Chapter Text
=====> Be Vivian
You wake up bright and early in the morning. You are excited. You eel like somefin spectacular will happen today. You have no idea what it it is or what could possibly happen, but you can't help but walk around with a spring in your step and speak with excitement in your voice. Also, you are the first one awake. Maybe the second one. You're pretty sure that despite not being seen anywhere in the house at the current moment, your mom isn't in bed still either. She has this uncanny habit of being awake before you. You sometimes wonder if she even sleeps. You've woken up at almost four in the morning before and she was awake as well. She was cleaning the house and when you inquired about it, she said that she had been awake since three. There have been times where you wonder if she even sleeps.
The next to awake is Mina and she's less than amused with your antics. She's never been a morning person and it makes you curious about who your father is. Or was, as it might be the case. You've both asked your mom about him and she always refuses to tell you, no matter how many times you ask or how much either of you poke at the topic.
Mina's sleep habits are just one of many things that make you wonder. She isn't a morning person like you and your mom are. Mina prefers to sleep in a little rather than waking up at a “cod-awful hour in the morning.” She also loves to travel. She gets very restless if she stays in one place for too long. It's unlike you and your mom who prefer to stay in one place when possible. You don't mind traveling but its not something you want to have a career doing.
The next person you see today is your mom. By now, it's ten in the morning and you wonder where she has been. Your curiosity is sated when you see that she has a plate of pancakes in her hand. You see that she has been cooking. Or possibly it's Aunt Betty who has been cooking. Possibly Jane. You know she loves to do that stuff as well.
“OH! They look DELICIOUS!” you exclaim excitedly. You practically run to the cabinets to grab plates and forks to eat with. Mina is shooting you a death glare but you ignore it. “Are you going to be eating with us, mother?” you ask. She rarely does, claiming she has more important things to do instead, but it's worth a try at least.
She shakes her head and you frown. “I have things I have to do. I have to make sure all the classes are squared away and that none of the teachers suddenly decided to quit.” She walks off after muttering something about Jack Noir and how she needs to make a school wide ban on having him in the kitchen or near any kind of “stabby things”.
You shrug and turn back to Mina and the plate of pancakes. “These look DELICIOUS!” you squeal again, never able to contain your excitement.
“You already said that, princess,” Mina tells you with a roll of her eyes. She leans forward and stabs a few pancakes, putting them on her plate. She mumbles something and gets out of her chair, grabbing the butter and syrup that you forgot.
You did, however, remember your favorite! Cinnamon and sugar! You love it and can't seem to get enough of it. You butter your pancakes and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar onto your pancakes.
She returns to the table and raises her eyebrow at you. “Ew,” she deadpans. “You are so weird. Both you and Crofish.” She sticks her tongue out at you. “I can't even fathom how you guys can do that. Maybe with syrup, but that's just too dry.” She pours the syrup on her pancakes, making them more moist. “My fronds, I swear,” she mutters before taking a bite.
* * *
=====> Be Meenah
You wake up to the sound of feet running around the house. You groan and pull the covers back over your head but you can't go back to sleep. “Son of a beach, that gill,” you mutter, pushing the blankets off of you. “Kelp, looks like I'm not gettin' anymore sleep.” You swing your legs over the edge of the bed and sleepily walk down the hall and into the living room. “Quiet it down, guppy,” you mutter and flop down on the couch, grabbing a pillow. “What'cha doin' up so cod damn early, anyway?”
“I'm EXCITED!” Vivian exclaims. She is so much like Feferi, it almost physically pains you. You wish she would remember everything already, but you know that it isn't time yet.
You bring the throw pillow up to your face in an attempt to smother yourself, even though you know it won't work. You sigh and take it down. “How are you so excited at this cod-awful hour in the morning?” You glance up and see that it's only 8:30, so you are completely justified in calling it that.
“I don't know,” she replies with a shrug and a large grin. “I just am. I feel like something EXCITING is going to happen today!” She excitedly hops up on the counter and you wonder who your dad is for the umpteenth time in your life. You know Vivian is more like your mom, so you must be more like your dad, whoever he is.
You don't respond to Vivian, instead you zone out, wondering about so many things. Next thing you know, your mom is walking in the back door and you are zoning back into reality to see that almost two hours have gone by. Did you fall back asleep by accident and just wake back up? You don't know, but what you do know is that your stomach is craving food.
