A Festive Farewell: Between Friends or Family?

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #23

„Oh don´t be so angsty, it was a joke. “
The tribal warrior laughed, nudging the blonde with his shoulder, before grabbing his own glass and emptying it in one go in a similar fashion as Namkhai. The only one hesitating was Gabriel. Lacking experience with greater volumes of alcohol, he filled a glass for himself, watching the liquid with a mix of curiosity and uncertainty written all over his face. He would probably put it back down if not for Danielle´s snappy question.
“Hmmmm? Of course, I drink. I was just admiring the quality of drink these marines had with them.”
He said with a gentle smile, slowly emptying his glass.
As for the rest of the game, the Professor was making sure that everyone will drink their fair share as all of his throws ended up in the glass despite of slow onset of drunkenness that was evident in his speech and walk. The Titan repaired his reputation as after the first botched attempt he managed to put more coins into the glass than not, unlike Niko who hit the mark only a few times and that was probably by accident. On the other hand, Eponine was supplying everyone with their fair share of shots, at least at the beginning. However, since her smaller frame couldn´t tolerate as much alcohol as Gabriel her aim slowly deteriorated.
“All right! This one will be my masterpiece! Watch this!”
Gabriel smiled wildly, taking a small coin before throwing it against the table with full force, bouncing it from the table into the distance where it hit the main mast from which it bounced back to the glass.
“Whoooooo that doesn´t count!”
While impressed Namkhai shook his head.
“We said bounce it from the table, not the mast!”
He protested, but their medic has a different opinion.
“What? Of course, it counts it’s in the glass, isn´t it? Everyone, let´s drink!”
She proclaimed, making one unsteady step towards the table, only to trip over her own foot, falling right at Danielle.
“Or maybe not?”
She muttered, grabbing the treasure huntress around her shoulders.
“I am sooo drunk!”
Mused Eponine with a wide smile on her face.

---

“He is.”
Sigrid nodded in agreement with the praise for Hariyama.
“I wonder how such great cook can be still single.”
She smiled, obviously trying to tease Hayden a bit. But her smile faded as her favorite twin explained why he cannot sail with them.
“Well, the ship is full of martial arts masters I am sure they could teach you a thing or two…”
She started but fell silent after the rest of his explanation.
“Yes, that´s fair…”
She nodded, trying to hide her disappointment behind an obviously faked smile.
“Well with how obsessed Gabriel is with his puppies, we probably meet sooner or later right? If you stay by your sister´s side.”

[Bobbie]

For the rest of the game, the order in their skills quickly became clear as Gabriel was clearly the best at this game, followed by Eponine who only started to fall off after a few too many drinks, then came Namkhai, Niko, and lastly, Danielle, who was only one score behind Niko.

With each miss, she would grumble and curse under her breath, but celebrate the few victories she did manage to get all the while refusing to have things made any easier to make up for her disadvantage of having only one functioning eye. As it was Gabriel’s turn again, she lost count of how many drinks she had already had and had to narrow her eye to remain focussed. For a moment, the coin seemed to disappear, before it thwacked against the wooden mast and she turned her head toward it, and finally falling into the glass with a sharp rattle.

“No way… I’m with Namkhai-” she started, but had to pause as the quick turn of her head nearly made her lose her balance. “-on this, that doesn’t count!” She continued, raising her voice slightly more than usual as she had more than enough to drink that would interfere with volume regulation.

Perhaps it had less to do with the fact that she was drinking and more so with her name being at the very bottom of the scoreboard that was scribbled onto a wooden placard, but a grumpier frown than usual appeared on her face when Eponine explained that it should count.

“I’m not drinking to that, he should-” her protest was soon interrupted when Eponine suddenly tripped and fell on her. Had it not been for her recent training, she would have instantly fallen over underneath the dark-haired girl, but thankfully, even in her drunken state, she was able to catch herself and Eponine after a flailing stagger.

A smile replacing her frown, she gently held Eponine up on her feet. “See where your stupid precision got her?” She lightheartedly jabbed at Gabriel with a playful snicker and instinctively put an arm around her drunk companion.

“Let’s change the game. One that includes sitting down…” as Danielle made her request, she gestured toward Eponine, though she herself was feeling wobbly on her feet, especially with the added weight of another person leaning on her. Reaching out for a chair, she guided Eponine to it while she herself leant on it for support. Once she was seated, Danielle’s body rocked as everything was spinning around her for a moment, prompting her to slam her free palm onto the table to steady herself.

