This will be a companion piece to Of Milk and Cookies. I plan to put the stories that I wasn't quite able to fit into it here, as there are many left to tell. Chapters will likely not be in chronological order, but that will give me the freedom to explore new things without feeling limited to a specific timeline so that's okay! I hope you enjoy this new chapter in the OMAC universe! This first chapter was actually written for one of the fanzines on Tumblr, and I have been waiting months to be able to share it with you! I hope you enjoy "Flying for Dummies", which is set before the season 1 episode titled The Snake King!
"Got any…. 4's?" Lloyd asked, boredom tinging his voice. There wasn't a whole lot to be done on the Bounty currently (the others were off on a mission, and his uncle was off doing… something), and this was far from exciting. Nya scanned the stack of playing cards she was holding. He waited impatiently.
"Nope. Go fish." the boy gave a long-suffering sigh and plucked a card from the middle (because convenience was for losers) of the pile.
"Okay, my turn," stated Nya, sounding only slightly more enthusiastic than Lloyd, "Got any 7's?" he eyed his dwindling supply of cards dejectedly, but ultimately handed over several.
"What about…. 3's? I'm pretty sure you have at least 2 of them." She speculated, watching his expression change from mere boredom to annoyance. Tossing her the last of his cards, Lloyd complained,
"Aw… Come on…. how did you know?" he pointed at her impressive collection of matches and continued.
"You gotta be cheating… no one's that good at Go Fish…" The teen shrugged.
"Your face told me everything I needed to know, Lloyd. I'm not cheating, I promise. Just better at focusing." the boy didn't look like he believed her.
"You wanna play another round, or?" she inquired, not really thrilled with the idea herself. Lloyd shook his head vigorously.
"No… Please no. Isn't there anything else we can do?" he begged. Nya frowned for a moment, thinking.
"We could… play Candy-land?"
"Nope"
"Draw a picture?"
"Nuh-uh."
"…Start a load of laundry?" Lloyd stared at the teen as though she were crazy, complaining,
"You actually think I'd do that willingly so soon after the pink gi incident? It took me hours to get the color out…"
"Hm…" The floorboards creaked as the flying ship shifted positions slightly. The movement sparked an idea in Nya's brain.
"I know! Come with me!" she cried, shooting up from her chair.
"Huh? But where are we going?" he called after her, confused.
"The bridge, of course. It's time you learned how to steer the Bounty!"
"This is gonna be so cool!" Lloyd exclaimed, skipping excitedly into the control room, "You can teach me how to fire the cannons, and do loop de loops, and all sorts of other cool flying tricks!"
"Woah, hold your horses, there! Don't you think maybe we should start with something, I dunno, a little simpler? I'd rather not get ourselves killed today if it's all the same to you…" Nya asked, swatting his hands away from the steering wheel before he could give it a good spin.
"Oh… okay," the boy replied. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, he made a show of reigning in his excitement.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Maybe the basics? Like what the different buttons do, so you actually know the difference between the light switch and the fire alarm and don't wake up the entire ship at 3 AM?" she suggested.
"C'mon Nya, no one's that dumb," Lloyd protested with another eye roll.
"Well, actually…"
"Wait – seriously?"
"It was dark, Sis, how was I supposed to know that the fire alarm looks exactly like the light switch?!" Nya said in her very best Kai voice. He considered this explanation for a moment.
"Y'know, on second thought, I'm not surprised by that at all," the boy decided. She bit back a laugh.
"Yeah. He can be… a little overzealous at times…"
"You sure you don't mean clueless?"
"Well yeah, that too. But anyway, wouldn't you rather be learning about the Bounty?" deflected Nya, not wanting to give Lloyd more excuses to annoy Kai. He was becoming quite good at it already.
"Definitely. We can talk about Kai's dorkiness anytime," he agreed.
"Okay, so. Most stuff is labeled with glow in the dark stickers, now, but I'll still show you the most important ones," she began, pointing to buttons and explaining what they did. When Nya reached a smallish button near a microphone, she told him,
"This is the intercom. You can use it to contact people anywhere on the ship, though sometimes I like to use it to mess with the guys. Wanna try it out?"
"Oh, um. Sure?" Lloyd's eyes widened.
"Here," Nya handed him the microphone, "You just press down on the button and start talking."
"Good afternoon, passengers. This is your captain speaking. We're in for a bit of a bumpy ride, since a group of Serpentine are headed our way! Better take cover, folks!" He cried, deepening his voice for dramatic effect.
"Serpentine?! Oh no!" she chimed in, pretending to go faint, "This is the worst possible thing that could happen!"
"Don't worry, Admiral Nya! I'll fly us to safety!" Lloyd assured her, patting her shoulder a bit harder than necessary, "Er… how… how do I do that?" letting out a giggle at his temporary break in character, Nya took charge.
"Well, first you gotta disable the anchor, or we won't be able to go anywhere," she told him.
"Oh, right. And uh, how would I do that?"
"The big lever to your right." Instructed the raven haired teen.
He pushed it as far back as it would go. A loud grinding noise could be heard as the anchor was raised.
"Good," she encouraged, "I think you might be ready for some basic steering lessons now."
"Awesome!" Lloyd breathed, hardly believing his luck.
"Just try not to crash, okay?" Nya reminded him. He smirked at her, the picture of innocence.
"Sure thing!"
"Okaaay. So. First of all, you have to turn on the thruster – that's kinda like a car's gas pedal, it's what makes the Bounty move without relying on the wind currents."
"The thrusters make the Bounty go, got it," he confirmed.
"Yep, and then we have the steering wheel, which is pretty self-explanatory-"
The big screen in front of them flashed with a notification about an incoming message, interrupting Nya's train of thought.
"That must be the boys wanting us to come pick them up. Sorry, Lloyd, looks like we're gonna have to cut your flying lessons short for the day…" she stated apologetically.
"Not necessarily," Lloyd said, a concerningly devious look on his face, "You… you could always let me steer on the way there?"
Nya frowned, apprehensive.
"I dunno, Lloyd… when I said basic steering lessons, I was thinking of a quick circle around the nearest field, not flying all the way to Jamanakai Village…"
"Pleeaaase, Nya? I promise I'll be extra super careful and listen to everything you say..." the boy begged. She weighed her options carefully.
"Well..."
When Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane climbed up onto the deck of the Destiny's Bounty, like they had many times before, they were surprised to find Nya, rather than their blonde gremlin of a charge, cheerfully waiting to greet them. It took them longer than it should've to realize exactly what was wrong with this picture. But then it hit them.
"Nya? I want you to think about this very carefully… If you're out here… who's steering?!" Kai asked slowly, afraid to hear the answer.
"Lloyd. Who else?" his sister replied nonchalantly.
"What?!" Jay shrieked. The looks on their faces were priceless.
"He's actually a pretty good pilot. He can even tell the difference between the fire alarm and the light switch."
Thank you so much for reading! It was wonderful to finally be able to publish this! I hope you enjoyed it! As always, if you have feedback or suggestion, my review box is always open! Happy Monay!
~GwenBrightly
