Hey y'all, sorry this has been so long coming, real life has a habit of interrupting my flow.
Gone Fishin'
I woke up first, wonder of wonders. Dressed only in a long tee-shirt, I shuffled out into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Some habits from my life as a middle-aged man clung to me like a bad smell. Shuffling as I walked first thing in the morning was one of them. I caught myself and made a conscious decision to break that particular habit. It didn't fit the aesthetic.
Pauli came into the kitchen, following his nose to the coffee pot.
"Ah Hooker" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes, "you are an absolute angel!"
"Coffee's not quite ready yet, Brother" I replied, "and I doubt angels deepthroat."
He chuckled "If there is a Heaven in my future, the angels
there
will."
When both of us had a cup o' coffee, he started throwing together breakfast: spam and eggs for the win. I felt like maybe he'd been out on the Islands for too long, he was using spam in a lot of his cooking. But when the food was ready, I could not argue with the results. It was more than just edible, he'd done something with a jar of spices and a bottle of hot-sauce that really worked with the protein heavy meal.
"It always amazes me that you can make spam
good
" I said, toasting him with my coffee mug.
"Spam
is
good" he replied, "most people just don't know how to cook it.
"Fair enough" I replied, and finished my breakfast.
Again, I took care of the breakfast dishes while he got himself ready for work. We seemed to be falling into a pattern, at least as far as working mornings went. The kitchen was cleaned up and Pauli was dressed for work. He had some time before he had to leave, so we sat out at the picnic table in the yard and enjoyed another cup o' coffee each.
"So, what are you doing today, Hooker?" he asked.
"I don't really know" I responded, "I suppose I'll use the herbs I harvested yesterday and mix up some healing potions to replace the ones I've used."
"You wanna go fishing?" he asked, "Maybe do a beach side cook-out after?"
"Sounds like fun" I said, "will you have time for all that after work?"
"I'mma take off early today" he said, "I'll meet you at the dock around noon."
"See you there" I said.
With that, he finished his coffee, hopped in his car and departed for work. I took the mugs back into the house and, with nothing better to do, started mixing heal pots.
Time flies when you're focused on doing a good job. The bright red potions were bottled up, and the stoppers sealed with wax when I noticed the time. I left the pots to cool on the counter and hurried out of the house. Door locked behind me, I whistled for my Hippogrif. Part horse, part eagle, the creature appeared from the sky and landed nimbly in the yard. I mounted up and took to the heavens, covering the distance between the Pauli's place and the dock in seconds.
I spotted Pauli's car and landed behind it.
"Bout time you showed up" he chided, "another five minutes and I was gonna go looking for you."
"Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time" I responded, "So, fishing today?" I asked, to change the subject.
"Yep, "he replied, "Got the Captain all ready to take us out whenever yer ready to go."
"Sweet, another boat ride!" I said happily.
We walked down the pier to the Island Girl's slip where the Captain was waiting for us.
"Lubbers" scoffed the Captain, "you be lucky to catch anything going out this late!"
He had been paid in advance though, and so was happy to take us out to where he thought there might be some decent fishing. About an hour out from the dock he furled the sail and broke out a couple of deep-sea rigs.
"I gotta admit," I said, "the only ocean fishing I've ever done was off the pier at Ocean Beach" and off the piers at Darkshore, Teldrassil, Darkmoon Island, Stormwind Docks...but I didn't say that.
"That's fine, Tits" said the Captain, "you can bait the hooks, I hear yer a master baiter."
"Goddess Pauli," I exclaimed, "is there
no
privacy on this island??"
"Not when you're as loud as you are" he replied, smirking.
The Captain was kidding, of course. He had a few deep-sea rigs set up and ready for us, and was kind enough to show me how to use the big, open reel. It was a nice rig, and I'm sure both the Captain and Pauli thought I was insane when I whipped out my Nat Pagle Extreme Angler FC-5000, popped a Shiny Bauble on it and threw a line over the side. Within 20 seconds I had a bite; that's how the magic works I guess. I pulled up a nice sized Ahi, which we popped into the boat's live well. I knew I could pull 'em in all day like that, but I decided to use the Captains rig and actually enjoy the act of fishing.
As the sun rose higher in the ultra-blue tropical sky, the day grew warmer. I used some sun-block on my exposed skin to keep from getting burnt and turning purple. The breeze across the water was enough to keep it comfortable while we fished and drank and told sea-stories.
"...and that was how I finally got away from her" said the Captain, "but I never forgot her, and named my boat in honor of the crazy bitch!"
Pauli and I laughed, the dirty old sailor could have a hundred stories about as many "island girls" and any of them would fit the name of his boat.
"What about you, Tits" he said, "surely you've got some tales to tell."
I nodded, "What kind do you want to hear" I asked, "In-Game or Out?"
"Out" he said, "I want history, not fantasy!"
"Very well" I said, and thought for a moment.
"Have you ever sailed on the Indian Ocean?" I asked.
"No" he replied, "this is as far West as I've dared to venture."
"Well then" I started, "You should know that the IO is not like other oceans..." I launched into a sea-story from my days in the Navy:
During my first WestPac deployment (1993/94) our ARG was diverted from a Liberty call in Australia to an international incident in Mogadishu, Somalia. Ever seen the movie
Blackhawk Down