Then she straightened up with a grin. “Truth or Dare! You refuse or fail, you chug a full cup!” the treasure huntress announced with an air of confidence and pride.

---

Hayden only hummed in response to Sigrid’s mention of Hariyama being single, though his eyes fell on her to try and discern how the woman felt about the large man. “Should it be that surprising after a beauty like yourself also single?” He asked, making that assumption based on her previous comment about settling down with a family - it sounded like she hadn’t achieved that goal, though he knew he might be wrong.

Suggesting staying close to his sister for the purpose of meeting again, the blond chuckled and nodded. “Luckily, I plan to do so! Now I have even more motivation!”

Their conversation was one that Hayden could carry on for hours as the time flew by. He’d occasionally look down at the others playing their games, and as much fun as it all appeared to be, he’d rather remain where he was. On top of that, seeing how many rounds Danielle lost was funny to him at first, but at some point he began to feel bad for her.

When it was announced that the game would be changed, however, he turned to look at Sigrid.

“That’s a game you can join in! Do you want to?”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #24

Eponine held to Danielle for her dear life, looking up into her eye with fascination that could be born only from an excessive volume of alcohol that was currently running through her body.
“Your eye…it´s so beautiful!”
She giggled, before the treasure huntress put her on a chair, proposing a different game. One during which everyone could sit.
“How is that my fault?”
Objected Gabriel, realizing a bit too late what his puppy said as he spaced out with his gaze focused on the stars above them.
“It was your idea to change the rules not mine!”
He sit down, reaching for Beast to pet her majestic head.
“But yes, I approve of this change, but…someone has to explain the rules to me.”
He muttered, snuggling that amazing canine and her fluffy coat.
“Well, it´s pretty easy.”
Namkhai muttered as the remaining members of their crew gathered in a large circle, Sigrid and Hariyama included.
“The one whose turn it is will ask another player if he wants to say a truth or perform a task instead and then gave them a question or task to perform. And well that other person has to do it, or drink.”
The Professor nodded to signalize his understanding.
“Yes, that sounds like fun, so…hmmm, who wants to start?”
The Professor looked around, noticing Hariyama who swiftly raised his arm, before pointing it at Niko.
“Niko, my friend truth or dare?”
The surprised bronze-skinned warrior quickly swallowed a large piece of steak he was eating before muttering.
“Truth I suppose?”
His confused expression quickly changed into a nervous one as the sumo wrestler grinned.
“Very well, two days ago, someone broke into our kitchen and ate a whole glass of canned apricots I was saving for a pie, don´t you know anything about it?”
Without hesitation, Niko grabbed his glass, emptying it in one go, earning the laughter of everyone present.
“All right, your turn.”
Hariyama gently nudged Danielle who was sitting to his right.

[Bobbie]

Danielle nervously looked away as she was complimented by Eponine, muttering her thanks very quietly but dismissing the sentiment shortly after on the grounds that the girl was drunk and probably only speaking the first thing that came to mind. In the meantime, Namkhai handled explaining the game to Gabriel and the blonde grabbed a chair for herself, sitting down with a relieved sigh as everything became more still.

As Hariyama played his turn first, cornering Niko quite cleverly, laughter erupted from everyone including the treasure huntress when the warrior immediately went for his drink and refused to answer the question.

Unexpectedly, the large sumo wrestler nudged her next and Danielle looked up in surprise. “Okay, uh…” inhaling through her teeth, she weighed her options from all the people present. Her gaze first fell upon Hayden, who had hopped off Sigrid’s palm and was now sitting in a chair with the rest of them, but remained by her side none the less. She noticed how comfortable he got up there and could think of a couple of questions to ask him, knowing that he was too much of a chicken to immediately pick dare. In what he thought was subtle, the young man stared back at his sister, shaking his head.

“You!” she announced as her gaze was still gliding over everyone gathered in their messy circle, past Hariyama, her brother, Sigrid and Gabriel to her right, and Beast, Namkhai, Niko, and Eponine to her left. Finally, her finger raised to point at her target, her eye resting on him. “Truth or dare, Professor?” she asked as her lips curled into a smirk as her eye was fully focussed on him.

