Chapter 12
The captain stirred as the sunlight crawled across the cabin. Benji rolled to his side to stare out the window, the warmth of the sun gently grazing his skin.
He smiled down at his partner, still fast asleep. Seeing the pale glow of Miguel bare shoulders, Benji automatically began caressing them.
The redhead began to blink slowly as he awoke. "...Benji?"
"Mmm...?"
"Stop hogging all the covers..." he pouted, tugging on the blanket they shared.
Benji chuckled. "Hey, Miguel, why didn't you tell me that we were flooding?"
Miguel woke up immediately. "But I... I didn't? But someone must have! I didn't, but someone.... Erik? Rin? No one told you, but I... We're flooding... there. I told you. Now you know." Then he sank back into the bed without another word.
"Oh, no you don't." Benji smiled, poking Miguel several times. "If I let you sleep in everyone's going to think I'm playing favorites. I can't have that."
"Mmmm... Deal with it, because I'm not moving..."
"That's what you think!" the captain shouted as he scooped Miguel off the bed, bridal style.
"Nooo... Bed... and blankie... and sleeeeeep... Bennnjiiiii!!!"
"You're cute, but it won't work."
"Pwease... I wuv you..." Miguel pouted as he nuzzled closer to the captain's neck. "And if you let me go back to sleep..." he added provocatively as he nibbled Benji's ear, "I'll owe you..."
"Using sex as a weapon would usually work, but not today."
Miguel looked around desperately. "I think I'm... gonna... sneeze," he said, taking a deep breath, raising a hand to cover his nose.
"Give it up! There is no way you're getting to sleep in."
"I hid every single drop of alcohol we have left and if you don't let me get back in that bed, I will withhold the whereabouts..."
"NO! You wouldn't!"
"Oh? Wouldn't I?"
Benji grimaced. "Do you really want to threaten a guy who could drop your bum in the ocean and leave you for dead?"
"Do you really want to threaten someone who may or may not have thrown all of the booze overboard? Ask yourself... 'Am I feeling lucky?' Well? Do ya? Punk."
"Errr..."
XXX
There was a sea, and in the sea was a raft, and tied to the raft was an old woman cursing a blue streak. Now, why this streak was blue, and not red or green or yellow, no one can say, but the fact was that the streak was blue, and the curses were loud and decidedly unladylike.
Meanwhile, circling around the raft were many large gray sharks. They were staring, puzzled, at the woman as she threatened them and the rest of the general world with the only weapon she had–her feet. They were the only part of her not firmly lashed, and she waved them back and forth threateningly so that the sharks could only stare and wish they were not so afraid of toes.
"YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, YOU STAY BACK, NOW! UNLESS YOU WANT TO JOIN MY ARMY YOU WILL BACK THE HELL OFF RIGHT NOW, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"
One of the sharks nodded slowly, trying to seem pacifistic. The woman must have been satisfied, for the topic of her rant took on an entirely new turn.
"I CANNOT BELIEVE HIM! HE THREW ME IN THE OCEAN! ME! KEIKO, SLAYER OF NEWTS, QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE, AND TERROR OF SANE MEN EVERYWHERE! AND HE HAS THE NERVE TO TIE ME TO A BUNCH OF WOOD AND FLOAT ME OUT TO SEA! AND FOR WHAT?! ALL I DID WAS THROW OUT THOSE STUPID BASEBALL CARDS...USELESS THINGS...'BUT THEY'LL BE WORTH A FORTUNE SOMEDAY,' HE SAYS. WELL, WHEN THAT DAY COMES I WILL RENOUNCE NEWT EATING FOR ALL ETERNITY, THAT'S WHAT'LL HAPPEN!"
The sharks nodded politely, their eyes fixed firmly on the terrifying toes.
If Keiko even noticed that her audience hadn't left, she didn't let on.
XXX
"GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!!!"
Erik shot up in bed. "Dear God almighty, Mister Murkle!"
Jiro blinked sleepily as he sat up. "Huh?"
In spite of himself, Erik smiled. "We'll be out in a minute, Benji!" he called, before looking down at Jiro, who had flopped back down onto the bed and pulled his pillow over his own head. The picture was so completely adorable, and if there had been any remaining irritation about Simon and the night before, it was banished by the sight. His smile growing to an all-out grin, he pulled the pillow gently out of Jiro's arms and quickly slid into its former place.
