Boom, boom, boom.
The entire warship shuddered with a violent roar, as though someone had dropped a pile of Bombs on it. Everyone was startled.
"Ah..."
The explosions came so suddenly, and the ship rocked so violently, that many people screamed in fright. Spandine and his son were no exception, except they didn't cry "Ah!" They cried, "Mama!"
They clung to each other and burst into tears.
"Mama, that scared me to death! I'm so scared..."
In their panic, each had instinctively mistaken the other for his own Mom. Like helpless children desperate to hide in their mother's arms, they pressed closer.
They held each other tighter and tighter, each trying to burrow into the other's embrace.
One burrowed, then the other. Tangled together, they looked like an overly affectionate couple. It was quite a sight.
"Hey, hey... Officer Spandine, you're in command of this warship. There's been an explosion. Aren't you going to investigate? How long are you two planning to hug?"
Several minutes passed before Lucci could bear it no longer. He cleared his throat and called out sternly.
"Huh...?"
Spandine froze. He pulled his head out of Spandam's arms, looked up, and sprang backward as though he'd been electrocuted.
As he backed away, Spandine frantically slapped at his clothes, as if trying to knock the damned smell off himself.
He grimaced in disgust as he did so. From the look on his face, he couldn't stand having hugged Spandam.
Yet no one had forced them together. They'd been so "intimate" that even Lucci had gotten caught up watching and forgotten to tell them to separate. Only when they were still stuck together several minutes later did he finally speak up.
Otherwise, who knew how long they would have kept hugging?
"Pah, pah, pah..."
Spandine looked repulsed, but