Edited thank god!

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"Housework can kill you if done right."

― Erma Bombeck

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"KEEP ON SCRUBBING," Helene muttered to herself as she dipped the mop into the water and put it against the wooden floor once again. "Keep on scrubbing or captain will throw you out."

Cas chuckled from beside her where he was washing the windows. "That's right, Hel. Keep on scrubbing."

"Ah, my new motto. I'm versing my enemy and I'll tell them, 'keep on scrubbing.' They'll only think I'm a psychopath, but that's okay, right?" she gritted her teeth and stood up, leaning on the mop and brushing strands of golden hair out of her eyes.

Cas stopped polishing the windows and turned to her. "I feel like a maid."

"I know right! Like, I'm not here to clean, I am here on a mission." Helene growled, "But here I am, scrubbing the freaking floor like it's my job."

"Maybe we can ditch-"

"Don't even think about it." Came a deep reply from behind them. Both whirled around to see who it was.

It was the captain, his dark skin glistening with sweat as he stood under the sun. He wore khaki pants and no shirt, his belly rolling out a bit. He rubbed his left hand over his face, trying to get rid of the sweat.

"Captain." Cas sent him an innocent smile. "How are you?"

"Great, thank you for asking." He gave him an innocent look back. "The reason you are also cleaning is because we are nearly there and we need this ship to be clean by the time we get there."

"Don't you have your actual servants working on this?" Cas muttered as he squinted his eyes.

The captain glared. "There are no servants on this ship. We don't keep any. There are only people here who do this work because it's their job."

"And it's not ours!" Helene protested.

The captain turned his glare towards her. "Do you know you lot are on this ship for free? The cost would have been near millions for every single one of you. This ship isn't cheap. It takes you to the exact location, no stops and no detours. This is just a tiny payment for what you're getting and everything that has been provided for you. If it wasn't for the King and Queen's request, you wouldn't be here."

Helene felt guilty and sighed, "Okay, we're sorry. Thank you for everything and we should get back to work."

"Huh?" Cas shot her the most confused look at her politeness but nodded, "Yes, sir."

The captain nodded, licking his lips and scratched his head. "Okay, okay. Hurry up."

Helene grunted as she dipped the mop back into a bucket full of water and soap and brought it back onto the floor, once again starting her scrubbing.

Cas followed, taking the light blue towel in his hand which was slightly dirty from the scrubbing of the windows and dipped it into a bucket that sat beside him. Squeaky noises sounded as he cleaned away, followed by the light thuds of Helene's strokes as she scrubbed the floor. It left a wet streak, shining and clean. The floor looked sparkly due to the water and much more cleaner then it was before.

It made Helene feel a little better about herself as she made the floor cleaner for people to walk on. Maybe, when they got to Ethele, the mortals would agree to their alliance because they were so clean.

"Remind me, why aren't we going on a plane again?" Cas sucked in a deep breath and let it out loudly.

Helene bit her lip as she tried to calm down her heavy breathing, "So we don't get shot down by enemies. And plus, there is a royalty here. Stranger danger."

"Seriously? I wouldn't worry too much if Legion fell off the plane."

Helene shot him an incredulous look, "If plane gets shot, everyone falls, genius."

Cas snorted. "Okay, so what? What if this ship gets blown up? We'll drown in the water if we make it pass the bombing."

"We have Ella for that." She shot him a secret smile full of memories of when they were younger. Whenever they went to a pool, they depended on Ella to save them if they drowned.

Helene remembered once when both families had gone to the beach to enjoy the summer back when she was 12. She had accidentally went too far and was about to drown when she felt someone dragging her out, muttering how stupid and how blind she was. It was scary then, but funny now.

"I need food," Cas complained as he moved to the next window, the one above where she was mopping. "Excuse me, but please mop that place later. Preferably, after I'm done cleaning the window."

Helene rolled her eyes but moved.

Cas let out an exaggerated gasp. "You've been acting really nice lately. Everything okay?"

"Yes. I'm perfectly fine." Helene stood up, hands on her hips. "Now, move."

Cas finished cleaning the window above her and moved down, pushing the pail of water along with him with his feet. The water spilled a little on the floor and Helene quickly used her mop to make it disappear.

They worked silently for the next hour or two, scrubbing and cleaning, making sure the place was spotless. By the time she was done, she was sweating and breathing very hard, leaning against a wall with her mop in the bucket and her hands on her head, constantly wiping off sweat.

Cas wasn't any better off, sweating just as much as she was. The front of his shirt was soaked wet, as well as the back. His hair was wet as well, making it look like he had taken a shower except he smelled of sweat.

"I'm done," Cas growled as he threw the towel in the garbage and drained his bucket of any water into the ocean. "I am officially done with life."

Helene breathed heavily, "Don't say that. You won't be able to stay dead without me even for a day."

"True. Let's die together, then."

"No one is dying, Lonsay," came a familiar voice. "At least not today. Or ever."

Legion appeared in front of them, his white shirt and blue jeans making his dark hair stand out. He looked perfect, not a single sweat in sight. Every single hair on his head was perfectly in place, as if the mess was how it was supposed to be. It made him look hot.