“OH! They look DELICIOUS!” Vivian exclaims excitedly. She practically runs to the cabinets to grab plates and forks to eat with.
You shoot her a death glare because all the clanking of plates and silverware is making your ears ring. You push yourself off the couch and shuffle to the table. You sit down as Vivian places a plate in front of you.
“Are you going to be eating with us, mother?” Vivian asks.
You don't know why she does. You already know the answer to that. She's naut. She's always too busy with her own stuff to spend any time with her kids. You're grateful that dinner is being held with Aunt Betty tonight. Naut only does she cook amazing food but you know that she will eat with all of you kids.
She declines just as you had expected and Vivian frowns. “I have things I have to do. I have to make sure all the classes are squared away and that none of the teachers suddenly decided to quit.” You watched her walk off, muttering something about Jack Noir and how she should make a school wide band, saying that he shouldn't be allowed near “stabby things”.
Vivian shrugs and turns back to you and the heaping plate of pancakes. “These look DELICIOUS!” she squeals again, her vast excitement always uncontainable.
“You already said that, princess,” you tell her boredly with a roll of your eyes. You stab a few pancakes and put them on your plate. “Things were forgotten,” you mumble to yourself. She forgot the butter and the syrup when she grabbed the plates and silverware. You push your chair away from the table and grab them from the counter. You return to the table and see that Vivian is putting cinnamon and sugar on her pancakes. You raise a questioning eyebrow at her. “Ew,” you deadpan. “You are so weird. Both you and Crofish.” You stick your tongue out at Vivian. “I can't even fathom how you guyes can do that. Maybe with syrup, but that's just too dry.” You pour syrup on your pancakes, making them moist and sweet. You cut a small piece and mutter, “My fronds, I swear,” and then you take a bite.
After breakfast, all you want to do is rest and relax. Vivian yells that she is going to the beach and you are perfectly fine letting her go alone. You are laying on the couch in the living room, almost asleep for the second time that day. That is until somemoby is at your door, knocking obnoxiously. You groan and slid off the couch, almost kissing the carpet in the process. You yank the door open and snarl at John but he remains unfazed as he practically skips into the house. “Yes?” you ask, eyebrows raised in question, eyes never leaving him for a second. “Did'ja want somethin', shrimp, or are you just here ta be annoyin'?”
“I'm meeting Vivian at the beach. I wanted to see if you wanted to come along, Mina.” He bounced on his toes.
“It's Meenah. Ya know that. Ya know who I am, shrimp. Also, when it's just us guppies, feel free to reefer to her as Feferi.” You place your fists on your hips. “I know ya not dumb. As an Heir a Breath, I know your mind is well awakened to what's goin' on.” He nods in confirmation. “Just keep an eye on her and your sista and you'll be golden. As for your offer, if I wanted a be out on the beach, I'd already be out there.”
“Pllleeeaasssse!!!” John begs completely nonplussed by anything that you had just told him.
“Why aren't ya scared a me? If anymoby else remembered like you do, they'd do any fin possible ta get awave from me.” You are vastly confused. “I mean, I did try ta stab ya when we first met.”
He laughs, nervously in your opinion. “Yeah, that was kind of a bad meeting. But you are aware that I don't see just my timeline right? When I freak out, I see every single possibility and outcome—past, present, and future—at once.”
“And yet, you're still not scared?” you ask, thinking that there has to be so much negativity surrounding you in every possible timeline.
“Nope!” he exclaims with a wink. “There are so many timelines that you do so much good as your past and present self.”
You hesitate, grasping what he is saying. “You mean, my Alternian and Beforian selves? As Meenah Peixes and as Her Imperial Condescension? How did I do any good as H-I-C?”
John looks into your eyes, nothing but seriousness on his face. You feel something churn in your stomach. You didn't think it was possible for him to be serious, but it is. “I see timelines where you feel guilty about condemning the Signless to death, where you release the Helmsman from his captivity.” He takes a step forward and you take a step back. You don't know why he is making you nervous, but he is. There is something startlingly familiar about the way he is behaving and you can't and won't put your finger on it. “There is one timeline where you and he are flushed and share a quadrant.” He drops the serious look now and the grin that is plastered on his face is shit-eating.
