aionlogs | [CLOSED] lizard times

[ Don't worry, Dextera--that's her favorite method as well, but she wants to make sure all the tools are available.

She hands him the fishing rod to begin with. Despite her own upbringing in the sea, most people seem to think this is the preferred way of fishing so she's just assuming that's what Dextera will like as well. ]

Great! Have you been to the lake nearby? I think that will be the best spot for us to find a variety of fish.

[ dextera has been, but he has no idea what to expect. he’s a bit cautious around water, uncertain of how he should be treating it, but at least he’s not afraid—no matter what people might guess, based on his presentation. ]

…

[ he nods, holding the fishing rod tightly. he can sort of imagine how this might work, but it still seems easier to use his hands…

in any case, he’s willing to follow himeka’s lead, and willingly takes the journey down to the lakeshore. ]

[ Himeka leads Dextera away from the main settlement, down into underbrush as soon as the walkways and wooden bridges run out. She fills the walk with idle chitchat and commentary now and again but it quickly becomes apparent she's comfortable with companionable silence as well. It's once the lake comes into few that she seems to perk up again. ]

Ah, here we are!

[ Picking up the pace, she trots over to the shores end and drops a few of their supplies to the ground. ]

I normally like to fish in the sea, but this will do, I think.

[ Then she turns to Dextera, placing a hand on her hip. ]

We'll be employing several different fishing methods today and you can decide what works best for you. Sound good?

[ dextera is happy to listen to her talk, but the silence doesn’t bother him either. when the world around them is still so alive, it never feels truly empty.

once they reach the shore and himeka makes her proposal, dextera nods. ]

…?

[ the surface of the lake is already alive with the occasional fish, perhaps an insect or two as well, bobbing up to the surface for food; dextera’s attention is immediately drawn, and he looks to himeka for the first step. ]

Great!

[ She forms a fist with her right hand and punches the open palm of her left with her exclamation, excited to get this little venture going. ]

We'll start with the most popular method for people who learn to fish from the land. But first, we'll need to get some bait.

[ Moving away from the water's edge, Himeka drops to her knees on the forest floor, covered with moss and detritus. She moves them aside to start peeling into the ground itself. ]

For that, we need worms.

[ Somehow that seems like something Dextera will excel at. ]

Oh.

[ a soft sound of surprise, but not of disgust. himeka already knows him well enough to know that he couldn’t possibly be grossed out by the thought of collecting worms, though he’s not sure of the best way to get them out.

he follows her lead to crouch, and after setting his rod aside, he sticks his hands as deep into the soft, wet mud as he can get them. his brow then furrows in concentration, and there’s a small boom and a wet spit of the earth coming from seemingly beneath his palms in the ground.

a worm hastily wiggles up to escape whatever it is he just did. ]

[ It's her turn to let out her own-- ]

Oh.

[ Himeka pulls her hands back as a veritable host of worms, maggots, and other small critters climb their way out of the substrate. She blinks, gaze flash back between Dextera and the ground. ]

Well, that definitely makes that step easier. Have you always been able to do that?

[ not always, but perhaps that’s a distinction better made another day.

he simply nods instead—of course, he didn’t know for sure that it would work, but it seems the small, localized explosion has sent quite a few critters running. it won’t harm the ground itself in any way, although he does have to be careful not to kill anything before they can pluck them. ]

…

[ withdrawing both his hands and some spoils, dextera places a particularly juicy worm in his palm.

and… shows it to himeka, for appraisal. ]

[ That worm? That's a perfect work. Himeka is more than happy to give him a dramatic thumbs up. ]

There's no way a hungry fish is going to turn that guy down! Let's put him on the hook.

[ She snatches up a few of the other worms and grubs that have scurried up thanks to Dextera's work and moves back over to where she set their gear down. The rest of the creepy crawlies go into a small leather sack for now.

But Dextera's? Oh no, he's ready for the hook. She picks up the end of the line and holds it out to him. ]

Just stick him on it right there. It's better when it's still alive because they'll wiggle.

[ dextera nods. he knows better than anyone the appeal of something alive. it must be innate to all living things—the twitching assurance, however slight, that some vitality remains in the target.

the worm tries to curl around his finger to get some sense of where it is, but dextera fairly unceremoniously spears it on the tip of the hook. it continues to wriggle, totally unaware. ]

…

[ he nods and takes the line, draping it over his fingers. he motions just throwing it into the lake from this position, but that doesn’t seem… quite right? ]

[ Impressed as she is to see him take initiative, Himeka shakes her head. And to make it more clear, she moves to place her hand in the water close to where they are. ]

It's a little too shallow here. Most of the fish we're after won't come this close to the water's edge.

[ Taking up the other rod she brought, she skewers a little worm on her hook as well, figuring that a demonstration is in order. Pulling the line taut, Himeka brings the fishing rod over her shoulder before whipping it forward. The spindle spins quickly as the hook and line fly out further into the lake before hitting the water several yalms forward. ]

See? Just get some good air and you'll land it right in prime fish territory.

Ah.

