What Chris heard had somewhat broken down the walls he had built around his heart, and without even thinking, he shared something that he had never shared with anyone. "At least you grew up with that ability?"
Cecilia turned her head to Chris, puzzled at what he said, "I never had that ability growing up, so imagine my shock...When I first arrived in the Twilight. Ghosts, ghouls, and goblins are all real."
He paused for a bit, looking over the horizon. "I ran and hid and screamed, but everywhere I went, ghosts were floating about, and I nearly lost my mind." Chris chuckled at remembering his first day as captain, "Nobody taught me the things that you knew growing up. Nobody taught me that ghosts are still people, that have feelings."
"What happened? How did you outgrow your fear? How did you get the ghosts to fear you?" Cecilia asked, curious if she could do the same.
Chris smirked a bit before answering. "I mustered the courage to walk among them." He grinned at her bewildered reaction. "As far as I can see, you can already do that now. You just need to keep walking."
They stared at each other, and suddenly, laughter bubbled up between them, breaking the tension like a gentle spring rain. Cecilia lay her head on Chris's shoulder, wrapping her arms around him. The warmth of her touch sent a jolt through him, a feeling he hadn't experienced in almost two hundred years. Instinctively, his hands moved towards her, but he hesitated. In a moment of uncertainty, they curled into fists and dropped back down.
"Oh my word… why am I leaning on his shoulder? And why am I hugging him?" Cecilia's thoughts raced. "I should sit up straight. WAIT! If I move now, he might think I'm awkward. Better just stay like this." Her eyes stole shy glances at Chris.
Chris felt the weight of her head and tensed briefly. "Why is she leaning on me, and why is she hugging me? Should I gently push her away?" His index finger inched toward her temple, hesitation written all over his face. "WAIT! If I do that, she'll think I'm heartless. She already thinks I'm rude enough." Slowly, he relaxed, lowering his hand and settling it on his side, silently welcoming her closeness.
The quiet around them deepened—the soft rustle of the night, the distant hum of the ship—and in that shared space, a fragile, unspoken connection sparked to life, tender and impossible to ignore.
"Oh my gosh!" A woman's voice cut through the solemnness of the moment. Chris quickly pushed Cecilia away and stood up. Cecilia sneered at Chris for pushing her before standing up.
"Chief Murillo, what is it?" Chris asked, his soft features vanished a moment ago, and he turned stern once again.
"Somebody told me that they saw Miss Bermudez here, so I brought her what you asked me," she replied, a slight irritation in her voice upon witnessing the two so close a while ago.
Chris took the small box that Murillo had and presented it to Cecilia. "What is that?" Her gaze scrutinized the box.
"Your pay," Chris answered nonchalantly, before handing it over to Cecilia and leaving the two women
Cecilia, taken aback, couldn't help but ask, "My pay? I thought my pay was with good karma? Ever since I worked here, it doesn't even take half a day for me to sell all the fish. If that is the pay I get, I'm happy with that."
"This is actual pay, something that you could use daily." Murillo shoved the box into Cecilia's hands
"What is this bitch's problem?" she thought to herself. Shifting her focus to the box, she opened it, and what it contained nearly made her jaw drop. "G-gold? A gold bar," she looked at Murillo. "How much does it weigh and how much?"
Murillo's face frowned. "Look at this bitch, a while ago she was crying, now her eyes are brighter than the gold," she thought to herself, "That is one ounce and it costs a hundred and eighty thousand pesos!"
Cecilia almost choked on nothing at all upon hearing how much the small golden bar costs. "Excuse me!" clearing her throat, "Did you just say hundred and eighty thousand pesos?"
Murillo scoffed, turned around, and walked away. "Will this be my steady pay now?" Cecilia called the Chief.
The chief stopped and turned around to address the question, "No!" Cecilia's brows furrowed. "If ever in the future, something like the pet and evil spirit dilemma arises again, and you helped the captain, that will be your compensation." She left after answering the question.
"Gold…real gold!" she bit down on it. "Wow, that hurt my teeth…it is real gold," her eyes reflecting the shimmering precious metal. "I wonder when the next case will be? Good thing I still have my abilities!" She then happily skipped down from the observation deck to her quarters
Chris smiled as he watched the elated woman walk like she was floating. "She is a walking contradiction," he thought. "She was sad that she lost her chance to suppress her abilities, but happy that she still has them."