he's got that dog in him

[friendsfordinner]

Who: Hickey & OPEN!
What: tracking training! couples talking! dog??
When: throughout the month.
Where: in Milton and the surrounding wilds.

Content Warnings: usual Hickey warnings apply (possible talk of violence, cannibalism, starvation, Terror's everything)

( catch-alls and closed starters within. hmu if you want one! )

Comments

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey can't help it: he lets out a little chuckle as he spots Makoto almost wipe you.

"I guarantee you that you'll be my best student. Now here. This is a good spot. Watch what I'm doing and follow my lead."

And then Hickey explains how to make a basic snare. Tie it off so that if something steps in it and tries to walk away, it pulls tight, trapping the animal still. Hickey goes through explaining the knots, step by step. And honestly? He's not half bad as a teacher. Though whether this is because Hickey knows what he's doing or he wants to show off, jury's out.

okay. I'm really back this time I swear.

[edamamepon]

Makoto steadies himself, returning that chuckle with a slightly sheepish one of his own. The trick is learning from every slip. But then instruction starts, time to be serious.

"You got it, teach."

It's said light enough to be a joke, but with far too much raw sincerity.

Makoto's expression shifts as he pays close attention, nodding with sounds of agreement. As the demonstration goes on, he frowns slightly more in concentration than displeasure.

He isn't half bad as a student when Makoto puts his mind to it, especially with visuals. Deft work like knots aren't that far out of his wheelhouse. Makoto's already used to working with his hands. Technical, detailed work; digits accustomed to moving tools, cards, wallets. Some of it may be noticeable in how well his first attempt goes once he finally gets to try one. It might not be as good as Hickey's, but it certainly isn't bad. And Makoto knows it. With pride written all over his face, he grins over at Hickey.

"Not bad, right?"

dude, don't worry about it!

[friendsfordinner]

When Makoto finally gets it, when his second attempt goes a lot better, Hickey can't help but grin. He reaches over to give Makoto a light punch on the shoulder before laughing, "There you go! Bloody well have it, don't you? More practice and I'm sure you'll be able to keep you and yours fed."

\o/

[edamamepon]

Makoto doesn't see the punch coming, but it's light enough that he doesn't shift. It does knock a laugh out of him too. One that continues right into his words.

"Well, that's only because I had such a good teacher."

His laugh falters off when he remembers what comes after the catch.

"So, what's next?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Well, we'll check the remainder of the traps. Carry this corpse with us while we do so. And when we get back home, that's when you do the butchery."

Hickey shrugs a little before pointing out, "Some people might do it in the forest. But then you've got to carry the pelts as well as the meat and that's just too much work."

And Hickey, at his core, is super lazy.

[edamamepon]

"Right. How many do you think we'll find?"

Makoto nods. But he doesn't offer to kill the next one, unless prompted, though he will offer to carry the next corpse with a raise of his hand. There's no excitement in it, but it seems that a level of professional resignation has melted his distaste away. He still can't quite look them in the eyes yet.

[friendsfordinner]

"Depends. Normally I find one or two. Some days there's nothing. Other days there's four or five. It's enough to keep me and mine going, but I'm never swimming in meat or pelts."

There's a moment before Hickey continues with,

"Managed to catch a deer once. Dunno how, I suspect the thing broke a leg trying to get out of the snare. But it's usually rabbits and occasionally one of those fat little birds."

Ptarmigan. The word you're looking for is ptarmigan.

[edamamepon]

Makoto follows Hickey's lead again, his attention back on the wilderness around them as they go. There's an awed sound at the mention of the deer and he's clearly ready to ask about it until he's distracted by that last sentence.

"Oh, you mean the white ones? Do they taste any good?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Pretty good," Hickey nods. "They're kind of game-y in a way? Like other fowl, but you can tell there's more to it."

Which is a terrible description but it is what it is. Hickey is nowhere close to a food connoisseur.

"Rabbits are more useful, in my opinion. You can save the feathers from that bird for down or to stuff a pillow, but I haven't found much other use for them."

[edamamepon]

"Like game-y chickens then, am I right?"

More nodding to the rest of Hickey's thoughts, but there are more gears turning again.

"Well, you can make stock with the bones of either of them. And even if you can't eat the feathers, there's got to be more ways to use them. Don't people use them for lures and stuff? You know, for fishing? I think some coats get stuffed with them too." A shrug, "But I totally agree, rabbits seem more useful around here."

[friendsfordinner]

"You'd know just as much aboutlures as I do," Hickey points out, with a little shrug. "I've tried fishing? But it's bloody hard to do properly."

Especially when you're someone as horribly impatient and go-go-go as Hickey is. What do you mean you have to sit on the ice for hours at a time? That's boring as hell!

