Tears of Venus
Chapter One: We've Screwed Up
Peppita could swear she heard music from those old spy movies Ursus was so fond of as she crept towards the dinner table, Tears of Venus still stowed beneath her belt. She had volunteered to set the table, something odd in itself, in order to slip the potion into Nel and Albel's tea. Nel had been suspicious then, but the little actress had explained herself away by saying she was sick of Maria yelling at Cliff for dropping dishes. EVERYONE was sick of that. Nel had dropped the subject, leaving Peppita to the 'Mission', as Cliff called it.
She shot a nervous glance around herself, scanning the pristine white room for a flash of violet or red. Nothing; just the low hum of the hyperspace engines. She giggled and skullfully drew out the potion, eyeing the phial carefully.
The liquid within was a brilliant ruby red that glittered in the neon overhead lights. Peppita wrinkled her nose. How she could slip something this color into tea without making it look like blood was beyond her, but it was Cliff's harebrained scheme in the end. 'I could pin the blame on him,' she thought cheerfully, and emptied half the vial into each cup. Both fizzled dangerously and sent up a jet of crimson steam for a few horrifying seconds. Peppita watched in alarm until the steam vanished; the tea stopped boiling and returned to its usual honey-toned color. She heaved a sigh of relief, then skipped to the bridge to inform everyone that the table was set and their drinks were ready.
She winked at Cliff as they all filed to the dining room. He grinned widely back. Nobody else seemed to notice.
Part two of 'Mission: Elicoorian Cupid' began.
There was a stampede for the seats with uncontaminated cups. Cries of "I'm so hungry!" echoed through the Diplo. Peppita hung back until she saw that Fayt, Sophia, and Marietta had stayed back with Albel and Nel (who looked surprised at the charge for seats) before barreling to sit in Albel's usual seat. The captain of the Black Brigade reacted badly; he stormed over, swearing softly, and glared fiercely at the tiny performer.
"Get out of my seat, maggot," he growled. She bravely stuck her tongue out at him, defying the chills of fear that ran through her at his fiery red stare. "Move it!"
"You snooze, you lose, Girly-boy!" she chirped, wondering how quickly he would kill her and if it would be painless. If looks could kill, she was damn sure she'd be a flaming corpse on the floor at that very moment. Scar-ee, as Cliff would say.
Albel had just opened his mouth to retaliate when Nel grabbed a hold of one of his long braids, yanking him around to face one of the empty seats -- Peppita's usual post beside Nel. The Aquarian handled the situation with utmost, predictable calm.
"Just be quiet and sit down, Nox," she said, steering him into the chair. Albel sat down, grumpily shooting death glares and insults her way, massaging the back of his head where his hair had been pulled. Nel ignored him and sat down.
Lieber led the evening prayer for the few religious people onboard (the precious few) while Cliff cheerfully starting shovelling food onto his plate. The atheist Klausian passed the food deliberately in the direction that would take longest to get around to Albel and Nel. Now all he had to do was make sure that those two looked right at one another after drinking the tea. The opportunity presented itself wonderfully when Nel picked up her tea and sipped it gingerly, trying not to scald herself. Cliff's foot shot out underneath the table and connected with Albel's shin in a very audible 'thump.' Albel swore so loudly that Nel nearly choked on her tea and Sophia jumped a clear four inches from her chair.
All eyes turned to Albel as he glared at Cliff and bellowed, "What the HELL was that for, you DOLT?!"
"Quit ooglin' Nel, loser!" Cliff replied snappishly. Bingo! Just as planned, Albel turned to look at Nel increduously. Eye contact! Half the plan was sealed!
Only Nel didn't respond as expected. She hit Albel upside the head. Hard.
"I knew all Glyphians were perverts!" she snapped, jabbing him in the chest for good measure. Albel winced.
"He's making it up, woman!" he attempted to redeem himself with, pointing accusingly across the table at Cliff.
"Oh, sure. And I'm the queen of Greeton."
They continued to glare at each other, both gulping down their tea as they did so. Confused glances were exchanged around the table; Fayt appeared to have forgotten that he'd been holding the mashed potato bowl for nearly five minutes. Every look was the same: Is it working? How can we tell?
"Leingod!" Albel suddenly snapped. Fayt nearly dropped the potatoes from shock. Not 'maggot'? Or 'worm'? Not 'FOOL'?! "Stop hogging the potatoes! I'd like to eat sometime this week!"
They all stared. After a long pause, Maria cleared her throat.
"Did you just call Fayt by his last name?" she asked. Albel scowled.
"Of course I did, maggot! What's it to you?"
'Sweet mother of Luther,' Cliff thought. 'We screwed up.'
"Isn't he usually 'worm' to you?" Mirage asked slowly.
Albel turned away and glared in the opposite direction. "Shut up, fools."
Cliff turned to stare questioningly at Peppita, who shrugged. This was not good. The only member of the party who was ever called by her real name was Nel; and everyone knew why that was. So if Albel had just drank a love potion... and was now calling Fayt by his real name when usually only the woman he had a crush on got such positive treatment....
...Shit.
Not two minutes later, everyone reveled to see Nel blush spectacularly when Steeg asked her to pass the salt. All jaws dropped (save Albel and Nel's, of course) when she giggled shyly before passing the salt shaker over.
After dinner, Cliff was not surprised to be cornered next to his room by Peppita, Mirage, and Maria. He hastily tried to explain himself, but Maria kept interrupting with "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
"Well," he finally said slowly, "We appear to have screwed up, my friends."
"Oh. GOD," Maria murmured, slapping a hand to her forehead. Cliff nodded. After a pause, all three girls hit him.
"Ouch! I can fix it! I CAN FIX IT!"