Naturally, Danielle couldn’t let an opportunity like this pass. Whether he would pick truth or dare, the chance to catch him in such a social situation with his guard relatively down would be rare to come by, even if she wasn’t leaving them. She considered choosing Namkhai and get some form of revenge for his bold move earlier on the deck, but felt that he had done enough to instigate gossip about them and didn't wish to make matters worse by immediately rushing to test him for a truth or with a dare, no matter how tempting it was.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #25

The Professor felt tired. Day of fighting, emotional rollercoasters and alcohol made a number of him, and Beast´s fur was so warm, soft and fluffy, that his eyes started closing themselves without him even realising. So, when Danielle suddenly pointed in his direction and asked him whatever he would prefer truth or dare, he flinched, suddenly fully awake again.
“Uh what? Truth or dare?”
He repeated her question and looked around himself to find out that everyone was looking at him with a mix of anticipation and surprise, as no one really expected that she would pick him. Definitely not Sigrid, who whispered to Hayden.
“Why did she choose him? I though she would try to get revenge for that…you now kiss.”
The local master of gossips asked, almost as if she though that the blonde twin on her palm has some sort of mystical connection that would allow him to read Danielle´s thoughts.
And as for Gabriel, he was thinking. On one hand, dare sounded like the more entertaining half of this game, but on the other one he felt really tired and unwilling to leave the side of his cosy companion. Beast herself wasn’t really helping his effort as she rubbed her head against his face, happy that she had her dad all for herself after such long day.
“Truth.”
He decided in the end.
“Here you go, you can thank me alter.”
Laughed Niko, handing Gabriel bottle that was on the table just behind him. The Professor took it and put in the middle of the circle for everyone to use, as he didn´t really expected he would need it. After all he wasn´t really secretive person and there wasn´t much he wouldn´t be willing to share with his puppies, or the rest of his crew.

[Bobbie]

Hayden looked at Sigrid and shrugged lightly, “I don’t know, I expected her to as well… but we were probably not the only ones expecting it, which is probably why she didn’t do that.” He whispered in return.

Danielle watched The Professor as he appeared to be struggling to even stay awake. It was clear that he didn’t drink very often, and for a moment she almost thought he looked rather cute, half asleep and snuggling Beast. That thought was immediately cast away when he gave his answer to indicate he wanted a truth question.

The treasure huntress nodded, though didn’t take much time to think about her question as she did have one that had been weighing on her mind for a long time.

“Back to the incident on Mirrorball Island, when I hurt my leg but felt nothing… I blamed it on your stupid needles.” She took a pause to try and discern whether he remembered or not, or was even following what she was saying, at least, in his state. Her own words were somewhat slurred from her drinking, but it didn’t affect her memory of one specific conversation. “You said there might have been a mistranslation from the old tongue of Wu-… something, or whatever the language, it doesn’t matter! I’m not denying that, but…” pausing once more, she leaned forward on the table, as if this were an interrogation. Unfortunately, Gabriel wasn’t seated nearly close enough for that technique to be effective, whom she was now glaring at.

“Was it, or was it not a technique initially designed to be practised on canines?”

Now her eye narrowed like that of a predator, hungrily fixed on her prey, while her twin’s widened. “What is she talking about? She hurt her leg?” Hayden kept his voice low as he looked up at Sigrid one more time, but she didn’t hold his attention for very long as his gaze darted back to Gabriel, wanting to hear the answer.

Things were getting very interesting to the young man who rarely saw any excitement, and he was curious to know what was going on. “Two big secrets revealed in one day, this is awesome… first the secret love affair, now some secret accident through experimental acupuncture?”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #26

