Many hours later, Chio walked out of the forecastle with some empty plates. The wind calmed down to a gentle breeze, and the sun was setting. While most of the passengers ate their dinner in the lounge room in the aftercastle, Chio brought her and Arabella's portions to their cabin, where they could get rid of them in secret by scraping the food off their plates through the window, “feeding the fish” as the succubus put it. The angel didn't feel like eating for fun right now either, she was a little too nervous for that. She had a task, after all, which she still found daunting.

She paused on the deck for a moment, put down the plates on the floor, and leaned on the handrails, watching the majestic sunset over the boundless, calm ocean. She looked up at the already visible stars and the moon, feeling the vastness of the universe, and a sense of otherworldly longing. Ever since she left heaven behind, she had a bit of that longing in her. The succubus asked her about her time up there, but she couldn't really answer her, for multiple reasons. For one, Arabella was still a demon, so it could have been awkward or even upsetting for her to hear about God's paradise. She didn't want to worry her with this longing, or make her feel like she is unsure about her choice of being with her. But also, she felt like she is simply not supposed to talk about heaven to anyone, really. Even as a fallen angel. It would have been difficult to put it into words anyway.

The truth was that being an angel in heaven was a blissful, holy state. Her mind was at ease there like never before, she was at peace with the universe, feeling a spiritual connection to it all. And she was surrounded by other beings like her. It was such a clear, such an effortless way of existence. Her memories of it were kind of vague now, and that was because she sacrificed a big part of that state by coming back down here. She knew that. She couldn't recall the specifics, like how exactly the place looked like, but she still remembered the feeling, like a joyful dream that sticks with one long after they forget how it really even went. What she still had was an impression, and she was quite aware that she won't be able to truly experience it ever again. That thought was a bit melancholic, but not the end of the world, and not something she regretted. She was determined in believing that she will never regret it. She had so much to look forward to here too, so much to experience. The fleeting, fragile moments of bliss and harmony that are achievable in this realm of mortals are not to be underestimated either. Still... things were undeniably more difficult down here.

The angel sighed, quickly rubbed her crotch through her dress as a way of “grounding herself”, then turned towards the building at the back of the ship. When she was there earlier to pick up their portions, a group of people, including Friska, invited her to play a card game after dinner, which she agreed to. Of course she also wanted to feed her love, but Arabella reassured her multiple times that she can still wait, that there is no need to hurry. Let's socialize a bit, and then we will see what happens, Chio thought.

The lounge was a spacious room with several tables, and even a bar. Most of the passengers who ate here retreated back into their cabins by now, but there were still a handful of people sitting here and there.

“Ah, Chio!” she heard the high-pitched voice of the fairy. She was standing on one of the tables in the company of four other people, holding a couple of cards that were almost half her size. “You did come after all! Come, join us, we just started!”

The angel first put her plates down on the bar counter, then she sat down next to Friska. On her other side, to her right, sat a squinting, wrinkled old lady dressed in all black, who introduced herself as Madam Birch. Next to her was Captain Kraus, stuffing tobacco into his pipe, greeting the newcomer with a nod. Then there was a quite handsome young man with short brown hair, wearing a black-and-brown surcoat over his grey tunic. His eyes met Chio's for a moment; he seemed kind of curious, and the angel, who still had her sperm-obtaining quest at the back of her mind, felt her heart throb. But then the young man shifted his attention to the cards, picking them all up and reshuffling them – Friska asked him to do so, and she called him Porco. The last person at the table, who was sitting on the left of the fairy, was a pale, thin, sickly looking man wearing a white robe, and holding a walking stick by his side. He didn't seam to be the type who speaks much.

Chio never really played card games before, so the rules had to be explained to her. The one who did so was Madam Birch. She was a friendly woman, dignified but humble at the same time, and she spoke a bit slowly, in an endearing manner. She said she was a veteran at the game, and she did a good job of teaching the girl. The game was called “oh hell”, and it was centered around the players trying to bid their number of takes in each round – if one guessed their performance correctly, they gained five points, and an extra one for each of their takes. Fortunately, the concept wasn't too complicated and Chio was able to quickly grasp it.

“Any refills?” Captain Kraus asked, glancing at the empty glasses of his companions, and signalling to the sailor who was behind the bar counter to come over.

