11 Vol 1. pt. 11 Patch 3.0: To the City of Pirates! (1/2)

Serra and Oleander have made their way back to the beach just in time to see both Bonekraka and Fenrir fall to the ground, stomachs distended from what they can only assume is a massive amount of crab.

”It's worth becoming like a corgi,” Fenrir says to Bonekraka. The orc burps and raises a hand for Fenrir so that they may fist-bump one another.

”Hey! You guys ate without us! Come on, we spent all that time getting enough stuff for a fire!” Oleander shouts, dropping the wood gathered in his arms on top of Bonekraka's stomach. This causes the orc to burp again.

Behind the two bloated men lie crab carcasses picked clean of meat. There's still a pile of sixteen legs and three claws which have yet to be deprived of their meat, but that doesn't matter to the two who have been gathering materials for a fire while the others ate.

Serra stands next to Fenrir with a very unimpressed look on her face. It's similar to when she was pretending to be upset about Oleander's flirting with him, but this time she doesn't drop the expression after a few seconds. She's actually bothered this time. Fenrir feels like he's being scolded without her saying even a single word.

It doesn't take Fenrir long to realize why she would be upset. After what he said about having a crab dinner under moonlight with her, he'd be upset if he was in her shoes. It's not like he wasn't looking forward to eating with her. However, when faced with delicious crab and a feral appetite, it was simply too hard to wait.

”... my bad. Sorry, I screwed up,” Fenrir apologizes. ”I'll make it up to you two by making the fire, alright?”

”I'm definitely not making it,” Oleander says, voice full of annoyed sass.

Serra drops the wood and other materials in her arms onto Fenrir, pouts, and walks off with Oleander.

Fenrir looks at Bonekraka. Bonekraka immediately looks away.

That's about right. Brushing the materials off of himself, Fenrir gets up, gathers all of the wood and other materials by himself, and starts building a large enough bonfire to cook the crab legs in.

Given how massive the crab legs are, the two smallest party members were only barely able to collect enough wood for Fenrir to make a large enough fire. At least he doesn't have to worry about a firepit since they're on the beach.

A few minutes later and Fenrir has got the bonfire all set up. He's gone for making it wide instead of tall so that they can lay the legs down on top of it, but even so, only a few of the legs are actually going to fit on it. Then again, Oleander and Serra are both small, so he doubts they need to eat much in the first place.

He's just worried about Oleander and Serra, mainly Serra. He hates that he's already done something wrong to his new friend after just a few hours of knowing her. Who would want to stay friends with somebody who screws up that quickly? Well, it wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened. All he can do now is try and apologize some more before she believes he's even worse.

Fenrir turns around to call to the two and bumps right into Serra.

”Sorry! Didn't know you were standing right there. You alright?” Fenrir asks. Great, first he ate without her, and now he's almost knocked her over!

Serra looks down during her response, ”I – I'm sorry. I… was mad you ate without us, but I didn't even help during the fight, so… I'm sor—”

She feels a large, warm hand come to rest on top of her head. A blush immediately takes to her face as she looks up at Fenrir with quivering eyes.

”No, you don't have anything to apologize for. I was the one who proposed a crab dinner under moonlight,” he wants to cringe just from thinking about it, ”so I shouldn't have eaten without you. I'm sorry.”

Serra can feel her heart fluttering within her chest. It's an uncomfortable feeling, but not an entirely unpleasant one. ”Thanks… but I still didn't help in the fi—”

”I told you I'd be here to protect you if it ever comes to that, didn't I? I'm a man of my word, so you shouldn't be apologizing for me keeping my vow.”

That fluttering sensation is growing even more uncomfortable. Her face is burning red and she can't even find the strength to look him in the eyes right now.

”I've got to go apologize to Olly, and then I'll be back and start the fire. Stay put and I'll have some nice crab legs ready for you two in no time!” Fenrir says with a wide smile and a thumbs-up. All Serra manages to reply with is a nervous nod. His smile disappears as soon as she can't see him anymore. With a racing heart, he can't stop thinking about what he just said. Was his apology good enough? Should he have let her apologize even though he doesn't believe she should? He doesn't know.

Fenrir runs over to where Oleander is still pouting at. However, as soon as he gets close, Oleander turns around with a teasing grin. ”You sure made setting up that flag for you easy! I had a feeling you and Boney were going to eat, but I didn't know you'd eat that much!” Oleander says.

”Wait, what?” Fenrir asks.

”Oh, nothing! Don't worry about it. Is the fire ready?”

Fenrir eyes the suspicious boy. ”Yeah... just need to start it.”

”Perfect! Alright, let's head back.” Oleander looks suspiciously pleased about something. He holds his hands together behind his back as he walks, and there's a little skip in his step. He's even whistling! Fenrir tries figuring out what Oleander was talking about, but he isn't able to figure it out by the time they reach Serra and the bonfire.