Trucy was up bright and early at 6am. It may have been a vacation but she couldn't help the fact that she was an early bird. She eased out of her room, along with Mr. Hat, quiet enough that she didn't disrupt Juniper. As she wandered down the hall, it was clear that everyone else was still sleeping.
"These sleepyheads….." She huffed slightly, putting her hands on her hips. Now she was going to have to entertain herself. Daddy always told her it was rude to wake others up. "Hmm….I'll make breakfast for everyone!" She grinned, rather happy with the brilliant idea.
The only problem was she didn't know how to cook. Sighing softly, she pulled out a cookbook and looked through it. She was distracted by the sudden sadness she felt being awake all by herself though. Usually she woke Phoenix up, even if it was too early but since he was sharing a room with Maya, she decided not to. Thankfully she was only alone for about ten minutes as Simon was first to emerge out of the closed doors in the hall.
Simon still suffered insomnia .Thankfully, Athena slept like a dead body and didn't hear him shuffle around the room. It was even too early Taka. His feet shuffled as he walked down the hall, still rubbing his eyes. It was then that he heard a voice he didn't recognize.
"Someone's awake, Trucy." The voice said.
Obviously magical Wright-dono woke up before he did, but who was speaking to her? When he heard footsteps coming towards him, he quickly drew his sword. "Don't MOVE!"
It was then that Simon was face to face with….wood…..that was wearing a hat.
"NO! Don't kill Mr. Hat!" Trucy cried out.
Simon lowered his sword and stared at her in confusion. "What….the hell is that thing?"
"It's Mr. Hat! And you almost killed him!" Trucy exclaimed, curling her fists.
"He nearly made me firewood." The puppet chimed in.
He took a step back so that now, with eyes fully open, he could take in what was in front of him. It was still Trucy, though she was without her hat. And next….or actually attached to her was a body length wooden puppet, with matching cape. Nothing he saw or heard in prison could compare to this.
"I know what you're thinking. How do I do it?" Trucy smiled doing a twirl around. "A magician never reveals her tricks."
Simon shook his head. "Actually, I was wondering if Athena slipped me something last night before bed. Or if I was really so sleep deprived that I thought I saw a talking puppet. But obviously this is my reality. Now please put that thing away before I take its advice and make it into firewood."
Trucy frowned and put Mr. Hat away. "That's not nice Mr. Simon."
He found himself amused. Her frown resembled the one Athena use to give him when she was a young, stubborn child. It was rather cute. "I'm not a nice fellow. I'm surprised you're awake. I didn't expect anyone else to be up this early, no less on vacation."
"I'm an early bird. I didn't think anyone would be up. I didn't mean to frighten you with Mr. Hat."
Simon couldn't tell whether she was truly a sad little girl or if it was just an act to garner sympathy from him. Regardless of which it were it was working. "It's alright, no harm came to anyone."
Trucy immediately went back to smiling. Oh it was definitely a ruse. "Good, then you can keep me company until everyone else wakes up." She grabbed his hand pulling him into the kitchen.
He let out a sound that wasn't necessarily a groan but something along those lines. Most people didn't even want to be caught within five feet of him and here was this young girl, almost bossing him around. Either he was getting soft or she was fearless.
"I'm going to go make breakfast for everyone." She stated proudly. "But ummm, Mr. Simon, can I ask you a favor?"
Simon raised an eyebrow. "What is it magical Wright-dono?"
"I don't really know how to cook….." She whispered staring at the floor. "And I was wondering if you could help me?"
Was she really asking a hardened prisoner for a cooking lesson? Strange wasn't a strong enough word for Simon to describe the young girl. Still, some deep burning feeling inside of his gut, what some people would call compassion, wouldn't let him refuse.
"Hmph. Very well, I will assist you in breakfast preparation, but you will not speak a word of this to anyone. You will take full credit. Are we understood?"
Trucy nodded excitedly handing him an apron.
By 8am, everyone began waking up. When Athena woke up, Simon had already returned to the room opening the window for Taka, pretending that he was there the entire time.
"Your snoring resembles a garbage truck, Athena." Simon smirked.
She snorted tossing a pillow at him. Just as she was about to respond, she could hear Klavier and Apollo arguing in the hallway.
"I was here first."
"Now, now Herr Forehead, beautiful people get to use the bathroom first."
Apollo shook his head. "I got here before you, so tough luck buddy."
As the two continued to bicker, Juniper, Phoenix and Maya had also emerged from their rooms.