"You're so cute," he teased, pinching the chaplain's cheek.
Jiro ignored this. "How are you feeling?" he asked, arms immediately tightening around Erik. "Better?"
"Much better," Erik replied, pressing a kiss to the top of Jiro's head. "I had something nice to wake up to."
Jiro wrinkled his nose. "What, Benji screaming at us about a nation with a desolate and war-torn future?"
Erik blinked. "No, silly! I'm trying to be romantic..."
Smiling, Jiro pulled Erik into a proper kiss that left the doctor's eyes glazed over and a dopey smile on his face. "Well, you suck at it." Then, laughing loudly, he ducked the pillow that Erik swung at his head and leapt off the bed. "C'mon, I'm hungry."
"But I wanna cuddle," Erik protested, grabbing his boyfriend by the waist and yanking him back onto the bed and into his arms.
"...Don't care. Hungry."
Erik laughed, and let Jiro go this time. "Now who sucks?"
Jiro blinked at him, clearly deciding whether he should take this very obvious opening. "Well, Erik, if you would only let me..." He didn't quite manage to dodge the pillow this time, and instead of trying he simply pounced on Erik, who let out a squeal of laughter. They had only just managed to begin their game when...
"Yes, everybody loves everybody, the world is a happy butterfly, now get out of the freaking bed!"
Erik chuckled at this unhappy outburst from the doorway. "Yes, Ben. We're going, Ben."
Then he rolled out of bed to get dressed and followed Jiro out of the cabin.
XXX
"AND I HAVEN'T EVEN TOLD YOU ABOUT THE TIME THAT HE ATE MY NEWTS! NOW, I THINK YOU'LL AGREE THAT OUT OF ALL THE UNFORGIVABLE THINGS I'VE TOLD YOU, THAT IS THE WORST! TO STEAL A WOMAN'S NEWTS IS JUST...JUST WRONG! CERTAINLY IT WAS THE MOST UNJUSTIFIABLE THING HE'S EVER DONE BEFORE HE THREW ME INTO THE SEA! I CAN'T EVEN...hey, what's that?"
"That" turned out to be...quite a lot of sand.
And the sand turned out to belong to...an island.
A rather large island, with beaches and rocks and trees and...no sound whatsoever?
Keiko looked around from where she was tied to the raft, not noticing her captive audience's relieved scrambles for deeper waters.
It took her exactly two minutes to decide that this was quite the most boring desert island she'd ever been stranded on. Really. Where were the deadly poisonous snakes? The mushrooms that if you ate them you'd die? Where were the native people wearing grass and speaking random other languages coming to hold her captive, for heaven's sake?
Yes, this island really was just a shame to desert isles everywhere, Keiko decided.
And then the bushes moved as several clicks sounded from inside of them, and Keiko couldn't have been more delighted.
"Well, it certainly took you long enough! Where have you been? I've been tied up here, completely helpless, for minutes now, and you didn't even come to eat me! What kind of sorry excuse for a scary island thing are you, anyway?"
The bushes stopped rustling, and Keiko, reflecting that she might scare it away, whatever it was, and therefore keep it from fulfilling its destiny as her captor, quieted down.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to criticize your work. I'm sure you know your job better than I do. I'll be quiet now and let you get on with it."
With that, Keiko fell silent, waiting–fairly patiently, for her–for the thing to do something.
After a while, a man stepped from the trees, and then another, and another, until there were about ten, all ringed around her.
Keiko looked up them all, and despite her promise, she just had to ask.
"Hey, got any newts?"
XXX
Walking out of her room, Rin headed toward the galley to see if Simon made it out. Walking in, she sighed. It had seemed the little weasel got cut loose. However, the knife was still exactly where she had left it. Walking over, she grabbed it.
Moments later Simon appeared in the galley, without one word to Rin. Much to her annoyance she marched over to the table he was sitting. Grimacing, she plunged the knife into said table, a mere inch from said Simon's hand.
"CRAP!" he yelled recoiling. "DAMN IT, CAVEWOMAN! WHAT IS YOUR BEEF??" he screamed.
