The Growing Gang Sails Onward! A Slice of Riot Life!

[Jade]

Harley Post #16 / Brandy Post #16

"Harley back me up here. Sushi means...?"

It was Harley's turn to turn and stare at someone, mildly dumbfounded. "Uh. Sushi means... Raw fish, doesn't it...?"

"W-well! Even if 'sushi' did have some sort of secret meaning," Brandy interjected, before Lea could open her mouth again and imply something out of the ordinary, "it definitely doesn't in the way we've made it! Just normal sushi. For a snack. A snack that will include a child at the table."

"Uh, I'm twelve." Brandy's neck nearly snapped turning at the speed it did to stare at Holly, pulling her seat at the table out so she could sit down. "Which I know doesn't make me a grown up or anything, but I'm not like a baby. What are we talking about, exactly?"

"Oh, Lea was saying that sushi had some other meaning! Like it was a codeword for something," Harley chimed in. "But I don't know what she's talking about, so- Any guesses?"

"If Lea was the one saying it, it probably isn't suitable for proper discussion, and certainly not over food." Sayuri added in as she joined the table, taking the seat to Harley's left while she stared a dagger into her captain. "No offense, Lea."

Brandy took a few steps away from the table as the banter continued, slinking back toward the kitchen. Before she could get too far, however, she bumped her foot into something small and fuzzy - her gaze snapped downward, meeting d'Artanyan's eyes as her feline compa-nyan smiled up at her. "Oh? I thought you were taking a little 'cat nap'?"

"And miss sushi? Nyah!" D'Artanyan beamed and put his two forepaws on his hips, his grin growing. "I don't think I'd be able to claim any sort of pride as a feline if I did!"

The huntress brought her hand up to her face, ineffectually only covering the part of her face that was already covered by her mask in an attempt to stifle her giggle. "Yeah, yeah, alright. Come on, let's make sure you get some before they eat all of it."

[The Prettiest Squish]

"Oh none taken, Sayummy. To be honest I wasn't really sure where I was going with that. I just wanted to see Brando over there flush up like a ripe tomato. Bahaha!" The mischievous dwarf clapped her hands with delight as the fellow feline made his way back to the table fully stacked in cutlery and other tableware accoutrements. Using an extreme amount of control he carefully lowered a plate for each seat at the table and bestowed everyone with their own napkin, cutlery and glass.

"Sheeeesh, you didn't have to do all that in one trip y'know?" The sponge sat back with her hands behind her head, lazily observing as the carpenter finished setting the table for everyone seated. Guy said nothing as his tail came forward with different pitchers of drinks hanging by their handles. Fully aware what everyone's preference of beverage was, he poured the glasses full then marched back into the kitchen to return them to the fridge.

With preparations done Lea looked around the dinner table with that gorgeous arrangement of sushi at the center; she couldn't help but grin at the sight of it all. "Damn we did a good job, Brady! Well done!" She then paused as the single man of the crew arrived to sit next to her. The girl looked to him with a nod and smiled, "And you too, Guy~ You super trooper you!" The lass snickered aloud, stretching her lips cheek to cheek to show her gratitude. Although he wished to remain quiet, with such a ridiculous smirk like that staring at him, the stoic lad couldn't help but finally break with an exasperated sigh.

"Okay, okay! Enough flattery please. You just..You just really hurt my feelings okay?" Guy lowered his head and slowly looked to the others as he fumbled with his fingers. "I grew up on Arabara hearing that kind of abuse a lot so reliving it here where I'm supposed to feel safe, it just...really gets to me." Feeling awkward about the rather abrupt spilling of emotions, the gentleman buried his face in his hands and apologized, "I-I'm sorry, we're just here to eat. I don't need to tell my whole life stor-"

Poomf. He could feel two squishy arms hugging him tightly at the chest. From the corner of his eye, he saw the sponge's blue mane buried in his side. "...I didn't wanna hurt ya, big guy. I only rib you like that cuz...we're friends." She looked up at him with a quiver in her lip and whispered, "We are still friends right?" A short silence proceeded her request before the old lad finally took his hand and pat the girl's head with reassurance. "Of course, Miss Lea. Now please," He gestured to the rest of the crew who had been waiting eagerly. "Tell us what we're having~"

