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The Tulpar was relatively quiet. A fact that seemed to always remain true after the crew had finished up their daily tasks and could call it a day. Swansea was working to find something to make in the kitchen area that didn’t suck. Of course that was an impossible task considering the type of supplies the Pony Express placed on their ships. With the increasing push for the ships to be manned by the machines it seemed the company didn’t care that the staff ate poorly.
“Goddamn it,” Swansea grumbled as he continued to stomp around looking for something to eat. The vibrant and colorful display of the sunset on the wall didn’t help get rid of his growing frustrations. Pony Express had designed that electronic display as an attempt to make the jobs less lonely and make them feel like they were on Earth. But it always had the opposite effect on the crew. Well that was except for Daisuke and Anya. Anya always seemed to enjoy the display of the starry night sky while Daisuke loved the sunset display. Swansea glanced over towards the electronic display and saw that it had caught Daisuke’s attention once more. The young intern lay on his back and stared at the display with a carefree smile on his face.
“Stupid kid,” Swansea grumbled and shook his head. A hint of a smile tugged on his lips but quickly disappeared when he realized that all of his food options were shit.
“Daisuke, I got the cards,”
Daisuke sat up and looked over to Anya who was holding a deck of cards in her hands.
“Sweet! I’ll meet you over at the usual spot!” Daisuke scampered up to his feet and jogged over while Anya continued her calm walk over to the spot where game nights happened.
“I thought game night wasn’t until tomorrow,” Curly strolled over and stopped by Anya. His usual pleasant expression painted his features.
“Yeah but Daisuke and I wanted to play tonight.” Anya stared down at the cards. “I wanna beat him at a game. Do you think I can do it?” Her eyes met the captain’s.
“Sure, I do. I believe in you.” Curly placed a hand on Anya’s shoulder and gave a supportive smile. Even though inside his mind was debating whether she really even stood a chance against Daisuke. He had a hell of a lot of good luck on his side. Nine times out of ten it seemed like he’d win game night. It was starting to make it hard to get a certain member of the crew to keep participating in those nights,
“Yeah, I’ve got this,” Anya gave a determined nod and a competitiveness ignited in her eyes. “Thanks, Curly,”
“No problem,” Curly watched as Anya sat down and started to shuffle the cards. Daisuke was starting to get pumped and both of their competitive sides were coming out.
“What’s today’s game?” Daisuke asked while Anya dealt out the cards.
“Go Fish,”
“Oh, I love that game! I used to beat my dad at it all the time when I was little,” Daisuke picked up the cards and started to search for any pairs he had. Anya was busy doing the same and once both were done the game began.
Anya stared at Daisuke then down at her cards. “Do you have any sevens?”
“Nope! Go fish!” Daisuke happily replied. “Do you have any fives?”
“Yes,” Anya handed over the card then looked back at her hand. “Got any threes?”
“Nope! Go fish! Got any twos?”
Anya silently handed over the card. So, it was a rocky start that didn’t mean that it would continue like this. She still had a chance to win!
All that confidence was slowly dying inside her as she looked at her overflowing hand of cards while Daisuke just had one left.
“Do you have any Queens?”
Anya sighed and let her face fall onto the table. “Yes.”
“Yay!” Daisuke casually yoinked the card from Anya’s hand. “I win! Wanna play another game?”
“Yes,” Anya’s reply was slightly muffled. “Speed.”
“Okay! I’ll shuffle this time!” Daisuke happily hummed a tune while he gathered the cards.
Swansea watched the scene in front of him and shook his head. “Those two never seem to get tired of playing games. Goddamn idiots,”
“They’re having fun,” Curly leaned against the counter by Swansea. “That’s not easy to find on these long jobs.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Swansea was quiet for a minute. “Hey you two, don’t forget to eat.”
Daisuke and Anya paused their game and glanced over.
“Oh yeah! I almost forgot!” Daisuke leapt up to his feet.
“I guess I did too,”
“Come on, Anya, let’s grab some food,”
“Okay,” Anya got up and followed after her coworker.
“But afterwards we’re finishing our game,”
Anya noticed the competitive smile. “Yeah, but I’m going to win this time.”