“Yes, please!” Friska raised her tiny little mug that she kept on the wooden deck-case next to her.

“I would like to have a bit more of this white rum, darling,” said Madam Birch.

“I might as well drink some more too, then,” the handsome Porco smiled while he began dealing out the cards for the first round.

“How about you, girl?” the cat-man looked at Chio.

“Uhm... maybe just a little bit.”

“Bring us a bottle of wine and rum, and a glass for her,” the captain told the sailor, who nodded and walked back towards the counter.

As the party began, they passed the bottles around the table; the only person who didn't drink was the pale man in white. After spilling a few drops of wine into Friska's miniature mug (the bottle was as tall as the fairy), Chio hesitantly poured herself half a glass. For some reason, she had a bit of a bad feeling about drinking, even though her past experience with alcohol was kind of nice – well, relative to her circumstances. Just a little bit couldn't hurt, she thought. Yet, they were in the third round of the card game when she finally raised the glass to her lips. She spit it out immediately, spraying a mouthful all over the table.

“Wow!” Friska jumped back, stumbling over the deck-case.

“Dagnabbit!” the cat-man quickly lifted his cards to save them from the wetness.

“I'm so sorry!” the reddened Chio apologised. Now that she was an angel, alcohol felt like burning in her mouth, apparently. It was horrible.

The pale man slowly raised his hand to his expressionless face, on which a drop of wine landed, rubbing it off with his sleeve.

“Oh, sweetheart, you are not used to drinking, are you?” Madam Birch petted Chio's forearm rather lightly and reservedly.

“I'm... really not.”

“No worries, you don't have to force yourself,” said Porco as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe up the drops from the table.

“Yea, yea... it's okay,” said the fairy while looking a tad disappointed.

“I remember the first time I ever got drunk,” said the madam. “Oh, I couldn't hold my drink at all! It was at the wedding of my aunt, when I was nineteen. I was a well-behaved young lady, very disciplined, maybe a little too much at a time. I did not like the idea of drinking, but some of my cousins talked me into it. I got so sick, that a fine gentleman had to carry me upstairs, and I ended up... well, puking in his arms,” the woman chuckled. “I was so embarrassed when I found out what happened the next day! I needed to find him to apologise. That is how I met my husband, we got married half a year later.”

“Fate is a funny thing, isn't it?” Porco asked.

“It is, it really is.” The madam pulled out a handkerchief of her own, and blew her nose. “Oh, my poor late husband!”

As it turned out, the old lady was recently widowed. Her ticket for the voyage was gifted to her by her niece, the wife of an up and coming politician in Midridge. “She wants to take my mind off of grief with a bit of an adventure, the silly thing. At my age! But I said to myself, why not? If nothing else, it might make my family less worried about me.”

“Ace of trumps,” said the pale man in the white robe quietly, taking the last trick of the round, seemingly having no interest in the conversation.

“That's two takes for you... everyone but me kept their bets, huh?” The captain was dealing out some white pebbles from a bag – people often used such things for keeping track of players' scores in these kinds of games. Aside from his score-keeping duty, the grey cat-man was just drinking and smoking. He too was kind of disconnected from the talking around him, but his indifference was not quite like the pale man's cold and reserved attitude. Rather, he seemed distracted, like he has a lot on his mind.

“I see you really loved your husband, madam,” Chio said as she neatly lined up her newly gained pebbles on the table.

“He was a great man, the love of my life. But I blabbered enough about myself. How about the rest of you? We got some quite attractive young people here with us. Are any of you married? Oh, it's my turn to deal.”

“I'm a bachelorette for life!” Friska proclaimed proudly. She already drank multiple mugs of wine, and she got another refill just a minute ago. “I'm dedicating my life to science.”

“That is truly brave of you, little lady. It's admirable,” Madam Birch said, shuffling the deck a little clumsily.

“As for myself, I have yet to find someone I really connect with,” said Porco. “I'm just not in a hurry.”

“Wise words,” the old woman nodded. “People should always marry out of love, in my opinion. There is no reason to force these things.”

“I'm... I'm in a similar position too,” the angel lied. “I'm not in a hurry either.”

Friska gulped down her remaining wine, and slammed her mug down on the deck-case by her side, wiping her mouth. “Chio, you shouldn't ever get married!”

