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The sound of a mandolin accompanied by a soothing voice roused Bee from their slumber. Rubbing their eyes, they sat up from where they laid on the floor. Sunlight poured in through the little window towards the top of the door. A window only someone like Zyv could see through. They rose to their feet, grabbing their shawl and wrapping it around their shoulders. The door creaked open and they poked their head out to find Corduroy standing on the deck. Cav1ty busied himself with the preparation of the day's breakfast. On the other side of the ship, Zyv still laid curled up with Kurt and Rivers in two of its arms. Corduroy looked up from his mandolin as he finished the song. He smiled at Bee.
"Good morning," he said.
"Hello... My, I must have gotten up early for once," Bee said. Corduroy laughed.
"I think you're one of the only ones. Right now, it's just you, me, and Cav1ty." Cav1ty nodded at Bee as they came out of the cabin.
"No, it's not!" Nicky shambled around the cabin with Onyx behind him. He looked far more awake than the groggy tiefling behind him. Onyx covered his mouth as he yawned.
"Yo," he mumbled. "What's the bot cookin'?"
"He has a name, Onyx. Be nice," Bee said. "Good morning to both of you."
"Oh, hey, Bee! You're up early. Hell yeah, that means you can help be the judge in case SOMEONE tries to cheat at war again," Nicky said, turning to glare at Onyx. Onyx held his hands up.
"I do not CHEAT. This is slander. I can't believe you hate me," he said. Bee laughed. "I'm getting food first. I can't play on an empty stomach." Without another word, he went over to Cav1ty to see what he was cooking up. Nicky went over to an empty part of the deck to look out at the acid. Bee walked up beside him, looking around at everyone on the way. Nicky turned to look at them.
"You okay, Bee, buddy?" he asked.
"Oh, fine, fine. Just... surprised at how calm it is out here for once," they said. "It's nice to have the sun back in some capacity."
"Right? It feels like we're actually somewhere that's not trying to kill us for once." Bee chuckled, nodding.
"Yeah, just wait until Zyv wakes up," Onyx said. Bee and Nicky rolled their eyes. Cav1ty gave him some of the food he was cooking and Onyx eagerly took a fork from him. He sat down a few feet away to properly tuck into the meal. Nicky rested his chin on his hand which, in turn, rested on the edge of the boat. A pair of hands grabbed Bee's shoulders.
"WHAT ARE YA DOIN'?" Zyv shouted. Bee jumped, bringing their hands up defensively. Zyv laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I had to! It was too perfect not to!" Nicky giggled as Zyv held their stomach with laughter. Bee huffed, rolling out their shoulders.
"Hey, come on, now. That wasn't nice," Corduroy gently chastised. Bee could hear the smile in his voice. Rivers hugged Bee's leg and they looked down at him.
"Good morning, Uncle Bee! Did you sleep good?" he asked. Bee smiled as they reached down to pat the tiny knight's head.
"Hello, Rivers. I slept quite well for once. What about you? Did you and Kurt sleep well with Mama?"
"Yeah!" Kurt gobbled at Bee, tilting his head. Zyv opened all four arms to give Bee a proper hug. They walked into its arms, hugging it back. The boat dipped and bounced on a wave, prompting both of them to hold onto each other tighter.
"There's no WAY you got up before me," Zyv said. "You always sleep in."
"Corduroy must've woken you up with that beautiful song," Nicky said. Corduroy held their mandolin close to their chest, smiling bashfully. Onyx scooted a few more feet away from everyone.
"Hehe, they must have. The siren's song lured me out to the rocks and now look at me. I've been captured," Bee said. Zyv squeezed them tighter before it let go.
"I didn't get to hear any music," they said with a pout. "C'mon, play us another one. Pleeaaase?"
"Pleeeeeaaassseeee, Corduroy?" Nicky said. Corduroy laughed.
"Okay, okay. Any requests?" he said.
"Play something emo for Nicky," Onyx teased.
"YOU play something emo for Nicky," Zyv said.