"Legion," Helene groaned.

He grinned. "She's groaning in pleasure at my sight. How sweet."

"She's groaning because she saw you. Meaning she doesn't want you here."

"How do you know?"

"Can't you tell, prince? Or are you too busy ogling over her?"

"I do not ogle. I stare. Subtly. Very very subtly." He stared at her and she glared right back.

"Keep on talking like I'm not here because why would I care right?" Helene muttered.

Legion continued staring. Not very subtly.

"What?" Cas snapped, fighting the urge to slap Legion's eyes off of her.

"He's bothering you Cas. Ignore him." Helene turned her back on Legion and said to Cas, "We were headed to lunch yeah? Right after we take a shower."

Cas took a moment to stick out his tongue to a surprised Legion before he turned his back on him too, "Of course. Good idea. It's friend quality time then. No Legion included."

"Yeah because she thinks of me more then her friend." Legion smirked from behind them.

Helene turned around, eyeing him. "Go do your princely thing with Brenna. Shoo. You'll get your quality time with me after. Maybe if you behave."

A phone began ringing violently, the song 'Call Me Maybe' echoed loud and clear into the air. Helene snickered loudly as he said, "I have to take this. But don't worry, I'll be back." With a wink he disappeared down the ship, phone in hand as he began to talk to whoever was on the phone.

Helene turned back to Cas. "Well, he's gone. Let's meet at the bar after cleaning up. I smell like a pig."

"And look like one too." Cas added. "And no drinking over the limit this time. Ella's busy and won't come save you."

Helene rolled her eyes but gave him a thumbs up before walking away. Her room was a little away from the others, on the other side of the ship with the some other sleeping quarters. Her room was also smaller than the others with no side table and a smaller closet.

The trip to her room was short and as she walked, she admired the work both Cas and she had done. While they had been up and cleaning mirrors and mopping the floor, the others had been below deck, helping sort out the things that needed sorting and helped clean up. Maybe if she had time, she would check out what work they had done, but for now, she desperately wanted a shower. Not just wanted, needed as well.

The shower she took was cold. Freezing cold, as if all the warm water had been used up in other things. Or other people, she thought miserably as she slid on her clothes, shivering inside her damp washroom. The mirror attached to the wall of the washroom was full of steam, unabling her to see herself while she changed.

Grumbling to herself, she stepped out, all dry and clean and ready to go eat with Cas. What could go wrong? She wasn't planning to heavy drink, right? So why did she feel so uneasy?

Walking out the door, Helene locked it behind her, ignoring the feeling inside of her and knowing she was going to regret it later. It wasn't as if she could do anything about it anyway. The nights were always quiet on the ship, as if everyone was out cold in their rooms or relaxing on the main deck as they watched the beautiful stars roll by. Helene couldn't blame them. It was something she had wanted to do forever but never gotten the perfect time for. She stared wistfully into the dark sky, hoping she could stay there for a couple more hours and then meet Cas. But she didn't want to keep him hanging.

When Helene arrived at the bar on the ship, Cas was already there sitting on his phone and texting quickly with nimble fingers. His handsome face scrunched in concentration as he waited for a reply and then instantly began to type furiously back.

"Yo," Helene called as she got closer towards him.

Cas looked up when she called. "Hey."

Helene sat down in front of him and patted his soft wet hair. "You smell like soap."

"Uh huh."

"Your hair is wet," she added.

Cas rolled his eyes. "Duh."

"Stop texting. Who are you texting anyway?"

"Your mom," came his distant reply with a spark of humor.

Helene snorted. "I don't think my mom knows how to use a phone, let alone text."

Cas looked up with wide eyes. "What? I could ask my mom to-"

"I'm kidding. To make you look up and stop texting. Who are you texting?" Helene sighed. "Tell me."

Cas grunted and began to laugh at a text and quickly replied back. Helene frowned.

"Cas," she muttered. "Cas."

"Yeah? Sorry." He looked up and took in a deep breath. "I was texting Mauve."

Helene scrunched up her nose. "Who's that? Your girlfriend?"

"Why would you think that?" Cas made a disgusted face. "She's someone."

Helene sat forward. "Who?"

"Someone."

"Okay. Someone who?" She urged.

Cas shut his phone and narrowed his eyes at her. "Why do you care?"

"Am I not allowed to be curious? I'm your best friend and we tell each other everything right?" She tried the last card she had left.

Cas rolled his eyes. "Best friends. Right."

"Yes. Now, who was it?"

Cas stared at her and she stared right back.

"My cousin. Older cousin."

Helene sat back, satisfied even though she had no idea why. Because it was his cousin and not some other girl? Or because he was single and so was she?

"That was easy right?"

Cas shrugged as he ordered some beer, suddenly in no mood to talk. Helene sighed and ordered some cake and a shake.

Like she had wanted, she ate under the night sky, as she gazed up at the stars wishing for things she would never get.

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Okay, that was chapter 19. Sorry for the delay!

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