The Lore Wain and Her Nephew Pt. 22

"Yes, I remember." Celeste raised an eyebrow, "But why is that a problem?" "... It's too personal for Zarabean to explain right now..." Zarabean seemed to mutter. "Perhaps it's time to turn in for the night." Celeste looked at him with concern before shrugging it off. "Alright, Bean..." Zarabean looked over at Cynthia, "Let me show you where the crew sleeps." He said hopping off the desk and heading to the door. Cy followed him. "Goodnight, you two." Celeste said softly as she placed Echo into the basket and tucked him in. Echo cooed softly before closing his eyes. Zarabean softly smiled at the sound of Echo and looked up at Celeste. "Goodnight, Celeste." He said before leaving the Captain's cabin. Cy waved at Celeste before following Zarabean out. Most of the crew had already begun retiring into the lower cabin by the time Zarabean and Cy had left Celeste. Zarabean passed by Ramger, who grimaced at him like he had a booger hanging out of his nose. Zarabean paid him no mind, too focused on his own thoughts. Ramger saw Cynthia follow behind the ridgerunner and his eyes widened for he recognized her. "Princess Cynthia?" He muttered under his breath. Ramger would of interacted with her if it hadn't been for her scary looking claws and her company. Zarabean led Cynthia back down below deck and into the lower cabin where everyone slept. There were hammocks hanging horizontally along the wall with some bed rolls on the floor near the center of the room. Zarabean wasted no time hopping into a hammock with a cute little "Z" embroidered into it. "Pick yourself a hammock or bed roll, Cy." He said before curling up in his hammock. Cynthia nodded and chose a bed roll close to Zarabean's hammock. She crawled into it and laid down. Zarabean tossed her one of his pillows. "For your head. The ground is rather flat." Cynthia was hit in the face with the pillow but she giggled in response and tucked the pillow under her head. "Thank you, Bean..." Ramger stared at the two interacting before looking at his options for sleeping arrangements. He didn't appear to appreciate the sleeping accommodations but chose a hammock a good distance away from the ridgerunner. Just as Ramger was struggling to climb into the hammock, Nibble came up behind him. "Hey, fancy pantsss. That's my sssling." Nibble said non-threateningly. You would of thought Ramger's soul left his body with the scream he unleashed. The scream caused Nibble to have to cover the sides of his head and hiss. "Ssstop your screaming! I wasn't gonna bite you!" The sound of rushing footsteps were heard overhead and within seconds made their way down the steps and into the lower cabin. The source of these footsteps was Kinabrick, who heard Ramger's concerning scream. He ran at Nibble with his sword drawn but quickly stopped upon observing that Nibble wasn't doing anything wrong. Nibble huffed, "Sssheesh, I was just saying that you were in my hammock. Some of my ssscalies are in there." He said with a flick of his tongue. Ramger looked around the hammock and found himself touching some shedded fang scales within. He let out another scream and fell out of the hammock face first. Nibble broke out into laughter. "That'sss why I was trying to warn you!" Kinabrick sheathed his sword and helped Ramger up from the ground. Ramger stood to his feet, holding his big nose. "S-stop your laughing! You might of introduced yourself properly before scaring me senseless, you brainless lizard!" Nibble stopped laughing. "Excuuuussse me, mister high pants." He pointed at the embroidered "N" on the side of the hammock. "'N' stands for 'Nibble', which is my name." Ramger glanced at the "N" and then back at Nibble. Clearing his throat, he responded, "So it does. I'll just pick another hammock then!" "Fine by me." Nibble cackled and climbed into his hammock without another word. Kinabrick looked at Ramger, "With the way you screamed, I thought the fang was eating you alive. Must you be so dramatic?" Ramger looked deeply offended, "Kinabrick!" "Don't yell at me. Our accommodations are less than ideal but we shouldn't squander them." Kinabrick headed back to the door. "I will be talking with the sir driving this ship if you need me." He said before leaving. Ramger's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he found a hammock without embroidery on it and climbed into it with a lot of difficulty. Alagatha soon entered the lower cabin munching on some crackers just as Ramger got settled. Unfortunately for Ramger, her hammock was the hammock right next to his. He could hear her munching in his ears. As politely as possible, he addressed her. "Ma'am, mind you chew those a little quieter please? I'm having a hard night and I'd love some quiet." Alagatha stopped chewing for a moment before responding with her mouth full, "No prob'm. I was almost done with this bit anyways." With that, she quieted down her chewing to the best of her ability. She hadn't realized she was chewing so loud. "Thank you." Ramger said as he laid there in his hammock with sadness. He thought about the day and how much of a failure he had been. He thought about the rebellious Celeste that somehow contributed to the havoc. He thought about this crew of misfits and deplorables and how he wished he had been blessed with a more tasteful crew. Ramger could have kept going on and on with these thoughts but he stopped himself, knowing it would only make matters worse. Trying to think of nothing, he closed his eyes in silence to sleep.