"Bitch, I got a card game to get to in a second! I can't play music while I'm playing cards!"
"Not with that attitude!" Bee laughed, shaking their head. A gentle hand tapped their shoulder.
"Bee? Are you hungry?" Cav1ty asked, offering Bee some breakfast.
"Hm? Oh, um... I don't really... eat. Not that I'd be able to taste what you made even if I could. Um... But thank you, though," Bee said, looking down at the food Cav1ty had made. It did look quite good. They couldn't remember what their favorite foods had been before their resurrection but they still knew what good food looked like. Cav1ty nodded. Zyv snatched the plate from him instead.
"I can. Hehehehe," Zyv said. They gave Cav1ty and Bee a mischievous smile and started to eat. Bee sat down on the deck, back against the edge of the boat. Nicky sat down beside them. They let their head fall back against the wood of the boat with a 'thud' and looked up at the sun. They smiled fondly at it.
"What's up?" Nicky asked.
"Nothing. I just... can't remember the last time I felt this good. The last time we ALL felt this good," Bee replied. Nicky smiled. He scooted closer to Bee and both of them closed their eyes as Corduroy and Onyx began to sing. It wasn't a song that Bee knew but it was beautiful nonetheless. Because it came from their friends.
"Hey, Nicky." Bee and Nicky looked up at Onyx standing over both of them. In his hand was a set of playing cards. "Since you guys aren't gonna eat, you wanna play? Bee, we could teach you how."
"Oh, yeah! Bee, you'd love war," Nicky said.
"I... am not the biggest fan of that name, I won't lie," Bee said. Nicky and Onyx laughed. Onyx sat down across from both of them and began dealing out cards. "How am I to make sure you don't cheat if I don't even know this game?"
"You'll pick it up quickly. So, basically, everyone places a card down. The person with the highest number gets all the cards. If two people put down the same high number, then they go to war. We'll go over that when we get to it," Nicky explained.
"That sounds like it's going to take a while."
"Oh, it does. Nicky and I could play for HOURS. I mean, y'know, until one of us gets bored. Then we'll usually move onto something like... slapjack. Or BS," Onyx said. "Heh, I think you'd get a kick out of BS."
"Oh, my, there are... a lot of card games out there. Forgive me, I'm not familiar with many of them."
"That's why we're here to teach you!" Nicky said. "Okay, gather your cards but don't look at them yet." Zyv peeked over Onyx's shoulder as they continued to eat their food. Onyx looked back at it.
"Do ya mind?" he asked.
"Nah, not at all. Proceed," Zyv said. Onyx rolled his eyes. Bee giggled, moving around in order to sit cross-legged. They looked over at Corduroy still singing. His eyes were closed and there was such little gold on his horns, Bee almost completely forgot about the little specks on their very tips. They looked at Cav1ty now cleaning up the implements he had been using. Their vision shifted to Onyx preparing to put a card down, his head swaying with the music Corduroy played. Behind him, Zyv continued to watch. Though their annoyance with Onyx was still plastered across their face, Bee could see the beginnings of a genuine smile. Finally, their eyes fell on Nicky. He still had a smile on his face, eager to show his friend how to play this game. Bee couldn't contain the grin that spread across their face. Their cheeks were starting to ache from how much they were smiling on this wonderful morning. A sunbeam hit their body and they closed their eyes like a happy cat on a stairwell.
Their smile faded with the warmth of the sun. In the span of a few seconds, the music stopped, the warmth faded, and the good feelings were gone.
Bee opened their eyes to find themself not on the deck with their friends, smiling and singing in the sun, but curled up on the floor of the cabin. The only light in the room came from the full moon outside. Bee sat up, looking around. Their lip quivered and they tossed their head back down onto their folded arms, hiding their tears from an audience that was not watching.
Of course. Of course it wasn't real. Why would it have been? Things had been so awful lately. Why would everything suddenly turn around for a great day? They didn't deserve a great day.
The bad guys never deserved their good days.