5.
Aboard the
Sea Dragon, Nisa Bay, Florida
The horns sounded powerful in the air, soon answered by a chorus from several of the other harbored ships, as world’s largest cruiser left the pier.
When the ship finally completed the first maneuvers, and she turned in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean, then the passengers could appreciate the full view of Nisa Bay.
And although King Lindberg did enjoy the view, it was far better while snuggling in his wife’s arms, both dogs relaxing in the balcony of their suite.
“I can’t wait to explore the ship,” Bailey said. “I want the pups to learn everything about her.” It could’ve sounded as a strange request, but again it happened that somehow their spirits were in occasional contact with their parents. Far as King knew, Rook, Lira and MacKenzie could actually come to the light with extra notions. And he didn’t mind it a bit. “Fair enough. After the lunch with the Captain, we’ll burn some calories walking around. Sounds nice?”
He got an extra squeeze in return and a kiss on his head fur. “Aw, you’re so thoughtful. And I saw in the brochure, that there is a pool too! We could take a dip after we’re done with the walk…" Then her voice dropped to that husky tone which never failed to send pleasant shivers down his back. "And I have an idea about building some appetite before lunch, hon,” she added with sweet malice, while tilting her head for a kiss. King’s snout bent to meet hers…and both stopped with a start when someone
s
c
r
e
a
m
e
d
behind them!
“Max..?” King said, for a moment fearing this was all a dream and that he was back in the Gardens.
And there he was. The rogue black cat, falling down to the sea!
Immediately, King and Bailey left their chair to lean out the balcony and watch the hapless figure’s fall…breaking itself against a large safety net.
“You actually tossed me down the ship! Are you CRAZY?!” Max screamed from his most awkward predicament.
Then both dogs looked up and saw a furious Grape Jelly Sandwich leaning out so much that she could’ve easily fallen, wasn’t for Peanut holding her.
“You can bet I DID, you lummox! What are you doing here?!”
“I just wanted to have fun and visit an island! Is that a CRIME now?!”
“It is, especially when you hide in my husband’s baggage! There is a reason you weren’t invited! This is a R-O-M-A-N-T-I-C trip! And you won’t spoil it!”
“Fine! But don’t you guys come running to me when you start to get bored!”
The safety net retreated, and Maxwell was dragged inside the ship’s bowels, just as the horn sounded one last time goodbye to the mainland.
“About time, you guys!” the cat complained, getting off. “After such a shock, I really need me something like a warm soup. Man, it is cold outside—Well, what you looking at?”
Three humans in security outfits, and as many coal-black Newfoundlands, stood around the stowaway. And they didn’t look happy.
Max scoffed and smoothed his arms fur. “Look, guys, never heard of last minute cruises? I just was in such a hurry, that I forgot to bring my credit cart. But don’t worry, I’m sure Mr. Foster will cover all expenses, you just ask him. And now, if you’ll excuse me…” He started to walk away…and crashed into a canine abdominal wall. Dog smell, ew, how could Grape or Sabrina like that was still beyond him.
Rubbing his nose, Max just motioned the dog to scoot over. “Did you hear me, meatloaf head? Foster. Rich guy. Animal lover. Aboard. Pay.”
A human hand squeezed the cat’s shoulder. The hand of the security chief. “Sir, until we check your credentials, since you are an unregistered passenger, we’ll have to detain you. Do you wish me to call your owner?”
Maxwell decided that he’d rather considering jumping
into a shark. Without a chainsaw. Immediately, he thought out, <Ah, my cosmic sweetie, would you consider help me out here? Dunno, a ticket? A massive brainwash? A big ball of fire? A Senator?>
<Sorry, no can do, my precious one,> came the answer from Spirit Dragon, straight into the cat's mind.
<I had warned you about running after your two exes. This time, you’re on your own.>
Max’s shoulders sagged. Girls: Pick up
one time to get jealous..! He didn’t pose resistance as he was led toward the detention area…
---
They knocked at the door. It opened a moment later. “Did someone ordered 2 K-sitters Specials?” Felix said, leaning in with Lucky.
“YAYYY!” the Sandwich kittens yelled, while running to the couple.
“Can you make it for the lunch?” Grape asked, while holding to Peanut. “I don’t need any—“ She was interrupted by a white-furred finger gently placed on her lips.
“Princess,” Lucky said. “We’ll all be there in time and with enough appetite to need a table for our own. Now you guys have fun, okay?” He winked at his old-time friend, making her blush slightly.
“Come on, guys,” Felix said. “Bet you never played lazer-tag.”
“Come to think of it, I could use it too,” Grape said. She then patted Peanut’s back. “Sorry, hon, but I guess I feel too wired anyway for snuggles. We’ll save it for after the lunch.”
Peanut nodded. “Oky! To be honest, I am too excited myself. Plus, I can’t wait to show my family to the world!” He pecked his cat wife’s cheek. “Too pretty to hide in a royal suite.”
