57 Vol 1. pt. 57 Patch 10.0: The King, the Rod and the Harem (2/2)
”I know how this looks! It is just… I have never seen anything like this before, so it is incredibly interesting to me. I had no idea such a thing was possible. I had Miss Strism explain to me how it works, yet no matter how much I try to understand it, I am amazed that somebody could conjure up such a wonderful contraption,” Corwin explains.
Fenrir can't pick up on any deceit in Corwin's words nor body language. ”Yeah, I know what you mean,” Fenrir says after relaxing his posture and tone. ”These are the kinds of things where you don't really know that they exist – or well, ever existed, unless you look them up. Kind of like CDs. I never knew CDs were a thing until I saw people talking about them online. They used to use CDs for everything from music, to games, to movies. Now we just download everything.”
”Right you are, Fenrir.”
”Anyways, just don't go poking around with the engine. I have no idea how delicate it is, and Tabs would probably get angry. Oh, want to join me for some fishing while waiting for that king to arrive?”
”I would gladly welcome more training along your side, Fenrir.”
”Always being so formal. I forget how much of a roleplayer you are sometimes.”
Corwin offers a nervous smile.
”Anyways, let's go fishing for a bit. We'll just do it off the pier instead of taking The Shoebill out.”
Fenrir heads up above deck and is greeted by Rock wagging her tail so hard that her entire body is wagging with it!
”Hey there, pups. Have you been a good girl lately?” Fenrir asks.
Rock excitedly barks and jumps up to lick his face once he leans down.
She's been getting bigger lately from all of the rocks that he's been feeding her. Most of the rocks that he's been able to get his hands on have also been lighter in color, and the color of the rocks is reflected in the coloration of Rock's body. The lighter colored the rocks are that she eats, the lighter she becomes.
The thought of going full edge by feeding her nothing but black and red rocks pops into his head.
When he shakes the thought of his mind and looks down at Rock, she looks disappointed in him.
”W-what?” Fenrir asks.
Rock huffs and walks off to curl back up near the ship's mast.
He doesn't know if Rock can read his mind, or if she can just tell whenever he's thinking of something weird. He's also worried that Rock may be learning how to be tsun from Cassiel.
Regardless of whichever it is, Fenrir picks up his new trusty rod and attaches a wooden lure to it.
The lure itself is… not one that would normally be found in reality.
It has a silver color with a blue stripe and two hooks hanging from it, but – well, this is a fantasy game, so whoever created the lure decided to give it horns. At least the horns are technically just two more barbed hooks, but even so, it looks very silly.
And that is exactly why Fenrir bought it.
He attaches the lure to his line and walks to the edge of the pier. Corwin walks up a few moments later with his own rod and lure, and then Rock comes up to sit next to Fenrir.
”See, you can't stay huffy with me for long,” Fenrir teases Rock, petting the top of her head.
She happily nuzzles her head up against his petting hand as she wags her tail.
Fenrir doesn't realize that his own tail wags whenever he sees hers wagging.
”Alright, let's test this girl out,” he says, casting his new rod for the first time. ”Eh?”
He tries casting it again.
”Wh…what?”
Every time he goes to cast it, the line just doesn't fly out.
”Is there a problem, Fenrir?” Corwin asks with his line already out in the water.
”I – uhh, the rod won't… it won't cast?” Fenrir explains, holding the rod and examining it to try and figure out what's wrong.
”What do you mean it will not cast?”
”I mean, I'm trying to cast it like I normally would, but nothing happens. Maybe there's a problem with the line or the spool?”
Fenrir tries casting it again. He's excited when a bit of the line extends out, but it's not enough.
What is worse is that the line swings right back toward him, causing the lure's ”horns” to hook one of the canid ears atop his head.