#thread:princessofthieves

23. Go see some fireworks together from the railing of a fancy yacht

The river’s water was freaking Shenzi out.  Sure, the soft sounds of it rippling against the boat’s?, ship’s? hull were actually fairly nice, almost relaxing -- excluding the fact that it was deeply unsettling to her to even be in the centre of a body of water.  Bodies of water were made to be drunk out of, maybe to take the occasional bath in, but even in the latter case, you wouldn’t swim towards the immediate centre of it. No, this was scary, nothing more, nothing less, definitely not merry, especially not romantic.

It wasn’t clear if Ed and Banzai would agree with the latter, but at least they seemed to have a good time; good enough to consciously ignore the muttering about them being ‘the most hideous dogs ever seen’.  They both had filched their fair shares of the buffet’s supply which did seem to taste exceptionally delicious, even bringing some over to Shenzi, who was pressing herself against a pole, being as far away from the ship’s rail as she could, and to their new acquaintance. In contrast to almost everybody on the yacht, Shenzi only couldn’t force herself to down anything they brought her.

Ed leaned over the rail, looking up, just like many other guests he saw. ... What were they looking at, what were they looking for?  Tonight’s skyscape wasn’t particularly impressive, not at all; he at max saw six stars, the moon didn’t seem spectacular, either, a waning moon, so what? ... Good thing Banzai didn’t seem to busy -- yeah, he was eating, but he could easily stop for a moment to do him a favour. Ed jostled against his friend, ignoring his glare, and pointed at the sky, the moon, the guests, at Jasmine, whimpering.

— Banzai looked daggers at his friends -- and rolled his eyes, turning to Jasmine. “Sorry”, he sighed, “do you know what’s going on, why everybody’s making a fuss or whatever?  Ed’s kinda on edge, because ... Will the world end tonight or what?”

Now that was unsettling -- for both Ed and Shenzi, who audibly gasped from her spot besides the post.  Oh, great, they would die tonight -- die on a body of water.  This was what dreams were made of.