Hearing Danielle´s question and Hayden´s comment that followed, Sigrid blushed and took a long sip from her barrel.
“Yeah, that was kind of my fault.”
She muttered, hoping that the blonde twin won´t be angry at her because of that, but at the same time unable to keep her mouth shut, because of her love for good gossips and the amount of alcohol in her blood.
“You know we got into fight and some marines shoot a cannonball in my face. It didn´t do a thing to me thanks to my fruit, but…a big shard kinda stabbed Danielle´s leg. That´s why she was limping the whole time here.”
She explained.
Meanwhile dozen or so matters bellow her Gabriel suddenly felt completely sober.
“What?”
He asked in disbelief, trying his best to hide how much this question hurt him.
“Of course not, you are my beloved puppy, I would never try procedure that wasn´t intended for humans on you.”
Feeling her dad´s mood, Beast twisted her head in a way that would be impossible for human to lick his face, earning herself a scratch behind her ear.
“Well, that was let down.”
Laughed Niko, either unable to read the mood, or simply trying to quickly change topic.
“My turn, Sigrid, truth or dare?”
Surprised, the giantess looked down on him.
“Me, really? Danielle is the one who is leaving us, we should focus on her!”
She exclaimed, pointing her gargantuan finger on the blonde treasure huntress, before waving her hand as Niko seemed to be adamant in his choice.
“Fair, fair, everyone seems to be fixated on truth, so I dare.”
Niko grinned.
“Is that so? Well in that case, I dare you to throw Hayden up with one hand and catch him with another!”
Already sufficiently drunk to lose her inhibitions the giantess grinned.
“Hohoho, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!”
As she yelled these words, she lowered her left hand, throwing the unfortunate twin up with a flick of her wrist. Letting him fly just above her head, her right sprung forward, capturing him into safety of her fingers.
“Hehehehehe, how did you like it?”
She asked, completely ignoring the fact that all that food and drink she had on her palm with him rained down on everyone else.
“For f*ck sake Sigrid!”
Cursed Namkhai, throwing away a piece of steak that landed on his head. Beast, seeing a piece of meat flying away darted forward, so the Professor nearly fall on his face much to a laughter of the remaining crew members.
“Now it´s my turn right?.”
Eponine´s silent words found their way through the laughter as the dark haired woman turned her head towards Danielle.
“Truth or dare?”

[Bobbie]

Watching the giantess blush, Hayden listened to her story, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Oh… now that you mention it, she was leaning on Beast quite a lot whenever she walked…” he muttered, the surprise on his face shifting into a frown. He wasn’t angry at her, however, merely connecting the dots as to why she made no outward show of pain.

Danielle took a moment to watch Gabriel’s face before giving a satisfied nod. “Okay, I believe you,” she muttered, sitting back in her seat with a little bit of guilt, but that quickly washed away when everyone’s attention was on Sigrid and soon Hayden as well.

“What!?” Hayden exclaimed, immediately waving his outstretched hands in a panicked protest that fell on deaf ears, as only a moment later, he was hurled into the air. "No, no, no!"

Frantically screaming at the top of his lungs, the young pharmacist flailed, attracting Danielle’s attention. Trying to hide how amusing this was to watch, there was a big part of her that was concerned for Hayden and she was slightly annoyed at Niko. Glancing at the bronze skinned man, that sentiment would be clear on her face, before she turned back to Sigrid, about 95 percent sure that the giantess would catch her brother. If not, Danielle rose to her feet to be able to act quickly, just in case.

The cold wind rushing through his hair came to a sudden stop as Hayden suddenly felt himself encased in a soft warmth unlike anything he’d felt before. All wrapped up in the safety of Sigrid’s fingers, he stared up at her, adrenaline still pumping through his veins and his breath heavy. “That… was… amazing! Terrifying, but amazing! Also, please don’t do that again.” Although he was somehow sure she would catch him, he wasn’t used to such a rush! It was such an exciting change of pace from his daily boring life working at the pharmacy where he’d simply stand behind a desk, and while he wouldn’t actively chase after adventure and throw himself in peril like his sister might, he could admit that it was fun every once in a while.

Danielle sighed with relief, just as it began to rain food and drink on them. Brushing some half eaten lettuce that must have come from a burger off her shoulder, she witnessed the steak land on Namkhai’s head and it sent the treasure huntress into a reeling fit of laughter. The others soon joined in after watching The Professor nearly fall over, which perfectly masked the reason she couldn't stop laughing. Gasping for air, she held her sides and sat down.

“What?” she asked, as she slowly calmed down, and turned to Eponine, who faced her and asked her to pick truth or dare. “Me?” Finally out of her laughing fit, she thought about it for a moment, considering her options. Assuming a truth question might have something to do with her love life, she felt safer staying away from that. Unable to think any further than that while under the influence of alcohol, she shrugged at what she thought would be a harmless decision.