“Huh? Why?”

“A man would be a bad influence on you.”

The madam shook her head in disbelief. “Now that is some folly, my small friend.”

“Just my two coins,” the fairy shrugged.

“Even if it's hard to come by, true love is a beautiful thing. Let the girl live her own life! She is lovely and really pretty, and I have a feeling she might just catch the attention of someone truly special.”

“Oh, thank you!” the angel smiled bashfully.

As the party continued, the conversation shifted away from their personal lives, then it quieted down. Everybody was focusing on the game: the visibly drunk Friska turned out to be quite animated and passionate, bursting out in a song of triumph upon keeping her bet, or throwing a tantrum and angrily slamming her fists down on the wooden case when she lost a round – Chio, Porco and the Madam all found her quite endearing. The angel really started to get the hang of the game too, she actually found it rather exciting. Part of that was because she felt like there is a bit of a silent back and forth, a special rivalry going on between her and Porco. They were having a similar amount of pebbles, and on multiple occasions they failed to keep to their bets in the same round. It was like they were kind of tuned to each other. The girl could swear that the young man noticed that too: he was glancing discreetly at her from time to time, but still with that curiosity in his eyes. Then again, Chio was a young, attractive woman, so it was probably only natural for a guy like him to pay her some extra attention. Either way, it was quite thrilling. Could he really be the one who she can do it with? He was good looking and well-spoken and kind of charming, really unlike any of the angel's previous male partners. How would it feel like to get touched by him?

In the end, Madam Birch won the game, while the pale man, who's name was apparently Victor Goldman, silently finished second. Porco and Chio were actually tied for third place, then it was Friska, and the captain ended up being dead last. The madam gathered up the cards and put them back in the case, the deck of cards was hers. They all wished a good night to each other, and the sailor behind the counter walked over with a tray to pick up their glasses.

As everyone was standing up, Chio lowered her gaze, hesitating, her heart beating fast. I should wink at him, just as Arabella said... I should do it... or should I not?

“Chio!” Friska suddenly lunged into the air, doing a rather disoriented circle around the girl, then landing on her shoulder. “Wanna... Hick! go outside?”

“Uhm... sure, why not?”

The angel walked out onto the main deck, carrying the fairy. Her sperm-obtaining mission was cut short, which was kind of a bummer, but honestly kind of a relief too. She knew that Arabella would have been ecstatic if she returned to their cabin with another warm surprise, and she was really feeling some chemistry with Porco... at least it felt like that on her end, but she was a little uncertain too. The tension was hot, but also nerve-wrecking, so a part of her didn't mind that Friska gave her an excuse to forget about it for now.

“Flying around on a moving ship is confuse,” the little blue woman mumbled onto her ear. “Especially as a drunk... drunk person. And I don't wanna just... you know. Walk. Someone might step on me.”

“I see,” Chio smiled.

“So if you can carry me back to my place after we chat a bit... Hick!”

“Of course, of course.”

The wind was picking up again, blowing from the north, which was quite optimal for their sailing. The angel stood by the handrails and leaned on her elbows, staring at the horizon, where the moon's reflection on the dark waters met the skyline. Both her and the fairy's hair was waving in the chilly, fresh air current.

“What do you think, girl?” asked Friska.

“About what?”

“These people. We have some strange ones here, heh?”

“I guess so. Uhm, I liked Madam Birch, she was quite nice.”

“Nice, nice... just an old rich widow. What else she should be, but nice?”

“Well... that's not a bad thing, isn't it?”

“She was like... 'That is brave of you little... little female person. That is Hick! admirable.' Blablah, it's always the same. I'm just doing what I wanna do. But because I was born as a woman, that is somehow brave. To be a scientist. But I guess that's better than people whining about it. Like... you know, they are like: a woman is not supposed to. Is not logical.”

“Hmm. Have you been told stuff like that?”

“Of course! Us fairies are just as gender-drunk as any species. Woman must this, woman must that, this is man's job, that is not. I don't care, Chio. I'm not brave, I'm just scientist. And woman.”

“That's totally fair.”

“Yea, totally.”

“Say, what exactly are you... I mean what kind of scientist are you?” The angel was staring at Friska from the corner of her eye – she was worried that turning her head too much could make her fall off her shoulder.

