There's orange juice in the kitchen, bought for the children it's yours if you want it, we're just glad you could visit

by Corbinfall

Summary:

The albatrio return to Jays home without any serious injuries for the first time, and reconnect with people she grew up with

Chapter 1

Jay paused outside the door to the tavern turning to Chip and Gill, “don’t do anything stupid please, this is the first time that we’ve come back here where one of you isn’t poisoned. Don’t embarrass yourselves”

“Jay we would never do anything like that” Chip put a hand to his chest

“We’ll be good don’t worry” Gill smiled, “I’m excited to meet your mom properly”

She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, the chatter of customers greeted them along with the tantalizing smell of the soup of the day. Immediately someone noticed their entrance, “hey Jay!” a man at a full table called “how you doin?”

“Phil it’s been a while” she smiled making her way over “I’ve been good how about you guys?”

“I've been island bound for two months now I’m losing it” Phil responded

“Oh you’re being dramatic” another man named Dave laughed “we’ve been good, who are these two?” he gestured with a nod towards Chip and Gill who had followed her.

“Oh these are my co-captains, guys these are some of the regulars here I grew up serving” she introduced

“Nice to meet you guys” Chip stuck out a hand “I’m Chip”

“I remember you, you’re the reason she left in the first place” Phil shook his hand, “good on ya for getting her to finally spread her wings” he smiled

“Whats your name fish man?” Dave asked turning to Gill

“My names Gillion Tidestrider, champion of the Undersea, hero of the deep” dipped his head slightly

“Ohh someone with titles, impressive Jay” he nodded, “you know when I saw your wanted poster I thought it was a joke at first, Mays innocent daughter wanted by R.A.F.T but lookin at you I believe it” he reached out and patted her shoulder, “alright we’ll stop holdin you up now go see May.”

She smiled happily “come you guys” she grabbed their wrists and pulled them towards the bar, her mom was chatting to a patron at the end of the bar but her eyes widened as she spotted Jay.

“One minute Barbs” she heard May say as she hurried out from behind the bar, “Jay-Jay!” she gasped hugging her

“Hi mom” she murmured into her shoulder letting go of her friends wrists to hug her mom

“What are you kids doing back here? No more big injuries right?” May pulled herself from the hug still holding onto Jays shoulders, as she glanced at Chip and Gillion

“No nothing this time, I just convinced them to come visit” she explained

“Oh thats good,” she smiled “hi you two, those marks are healing up well Gill”

“Hi Mrs Ferin” Gill smiled, “they really are thank you for healing them”

“Good good good,” she smiled turning to Chip “you’ve been treating my daughter well I hope”

His eyes widened slightly “you should be more concerned over if your daughters treating me right to be honest, she’s a real dick sometimes”

May smiled ruffling Jays hair “well if she’s too much of a jerk you can always send her back here, there’s a job waiting”

“Mom” Jay groaned “they’re stuck with me anyways” she pointed out smoothing out her hair

“I know sweetheart, now I need to get back to my job, you kids go sit down alright”

“We can help!” Chip offered, “it’s the least we can do”

May nodded “Jay-Jay will you go get some supplies for them, you know where of course”

Jay nodded hurrying into the back room, a clothes line full of aprons stood in front of her and she hurried to it. Her hand brushed metal as she was pulling one down and she saw Ayvas name tag, for a second she froze simply staring at it, she shook herself grabbing a different apron and went to go find Chip and Gill again.

“Here” she shoved them into their hands, “be polite don’t start fights, you know how this goes” she shrugged

“Yeah yeah yeah” Chip rolled his eyes pulling on the apron “this is easy work” he headed towards the bar where May handed him a tray of drinks and gestured vaguely to tables,

“Gill why don’t you see if mom needs help behind the bar, you’ve got quite the talent for drink mixing” Jay suggested pulling him along

“You think so?”

