Interning on the Aronnax

Playing at Normalcy

Despite the excitement of the previous day, Fontaine slept soundly through the night and woke early. She stared at the ceiling of her room for a while, expecting to fall back asleep, but she was wide awake.

Fontaine sighed and stretched, then experimentally sat up. Nothing ached and her head was clear, solidifying her theory about the illness just being the curse acting up.

Fontaine paused. "Guess I can't ignore the curse thing anymore..."

She shrugged and stood. She changed into her wetsuit, then called Finn's tablet. It opened automatically, showing an angled view of Finn still sleeping on the cot.

"He must have left his tablet on," Fontaine mused. "Hey, Finn, are you sleeping in today?"

When he didn't respond, Fontaine bit her lip. She squinted at the screen, remembering how Finn had passed out after the squid incident, but Finn sounded fine and he looked completely relaxed.

Fontaine closed the connection. Finn had had to move around more than Fontaine, who hadn't been allowed to take a single step, so maybe Finn just needed some extra sleep. Which made sense, but Fontaine had to worry a bit.

Fontaine shook her head and told herself she was overthinking it. She left her room and headed for the bridge. Kaiko would definitely be awake by now. And Will had noticed a message from an old friend of his; something about a creature he'd spotted. Her family was sure to investigate, and surely it wouldn't hurt if she joined them?

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"No."

Fontaine blinked. "But, if I-"

"No, Fontaine," Will said sternly. "You aren't leaving the Aronnax so soon."

"Da-ad," Fontaine complained. "I thought you guys were done worrying over the curse taking me away or whatever."

Kaiko, sitting at her console, turned the chair. "That was before we knew your dying was a possibility."

"Mum, if I stay on the Aronnax for a second longer, I'm going to die of boredom!"

Fontaine's dramatic statement brought a smile to Will's face. Kaiko glanced at Will, mouth twitching, then turned back to her console.

Fontaine considered their response a win. Both of them had been so frantic over Nereus' story the previous day, Fontaine had had a hard time hiding her nervousness. She spent half the day reminding herself that Finn was on board and safe, and that nobody was taking him away. Nothing -not even the curse- could hurt them as long as she and Finn remained calm.

Now, after a good night's sleep, Fontaine was more than ready to get outside. She just had to convince her parents...

"Less than twenty-four hours ago, you were throwing up so much, you fainted," Kaiko said, sobering. "Even without the curse, you shouldn't exert yourself so much."

"I feel fine, though!" It was really hard to not whine, but Fontaine was getting bored. "What if I was in the Rover with you? All I'd be doing is sitting."

Kaiko hesitated. Fontaine knew she had logic on her side, but if Kaiko thought going outside in even the Rover would be too much, Fontaine wouldn't be going anywhere.

"I really don't see the harm," Nereus said. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Uh, we try to not say that on the Aronnax," Ant piped up. "Not after last time."

"What happened last time?" Nereus asked.

"We almost got eaten by giant squid," Ant said.

Nereus blinked at Ant. "You don't say."