You can feel your face heating up. You and Mituna? No, that couldn't be right. You could never... You would never? Now you were confused and felt guilty for the way you behaved when Cronus told you that Mituna was having a fit. You suppose some things never changed. Never in the timeline that you remember could you ever see yourself being in any kind of shape to have Mituna in any of your quadrants. Then again, this wasn't about you and Mituna, this was about H-I-C and Psii...
“There are also some timelines where you never even killed the Signless, timelines where those kinds of thoughts never crossed your mind.” Your head shot up and your eyes instantly met his. “Not because of blood color, because in every timeline I see there is always castism, but because you happen to be the one who found him instead of the Dolorosa. I don't know why you happen to be in the forest, but you find him and rescue him and take him home with you.”
“I love the forest,” you say absentmindedly. “They were alwaves some of my favorite fins about the surface world. They were always beautiful and amazing and I do remember feeling jealous, that I just wanted them to myself, for the other sea-dwellers as well.”
“See?” he says with a smile. “You're not all bad.” He shoves you gently and you just laugh. He's no longer a guppy in your eyes. He's leveled up to beta status. “So, beach?”
* * *
=====> Be Vivian
After breakfast, its time for the beach. You run out of the house after changing quickly and call your cousins. You know John would love to meet you on the beach but you're pretty sure Jane is inside cooking with her mom, your Aunt Betty.
“This is the machine, but leave a message and we will get back to you. If you are Strider calling, please don't rap. You know I can't reply to that.”
You giggle at the message, obvious that John set it up. “Hey guys! I'm going out to the beach if you want to meet me there. Something spectacular is supposed to happen today, I can just feel it! Sea you guys there.”
You run the rest of the way to the beach, your towel in your hand and your pink goggles sitting in your hair. You twirl as you run, your arms outstretched. You love it here and you are so glad that you are back home, if only for a month. This place is spectacular and you can't imagine living elsewhere.
You lay your towel out on the beach and run into the water. You dive into the waves and resurface. You do some swimming and float around on your back for awhile, loving the feeling of riding the waves. After a bit, you decide to stand back and up and you smile, hearing John. You see him running across the street to meet you in the ocean. In the background you see Mina trudging along as well, carrying her towel over her shoulders. You smile and wave and hop up and down excitedly.
He races to meet you on the beach. He lays his towel out beside yours and steps into the water beside you. You two get into a splash fight for a bit, running around and ducking under the water. This is so much fun. There is only one thing that could make this so much better in your mind.
John gasps. “It's a ship!” he exclaims.
You whirl around—as best as you can since you are almost waist deep in water—and immediately recognize the ship. This is it! This is what you've been waiting for all day! This is why you've been so excited! “It's the Orphaner! Chester and Danny are here!” You hop up and down excitedly. “Oh, this is such great news!” You do your best to run out of the water. You need to tell Jane and Aunt Betty and your mom. Oh, they'll be so excited!
* * *
=====> Be John
You see your answering machine flashing to let you know that it has a message. You answer it since your mom and sister are off elsewhere. They are most likely in the industrial sized kitchen that is the entire basement of your house. You hit play on the answering machine and listen to the message.
“Hey guys! I'm going out to the beach if you want to meet me there. Something spectacular is supposed to happen today, I can just feel it! Sea you guys there.”
“Totally!” you shout. You rush to your room and get ready. You plaster sunscreen on yourself and grab a towel. You wrench open the basement door. “Mom, Jane, I'm going to the beach with Vivian. I'll see you later!” You run out the door after slipping flip-flops on and then you decide to see if Mina is still home or if she went out with Vivian. You peek in the window and then knock on the door obnoxiously.
After a moment, she yanks the door open and snarls at you. You don't let it faze you though. Instead, you skip into the house. “Yes?” she asks, eyebrows raised for emphasis. She eyes you to make sure you aren't up to something. You can tell that she is annoyed with your antics but you don't care. “Did'ja want somethin', shrimp, or are you just here ta be annoyin'?”
You lean forward on your toes. “I'm meeting Vivian at the beach. I wanted to see if you wanted to come along, Mina.” You bounce on your toes in excitement. Vivian's excitement was contagious.
