middaeg | closed; Out on the Water

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closed; Out on the Water

Who: Iramaat and Mira
When: Septeril 7th
Where: The Harbor
What: Iramaat has invited her friend boating. Things will probably be fine. Probably.
Warnings: None, yet.

[ Iramaat was actually a fan of the cooler weather, even if it meant she was going to have to layer up a bit for the journey out onto the harbor. She had prepared meticulously, packing a lunch, water, a bottle of wine (perhaps optimistically), and extra clothing. It didn't hurt to be prepared. The little craft she was manning was a little boat - perhaps meant for fishing more than pleasure cruising - but it would fit two people comfortably and the sails would help it scudd along quite nicely once they were out on the water. She was examining some of the ropes and making a few adjustments to the trim as she waited.

Hopefully Mira would be along soon - she wasn't late yet, but Iramaat was always one to want to get an early start if at all possible. As it is, she's singing a tuneless sort of sailing song to herself as she works, her hooves skipping over the wooden planks as sh practically prances from one end of the small boat to the other, looking for all the world like an experienced deckhand. Whether she is or not remains to be seen. ]

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[ Iramaat winks. ]

New to relaxing? Ah, I understand...

[ Not quite what she probably meant, but Iramaat's going to run with it anyway. It's just how she is. As the boat skims along, they go further out into the bay, the blue water surrounding them, the call of sea-birds echoing off of the waves, and the brisk wind ruffling their clothing. ]

Have you ever tried fishing?

[ She's rummaging about the ropes for something as she speaks. ]

Fishing? No, I'm afraid to say I haven't.

[What is that winking for? She isn't used to relaxing! She's just getting used to going in a bathtub and just chilling for an hour. Baths feel nice, ok.]

[ A few moments later, she judges the time is right and she tosses a sea-anchor overboard and brings the sails down to let them heave to. Now there's just the bobbing motion of the boat and the wide, wide sea. ]

It can be very relaxing, I find. Or at least something to take up time.

[ She has a couple of poles and some bait. Time to learn! ]

Interested in finding out how?

[She never really had an idea that fishing could be relaxing but seeing as this was something Iramaat wanted to show her as a means to connecting to a friend, the kind gesture does not go unnoticed. Mira nods as she looks between the poles and the faun.]

Why not? Learning something new is always a good thing.

Perfect-

[ Their little craft bobs with the waves as Iramaat scrambles forward a bit and then comes back with a couple of fishing poles and a bucket of bait. Which is probably not the greatest smelling, but you take what you can get. ]

First, we'll have to bait the hooks and then cast - I know you said you've never fished, but have you never even touched a fishing pole in your life?

[It's funny how the smell isn't pleasant but Mira doesn't let it bother her. Mainly because she has handled things much worse than bait; dung and corpses for starters. Things you do as an adventurer.]

Well...no, I haven't. Is that a bad thing?

[If she asks how Mira managed to catch them in the wild...don't worry about it. It's fine.]

Mmm, no, not really. Just means a bit more instruction.

[ She carefully presses the pole into Mira's hands. ]

First you want to sort of flick it- [ She demonstrates the motion with her hands. ] -and let the line run out. Do be careful about hooking things behind you, though.

[She might be gripping the rod a bit tight and nodding.]

Flick it like this?

[She makes the motion but it doesn't have much energy behind it. Wouldn't want it to catch onto anything, right? The line does move but not as far as Iramaat would like probably. Trust us, if Mira used all of her strength, the pole may be gone from her accidentally yeeting it into the water.]

Yes, exactly-!

[ Iramaat watches for a moment and then frowns. ]

Although perhaps with a bit more force... you want to get it out there, you see? Reel it in and try again.

More force? Alright.

[Remember the idea of if Mira uses all of her strength the pole will go flying? Well, she uses a lot more than than expected and the pole nearly does fly out of her hands.]

Oh shite-!

[Quickly, she grips it tighter and pulls the pole back. The good news is that the line goes further this time. The bad news is that she nearly lost the pole in the process.]

Oops, sorry.

Oh-!

[ Iramaat jumps forward to try and help Mira reel it in, trailing off into laughter as they both settle down and the boat rocks and rises on the swells. ]

No apologies needed. Now... we wait.

[ She pulls her own pole out and with a flick, she casts out into the water. ]

It's a wonderful activity if you'd like to chat while doing it.

Does it take a while for a fish to come?

[She only hears about it but not in detail as she watches Iramaat pull out her own pole and cast out.]

It would not be so much fun if it were simply quiet, huh? So...might you have any interesting fishing tales? Or any kind of stories?

