Catala arrives at Tammy’s room early in the morning and knocks four times. Then she politely stands back.

It takes almost a minute for Tammy to drag himself out of bed and open it. “Avi..?” His eyes are red, and there are deep bags under them.

“My apologies, it’s me.”

“Oh… Oh!” He perks up and adjusts his hair, “umm, Catala, come in.”

She nods politely and enters. “Is your sister not here?”

Tammy looks both ways out of the hallway, but sighs and returns inside. “No. She said she had to go to the bathroom last night, but she never came back.”

Catala giggles in a refined, lady-like way, “perhaps it was all the food she stuffed down her throat yesterday.”

Tammy waves her off, “no, that’s normal.” He thinks up a lie quick, small details are important for deception. “She’s always had a big appetite, and it’s always been really hard to afford.”

“Most unfortunate.” Catala sets her repaired music sheet on the metal stand. She wants to practice with the boy again, but it’s clear he didn’t sleep last night. It takes a moment to steel her nerves, “would you like to go look for her?”

“No, um, it’s fine.” His mind races. Tammy’s a psychic, and he can feel her soul not too far away, surrounded by other souls. She’s active, moving, and he gets the sense that she’s determined and focused. There must be a reason she’s over there. His opinion of her is too high to assume she’s captured and needs rescuing. But how should he explain this lack of action to Catala? Why wouldn’t he go look for her? He needs to think up some reason without revealing his psychic powers.

“Very well, should we begin practice for today?” Catala says before placing a hand on her throat and making a wide range of sounds to loosen her vocal cords.

“…” He looks up at her. “Yes. Let’s.”

Tammy smiles internally, “convenient! She isn’t interested in Avi’s absence at all.”

He climbs the chair to grab his violin, and they begin. Finally matching violin and voice, it’s a beautiful mixture of sound that nearly brings Tammy to tears. Though they only get about half an hour of practice before the rumbling of Tammy’s stomach starts messing with the music.

“Bah!” He throws up his bow, “I can’t work like this. Do you want breakfast, Catala?”

“I ate before I arrived.”

“Then let me just scarf something down real quick.” He climbs the chair to set his violin back into the case, then heads to the fridge. “Aaaaand Avi ate everything in here. Right. Sorry, do you mind coming to the dining hall with me?” He flashes his best, cutest smile.

Catala’s heart wavers. “Of course, Sedric.”

“Huh?”

“Samuel.”

Tammy raises an eyebrow but ignores it and heads to his bag. Sifting through his clothes to find his wallet, “aaaaand all the money is gone. I guess Avi took it.”

Catala narrows her brow, “would you like us to search for her?”

Tammy sighs and tosses his wallet back into his bag. “Nah, she doesn’t do things arbitrarily. There must be a reason for it.”

Tammy purses his lips, “wait, didn’t we come on this ship to kill someone? Maybe she got annoyed by my playing with Catala and started making plans without me. But does she even know which passenger is the admiral? I’ll have to help her… aaaaafter I perform in front of everyone. There’s still plenty of days left on the cruise, after all!”

“Oh well,” Tammy continues, grabbing a cup and heading to the sink.

“I could pay for breakfast. Payment for last night.”

Tammy waves her off as he starts chugging. He finishes the cup and gasps. “It’s fine. I know the tricks to deal with hunger pains; just need some more water and my stomach won’t disrupt the music again.

Catala frowns deeply. Him being so used to hunger that he knows how to mask it is depressing. Finally, he wipes his mouth with his oversized sleeve.

“There! All settled. Now, where were we?”

Catala looks down at him for a moment but faces the stand and prepares to sing.

Meanwhile, Jozou finishes their set and collapses to the side of his bed, gasping for breath.

“Good… job.” He gives the strange girl a thumbs up.

She’s standing on the raised wooden platform, wearing Kizhan’s shoes and her own poofy white shirt and pants, with her oversized shirt pinned to her waist by her belt. She’s sweating from so many hours of effort, but her breath is steady.

The girl taps the ball of her right foot with a kick, then the heel slams down as she raises her left knee. The left leg comes down on the heel first, then the ball a moment later, and finally she slides her left leg out.

Jozou shakes his head, “I’m sorry, I need sleep…”

She does the same maneuver.

“We’ve been at it all night!” He cries. “Aren’t you tired?”

She does it again, as if it’s her only way to communicate.

Jozou hangs his head. His breathing is shallow, and the girl keeps doing the motion over and over. “Fine, just do it! I’ll watch.” He crosses his arms, then gestures to her feet, promoting her to go ahead.