She gives you a look that tells you that she can and will eat your bones clean if you so much as cross her the wrong way. “It's Meenah. Ya know that. Ya know who I am, shrimp.” Her expression softens. “Also, when it's just us guppies, feel free to reefer to her as Feferi.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I know ya not dumb. As an Heir a Breath, I know your mind is well awakened to what's goin' on.” You nod. “Just keep an eye on her and your sista and you'll be golden. As for your offer, if I wanted to be out on the beach, I'd already be out there.”
“Pllleeeaasssse!!!” you beg. You are completely unfazed by anything that she's told you. You even remain unfazed by all the looks that she's given you.
“Why aren't ya scared a me?” she asks you. It's a perfectly legitimate question and you can tell that she is exstreamly confused. “If anymoby else remembered like you do, they'd do anyfin possible ta get awave from me. I mean, I did try ta stab ya when we first met.”
You nod. Yep, you remember that. She had been trying to kill Roxy's dreamself and you saved her, getting yourself killed in the process. You laugh, remembering that. “Yeah, that was kind of a bad meeting. But you are aware that I don't see just my timeline right? When I freak out, I see every single possibility and outcome—past, present, and future—at once.”
“And yet, you're still not scared?” You know that she is asking about all of her timelines, her past self and her future self.
“Nope!” you exclaim with a wink. “There are so many timelines that you do so much good as your past and present self.”
She hesitates, grasping what you are saying. “You mean, my Alternian and Beforian selves? As Meenah Peixes and as Her Imperial Condescension?” She casts her eyes downward. “How did I do any good as H-I-C?”
You look into her eyes in complete seriousness. “I see timelines where you feel guilty about condemning the Signless to death, where you release the Helmsman from his captivity.” You take a step forward and she takes a step back. You can tell that you are making her nervous, but you have no idea why. “There is one timeline where you and he are flushed and share a quadrant.” You are grinning now and you see her flush bright red. “There are also some timelines where you never even killed the Signless, timelines where those kinds of thoughts never crossed your mind.” Her head shot up and her eyes met yours in an instant. “Not because of blood color, because in every timeline I see there is always castism, but because you happen to be the one who found him instead of the Dolorosa. I don't know why you happen to be in the forest, but you find him and rescue him and take him home with you.”
“I love the forest,” she tells you. Her eyes are shining. You wonder if anything you just told her hit home. “They were alwaves some of my favorite fins about the surface world. They were always beautiful and amazing and I do remember feeling jealous, that I just wanted them to myself, for the other sea-dwellers as well.”
You smile widely. “See? You're not all bad.” You shove her gently and she just laughs, her smile genuine, reaching her eyes. “So, beach?” you ask her.
She nods and leaves the room to get ready, leaving you alone with your thoughts. For some reason, you feel oddly drawn to her. Once she comes back you stand back up and look away. She looks amazing in her swim top and swimming trunks. You wonder shortly if she stole those from Chester but you didn't really care either way. They fit her tomboy aesthetic.
You race out the door with Mina behind you. You think she may be lost in thought and so you just let her be. You cross the street and wave at Vivian who is already in the water. You race there and lay out your towel. Mina isn't far behind you. She lays her towel out beside yours and lays down, closing her eyes and soaking up the rays of golden sunlight.
You're so spectacularly excited to be out of that god-awful room at Skaia and out into some sunlight and refreshingly fresh sea air. You honestly don't remember the last time you were on a beach. ...Honestly, you don't remember the last time you were out of that room other than a few minutes to get out and stretch your legs on visitation days. Even then it didn't happen all the time.
When you are around large crowds of people, such as visitation day, your senses go on over-drive and you begin to see things that aren't actually there. You start freaking out because you see what you think is multi-colored blood but when you tell the nurses that, they put you in a straight jacket and give you a tranq.
You'll wake up later with Jade shushing you. Most of the time Carter is with her too, along with some of the sprites, namely Davesprite. They are the only ones who can properly calm you when you go into one of your fits. You prefer the two of them to Doc Scratch, Nurse Betty, and Head Nurse Connie. Doc Scratch gives you chills. You know there is something not right about him and its vaguely familiar in a way and it scares the crap out of you.
Something is off with Nurse Betty too. You know it. You can feel it, despite her being your adopted mom. Head Nurse Connie is her sister. Not by blood though. Betty was adopted and lived on Barbados for some time too before going back to the States to find her blood family. She didn't get very far by the way she describes it. According to what she found out, her mom died in child birth and her father died shortly after putting her up for adoption.
