The Storm God's Sweetheart

9. The New Arrangement

"You're living in the halls." Chigaru commented. "That's rough."

"Yeah, my mum got a job opportunity up in York." Molly lied. "It was too good to turn down. So, I'm stuck in the halls for the next two years." 

"Does this mean no more tasty snacks?" Chigaru asked deflated.

"It definitely means less of them. Getting access to the kitchen isn't easy, they've crammed I think about twenty people on my floor."

"Perhaps the god Seth will give you a place to stay?" Chigaru suggested. "Have you asked him?"

"No." Molly admitted. In fact, she was still avoiding him. She'd pretended to 'forget' about finding him after her chores were done yesterday. Guilt had plagued her as she'd disembarked at dawn, wondering if he'd been waiting for her. "He might not like me as much, any more." She mumbled.

A commotion made them both look up. Their senior, Faye came barging into the rec room – dragging another senior behind her.

"Apologise to her." Faye demanded – stopping in front of Molly. Molly was confused as Faye shoved a girl in her direction. Molly recognised the girl as one of the seniors that worked in the kitchen. The girl stared down at the floor in front of Molly.

"I'm sorry." She muttered.

"What are you sorry for?" Molly asked.

"She planned to slip laxatives in your food." Faye explained, crossing her arms. "I caught her in the act."

"Why did you want to do that?" Molly asked the girl, appalled. The girl scowled.

"The god Seth..." She mumbled.

Faye tutted disapprovingly.

"This is the longest the god Seth has stuck with one woman. Usually, he's interested in sleeping around with humans on the ship. She was hoping to get lucky this year." Faye tossed her hair over her shoulder and glared down at the girl. "You should support the god Seth, be a true and loyal fan like me."

"Yeah, and please don't try to poison me again." Molly added.

A new alarm sounded and everyone groaned. Another technical disaster. The seniors rushed out of the rec room but Molly and Chigaru idled so that they were last.

"Should we head after them?" Chigaru asked uncertainly. Molly shrugged.

"The lights flashing are purple, which means the pump room. I don't even know where that is – do you?"

"No. And we probably can't help them anyway." Chigaru admitted. "But if we stay on break, someone is going to give us hell. We need to look busy."

The lower decks were in chaos. As usual. Molly and Chigaru had been tasked earlier with repainting the warning lines that marked the floor – guiding people of directions and what plant rooms they weren't supposed to enter. 

"I'll take this side and you do that." Molly suggested.

"Sure."

Workers ran up and down the corridor between them – obeying the various alarms.

"Chigaru, isn't that bit supposed to be red?"

"It is red."

Molly shook her head.

"That's purple. This is red."