"Enough with all the fighting! Don't either of you have any chivalry left? Ladies go first." Athena grinned. The two of them were about to object but noticed Simon glaring at them over her shoulder and decided to let the issue rest there.
While they all took their turn in the bathroom, Trucy began banging on a pot. "BREAKKFASTTT!"
Maya perked up immediately pushing pass everyone to get through the crowded hallway. "To the kitchen!"
Trucy had just removed her apron when they began filing into the kitchen. "It's about time you all woke up. I've been up for hours. Table's full of food."
Phoenix sat down at the table; leaving a chair on the side of him open for her while Maya took the one on the other side. "Wow Trucy, you made all of this?" He asked, half impressed and half skeptical.
"I wasn't even aware you knew how to cook. Doesn't Phoenix do all the cooking for you guys at home?" Apollo stated, sitting down next to Maya.
"Yeah well, I figured that he could take a vacation from doing that too." She smiled.
Athena sat down in between Juniper and Simon which left Klavier to sit on the other side of Apollo of course. He wasn't angry that he was going to be subjected to the rock star once again but felt strange about Athena sitting next to Simon. She always sat next to him at the agency. Wait? Was he feeling…..jealous? No, that was ridiculous…
Maya could barely contain herself. "Oh my god, so much food, I don't know where to start…"
"Easy there, pace yourself." Phoenix joked rubbing her shoulder.
Klavier, remembering what happened the night before, nudged Apollo's ribs as he tilted his head toward Athena and Simon. "I bet they worked up quite an appetite, ja?"
Apollo quickly took a sip of his orange juice to avoid from speaking up. Simon could feel eyes watching him and he wasn't sure why. Surely no one saw him assisting Trucy in the kitchen this morning. If anyone would have seen him in that apron, they would have tried to mention it by now.
Breakfast had gone off without a hitch and even though Simon and Trucy had prepared ample amounts of food, there was none left over. Most of that could be attributed to Maya of course. Now everyone had gotten dressed up in their winter gear. Trucy suggested they do some ice skating because it had stopped snowing.
"I haven't been ice skating since I was a little girl." Athena sighed putting on her ice skates.
"I remember and you were terrible at it then too." Juniper laughed.
"Well…I'm not the most coordinated girl in the world."
"Don't worry Fraulein Cykes, if you start to slip, I'll be sure to catch you." Klavier smiled, winking at her.
Maya, Juniper and Athena all giggled while Simon and Apollo rolled their eyes.
"Are you going to skate with me Polly?" Trucy asked, her magic hat now replaced with a blue winter hat with black pom pom.
Apollo rubbed his head a little. "I've never been ice skating before."
"Don't worry, I'll teach you!"
They all made their way outside to the makeshift ice skating rink that was only a few feet away from the cabin. Phoenix grabbed a fallen tree branch and poked at the ice to make sure that it was solid enough to skate on.
"Coast is clear, you're free to skate." He smiled.
"Yay!" Trucy exclaimed as she grabbed Apollo's arm dragging him toward the rink.
"Wait wait….I'm not so sure about this." Apollo said nervously, sliding one of his legs onto the ice first as he held onto Trucy.
"Don't worry Apollo, we'll keep you safe." Maya chimed in grabbing Apollo's other arm as the two of them guided him out onto the ice.
"Come on Athena." Juniper smiled, getting onto the ice and waiting for her.
"Are you coming Simon?"
Simon gave Athena a rather amused look. "Hmph, I'm sure you know the answer to that."
Athena rolled her eyes and went skating with Juniper. She was a bit unsteady but didn't fall. Unlike Apollo who was practically being dragged by the other two women. Phoenix decided it would be safe if he just observed as well, so he took a seat besides Simon on a log.
Klavier was skating rings around everyone of course, trying to show off his skills for the ladies. He managed to skate up behind Athena and Juniper, separating their arms so he could get between them. "Mind if I cut in Fraulein's?"
The two women laughed and were now holding onto his forearms. Apollo scoffed and immediately tried to straighten himself up between Maya and Trucy.
"That a boy Apollo. The spirit of competition is great inspiration." Maya smiled.
On the log, Phoenix and Simon had remained silent. The two didn't know each other well and Simon wasn't really a small talk kind of man. Still, Phoenix watched him from the corner of his eye, mainly so he wasn't attacked by Taka or something. He noticed that he was watching Athena skate with two distinct emotions. One was suspicion, which he assumed was being caused by Klavier, but the other was concern. It was the same look he typically had when Trucy did anything. That overprotective, 24/7 surveillance watch over someone. He hadn't seen Athena and Simon interact much outside of court but it was clear he still felt that he needed to be her protector and it made him chuckle to himself.