As for what happened after that, you're not really sure. All you know is that she ended up adopting you and Jane, and then sometime after that Aunt Connie had the brilliant idea for Skaia. Or something like that. Again, you're not really sure how that worked out either.
Oh well. As it is, you are standing in the ocean with the sun's rays pouring down on you as you have a splash war with Vivian. The outside air is hot and the tropical air is refreshing. The coolness of the water makes the outside temperature tolerable. You don't remember having this much fun in years. As you continue splashing Vivian, something catches your eye. “It's a ship!” you gasp out. You've never seen one like it and you can't tell if its some kind of fancy yacht or just an extremely posh house-boat of sorts.
“It's the Orphaner!” Vivian squeals, immediately recognizing it. You have no idea what that means but you continue to look on at the ship in awe. “Chester and Danny are here!” She hops up and down excitedly. “Oh, this is such great news!” She runs off, probably to tell Jane, Aunt Connie, and your mom. For some reason you can't help but worry slightly about this chain of events, but you're excited nonetheless.
* * *
=====> Be Meenah
After getting ready and following John out to the beach, you laid your towel out on the beach and laid down, catching some spectacular rays. You ignore when you hear John gasp. He probably did something juvenile and childish like catch a small silver fish. That or Vivian just stuck one down his shirt. (Yeah, he still has a shirt on, but this one is too large for him, perfect for swimming in.) You don't judge. Personally, you did that until you were eleven or twelve.
“It's a ship!” John shouts excitedly.
Your eyes fly open at that. You don't fly into a sitting position, but you are definitely more alert now.
“It's the Orphaner!” Vivian squeels in excitement. You roll your eyes. At least you know why she's been more spastic than usual this morning. “Chester and Danny are here! Oh, this is such great news!”
You hear her run off. She is no doubt running off to tell the adults. Not that you aren't an adult yourself, but you aren't one of the ones who are trying to take over and destroy the world. Still, you sit up, curious as to what they're doing here. You shake your head and lay back down. They're practically family. It's not as if it matters.
You're more worried about how the other adults will react, your mom in specific.
* * *
=====> Be Gamzee
You're sitting on the deck of the Orphaner with Jade and Jake. Jade is behind you combing out your hair and braiding it. It's relaxing and you love it. Jake is sitting next to you, sipping his highly caffeinated flavored water. The beach is finally in your view.
You missed the beach. It reminds you of Seagoat Dad and being back home on Alternia. The water is clear and all you want to do is swim and gather stones and shells and create pretty things to bring back to your friends. Maybe you can get some help and bring something pretty back for Karkat. Or Carter as he's called here.
This world is so strange to you. You keep hearing that voice to kill the trolls but it's not as strong as it has been. The meds help and since Gavin has been giving them to you, they have helped immensely.
You miss your friends, Karkat in particular. You think you should give him a call. “I'm gonna call Karkat. You guys okay with talking to our little shouty best bro?” you ask.
“Sure!!” Jade replies excitedly. “I'm curious to know how his summer is going.”
“O' course, mate,” Jake agrees.
You remove your cell phone from your pocket and see that you have a signal again. “Honk!” you bleat happily. You scroll through your contacts and hit the phone icon.
“Hey Gavin,” he greets when he answers the phone.
“Hey Karbro,” you answer with a smile.
“What's up, Gamz?” You can hear the smile in his voice. “Kankri told me that Danny and Chester are going out on a ship or something?”
“Yeah, bro!” you exclaim in excitement. “It's bitch-tits out here! They're dad took us all out on a ship and you won't motherfuckin' believe where we're motherfuckin' goin'!”
“Where are you going, Gamzee?”
“We're goin' to the motherfuckin' beach, bro!” You hold the phone out toward the beach. “Listen to that music, Karbro!” you shout, hoping he can hear the waves and the 'gulls and the rest of it.
“Hi Karkat!” Jade shouts with a giggle.
“How's it going, mate?” Jake asks.
Eridan and Cronus round the corner, Cronus hanging on Eridan and Eridan trying to shove him off. “No! Ugh, get off me, you bafoon! Get OFF! I do not havve any possible colorful feelin's for the English earth-dweller!”
