Pauline das cute stop it
For most folks, a potential pirate ship on the horizon was a worrying sight - oh what if this or that, are they here to steal my shit? For Pauline though, it was potential. Not that she was gunning for being whisked aboard a pirate ship to run around done pirate crimes, she was quite happy where she was, with her current job and life and such.
Someone important to her just so happened to be aboard a ship that swung by this coast, and each time a ship with particularly large sails was spotted a few hours out she rushed herself down to the beach, grabbed an icecream or something on the way down, and unfolded her kinda crap little monocular. It didn’t let her see too far, at least not far enough she could see who was aboard any boats, but just enough she could gauge whether she was going to see Nail sometime soon.
She sometimes wondered if he ever did the same, if they had monoculars on the ship...if he knew how to use one.
Pauline stifled a giggle as she waited in line for icecream, imagining Nail fumble with a monocular in those massive hands of his, managing to unfold it then putting it up to his eye the wrong way around… he was a lovely man, and quite a sight to behold, but his head was a little empty sometimes.
...Most of the time.
Not to any kind of detriment, Pauline recounted a few moments of his last visit as she stepped forward in line, a warm smile lighting up her already bright and cheery expression. She snapped back to reality a minute later when she was up in front, and had been asked what she’d like.
“Oh! Single scoop, mint chocolate chip please - um, on a cone, just a plain one!.”
She was quick to rummaging through her bag and producing the exact amount - she’d done this enough times she was always well prepared so she would take less of everyone’s time. It took barely a minute for her order to be served up, and she was on her way again, damn near skipping down to the beach.
She’d finished up her treat and was licking her fingers clean by the time her feet hit sand, and she idly took in how many people were around - it was a hot day, a really hot day, so no wonder there was a huge turnout. Families, couples, even just some folks bringing their animals out for a little run around.
Her eyes lingered on the couples a little longer than she’d have liked, being hit with a pang of...she wasn’t quite sure what. Longing? She really did miss Nail, he’d been gone a little longer than she had thought he would be. She wasn’t mad at him or upset, being at sea meant he couldn’t have any kind of schedule and all that. Still, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t long to see him again, for whenever his ship came back round.
She strode straight down towards the sea, zig zagging between people on towels and running children, eventually making it to the waterline and wading out to her waist. Her shorts were definitely soaked through, but the spares in her bag, which she hiked up to under one arm, made that of little concern.
She unfolded the monocular, struggling a little with the wonky mechanism, having to give it a couple of firm smacks before it was in working order. Her glasses made everything a little trickier, but eventually she got the monocular settled right so she could peek through and check the incoming ships.
She scanned each one, there only being four made it easy work, and as much as she had really gotten her hopes up this time...none of these looked familiar. She double checked, triple checked even, but eventually folded down the rusty little thing in her hands, tucked it back into her back, and made her way back to the shore, ignoring how much sand would be clinging to her for the next forever.
While she was out though, she’d make a day of it. The docks were nice, and they were a wonderful place when there were a lot of excited people about. She found a public bathroom to change her clothes in, just tossing the wet shorts in a trash can. She wasn’t too fond of them, and she wasn’t keen on lugging wet clothes around in her bag, so it was a sacrifice that just had to be made.
The docks were fairly busy - stalls set up while some people stared at the boats in awe, some fishermen showing off their catches or their tools, there was even one guy stood aboard his fishing boat giving an impromptu educational demonstration of how the whole thing worked.
Oh hell yes.
Pauline was over there in a flash, bouncing on her toes excitedly as she watched the fisherman, who just so happened to be a Fisher, pulling on a net and explaining the material - how it was sturdy but it didn’t tangle, and how anything smaller than an adult fish would slip right through the holes in the net, so as not to deplete the ocean, and keep the cycle of life going.
People started to wander off as he got to the more gritty aspects of how to prepare a fish, not that he was demonstrating, but Pauline stayed, fascinated by the man’s passion and drive.
She was only roused from how enthralled she was by the whole thing when she was tapped on the shoulder. She blinked in surprise turning around to greet whoever it was - then leaped forward and threw her arms around them.
“Nail!” She beamed wide, eyes lighting up as she was caught, the huge Robber carefully lifting her so he could wrap his arms around her properly. She wiggled just a little in his grasp so she could scoot up and press a kiss to his jaw, and then to his lips when he tilted his head just right. “I didn’t see your ship!”
“Went through the other uh…” He made a gesture with his ears. “Not the main dock, bad news for our ship.”
“Oh! Yes that would make sense.” She wiggled again, this time so she could wrap her arms around his neck. “How long are you here for?”
“Didn’t actually ask...I should go do that.”
“Right now? Or do you have a little time?”
“I’ve got time for you.” Nail responded, giving Pauline a smooch on the nose. “You got something in mind?” He Pauline down gently, who still reached for his hand once her feet were planted firmly on the ground.
“It’s a nice day and there’s a market up.” Pauline gestured at the dock, all the stalls that had cropped up serving food, selling trinkets, and even doing little workshops. “I was thinking we could have a wander? Get lunch?”
Nail took a look over the market as it had been gestured to, nodding before he even looked back to Pauline. “Yeah, sounds fun.”
With that, Nail’s tall-and-wide ass was nearly pulled over by the hand as Pauline rocketed off towards the food stalls, babbling about how it smelled really good and she wanted to try everything.