"Want to share your amusement with the class Wright-dono?" Simon asked, though he didn't look at him.
"Just…I really hope someone doesn't hurt themselves."
This time, he turned to look at the other man with a slight smirk and nodded. "Hmph, it seems we're the only two who aren't reckless out of this dysfunctional group."
Apollo had managed to balance himself long enough to glide across the ice with the help of Trucy and Maya. "See this isn't so bad." Maya reassured him.
Juniper decided that she needed to take a break and went inside to help Phoenix prepare hot chocolate for everyone. Simon was still keeping an eye on Athena and after their secret cooking lesson this morning, Trucy as well.
Athena was skating with Klavier alone now. She was holding onto him pretty tight because of her ability to be clumsy, though she had yet to fall.
"Don't you worry lovely, I wouldn't dream of letting you fall and hurting yourself." He smirked, holding her around the waist.
"Humph. I bet I can do that." Apollo mumbled, trying to skate on his own.
Trucy wanted to take a break as well, so she let go of him, letting him rely on Maya for his balance as she went to edge and let Simon help her off the ice, though none of the other skaters saw this. "My legs are tired, I'm going to take a break." She said, sitting down on the log.
"Uhh….Trucy…" Maya said, a little uneasy about being left with Apollo on her own.
Apollo began to speed up his skating, still holding Maya's hand. He then pulled her closer, mimicking the skating that Klavier was doing, sliding his arms around Maya's waist.
Klavier looked at Apollo. "Very good Herr Forehead, you may have some talent after all. How about you try this?" He let go of Athena's waist and grabbed both of her hands twirling her around twice.
Athena gasped in surprised and closed her eyes, but once she saw that she had gotten through the twirl without falling, she laughed. "That was so much fun!"
Maya now had a look of concern. "Umm…I don't think we…"
"Hah, only two twirls, I bet I can do three." Apollo challenged.
"Wait… WWHHAAATTT?" Maya screamed out. This man who barely had enough balance to glide upright was going to try to twirl her.
Trucy jolted out of her seat. "Polly are you crazy?!"
Simon was standing as well, but merely because he wanted a better view of the disaster he was sure was about to occur.
Apollo straightened himself out and once he felt like he had more than enough balance, he grabbed Maya's hands twirling them both around.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Maya screamed the entire time. She could feel Apollo's legs starting to swerve; hell she nearly tripped over them. After about the second twirl, she felt their grasp come loose and she let go of him, sliding down on her knees on the ice to keep from falling. She wasn't sure where Apollo had ended up being catapulted to.
"DADDYYYYYY" Trucy called as Phoenix and Trucy came running to the entrance of the cabin.
"What happened? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine daddy! But I don't think Polly is…." She smiled gesturing over to where Athena and Klavier were trying to dig him out of the snow.
It took them at least ten minutes to fully dig Apollo out; everyone else had taken their winter gear off and gone inside to drink their hot chocolate. Phoenix and Simon had the task of carrying Apollo inside, dumping him on the couch. Taka was riding on Apollo's head.
"Did he break something?" Maya asked, coming over with her hot chocolate.
Juniper gave him a quick look over while Trucy fetched the first aid kit. "He's got a few cuts, a knot on his head and his ankle looks a bit swollen but he should be fine."
Phoenix shook his head. "I leave you alone for two minutes and you almost kill yourself."
"It wasn't my intention." Apollo frowned.
Trucy watched as Juniper fussed over Apollo and had to keep herself from squealing in delight. This gave her yet another brilliant idea as she slipped away from the group to get her magician's hat.
"That was a pretty brave stunt Herr Forehead, ridiculous but brave." He smiled.
Trucy had soon returned holding her hat. "Okay everyone, gather around. I have decided that since this vacation is all about making new friends, we should switch roommates again." No one was more relieved about this than Apollo.
"So I've put all of your names into my magic hat so the roommates are picked at random this time." She left out the detail about tampering with the trick to get the results pairings she wanted, but they didn't need to know that.
"I'll go first!" Apollo said eagerly raising his hand. Trucy walked over to him and dug his hand inside, pulling out a paper. "Hm, I got you Trucy."
Trucy had to hide her frown as clearly her trick had failed her. Athena reached in next and pulled out a paper. "I've got you boss!" She grinned.
Klavier was next to pick and pulled out his choice. "Oh, interesting. Looks like I'm rooming with Herr Blackquill."
"And that leaves me with flower power Juniper Woods. Sounds good to me." Maya exclaimed.