The Shoreline. (Despite the fact he's still sick.)

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Clad in a disgustingly bright yellow rainsuit that he wore over layers of flannel and long johns, Billy peered over the edge of the breakwater, wondering where Bennie had gone.

Maybe it was the fever delerium still talking, but he had gotten it in his head that going treasurediving was the perfect financing option for the new and larger fishing boat that Sal wanted to buy.

(It was high time she thought about buying a new boat, he thought, seeing as how the engine almost dropped right out of the Lukey the last time they were out.)

If they could get enough stuff, they reasoned, and sell it off at a good price, Sal might not even have to break the bank.

He watched Bennie surface, arc and dive back down into the water and smiled to himself.

It was remarkable how Ro had kept her mouth shut and how nobody knew about he and Bennie yet.

Comments

[random_xtras]

It was a little hard to concentrate on what she was doing, thought Bennie as she let boom with her voice and then felt the echoes, carefully covering every bit of the ocean bottom. She hadn't thought having her sick husband out in this weather would worry her so much.

She stopped herself from heading to the surface, and instead grinned and took a deep breath of the slightly polluted water as she felt a large concentration of small round shapes. -Eureka.-

It was the work of a moment to sift through the silt and grab a double handful, then shoot upward, expelling the water from her lungs as she went so as to free them for the air.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He saw a plethora of bubbles break the surface and knew she wouldn't be too far behind. She surfaced, and he called out, "(How much did you find this time?)"

[random_xtras]

Her fangs flashed in a grin as she held her hands aloft. "(This and more.)"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"(Quite the haul,)" he said, eyeballing her large collection of objects. "(Think we'll be able to sell them off and get money?)"

[random_xtras]

Back on the bottom, Bennie grumbled to herself as she carefully cleaned the coins of dirt and gathered as many as she could hold, thinking to herself that they should have brought a bag to take under.

-(Ah well.)- She once more breathed out and zipped toward the surface, sending a startled mermaid shrieking away in terror.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Billy was waiting with the bag open when she surfaced, a smile on his face. "(Lots more this time,)" he commented.

[random_xtras]

"Si, (and lots more down there. I think it was someone's payroll.)" She looked over her shoulder. "(There's a mermaid down there too, so watch out.)"

This said she was gone again.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

The mermaid she mentioned surfaced to give Billy a dirty look.

He threw a rock at it.

[random_xtras]

Bennie reached him and flipped over on her back with an arm over her eyes. "Carumba. (What was that)?"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"(The thing that ate my house a few years ago,)" he managed to eke out before taking a violent coughing fit.

[random_xtras]

"Aaiii." She pulled herself up and leaned against the guardrail to put her arms around him. "(Blast.)"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He trembled slightly. "(Sneaking out like this wasn't a good idea,)" he said. "(Can we go home now?)"

[random_xtras]

She was right behind him, sitting on the running board and trying to wipe the mud she'd picked up off.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Yes, if ye could jes drop us off 't the house..." Billy shivered.

Ro looked at him strangely. "Still sick, huh. Hell of a time to get sick, right after a weddin'."

Billy shook his head and laughed. "Nobody knows yet."

"When ye gonna tell Sal?"

"When I feels like it."

[random_xtras]

"(This isn't coming off.)" Bennie scowled at the black stain on her fur.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"(What's wrong?)" Billy looked down at her. "(Oh no. Looks like oil...)"

[random_xtras]

Bennie crawled inside, then turned to look back at the door. "(Though if they're out why aren't Wilcoxe and Walter with them? Hurry and get out of that stuff.)" She looked down at the stain on her belly. "(And what do I do? I don't want to hear what Sal or Vic will say if they see this stuff on the floor.)"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"(They'll yell at me to clean it up, which I will. Don't worry about it.)" He closed the front door behind him and stepped through, walking quickly to the laundry room, where he stripped off his outer layers of rainsuit.

[random_xtras]

She grabbed an old dishtowel that the babies had left by the door and rubbed off the worst of the oil, then crawled over to check on her husband. "(You're coughing again.)"

time pass, y0

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Billy was sprawled out on the living room couch, watching the Scott Tournament of Hearts with mild interest. Every so often he coughed and reached for the bag of Ricola cough drops that sat at his feet.

"(You should really watch this,)" he said to Bennie, pointing at the TV. His wife was laying down on the floor, her head laying on her arms that were folded on the couch cushion. Her attention was entirely on him. "(Curling is serious business.)"

Re: time pass, y0

[random_xtras]

"Hmmm." She turned her dark eyes toward the TV for a moment, then back to him, her webbed hand going out to adjust his blankets.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He yawned. "(Once this is over I should go upstairs and sleep,)" he murmured.

[random_xtras]

"(Wait, let me get the medicine on you.)" She uncovered his back, ignoring his protests as she swiftly rubbed the strong smelling ointment into his back, kneading the kinks out of his muscles as she did.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He coughed and sighed after a few moments. The stuff smelled awful, but the massage felt really good.

"(You're making me tired,)" he complained.

[random_xtras]

"(You already were tired,)" she returned, pulling down his under and overshirts and then practically making a burrito of him with the blankets.