“What kind? I have interest in old things. History, ancient history, very old. Is called archeology. And also the cosmos, the stars... I have telescope! Want to see it? Is in my room.”

“Maybe another time,” the girl chuckled, trying to imagine herself looking through a fairy-sized spyglass.

“Hmmm. Maybe. So, who's next?”

“What you mean?”

“The captain! The cat-captain. Is not as fun as I thought. What you think is up with... Hick!”

“He drank a lot too, didn't he? He looked like he was lost in thought. Maybe worried about something.”

“That's not too calming. There better be no issues with the ship!”

“I doubt that's it. Who knows?”

“Not me. Grumpy sea-bears... Okay, then there was Goldman. He is just bland. A reserved Cesanitian noble. Nuff said.”

“A Cesanitian noble? That pale man?”

“Yep. That's what he said. He moved to Midridge recently, and... Hick! he is here now.”

That was a little worrying to hear, considering that Frederick Dandenar, the man who wanted to hunt down Arabella but ended up losing his mind due to her in the chaos at Cornertown, was a Cesanitian prince. Of course nobody on the ship knew the true identity of Arabella, but still...

“Did you not like him?” Friska asked.

“He is a bit... unsettling.”

“I can see that. But who cares about... Hick! Dammit! Sorry, I always get the hiccups when alcohol.”

“That's fine,” Chio laughed.

“It's a shame you can't be drinking. I wanted to see your drunk, heh.”

“Yea, I didn't know it would taste so bad.”

“Anyway... the last one is Porco boy. What you think?”

“He seemed nice.”

“Nice, huh? Don't tell me you fancy him.”

Chio slightly blushed, hoping the fairy doesn't notice it. “Why, what do you think about him?”

“He is a player. No way he is a virgin, I'm telling you. Probably a sleazy charmer.”

“Really? What makes you think that?”

“I can just tell. His... Hick! his smile. I don't know, he doesn't seem fully genuine.”

“Hmmm,” the girl was not sure what to think of that.

“Anyway... I'm sorry, Chio. I shouldn't have said that you should never get married. If you wanna, then go ahead. It's just... you know. You seem like a kind, innocent Hick! But there is just something wrong with women and men. The two of those together... it's so frustrating. You know how much pain there is in this world because of that?”

“A lot?”

“Men can be so damn stupid. And disappointing. The whole deal is a drag. And all the fuss about gender roles. Chivalry my ass. But... again, maybe I'm just a jaded. A jaded dumdum. Eh, don't listen to me, Chio. Or do, whatever.”

“I understand where you are coming from, I really do. And... I'm sorry.”

“For what?”

“For the pain. I'm sure you experienced some.”

Friska jumped forward and landed on the handrails, sitting down and facing the ocean. For a minute, they fell silent, it was just the sound of the waves and the wind, the yelling of some sailors who were handling the sails, and the fairy's occasional hiccups. Then the little woman turned around and stared up into the angel's eyes.

“That redhead... why are you with her?”

“She is a good friend of mine.”

“I don't like... Hick!”

“She is just a bit sassy. But she is a good person, really. We have been through a lot together.”

“If you say so.”

“Why do you like me, by the way?”

“Because... as I said, you are innocent and nice, is obvious. But I don't think you are stupid. It's a bit like... you are above it all. But humble too.”

“Oh, thanks!”

“But! You are strange too. That makes me curious, you know. I wanted to bring this up. You are stronger than you look like, and that doesn't make sense. I noticed it, Chio. My luggage... Hick!”

“Oh, that? Well...”

“I had a good amount of stuff in there. Is not too light. And you are a small girly girl. You didn't break a sweat. The redhead, maybe. But you? How?”

“I... I was... I used to help out my dad with...”

“What?”

“Moving... chests?”

Friska burst out laughing. “You are a horrible liar! Silly, innocent girl.”

The angel sighed. “Honestly, I'm not as innocent as you might think.”

“Oh, what's that? Who are you, Chio? What's your deal?”

“Uhm... since I'm a bad liar, is it okay if I just... prefer not to tell you all about myself? At least not yet.”

“Hmmm. Fair. Makes me frustrated though, but fair enough.” The fairy stumbled to her feet. “Okay then. You mind carrying me back to my... Hick! room?”