[ dextera can do that. he has a great throwing arm, he just needs to make sure he doesn’t throw the rod into the water while he casts.

mimicking himeka’s posture, dextera tosses out the hook. it doesn’t look quite as clean or comfortable as himeka’s and lands short of the ideal distance, but it’s not hitting any shallows and there are the shadows of fish under the water nonetheless. ]

…

[ he looks at himeka again, cautious in every new thing he does. ]

[ It's not practiced but it's effective, and honestly that's all that matters. Himeka gives Dextera a hearty thumbs up with her right hand as she keeps hold of her rod with her left. ]

Well done! You're a natural at this already.

[ With that, she repositions and...yep. Stands there for a moment. Holding the pole. ]

And now? We wait... How long it takes depends on the bait, the fish, the day, et cetera.

[ She gives a small shrug. ]

But we don't have to just stand here while we do. We've got two other methods to get ready. So find a good place to stick your pole into the ground and we'll move on to the nets.

[ Himeka makes a hole into the ground with her toes as well as lines up a few larger rocks for the pole to rest on, shoving the end into the ground. ]

[ himeka is clearly planning to give him the full experience, and for that, he’s grateful. being kept busy is exactly what he needs; it may have been a few days since his desperate cry on the network, but the feelings don’t go away that easily. throwing himself into something with practical results, even if the process is simple and relaxing, keeps him from dwelling.

he digs out a little hole with his fingers and sinks the butt of his pole down until it doesn’t move. even if a fish does bite, it… probably won’t take the whole pole with it, unless dextera somehow manages to catch a giant. ]

…

[ he trots over to the next set of supplies, proactively gathering the nets in his arms. this, he understands the efficiency of. ]

[ Now that's a good sign. She smiles quietly to herself as she watches him manage the nets quite well on his own. ]

You said you hadn't gone fishing before, but you seem to know what we're going to do with these, right?

[ Himeka motions for Dextera to follow. ]

There are a lot of ways to use nets, so it's really how you want to. But I've found in this particular area...

[ The neck where the stream meets the lake is their destination. She hops onto a rock that is just a foot away from the bank. ]

We can catch several as they try to make their way back into the lake if we block off the whole side with it.

[ in a way, it’s not so different from the way he needs to think when he uses the various traps and labyrinthine layouts of the neuro tower. the matter here isn’t life-and-death, but the methods are the same: finding the best angle to strike from, setting up the elements, and then letting the predictable course of nature run through. ]

Hmm…

[ he seems to be taking to this even more naturally than the fishing pole, as a result. a quick glance at their surroundings, taking guide from himeka’s vantage point, makes it easy for him to figure out where to spread and pin the nets. he just needs to carefully… make his way over…

he slips on a rock despite his best efforts, crashing into the shallow water nearby. ]

Waugh!

[ He's doing so well. Is Himeka proud? Absolutely! He's taking to it like, as one may say, a fish to water. (A duck to water? No, fish are better swimmers.)

And then he falls right in.

The right reaction is to gasp and immediately go see if he's okay. But it's just water so surely he's fine? ]

...Dextera?

[ She hops over to wade into the water beside him. ]

Are you alright?

[ If he's under water he surely knows how to hold his breath! ]

…

[ dextera never learned how to swim. being caught in the sticky, still waters of the neuro tower were a death sentence for him, and even if he doesn’t have to swim in this little stream, his panic makes him take a big, idiotic breath when he senses his nose and mouth being covered. ]

—achk! [ COUGH. ] Gugh… hack!

[ he’s all good. ]

[ Oh.

Oh dear.

He's doing the thing that most people should not be doing, which is inhaling the water when they haven't been properly blessed by the Kojin or growing their own set of gills.

Himeka reaches in, grabbing Dextera by his collar and yanks him up above the waterline. ]

Breathe the air, not the water!

[ in theory he knows this, but his body just doesn’t want to accept that this is the correct thing he should do. he’s not able to breathe, so he should try to power through it—it gets a bit easier when himeka hauls him up, though there’s still something of a gurgling sound from his throat as he tries to catch his breath. ]

Gaaahh…

[ oh, he is drooling a little, but it seems like he’s got it now. he’s breathing! ]

[ He's breathing. That's good, because her next course of action would have been to try and squeeze the water out of him by force. And that would have been fun for...

...well, not Dextera. ]

Do you know how to swim?

[ Not that the water was that deep, but... ]

Uh— [ cough. ] Uh-uh.

[ normally just a shake of the head would suffice, but since his mouth is open, his body automatically responds as if he tries to speak and some more water falls out.

needless to say, no, he cannot. ]

[ Oh no, oh Dex... ]

...Well, I think we have more than fish to catch today, don't you?

[ Yes, that's right. He's been officially signed up for swimming lessons.

She does pat his back to help him cough up any water left in his lungs, though she continues talking all the same. ]

We'll get these traps set up, check on our rods, and then get onto swimming lessons. You'll need to know how to swim if you want to properly master spearfishing anyway.

Nn?

[ dextera finally wipes his mouth and tries to look like a capable human being, only because himeka’s rhetorical question throws him off enough to forget he was just choking.

does she mean— yes, she does. ]

…

[ he nods, grateful for her willingness to teach, but… now he feels like a bit of a hassle. ]

[CLOSED] lizard times

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