high_seas | What happens in Deesuko Ballia...

[So she woke up with her back aching. A moment later, that was because she realized that she was sleeping supine with the knot of her kimono digging into her spine. Another second later, she realized she was sleeping on the floor of . . . the captain's cabin?]

[And then, it took a whole minute of muddling through her first hangover that she realized she had fallen asleep beside Motochika, whose feet were beside her head.]

What is going on here???

[Her voice was scratchy, and she coughed, rubbing at her throat.]

[The best Motochika could manage in response was a miserable groan. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd woken up with a hangover at all, let alone one this bad. He tried to sit up, but the pounding in his head suggested that maybe that was a very bad idea. Instead, he rolled over on his side, trying to escape the sound of Kodachi's voice. Too loud. Any sound at all was too loud.

How did he even get himself into this state? His capacity for alcohol was usually ridiculously high, so to drink so much that he'd be this miserable, something must have happened. Sadly, he can't really remember much of the previous night and thinking too hard made his head hurt even more.]

[Kodachi reached over and grabbed his booted leg, giving it a shake. Or well, as much as she could, anyway, without adding to her awful headache. She could only remember bits of the previous evening - her first drinks, some more drinks, and . . . the rest of the world was hazy at that point.]

Motochika-sannnnnn . . .

Why does my head hurt like this . . .

Alcohol...

[It came out more like "llllkul," but that was about as intelligible as he was capable of. He tried opening his eye, which seemed to take more effort than usual. The room wasn't all that bright, thank goodness, but the small amount of light that was making its way in felt like too much. He rolled onto his back, trying to get away from it, which meant getting closer to Kodachi's voice. It was like there was no escape.]

's...a hangover. Happens.

[Not to him usually, but it happens.]

Ugh.

[That was probably the most undignified thing that had ever escaped Kodachi's lips, and she rolled onto her side so that her back wasn't bent at such an unusual angle. She was now face to face with Motochika's boots. Why.]

[But too much energy was required to turn herself upside down.]

[She dug into her sleeves to try to find her ribbon - perhaps she could use it to pull herself up - when she found a piece of paper.]

[She pulled it out with bemusement, unfolding it to find . . . a marriage certificate.]

What's this?

Nn? What's what?

[He risked trying to get his eye open again to try to squint at whatever it was that Kodachi was holding. It didn't do him a great deal of good.]

A piece of paper?

[Not the most intelligent answer, but it was at least an accurate one. That was about all you could expect from him at the moment.]

[She, too, squinted at the official-looking document. That helped a little bit, and she brought it closer to her face.]

Marriage . . . certificate . . .

[Kodachi looked at it a little bit more before it dawned on her that that was her signature and name, and . . . the good captain's.]

MOTOCHIKA-SAN!

[It was a shriek, but it came out hoarse and cracked, and she winced at the voulme of her own voice.]

Don't yeeeellll...

[Motochika clamped his hands over his ears and groaned. That was too loud for anyone to have to deal with. He struggled to sit up and get close enough to see the paper himself, but it was slow going.]

What was that you said? Marriage?

[Kodachi herself struggled to push herself up so that she was sitting down, but that caused a major headache, so she just settled for flopping herself against his knees.]

We're married? When? How?

[And she thrust the paper blindly in his direction, too overcome with vertigo to do anything else.]

[First hangovers were hard, man.]

[Motochika grabbed at the paper and squinted at it, trying to make sense of the squiggles that certainly must be words, but damned if he could make any of them out. Well, his name was there, as was Kodachi's. Possibly "marriage" as well.]

Last night...?

[It was too much thinking. Even his brain was hurting.]

I suppose we went somewhere and...er...signed a paper...?

[Someday, this would be an interesting story - that Kodachi's first foray into liquor ended up with marriage and a . . . ring on her finger. A very lovely rose ring, one might add. Kodachi stared at it, agog. It was beautiful . . . ]

[But wait. WAIT. She was married? MARRIED?]

[She wasn't certain whether she wanted to be happy or appalled or angry or horrified or all of the above.]

[So for the first time in her life, Kodachi was speechless, and she goggled at her new husband with her mouth open.]

[Motochika stared at the paper for a bit longer, hoping that maybe everything would clear itself up if he could get his brain to catch up, but it remained a mystery. He set it aside and looked back over at Kodachi instead.]

I suppose that's that.

[There must be something else he could scrape up out of the depths of his memory...]

Did we manage to go bowling? We were going to go bowling...

[Probably not the most important question.]

[Kodachi let her head loll back and spotted a bowling ball on the floor, sandwiched between her zori.]

We must have - but wait!

[Wedding souvenir aside . . .]

Motochika-san, aren't people who are married supposed to be in love?

Is Mr. Ragna going to get mad at me???

[She felt like she was going to puke. Why did hangovers have to be so hard?]

[Motochika scratched at his head and puzzled that one over.]

It can't hurt, of course, but I wouldn't say it's a requirement. There are marriages of convenience, after all, and marriages to broker alliances and to acquire land...

[He rubbed at his eye. This was a lot of thinking.]