“Give me a dare!”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #27

The giantess seemed to be pleased with Hayden´s excitement, patting her favourite human with her finger.
“Oh I hoped you would like it! But yeah, it´s probably better to not do it again in this dark…I almost missed you!”
She giggled, reaching towards the table for new drink and food for him completely oblivious to the implication her words had for him.
Bellow her, Gabriel his fluffy support and nearly planted his face in the deck, being saved only by his quick reflex that weren´t entirely silenced by the alcohol…yet.
Rising himself, up in the sitting, he tried to look as dignified as possible, while everyone else laughed. Well, everyone except Beast, who quickly realised what she caused.
“I am sorry!”
She howled, crawling back to his side with her head down.
“And I forgive you.”
The Professor smiled, patting her head.
“But please don´t do it again.”
He asked, letting his fluffy glutton to put her massive head on his lap as she was lying down next to him.
Meanwhile, Eponine was waiting on Danielle´s response. Her impatient, almost nervous face relaxed with relief when the treasure huntress picked dare, almost as if she was hoping for this option.
“Alright…”
She said with a surprising level of confidence, looking directly into the treasure huntress eye.
“I dare you to show it to me. Your scar I mean.”
The medic said without hesitation.
Hearing her request, Gabriel frowned and leaned forward, waiting for Danielle´s response. This was tricky situation as he couldn´t really understand why would she want to see it or what kind of effect it could have on her in her current condition. Was it just curiosity born from the alcohol in her veins or was there some deeper reason. And if yes, what happen if the treasure huntress declined?

[Bobbie]

Hayden stared at Sigrid, trying to discern whether she was serious or if it was just a joke. As the giantess giggled and handed him his drink and food, however, he decided to drop it and not pursue the issue any further. Deciding it would be better not to know, he simply took his drink and sipped it until his shoulders suddenly jolted and a sharp ‘hic’ echoed into the little chamber that was his mug, some of the beer spilling onto Sigrid’s hand.

“Sorry!” he laughed, trying to wipe the liquid off her hand in his sleeve. Although he was so far from the deck below, he could somehow feel the tension in the air and he looked down to see what was happening.

Danielle stared at Eponine, an anxious expression fixed on her face. Apart from a slight gentle swaying as an effect of her drinking, she was completely still for a few quiet seconds, before she turned to the table.

Clearly putting too much thought into the dare - or trying to - she reached out for the bottle and filled her cup, also giving the table at the base of it a slight wash in mead as well. She shook her head and took a sip, before placing her cup down on the table with a slight bang again and stood up, her hand immediately going for the back of the chair to try and keep herself steady.

“Come on then, the dare is to show it to you, not everybody else here!” The blonde replied with a nervous snicker. Even though she’d accepted the dare, she took her cup anyway and muttered, “I’ll be needing this,” before stepping away from the table to wait for Eponine.

“You all go ahead! Play the next turn while I’m in the cabin with Eponine, playing her game of show-and-tell…” Waving a drunken hand, she projected her voice loudly and then gently grabbed her companion’s arm to walk to the cabins with her, swaying left and right.

Hayden frowned with a slight sulk because he wanted his sister to be present for his turn, but then he chuckled. “She has to be really drunk to shout something like that…” her brother whispered to Sigrid, unsure if anybody interpreted Danielle’s words in the wrong way or not, but was quick to point it out. As she disappeared into the cabins, he looked at Namkhai, snatching up his turn.

“Okay, Namkhai, truth or dare? Can we wait for my sister and Eponine to come back, though? I know she said to play a round without her, but… it would suck to have two people missing.” Hayden tried to explain in as innocent as a manner as he possibly could while he secretly schemed.

---

Meanwhile in the cabin, Danielle didn’t go all the way into the private rooms, but simply stopped in the narrow corridor once they were behind the cover of the door left ajar. Watching Eponine, she tried to gauge how ready the girl was to see the scar, but this was a task that proved to be difficult.

Damn it, why did she have to think of such a good dare?

Her thoughts were cohesive enough to make sense to her, though even in her mind they sounded slurred. She wanted to back out, but not in front of everyone, feeling it would make her look like a chicken.

“Remember everybody’s scars heal differently…” Slightly worried as the Professor was, she could only assume that this request had something to do with the scar Eponine will have once the wound on her face healed. Taking a deep breath, she then drank whatever was left in her cup and hadn’t been spilled on the way over there, before reaching up to her eyepatch and taking it off in one swift motion to prevent her from getting cold feet.

Apart from Hayden and her mother, Rosalina was the only person she had ever revealed her scar to. It was the most personal kind of intimacy that the ginger allowed before marriage, a rule which Danielle loved her enough to go along with without making any complaints. It didn't matter in the slightest for the woman she adored. Of course, it was followed by a gentle request to keep the eyepatch on, which Danielle understood.

The eyepatch left a pressure outline on the right side of the treasure huntress' face, her skin within it creased and pulled with the shape of stitches that had since healed over the cuts that had split the skin. They didn’t form a single clean line but rather a bit of a messy shape from the shards that had struck her in the face on the day of the accident.

While her left eye was wide open and avoided making contact with Eponine, the other eyelid was only partly open, the muscle growing weak and no longer having any purpose to open further than a few millimeters. Beneath it, the light pink membrane that replaced her eye was clearly visible.

