Dr. Gordon Freeman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trustycrowbar) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
smashrising2016-04-24 11:30 am
trustycrowbar) wrote in smashrising2016-04-24 11:30 am
Entry tags:
Excitory Synapses (Open)
It was an odd blend of skills that Gordon had collected since he left home. He never thought, for example, that he'd learn to fish, nor would he ever guess that it would actually be useful later. For a couple of days during the week, he'd take off into the woods in the early morning, and by midday three or four cheep-cheeps would be left in the kitchen, stuffed in a fishing basket.
Anyone who follows him out in the morning might be surprised as to his methods, however.
One of the streams leading to the rim of the island, almost large enough to be a river, flows through the woods. His shirt and shoes are resting on the rocks nearby. He's standing in the slow moving water, spear in hand--
Wait. A spear?
Yes. A spear that is the kind of thing that only could make. Metal, cords, warning labels, duct tape, and exotic conductive metals are involved, with a spring-loaded handle that he cocks like a shotgun. The metallic ringing sound it makes rises in pitch to a high whine of electric charge. He finally throws, and it discharges with a flash of light and yields a fat, wriggling fish. You see, he's gotten better since Ziio taught him, but manipulating the magnetic field to make the fish curious... it helps.
Anyone who follows him out in the morning might be surprised as to his methods, however.
One of the streams leading to the rim of the island, almost large enough to be a river, flows through the woods. His shirt and shoes are resting on the rocks nearby. He's standing in the slow moving water, spear in hand--
Wait. A spear?
Yes. A spear that is the kind of thing that only could make. Metal, cords, warning labels, duct tape, and exotic conductive metals are involved, with a spring-loaded handle that he cocks like a shotgun. The metallic ringing sound it makes rises in pitch to a high whine of electric charge. He finally throws, and it discharges with a flash of light and yields a fat, wriggling fish. You see, he's gotten better since Ziio taught him, but manipulating the magnetic field to make the fish curious... it helps.
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Strewn across his impossibly broad shoulders, like a mink stole made out of bears, was a greyish-colored bear, which lay, mink-stole-like, across the broad expanse impossibly termed his shoulders.
He was a bit -- actually several bits -- covered in blood -- not his own -- and the stream had looked to be an appealing place to wash some of the gore off of his person.
"Hey," said the bear-draped bara bro, once he saw Gordon.
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...but now suddenly he's staring up at a larger man that has netting more food than him. A scenario like that can cause even the most disused caveman competition circuit to sputter to clumsy, dust-covered life in the back is a guy's mind. In any case, he straightens up and lowers the magnetospear.
"Hey... So, uh, what'd you catch that with? Rifle?"
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"Yeah. Figured I'd, uh, contribute to the protein stores. It's a skill that I want to keep sharp, as well. Something I'm not quite ready to forget."
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"Connor gave me some tips on how to hunt. Fishing came from Ziio. Hell, thanks to her I could probably truss together a longhouse, if I had enough time."
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Where was Lighter now? What man was he secretly pining over, never allowing it to be fully acknowledged? What long, firm piece of wood took his attentions in the place of that unspoken desire? What interpersonal disappointments crowded around him in his new life?
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She didn't expect to see him spear fishing with an electric spear.
Shirtless.
"You know, if I'd known, I'd have brought a bikini," she told him.
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"...I should have guessed you'd find me out here eventually." He begins, starting to smile. "And naturally if you were going to bring a bikini, I would've told you all about it."
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He steps through the water to join her on the shore, laying said weapon tilted against the basket.
"There are probably easier ways to fish... hell, I could probably just apply a current directly to the water and pre-cook every fish in a ten-foot radius, but I kind of like doing it this way."
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Read: He learned it from Ziio. However, that thought doesn't sour his expression like it once did. It was a good memory, he realizes, and he's going to keep it in his mind that way. He hopes she doesn't mind the sweat and drapes an arm over her shoulder, indicating the river with the other hand.
"It's not easy. You have to stay very still for several minutes while the fish get close, and you only get one shot to hit them. But... I like that. I hadn't focused that hard in maybe a year."
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"Believe me, I know. Scuttle Town was a big fishing port. Some of my earliest memories are Uncle Mimic teaching me how to fish!" she explained. "I haven't been fishing in a long time though. You looked like you were really in the zone."
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He leads her into the shallows, where the water is up to her knees or so. He shifts. so that he's standing very close behind her, still holding the spear.
"Okay, this looks right. Get comfortable; we're going to be standing here for a while. Here."
He takes up her right arm and rests the springy, floating grip of the spear into her hand, wrapping his fingers over hers and bringing the weapon up a little.
"...How does that feel?"
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Like the fact she was now holding on to an electrified spear.
"Feels good to me," she said, winking back at him. "And don't worry. I'm plenty comfortable." She emphasized that by leaning back against him a bit to tease him.
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"Okay. I think that one's headed this way." He says in a low murmur, indicating with a nod of his head to an inquisitive white blob rippling under the surface of the water. "Wait for it to get close..."
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"I see it," she said quietly, lifting the spear and tilting the tip down towards the water. "Almost..."
As soon as it was close enough, Shantae jabbed down with the spear!
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And his grin fades when he sees that white ripple was actually a blooper that now looks far more pissed off than they usually do.
"Oh wait shit these tend to--" BLOOFH!
His warning is interrupted by a greasy splatter of ink that hits both of them with surprising force.
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Shantae's grip on the spear loosened, and the blooper took the opportunity to dislodge itself, jumping back into the water. Shantae, for her part, wasn't taking this lying down.
"Oh, you wanna fight, huh? Fine!"
Stepping out of Gordon's grip, she performed a few quick dance steps, and when she was done, bam. Mermaid Shantae. She dove into the water after the blooper to exact her revenge.
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Gordon, suddenly finding himself without a girl in his arms, blinks through the film of ink on his glasses that coincidentally covers most of the rest of him as well.
Mercifully the spear sinks in water, which means it hadn't been washed downstream by the time he regains his composure and fishes it out of the river.
"Shantae!?" He... Thinks he saw a mermaid tail? Maybe? Is the river upstream even deep enough to accommodate a mermaid? All good questions, and the only safe way to find out is to dive in after her.
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And she didn't take kindly to the indignity this blooper decided to inflict on her. It swam and swam as hard as it could, but the vengeful mermaid was after it. And it didn't take long for the magic bubble attack to be flung at it, KOing the poor squid and allowing Shantae to snatch it, upper body emerging from the water, grinning with sharp teeth as she held aloft her prize.
"Got it!" she declared. "...Gordon? Where'd you go?"
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...Spearfishing in a river. Yep, that was totally what she expected to see. It was as if Avan was right with her.
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"... ...Huh? Oh, hi. Erm. Don't mind me. Just. You know. Fishing." He begins, hefting his magnetospear indicatively.
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The man takes that as a cue to stalk back towards her and the shoreway. "Wait, I've seen you around the mansion, haven't I?" He hazards with a glance to her, as he checks the basket of fish.
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