A/N: Last chapter dealing with Blue's injury, so last Warning for Graphic Injuries and their Treatment… At least until the next injury happens lol.

Rock the Boat

3210

Sasha, the moment she had managed to stop vomiting, had unashamedly stripped completely naked, ignoring the Peanut Gallery. She'd then tossed her soaked clothing into the Infection Pit, and stalked in all her slimy, naked glory right into the fucking ocean. She didn't care who all she'd flashed, because, frankly, if they saw her naked ass covered in disgusting slime and popped a boner, that was a them problem. Ugh, she fucking gagged just thinking about the hot, chunky slime—ulp!

Plunging into the chilly water of the sea, Sasha shuddered and grabbed handfuls of wet sand to scrub blindly at herself. She only resurfaced to gasp for her next breath before dunking herself again, roughly scrubbing herself still. Her right arm screeched when she scrubbed it, the scalded skin hella unhappy with the rough treatment, but fuck it, burns got infected too easily for her to allow the disgusting infection juice to even think about staying.

Finally, the only thing she had left to scrub was her hair, and fuck if she wasn't relieved that her hair barely touched her shoulders, ugh. She was going to take such a long, hot shower when this was all over…

"Oi, Sasha!" a voice called the next time she surfaced from the sea and, painfully blinking saltwater from her eyes to squint over at the beach, Sasha bobbed her head in greeting at the form of Amelia, the Bartender holding a small pile of clothes and a towel in her hands. "Marlow came and told me what happened, so I stopped by your boat to grab you something you could wear while working. It's just a bikini and some shorts, and the towel of course, but this way you'll have fewer clothes to worry about ruining just in case something else happens."

"You're a godsend," Sasha informed her, grimacing as she carefully stood from the water, giving herself a quick look-over to make sure there wasn't any more slime. Thankfully, besides feeling like she had had the worse sort of exfoliation treatment, there wasn't any more Infection Juice on her. She had sand stuck in her hair, she could tell, but no, she was as clean as she was going to get without a shower and soap…

"There's also a pad already attached to the bikini bottoms," Amelia added quietly as the amnesiac climbed out of the water. "It appeared on the towel I got for you while I was getting the bikini, so I'm just assuming you need one and The Sea Guppy provided?" Relieved, Sasha bobbed her head and neatly pulled the swimsuit plus shorts on, Amelia dropping the towel on her head and teasingly helping her dry her hair.

"I'm going to need so much fucking alcohol once I've finished up here, pretty lady," Sasha moaned as she shook her head, towel resting around her neck as she grimaced, hating the feeling of sand grit in her hair. Amelia snorted and offered her a playful wink.

"I've got ya, sis," the bartender assured with a mischievous grin. "You like sweet liquor, right? The subtle kind that just sneaks up and bitch-slaps you across the head?"

"Fuck yeah," Sasha agreed eagerly; Amelia blew her a kiss and sauntered away, making Sasha grin even wider as she trotted fully out and away from the sea. She was going to get so fucking wasted after this, hallelujah. Blue was exhaustedly grumbling where his head rested on the sand and had even allowed the good Doc to finish tubing and stitching his abscess wound while she had been bathing. It was weird as fuck to see about two feet of almost-pinched-shut tubing stick out of that pretty blue skin, both from the top and the bottom cuts, but it would hopefully mean she wouldn't have to do this shit again anytime soon.

"I sent one of the weaker stomached lads back into town to get you some new gloves since yours were, er… contaminated," Doctor Bree informed her once she reached his side as he finished up the last of the stitches on the bottom cut. "You'll need them to keep a good grip on the pliers and tweezers you'll be using to pull the debris from Mr. Blue here's mouth. He'll also be bringing some more of the topical numbing cream you'll be applying to the gums so that there's no repeat of your little acrobatic adventure, for my own sake if not yours."