“It’s not nice to look at, so…” Danielle gestured toward the eyepatch in her hand.

---

Meanwhile on the deck, Hayden was getting worried about his sister since she was taking so long. He remembered what it was like dealing with her wound. It wasn’t easy back then and has never seen her in public without the eyepatch since, so he assumed this was a difficult dare for her to follow through on - he was surprised that she accepted it in the first place.

Shouting from his position up above in Sigrid’s hand, he called to the others. “Should somebody go and check that they’re okay?”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #28

Gabriel´s worried look relaxed a bit, as he watched Danielle to go for her glass thinking, that perhaps this was for the best, only to frown again as the treasure huntress took only small sip for courage, before accepting Eponine´s dare.
Without a word, the dark haired woman raised from her chair, following the blonde down under the deck with wobbling leg.
“Well, what a choice of words!”
Niko erupted in laughter and Hariyama with Sigrid joined him right afterwards as Danielle asked them to skip their them this round to get enough time for their show and tell.
“Well, who knows, her current mood aside, Eponine is quite hot.”
The giantess whispered back, teasing the twin as even her didn´t really believe that even drunk Danielle could do anything that would threaten her relationship with that accursed ginger. Which was quite shame in her mind, because both Eponine and Namkhai would be much better pick.
Anyway her sulking mood was ripped apart when Hayden decided its his round now and challenged Namkhai, trying to bait him into waiting for Danielle and Eponine´s return in such obvious manner that everyone except the blonde and perhaps Beast realised right away.
“Sure we can wait, but not for hours…and dare.”
The wrestler grinned, walking toward the table for something to eat.

---

Meanwhile bellow the deck Eponine followed Danielle, until she stopped in a narrow corridor. The medic stopped as well, cornering the treasure huntress against the wall, not leaving much of personal space for her. Perhaps it was some sort of weird curiosity and perhaps accident as the level of alcohol in her veins messed with her distance perception. Still she didn´t seem willing to back away and simply nodded when Danielle mentioned that all scars heal differently.
“I know…medicine student, remember?”
She smiled, pointing at herself.
Then she simply waited, gently swaying from left and right until Danielle raised her eyepatch. What followed was a moment of silence during which Eponine looked at Danielle. She wasn´t interested in the scar specifically, just watched the treasure huntress´s face as whole with so much kindness reflecting in her eyes, she could easily match the Professor when he was helping out his puppies.
“You are lucky.”
The black haired woman whispered, touching Danielle´s cheek as she wanted to cover her eye once again.
“You remined beautiful.”

Leaning forward, she gently kissed the blonde on lips, before heading up, humming some old sailor song for herself.

---

Upstairs, the rest of the crew patiently waited for these two to return, some like Niko and Haryiama eating for their boredom, before Hayden lost his patience and asked if someone should go and check on them.
“Leave them be. I am sure they are alright.”
He said, hiding his own worries behind wall of faked trust and certianity. Fortunately a moment later Eponine appeared on the stairs, wobbling he way back to her seat.
“See, they are coming back.”
Professor muttered, petting his fluffy doggo.

[Bobbie]

Danielle was surprised when Eponine called her lucky. Immediately, she frowned and was about to reject that very idea, but the girl’s hand on her cheek silenced her in an instant.

Then her face grew slightly red as she heard the compliment thrown her way in such a delicate manner. It had been a while since somebody called her beautiful and seemed to mean it as much as Eponine did. Somehow, Namkhai's compliments didn't count. They were words that she’d have loved to hear from Rosalina, but she didn’t mind too much that she was usually the one flattering her ginger princess. Danielle never had a shadow of a doubt that even though Rosalina didn’t voice her expressions of love in the manner she did, it didn’t mean that they weren’t in love.

Without any time to react, Eponine stepped forward to press her lips against Danielle’s. Trying to move away, the blonde moved back, only to hit the wall that was already right behind her and removed any possibility of escape from this situation. Instinctively, Danielle moved her hands to hold Eponine’s waist, her intention being to push her away, but the dark-haired girl removed herself first and rushed back out onto the deck.

---

“Oh, okay, there’s Eponine! Where’s Danielle?” Hayden asked, impatiently, his gaze falling back to the cabin door as they were all still waiting up on the deck.