The girl takes a deep breath, then puts on a radiant smile as energy explodes throughout her body. Expert dancing, arms swinging, body twisting and turning in time with an imaginary tune. A passing observer would think she’s been practicing for years. The clicks of Kizhan’s shoes provide enough music to keep her from looking stupid.

Jozou’s band plays on a variety of stages, big and small. The three flute musicians stand in the back, and the two dancers make use of the space available. The platform the girl dances on is a rectangle, with the long side only a bit wider than Kizhan’s legs when she does a split. Doing such a complicated dance on the platform requires perfect precision, drifting too far will lead to her falling off. On stage, it could mean stepping into Jozou’s space.

But the girl performs the routine almost flawlessly, only stopping right before the big finish where she jumps on Jozou’s hands and he throws her into a backflip.

She stops abruptly, staring at him.

“Good,” his tired voice leaks out, clapping. “That’s great. I really wanna sleep now.”

She taps her foot.

“Auuugh,” he gives an exaggerated roll of his head to convey his displeasure. “It’s been like 10 hours or something! I’ve been awake for over 24. This is almost worse than you breaking my friend’s leg!” He pauses to glare at her. “Almost.”

She taps her foot again, then squats and cups her hands in front of her lower stomach.

“…what? You want… you want me to throw you?”

She mimics throwing her hands up.

“Or, do you want to be the one throwing me back? I can’t do it. I’m not as coordinated as Kizhan and I can’t stick the landing consistently.”

She stands normally and taps her foot repeatedly, like she’s annoyed.

“It’d be so much easier if you could speak…”

Her blank face stares at him, then her tail reaches out to coil around his arm. Her strength is far greater than he expects, so she’s easily able to pull him up.

“Fine, fine.” He stands to the side and puts his right leg back a little to brace, then cups his hands by his lower stomach. “Plant your leg here,” he claps his hands, “and I’ll throw you up.” He mimics throwing her up.

The girl stares at him.

“Is there a problem?”

She walks over and grabs his wrists, bending his elbows and turning his palms up as if he’s lifting something.

“Uhh, what do you want me to do?”

She looks at him for just a moment, then walks closer. She turns to the side, leans her back against his left hand, and brings her leg up so the back of her knee rests on his right hand.

“…What the hell are you doing?”

She stands up straight, stomps to Jozou’s side, then sweeps him up in a princess carry. Her right arm under his legs, and her left hand holding up his back.

“Ah! This is what you wanted? Why?” His brow is furrowed and his mouth twisted in a scowl, but when Avi brings her tail around and shoves the needle in his face, he quiets down.

The girl sets him on his feet, then stands in front of him, raising her leg and leaning back.

Jozou puts his right arm under her leg, his left arm supports her back, and he tries to lift her. “H-hm?” He clenches his jaw and strains his muscles, but can barely pull her left foot off the ground. “Wh-what? Why are you..! So..! Heavy?!”

She gets off and backs away. She points to Jozou, then crouches and cups her hand, but only for a moment.

Jozou’s eyes round, and he shakes his head, “no way I can throw you. Is that what you were trying to convey?”

She brings her tail forward, bends the end so she doesn’t stab him, and pushes against his shoulder, turning Jozou to the side. The girl then lines up, running so she’ll pass in front of him. She abruptly stops in front of him, then pushes off hard with her legs, arching her spine into a wonderful backflip. She lands with her feet planted firmly on the carpet. Arching her back immediately, she gives off a radiant smile and raises her arms in a dramatic pose, the rise and fall of her chest exaggerated.

Once the moment passes, her face returns to its usual emptiness, and her breathing goes back to normal. She looks at Jozou.

“That’s… impressive. And scary. How old are you?”

She walks over and grabs his wrists. She moves them in a swirling pattern. The girl backs up, then runs forward.

Jozou gets the idea and grabs her body to give her a fake assist. He touches her shoulder and the back of her thigh, twisting his arms to make it look like he’s helping.

A perfectly executed flip, and she adds a midair spin. She lands on the wooden platform and breaks through the boards with a sharp snap. Despite it, she doesn’t stumble, and stands tall like a gymnast ending her gold-medal routine.

Jozou looks down at his platform, frowning deeply, but the girl kicks off Kizhan’s shoes and puts her skirt on. “Oh, you finally satisfied?” She doesn’t beckon Jozou to follow, just leaves without fuss or fanfare. The poor boy sighs and trudges over to the bed.

It’s not long before he passes out.