The sponge's eye lit up with excitement as she jumped out of her seat and spun in the air. "Well if you'll allow me the honor? Hehe! Today's special, ladies and gentleman, is a classic dish from a faraway land! A delicacy of the senses and one with ancient traditional roots crafted with the most simple yet elegant formation. I give you, drumroll please, ssssssssushi!!" And with one final flashy display, Lea placed herself on the table as her hands sparkled fingers over the plate. Just behind her, Guy mouthed to the other girls, "I'm so sorry I asked."

[Jade]

Harley Post #17 / Brandy Post #17

By the time Brandy and d'Artanyan arrived at the table, things had gone deathly quiet while Guy was in the middle of some sort of confession. The hunters exchanged glances, neither one of them having any real idea what was going on, and so they instead opted to quietly take their seats instead while attempting to disrupt the scene as little as possible.

"Well, it's good you two made up, otherwise we'd've had to settle that Riot Gang style," Harley said, completely deadpan as she stared Guy and Lea down. That hung in the air for a moment before Holly sat up in her seat and started to ask - only to get cut off by the captain. "Fight to the death."

Sayuri coughed into her drink, and took a moment to collect herself before she managed to get out: "Harley. That's a joke, we don't- We don't do that, do we?"

"Of course not!" Harley looked almost-offended as she turned in her seat to look at her quartermaster. "Well. We could? I mean, probably not to the death or anything, but- You know, I am a proponent of talking with your fists. Just, sometimes, words are hard? And then you just, give 'em the ol' one-two, and you do some physical exertion, and then the next thing you know, you're pals again, laughing it off over a couple of drinks..."

"Back at the Guild, we normally just do arm wrestling," Brandy spoke up, placing her elbow down on the table and holding her hand up, as if locking hands with an imaginary opponent to illustrate her point. "Though, they also arm wrestled just for fun, too. Actually, I've never really thought about it before right now, but people did a lot of arm wrestling back home."

"I always wanted to be the Guild Hall's reigning arm wrestling champ..." D'Artanyan took his cup between his forepaws and stared down into the drink wistfully for a moment, and then glanced around the table. "I don't really have the, uh, the right meowsculature for it, though. Or the height. Can't really get my elbows down on the table and my paws on the ground."

"What is..." The one-eyed swordswoman pinched the bridge of her nose and leaned forward in her chair. "What is happening right now? Is this what my life is right now? This? Look, I'm- Sorry, d'Artanyan, I don't mean it like that, I'm very sorry you couldn't become the champion of arm wrestling, but what are we even talking about right now? We're here to eat sushi, aren't we?"

Sayuri's mild mental breakdown was capped off by one giant hand gently slapping against her back. "Right you are! Also, just saying, you two both owe me some arm wrestling. We can even do it Riot Gang style - not to the death, Say', that was a joke - just with less rules so d'Arty can take part!"

[The Prettiest Squish]

Guy sat with a blank face as the table descended to chaos shortly after he and the sponge made up. To no one's surprise, it was the Rioter herself who started the madness by making a rather morbid suggestion to settle any disputes between the crew. As a pacifist himself, he opposed any unnecessary violence much less killing his own friends! Beside him though, the blue devil on his shoulder had other thoughts.

"Yea yea! I'll wrestle you any day of the week, Harley! And I'm not talking with our arms! It's gonna be a damn street fight, bahahaha!" Enthusiastic as ever, Lea threw herself back in a frenzied fit of laughter while the concerned cat nervously chuckled along. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Yes. Ahem. Quite funny - to casually wish harm upon your friends. Hysterical!" Not really sure how much longer he wanted to stay on the topic, Guy expertly did his best to move the conversation along to a more suitable subject matter - one in which they could focus on the food that was sitting in front of them.

