Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction

Space Man (the Killers)

The journey to the Arctic ocean was... well it was private, to say the least. Not in the sense that you were given a lot of privacy, but in the sense that you'd docked a total of one time. The first two weeks were awkward, as the three of you fell into a routine and adjusted to the close quarters.

There'd been a handful of times where you'd been changing and one of them had disregarded the closed door, stating the situation required your attention. It was less awkward when Ford strolled in, as he was used to seeing you in various states of undress after thirty years of travel. However, whenever Stan accidentally walked in, it was always followed with a very loud "SORRY" and a slam of the door. You had to hold back laughter after the first three times. In parallel, there'd been a few times you'd walked down into the cabin and slammed the door shut because Stan had been changing in the main room (scared you once or twice) but thankfully you never saw much. Ford had a similar reaction to when he walked in on you, usually resulting in the two of you falling into a discussion of whatever drove you to that situation.

Eventually, everyone learnt to knock before entering. The second weirdest thing that you had to get used to was actually being tired, rather than too scared of encountering a nightmare or Bill to sleep. Your brain still nagged you with the possibility that Bill could return and appear to you while sleeping, but it quieted down the more days that passed. You could tell Ford was sleeping better as well, as the bags around his eyes started to disappear and he'd stopped keeping you company during the night as you drove the boat.

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It was a late night when you encountered your first storm. The boat had been going over worse and worse waves for the past hour, clouds churning above your head as you kept your hands firmly on the steering wheel to keep the boat on course.

You could tell a storm was brewing above your head, threatening to open its fury on you. You'd been looking since the waves started for some way to avoid the storm, but the further you went, it was as if the storm stretched on forever.

You grasped the steering wheel the best you could as the rain started to hit against your face. You cursed yourself mentally for leaving your rainjacket inside the cabin, thinking it would be a clear night yet again.

A particularly harsh wave sent you slamming back down onto the ocean, nearly displacing you and spilling water onto the deck. If there wasn't the crash of thunder over your head and waves next to your ear, you were positive you would've heard Stan hit the floor, because, within moments, the twins were rushing out of the cabin.

"Great Axolotl, (Y/N), why didn't you wake us?!" Ford shouts over the storm as Stan comes up next to you, helping you grasp the steering wheel.

"You trying to get yourself killed out here?" Stan grunts, bracing himself on the wet deck.

"I had no time! By the time I realized I couldn't let go of the steering wheel!" you shout back so he can hear you as Ford comes up on your other side, holding your rain jacket.

He helps you put it on, letting go of the steering wheel one hand at a time, replacing it the moment the jacket's on that arm.

"Ford, anything you don't have locked down in the cabin is going to hit against everything," Stan warns him as the two of you brace the steering wheel.

"Right!" Ford runs back to the cabin, sliding most of the way. You hear the door slam as he enters the cabin of the boat.

Stan stays at your side as Ford puts away everything and anything he can find. The three of you ride out the storm for the better part of three hours. The rain soaks you down to your underwear, leaving you damn and shivering by the time the sunrise breaks through the clouds.