Not that any of that is the case here, of course. I'm sure Ragna will make a fuss, since he makes a fuss about every last little thing there is, but he may well be happy to have another wife around to take a bit of my attention. Not that he has the slightest interest in my attention mind you.

[This was making less and less sense the more he talked.]

But you don't need my land and I don't need yours.

[It was a fair point. So why were they married again?]

[And his explanation of Ragna's fussiness and his supposed lack of interest while at the same time his possible happiness that Motochika was distracted gave Kodachi a greater headache.]

[Abruptly, Kodachi exclaimed:]

I don't want to be divorced at sixteen!

[ . . . And then tears welled up in her eyes and she started to bawl.]

Wh-what?!

[More than anything, he wanted the crying to stop, but that would require figuring out what started it in the first place, which placed Motochika at an extreme disadvantage.]

No one is divorcing anyone! [Whatever that meant.] If that was an agreement I made, I intend to honor it! Please stop crying! Here, here...er...

[He managed to find a scrap of cloth on the floor, probably something left over from a toy he sewed for Yo-chan at some point, and handed it over to Kodachi to wipe her eyes with, then awkwardly patted her on the back. He'd usually hug her, but he was well aware this was a delicate situation, even if he wasn't exactly sure why.]

[Kodachi took the cloth and blew her nose on it - and that just made her hangover feel worse.]

[She flopped against his knees, looking like she was run over by a herd of cattle.]

So we're really married?

[Somehow . . . she didn't feel as bad as she did about it as she had earlier. A smile actually crept onto her lips. Perhaps this wasn't the marriage that she expected, but . . . how bad could it be?]

Aye, it certainly looks that way.

[At least it looked like she'd calmed down a little. That was a step in the right direction.]

It seems to me you wanted someone to marry you, so that's been taken care of, even if we can't precisely remember how. At least you haven't gone off and married some unworthy ruffian. Drunk or not, you showed excellent taste.

[Getting the chance to inflate his own ego was enough to put a smile on Motochika's face as well. Really, he couldn't think of anyone that he would approve of Kodachi marrying and as her captain he felt no small amount of obligation to make sure she made the best match possible. As he was the best match period, certainly she'd made an excellent choice.]

[She had to laugh a little at how sure he was of himself. His ego was well-deserved, honestly; so far, he had yet to lead the crew astray, and beyond that, he really showed that he cared about all of them as individuals. He also took all of her crazy antics in stride - even her brother would have nothing to say.]

[She was still confused, but somehow she felt a little better . . .]

Alright . . .

[And then a thought came to her.]

What about sleeping arrangements? Then again, Mr. Ragna doesn't sleep in here with you . . .

Sleeping arrangements?

[Kodachi had done more thinking on this matter in the past few minutes than Motochika had in the entirety of his life.]

Are you saying you want to sleep in here? There's enough room, to be sure, but...er...that would be enough room for another person, but not so much for...anything else...

[The cabin was very clearly Motochika's territory. The floor was strewn with blueprints and bits and pieces of whatever he was working on, as well as Yo-chan's chew toys and a few balls and bells that he tosses around to keep Pi-chan busy. Empty rum bottles covered the table and his small desk was buried under stacks of maps and other assorted papers. The only area that seemed more or less free of the debris of his everyday life was the bed.]

[Kodachi thought about it. Well, if she decided to sleep there, wouldn't that mean that Ragna would follow suit? And Mitsunari as well? Not that she knew that at the moment; as far as she knew, she was just the second wife, not the nth.]

[They'd all be cramped, and that didn't sound very pleasant.]

I suppose it won't be too bad if I still stay in my usual quarters - as long as I get to visit whenever I want.

[That's what wives did, right?]

That sounds like the wisest idea. Otherwise, I'd have to clean...

[He looked around the cabin, wondering when the last time he'd actually bothered with that was. He was used to being cleaned up after, though he didn't mind living amidst his own colossal mess, considering that was what he'd been doing ever since arriving in this world.]

Do you want me to clean for you?

[Although the idea of it made her feel nauseated at the moment, and she lay back down on her side, rubbing at her head.]

When I feel better, that is. I'm never drinking again - it feels so horrid the morning after. I've never had a headache like this!

I believe I warned you about that. Or at least I think I did. It seems like I would have.

[Motochika drags himself over to the table so that he can use it for leverage to pull himself up off the floor. He then wobbles his way over to his bed and falls down on it face first and pulls a blanket over his head. Much better.]

Should have warned myself. I blame those pink things. Those were the devil's work.

[What with the being pink and coming in strange layers and being novel enough that they drank them even though they really shouldn't have. Though, to be honest, that was fairly early in the night and they had much, much more after that.]

You did.

[That part she remembered. It was just that she got so swept up in the fun of it that she'd imbibed way too much for a first-timer. At least it was a lesson well-learned, and she was definitely going to be more careful next time.]

The pink things . . . I don't think they even tasted that good.

[She went on her hands and knees and crept over to his bed, pulling herself onto it and curling up at his side, over the sheets. They were married so that was totally acceptable, right?]

I think I'll sleep here just this once . . .

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