. He wore a dark red bandana which was wrapped tightly around his head. Erisa also noticed that he was missing quite a few teeth and the ones that were there, were broken.

The man seemed to notice the surprised look on Erisa's face as he spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to catch you off guard there! The name's Marshall D. Teach. And you must be the girl Ace brought back from that burning ship," the massive man said as he formed a crooked smile.

"Yes, my name is Erisa! It's nice to meet you," Erisa said as she smiled at the man. She reached out and shook his hand, realizing that besides Ace, Marco, Thatch, and White Beard himself she hadn't really met any of the White Beard pirates.

"Well, then now that introductions are over, I bet you and your friend have nowhere to sit! Join me!" Teach said as he gave Erisa a strong pat on the back. Erisa, knowing that there was no way she could refuse without seeming rude, flashed a nervous smile as she motioned Victoria to follow her and the massive man.

"Who is that dude!?" Victoria asked Erisa, not worrying about him hearing her due to all of the loud voices in the room.

"His name is Marshall D. Teach and he…uh…well invited us to sit with him and his friends," Erisa said as she smiled nervously towards Victoria.

"And you said yes!?" Victoria questioned, looking at her as if she had gone insane.

"How was I supposed to tell him no!?" Erisa said as she pointed at the man with her free hand that wasn't holding her tray of food.

Erisa could not hear Victoria's reply as Victoria's voice was drowned out by the loud whistles that came from the men who were sitting at Teach's table.

"Yeah Teach! Way to bring over the ladies!" Erisa heard a drunk man call out as he winked at Erisa, making her want to gag.

"Now, now, guys that's no way to treat a lady," Erisa heard a familiar voice say as she was flooded with relief as she saw Ace sitting between two massive men at Teach's table with a mug of sake in his hand. Only to have her relief fade as she realized that Ace was beyond drunk as he bleached a loud burp which made the group of men bust up laughing.

Erisa couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a drunk Ace, due to the fact that she was so used to seeing him in control and nonchalant. But this Ace was different as he then gave Erisa and Victoria a goofy smile.

"It's about time that you two show up!" Ace said "More drinks!" He yelled, making the guys at the table go into an uproar.

At First, Erisa and Victoria really didn't know what to do or say at that. They just watched the pirates… well, being pirates. And then, sooner or later Erisa and Victoria found themselves laughing at their stories and truly having a good time.

It seemed that the more days Erisa found herself on the Moby Dick, the more she felt like she was at home. And the more she started to dread the day that she would have to leave.