"Beef? I don't have beef. I've got a Winchester pocket knife. But no beef," she said feigning perfect innocence. Walking to the kitchen, she grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down opposite Simon, drinking deeply. In between gulps, she said "Y'know, you deserved it," she said. "What has Erik ever done to you, man?"
Simon grunted.
"Well, whatever he did, I guarantee that doesn't justify the way you treat him."
Hearing a big sigh from Simon, she could tell that she was getting to him. "What was that?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said.
"Whatever floats your boat. Just apologize, though. C'mon. You can't be that heartless..."
Simon didn't say anything.
Heaving a sigh, Rin drank some more coffee. Then again...
Sitting in the galley with Simon was bad enough, Rin thought as she looked out the porthole. Where is everybody else?
Just then Benji, Erik, and Jiro walked in. "Speak of the devil. What up, boys?"
Receiving some very disgruntled I'm-awake-out-of-bed-what-more-do-you-want looks, she gulped down the remainder of her coffee.
Jiro carefully avoided looking at Simon, and dropped into a chair, pulling Erik down with him and resting against his shoulder. Erik blinked, then smiled and pressed a kiss to Jiro's head.
As long as Jiro was there, Erik thought, he could deal with Simon's existence on the ship. He didn't want to become dependant on Jiro's protection though. He only wished that Jiro didn't get tired of defending him all the time. And if he did, well... Erik would rather just go on hoping...
An awkward silence fell then, as they all turned to look at Simon, who was steadfastly ignoring them as he smoked a cigarette. After several quiet, uneasy moments, movement began in the galley as the group dispersed. Benji quickly made coffee, Rin started to make a fresh batch of coffee, and Erik, Jiro, and Simon remained where they were.
Simon growled, grinding his cigarette into the table, and left the room.
Rin blinked. "Somebody's cwanky..."
XXX
On That Godforsaken Rowboat of Chapters Before
"I leave you alone for one minute. How is it in that one minute you manage to level an entire island? Hmm?"
"I said I was sorry. Twice! Besides, if I remember correctly, it was you that started that fight with that islander."
"What? No, I didn't."
"No, I remember. He was all like 'Hey, you have funny hair.' And you were like 'Hey, you look pretty funny too, but that's probably because I stabbed you in the face!' His girlfriend wasn't too happy 'bout it either."
"That never happened."
"You're just mad because the guy's girlfriend moved on rather quickly. And, well, I don't know why, but... she did mention I was looking pretty good."
"No, she didn't. I believe what she said was-"
"Ah-ha! So you admit there was a girl! I knew you were jealous."
"Fine! I'm jealous. Maybe I wouldn't be if you didn't flirt back."
"I didn't flirt back. I was just being sympathetic, I mean, she just lost her boyfriend and all. I didn't want to crush her."
"So you decided to kiss her!?"
"It was an accident!"
"Oh, what? You accidentally leaned forward and her lips just happened to be there?"
"Well, yeah."
"You are unbelievable!"
"And you are blowing this way out of proportion. You kiss waaaay better than her anyways."
"That's it! I'm going to end you. And I will make it look like an accident!"
"How!?
" You fell and my ice sword broke your fall. So no fingerprints, it's the perfect crime."
"Bitch!"
"Moron!"
Silence.
"I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have got jealous."
"I shouldn't have kissed that girl."
"I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"And I'm sorry about that guy in Barcelona..."
"In... Barcelona...? Oh, you f-"
XXX
The ArchAngel
When Miguel finally decided it was time to join the living, he immediately had to rally the troops. It took a long while to get his fellow shipmates to get together in the hopes of putting some kind of halt in their imminent doom.
Erik and Jiro had been put to the task of tying everything down, if it could be tied down, or if it was worth tying down. In retrospect they weren't doing anything to help.
They all came to a general consensus that Rin was the best at keeping Simon busy. She'd been doing this particular assignment for so long that she respectfully named it "Simon Watch" so is wouldn't become dull, or if possible more demeaning.
As for Benji and Miguel, they had the ever-so-awesome task of trying to keep the brig from flooding, or rather stop it from spreading.
Unfortunately for the dynamic duo it was the latter. The water had come up to the mid-section of the room.
"Well..." Benji sighed. "We're screwed, who want's pie?"
