Bucket lists and sea stories

As soon as Richard and Aria have put their luggage in their room, they went out again to mingle with the other passengers. The yacht has at this already set for sea and the Singaporean shore is quickly disappearing over the horizon. Walking up from the lower to the upper deck, the young couple finds themselves at a bar close to the on-deck pool and hot tubs. Finding it a bit too early to drink, they rather just talk to the few extroverted guests who also didn't feel like spending a long time setting up their room.

"Hey girl!" a blonde white woman with a very loose and short yellow tank top yells and waves at Aria: "Can we holla atcha for a sec?"

The woman is joined by a short Hispanic girl with glasses and braided brown hair who clearly seems uncomfortable about the situation. Aria gives Richard a questioning expression, not certain if she should talk to the energetic woman or not.

"Go on, see what they want." Richard encourages her: "I'll take a look around in the meantime."

Aria walks up to the women, and rest her hands on her hips.

"Hi. Anything I can help you two with?" she asks.

"Oh my gosh, yes! My name is Tiffany and this is Lucia, my best friend in the entire world!" the blonde rambles: "I love her so much, and we're going to have so much fun on this trip! We're going to soak in the hot tub, and get some rays, and make some smores, and flirt with cute guys!"

Smores? On a mega-yacht? Whatever. Aria decides to question the point of the conversation.

"Sounds lovely. What does that have to do with me?" she asks.

"It totes have everything to do with you!" Tiffany replies: "You're step one on our bucket list."

"Excuse me?!" Aria interjects.

"Step one:" Tiffany replies: "Make a new bestie!"

"Tiffany, you can't just decide who to become friends with on a whim like that." Lucia reprimands: "I apologize for her rash behavior."

"It's okay, but I should probably get back to my boyfriend." Aria responds.

"Oh, yes! Your hunk!" Tiffany jovially exclaims while clasping her hands together: "He's, like, step two through sixty-nine on our bucket list."

"You weren't suppose to reveal that to anyone, Tif!" Lucia yells.

"You were trying to steal my boyfriend?!" Aria yells back.

"Egads, no." Lucia responds: "We... we just wanted to share. We like being with couples."

"So you'd want me to join as well?" Aria cocks an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're gorgeous!" Tiffany interjects. Aria feels a blush approaching. Tiffany's earnestness has its charms.

"I don't know..." Aria trails off.

"We can talk about it at our cabin!" Tiffany suggests: "C'mon!"

"What? Right now?"

"Yeah!"

Aria wants to refuse, but is dragged away by Tiffany before she can say anything.

Meanwhile, Richard is enjoying the fresh air of the boat.

"Now that you mention it, it is kinda odd." he overhears a couple talking.

"Yeah, I mean we've been over the entire yacht at this point, but there were no off limit quarters. Where do the staff sleep?"

Richard does indeed find that odd as well. While it is a massive yacht, it is still a yacht. It seems it can barely house a hundred guests, but where does the staff even come from and where do they go? Strange.

Looking over the upper deck, Richard finds one person of interest. It's the 90 year old man he saw earlier. The man is going to town on a pipe, while looking into the sea at the bow of the boat.

Richard approaches him.

"The sea is quite beautiful, isn't it?" Richard asks.

"Aye... that it is, lad. That it is." the man agrees: "I used to be a cap'n meself. But that's decades ago now. Now these old sealegs couldn't commandeer a rowboat much less a fully-rigged brig."

The old man laughs a hearty laugh, and Richard gives a friendly smile.

"Then it must be nice to win a trip on a boat you don't have to lead." Richard continues the conversation.

"Yes. Being on this cruise sure is a trip down memory lane. I met me wife right here, at the shores of Singapore. We used to sail together. I wish I could see her once more, but that is impossible."

Not wanting to pry about the captain's dead wife, Richard instead veers the conversation.

"So you been to Singapore before?"

"Yes, but that was to be my last voyage." the man nods solemnly.

"How come?"

"I was disgraced after I told everybody my story of this trip. No one believed me. Everyone called me crazy." the old man's voice has become hushed and frenzied.

"What did you find?" Richard asks, a slightly worried expression on his face.

"With the direction this vessel is faring, ye might soon find out, my boy." he answers as his face gets closer to Richard's: "There are creatures in the seas of Singapore."

"R-right." Richard nods. The old man moves past him and goes down to the middle deck towards the restaurant.

Richard is left flabbergasted. That man must be crazy, right? Although the conviction of the old man's voice paints a different story.