Chapter 15: Another Day

He set the watering can down, wiping his brow as the cat trotted up, flomping down at his feet and purring loudly. He chuckled, playfully rubbing her belly and scooping her up as he walked into the house. She had her own bed in the house, right in front of his own bed - not that she ever used it for longer than a couple hours. She was keen on sleeping in the dirt and catching mice to leave in his shoes.

He still hadn't come up with a name for her... According to Lajos, the cat was perfectly fine when he brought it in, albeit obviously very hungry. She purred loudly in his arms, giving him an indignant mrrrrow when he set her down in the bed, walking into the kitchen and pulling out a wad of tinfoil. Unwrapping it revealed a half-eaten sandwich, Jazz quickly scarfing down the other half before tumbling onto the couch. He sighed, head flopping back over the arm of the couch as he stretched, knuckles crackling.

All things considered, things were pretty easy. Lajos helped finish planting the tomatoes and corn, the two were alternating who watered the plants, Jazz was working on getting the cat to a healthy weight...

He reached towards the floor, pulling his laptop from under the couch and opening it up; nothing interesting happening as usual, though he consider looking up good cat names...

Before he knew it, she had leapt from her bed onto the couch, closing the laptop lid over his fingers and meowing loudly, demanding attention from her human. He laughed, nudging her off of the computer and sliding it under the couch, petting her as she folded herself up onto his chest.

She was a temperamental little mouse-catcher; one moment she was desperately trying to get Jazz's attention, and then the next she would be batting at his fingers angrily.

...Vriska. He mouthed the name first, giving her scritches behind the ears. "I think I'll call you Vriska."

She headbutted his hand, chirping happily. He chuckled, setting Vriska down as she scampered off, presumably to finally use her damn pet bed. Jazz chuckled, sitting upright again and slumping off the couch, preparing to head back outside. He walked out the door, hand over his eyes to block the sunlight as he walked down the hill. He figured the beach wouldn't hurt.

When he got to the beach, he was surprised to find Takakura chatting happily with an older man, sat on a log and casting a fishing rod into the sea.

"...you know, Nina wanted me to throw this thing out; I almost did, but when times get tough...." He paused, taking a drag from the cigarette in his mouth. "...it's good to have a way to feed you n' your wife."

"Are they still not paying you two?" Takakura asked, concerned. "It's been three weeks now."

"Neither my pension nor her disability. It's been rough." He grumbled, "She wants to lawyer up, but we can't really afford it. State'd probably have about 6 lawyers up on us, anyway."

"And I don't suppose you have any friends willin' to help."

"Oh, I got friends that'd help, but their method of help doesn't really involve paying for or being lawyers, you know." He chuckled. "I mean, what am I gonna do..."

"Same thing you said you used to do, right?"

"In my old age? Nina'd kill me." He laughed.

"Ah, I bet you wish though." Takakura grinned, "You, me, her, and a wagon full of bricks..."

Galen laughed so hard he started coughing, wheezing into his arm. "Nina could never! She's too sweet, right to the end; We'll hire the youngsters to do it. They've got more time to bleed than us."

"More reasons to be angry, too, I bet."

Galen nodded as Takakura turned his head, waving at Jazz. "How's things on the farm, Jazz?"

Jazz shrugged. "Good as ever." he said, smiling. "Scraping by, learning what grows in summer, things like that."

Takakura chuckled, folding his arms and turning to the sea. "Do you know how to fish?" He asked. Jazz tilted his head in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really, why?" He replied, putting a hand on his chin. "Last time I went fishing, I was like.... six? At best?"

Takakura laughed, "Why don't you have Galen teach you?" He gestured toward the log, where Galen looked up, motioning for Jazz to come closer. He walked up to the fallen tree; Galen cautiously got to his feet, walking back towards the sand before jumping off. He handed Jazz the rod that had been in his hands - it still felt warm, he thought to himself as Galen picked up a second one from the sand next to him. "Isn't that my rod?"

"Hey, you weren't using it." Galen chuckled, flicking the cigarette from his mouth and stomping on it. "Now, you get up on the log, Jazz."

"You know my name?"

"Takakura was talkin' about you before you got here." He grinned, almost mischievously. "You've got natural talent with farmland, you've got yourself a business partner... you fancy a gent."

Jazz's face was suddenly rather warm as he wordlessly cast the rod. It hit the water with a satisfying plonk!, the bobber floating quietly on the surface.

"Well, you've got the basics down. What do you do once that bobber drops, though?"

"Pull the rod back and reel it in? I remember some of how to do this..." Jazz grinned, sitting cross-legged as he watched the bobber... bobble. Quickly, it sank, and he flicked the rod back, quickly turning the reel towards him. He grinned, eager to see what he'd caught... only to find a single, tattered boot on the end of his hook.

"Oh, that's where that went." Galen said, laughing as Jazz sighed, unhooking the boot and throwing it back into the sea. "Don't get so glum about it, kid - some days you'll catch a whale, other days it'll be boots and skeletons. All it takes is patience and practice."

"How do you guys not get bored?" Jazz laughed, "I could never do this all day..."

"It helps to have a buddy." Galen replied with a chuckle, smiling. "I mean, that's what I've heard, I don't really have friends these days..."

"Takakura?"

"You see a rod in his hand, boy?" He shook his head disdainfully. "Not a fishin' bone in that body."

"I was a sailor for 30 years."

"Did you catch anything?"

"A cannonball in the rear end."

"Please, some prunes will clear that outta you." Galen cackled as Jazz's hand hit his forehead. "I kid, I kid... Takakura's a navy boy, after all."

Jazz shrugged, tossing the line into the water again; he got it farther out this time, the bobber barely visible in the distance. "So why do they make it so brightly colored? Is that for us or the fish?"

"Good question. Can you see it that far out?"

"Can you?" Jazz laughed, gasping a little as the bobber snagged, going under - he flung the rod back, bracing himself against the trunk as he reeled. The fish fought back, wrestling the line against Jazz ---

The next thing Jazz knew, he was sprawled backwards on the sand, face assaulted by a large fish. Galen roared with laughter, heaving the fish up onto his shoulder as Takakura chuckled.

"You still want this fish, kid?" Galen grinned, slapping the fish's side. "Could grill it up."

"Keep it..." he groaned, sitting up and rubbing the side of his face. "Though.. that was kind of fun."

"Keep the rod; I've got extras." He smiled, waving as he walked away. Takakura followed behind, with Jazz at the very back, rod over his shoulder.


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