"Benji... there's something down there..." Miguel whispered.
"What'd you mean?"
"It's... moving..."
"Miguel, that's just Berkeley."
"How can you tell?"
"Can you think of any other creature that would be swimming around in our brig? Or anything that glows in the dark, for that matter?"
"...No..."
Suddenly the beast burst forth from the water with a greeting in the form of "Hugglemuffins!" and then dove back into the water from whence it came.
"Eep!" Miguel yelped, jumping into Benji's arms.
After that rather abrupt introduction Berkeley came back in a more subtle way. His head poked out of the water and he extended his hand to offer Benji a snorkel.
Benji accepted the breathing device warily. "What are you? Part fish?"
"It's still under debate..." Berkeley replied in a hushed tone, eyes widening with excitement. "It certainly would explain the scales developing underneath my toes."
"That's fascinating..." the captain said, his eye twitching visibly.
"And you know what else?"
"No, I don't know, but I do not wish to know so let's just leave that one alone."
"Okay, Hugglemuffins!" the creature giggled and sunk back into the H2O slowly and swam away.
Holding up the snorkel, Benji turned to Miguel. "So um... want to share a snorkel?"
Miguel looked up at his partner. "Depends... when's the last time you brushed your teeth?"
"I dunno. What day is it?"
"EWWWWW! BENJIIIII!!!"
"Sorry... I'll go down alone."
"Oh, no, you don't! If you go down with him you might not come back." Miguel pointed out. As they stared down the glowing creature stopped, looked back up at them and waved energetically.
"Good point. You go." Benji said, handing over the breathing apparatus.
XXX
Meanwhile, At the Helm
Monroe had never been trusted with anything, so it came to a shock to him that Benji would actually confide in him, and give him the job of searing his ship. It didn't matter how many times the captain had crashed it himself, Monroe was still unclear as to why Benji was giving him chance at all. He wondered if he was even worthy of this opportunity, but he didn't dwell on it. Thinking negatively never got anyone anywhere anyhow.
Instead he thought, Wow! Benji must've seen something in me that I didn't. I must ponder what that something was so I can improve and become 'awesome'. Because, well, being awesome would just be... erm... AWESOME!
It was really exciting to him. Both his parents were pirates before that had met their demise to a very mutinous crew. They were also very much in love, and great parents to Monroe, and in comparison to his new friends parental history was really refreshing.
Monroe always wanted to be like his parents. Honest and fair, with a lust for freedom. Something else he wanted, like his parents had, was a family. He planned on waiting for that "special" someone to come, and even if had to wait a really long time, he believed that he would know when he saw him.
It wasn't like he thought he'd get shot with a proverbial arrow, or hear bells, or anything. Just a feeling of knowing when something fits together. Like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
He'd never been able to confide this in anyone. He'd hoped one day he'd be able to trust his new crew enough to share more about himself without any second thoughts, but 'til that day he would keep it to himself.
Suddenly Monroe pulled his brain out of hibernation; he saw something in the distance. He pulled out a small telescope to get a closer look. They were approaching an island.
Monroe had spotted it the morning before only much smaller. He was relieved that it was an island and not a speck on his scope. This meant the ship would be able to be repaired and they'd be back on track in no time at all.
...Or so he hoped.
XXX
"I found a hole! We need something sponge-like to block it off," Miguel said, scrambling back onto the dry floorboards. After a few moments of watching the red-head flail around, Benji finally took pity on him, and helped him up.
"But where are we going to get something like that?"
"I've got just the thing!" Miguel said, holding up a finger and then turning and dashing toward the galley.
"Where're we going?" Benji asked, confused, as he tagged along.
"Don't ask questions!"
"...Jeez...okay..."
They reached the galley, and Miguel immediately ran to the far wall.
"Um...Miguel...what're we doing?"
"DON'T ASK QUESTIONS!" Miguel bellowed.
".........."
Miguel stared at the wall for a moment, then said, "Turn and face the other wall."
"Um...why?"
"BENJI!"
"....Fine, whatever. But you're explaining this later." With a sigh, Benji turned and faced the other wall, and instead listened very, very closely.
There came the sound of something sliding to the side, and then a whirring sound. Then came a sound like Miguel...pressing buttons?
A lot of buttons.