“Eridan and Jake, sitting in a tree, H-A-T-T-I-N-G!”
“Hattin'? Wwhat the hell is hattin'?” Eridan asks, extremely confused and still very ticked off at his brother. “That just goes to showw wwhat kind of bafoon you actually are. Hattin' ain't evven a thin'. Hate kissin' and hate snoggin', sure. But wwhat the hell is hattin'?”
“Hattin'?” he echos. “I meant hatin',” he replies with a wide shark-like grin.
You laugh and bring the phone back. “As you can tell, everyone is doing fine. I just wanted to call you to say hi and that I missed ya, Karbro.”
“I miss you too, Gamz. I'll see you when you get back.”
* * *
=====> Be Eridan
You are lounging on your bed, engrossed in a book, when your door opens. “Go awway,” you mutter, not even glancing up from your book to see who it is at your door. You don't really care. If you know anything about the others on this ship, you know they're up to no good. “If you're here to tease me, I suggest you leavve.” You quickly glance up to make sure it wasn't Kharl or Gavin. “Oh, it's you.” You bury yourself back in your book, ignoring your brother even as he takes two steps toward you. He takes a third step and you glare at him. “Did I stutter?” you ask.
“No,” he says with a wide grin that makes you think he's up to something. “I just thought you may wvant to look out the wvindowv.”
You set your book aside and raise an eyebrow at him. It's obvious that you're not getting any more reading done while he's around. “Wwhy?” You're suspicious and not without reason. Your brother has teased you about stupid things in the past and you wouldn't put it past him to tease you about Jake.
“Just do it,” he urges you lightly. “I swvear this isn't a joke.” You glare at him again. “Nor am I baiting you into anything.”
“You'd better not be,” you growl, your eyes narrowing in suspicion. You get off your bed and look out the small window that looks out over the ocean. You see a beach a ways off and some kids playing on it. “Wwhere are wwe?” you ask.
“Barbados,” he tells you with a wide grin. “Da says he has a surprise for us.”
You turn around and face your brother. “Wwhat kind a surprise?” You're curious because you know who lives here. Albeit, you haven't been on the island for a while, but it's not like you don't already see them at Skaia. “Vvivv and Min can't be the surprise because we've already seen them recently. I mean, that wouldn't make sense.”
Chester shrugs and laughs. You can feel that this is going to eat at you because your father isn't a simple man, not in any means. “He probably just wants the island to be the surprise, like hanging out with Mi and Vi. I mean, it's literally been years since we've been here.”
You shrug and nod. This is true. “But you don't think the island is the surprise, do you?”
Chester shrugs and starts to walk out. “Come on,” he says, gesturing fro you to follow him. “I think Da wants to tell us something before we dock.”
You shrug and follow him out. That sounds like your dad. You shut off the light on your way out and follow Chester.
“So,” he starts, a shit-eating grin on his face. You already regret this. “You and English, huh?”
You groan and walk faster. You are not dealing with him.
To your intense displeasure, he matches you step for step. “You hate him, right?” His grin gets wider and you just want to deck him. You walk faster to no avail. “Is it romantic?” He waggles his eyebrows at you.
“No!” You stop dead. “Wwould you knock it off? Wwhat are you, fivve?”
He chuckles. “I see, there is something there.”
You throw your hands up. “You're insufferable.” You pick up your pace and ignore him. You turn a corner and see Gavin on the phone and Jade is next to him, combing through his hair.
“We're goin' to the motherfuckin' beach, bro! Listen to that music!” Gavin holds out the phone and you realize that it's Gamzee, not Gavin.
“Hi Karkat!” Jade says loudly into the phone.
Cronus hangs on you and it takes all of the self-control you have not to shove him off the side of the house boat and tell him to swim to shore. “Awv, but you lowve me.”
“No! Ugh, get off me, you bafoon! Get OFF!” You shove him off you and stumble backward a bit ungracefully before wiping yourself off. “I do not havve any possible colorful feelin's for the English earth-dweller!”
“Eridan and Jake, sitting in a tree, H-A-T-T-I-N-G,” he sing-songs.
