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Aliza would never admit that Randall’s hobbies were boring, but they were….well….you know. A girl can only stare at the water for so long waiting for a fish to appear. Obviously there was training which they both enjoyed, (and Randall was a great sparring partner) but aside from that, fish were….boring to say the least. Randall was perfectly happy to just fish in silence, but it was absolutely killing Aliza inside.
“So………..” Aliza started
“Hm?” Randall looked up from the line, “Oh. You’re not getting any bites because you forgot to put the bait on again.” he motioned to the bucket of albacore chunks before motioning back at her line.
“Wha-! Ohhhh…. Not again…. Wait, that’s not what I wanted to say!” Aliza started to pull out her line before continuing, “Anyway! I went into town yesterday and Sierokarte gave me a letter from Stan!” She giggled happily while putting bait chunks on her line, something she realized was kind of gross after thinking about it a bit more. “He said he misses me and that training is going well though. Apparently that fire primal he rescued during the cataclysm is training him now!” She puffed out her cheeks before tossing her line in the water. Randall let out a laugh.
“You really like him don’t you? He must be really special for you to talk about him all the time, but you never told me how you two met.” Aliza looked back at him, kind of surprised.
“I didn’t take you to be someone who cared about other people’s relationships. Anyway we met through…..princess stuff. You know how it is.” Randall laughed again before reeling in a fish, adding it to his pile on the side. How come was his pile so much bigger than hers, she wondered. Aside from her just forgetting to put bait on her line sometimes, of course. That didn’t count.
“That doesn't explain anything! Come on, I’m sure the fish wouldn’t mind the story.” Aliza was just so close to kicking his pile back into the river, but she knew that would affect their dinner for the week, so she refrained. There were other ways to get back at him for making her embarrassed.
“Well then! Why don’t you tell me why you like Feather so much, huh?!” Randall looked visibly taken aback, and was getting redder by the second. “When I first met you, you two were all over each other! I mean after we fought of course.” She looked away from her line just in time to see Randall prick himself on the hook, clearly flustered. “I know you two come from the same town or whatever but what do you see in him anyway? And you clearly like him despite all your protest, you’re not fooling anyone, Randall. He’s the only one who doesn't notice. Maybe. Even if he did I can’t tell because all he talks about its fists.” Aliza smugly reeled in her line to pull out…. A torn up shirt? Oh she really wasn’t good at this whole fishing thing. She grumbled a little bit while picking the wet cloth off her hook, not noticing Randall zoned out in silence next to her.
“I………” He started, not entirely sure with what he was going to say. “I…. I don’t know. He annoys me. He’s loud. He’s obnoxious and annoying. He only talks about he DAMN fists and fighting people. He’s annoying. I don’t think he’d notice the end of the world happening around him if there was a strong fighter in front of him. And he’s so loud and annoying!!”
Aliza laughed a bit. “I think you mentioned that he was annoying already! Maybe more than twice.” They both laughed before Randall continued, staring across the body of water.
“I don’t know why I like him. He’s annoying, and I know I’ve mentioned that, shut up” He smiled fondly at his companion. “But when I see him, my heart gets heavy. And then he opens his STUPID mouth. So I don’t know why i like him.” Randall grumbled again before pulling in another fish. Seriously? How did she get a torn piece of cloth while feeling at the top of her game and he got a fish while feeling entirely smitten with an idiot? “And also. HOW can he even exist traveling on his own when he's THAT stupid? How is he alive right now? I understand when he travels with the captain, but he’s not always on the Grandcypher, how does he survive? I don’t know how he hasn’t gotten himself killed just from annoying the everloving shit out of the wrong group of people.”
“You sure do think about him a lot don’t you Randall? How much of your waking day is time spent thinking about Feather when you’re not sparring? Is that why you like fishing so much? So that you have time to think about Feather in silence? What about - Ow!” Randall laughed and gave her a soft punch on her shoulder. “Hey! Did you just use your fists to punch me? He really is rubbing off on you!”
Randall chuckled again “Haha, can it. Pay attention to your own line, you’ve got a bite.” Aliza looked at her own line and sure enough, Randall was right, there was a fish on her own line. How was he able to keep track of her line AND his own while being smitten over Feather? That’s not fair. Aliza reeled in her own line, revealing it was a real fish this time. “Anyway, I think we’ve got enough fish for the week, let’s head back to the camp.” Randall picked up the bucket with his catch of fish and started heading back to their shared camp. Aliza looked at her own bucket, with one newly caught fish, before scrambling to pick up her stuff and catch up to Randall.
“H-hey! Wait!” She ran to catch up to him. “So. What do you think we should name the fish? We can name this guy Feather and you can practice kissing on him, instead of just doing it in your dreams” She held the fish in her hands, shaking the poor thing in Randall’s face as she talked.
“What? No, shut up about that.” He laughed. “Maybe I’ll name one of the fish I caught Stan and you can practice kissing it instead.”
“Hey!! I’ve already kissed Stan! We’re officially dating unlike you!” She stuck her tongue out at him and they both laughed. “But when you meet Feather again, I’ll definitely be your wingman. I promise. You can’t be a boring fish man, holding in your feelings until you die.”
“Heh. I’ll hold you to that then.” Randall held out a fist, which Aliza met with her own, and they settled down by the bonfire, ready to chow down on some fish, and maybe even share some more stories.