One. Five. Ten. Twenty. Thirty...
And then there was an almighty creak, and more sliding, and then Miguel said, "Okay, you can look now."
Benji looked, and...there was a whole new door in the wall.
And Miguel was walking through it like it was perfectly normal. Not quite sure what to do, Benji followed.
It was fruitcake.
Miguel had been protecting, apparently with his life and all his skill...lots and lots of fruitcake.
"We're gonna plug the hole in the boat...with fruitcake," Benji said slowly.
"Of course," Miguel said calmly. "But not that one!" he added firmly, and Benji guiltily snatched his hand back from the fruitcake he'd been about to grab. He led Benji to another wall, and this time he just poked a spot on it, and the wall slid away.
"...We really shouldn't have this much room down here," Benji muttered, following Miguel into the room. "Fine, which fruitcake are we gonna use?"
"That one," Miguel said reverently, and pointed to the most gargantuan fruitcake Benji had ever seen.
"...This is just too weird."
XXX
It was about midafternoon and Rin had decided to make lunch; this, under normal circumstances, meant cheeriness and a general frolicky feeling in the air. Unfortunately, Simon was in the galley with her, which, under any circumstances, meant that Rin was absolute hell on wheels in her irritation.
"What's for lunch, Kitchen Wench?" Simon smirked, hopping up on the only clean counter in the space.
Rin tossed some diced tomatoes into her pot of chili. "Hey, sea urchin, let's play a game. How about you stay quiet for an entire ten seconds, then try speaking without your oversized shoe in your equally oversized pie hole?"
"I was never much for games... Except, of course for Seven Minutes in Heaven...spin the bottle...strip poker..." The smirk grew as he leaned closer to Rin's ear. "I bet you'll make someone a lovely little wife someday..."
The raspberry-haired girl laughed robotically. "Not even in your wildest and most wonderful dreams, Neanderthal." Then, grinning evilly, she shoved a spoon of chili into Simon's mouth. "How is it?"
In response Simon choked and dropped the spoon in the sink. "Spicy."
Rin grinned happily. "I know. I haven't added the green peppers yet, and I added that extra little kick especially for you, the weasel who is clearly after my own shriveled little heart." Going back to her cutting board, she picked up her kitchen knife.
Simon, however, had other ideas. "Hmm...spicy...I like it..." he whispered into Rin's ear as he moved to stand behind her, placing his hand over her free one on the countertop.
Rin twitched nervously as his hand slid up her arm and the other wrapped around her waist. "May I remind you that I'm holding a knife?" Rin spat venomously.
But the problem with that logic was that the possibility of being brutally stabbed and possibly murdered in cold blood was not nearly enough to deter Simon from his quest for amusement. Life on a ship was dull as tombs much of the time, and neither Erik nor Miguel was around to pick on at the moment, thus leaving Rin the only innocent bystander with which Simon could nullify his boredom.
The fact that, lately, he would rather spend his time with Rin than alone in his cabin...that had nothing to do with it. Nothing whatsoever.
In Rin's opinion, the guy just didn't know when to grow up, or when to give up.
And she was right. Even as she threatened him, he started to pull her closer. "And?"
The word was a bare breath across her neck, and she told herself that the little shiver she gave was one of revulsion.
"And if you don't get off me this very instant, I won't be held responsible for the consequences. I have no conscience, and I'm absolutely certain that no one on this planet would miss your presence, or even notice your utter lack of existence."
The man chuckled darkly, but backed off all the same. "Fine. Have it your way, sea hag."
Rin sighed in relief as she heard Simon space himself from her. After she confirmed that he was at a safe distance, she finished chopping up the peppers with a hand that was, to its credit, entirely devoid of any tremors. Throwing the vegetables into the pot, she turned to look at Simon, who was turning out his pockets and looking angry.
When he saw her watching him, he gave her a look that could have crumbled even the strongest stone. "What?"
"Something wrong?" Rin asked innocently.
"I lost something," Simon replied, gritting his teeth.
"Chromosomes?"
"My lighter."
"Hmm...did it look something like this?" She grinned, fishing a little silver lighter out of her pocket.