You fix your older brother with an incredulous look. “Hattin'? Wwhat the hell is that? That just goes to showw wwhat kind of bafoon you actually are. Hattin' ain't evven a thing. Hate kissin' and hate snoggin', sure. But wwhat the hell is hattin'?”
“Hattin'?” he echos. “I meant hatin',” he replies with a wide shark-like grin.
You shake your head and roll your eyes at your idiotic blood relative. Right now you want to shove him off deck. You know you can't right now but that option might become possible once you get closer to shore.
* * *
=====> Be Karkat
You are LARPing with Nichole, Theresa, and a few other friends of yours in your huge backyard when your phone starts blasting ICP. “Can someone kill me?” you call out. “Gavin's calling. I don't want to hold up the game,” you explain. At least, you think it's Gavin. It's more likely to be Gamzee. You are curious as to how he's doing. You heard a little bit from Kankri that Danny and Chester are on a boat?
You grab your phone off of the picnic table that is sitting in the shade and answer the call, stopping the loud blast of ICP. “Hey, Gavin.”
“Hey Karbro,” he replies and you smile
“What's up, Gamz?” you ask with a smile. You know the others aren't paying attention. They're involved in the LARP. “Kankri told me that Danny and Chester are going out on a ship or something?”
“Yeah, bro!” You can hear the excitement in his voice. “It's bitch-tits out here! They're dad took us all out on a ship and you won't motherfuckin' believe where we're motherfuckin' goin'!”
“Where are you going, Gamzee?” you ask him.
“We're going to the motherfuckin' beach, bro!” You can hear the waves lapping against the side of the ship. “Listen to the miraculous music, Karbro!” You hear seagulls in the distance as well.
“Hi Karkat!” a familiar voice shouts and giggles.
Jade?
“How's it going, mate?” another familiar voice asks.
“No! Ugh, get off me, you bafoon! Get OFF!”
Eridan. There really isn't any mistaking that haughty, demanding tone.
“I do not have any possible colorful feelin's for the English earth-dweller.”
“Eridan and Jake, sitting in a tree, H-A-T-T-I-N-G!”
“Hatting?” you ask to nobody in particular.
“Hattin'? Wwhat the hell is hattin'?” Eridan asks, extremely confused and echoing your own thoughts. “That just goes to showw wwhat kind of bafoon you actually are. Hattin' ain't evven a thin'. Hate kissin' and hate snoggin', sure. But wwhat the hell is hattin'?”
“Hattin'?” Chester laughs. “I meant hatin',” he replies with a laugh.
Gamzee chortles, coming back on the line. “As you can tell, everyone is doing fine. I just wanted to call you to say hi and I miss ya, Karbro.”
“I miss you too, Gamz. I'll see you when you get back.”
* * *
=====> Be Vivian
You run into the vacation house that your mom bought your aunt and your cousins. You quickly run down the stairs into the gigantic kitchen that is their basement. “Guess what!” you exclaim as you fly down the steps.
Jane pulls a sheet cake out of the oven and turns to you. “What?” she asks and then takes her own guess. “Please tell me that John didn't adopt another stray. He's almost as bad as Roxy.”
You laugh. “At least they're not cats.” John's strays are lizards, usually by the name of Casey. You can't imagine what it would look like if all of his strays were cats.
“Oh, he did, didn't he?” she asks frantically.
You giggle again. “No, nothing like that. We have visitors.”
Her face lights up and she visibly relaxes. “Really? Who?” she asks you excitedly.
At that moment, John burst through the door. “Jane, you have to come to come to the beach! We have visitors!”
“Who?” Jane asks again.
“You'll see!” he tells her. He grabs her hand and begins to race up the stairs then stops. “You don't have anything in the oven, do you?” you hear him ask from the top of the stairs.
“You're timing couldn't have been better. I actually just pulled the last cake out of the oven to cool,” you hear Jane tell John.
You giggle again. You can't help it. You're just so excited! You quickly check the ovens to make sure they're all off before following after Jane and a John who is cackling very loudly. You hear the basement door open and then close with a push of air.
* * *
=====> Be Jane
You are in your happy place, the industrialized kitchen that is literally your basement. You have many orders to fill, so this will be what your day consists of—But first, pancakes. You need breakfast and so does everyone else so you make a half ton of pancakes, using all the griddles simultaneously.
Maybe a half ton is an exaggeration but as you stare at the gigantic pile of pancakes, you wonder if maybe you over did it just a bit.
