Chapter 11: Man (Almost) Overboard
That was definitely not the last time. For three and a half weeks, Hakoda and Elodie would go into his office when he had free time, and make out. She felt like she was in Junior High again. Like she was in class trying to hold her "boyfriend's" hand without the teacher noticing the PDA, and she didn't know how to feel about it. At first, sneaking around was fine, she would even say it was fun. But, the longer it went on, the more she disliked it.
The main reason Elodie didn't like sneaking around anymore was her and Hakoda found out that they actually liked each other. Like, liked liked each other. After their make-out sessions, they would talk as they tried to look normal and less disheveled before leaving his office. Their feelings grew for each other the more they talked. Subsequently, their little sessions had less making out and more heart-to-hearts and cuddling (she had to admit that cuddling with Hakoda was the best feeling in the world). So, it didn't feel too great that as soon as his office door opened, they had to act indifferently to each other. Hakoda would act all chiefly and tough and Elodie would go back to Zokkik's room and pretend that she had been hanging out with Konoye or Petak.
Elodie was going to confront Hakoda about her feelings around their secret romance, but it wasn't the greatest timing since they were arriving to their actual destination. Consequently, Hakoda, as well as everyone but her, were quite busy. She was told politely by Zokkik to just stay out of the way. The crew members knew how to effectively and quickly get everything ready to land, and Elodie did not. So, with a huff and mumbling something not so nice, Elodie stayed out of everyone's way. She stayed cocooned in her bed almost the whole day, wanting to die from boredom.
Zokkik's room was completely empty, except for some bandage in case anyone got hurt while loading and moving things and Elodie napping on her bed. She was awoken by a gentle hand touching her head. She opened her eyes slightly and saw Zokkik. She yawned as he said, "Come on, Elodie. We're ready to go." She nodded and stood up before stretching. She grabbed the bag she had packed with few items she owned and Zokkik grabbed her bedding. She trudged out of the room while Zokkik was trying not to laugh at her sleepy form. Her hair was an absolute mess and she had the smallest, yet cutest, pout on her face which worsened when the outside light hit her eyes.
Zokkik led her to the smaller boat they would be taking to shore. It was already in the water, so they would have to climb down a ladder to get to it. As they got closer to it, Konoye's voice called out, "Took you long enough! Hope we didn't interrupt your beauty sleep!" Elodie looked over the ship's edge to see Konoye, Petak, Bato, and Hakoda in the boat she was going to get on. She chunked her bag down, so it hit Konoye right on the chest. He 'oofed' as Elodie started to climb down the ladder to get on the boat, and Zokkik followed. Once everyone was situated and the vessel started moving, Konoye joked, "It doesn't seem like your beauty sleep worked." Elodie glared at him, "I will jump off this boat, purposely sink, and make you jump in after me to save me." Her statement caught the attention of the others and made them laugh, not believing her. Elodie shrugged, "Well, everyone, make Konoye jump in after me." She stood up and acted like she was going to jump into the dark blue water. Konoye gasped and quickly snatched her, pulling Elodie into his lap as everyone watched in shock. It was Elodie's turn to bust out laughing, "I wasn't actually going to do it." Zokkik sighed and put his face in his hands and Konoye started chewing her out as everyone else started to laugh. Well, only one person wasn't really laughing and that was Hakoda. He was not happy that Elodie was still in Konoye's lap.
After everyone was calm, Elodie went to slide off Konoye's lap, but he held onto her, "I don't trust you." She grinned at him, "I promise I won't jump off the boat. I was just joking." Konoye let her get off his lap but kept a very firm hold on the back of her shirt. Elodie and Petak were still giggling over her little stunt, and Zokkik sighed, "Just don't ever do that again. You almost gave me a heart attack." She said cheekily while batting her eyelashes, "I'm sorry." He just rolled his eyes in response.
They soon reached the shore and Konoye finally let go of her shirt. Everyone started to get off the smaller boat, including Elodie. Before she could step off of it, a large hand was held out in front of her. She looked at Hakoda with a slightly shocked face before taking it and letting him help her off the boat, even though she really didn't need help. Her shock grew when Hakoda let his hand linger on her's a little too long to be considered normal. The moment felt nice, but it was over as soon as it started. Elodie quietly thanked him before putting her bag on her shoulder.
Elodie smiled softly as she looked out at the ocean. The sun was just beginning to set and the water was sparkling. She said with just a tinge of sadness in her voice, "I haven't been on a beach in so long. I used to go every summer, but I stopped going when my parents separated." She stopped looking at the water and noticed that everyone was looking at her. She grinned sheepishly, "Didn't mean to say that out loud." Konoye pointed out, "That's the first time you have ever talked about your family." She cleared her throat, "Yeah. I like to keep it that way." They all looked at her questioningly. In the Southern Water Tribe, family was everything to them, so they were shocked by her statement. She quickly changed the subject, "Oh look, I see the tents." She started heading towards the blue tents, and the rest followed her.
Once they reached their new base, Elodie looked around with a slightly confused look on her face. There were definitely more men milling around than normal and there was another boat that wasn't there's at the shore. She whispered to who she thought was Konoye, "Are there different people here or am I just tripping?" The person responded, "Some of the other Southern Water Tribe fleets are meeting us here." She refrained from making a weird noise when she realized that she had asked Bato instead of Konoye. She said sheepishly, "Makes sense..." She really needed to start paying more attention to her surroundings.
Petak and Konoye went to go set up their tent, they were sharing with two other young men, and Bato went to help set up his. He was staying with another man from their crew. Elodie looked up at Zokkik, "Do we have to set up our tent?" He said softly, "About that... I'll be staying with the other healer's and we, unfortunately, need all of the space we have for the injured from the other ships, so you won't be staying with me." Elodie sighed, "Well that sucks." She grinned cheekily, "Does that mean I'll be getting my own tent?" Hakoda's voice came from behind her, "No. You'll be staying in my tent. It's bigger than the others, so we can block off a space for you."
Elodie turned to face Hakoda, who seemed to be hiding a grin. She rolled her eyes at him softly, "Sounds good."
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