My Treasure

My Treasure: Chapter 4

The days at sea slip idly by. With everything carrying on as usual. There has been no more problems so far as serious as a man falling overboard, but on the Red Sprite there's sure to be something interesting. 

Arthur walks into his office, he has just finished his work shift and is looking for Mari. He scans the room. "No pretty girls with black hair here..." He mutters under his breath. "She has some work to do in the kitchen anyway..." He pushes open the door to his and Mari's shared room. "Mari, are you-" Arthur starts. He finds Mari relaxing in his hammock reading a book. The book being none other than his magic book. 

Mari looks up from the book to see a shocked and slightly angry Arthur glaring down at her. She smiles cheekily. 

"Give me that back!" Arthur shouts. He runs at Mari, trying to snatch the book from her hands. Unfortunately, the hammock swings towards the wall, then back at him, causing Arthur to slip under the hammock. He scrambles for a handhold so he doesn't fall to the floor. Arthur's hand accidentally grabs Mari's chest. Mari turns livid and delivers a blow to Arthur's nose. Arthur falls back to the ground, clutching his nose. 

Mari drops down nimbly from the hammock onto Arthur. She straddles his chest with her knees on either side of him. Mari sits down on Arthur's stomach. "Don't touch me there." Mari warns plainly. 

Arthur looks up at Mari looming over him with an injured expression. "Ow. Mari, why did you punch me?" The blow brought tears to Arthur's eyes. He's still holding his bloody nose. 

"I just told you, you little sea bastard." Mari responds. Mari leans over Arthur and pries his hands off his face. "Well your nose isn't broken, so your lucky." Mari declares. She wipes the blood away from Arthur's nose with his sleeve. 

Mari, however, did not realize that Arthur could see right down her shirt with her leaning over him. Arthur blushes and tries to look away, but he can't. Mari straightens up and sees his blush. She arches an eyebrow, then an idea to torment Arthur further pops into her head. Mari leans over Arthur and holds her face close to his. Their noses are almost touching. Arthur's blush only deepens. 

"I think you have a crush on me..." Mari states coyly. Arthur's brow furrows and he takes on a denying expression, but his blush doesn't lessen. "I don't have a crush on you!" Arthur's voice rises in pitch slightly. Mari laughs, "I think you do." 

"I don't." Arthur spits out. "You're denying it now. I really think you do." Mari teases. Arthur's had enough. He flips their positions with one quick motion. He leans menacingly over Mari and plants his hands on either side of her head. Mari wears a grin on her face. "I. Don't. Have. A. Crush. On. You." Arthur growls out. "Alright then." Mari responds. She sits up and kisses his cheek. Arthur blush returns darker than it was before. 

Mari pushes off his knees with her feet and scoots away from Arthur. As she leaves, she gives Arthur one last mischievous smile over her shoulder. Mari leaves Arthur dumbfounded kneeling in the center of his room. 

Arthur quietly picks up his book from the floor and tucks it into his coat pocket. He leans against a wall of the room and sighs deeply. How can I tell Mari how I really feel about her? I care for her definitely more than a friend...But I'm not sure exactly how I feel about her yet... Arthur shakes his head to clear his thoughts and sets to work. 

Meanwhile, Mari has scurried down to the kitchen. She ducks in and leans against the wall near the door. She sighs blissfully and has a light blush dusting her cheeks. "Anything the matter Miss Mari?" Jeb's voice cuts into her thought. "No, nothing Jeb. What do you need help with today?" Mari responds, eager to be of the topic. Jeb looks back down at his cooking, but he won't let Mari go that easily. "It seems like you're taken with somebody." He says into his cooking pot, but Mari still hears him. "Well how would you know?" She asks tartly. Jeb looks back up from his pot. "Miss Mari, I've been alive long enough to know when someone is taken with somebody. And you have all the signs." 

Mari slumps down onto a bench. "Fine, you caught me. I do have feelings for someone, but I'm not quite sure exactly how I feel about them." Jeb returns to his coking pot. "Well Miss Mari, you'll heart'll tell you how you feel about this person eventually. Now come and help me cook. I got to get dinner out for everybody." Mari smiles at Jeb, he was like a grandfather to almost everyone on the ship. She rises and helps Jeb with cooking. 

Later on, Arthur comes down to the kitchen, looking for Mari again. "Hello Jeb, I was- Mrph!" A spoon is shoved into Arthur's mouth. "Hello Arthur. How does it taste?" The spoon was shoved into his mouth by none other than Mari. Arthur regains his composure and pulls the spoon from his mouth. He tastes the slightly spicy broth. He didn't want to admit to Mari that it was better than his cooking. But then again, everybody knew he had terrible cooking except himself. "It's good, but I could do better." Mari arches her eyebrow. "Oh, really? I'd like to see you try." She hands Arthur a pot and a spoon and sets him to work.

After almost starting a few fires, Arthur manages to produce something that looks like a soup. "Here, try it." He hands a spoon to Mari. "Oh no, I insist you try it first. It's your creation after all." Mari waves the spoon away. "Fine, I will." Arthur says with a scowl. He gags on the horrid concoction. "You know what, never mind."  Arthur sets the pot to the side. Mari and Jeb enjoy a good laugh. 

"Hold on Arthur, you still have some blood under your nose." Mari wets the corner of a handkerchief on her tongue. Arthur tries to squirm away. "Hold still." Mari commands. She cups Arthur's chin in her hand and wipes away the dried blood. "There, all better." Mari kisses the tip of Arthur's nose. Arthur blushes then turns away, he clears his throat. 

"Arthur, would you like to help us?" Mari asks innocently. "Sure, that's be great." Arthur replies. Jeb's returned to his cooking. "That's fine with me, just don't let him near the stove."