Safe Harbor

| 11 |

"Well, I'm sorry you don't appreciate the wholesome goodness of crackers, but it's all we have right now, Pierre!" Indy's voice fills the room, echoing around, clearly annoyed. "So would you please do us all a favor and shut your bloody trap?"

"I will not be talked to like that, especially by a --"

"A commoner? Well that's too bad, isn't it, because here I am, talking to you anyways," Indy exclaims, eyes narrowed. "And this is kind of the opposite of shutting your trap, in case you weren't aware of it."

Marco taps me on the shoulder, attempting to get my attention. "I can't handle any more of this," he whispers in my ear. "As much as I appreciate Pierre having his arse handed to him by Indy, I just want to eat my breakfast in peace!"

Currently, all of us are seated on our respective bunks and hammocks, chowing down on the same thing we had last night; crackers, and nuts. It was all the kitchen had that was actually good, so we would have to make do with it until we got to wherever the heck it was we were going.

I can't help but agree with Marco, though. "You can join me in keeping Keda some company," I suggest.

Marco attempts to mull it over.

"Would you please keep it down?" Bianca's groggy voice pipes up, from one of the occupied hammocks. "Please-- I am trying to sleep. I was up late helping Signor Damien with the ship," she reminds us all.

Immediately, we all quiet down, feeling a bit bad about our noisy and loud behavior.

"Sorry," some of us mumble, going back to our crackers, quietly.

But then there was Pierre. "More like kissing up to him," he sneers, loudly.

Bianca sits up as best as she can in the hammock, looking a mixture of utter repulsion, horror, and disgust simultaneously. "What? No! That is not what I was doing!"

Pierre crosses his arms, seeming to enjoy the rise he was getting out of her. A smug smile graces his lips as he continues to antagonize her. "Don't try to deny it--"

Bianca positively glowers at him in response, cutting him off before he can finish. If I thought I was scared of her on the plane the other day, I was wrong: that anger was nothing compared to this. It's as if she's slapping him senseless in her mind. "You are such a foul person--"

And the racket continued. I tap Marco on the shoulder once more, and as secretively as we can, we slide out of the room as quickly and as quietly as we can.

When we make it back up to the deck, we both breathe sighs of relief. We make our way to Keda's room, munching on our breakfasts all the while. I save half of my stack for Keda, knowing she'll be famished, as well.

"Blimey, I never thought you could hate someone at first sight," Marco comments, laughing a little. "But Bianca and Pierre have proven that wrong."

I nod. "Indy as well," I note.

Marco shakes his head. "Nah, Indy's just like that, I think. She's got that sort of, rebellious personality. It makes her act snarky to most everyone."

"She doesn't act snarky to me, though," I reply, confused. I mean, she was teasing, but not snarky...

Marco grins. "Maybe she fancies you," he says, his eyebrows wiggling.

I laugh at that absurd notion, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it."

Marco shakes his head at me, waving his hands in the air emphatically. "You need to stop being so hard on yourself, Alex! I mean, I know it's obviously difficult to compete with my drop-dead gorgeous face, but there's always hope--"