Felix threw Lucky a sour eye. “Why won’t you be that nice with me?”
The poor Malamute went all puppy-sadface on him. “B-but I—“ he then fumed at Peanut. “Can you at least try and be that cute when
he ain’t around?”
It was then that all ears perked up at the sounds coming from the adjacent suite. “What the--?” Lucky wondered. The cabins were soundproof-certified, or so the brochure said. And yet there it was, the long and modulated howl/murring of canine pleasure.
The pets walked into the corridor, discovering that King and Bailey too were out, drawn by curiosity themselves.
“It’s like when Mom scritches me,” Peanut said, “but…wow. Whoever’s doing it, he must be really good.”
“Isn’t that Martin’s suite?” King asked…just as the languid howls turned into a staccato of high-pitched whines.
“This is when I usually start kicking my legs,” Peanut said.
The climax was covered by the ship’s horn, for which Grape was grateful.
Martin, his eyes still ruffling Aldebaran’s tummy fur, looked with surprise, envy and a bit of jealousy at the spectacle of his other dog laying sprawled, his leg still slightly kicking, tongue all lolling out, and panting like after a good exercise. One could hear Antares’ heart beating from a distance.
“What?” Maud said, kneeling over the sturdy canine, patting his chest. “You said it, Martin: ‘Love me, love my dogs’, right?”
The poor man almost made a face. “I guess I did, But I didn’t imagine that--?”
“What? That I’d be good at petting a dog?” She sighed, lay herself down next to Antares and hugged him, but still looking at the human. “Good old stereotypes: Daughter of a zillionaire = Ice Queen.”
Martin too lay himself down to give a good hug’n’pet to Aldebaran. “No offense meant, milady, but Gauss and Curie don’t just give the idea of being happy dogs.”
Her fingers dug into the big black dog’s muscled neck, massaging it. “Oh, dear: That’s because father took them for the sole purpose of being my bodyguards. He personally selected them and supervised their training. Their idea of petting doesn’t go further than a friendly ruffling. I mean, they are good dogs, we have fun together, we play games, but in the end it’s a job relationship. Your boys, on the other hand, hmmm…Made for hugs. I wish you guys had brought your cub with you.”
“No way, they are just playin’ Cupids,” Martin ruffled his dog’s head. Aldebaran had the decency to blush. “Is it a coincidence that you chose a cruise date when there’ll be a
Serenissima-theme masque ball, hm?”
Maud laughed out loud at that. “Oh my dog! You have raised them smart for sure, kind Sir! What will be next? A table on the bow with candlelight and our own waiter?”
Antares cleared his throat, blushing a lot through his black fur.
---
“Pool, yay!” Dayshaun’s eyes went wide at the sight of the ‘kids-n-pups’ reserved area. A moment later, he dove in, his collar falling behind.
“Hey, we were going to play lazertag!” Parnok protested. “And we’re cats, we’re
supposed to hate water!” But by now he was being largely ignored in favor of water fights.
Lucky sighed. “I guess I’ll have to stay with him. You guys go and have fun—“
“I beg your pardon, Sir?” said a female Labrador. She wore a ‘LIFE GUARD’ jacket with the name AMANDA printed on it and looked fit to fight sharks. “You don’t have to fear about groups splitting. Here aboard, we have all the staff and security system to make sure that we can keep track of the little ones 24/7. Plus, we are highly trained to take care of the kittens’ needs. And if you can’t come back and pick them up, just tell us when and where you want them to be brought to. The company hires only the best, as chaperones come.”
Lucky kept thinking that Grape could not share such view…but he so wanted to play lazertag with the others…
Felix patted his back. “Don’t worry, beefy pup: I’ll make sure to earn some points for you too. And then, it’s not that we’ll play all the day, just long enough to build an appetite before the lunch. Oh, and after all you’re such a klutz at that game.”
Amanda chuckled. Lucky almost growled at the red tabby. “Hey! I’m still the fastest runner in our team!”
“Yes but you can’t
dodge! If we two played against the Four Furies here, you’d be out in a heartbeat.” He ruffled Nutella’s and Louise’s heads. “While I know they’re the best dodgers! We’ll make a great team, the others won’t stand a chance!”
No one noticed Parnok whispering to Tarot,
“You can still pull that invisibility act, right?”
“Consider it done,” came the quiet reply.
---
Ok, so King
had to admit it to himself: He had wanted to show Bailey everything the ship could offer in terms of entertainment because the human in him wanted to boost and impress the country girl.
That was proving to be a potentially fatal mistake.
Bailey just looked like she had won a lottery, as she walked through the
fitness center. “This is so
awesome! We can keep in shape for our excursion and not waste a day! Ohh, lookit there! They also have a Spa for after we’re done!”
