Interning on the Aronnax

A Surprise Visitor

Fontaine couldn't sleep that night, thinking about Finn despite her efforts to not. Whenever she started to drift off, memories of the desperate look in Finn's eyes as Ant forced him off the Aronnax would flash across her mind.

Eventually, Fontaine gave up and got dressed. The clock showed five in the morning as Fontaine crept into the halls. She spent a bit pacing the halls, but it was too quiet inside.

Kaiko had taken the Aronnax two hours' driving away from the Dark Orca before surfacing for the night, so Fontaine decided to head onto the upper deck. At least she could hear the wind and waves outside.

When Fontaine emerged on deck, the sky was just starting to light up. She leaned against the railing to watch the sunrise, distracted for a moment as the rising sun colored the sky and water red. She smiled and wondered why she didn't watch the sunrise more often.

Scratching distracted Fontaine a few minutes later. She looked around, wondering if someone else had woken up.

The deck was empty. The scratching came again, and Fontaine realized it was coming from the back of the Aronnax. Curious, she went to the end of the deck and leaned over the railing, but didn't see anything.

"Ant?" Fontaine called, wondering if her brother was pranking her.

There was one quick, loud scratch, then nothing.

Fontaine hummed. She glanced up, wondering if she'd spooked a bird resting on the rudder. The sky was empty, as they were too far from land for most seabirds.

Fontaine climbed over the railing. It was unlikely that there was anything on the back of the Aronnax, but Fontaine was still looking for a distraction. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to make sure the props hadn't picked up any debris.

Fontaine scrambled up the side of the Aronnax until she reached a lip at the edge of the hull. She grabbed onto the lip and hauled herself up. She had one leg over the lip when she looked down.

Finn was crouched against the covers, staring wide-eyed up at her.

Fontaine yelped and toppled backward, barely catching herself on the lip. Finn jerked like he was going to grab her, but slipped and fell back against the covers.

For a moment, the teens held their unsteady positions and just stared.

"Finn!" Fontaine finally said. She swung her other leg over the lip and scowled at the pirate boy. "What are you doing here? Did the Dark Orca follow us?"

"N-no," Finn said, uncharacteristically stuttering. "Jus-st m-me. The D-Dark Orc-ca w-went back-ck t-to b-base."

"Why are you..."

Fontaine trailed off as she noticed the cause of Finn's stuttering. He was shivering badly, his scuba gear making the scratching noise that had attracted Fontaine. The exposed hair poking from under his helmet was stiff with dried salt from ocean spray, and his lips were blue with cold.

"Did you spend the whole night back here?" Fontaine asked.

"M-Moon Pool-l w-was c-closed," Finn shivered out. He gave a small grin. "Knock-cking d-didn't w-work."

Fontaine rolled her eyes. Then paused. "You didn't really knock, did you?"

Finn's grin turned downright sheepish.

"Are you serious? There's fifteen feet of water from the door to the floor alone and no one was there, how did you even think you'd get an answer?"

Finn just shivered.

Fontaine sighed. "Well, however it happened, you're here and in the worse place to hang out. Come inside and dry off."

Finn shook his head. "C-could we w-wait? U-until w-we're cl-loser t-to l-land?"

"Why would you-"

Because Ant would only be too happy to dump Finn outside for the second day in a row. Will and Kaiko would think Finn's presence was a trick, and that the Dark Orca was nearby.

But something told Fontaine that Finn wasn't trying to trick her. The pirate boy was stubborn, but stubborn enough to spend the whole night on the back of the Aronnax? The pirates were too straightforward for that.

"Where's the Dark Orca?" Fontaine asked.

Finn shrugged, then stayed in the hunched position. "H-hom-me b-b-base?"

"You're going to explain everything, but not here," Fontaine said, because Finn was starting to look worse. "Come inside."

Finn dropped his head and continued to sit, shiver, and just look miserable in general. Fontaine sighed and dropped beside him.

"Come on." Fontaine grabbed his arm and pulled until Finn slowly unfolded himself. "If you stay out here any longer, you'll be a pirate popsicle."

"N-no' a pir-ra'," Finn mumbled. "Ni'eo."

Fontaine raised an eyebrow. "You sound awful. Get up."

Finn shook his head. Fontaine wondered if she'd have to drag him, but doubted she would get far without Finn helping.

"Look, I'm a lot more stubborn than you." Fontaine crossed her arms. "We can wait here all day, or you can get inside and warm. I'll figure out something to tell my parents."

For a moment, Finn still didn't move. Fontaine was starting to worry that he really would stay outside, when Finn shifted forward.

Finn made it halfway standing before his shaking limbs gave out. Fontaine caught him and hauled him into a standing position. Finn got his legs under him, but he was still leaning too much on Fontaine to risk letting go.

"Alright, I'll help you. This one time," Fontaine said lightly.

Finn smiled slightly, but didn't respond. Fontaine guided Finn over the lip and toward the deck, wondering of how and why Finn had been determined to hitch a ride on the Aronnax. He wasn't serious about joining the Nektons.

Right?

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A/N: He is, Fontaine, get used to it. You're stuck with him. XD

Also, Finn was mumbling in a different language. He'll do this on occasion. It's marked by italics and will usually include a translation in the A/N, unless it's a partial word.