He cleared his throat and looked to his companion with a curious face. "So Miss Lea," he sang, "What sort of sushi is this?" The lad reached over to the platter and plucked one of the pieces into the air to inspect it. "The rice carries such an attractive aroma with a balance of sweetness and vinegar. And the fish hardly smells fishy at all, properly aged I see. You and Miss Brandy did a remarkable job!" The courteous critic winked at the actual chef of the crew as he made that last remark.

From beside him, the bluenette sat upright with both arms pretentiously crossed together. At the same time her face exuded a smug aura that many at this table would be compelled to punch. "Welllll~" she spoke with a haughty ring to her voice, "If you must know, that lovely slice of fish comes from a species commonly referred to as 'yellowtail'. The creators of the dish refer to it as homage-y or bury depending on its age. And the cut I used was the belly loin, or as they call it, 'Totoro'." With that masterclass of an explanation, the sponge picked off a piece of sushi, dipped it into soy sauce and popped it straight into her mouth with one bite. "Mmm. Delicious - or as they say it, oh sheet"

While Lea sat in her seat, proud and pleased that she could educate these peasants of such a noble culture, Guy simply sat in perfect silence with a twitch in his eye. Looking to the rest of the crew, specifically his anchor to logic and reason - Sayuri - he shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, refusing to contest the little chef's authenticity. "T-that doesn't sound right but I don't know enough about sushi to dispute it. Soooo, I guess we just...dig in everyone!"

[Jade]

Harley Post #18 / Brandy Post #18

The table descended into general chatter for a few minutes after that. With minimal effort, Holly managed to get d'Artanyan started on the tale of some Guild hunter's great sixty win streak in arm wrestling - complete with more than a few embellishments, Brandy noted as she listened in. But her attention was pulled away by Guy's rather decent critique (well, praise, really) of the cooking, which turned her face a bright crimson as she stuttered out something about how it really wasn't anything noteworthy.

While Lea spoke on and on about the fish and the dish, Harley grabbed one of the rolls off the platter and popped it into her mouth, munching on the morsel as she half-listened. To her left, Sayuri had an increasingly pained expression on her face as the sponge confidently droned on about topics she only half-knew about - and the quartermaster met the carpenter's eye with a look of utter exasperation, a shake of her head, and a mouthed "no" when he looked to her, seemingly for confirmation of Lea's words.

"Dig in, everyone!"

The formal declaration to, finally, start saw the table spring to life. Sayuri snuck a hand in to grab a stack of three for herself, while Holly snatched only a single one for herself. The two hunters each hung back - Brandy with real reservation, d'Artanyan with wide eyes tracking every piece and his mouth hanging open, little pink cat tongue just beginning to loll out. Harley, meanwhile, grabbed for a handful, only to receive a sharp smack from the woman to her left; a more meager batch of eight was grabbed and smashed between careless fingers, only to be thrown back into the brute's gullet once the lot found its way back to her.

"You know, I don't think I've ever had sushi before..."

"It really is quite good, you know. Brandy, you helped Lea with this...?"

"I'm tellin' ya, you guys should've made more! I could eat all of what you made myself...!"

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Brandy looked up from the sushi roll she held, broken from her thoughts of whether or not she should take her mask off to eat, toward the silver kitty staring up at her with his mouth bulging, stuffed with his own bites of sushi. She glanced about the table, at the strangers who had grown to be less strange in some ways, yet stranger in others, over the days they'd been sailing, and sighed with a hidden smile. "Oh, just... That food is better when you can share it with some lively conversation, that's all," the purple-haired huntress answered quietly. Unspoken memories of quiet days, just her and d'Artanyan, sailing in their airship - quiet days. Not quiet in a bad way, just in the way that two individuals completely comfortable in the presence of another could be content to say nothing and simply exist around the other. It couldn't be any more different from the Riot Gang dining table, with the loud chatter about basically nothing.

D'Artanyan followed her eye, and smiled through the fish and rice. "Yeah. This feels more like home, eh?"