"Aw, Doc, you're so sweet," she teased easily, offering him a tired grin as her ribs twinged in reminder. The kindly older man huffed at her good-naturedly, neatly knotting and cutting the final stitch string in a smooth movement. Cha-Cha Real Smooth, Sasha immediately thought, followed by the mental equivalent of someone trying to copy the noise of an instrumental section of a song with their mouth. Ba-badah-ba, ba-ba-dah, ba-badah-ba—Focus! Shaking her head a bit and giving a hard blink, wondering what the hell she'd just thought, Sasha didn't hesitate to accept a pair of large pliers, the same tongs she'd used before but thoroughly sterilized (as far as she could tell, what the fuck did she know?), and a cloth, drawstring sack about two feet long and another foot wide.

"The sack is for the pieces, the pliers are for the bigger pieces, and the tongs are for the smaller pieces that may be hidden inside the wounds," Doc told her simply, easily. "You'll want to smear a good amount of the numbing cream around each fragment, and you'll need to wait about thirty seconds before it'll kick in. Once all the smaller pieces are out and sewn up, I'll walk you through the extraction for the root of the broken tooth. Luckily, Sea Kings are a lot like sharks, and their teeth don't have deep roots. They're made to shed as they grow, and the teeth grow back quickly. But it'll still hurt Mr. Blue here something awful if we're not careful."

"Got it, Doc, no worries," Sasha assured the older man. "Last thing I want is to hurt Blue more than I need to. Doubt Old Admiral Tiger over there will catch me again if my dumbass gets slingshot through the air for stupidity, heh!" She blinked as the good Doctor fucking blanched.

"Please, ah, please don't talk about, about the Admiral like that, Ms. Sasha," he managed to get out. "He's, ah, not exactly known for, well, for taking any sort of disrespect…" Sasha cocked her head, genuinely confused as she glanced over at the milling Peanut Gallery where Admiral Epic RBF was standing, cross-armed, and listened to the Commodore talk about whatever they were talking about.

"Well, I mean, it's not really disrespect since I don't mean it that way?" She offered, confused, before shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, from what little I remember, most higher-ups in the military are absolute hard-asses, but that doesn't mean they can't take a joke as long as it's not, y'know, treasonous or anything, so, eh," she shrugged again and offered the Doc a cheerful grin, earning a shaky, half-hearted one in return. Man, Tiger has to be a hard-ass of Epic proportions, she mused as Marlow came trotting over from the mingling crowd, a pair of gloves and a softball-sized container in hand. He looked a little green around the gills, she noted with amusement, and was pointedly avoiding even glancing towards the Pit of Nasty, swallowing hard even as he drudged up a weak smile for her as he handed the gloves to her.

"Try not ta dunk them in nasty shit, will ya, lass?" he teased her weakly; Sasha offered him a grin and made a lunging motion—as if she was gonna push him into said Nasty Shit. She has never seen a full-grown man yelp, fall, and fucking book it so fast. She burst out laughing, and even Doctor Bree snorted next to her, color thankfully returning to the middle-aged man's face as she pulled her new gloved on. They were exactly like her old ones, Press F to Pay Respect to them, sitting at the bottom of the Infection Pit with the rest of the clothes she'd been wearing.

"Alright, this tub should last until the root extraction," Doctor Bree told her, showing her the thick cream—Heh, thicc cream, nasty—which smelled sort of like a mix of cough syrup, Vicks Vapor Rub, and HELLA MINT. It was strong enough that her eyes watered, making her cough as her sinuses were suddenly clear enough that she thought her nose hairs might have actually been burned away, what the fuck.

"Do your best not to get this on your skin," the Doctor told her with a slight smile. "On a big guy like Mr. Blue here? This stuff will last about ten or fifteen minutes, maybe. Never used it on a Sea King before, so I can't be exactly sure. But, on a human? Well, I've used this stuff to perform amputations on patients who couldn't be or refused to be knocked out, and they didn't feel it for a few days, so that lets you know exactly how strong this is."

"Holy shit, Doc," Sasha breathed, hand up and over her mouth and nose, eyes still watering. "I feel like I can smell the future, what the fuck." The older man snorted with amusement, screwing the lid back onto the container and handing it to her with a grin.