“I know so Gill” she nodded “mom Gill can help here at the bar, you might just need to give him so help with whats what” Jay explained,

May turned towards them smiling, “I’d be glad for the help,” she gestured for him to come behind the bar before handing over a tray to Jay “tables three four and seven” she listed

“Got it” Jay nodded hurrying off towards the tables, “hey little Ferin you’re back!”

She smiled placing a round of ale on a table, “ah just for the night Mack,” she responded “back off tomorrow”

“Well good seein ya” he smiled sipping his drink, he handed her a few coins, “for your travels” he added

“Thanks Mack” Jay smiled tucking the coin into her pocket and heading to the next table,

Chip glanced at her as he passed “making friends?” he teased

“Making bank” she answered, flashing him the handful of coins, “something you wouldn’t know how to do.” she added taunting him before hurrying to her next table

A trio of navy soldiers sat at the table all clearly intoxicated already, “heyyy our drinks are here” one of them cheered,

Jay smiled, beating down the panic in her chest as she placed the drinks down, “enjoy” she said hurrying back to the bar. “Those three aren’t gonna tell are they?” she asked quietly to her mom pointing towards the table

“They’ve been here for an hour already they’re wasted” May answered “you’ll be fine”

Jay let out a sigh picking up another tray of drinks, “where to?” she asked

“Three ten and fifteen” she responded

The night continued easily, the keep in a peaceful mood for once. Until the door slammed open and a group of soldiers walked in. Chip was at her side in a second “oh we’re fucked-” he hissed reaching for his rapiers.

Jay nodded, putting her drink tray down and reaching for her gun, silence filled the keep as the first few soldiers recognized them, reaching for their own weapons. Gill hurried out from behind the bar to come stand next to them, “no fighting in my fucking keep!” May ordered slamming a hand on the counter, “I don’t care whose side you’re on, it's not happening in here.” The plants around the room seemed to quiver slightly as she spoke,

“Sorry May new recruits, they don’t get the rules yet” an older woman raised her hand who Jay recognized as Ms. Astra, a R.A.F.T Captain, she began filing the soldiers into the big booth next to the door.

Jay let out another sigh and slid her gun back into its holster “I’ll talk to them” she added turning to Chip,

He nodded “Sure, I’d probably get us in shit” he added, holding out his arm for the tray.

Jay handed it over “just that table there” she added pointing to them before hurrying towards the table of soldiers, “hi there what can I get for you?” she asked smiling politely

“Well I’ll be damned Jay-Jay you’re back” Ms. Astra smiled “good to see you kid, even though I should technically be arresting you”

“It’s good to see you too Ms. Astra, so you got put in charge of bringing the new kids down here?” she asked glancing around the table

She groaned “yeah my turn finally, we’ll just get a thing of ale to share please”

Jay nodded, writing that down, “you want something extra for yourself?” she asked

“I would but it’s not my money” Ms. Astra sighed, she turned to the table and began to explain the truce in the Eagles Den as Jay walked away.

“Everything okay?” Gill asked as she arrived at the bar,

“Yeah we got lucky, the captain with them is Ms. Astra she used to babysit me and Ayva when we were little, she wouldn’t arrest us” Jay nodded “hey mom I need a shared thing of ale for the big table!” she called, May nodded heading towards the back,

Chip approached “so navy soldier, another friend of yours?” he asked placing his empty tray down and handing Gill his list,

“Babysitter,” Jay answered “listen I spent a lot of time in navy bases growing up with my dad I met a lot of people”

“I’ve gotta say that’s come in very handy for saving our asses from getting arrested” Chip pointed out as Gill loaded the last drink onto his tray, “oh yeah and” he held out his palm to reveal gold coins, “I have more then you now”

“How much of that did you steal?” she taunted as May returned carrying a barrel, “I can carry it myself mom” Jay stated taking the barrel from her,

“I didn’t steal any of it” Chip scoffed heading off

“Yeah and do you know where you’re headed with those?” Jay asked heading towards the table, she flashed his notepad smiling. Chip froze for a second before flipping her off, he grabbed the notepad from her full hands and walked away. Jay placed the barrel down besides the table and placed a tower of mugs on top of it,

“Thanks Jay” Ms. Astra smiled, before sneaking a few coins into her hand, “can you get me a glass of gin? And keep the left over coins for yourself” she winked before shooing Jay away.