[The Prettiest Squish]

Despite the hiccups at the start of the meal, once the Gang got the wheels turning there was no stop to this chatter train. Before they knew it, the girls and kitties had finished off the last of the sushi in no small part thanks to Harley's insatiable appetite. While Lea kept the others entertained or slightly annoyed by her regaling of past surfing expeditions, Guy sneakily crept away from the table and made his way to the stairs leading down to the living quarters.

Back in the dining room, the half-pint kicked her feet onto the table much to everyone's disgust - seeing as how the girl always roamed about barefoot. "...And just when the waves were about to take me under, WOOSH!! I pulled a muscle trying to turn that baby as high as it could go! BWAH! SHABAM! In the end, I was the only one who got out of that bomb and ended up taking the South Blue trophy that year, hehe!!" Lea sneered the widest smile she could manage, turning up her nose so high one could swear they'd see the hubris leaking out of her. Even with both eyes closed, she could tell the rest of the crew was madly jealous of her; she was certain.

But before she could cease anyone from falling madly in love with her tubular talent, the buzz of the room was suddenly interrupted by the man standing at the threshold of the stairway. "Ahem." Guy cleared his throat to attract everyone's attention. By the looks of it his arms were crossed as they were veiled by a large cloth spanning his entire torso. And for some strange reason, he appeared to be blushing. "Eh? Whatcha got there buddy?" Lea asked from her wooden throne.

The gentle giant shuddered just trying to take a step toward the table but managed to waddle slowly as he held his breath. "Well...you see," he began, nervously looking down at whatever he was hiding in his arms. "I've been thinking that even though we're a crew, we can still be a little distant from one another..." The lad gulped, unsure how well his message would be received. "It's only been a short while since we've joined up and I thought, 'H-Hey! Why not do something that could bring us all t-t-together?" By this point, Guy trembled in his boots as his arms squeezed against each other. He closed his eyes, trying to breathe in and out. 

After a moment of silence, his eyes opened with a flicker of confidence as he spoke up again with renewed vigor, "M-Miss...Harley. Lea. Sayuri. Holly. Brandy. D'Artanyan." The carpenter sniffled his nose and smiled. "You've given me more than I could ever ask for and I love you all so much~"

With both arms occupied, he could not wipe away the tears that flowed down his rough cheeks. But to his surprise, he need not use the hands he had for a soft spongy thumb came to clean them on his behalf. Little Lea sat upon his shoulder and pat his hair as he desperately tried to pull himself together. "Ahem! I'm - guh - sorry about that! Haha! Didn't think this would be so emotional, sheesh." The angel on his shoulder did one last wipe before he looked up to the crew with a firm expression a cheeky grin.

"With that being said, I'd like to show you what I have!" Maximizing for dramatic effect, Guy nudged the cloth aside until it left his body in order to uncover the secret. "Everyone here's had a piece of my heart since they joined this dysfunctional family of ours and today, I want you all to have it for real. And so," Without further ado, the carpenter revealed carved miniature figures of all the Gang, fully painted and realized with the tiniest details to distinguish them.

On his shoulder, the angel proclaimed, "YOOOOOOO!!! HOLY SHIT!!! THEY'RE SO CUTE, OH MY GOSH!" Without even waiting for his permission, Lea snatched the blue-topped doll off his arm and rubbed its smug cheek against her own. "I will cherish this smol baby forever~" Seeing the enjoyment that the sponge had for her miniature self, Guy teared up again only this time with a sentiment enriched with joy. "I'm glad, truly." Now undeterred by any negative emotions he may have had, the gentleman walked forward proudly and displayed his creations with passion, "Everyone please, help yourself!"

[Jade]

Harley Post #19 / Brandy Post #19

"It is still surprising how competent you are on that... 'Board'," Sayuri said in response to Lea's boastful story. She turned her head to look to first Brandy - though when the huntress seemed more confused than anything, her eye continued on to Holly. "Right?"

