Marshmallow Time (Private)

It was a nice day as the sun beamed comfortably down upon the River village. People moved busily through dock areas as one man who didn’t really look like a regular took a place over the side of one the wooden pathways. Vexel had taken it to himself to say fuck off to routines and go fishing! So after a quick hip and a scop, he was over in the River Village. Luckily he was able to score some of those little squirmy things people called worms for bait. Yay!

After arriving at the spot, he’d taken off his coat, and folded it up nicely before sitting on it. His tan, but scar covered arms got sun for the first time in a long time. He reached into his own shadow, which quickly spooked some other people, and pulled out what would seem like a standard fishing rod….but it was constructed of what would seem to be solidified Darkness, or shadows. He took a worm, and hooked it through the metal barbs then casted it out.

His other hand reached out to a bag marshmallows that he sat out earlier, and bit into once before humming. Today is going to be wonderful!

What initially brought her here couldn’t be viewed as anything beyond a minor curiosity. The place sounded as though it could be scenic and quite nice with the river running beneath a village. To some credit it was scenic, both the journey here and the beautiful flora and fauna around the place, but inside the village for any bit of picturesque qualities it may’ve had the dirtiness of the ports and fish guts everywhere detracted from the overall qualities. Mao didn’t claim squeamishness, just that, against the beauty of the river and luscious green hills around the area the smell of decaying fish and the forgotten guts didn’t match by any stretch.

She’d had to pull herself away from the fish market, tired of holding unbidden staring contests with deceased eyes as each specimen stared back with unbridled shock of their fate. ’Why do they always have their mouths open? Is it cause of how they’re caught, or the fact that they suffocate before death? Or…do people pull them open and keep it that way?’ It was a question she wouldn’t seek the answer to, fine in letting it remain a strange little mystery.

Trudging away from the market she’d started crossing one of the large, bridge-like walkways when she spotted some individual preparing to…dive in possibly? Tilting her head, she watched as the man removed his jacket only to fold and sit upon it before pulling out a fishing rod from seemingly nowhere. Like others around she stared wide eyed as he began his little fishing adventure, though where others acted unnerved she felt fascination bubbling up as her legs forced her forwards. ”Excuse me,” she kept her voice low, but definitely not a whisper so as not to scare the “fish” and asked, ”Where did you get the rod from?” Up close as she now was, it looked as though the thing might not even be made of usually solid materials, a sort of oozing shadow-like quality prominent. And then her gaze fell to the bag of marshmallows and one could almost see a visible, giant question mark above her head. She couldn’t see the worms, so a part of her wondered…’Is he also using those as bait?’

Oh it was just so relaxing on the pier. He was whistling a toon, and every so often jerking at his fishing rod. Hell he was so out of it that he barely noticed the woman that had approached him. He turned his head towards her as he allowed his demonically altered eyes glance over her. His muscles tensed all but for a moment as a natural instinct before relaxing some. Appearance wise, she didn’t look like she’d harm a Wasp, but at the same time looks can be deceiving. He looked back at the water for a moment to watch his line before deciding to speak. ”My rod? I made it! It’s awesome isn’t it?!” He said in a slightly excited tone, but to a whisper. His hand slipped down into the bag and retrieved another one of his fluffy snacks and tossed it into his mouth.

“So pretty lady, can I help you? Also shouldn’t you introduce yourself before asking people questions?” Vexel would say with a chuckle as he continued to sit there with his line in the water.

The man had what one could call a “startling” appearance, in fact some might glance at him and imagine an evil empire or various plots beneath that well coifed surface. The eyes only furthered such illusions for most people. Mao simply wanted to know however, as while various notions and possibilities danced in her mind, the woman ultimately didn’t favor any because they were merely speculation and hypotheses until proven true or false. Besides the answers were far more interesting than the fantasies anyhow, even if they were related to more mundane topics in a sense. ”Made it?” she murmured, surprised.

He gave her little time to question it however, pointing out her rudeness that caused a spark of surprise to appear and she hastily looked down. ”Ah, my apologies, how rude,” she murmured loud enough for him to hear, before meeting his gaze without further hesitation, ”I’m Mao, Mao Nakiri, and it is a pleasure to meet you.” He did have a point after all, and she offered a small smile as if in a final note of apology before her attention shifted between the self-crafted rod and the bag of delightful treats, ”It’s definitely impressive that you made it…I can only imagine the convenience. Can you craft other things then, too? Like chairs, or utensils, or sunglasses?”

Hmm maybe the last question was a little strange, but from the looks of the dark substance it sounded like a possibility to her. And how nifty would it be to be able to block out those obnoxiously sunny days with shades or even a parasol? She felt a little jealous, but certainly nothing malicious as the eyes returned to the bag of marshmallows. ”Also…are you using the marshmallows…as bait?” her head tilted to the side in curiosity, the girl by now crouched down and hugging her knees as her tail remained behind her without wavering, ”Do they work on fish?” For all she knew he might just be fishing for something like crabs or lobsters, she imagined they might go for it regardless of what it was.