Gone Fishing (Day 1, Afternoon, Cargo Bay)

The humidity was real. Elle had spent plenty of time on either side of the line on Newhall but typically just the movement of her ship being underway provided a breeze for those working topside. Below decks - well one thing a fishing ship had plenty of was ice and machines for making it so except for the snipes in the engine room there was decent AC. This place though, with no breeze into the cargo bay, the heat was just a constant wet blanket you couldn’t stick your foot out of at night to cool off. She wasn’t panting like Daisy but she sure understood the dog.

They’d been worked hard since coming back from the Alliance cruiser, hard even by her standards, and she was glad to sit down for a few minutes. The first sip of water went down her throat and the rest of the bottle was poured across her head and a little bit in a cupped palm for Daisy’s tongue to more cool off with than drink. Elle wiped her hand clean on the thigh of her coveralls.

“I want leave,” she said without looking at Vas. Without looking at anyone. “And if’n he’ll go with me want Roose to has it too.”

Vas was still cooling off but he much preferred this over the cold of New Kashmir. "Sure ...when? We're here here 4 days, landing day, two whole days and take off day." Vas said fiddling with his cortex. "Well if Roose wants time he'll have to ask since you don't know for sure if he is going with you."

“Thought I’d walk out tomorrow morning and be back same time the day after,” she said. Elle really wanted to ask for more time but she didn’t know if it was going to come out of her pay and wasn’t about to ask and give Vas any reason to come down on her. He was probably already figuring it out on the device he held. Elle knew what a cortex was but for sure couldn’t use one. “That be okay?”

"Sure." The thing beeped as he scheduled it in. "Where you planning on going?" Vas said cheerfully. There was lots to do in this city so he couldn't help but wonder what her plans were. "If it's okay for me to ask …" he added, trying not to be rude. This was probably the most civil and longest conversation he had with Elle so far!

The redhead clammed up, face turning even more away from Vas than it had been. Everything in her was saying not to tell him but almost as if he’d smacked her on the back of the head for not paying attention at Sunday learnin’, Shepherd demanded she remember what he said about Isaiah. Shepherd said if you were willing and obedient you’d get to eat the good of the land. “Fishing,” she reluctantly volunteered after awkward seconds. “Just in the rivers, not real fishing. Don’t quite know yet where. Was going to ask around early tomorrow morning and find out where.”

"Nice! Bring spray and watch out the piranhas it's spring here so they’re all red bellies and hangry. There are some good spots in the city proper, if you go to the bigger lakes I think there could be some eel if you're into that. I know there are some good spots at the big river but that's outside of city limits." Vas babbled. He was trying. He was hoping maybe she might catch catfish. They got big here and he liked catfish. Now it was awkward. He made it awkward. Smooth Crew Chief.

Why was it so much easier talking to Serena?!

“Yeah?” now she did look at him, surprised that he knew something about fishing. If Elle had laid down her chips she’d have thought he’d never done such a thing. Her impression of Vas’ background was a little bit murky and a whole lot unflattering. It got a small bit better just now.

Without proper gear, she was going to have to buy line and hooks and a net, Elle wasn’t about to hit the bigger rivers. No boat, no experience with their currents and shoals and that was a bad recipe for a lousy death. “We, uh, got any spray?” There probably was but without being able to read the labels Elle couldn’t tell bug spray from engine degreaser.

"Yea it moves around. It's a green bottle with pictures of mosquitoes on it. It should be in the storage closet in the end of the passenger dorm if you have trouble finding it let me know. I'll help find it before you go." Vas said, pleased as punch with how the conversation was going.

“Thanks,” she said, again after a pause but this time she looked him in the eyes. Elle pushed herself to her feet, leaving a sweaty spot on the deck. “Need to go find Roose and see if he wants to go.”

"No worries, just let me know!" Vas said cheerfully in spite of the heat and humidity.

Following the new orders they’d been given, Elle didn’t try to go into the galley just banged on the hatch twice with the work calloused heel of her hand. Substantial knocks, loud knocks, the kind you made when you wanted the person on the other side to hear it no matter how loud it might be inside or say how much a lifetime of hunting might have hurt their hearing.

“Got leave,” she said when Roose opened the hatch, her statement abrupt and without any wasted breath of courtesy. “Cleared it with Vas,” the plain girl added a little too abruptly as if he was some sort of boogum that had to be placated.