"Well, Ms. Lea is definitely the best surfer I've ever seen," the young doctor responded with a good deal of cheer, only to be reigned in a moment later. "Though, um, I can't say I was ever into that sort of thing before, so I'm not sure how many surfers I've actually seen before her. I'd bet it's a non-zero number, though?"

"Fact of the matter is that Lea's the best there is! And if she ain't already, then she's gonna be!" Harley slapped Lea's back, more than confident that the pipsqueak could take it - especially with some memory of their time on Whiskey Peak fresh in her mind, what with Lea's overeager response to the idea of another brawl. "'Cause the Riot Gang doesn't do anything half-assed!"

"Ahem."

The room's chatter died in that instant as all eyes shifted to the carpenter. Harley took a cue from Sayuri, who sat upright in her seat and had her eye set on Guy; the big brute sat at attention, though she couldn't help herself from playing with the empty glass bottle, tipping it up and down absentmindedly.

Brandy shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Guy said her name - surely that was a mistake. These people had been sailing together longer than she'd been with them, and her and d'Artanyan's time with them could still be comfortably measured in hours, truthfully. Well, perhaps not comfortably, but their time together had still been quite short. But the desire to excuse herself from the man's speech was undermined by her own desire not to be rude, so she sat on her discomfort and ignored it, glad for her mask and how it hid part of her face in that moment.

And then the painted wooden figurines were presented, each one matching one of the individuals sat at the table. D'Artanyan and Holly made matching sounds of delight, while their captain nearly knocked the table over as she stood up and reached for the one with a miniature version of her own mane of black hair. Sayuri did damage control, righting her glass before it could tip over even as she admonished Harley.

"I'll put mine on the shelf in my office, Mr. Guy!" Holly announced as she held the figurine that looked like her up to her face, as if to somehow demonstrate how closely it matched her appearance - but only for a moment, and then it was held in front of her so she could get a proper look at it again.

Brandy held her own with more reservation, gently turning it about between her hands. Sure enough, it seemed to be a finalized version of the work in progress Guy had done earlier, and the attention to detail in the woodworking and paint both saw a blush creep across her face yet again. "It... Really is quite lovely..." the huntress stammered out at a volume just above a whisper after a moment had passed.

The miniature of their captain was held as close to gingerly as anyone present had seen from the woman, between the life-size version's forefinger and thumb, while she stared at it for a moment with a big grin on her face. "Hey, Guy, these are super cool! But hey, listen to me-" She slammed her hand down on the table, rattling the sturdy wooden furniture and the ship itself, but not breaking anything. The sudden display of raw power and her tone got the table's attention, and that made Harley's grin grow bigger. "No apologies for the crying, man! Like I keep saying, we're the Riot Gang - always go all out! So long as you're with us, there's no apologizing for tears, 'cause they're a part of that life too!"

[The Prettiest Squish]

Expecting nothing more than a simple nod of gratitude, Guy stood before the crew stunned and speechless as each one acknowledged his craft and thanked him for his work. Hearing all these kind words sent reverberations through his entire core, causing him to tremble and quake all the way to his toes and fingertips. Standing there surrounded by the closest thing he's had to a family, the lad wiped his face clean and laughed embarrassingly at Harley's declaration of Riot Gang philosophy. He nodded along to her command and hiccuped from all his relentless sobbing, doing his best to sound as formal as he could. "Ye - hic - yes ma'am!!" His hand rose up to his forehead in a salute, acknowledging his captain's words and taking them to heart.

Still perched on his shoulder, the devious blue angel grinned at this unexpected turn of events; she never thought that such a casual day like this could turn out to be so emotionally charged and heartwarming. It was quite the show and hey, the Gang won some cool dolls out of the affair! Lea continued to tinker with the tiny surfer smugly staring from her palm. The resemblance was so uncanny it felt like looking into a mirror - a rather small mirror at that. She turned her head to the carpenter still sniffling and coughing a weepy fit. She smiled. "This really is super cute, my dude. Thanks Guy, you're the best~" And without missing a beat, she leaned over and planted a kiss on the gentleman's head much to his shock.

