Pirates and Fish
Vanilla was watching the Aveley from the dock. The massive ship was resting at a dockyard near Jellyfish Atoll, Vanilla had even gone there to shop for some mecanical pieces. Some very delicate and expensive bits of iron. Who knew that big ship needed such a tiny metal thing in order to work? The captain had given his crew a week off, knowing the repair on the Aveley would take a while. He had encountered some of them trying out exotic food or buying accessories with money he had no idea where it came from. He liked to seem them all happy and excited - sometimes it was quite boring on the ship. Spending days and weeks and months without attacking or being attacked. Sometimes the weather was their worst enemy. Many times they almost sank because of gigantic waves during a storm.
As he stood up to go for a walk through the city, Vanilla noticed Starlight and Brioche coming up to him. Their tails were slightly intertwined and when their gaze encountered Vanilla's, their tails separated from each other. An embarassed look appeared on Brioche's face. He was nervous.
- Hi Captain! We.. We were condering if you wanted to hang out with us?
Starlight smiled and stepped toward Vanilla. She smelled like flowers - lilac or lavander maybe?
- We noticed you were spending almost all your free time watching over the Aveley. It's not going to disappear you know? It's too massive for that!
Vanilla grunted. He didn't liked when his crewmate were worrying about him. No one did before. He was a lone wolf and he still wasn't used to other people worrying about him and having to pay attention to what his body was expressing. His ears tilted backward without paying attention to it.
- I know, I know. I'm just so attached to this ship, I don't want to leave it here. What if one of the mecanics scratch it, uh? asked Vanilla.
- As if we didn't scratched it before..., said Brioche.
- Brioche suggested that we should try the Jellyfish Sundae from the restaurant at the center of the atoll, I think I know the way to go there. Are you coming with us, Captain? asked Starlight.
The latte vulpix nodded and followed his two friends. The atoll was amazing. He had never seen anything like that before, the atoll had this magical feel to it. The isles were all different from each other, you could walk from a rain forest inspired bar to a delicately ornated and decorated clockmaker's shop. It felt surnatural sometimes. As they were leaving a small isle themed after butterflies, with vibrant flowers everywhere, they passed an archway and entered the center of the Jellyfish Atoll. A gallery built inside a gigantic shell that must have belonged to a legendary pokemon. Shops and restaurants were built on the walls and a tall fountain was sitting at the center. The three friends were impressed by the architecture. The famous Jellyfish Sundae restaurant was at the bottom of the fountain, decorated with painted wooden art of jellyfish and other small sea animals.
You couldn't hear it from the outside, but as soon as they stepped into the room an ethereal music wrapped around them. It sounded like whales' songs. A waitress came up to them. Her pastel blue and white outfit contrasted with the colorful walls and furnitures.
- Hi and welcome to Jellyfish's Sweets! What can I do for you?
- Hello! We'd like to try the famous Jellyfish Sundae please. If we could have a table outside, where we could have a nice view on the fountain, it would be awesome! said Starlight, smiling brightly.
Vanilla noticed that Starlight's ears were slightly moving and an almost invisible powder were coming out of them. A shiny glitter powder. The waitress started blushing and giggling.
- Y-Yes of course Lady! I'll get you to best table outside! Follow me, follow me please!
The waitress was almost jumping on her way to their table. A soft and delicate tablecloth was sitting on the white wood table, with shiny shells and opalescent pearls sitting on top of it. The three of them sat down while the waitress listened to Starlight's order. After what felt like a second, the waitress came back with their order. She left slowly, glancing at Starlight from time to time.
- Did you seriously used Charm on that poor waitress? asked Brioche.
- We would have never gotten this table if I hadn't! I'm sure our Captain enjoys it, not like you. Right, Captain?
Vanilla nodded. He was staring at the ice cream bowl sitting on the table in front of him. It smelt really nice, there were some touches of bitter lemons, a sea herbal scent he couldn't quite recognize and a sweet aroma of pecha berry. He grabbed his wooden spoon and tasted it. The sundae was even better then he expected it to be: the flawors were gently competing with each other, but not enough for one of them to win and take over the other two. There were some salted bits added at the bottom and the latte vulpix loved the taste of the sweet icea cream with them. When he lifted his eyes from the bowl, he noticed his two friends were staring at him. He blushed a bit.
- Why are you looking at me like that? You should try it, it's really good! You're the ones who forced me to come here to try it out, too. So, stop staring at me.
Starlight and Brioche started laughing loudly, making other customers turns their head toward them, curious. Vanilla couldn't help but join them in their laugh. Once they started eating their own Jellyfish Sundae, he smiled while looking discreetly at them. He wouldn't admit it to them, but he was glad they had forced him to come. The Aveley wasn't the only thing that mattered to him, his friends were there too.