"Puts hair on your chest better and faster than any liquor," he teased; Sasha made a show of looking down at her bikini-top, then lifting and moving her boobs as if checking for hair, making Doctor Bree turn bright red and sputter before the both of them laughed, the embarrassed but good-humored doctor giving her shoulder a firm clap before Sasha got to work, climbing up the secured rope and settling into place on one of Blue's molars.

The next thirty minutes were surprisingly easy, Blue groaning in relief as soon as the numbing cream was applied and working. The sack she was using to hold the tooth-and-shell fragments was soon half-filled, spattered and stained with blood, but still neatly containing the sharp pieces. And there weren't even too many tiny fragments that she could find, hidden in the crevasses and cuts. It was hot work, of course, between Blue's breath and the blood, and if you consider the fact that she'd gotten nice and chilly from the sea, but beyond that, it was surprisingly quick work. Blue was even tired enough that he allowed Doctor Bree to sit in his jowl next to her and help her stitch up the wounds, softly teaching her the different stitches and knots.

Pulling out the broken root caused a bit of pain and discomfort, but Blue was apparently just done with the whole thing and only whined and shook his head a little once the two humans had managed to pull the foot-and-a-half-long piece out of his gum. He didn't even do more than grumble at the rinse of salt water and stitching, especially when Sasha was allowed to use the last of the numbing cream to fill the empty cavity.

So, soaked and stained in wet and dry blood alike, Sasha and Doctor Bree grinned proudly as the tired Sea King yawned, jaw unhinging like a snake in its usual, disturbing way, and showing off their handy work. Immediately, a cheer went up from the Hearths Holm natives in the Peanut Gallery, along with some polite applause from some of the watching Marines, and Blue huffed at them all once he closed his mouth, wigging his ears thoughtfully, before diving down and shoving both Sasha and Doctor Bree with his muzzle, nuzzling aggressively enough to lift them both in the air, making Sasha cackle as Doctor Bree yelped and sputtered in surprise.

"There's my handsome bastard," Sasha laughed warmly, letting herself slump over his muzzle even as Doctor Bree slid off and stumbled away. She closed her eyes, ignoring the fierce ache in her cracked rib and scalded arm, the jolting pain that was starting to pulse through her shoulders and arms from fighting gravity. Blue crooned lowly, his own eyes closing as they just spent a moment cuddling there, Sasha lifting one achy arm to slowly stroke the skin next to her. Blue continued to croon, low and steady, almost familiar in a way…

"…Are you singing to me, Blue?" She asked, smiling slightly; Blue's crooning grew louder in response, definitely in a melodic pattern. It had to be one of the songs she sang while lost at sea with him, which made it both harder and easier to figure out.

She sang a lot of songs, okay, and half of them got made-up lyrics tossed in that fit the tunes she remembered because she didn't remember all the words all the time…

But, after a few minutes of listening, she finally placed this one, and, smiling still, she hummed along until it reached the chorus line.

"Hush,

I'll be your Guiding Star,

I'll Keep you,

Safe and Warm.

Hush,

Follow my Sirensong,

I'll Lead you,

Through the Storm…"

Funny, she could remember a lot of different songs by Rosendale, now that she thought about it. Sirensong was a good one for Blue to choose, too, of the ones she remembered singing to him… Although, hearing a big-ass Sea King sing along to This Is What It's Like To Be Gay would have been fucking hilarious even if the song wasn't actually comedic. Still, once the last note of Sirensong left the air, the two sighed together, Sasha still smiling before slowly sliding off her friend's nose, landing on her feet and wincing only a little bit as her rib squealed at her. She patted his nose and pressed a kiss to it, getting another croon before the Sea King lifted up and turned around, sliding back into the sea with another huge, mildly-disturbing yawn. Sasha watched until the ripples finally went away, smiling brightly with one bloody hand shading her eyes from the brightness of the afternoon sun.