Chapter 2

As the last few people left the keep Jay stood smiling in the door wishing people she had known growing up a good night. Chip was sitting at the bar talking to her mom who was laughing at something he said. Gill stood next to her looking tired,

“You done for the night Gill?” she asked

“Very much so” he answered yawning, she smiled putting an arm around him and guiding him back to the bar,

“You really are quite the problem causer Jay-Jay” her mom smiled at her as she sat down,

Jay glanced between her and Chip “half of what he just said was probably a lie” she responded “cause we all cause a lot of problems but he probably causes the most” she shot a look at Chip who stuck his tongue out in response.

“Well no matter, you’ve all done very well for yourselves” she placed bowls of soup in front of them “for your help tonight” she explained “enjoy,”

Jay smiled happily at her mom for a moment before she began to eat, it was the first proper meal any of them had eaten all day being too distracted with travel, silence filled the room.

“So Mrs Ferin” Gill started

“Please just call me May, Mrs. Ferin is too formal” May smiled

“So May, what was Jay like growing up?” he asked

“Well Jay-Jay was always tinkerer, she used to take things apart to try and remake them, and she and Ayva used to always be problem causers for the navy” she chuckled “their father called me one day when he’d taken them with him begging me to come get them because they’d ended up in their uncles office and had drawn on his walls.” she glanced towards Jay “this one was always the worst of the two, she figured out how to pick locks after a while and nearly got banned from the base after that.”

Chip patted her on the back “so nothing really changed for ya then has it Jay-Jay?” he asked smiling

She rolled her eyes turning more towards Gill, “I could have told you that Gill, I’m not hiding my past or anything”

He nodded “I just wanted to ask her” he shrugged “you wouldn’t tell us something like you nearly getting banned from a R.A.F.T base”

“Cause I barely remember that,” she responded feeling her ears warm up slightly

“Well tell us something Jay” he prompted

“I lost my Ferin pin once after I fell into some bushes and instead of asking for another one I…” she glanced towards her mom who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow “mom this was seven years ago, keep that in mind” she smiled at May “I stole a pin from Ayva and she had to ask for a new one instead”

“Jay Ferin.” May shook her head “that is not how you were raised to behave”

“I was a idiot teenager mom I didn’t really think” she could hear the other two laughing behind her, “no, you two don’t get to laugh, one of you” she pointed at Gill “tosses money overboard for fun and you” she pointed at Chip “I don’t have any evidence of you doing it but I know you’ve stolen my shit before.”

“No proof no clause” Chip answered shrugging

“And that money I’ve tossed overboard kept us from getting attacked by the tax collector” Gill added,

Jay shook her head, placing it down on the counter. May laughed once more “Jay this of course is an automatic thing for you, you’re my daughter and this place will be yours one day anyways. But if you two ever need a job once you finish pirating there’ll be something here for you” she explained.

“Thats very kind Mrs. Ferin” Chip murmured “I’ll keep that in mind”

“Yeah this would be a good place to live” Gill agreed

May smiled ruffling Jays hair again “I’m gonna head to bed, you know your way around of Jay-Jay”

“Night mom!” she called as May disappeared into the back, “thanks you guys for coming back here”

“Jay we’ve literally been dragging each other and our crew around the ocean coming to your home and having a peaceful night is a good change” Chip smiled

“Plus your mom is such a kind woman” Gill added, “and it was nice to teach someone else a few Undersea drink recipes” he smiled slightly

“Still, thank you guys” Jay smiled back.

