Screw It, I'm Going Out to Find It!

Chapter XXXI: The Ultimate Coffee

Jaune had an idea, but it was risky. Admittedly, his last plan had been pretty risky too. The difference was that he had gotten lucky before, and he might not be this time. It was hard to figure out what Pyrrha and Ozpin might have thought happened, but he had to assume it likely revolved around him slamming himself against the side of his cell in some hopes of freedom. That wouldn't be wrong, but there was more to it. If he got caught this time too, then it would be more obvious what his exact goal was.

Jaune set his hat to the side, making sure it was safe, and slid his top off. He tied the end of one sleeve into a knot to give it some weight. Then, after making sure his breath was steady, he used it like a whip toward the desk. He missed, and a loud thump reverberated in the room, making him cringe. He waited and tried again. Jaune cursed as he missed again. It was difficult to aim through the bars when he couldn't touch them. That didn't stop him though. If someone walked in and saw this, there would be very little he could do to explain it.

***

"What do you think?" A marine leaned over the rail, gazing down at the mass in the water.

"What do you mean, what do I think, Dan?"

"Come on, you're not still mad about the grammar stuff are you, Gary?"

Dan's friend responded by shrugging his shoulders. "No, what I mean is there's not much there to understand. How do you ask what I think when it's just planks and scaffolding."

Construction was underway, tied to the back of the marine ship. The structure had a curved, raft-like base bobbing up and down in the waves. Protruding up from it was a work in progress, currently resembling a massive, wooden rib cage.

"You think that's the watch that one girl has been telling everyone about?"

The waves rocked the structure, already nearly half the size of their ship. "I don't see a damn clock on that thing. You expect me to believe that's a watch?"

Dan huffed dramatically. "Are you actually expecting her to make a real watch? Please don't tell me you're that gullible, Gary."

"Have you seen her?" Gary hissed. "I swear that girl isn't human. The other day, I saw her say 'this is a tasty melon, I shall eat it like a normal, human girl, Mr. Marine,' and then she ate the entire fucking thing whole. Rind and all. In one second. If she says she's building a watch and she needs fifty tons of metal and four tons of lumber, so be it. I'll be expecting a damn clock tower put up in the middle of our boat."

Dan stared long and hard at Gary. "You've got issues man."

Gary nearly collapsed against the railing. "I know."

"Where'd you think she got all of that lumber from? There's so much of it."

"I heard she was taking the scraps that were meant to be thrown away. Mike hasn't been doing his job."

"But there's so much."

Gary groaned. "What? Do you want me to say she pulled it out of her ass or materialized out of thin air? I don't know where she got all of it."

In the distance, a faint, "I am construction ready," could be heard.

"She's going at it again," Dan supplied.

"Yes. Thank you. I heard."

"You are still mad about the grammar shit, aren't you."

***

Even when Ciel wasn't interacting with Whitley, he was a thorn in her side. She could hear him down the hall with that damn harmonica as she slid food into the cell of one of his crew. In the distance, he so blatantly ignored his situation and everything that surrounded him. Did he not realize he was a captive prisoner? With each passing day, she felt more that he saw this as a simple vacation. The sheer audacity of him made her shake with anger.