It can. It really depends. If you choose the right spot...

[ She shrugs and grins. ]

Hmm. Fishing stories... [ She looks thoughtful. ]

Well, I might have one. It didn't happen to me, but I heard it from a friend of a friend...

A story is still a story. I wouldn't mind hearing it if you want to share.

[Come on, tell her!]

Well, it starts like this... there was an old fisherman who lived by the sea in dreadful little shack with his wife and they managed, but they were desperately poor and they made so little that they couldn't really get anywhere. Dreadful, really... but one day while he was fishing, he pulled up a great flounder and the flounder said to him - it could speak, you see - "I am an enchanted prince! I would taste terrible to eat! Please, let me go!"

And the fisherman thought to himself, "Well, I certainly can't eat a talking fish..." and so he let the flounder go and it swam away.

[ She pauses to arch an eyebrow at Mira. Shall she continue. ]

Wait, is that all of it? Surely, there is an ending, isn't there?

[In other words: tell her!]

Or...perhaps it is a tale where we are supposed to imagine our own ending?

Oh, no! There's more to it. I just wanted to see what you would say...

[ She clears her throat and checks her line before continuing. ]

So, the fisherman returned to his little hovel by the sea and he told his wife all about the fish he'd caught and then release, but she berated him for it - she said, "Why didn't you ask him for a wish? He would've given you one! Why not give us a better home! You had a magic fish and you let it get away!"

And so on. The fisherman told her, "Well, I don't want to make the fish angry," but she wouldn't hear of it and finally he gave in and went back to the calm, calm sea and called out for the flounder, who soon appeared.

"Fish," he said, "My wife says I ought to ask you for a favor - please, give her a cottage."

And the flounder said, "She is already standing at the door."

And so it was! When he returned home, instead of their miserable hovel, there was a neat and tidy cottage with a garden and a stone well and everything one could ask for...

[ There's to be more, of course, but it seems like a good spot to pause again. ]

Let me guess: there was a catch?

[There usually is. Mira is normally one fine with waiting to hear the rest but all the pauses are just...there for asking.]

Isn't there always...?

[ Iramaat smiles and then continues. ]

So, they seemed content with their lot, but after a little while the fisherman's wife said to him, "You ought to go back and ask for more. Why, if this flounder can give us a cottage, surely he can give us a mansion!"

And the fisherman, of course, didn't think this was a good idea, but his wife begged and cajoled until finally, finally the fisherman went down to the sea again and called the flounder and the flounder came and asked what it was he wanted.

"You see," said the fisherman, "My wife would love to live in a glorious mansion, with servants and all of the finery."

"Go home," replied the flounder, "She is already on the front steps."

And so she was! And again everything seemed well, until the wife again told her husband he ought to go back - "I should be empress," she told him. Again, the fisherman seemed to think this a poor decision, but again he followed his wife's instructions and called up the flounder once more.

"My wife," he said, "Would like to be empress."

"Go home," said the flounder, "The crown is on her head."

And so it was. She was surrounded by dukes and king and nobility of all sorts, waited on hand and foot and living in luxury. Finally the fisherman thought they might be content. But it wasn't to be - for shortly afterward his wife summoned him and told him, "I wish to command the sun and the stars and the heavens! Tell the flounder this!"

The fisherman did his best to persuade her not to ask such a thing, but he eventually gave in and again he returned to the sea - only this time the surface was whipped by froth and wind, but as always the flounder returned.

"My wife wishes to command the sun and the stars and the heavens," he told the flounder, sounding very wretched, "And commands that you do this for her."

The flounder merely said, "Return home. She is once again in that hovel of yours."

And so she was and so they are both there until this very day.

[ She has clearly ended her tale and she shoots Mira a grin. ]

One doesn't need fineries in order for that last one to come true.

[Probably not the moral of the story but she gets it a little. A little.]

He loved her very much to do all those things for her and even without a thank you.

I suppose he did. Although she ought, perhaps, to not have asked for quite so much as she did and been content with what she had, don't you think?

She would be considered lucky. There are many stories when those who express greed who get punished for it; losing everything that may also may be their life.

It's true. But some people don't realize that...

[ She shrugs and glances out over the waves. ]

I suppose you can take a couple different morals from it.

Appreciate what you have, don't be greedy, do good things not for honor or glory but rather just to do good for another being?

[It's a common lesson really. Mira has been paying attention to the story a bit more that she hadn't noticed her fishing line getting tighter.]

Something like that. And don't look a gift fish in the mouth, perhaps?

[ She's butchering that saying, but oh well. Then she blinks. ]

Oh-! You have a bite!

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closed; Out on the Water

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