---

Danielle stood there on the spot, leaning back against the wall and staring at the door that swung back after Eponine left to conceal her once more. Perhaps she had already had too much to drink, as all she felt at that moment was confused. Not by Eponine’s actions, but her own feelings. She missed Rosalina, she couldn’t understand how she could love her fiancée so much but still feel satisfied with these people. 

Pushing off the wall, she wobbled toward the door and pulled it open.

---

“There she is! Finally! Danielle, come on, come on, we’re all waiting for you to give Namkhai his dare!” the blonde twin called to his sister as she finally emerged with her eyepatch back on properly and an empty cup in her hand.

“I told you to go ahead and not wait!” She replied in her usual angry tone as she once again put on a brave face, but felt a little disappointed. Her hope was to avoid being present when it was Namkhai’s turn to answer a truth question or a dare and now Hayden just blurted out that they were waiting for her specifically to do just that.

Grumbling, she made her way back to her seat, stumbling once along the way, and finally sat down. “Go on then, what’s the big gorilla’s dare?”

“Well… Namkhai, I dare you to whisper, in Danielle’s ear, the most sensual description of your kiss as you possibly can.” Hayden felt proud of himself, as his big grin demonstrated.

Danielle was drunk, but not too drunk to make glaring at her brother impossible. “Stop including me in other people’s dares!” The treasure huntress protested, crossing her arms and leaning back.

“Fine, then he doesn’t whisper it to you and says it out loud for everybody to hear. That way you have no part in it.”

Throwing her head back in a frustrated groan, she sunk in her seat for a moment. She took a deep breath and sat up straight as she glanced at Namkhai, somewhat sceptical of his linguistic capabilities to fulfil the task to the ability Hayden was expecting. The embarrassment of everybody hearing it, however, was a thought she couldn’t bear. 

“Whisper it to me then, but I'm not getting up from my seat…” She decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #29

Petting his dog, the Professor watched Eponine as she was returning to her seat. He was trying to read something about what happened down there from her face, but God he was terrible in this. All he could see was, that she didn´t look any worse than before she headed there, and that was probably all he could ask for anyway. Especially, when Danielle followed right afterwards, grumpy that they waited for her round.
Well, perhaps this time her grumpiness was justified, Gabriel though for himself as he heard what kind of task Hayden prepared for his siter.
“Oooooh, you little devil, that´s spicy!”
Sigrid smirked proud of her little companion. Well obviously, the treasure huntress protested, but since it was Namkhai´s dare and not hers, she couldn´t simply drink her way out of it. Curiously, for a moment it looked like she won´t even have to as after short fight between the two siblings Namkhai reached for the bottle when it looked like he will be dared to speak in front of everyone. The Professor never saw the man afraid to express whatever he was felling publicly, so he could only guess that his hesitation came as an attempt to protect Danielle. The angsty blonde however forced her brother to change his mind and so the Titan released his grip and walked towards Danielle instead. Choosing slow pace to think about what he should say.

Sitting down next to her, he leaned forward whispering:

“Our eyes met, and time stood still,
My heart skipped a beat, my stomach a thrill.
I leaned in close, our lips drew near,
And in that moment, all worries disappeared.

Our breath mingled in a soft embrace,
As our lips touched in a tender chase.
I felt a spark, a rush of heat,
As we shared our first kiss, so sweet.

My heart raced, my body ached,
As our lips parted, and we smiled and quaked.
I knew that my heart was yours to keep,
As we shared that moment, so pure and deep.

Through time may pass and we may grow old
We´ll keep the memory of our first kiss to hold.
It´ll be cherished moment forever in our hearts
Reminding us that our love had its start.
And even if we´re apart, we´ll keep each other close
Bound together by memory of that sweet and tender dose.”

During the whole time the rest of M.A.R.I. was dead silent, watching the two of them without a word. Only when Namkhai leaned back did Sigrid break the silence.
“Well, that was certainly longer than “it was a good kiss””
She laughed, looking around.
“Come on, did anyone hear what he said?”
No one answered that question. Even Gabriel stayed silent even through he knew that beast with her ears definitely heard it. But something in her eyes was telling him that this should remain just between the two of them.

[Bobbie]

Hayden’s grin doubled in size when it seemed he made Sigrid proud with his little dare and he blushed. “Thank you, Sigrid, you’ve been an interesting influence on me.” He laughed, nervously.