“Came to get my rations for the day I’ll be gone.”

The protein paste had been a new problem for Roose. It seemed like there wasn’t a single bit of food that he couldn’t manage to alter beyond recognition for the crew but even for him, the military grade slop had proven a worthy foe. He had cut it up, blended it, drowned it in whiskey overnight and fried it to all hell, it still ended up tasting roughly the same. This morning he had figured *thin* slices of it might just be something he could spice, but the process was a delicate one and more than a few had ended up more applesauce than apple slices. The banging had caught him at an odd time in his grumbling but Elle was always a welcome sight to the galley.

“Rations?” He looked back to the bowl of mistakes that he had been working with today, “I’ll...go get some from the fridge for yah. Where you heading off to need rations for?” He called back as he explored the fridge full of the small packets, looking more like ammo than food.

“Hope not to need them.” She walked over the counter where he’d been working, hands in her back pockets to keep from getting anything dirty. The way Elle figured it she was owed her rations every day and if she didn’t eat them she might be able to sell them. Or at least drop them in some beggar’s bowl. “I’m going fishing. Cleared it with Vas,” she said and leaned over the bowl of -

“You sick up in this?” she asked and turned her head to look at him without straightening up.

Roose was quiet for a moment as he put two and two together with her comment. “Oh...uhh no, just the latest in my little cooking ventures. Wouldn’t recommend trying it just yet, haven’t gotten around to finishing it up.” He grabbed her protein pack for the day and moved back across the kitchen, “Protein packs those military jokers gave us just don’t taste the same as real meat, no heart anywhere in it, literally.” He wistfully closed his eyes as he tried to remember a good reindeer heart stew he had cooked up some time ago. It only took him another jog around memory lane to latch onto the girl’s earlier words as well, “Say, you wouldn’t mind if I followed on for some fishing would you? Can’t say it’s my specialty but I would kill just about anything for the chance at some real meat again.”

“Was going to ask you,” Elle admitted, something like a smile on her lips as she stood up. “Kind of mentioned it to Vas but he said you’d have to ask him. Don’t know why, just a way for him to feel like he’s holding the rod I guess.” Elle pulled her hands out of her pockets and picked up the bowl, swirling it around and marveling at the gritty consistency of it. “Don’t know if there could be any hunting. Maybe? If so you want to do that instead and I can help you keep camp?”

Roose considered it for the moment, "Gonna be a lot harder to convince him to let me out if he thinks I might drag you into some kinda scrap. I don't have the hankering for anything just yet though. Let's see how everyone likes fish though, then we convince 'em to let us out and about." The old man placed a hand on his beard as he thought out the plan.

"Suppose you'll need bait then? What you planning on fishing for?" His experience with unfrozen water was not great, but he still had enough years on him he might know enough to come off as a weathered fisherman as well.

“Vas said there was piranha, and they’re right fishy but good if you smoke ‘em or make ‘em into fish sauce. Eel too, easy to catch them in a stick weir overnight. Was going to use bugs that are around, was going to ask the locals what was good, and I’m handy with a cast net for bait fish. Need to buy one. Won’t have no rods or reels, too pricey, but a hand line works almost as good if you ken what you’re doing.”

Elle was animated, not rushing in her words but with a definite confidence and enthusiasm behind them that was rarely observed. “I’m hoping there's a dole of turtles I can sneak one or two out of. Just - whatever will bite, snag a net or move too slow for me not to grab.” Elle smiled at him, a bit of her teeth showing and nervously pushed a fall of knife cut hair out of her face. “You won’t have to tote nothing you don’t want. I’m just happy you want to come with me.”

The energy and spunk of the young girl gave him quite a run through as he strained to keep up with her. If it wasn't the inherent speed of youth or just his experience with slower talking hunters over the years, but he was out of his element. "Don't you worry, I'll carry my weight just fine. After all, we're after dinner aren't we." He gave a smile to her and moved out from the kitchen, leaving his greasy and dirty apron behind. "I'll go have a quick chat with Vas about rounding up some decent grub for the ship. I'll meet you outside when I'm done." He quickly poked his head back into the galley, "Oh and uhh...don't eat that just yet, it's still fermenting."

Cheered by the thought that Serena might have to drink it, Elle let it be and left the galley.