Although King didn’t share his wife’s enthusiasm for physical exercise, he liked that humans and animals were doing their training sessions in the same environment. It was funny to see humans’ skin glistening with sweat while dogs and cats just panted to cool themselves. The sounds and smells were overpowering, testosterone was like a solid entity. It made him feel…well, competitive. He actually felt drawn to do something to prove his maleness!
And yet, his first words to Bailey’s statements were, “Actually, we could just go and relax before lunch. We’ve got the time to come back and—“
“Whassup, Lady? Tramp’s trying to keep a good dog down?” said a merry voice behind the couple.
The kind of voice, King knew even before turning, that belonged to the local show-off.
And there he was, a big, grey Tamaskan boy, a towel resting around his neck, just like the Rottie standing near to him. “It’s cute that you brought your pup to see how grownups work out, Lady,” the Tamaskan went on. He flashed Bailey a grin Maxwell would’ve been proud of. “Name’s Gregor. He’s Josiph.” The rottie just nodded at her. “And we both know how to have fun. What yer name?”
The Malamute smiled amiably at the couple of self-claiming hunks. “Name’s Bailey Lindberg, and the pup here is my hubbie.” She showed them her ring. “And
he knows how to have fun better than you
ever will. Now do a roll and be good puppies. Hm?”
Josiph chuckled. Gregor almost snarled at that. He addressed the female with what could be described as ‘aggressive leer’. “Wow, ‘Miss Lindberg’, you surely know how to cut with that tongue. But I bet you can use it for something better. Kissing, for example. Wanna me show ya how?” And he pouted his lips out.
And it was then than King tapped at the big dog’s knee. Gregor gave him a weird look, like someone who just noticed something dirty under his own feet
[Alt-Txt: No, King is not that short, but *I* was short on jok--*brick’d*]. “What, kid? Adults are bein’ busy.”
The Corgi just motioned him with a finger to bend down. “Just want to try a thing, big boy. Humor me.” He added a confident smile, sure that Gregor would obey.
And the Tamaskan did, bringing his snout in front of the smaller dog’s. “So? Wanna show me teeth?”
A shake ‘no’ of the head. “Not exactly.”
King’s uppercut was a blur, it moved that fast! It connected with the bigger dog with a
kaCHINgo that echoed through the center, and for a moment drawing the general attention as everyone stopped to watch.
Death came with a rustle of her sportwear robe and grabbed Gregor by his feet, dragging his inert form away. King massaged his fist. “It was true then: Beefy hunk, glass jaw.”
Prudently Josiph didn’t say a thing as the couple walked away, Bailey’s arm in his. “This so calls for extra snuggles. At the Spa,” she said, pride dripping from her voice. “Cute
and alpha, what’s not to love in you?”
“
And thoughtful. Look.” He showed her something he was holding in his right paw.
Bailey went all fangirl at the sight, wagging her curly tail. “Ooohh, trophy teeth! You know how to spoil a girl, you!”
---
Back at the security ward, the woman keeping a check on the only prisoner aboard the ship was looking nervously at the monitor, which displayed a black cat walking in circle in the middle of his cell, obviously and frantically talking to the bed, accompanying his muted monologue with an elaborated gesturing of arms.
“Ah, Jack, have you been talking to the cat’s owner? This fella’s giving me the serious creeps.”
The man in uniform and beret put the phone down. “That guy told me he’ll pay if we keep him under lock’n’key for the next two years. He said he’ll double if we took his dog too. He sounded happy. Oh, and Foster put the DND on his suite’s phone.”
The woman sighed. “Great, another candidate for Liberation. I’ll never understand my peers. Present company excluded.”
“Draggie. My beloved, creative, funny and SCALY BACKSTABBING WITCH! I came aboard craving for adventure, not to get bored to death! This is SO unconstitutional! It’s even against any basic animal rights! And have you
tasted the food?!”
<I saw they brought you canard a l’orange, baked potatoes filled with meat and apple pie,> said the reptilian, anthropomorphic entity sitting on the bed. An entity visible only to Maxwell.
“No cream scoop!” the cat protested. “And no catnip! How can a poor cat enjoy a meal without some catnip to help digestion?!” Then he fell to his knees, paws joined in prayer. “Please please pretty please, my goddess! Let me out of here and I promise I will get on the nerves of the Captain only!”
Dragon shook her head.
<If it is adventure you crave, my love, then adventure you will find. You will be quite busy.>
Max raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Why do I feel there’s a catch?”
Dragon’s hand reached over and caressed his cheek, although the spiritual flesh passed through him with a display of sparkles.
<No catches. And I will make sure that a friend of mine will keep an eye on you and your friends’ safety.>
Max blinked. “Friend? Like your ex-boyfriend? The guy who spoiled Pete’s plans?”
A chuckle.
<No, not him. This one’s a much nicer guy, you’ll see.>