Chapter Text
“Where to this time?” Steak cookie smirks as the waves lap against the ship, still trailing police tape like streamers off the port side.
“Wherever it takes us, just far enough away that those investigators forget us. They don’t need to know about this,” she moves with ease across the desk to rest their hand on his shoulder. “Or the stowaway downstairs, hm?”
“Don’t tell me you actually kept him around, he served his purpose.”
“Oh, he did, a fantastic job too, if I may say, but he talks too much,” Escargot sighed, getting close to his ear, “I don’t want him spilling too much, you agree?”
“And keeping him below deck is going to keep him from talking?”
Escargot shrugs, “it is the best we can do for the moment, if we let him around Walnut cookie again he might say too much. He already gave away too many hints to that little detective.”
“It worked to our benefit though-“
“They almost caught on to your involvement too early. If we had to dock any earlier then the festivities would not have been nearly as interesting,” Escargot exclaimed looking annoyed with him. It didn’t last long though, as Steak brought her close, “it worked out in the end though, you’re the one who wanted this elaborate scheme.”
Escargot didn’t bother giving him any appreciation, “you just don’t understand the drama of it. I didn’t think you would really bring illegal drugs with you, though. No wonder Roguefort showed up.”
Steak blinked at that, “you didn’t invite him?”
“No, I wanted to originally, but considering how you act around him he was a last minute addition. Thought I was a damsel who didn’t know what you were up to.”
“Oh, but you are quite the damsel,” Steak teased as he dipped her, much to her playful annoyance.
“Do not even say that, I am quite skilled in my own right,” but there was no hint of concern in her tone as she lightly kissed his jaw.
The conversation got lost after that, quiet nothings and kisses, without concern for the world around them. Escargot was still pissed that there had been actual danger on her ship, but she couldn’t stay upset with the bounty hunter. He was the only one who ever gave her the thrill of the hunt anymore, many targets being much too easy, but he always managed to evade her.
Down below the decks of the ship, the lone rogue sits, somewhere between wake and rest, tied to a chair in the cargo hold with all the other supplies for the vessel. Roguefort was none the wiser to the current events going on upstairs, but did realize, now, that there was more pressing issues than what had happened. The better question was soon becoming, why were they still on the SS Escargot, and with it, how did they end up back on the ship after jumping overboard once the police had arrived? Now, was it one of their more brilliant moments? No. Dramatic? Of course, but it still had left them scrambling to another small ship to hide upon until the main focus was away from the ship. Which brings us back to now, how did they get back here? They wanted to, sure, they had to know what Escargot had really wanted all along, but she had seemed pretty content to "removing" the "criminals" off her boat, even if she had planned the whole thing.
Roguefort began to search for a way out, they knew there way around ropes and ties, any good thief knew how to escape, but the restraints were only the first hurdle. They could feel the boat swaying and shifting under them, it was already giving them a headache, though they would refuse to ever admit such a weakness out loud. They looked around the cargo hold for any of their hidden gadgets only to find every single one of them to be empty, like someone had known all their tricks and had prepared for such occasions. Searching again, they looked for any loose boards or signs, with the door surely locked and without any way to pick it, there had to be an escape route built in case of emergencies.
Roguefort thought back to the cruise before all of this had gone south, they had just wanted to uncover the mystery that aired in this mysterious cruise, much like Almond and Walnut Cookie did, but the truth was never that easy, and finding it only had grown more convoluted the more they had dug. It led them onto the boat, and into the place they least expected, in the hands of that dirty bounty hunter Steak Cookie. The man is always chasing after the next big fix, and somehow always seems to be the pit of every problem Roguefort has encountered. That being said, they could not deny that the man had some charm, they could see what had made Escargot get caught in his trap, but he was belligerent and one of the worst men Roguefort had ever met, not a gentleman at all, unlike himself. If there is anything that Almond has taught him, it is that being a good person should come first, whether or not he approved of the crimes that Roguefort committed.
The longer that they searched the more confused they were becoming, within the storage of the cargo bay stood many items that were extremely extravagant like whole chandeliers, wardrobes, and all sorts of gems. They could've made their money and time back in moments just wandering through here, but why was it so full, without anyone else on this boat except Escargot and a few crew members. Not only that, why did the the police leave this place untouched? Roguefort had thought that Escargot cookie was just as guilty in the crimes, but maybe she had ulterior motive they had not even noticed.
It didn't take long.. for someone else to arrive under the deck, Roguefort just hoped that somehow it was a crew member and not Escargot cookie.