Danielle watched Namkhai approach her, his pace painstakingly slow as she could only frown as he did so. While she had no idea what to really expect from Namkhai, she didn’t presume there would be anything elegant coming from his mouth, assuming his idea of a sensual description would fit the typical male stereotype of a man describing his desires with a woman he was infatuated by in the crudest form. Her only wish was that he would hurry up and get this over and done with, all the while silently cursing at her brother for coming up with this ridiculous idea.

Once he took an empty chair and sat beside her, she immediately felt the instinct to move away from him, but quickly found that she wouldn’t hear him if she did so. Instead, she leaned closer to him to hear his words more clearly.

What she heard left Danielle in shock even after the first verse of what was nothing short of a masterpiece. It was poetry - literal poetry. A ballad! How wrong she was to expect something vulgar and crude from the man as his verses were to gentle and eloquent. She wondered whether this was some shanty composed by some love-stricken marine, but if that was the case, it wasn’t one that she recognised.

There were many reasons for her to regret drinking as much as she did, but the one that surpassed all others at this moment was the warmth in her cheeks. Blaming it, at least partly, on the alcohol she had consumed, her face felt like it was on fire as the Titan beside her went on with his sweet rhymes.

There was, however, one issue that she had with them, as they described a shared moment of passion, a notion that she had no choice but to object to. Engaged to another person, she couldn’t possibly admit to what he described, whether she felt it was true or not, and she would certainly not consider the moment that they shared as mutual as he seemed to perceive it to be. Whether she returned the gesture or not didn't change the fact that it was an ambush, a one-sided ambush.

Then she heard a dreaded phrase that made her eye twitch as she pursed her lips.

Due in part to her delayed reactions and the fact that the phrase came only two verses before the last, Namkhai had the chance to finish his performance before she turned to him with a narrowed eye and look of contempt.

“Our love?” She laughed, quickly averting her gaze as she failed to maintain the look of anger that she had so easily bore toward the man before. “There is no ‘our love’,” Danielle hissed at him, keeping her voice low and turning back to him, leaning closer to ensure that nobody else heard and perhaps trying to make herself appear more threatening. “What part of I am in love with another woman do you fail to understand? Enjoy your memory of our ‘sweet and tender dose’, Gorilla man, that’s all your silly stunt earlier on will grant you.” As she uttered those words, she sat back, watching him with an involuntary smile on her face as if she had just delivered the perfect response.

In truth, she was impressed and a part of her quite admired his boldness. Her gaze wandered for a moment to take in his full posture as the corners of her lips only moved further apart slightly - until she felt the tension in her cheeks and she realised that she was… smiling!

Quickly resuming her frowning expression and hoping that nobody saw that, she cleared her throat and looked away, willing her flushed face to stop increasing in temperature. However, the more she willed it, the more it seemed to do the opposite.

“Whose turn? Who hasn’t had a go yet?”

Of course, Hayden didn't hear any of it, but he didn't need to. His eyes were fixed on his sister, scrutinising her body language for any signs that might betray her true feelings for Namkhai which he was convinced that she had, partly thanks to Sigrid's gossip as well as his hope that she would end her relationship with the rotten child named Rosalina.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #30

Danielle´s reaction to Namkhai´s words seemed to be rather fiery, but that didn´t mean a thing as that was her reaction to pretty much everything as Gabriel had the opportunity to learn the hard way. Still, unlike the rest of the people on the deck he had a certain advantage. While he couldn´t hear what the treasure huntress said, he definitely could see that smile she was trying to suppress and how red her cheeks were.
“She likes him!”
Beast whispered to him and while the Professor had no idea how she reached to that conclusion herself, he couldn´t but agree with her, she liked him, but sadly seemed to be afraid of her own emotions.
Well truth to be told, the two of them weren´t the only ones who reached the same conclusion. There was one more person, who could see Danielle´s face from close and that was Namkhai. The Titan let her snap at him as she liked, without saying a word with a gentle, knowing smile on his face.
“That´s more than enough my little monkey.”
Namkhai whispered, rising on his feet to walk back to his place, while Danielle eagerly asked whose turn it is.
“Well, that…”
Sigrid raised her voice, but before she could finish the sentence Beast barked and jumped on her feet.
“Danielle, I dare…”
She stopped when Gabriel gently nudged her.
Pausing, she looked at him with a devastated expression written all over her face.
“I…can´t play this one too?”
She asked, earning a headpat from him.
“You can, but you are supposed to ask whatever she wants truth or dare first you silly fluff.”
As everyone laughed, the Professor would swear he saw her blushing under that thick fur coat.
“Oh ,yes! Danielle, truth or dare?”
She barked, wiggling in anticipation.