It looked like real silver, but Rin's expert eye told her that it was only a very convincing imitation. Regardless of what it was made of, it was very well-crafted, and it even had Simon's initials engraved in it. Rin had just taken it when Simon assaulted her; depriving him of a cigarette had seemed like a more-than-fair course of revenge, considering what he'd just done to her. (Not for her. He did nothing for her. No.)
"Damn it, woman," he growled, balling up his fist. "Give. It. Back."
"Aww. That's not very nice." She smiled, tossing the thing into the air and catching it.
"Now. Before I break your arm."
"You can't possibly need a cigarette that badly," Rin scoffed. "You'll survive, Cujo."
"Obviously, you didn't hear me, so I'll say it one more time. Give me back my lighter."
"Nope," Rin said cheerfully, going back to her cooking and pocketing the trinket as she did. "You should really lighten up, princess. You're not going to make any friends if you keep throwing that anger around."
A muscle twitched violently in Simon's cheek; Rin wouldn't be surprised if he broke his jaw by clamping his teeth so tightly together. "Give. Me back. My Lighter."
Rin raised an eyebrow and waited.
"...Please." He said the word like other people say "pile of burning corpses," but it was clearly audible and he looked perfectly prepared to say it again if he had to.
Rin blinked in surprise. "...Say that again?"
"Give me back my lighter, please."
"Why?"
"Because it's...important."
Another blink, but this time, it was accompanied by shocked silence and a dark, forbidding scowl. To put it bluntly, Rin looked like she was going to explode. Literally. "You're so invested in this...thing...this tiny, imitation-silver piece of cheap-ass crap..."
Her eyes snapped fire, and Simon would be surprised if her look didn't, in fact, kill him this time.
"And yet you can't even summon up the decency, the courage, to say a single friendly word to the one person in the world who needs to hear it from you more than anyone else?"
Simon said nothing; something flickered in his eyes, but it was gone before Rin could even be certain it was there.
The anger flared up again. "You're pathetic."
And she threw the lighter at his feet and stormed off, slamming the door behind her and leaving Simon staring thoughtfully at the glint of silver on the floor.
XXX
Back in the Brig
Benji waited while Miguel jammed the "mother of all fruitcakes" into the hole in the boat. It seemed to be taking longer than expected...
"C'mon. C'mon. C'mon." Benji tapped his foot, impatiently. He was trying to ignore Berkeley, who was giving him googly eyes from across the room. "So... erm... how's it goin'?"
"Good." Berkeley said without batting an eye. "Everyday is wonderful as long as you're here, Hugglemuffins."
"Could you stop?"
"Stop what?"
"Staring at me. It's kinda embarrassing, y'know?" Benji shifted his feet nervously, as he thought. Now I know how Miguel feels...
"But, what else is there to look at?"
"Lots of things. The sea. The clouds. That wall. SOMETHING!?"
"Well okay. I guess I could try, but only for you."
"You'd be doing the world a favor..." Miguel... What's taking so long?
"Benji...?"
"Yeah." Benji answered reflexively. Then, "Wait... You... Called me Benji?"
"I did? Well. That is your name."
"Yeah, I know. I just didn't know you knew."
"Oh?"
"Mmm-hmm. I just assumed you thought my name was 'Hugglemuffins', 'Greek God', 'Mr. Wonderful'..."
"Yeah..."
"...'Perfection Prince', 'Love Bunny', 'Mr. Sexy'..." Benji recited every name by memory, almost robotically.
"Okay. I get it..."
"...'Cuddlebug', 'Muffinhead'..."
"HEY!!!"
"Huh? What?"
"Look. This might come as a shock to you," Berkeley said sheepishly.
"At this point...? Really? You're frothing at the mouth..."
"You haven't fed me since last Tuesday. I had to eat the soap..."
"Oh, right. I knew I forgot something."
"Really?"
"I've been meaning to look for that soap."
"Can we get back to meeee?"
"Why's it all about you? It's NEVER about Joe!"
"What?"
"Never mind."
"I think we've lost the spark," Berkeley deadpanned.
"The spark?"
"Yes. That magic between us. It's just not there."
"Umm... woo-hoo."
"You mean... you're not upset?"
"Nope. I've actually been dating Miguel for, like, ever..."
"Wow... I had no idea! How have you been hiding it from me this whole time?"
"Erm... I wasn't?" Benji frowned. "So. Is there anyone you do feel the spark for?"