"Whelp, that was a whole ass adventure in itself!" She finally declared cheerfully, spinning around to grin at the Peanut Gallery, bloody hands on her hips. "So! Now I'm gonna go get cleaned up and then I'm gonna get shitfaced! Anyone else wanna get shitfaced?!" She crowed; the natives cheered and started cheerfully herding their Marine fellows along the beach towards town. Laughing herself, Sasha carefully stretched, wincing as her rib and sore muscles protested before she shook herself a little and trotted over to where Doctor Bree, Marius, Krem, and Admiral Too-Fucking-Tall were standing around talking.

"Sup, sluts!" She chirped gleefully, watching with keen interest as everyone around the Admiral blanched. "You guys gonna join the rest of us in getting absolutely shitfaced?" She cocked her head, grinning up at the Admiral who stared down at her with his RBF on high. His handily labeled MARINE hat even shaded his eyes, making it look like he was outright glaring, but the skin around his eyes wasn't tight enough for that, she could tell. He was just staring for the sake of staring, probably used to using his face and reputation to keep people away.

God, he had to be a fucking Introvert.

"I have work to do," he told her coldly, stiffly; Sasha rolled her eyes good-naturedly, folding her arms over her chest and cocking a hip as she grinned up at him.

"C'mon, Tiger, you can take a night to loosen up a bit!" She teased him, grinning wider as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Listen, you came here with what looks like a generally large crew, right? And no way all of them will be getting drunk tonight, but they'll probably come land-side in shifts, right?" Slowly, he nodded, eyes narrowing further as Sasha let her own grin widen into absolutely shit-eating. "And you trust your crew, right? You trust them to do their jobs correctly, or you at least trust them to know that if they fuck up, they'll have to deal with you, right?"

"Your point, Civilian," he growled; Sasha laughed a little, bouncing on her toes and leaning towards him mischievously.

"So, Marine, you've got no excuse not to spend a couple of hours away from the busy-work! Delegate, my guy! You're the boss of them, make them do the legwork while you focus on the important shit! I'm not saying abandon your post or anything, or even that you have to get drunk! What I'm saying is that coming down to the bar, having a couple of drinks, maybe getting laid even, if that's something you're into? None of that will impede your work as long as your men do their jobs and you get all the important things done correctly!" She grinned up at the staring Admiral, unfolding her arms to hold them out and giving him some good old-fashioned jazz hands. "And, if nothing else, use it as an opportunity to make sure your men are upholding the Marine's Honor even while drunk! Fuck knows some people turn into absolute assholes when drunk!" The Admiral continued to stare at her for a few moments as she put her hands on her hips and just grinned up at him like an asshole herself.

"I'll consider it," he grunted, turning from her, and Sasha beamed happily.

"I'll count that as a win!" She chirped, clapping the still-pale Doctor Bree on the shoulder with a bloody hand. "Now, if you boys'll excuse me! I'm going to go shower because I can still feel the pus in my hair! See you later, Tiger!" She added cheekily even as she padded away to snatch up her Poncho as she went.

"My name," the tall man growled, teeth gritted. "Is Admiral Sakazuki." Sasha hummed and sent another cheeky grin over her shoulder.

"Sure thing, Saki! See you!" She cheerfully trotted away, a mischievous grin taking up her face. Sure, this Admiral was apparently an asshole or had a reputation enough that everyone seemed terrified of him, and that wasn't a good thing. But Sasha hadn't lived to be almost-thirty by play-acting like a little bitch! She was always up for pulling on the tiger's tail if it meant that they would loosen up, even if it was just to chase her around.

Besides, people in high-stress positions with Saki's disposition? They were workaholics with little regard to their mental and emotional health. Physical health too, sometimes, but it was clear that he at least took care of himself physically. And, who knows!

Maybe they could be friends!

What a hilarious image that would be, her tiny, cheerful ass being besties with this tall, Bitch-faced asshole! She could already see the expression of 'What The Fuck?!' everyone would wear! Ooh, maybe she could even get him to do something that'll blow people's minds, like, like go fishing with her or something that's just, super out of character as far as anyone who knows him knows! Or nap in public! The possibilities were endless!

Challenge Fucking Accepted!

Day Fifteen: Survived… Please let this day END!