“This is perfect, honey,” your mom says, walking to stand next to you. She surveys you with a smile. “These will be sold out in no time. The island missed out cooking.” She kisses the top of your head and starts shoveling the into a few large plastic containers. She set those aside and made a plate piled high with pancakes as well. “For your brother, Connie, and the girls,” she explains. “You should have some too, hon,” she says, laying her hand between your shoulder blades. “Take a small break.”
You look up at her with a smile. “I was planning on it, Mom.” You turn around and give her a big hug, which she returns. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, honey.”
You hold on a little longer and pull away, grabbing some pancakes for yourself. You grab some for John too and then head upstairs. You set the plate down on the counter and grab another, some silverware, the butter, and the syrup.
“Hey sis!” John greets. His face lights up brightly when he spies the surprise you brought up. “Ooh, pancakes!”
You grin and nod toward the sliding glass backdoor. I was gonna eat outside. Wanna join?” you offer.
“Of course!” he exclaims happily.
You two chatter while you eat but as soon as you're done finished, you go back to the kitchen to fill orders, leaving John outside.
You and your mom run a bakery on the island. It's a great hit with the locals. They're so excited that you two are back and the bakery is open again. They're so excited that you two are back and the bakery is open again, even if it is only for a little while. They're trying to get their fill of the bakery while you're back on the island.
“Mom, Jane, I'm going to the beach with Vivian!” you hear John call down from the stairs.
You smile. You sometimes wish you could be around others too, but you think it's better this way, for many reasons. Besides, you like this. Baking has always been a passion of yours and you immerse yourself in it.
You hear the basement door open and you wonder who it is. You glance at the clock but it reads 2:30. You frown a bit. If it's your mom, she's early.
“Guess what?” Vivian races down the stairs excitedly.
You pull your last cake of the day—a special-order red velvet sheet cake soon to be topped with strawberry cream cheese icing—out of the oven. You place it up top to cool and turn to her. “What?” you start curiously. “Oh, no,” you add, slightly fearful. “Please tell me John didn't adopt another stray? He's almost as bad as Roxy.”
She laughs. “At least they're not cats.”
Roxy had a bad habit of adopting every stray she saw. Being her dorm-mate the year before was hard because Roxy and her adorable strays were hard to say no to. Thankfully, John wasn't as bad but his lizard collection was already growing and they hadn't even been on the island for a whole week. “Oh, he did, didn't he?” you ask, not sure what to do with your hands, so you find yourself rubbing them against your apron.
The look of complete horror must have been pretty defined because Vivian giggles quite loudly. “No, nothing like that.” She smiles. “We have visitors.”
You feel the panic drain from you, replaced with excitement. “Really?” you ask. “Who?” You really wanted to know.
At that moment the basement door slammed open and John flew down the stairs. “Jane!” He tripped around the corner and fell against the wall. “You have to come to the beach. We have visitors,” he says, as if it's rare to get tourists in Barbados.
“Who?” you ask again.
“You'll see!” John exclaims, excitedly grabbing your hand and beginning to drag you up the stairs. It's really rare to get straight answers out of these two. It's almost like they conspire together. He stops and looks down at you. “You don't have anything in the oven, do you?”
“You're timing couldn't have been better,” you start and before you can actually finish your thoughts, you're dragged up the stairs and into your personal kitchen. That just means your mom is going to have to do some baking herself if she gets more orders for the day. In fact, you almost run into her at the top of the stairs.
“Hi Mom! Bye Mom! I'm kidnapping Jane for a bit. We have visitors!”
Your mom smiles. “I know. I was just headed down to relieve Jane and let her know. We have a few more orders that I'll handle myself.”
“Sweet!” exclaims John, but you feel a bit guilty.
“Are you sure, mom? I know this is a joint effort.”
“I'm sure,” she replies with a nod and reassuring smile. “You forget, I've been doing this kind of thing for more years than you've been alive. I'll be fine.” She makes a shooing gesture with her hands but you're still not convinced.
“Sure your sure?” you ask.
She just grins and shakes her head. “I wouldn't complain if you wanted to help with dinner though.”
“All right!” you agree with a smile and nod. “Sounds good!”
“Now shoo!” she laughs and all three of you run off giggling.