"There was. Back where I'm from there was this guy..."
"Pedro?"
"No."
"Raul?"
"No..."
"Ah-"
"NO!"
"Okay, paint me curious. Who's the guy I send the sympathy gift to?"
"Ha ha. His name is Palavi," Berkeley said, his tone turning to something more light-hearted. "He's been in love with me since the day we met."
"Aww..."
"And he had the most beautiful blue eyes."
"Sounds cute. So what's stopping you from jumping ship and getting your man?"
"He probably doesn't love me... well... now..."
"Why would you think that?"
"Because when he told me—that he loved me, that is—I panicked. This would've been three years ago."
"Go on..."
"Well, there's not much to it really. He told me he loved me and I swam away..."
"Somehow I don't think that's the whole story."
"No, that's it. I literally jumped into the ocean, and swam to Spain."
"Wow."
"I know. That was stupid."
"No. I mean, yeah, but how did you swim to Spain?"
"Let's not dwell on that. Anyways, I've always wondered what would've been."
"What would've been?" Miguel said suddenly appearing behind Benji, miraculously dry.
"Miguel?" Benji asked, looking at his partner with an air of skepticism. "Why aren't you down there?"
"Oh, I've been up here for hours. After I was finished with the hole I used the secret passageway that leads to our cabin." Miguel said, matter-of-factly.
"We have a... how do you know about all these things?"
"Benji, you could fill the library of Congress with books full of things I know that you don't."
"What's Congress?" Benji asked, ignoring the insult.
"Another thing I know that you don't. Don't think about it, your brain will explode. Now, were coming up on some island so..."
"I'll be there in a minute, hon."
"Well, okay. Don't keep me waiting too long, though." Miguel pouted, then ran up the stairs.
After Miguel was gone Benji turned back to Berkeley. "I know from experience, Berkeley. If you don't go back you'll always wonder about what might've been. And if you go back to find him.... you might be pleasantly surprised. At any rate, this thing deserves closure."
"Thanks, Benji."
"Yeah. Well, I'm... going... up there....now... bye!" Benji followed Miguel's suit and ran up the stairs. All the while thinking, I just had a civil conversation... with Berkeley... I think I just felt a disturbance in the space time continuum
XXX
Meanwhile, in Some Random Diner
Li: Dahhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Ava: *is offended* That is preposterous!
Adara: *picks up bottle of ketchup* Huh...
Li: What?
Adara: It says... Warning... is not to be used for the other use.
Ava: Is there another use for ketchup?
Li: *feigns heart attack* Rico! Rico! I'm coming to join ya!
Ava: Li, we all know your not having a heart attack!
Li: After all those burgers you tricked me into eating, how would you know?
Ava: We didn't trick you into eating them. You ordered them.
Adara: And you ate them. And then you ate my food...
Ava: And mine.
Adara: And then the napkins.
Adara: You even ate the food of the people in the booth opposite us.
Li: You guys suck...
XXX
Benji narrowed his eyes at the island that was growing larger as they moved closer to it; he didn't trust unidentified pieces of land—possibly because every time he came across one, it was when he was crashing into it at unpleasant and wholly damaging speed.
"Oh, don't be such a baby," Miguel told him, in what he might have imagined was a comforting tone. "We're only going ashore for a few hours at the most, and you can stay on the boat if you want."
Benji sighed and said sadly, "No...I'll risk it for you... I won't leave you alone with the cannibals..."
"Oh, for the love of God, for the last time, there are no cannibals here, Benji."
"Show me the proof."
"No, you show me the proof."
"...I asked first."
Miguel threw up his hands in disgust and stomped away, leaving Benji watching him with a grin on his face. He did love annoying Miguel...the little Spaniard was so adorable when he was irritated...
Simon watched the spectacle and felt his stomach clench (in disgust, of course). "How sweet they are together..." he muttered, lighting a cigarette and leaning against the rail. He managed to maintain that position for all of twenty seconds, before he found himself falling headfirst over the side of the boat.
Rin laughed gleefully as Simon hit the water with a rather undignified splash; she was still giggling hysterically when she caught her first sight of the shoreline at close range. Her eyes widened.
"Um...guys?" She pointed. "We have a problem..."