[edamamepon]

"Not a fan, huh? But you know, I'd like to eat fish again too sometime. I wonder how many feathers one would be worth? Trading can be another good way to work together, I think."

Makoto shrugs too, but it's light. He could probably fish, with patience greater than Hickey's. But he doesn't know much about doing it either, and scary things have come out of the lake so he's not too keen on risking that much to fish. Makoto's running list of skills to eventually learn grows again.

[friendsfordinner]

"If you're looking for a fishing rod, hooks, something like that, check out du Lac's general store. The man's a prick," so says Hickey's entirely unbiased opinion, "but he's a good businessman. Even if you piss him off, he'll give you a fair deal if you're trading something."

Case in point: he's managed to work with Hickey, a man who isn't hiding in the tone of his voice how much he doesn't like Louis (it's a lot, Louis sucks).

[edamamepon]

Makoto nods, looking Hickey over until that general store thought is complete. A bit of a lopsided grin creeps up on him before he asks, "... So, what'd you do to piss him off?"

[friendsfordinner]

"I wish I had a fun answer," Hickey responds, matching that lopsided grin with a smirk of his own. "Du Lac's just a prick. I'm not the first person he's gotten into an argument with, doubt I'll be the last."

[edamamepon]

"Me too." Makoto jokes back, but there isn't any actual disappointment in his tone. "Sounds like you're right. But don't worry, I'm used to dealing with guys like that. Comes with doing business in any world, I guess."

His smile turns polite, almost innocent, only a beat before asking, "So, know if he has any pet peeves?"

His pronunciation of "pet peeves" says that is not a term he's used often enough to sound smooth saying.

[friendsfordinner]

Stealing? Breaking and entering? Being a prick? Hickey just being Hickey? It's less that Louis has pet peeves and more of the fact that Hickey is a complete asshole.

"Just treat him professionally at the start of it," Hickey shrugs. "Keep things business focused and everything'll be fine."

[edamamepon]

Makoto's impression has been skewed by Billy and this whole teaching excursion. That and the fact that he hasn't seen or dealt with Hickey being an asshole firsthand yet.

"You know--That, I'm good at." he even has the gall to punctuate it with a wink. "Oh, hey, I never asked what kind of work you did before this place, did I?"

[friendsfordinner]

Murder, mutiny, and identity theft.

"I was a sailor," Hickey answers, with a little nod. "That's how Billy and I met. We sailed on the same ship together, ship called HMS Terror. Things...went south after a bit. Here's a thousand times better, if only because we've got some bloody space."

Your patience with your crewmembers gets lost very quickly when there's sixty or so of you crammed in very tight living spaces.

[edamamepon]

"Well, this place isn't as cold as the arctic either. Probably. Less weird polar bears too."

Makoto says it lightly like a joke, but doesn't really want to dwell on whatever happened with the "irregular" bear Billy told him about before. Moving on--

"Were you and Mr. Gibson both sailors, then? Does that mean you did the same kind of work? Sorry, I don't know much about how boat crews worked back then."

[friendsfordinner]

"Nah, don't worry, I'm the same. I didn't know much about how boat crews worked before I joined up." Before he killed a man and stole his identity to take his place on the voyage, but sure. 'Joined up.'

"I was caulker's mate. That means it was my job to help patch up holes and repair things around the ship. Billy was the lieutenants' steward. He helped out the officers on Terror."

[edamamepon]

"Oh, I see." Makoto nods along, filing things away. Caulk for car engines, caulk for an old boat, it makes simple sense to him at least. Good thing he isn't interested in having a professional talk about the intricacies of engine vs marine caulking.

"Then what made you want to join up? That doesn't sound like an easy job either, even for a resourceful guy like you."

[friendsfordinner]

He needed to get out of London. No matter what, he couldn't stay there any more. He needed to leave by any means necessary.

Plus, there's the whole 'planning to desert in the Sandwich Islands' thing. Hickey's smart enough to keep that to himself right now.

"Have you ever been to London? Boring as all hell. I wanted to get out of there, wanted to see anything different. The Arctic might not have been ideal but the thought was once we got out of there, we'd swing back down to the tropics. I'd have liked to see that."

[edamamepon]

"Yeah, I have actually. Worked at an art auction house there for a while."

Makoto is also smart enough not to mention those auctions were part of a con job.

"Was that your first time out of London then?"

[friendsfordinner]

"It was," he nods. There's a moment where Hickey lets some of his true irritation shine through as he grumbles, "Didn't expect to be frozen in the Arctic for three bloody years. I'd have picked a different job if that were the case."

Getting out of London was top priority. But at the same time, he'd greatly prefer not freezing to death.