Off the Deep End

“I’m not getting in the water.”

Consus displayed a grimace while Vatos and Boingo waded into the rolling waves. The water seemed to crawl up from their ankles to their waists while they carried nets of which they hoped to catch fish… or whatever else they could find with them.

“Oh, c’mon. It ain’t that bad out here - a little cold maybe, but not unbearable!”

Boingo shouted back at the painted satyr on shore while waving his hands and net around. 

“It’s me, you, and Vatos trying to get some fish… or other grub if you want!”

Consus rolled his eyes and huffed. 

“If you want me to help, I’m going to use your spellcaster rod. I’ve got enough sand… everywhere, and I’d rather not get any more in my mouth. Eugh.”

The satyr began to walk back towards the little “base of operations”, as Vatos had referred to it.

“Aye, if you’re gonna do that, make sure you get some useful bait out of the tackle box! I found some sorta hemlock spawn on my way over, so you can use that and the worm for lures. ‘Ve been told that they work a bit weird… but in a good way. Do whatever you want, we’ll be out here figuring out who’s better at nabbin’ these creatures!”

Vatos called back out at Consus while flicking water at Boingo. 

The two browbirds grinned at one another and began to swim in different directions, each diving under the surface in an effort to both explore and capture something for themselves. Consus only rolled his eyes and walked out onto the dock after digging around for the strange lures and snatching up the starcaster rod. Carefully attaching the hemlock spawn to the hook, he reeled back and threw the line out into the water, careful to avoid the area he had seen Boingo and Vatos swimming around.

As much as he would have liked to hook one of the two for a laugh, Consus knew there would be some sort of hellish prank to follow… and that wasn’t quite what he had in mind. There was only so much raw energy that the painted satyr could take… and Boingo often drained whatever tolerance was left.

A small tug at the line put Consus back on guard, but that wasn’t enough to prepare him for the force of the tug. He attempted to pull back on the line, but whatever was on the other end of the line was too great. The painted satyr toppled into the water, splashing around with the rod in hand.

Before he could call out to anyone or complain about being wet, two pairs of eyes peered back at Consus. Boingo and Vatos’ cackles soon followed after, and they held up the various kinds of fish they had grabbed from the drop-off.

“Look now! Two birds with one stone!- Er, two birds and one satyr!”

Bingo cackled and shook around the net in his clenched fist.

“We needed to get you in the water somehow! You’re always complaining, and you wouldn’t even get close enough to swim anyways. Now you can help us snatch up dinner and some other sorts of treasures!”

Consus raised his hand to speak but was interrupted by Vatos.

“We found some sorta… buried thing. The fish are attracted by the sparkle - and so is… was? Boingo… so we figured you might wanna take a peek since, yaknow. We didn’t wanna leave ya’ out.”

“So allow me to get this straight. You want me? To get in and swim down to help you catch fish AND dig for treasure?”

The painted satyr groaned, causing the two browbirds to brace for a loud reprimand, but Consus only let out a huff.

“Why didn’t you just say that then? But, uh, if we find something that’s really worth something? It’s all mine.”

Bingo and Vatos both blinked, only to smile.

“Deal.”

END. 655 Words.