Fragment 13

Old Jose wondered if his curiosity was going to be the end of him. Maybe he'd caught it from this stranger than strange man. He could have walked away. But he didn't.

He trailed after the man who had frowned at his flask and called it venom, with an extra syllable or a strange roll of the tongue. It made Jose think of snakebite. Bad alcohol. Or a mix of beer and hard cider, if you wore a lot of black and liked your eyeshadow, or spoke the Queen's English. Either way, it was probably bad.

He'd offered the flask to the man, just in case the word meant something else entirely, and because it was the polite thing to do, though most wouldn't dare with the virus outbreak. He'd actually retreated like he'd been threatened. Hard to say if it was because of the contents, which Jose had confidence would burn any bug that dared to come in contact with the liquid, or the fear of infection.

Watching the man try to suggest a barter using sign language and words that nobody understood was pretty amusing. It was definitely one of those latin based languages, because venom wasn't the only thing he said that sounded almost like a word. Of course, Jose wasn't entirely certain that the guy was trying to barter, but he definitely seemed to be trying to ask what the shopkeeper wanted in exchange for fruit, and not understanding the response at all.

Jose snorted, and the man spun on his heels with a speed that made Jose leap backwards with reflexes that he'd thought his ancient body had forgotten. Dangerous. He shouldn't have been following someone who could move like that.

The man pointed at the apple he held and said calmly, "Apple."

The shopkeeper behind him corrected sharply, "My apple!"

The lad obviously lacked a sense of self preservation.

The dangerous man repeated questioningly, but clearly, "My apple?"

Jose let out a sigh that came from his toes as the shopkeeper stiffened. The lad was one of the kinder folk, and left out bruised produce that he wasn't allowed to give away, so that people could take it after he closed up his shop. He lifted his own hand to point at the apple and then at the shopkeeper, and said as clearly as he could, "His apple." Then he pointed at his flask and said, "My drink."

The dangerous man set the apple down with the others, and asked, "Dollars?" He waved expansively toward the contents of the table.

It took Jose a moment, while the shopkeeper agreed, "Yes, everything here costs money!"

Jose fumbled in his pockets, until his fingers found his lucky coin. It was worth more than a dollar these days, and many kids wouldn't even recognize it as one. He held it up and said, "Dollar."

The shopkeeper gave him a confused look, but the dangerous man's eyes glinted, and he gave Jose a firm nod, and held up a peach and asked, "Id?"

"Peach," Jose said. "It is a peach."

He wasn't surprised when the man reached for a plum, but he sucked in his breath when the shopkeeper slapped his hand and snapped, "Don't touch what you're not buying!"

Reasonable, especially given the virus, but he was more relieved than he could explain when the man ignored the slap and pointed at the plum instead and asked, "It?"

"It is a plum," Jose said quickly.

The shopkeeper was rubbing his hand like he'd slapped a steel bar instead of a hand, and staring at the guy. They both froze when a deep growl rumbled out of the man whose hand had moved to point at the next tray. The man himself asked calmly, "It?"

"Green pepper," Jose explained. He glanced at the shopkeeper and added, "I guess he's really hungry."

He really was a good lad, and Jose was determined to give him a bit extra when his little bit of money came in at the beginning of the month. The shopkeeper snatched up every fruit that the dangerous man, who had apparently decided to start his language lessons here, had touched and dropped them in a paper bag. He shoved the bag at the man and almost shouted, "Take it! Free! Eat!"

The man looked confused, but accepted the sack. "My?" he questioned.

"Yeah," Jose agreed, and then corrected that to "Yes," and added to the shopkeeper, "Thanks."

"Yes, yours," the shopkeeper agreed, and pointed at the bag and then the man's face.

The man tried to give the shopkeeper a thankful smile and a nod, but somehow Jose felt that his heart wasn't in it. "Eat apple," he suggested, and mimed taking a bite.

--

Victoria eyed the mermaid who had been a sea monster warily. The fishtailed woman had hauled herself up onto the deck with just her arms more easily than she had climbed aboard with two feet to help her. She was currently combing her hair and watching the solar panels track the sun.

Victoria hadn't dared to tell her to get off her ship, because she suspected the woman could sink it as easily as she'd boarded it. There was a lot more than her fins that was fishy about her. When she had righted the boat, transformed, and then warned Victoria to forget what she'd seen, Victoria had expected her to vanish. But there she sat, hours later.

At first, she'd spoken like some English barmaid in an old movie. Lots of ye and tha sprinkled heavily with what Victoria was fairly sure were words a sailor would be proud of, as her mother would have said sarcastically. She had modified her way of speaking to match Victoria's with frightening speed. Inhuman speed. But then, she obviously wasn't human.

If you'd asked Victoria that morning if mermaids really existed, she'd have pointed you to the manatees of Florida. And sea monsters might have gotten a surprisingly knowledgeable list of deep sea critters that had been recorded, and the various historical descriptions of sea monsters that matched each one. But she wasn't one to doubt her own senses, or her own sanity, just because something out of legend was sitting on her deck.

The mermaid was fascinated by all of the technology that made her little ship a single occupant craft. She had actually clapped her hands and giggled with delight when Victoria had shown her how the motors could move and trim the sails with just a few flicks of her hand at the helm. She had a thousand questions.

Victoria wondered if she were betraying her race by answering as many of those questions as she could truthfully. If sea monsters were real, which they apparently were (either that or sea witches, Victoria hadn't entirely decided), then their technology might be humanity's only defense against them if it came to a fight. In legends, most of the wins were gotten by trickery or deception, but in the same legends, the witches and monsters usually kept their word.

The dangerous creature who was watching the solar panel turn, which was about as exciting as watching grass grow, had promised to do her a favor if she answered "a few curious questions". Victoria had decided what favor to ask for before she'd even heard the first question.

'Go in peace, and don't harm anyone who doesn't harm you first.' She hoped it wouldn't count as two favors, but really, either half of it would probably be enough if it did.