"L-L-L-L- I MEAN! M-M-M-MISS LEA!" In a most Brandy-esque manner, the bashful boy veiled his face with both arms but found it quite difficult to hide the red glow pulsating from beneath. Lea snickered to herself before transitioning to a cackle as she kicked her feet in the air with enjoyment. "Bahahahaha! Harley look!! Now we got two ripe tomatoes on the crew! Isn't that right, little Miss Huntress~?" Ever the tease, she raised her brow back and forth at the silent Brandy trying to get a reaction. But to her demise, the gentle giant did not wish to participate in this tomfoolery any longer. Without her permission, the lad picked Lea off by her top and placed her back on her chair. "Hey! I was sitting there! I had a great view and everything!"

Guy, still quite pink from his episode, stammered out a quick response as he nervously inched toward the stairway, "I need to uh clean up this mess and um Miss Brandy should start preparing  dinner right? Okay? Okay! Yeah! So, I have to go now, bye-eeee~" And without another word, the feline fellow booked it out as fast he could to escape the smug one's mischief. Lea, now seated back at the table with the Gang, looked back and forth between the girls until finally finishing with, "Well then....Who wants to hear another story?~"

[Jade]

Harley Post #20 / Brandy Post #20

"Now we've got two ripe tomatoes on the crew!"

The targeted teasing had exactly the effect the teaser intended; Brandy's face, or at least the top half that was visible, turned a vibrant shade of red-pink and the huntress sunk into her chair. Fortunately, the attention wasn't on her for long; Guy picked Lea up and deposited her back in the chair the sponge had originally been sitting in before making some excuse for needing to be elsewhere on the ship. And made excuses for her needing to be elsewhere - even if that "elsewhere" was only about ten feet away from the table they were all sat at, without even a wall between that location and the dining table.

"I won't be starting dinner right away," Brandy started, and then continued over the disappointed-sounding groans of d'Artanyan, Holly, and Harley, "because we just ate a snack. You'll all know when I start, don't give me those looks...!"

"Yeah, give her some space. Lea already dragged her back into the kitchen off schedule, let Brandy relax a little," Sayuri cut in. "And if there's anything she needs when she does start, I expect that Lea will be the first to volunteer to help, if there's anything you can have her do."

Brandy looked back up from her wooden miniature version after a few seconds of silence, as if realizing that those last words had been directed at her. "Wha- Oh, um, I mean- Her knife work is fairly good, I suppose there may be some vegetables that will need chopping?"

In unison, d'Artanyan, Holly, and Harley all pulled a face, sticking their tongues out at the sound of vegetables being a part of dinner. Sayuri twisted about in her seat and smacked Harley in the bicep. "Don't encourage them, they're- Wait, hold on. D'Artanyan, I understand, you're an obligate carnivore, but Holly, you're a doctor. You know that it's important to eat your vegetables."

"Doesn't mean I have to like them..."

The ship's cook laughed a little as she stood up from her seat. "I'll take that as a challenge - I'll make veggies so tasty that you'll be begging for seconds, alright?"

"Mm..." Harley leaned back in her seat, arms crossed under her chest, and bored holes into Brandy's face with her reddish eyes. "But there better be not-veggies with the veggies for the adults who know how to take care of themselves and don't need veggies."

"Why are you being a big baby about this now? I've seen you eat vegetables before, Harley!"

"I'm one of those- What'd you call d'Arty, an obliged carnivore? I'm that now! Just decided. I only want to eat meat!"

"It's 'obligate' carnivore, and that's not what that means...!"

The chattering of the little crew aboard the Skipping Stone continued as the sun grew lower in the sky, as it reached the point where sky met sea, and even after, once the sun had fully set and the moon took its position in the sky. Stories of surfing competitions told over arm wrestling matches, chess matches played while something sizzled in a pan on the stove, and careful footsteps made toward the stairs, over the snoring frames of crew members passed out in the living space - the Skipping Stone bore it all as it diligently sailed onward, toward whatever grand adventure laid in wait for the Riot Gang next...