---

---

---

Deck 9, The Foodcourt.

"Heh, knew I would find you two girls here."

The aging Marcelle said as she walked up to the girls dressed rather tropically. Fitting for a trip to the Caribbean, baby! Marcelle was wearing a two black piece bikini, but with a long modest skirt over her waist. Only showing a tad bit of her bikini bottom. Over her head was a large straw-hat, and she had large sunglasses on. She walked up to the two sitting at a table in the food court.

"Yo, Aunt Marcy," Zoey said, eating a fork-full of these delicious crab-cakes that she got from the foodcourt. Zoey was wearing a T-shirt of her favorite band Foals, and had on black jean-shorts, and of course, a black beanie. "I'm gonna become such a landwhale when I get off this boat, Jesus. This food is fucking delicious, seriously." Zoey followed it up with a bout of laughter.

"Glad you love the food, can't wait until we get to the Caribbean," Marcy said as she took a seat next to them.

"Marcy...." Sabrina chimed in, who had finished her plate of crab legs (with a bowl of salad on the side). She had delegated to using her phone until her aunt had walked up. Her aunt had made her uncomfortable, specifically the outfit she was wearing. "Don't you think that outfit is a little revealing?"

"First; it's Aunt Marcy to you," Marcelle said with a smile. "Second; we're on a cruise. The hubby took the kids to another part of the boat while I kick back."

"What if they see you?" Sabrina said, raising an eyebrow. "And..." Sabrina pointed at her stomach.

"So what?" Marcy said. "It isn't like they haven't already waaaay more than this." She pointed at her bikini, and the two Gray siblings froze as the implication hit them.

"... Yup, we're going head-first into the TMI range." Zoey said, feeling her stomach churn. She couldn't even finish these crab cakes. She merely pushed the plate away from herself. "Yo, Sabs, can we go meet some people? Like come onnnnnn, I see all sorts of people our age, and I haven't talked to a single person."

"Yeah," Sabrina said, getting up off the table. "Maybe we'll find you a boyfriend." Sabrina playfully said with a smile on her face.

"Only person in need of a boyfriend is you, Sabs," Zoey teased back.

"Have fun girls," Marcelle said... before helping herself to the crab cakes that Zoey left behind.

(Decks 10-14, bar, you pick which deck)

Joe sat alone drinking old Cognac, his briefcase handcuffed to his hand. He played a few hands of poker, and won against some newbies thinking they could swindle a middle aged guy. He laughed a little as he finished his drink. He thought about what the next order of business was. He decided that for now he had to improve his ultimate bluff; his flare gun. Everyone believed it when a Texan claimed his flare gun with some tinfoil on it was real gun. People fucked off easily. He stood up and hummed to himself. The bartender did not give out hot meals so he had no tinfoil. Ugh.

Thus his steps of descent began he had to go to the food court, get a hamburger or something. When he finally got there, he would have his signature smile on, and go to the nearest fast-food type joint, and order a burger.

"156, 157, 158! Yes!" shouted Willy, holding up his Rubik's cube like a venerated idol. Everyone else in the food court gave him a weird look, but that didn't matter. He had broken his personal record after almost two years. Or was it three? This calls for a celebratory refill on fries, if nothing else. He got up from his seat and practically skipped to the end of the line. But by God, it was long. It seems that even to get fries or a shake or something, one must wait almost half the day. Oh well, at least he could play around with his cube more. So he messed it up again and started from the beginning. "1, 2, 3 . . ."

Mikael Whitaker | Conference Hall | Deck 12

“An intriguing prospect. I hope we'll be able to refine the details later on.”
“I see no reason not to.”
These parting words and a firm handshake signed the end of a small business meeting, mainly between two parties and with the support of other, somewhat less important players. Mikael Whitaker left the spacious conference hall—as The Azure Sundown, no matter how much it prided itself on its focus on carefree entertainment, of course had to have one of these places—feeling rather satisfied. If things kept on going the way they were, he might eventually be able to expand the Whitaker & Frasier Group's foothold into Japan and other Eastern Asian countries by striking a deal with the Togami Corporation that had great influence in those areas.

He was quite sure this was what his father, the old Leonard Whitaker imagined the promising progeny would spend his days on the luxurious cruise ship, and he was mostly right on that. Though he had not always gotten to the Conference Hall with his dealings, he had already talked to almost everyone that could be considered someone in the business world. The ship was a more ideal environment for these types of matters than it would have seemed at first sight: the many bars and restaurants provided great opportunities for discourse while the incredible sights the cruiser passed by and sometimes even settled down at served as refreshments for the mind and catalysts for creativity.

That was of course not to say that the young businessman did not allow for even a pinch of relapse in his duty. Twist it as he might have, this lengthy trip was a vacation, and quite an extraordinary one at that. He could not help but enjoy it at least a bit. After all, he deserved this, this high quality relaxation and entertainment. Just as much as he deserved some top gourmet right now—the lot of talking and thinking have left him wanting for energy once more. Though there were almost countless opportunities to fulfil this basic need on the middle decks, he instead headed for one of the stylish Hawaiian bars just a floor below.

That was more worthy for a man like Mikael Whitaker.

Piper watched as someone took a sip of their fruity and mostly likely alcohol drink that had a little umbrella sticking out. She sighed and looked around at her surroundings. Piper would have worn her black cloak if her mother hadn't taken it our of her suitcase right before and exchanged most of her clothing for "cruise-suitable" outfits. So, instead, she had on a red bikini under her shorts and black tank top which was covered with a long black cardigan.

All these people around her were fake. Nearly everyone there was having fun. Smiling with their teeth showing and acting like they were having a good time. Of course, that was all an illusion. In truth, their souls were crying and they felt the need to blend in with the rest of the cast. Just like Piper did.

Soon, she heard a chime and saw that her mom had texted her with a simple "Are you doing well? Not feeling seasick? Please, call me later dear." All lies. She knew her mother and she knew that she couldn't care less about her anymore. The whore was hoping for her to have to crawl into a hole and never come out. This theory was proven when she cheated on dad. She broke their family into a million pieces and they act like I don't even know.

Useless. Useless things to be thinking about. It didn't matter now. Piper knew her life was harder than most but she also knew that she would have to live with it. Piper unconsciously twirled her hair around her index finger as she tried to find something interesting. Of course, nothing actually made her feel the urge to bother wasting her energy to go over and risk having to speak to anyone that didn't deserve to be exposed to her inner darkness.

"One vodka straight." She said, turning her head and facing the bartender, her eyes revealing the pain that was evident when you looked into her soulless eyes.

Tilde and Minnie were both in their shared room unpacking. Minnie was clearly much more excited about the trip than her cousin Tilde. She quickly dumped her clothing on her bed and grabbed her camera from the pile of clothes she just dumped out.

”Hey Tilde I am going to take some pictures around the boat for your site. I probably won’t be back for a bit so feel free to explore on your own!” With that Minnie ran out the door not waiting for Tildes response. Minnie made her way to the upper decks and began to take pictures of everything and anything. The large boat was beautiful, it was amazing how something this large could be crafted by men. She continued to photograph the upper decks, mostly the people, everyone seemed so happy, like a completely different world compared to reality. To just be able to forget who you are and take in the relaxation of the vacation.

On the other hand, Tilde took her time unpacking every article of clothing from the two suitcases. She was not nearly as excited as Minnie to be on this ship, instead, she would rather be at a club getting smashed. But she knew better than to waste1 her time thinking about where she could be. Tilde slide on her bikini and head out to the pool so she could get a tan.