They were quiet for a while enjoying a few drinks from Jay's secret supply she had left behind, Chip raised an eyebrow at her as she pulled the bottle from its hiding spot in the floorboards, “what? I bought this in the city with my own money for special occasions” she explained dusting it off, the amber liquid sloshed around inside, “tonight feels like a good occasion”

“You lived in a bar and hid that under the floorboards?”

“Mom would have used it for patrons, so hiding it worked” Jay answered pouring three shots,

“What is it?” Gill asked picking up the bottle

“I don’t really remember, some kind of whisky” she answered “ready?” she asked, picking up one of the glasses.

Chip and Gill picked up the other ones “alright,” Chip nodded “one”

“Two” Gillion seemed to brace himself slightly

“Three.” Jay tipped it back feeling the strong liquor enter her throat, it burned to the point her eyes water for a moment, she could see the others exchanging similar looks, “yeah I’ve never been one for something as strong as that” she coughed after a moment, “maybe we’ll just tuck this here…” she put it on the wrack of other drinks

“I think thats enough events like that for tonight, I’m going to bed” Gill stood up

“Yeah” Chip yawned “a bed sounds good”

Jay nodded “come on let's head up to me and Ayvas old room.” she led them up the small staircase to the farther door down the hall, the room was how she had left it months before, cozy and small, it’s where they had spent many nights waiting for their dad to get off work and take them home.

Gillion instantly collapsed into one of the beds not even bothering to take off his armour. “Okay I guess that beds taken” Chip muttered,

“You can have the other one” Jay offered, “I’m not tired yet and I’ve spent more nights then I can count on that couch so it really doesn’t bother me”

Chip smiled slightly “make sure you get some sleep okay? Good night Jay”

“I will don’t worry” she smiled back leaving as he began to take off his gear, she headed towards the other room in the hall and knocked. May appeared after a moment holding a book under her arm “can you braid my hair?” Jay asked

“Of course” May smiled, pulling her daughter into the room and sitting her down on the floor at the foot of her bed, “still can’t braid your own hair?”

“No, I can braid Chips and Gills but besides tiny braids I still can’t” Jay answered shifting slightly to get more comfortable.

May ran her hands through Jay hair gently to untangle it, “your hairs gotten so long” she smiled again “almost as long as it was before you joined R.A.F.T”

“Yeah, the guys convinced me to grow it out, and since I’ve stopped wearing it up, it just felt right” she explained, “and its fading too,” she added staring at herself in the mirror across from them, her more natural rusty orange “I haven’t dyed it in so long”

“I’ve always loved your natural colour” May explained as she began to braid “it’s a nice mix of mine and your dads, I’m just glad to see it.” They were both quiet for a few moments until May spoke again, “I know I kept talking about you coming home but Jay, please know I’m so proud of everything you’ve done”

“Thanks mom, I’m glad Chip found me and I’m glad he convinced me to go” she smiled.

“I’m glad he convinced you too, I could tell you were miserable here, you seem so much freer now. Like you’ve finally spread your wings” she added, “my little Jay birds learned to fly finally I guess.”

“I wouldn’t have learned anything without you, dad and Ayva” she pointed out, “and I guess Gill and Chip have been influences too” Jay added after a moment to think,

“Thats what life is, it’s just constant influences” May murmured “we learn from those around us, and they learn from us.” her hands stopped moving and she tilted Jays head up slightly, “you wouldn’t know it but you had quite the influence on that navy when you were little, even just the regulars in general, they loved seeing you and Ayva run around trying to help out” she smiled again grabbing the Ferin pin that had been sitting next to her, and pinning it in Jays hair, “there you’re done”

Jay smiled reaching up to touch her hair that was now neatly braided, she turned to May “thanks mom” she hugged her tightly “I love you”

“I love you too Jay-Jay, now off to bed alright?” she directed Jay towards the door smiling.

Jay walked back down the hall feeling lighter than she had in weeks, it was quiet in the room besides Chip snoring, with a yawn she dropped onto the couch and closed her eyes, letting sleep surround her.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of JRWI One-shots