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“Kyana! Vhas! Gimme your swords! I need them!” Dani hollered as she stuck her head out of a trap door onto the deck, where Vhas and Kyana had been sparring. They both paused, lowering their respective weapons as they turned to her,
“Sure, but what for?” Kyana asked as she sheathed her sword, handing both to Dani.
“I’m redoing the wrapping on the grips, making sure they are sharp, and making you new sheaths if the old ones are too worn out. Just normal maintenance.” Dani had a slight scowl on her face, playing off the importance of the deed.
“Oh, thanks mate! Saves me the trouble.” Vhas handed his own sword over, Dani hefting the large thing over her shoulder.
“Thank you Dani, that’s really nice of you,” Kyana says with a blinding smile on her face.
“Can’t trust you two to do it right on your own anyway, so I may as well do it,” She scowled, a faint blush darkening her blue cheeks, “I’ll give them back when I’m done.” She turned and disappeared back down the trapdoor.
-
The door slammed over as Dani charged into VR-LA’s room. He looked up from the spell scroll he was going over, “Hello Dani, can I help you?”
“C’mon, maintenance time. I haven't looked over you in ages, you could be rusting or some shit. What kinda Captain lets her crew rust away on her own ship?” Dani gives a grin, beckoning VR-LA along. He rises from his seat, following her to the engine room.
He sits in the stool she gestures at, and opens his chestplate. She pulls an overhead lamp over and starts poking around inside, occasionally tightening screws and bolts, or grabbing an oil can to dab some oil between gears.
“I appreciate you doing maintenance for me Dani, it is much easier than trying to do it myself,” VR-LA’s eyes brighten in his approximation of a smile as he speaks, and Dani tries to ignore the blush on her cheeks as he speaks. She pulls a scrap of paper between two gears, and gives him a glare, “Apologies, I don’t know how that got in there.”
“Be more careful, if any of this shit jammed you would keel over, none of us would have any idea why.”
“Okay Dani, I will. Thank you.”
She huffs, turning back to poking around in his chest, “Like I said, would be a pretty shit Captain if I didn’t.”
VR-LA hums, and the rest of the maintenance is done in companionable silence.
-
Sizzling of a pan accompanied the smell of cooking food whenever Dani walked into the Sprite Spring. She dodged around patrons to the door to the kitchen, hollering as she entered.
“Finbar! It’s Dani, where are you?” Glancing around the kitchen, he didn’t seem to be there, though his pixies were, supervising a couple bubbling pots. She waved at the few she recognized, before heading further back into the cold storage area. She opened the door and stuck her head in, finding Finbar's large form inside, hands on his hips.
“Oh Dani! Hey, how are you doing? Give me just a sec and I’ll whip you up something,” He grinned as he turned towards her, arms out for a hug. Dani humored him, darting in for a quick hug before retreating again. Finbar hugs have gotten harder to get since he left the crew, she would be stupid to turn one down when it was offered. At least, that’s what she told herself.
“Fine, getting some errands done. What’s up? Isn’t it supposed to be cold in here?” The supposed cold storage area felt just fine to her, not as hot as the Plane of Fire of course, but not the uncomfortable chilliness she expected walking in.
“That’s the trouble, the mechanism that keeps it cold is broken I think, I don’t know how to fix it. I was going to call someone to come by, a lot of the food in here will go bad if it stays warm too long,” The frown returned to Finbar’s face as he turned and pointed at the metal box sticking out of the ceiling, currently leaking water.
“Don’t bother calling someone else, I’m already here. I’ll fix it, get back to work. How long do I have until the food goes bad?” Dani pushed her sleeves up as she grabs a crate from the corner, climbing on it to reach the box, unscrewing a panel.
“Two hours before the Boars Eggs from Arcadia go bad, thank you Dani, this helps a lot.”
“It’s no big deal, go do your job before your customers start complaining about the service,” She waved over her shoulder at him with her screwdriver, before turning back to her work. Finbar chuckled as he closed the door behind him.
-
Dani huffed as she walked into the engine room, dropping the heavy box of parts she had retrieved on her workbench. A bit of steam rises from her head as she takes a moment to breathe. She shuffles toward her hammock, ready to pass out after the long day, but pauses when she sees four wrapped packages sitting on it. She carefully unwraps the first, revealing a bottle of red liquid, a note falling out as well.
‘Special made with the hottest peppers I could get my hands on, DO NOT let Kyana or Vhas try it - Love, Finbar’
She smiles at the note, setting the bottle aside on her desk before moving to the next package. This one is a tube, and she uncaps one end and out slides a variety of blueprints. A closer look reveals them to be schematics for Docent. A note sits atop them.
‘I got a couple copies of Docent’s schematics last time I had to tolerate Cassimir, they are interesting study material. Enjoy, and thank you. - VR-LA’
She takes a moment to look over the schematics, setting them next to the bottle. The third package is a tube like VR-LA’s, and uncapping it reveals a sheet of sketchbook paper. She unrolls it to find a drawing of Plug and Sunny wrestling, Kyana’s signature at the bottom. She flips the paper over to find a note from Kyana.
“Thank you for fixing up my sword! The grip fits my hand so much better now, and it doesn’t catch on the sheath anymore. Plug and Sunny were playing one day while you were off the ship, thought you would like to see it! -Kyana’
There's an additional doodle below, Dani thinks it’s supposed to be her and Kyana holding hands. The drawing is carefully pinned on her corkboard before she turns to the final package. Unwrapping it reveals a knife in a sheath, and unsheathing it shows a serrated Damascus blade. She takes a moment turning the blade back and forth, checking the tang and grip. Then, she notices the note that was written on the inside of the wrapping.
“Thanks for fixing my sword up mate. -Vhas”
She sheaths the knife, setting it with the rest of her gear. She hops up to sit in her hammock, staring at the gifts from her crew.
“You're welcome, you bunch of dorks,” She lays down, and falls into a peaceful sleep.