riptide_asylum (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
riptide_asylum) wrote2013-12-23 02:07 pm
riptide_asylum) wrote2013-12-23 02:07 pm
"Sun and Sunfish" (Sunfish, 1988)
Title: Sun and Sunfish
Rating: PG
Summary: Cody is easily distracted on a sunny Saturday.
Cody threw down his rag and rolled over onto his back on the roof of the salon. Darting a glance in Nick’s direction, he sighed heavily.
Nick kept right on scrubbing.
Cody huffed into his mustache and looked around the harbor.
It was a sunny summer Saturday, and the tourists were out in full force. A couple of lovesick teenagers walked out of Rings N Things joined at the hip, grinning at something on the girl’s hand. A family in shorts, sunhats and binoculars sat at the table outside the La Kahuna with burgers, fries and cameras, oblivious to how quickly their pale skin was turning pink. They turned to stare, openmouthed at a rollerblader with a boom box on his shoulder. He waved, then turned the corner, heading off down the pier.
The Countessa’s slip was empty of course, just like a half-dozen others, but as Cody lay on one hip and watched, an awkward-looking girl with a blunt pageboy and striped shorts deftly piloted her Sunfish across the Riptide’s stern. She dipped back along the cockpit of the boat and brought the rainbow sail around, tacking expertly and making for the breakwater. Cody watched until she headed out past the mouth of the harbor and past the wake buoys.
“Hey.” Nick jabbed him in the stomach. “You planning on cleaning this thing with your ass? C’mon. Work.”
Ignoring him, Cody said, “Hey Nick, y’ever wonder why we spend so much time cleaning this thing? I mean, it’s a boat, Nick. It’s in water. Shouldn’t the water be keeping it clean?”
Nick paused in his scrubbing and looked at Cody like he was crazy. “We clean this thing ‘cause if we don’t, Mama Jo comes over and rides our asses. And what’s with this ‘so much time’ deal? We do it monthly. You know that. How’s that translate to ‘so much time’ in your world?”
Cody rolled onto his back and squinted out across the water. “I dunno, Nick. It just feels like, there must be something more than this.”
“‘More than this’? ‘More than this’? Are you kidding me, man? This is what we worked for, Cody. This is what we talked about. This--” Nick jabbed a pointy finger-- “This is what you wouldn’t shut up about all those times…”
Cody tore his gaze from the sea.
Nick looked back at him with eyes full of unfinished sentences. Eyes full of foxholes and rot, exploding jungle and things Cody couldn’t even think about, even now. Nick looked around the harbor, and Cody watched the simple rise and fall of his chest underneath the tight blue shirt. He watched his best friend’s eyes grow less tight and weary. Saw them fill with something that looked a lot like longing.
Nick threw down his rag. “Y’know, Cody, maybe you’re onto something.”
“I am?”
“Yeah, I think so. It’s a beautiful day.”
Cody nodded.
“Sun’s out. The sea looks…” Nick tilted his head on one side. He scowled. “Well, I’d fly it, at any rate. So whaddaya say, big guy, you wanna do a little fishing instead of this?”
Cody made a show of looking over the boat. “Seems clean enough to me.”
Nick grinned and slapped Cody on the thigh. “Then what’re we waiting for?”
Where Nick’s hand hit, Cody felt the skin tingle. He sat up quickly. “We’ll need bait. And charcoal.”
“Beer.”
“Chips.” Cody scooted over to the edge of the roof. He dropped to the deck with a thud, then waited for Nick to join him. “Dip.”
“Hey, you planning on doing any fishing, or just having a picnic out there?”
Cody grinned self-consciously.
Nick squeezed his shoulder. “Kidding, big guy. Just kidding. We got time for both. C’mon. The sooner we start on our shopping list, the sooner we’re gone, capisce?”
Cody’s grin widened. He turned and looked out over the water to where he’d last seen the rainbow Sunfish, but all he could see were the masts of a couple day sailors and a vast field of rolling blue water. He turned back to Nick. “Last one to the Bait Shack’s a rotten egg!”
He vaulted over the side of the Riptide, the keys to the Jimmy digging into his hip as he jogged up the slip, hearing Nick in hot pursuit.
Rating: PG
Summary: Cody is easily distracted on a sunny Saturday.
Cody threw down his rag and rolled over onto his back on the roof of the salon. Darting a glance in Nick’s direction, he sighed heavily.
Nick kept right on scrubbing.
Cody huffed into his mustache and looked around the harbor.
It was a sunny summer Saturday, and the tourists were out in full force. A couple of lovesick teenagers walked out of Rings N Things joined at the hip, grinning at something on the girl’s hand. A family in shorts, sunhats and binoculars sat at the table outside the La Kahuna with burgers, fries and cameras, oblivious to how quickly their pale skin was turning pink. They turned to stare, openmouthed at a rollerblader with a boom box on his shoulder. He waved, then turned the corner, heading off down the pier.
The Countessa’s slip was empty of course, just like a half-dozen others, but as Cody lay on one hip and watched, an awkward-looking girl with a blunt pageboy and striped shorts deftly piloted her Sunfish across the Riptide’s stern. She dipped back along the cockpit of the boat and brought the rainbow sail around, tacking expertly and making for the breakwater. Cody watched until she headed out past the mouth of the harbor and past the wake buoys.
“Hey.” Nick jabbed him in the stomach. “You planning on cleaning this thing with your ass? C’mon. Work.”
Ignoring him, Cody said, “Hey Nick, y’ever wonder why we spend so much time cleaning this thing? I mean, it’s a boat, Nick. It’s in water. Shouldn’t the water be keeping it clean?”
Nick paused in his scrubbing and looked at Cody like he was crazy. “We clean this thing ‘cause if we don’t, Mama Jo comes over and rides our asses. And what’s with this ‘so much time’ deal? We do it monthly. You know that. How’s that translate to ‘so much time’ in your world?”
Cody rolled onto his back and squinted out across the water. “I dunno, Nick. It just feels like, there must be something more than this.”
“‘More than this’? ‘More than this’? Are you kidding me, man? This is what we worked for, Cody. This is what we talked about. This--” Nick jabbed a pointy finger-- “This is what you wouldn’t shut up about all those times…”
Cody tore his gaze from the sea.
Nick looked back at him with eyes full of unfinished sentences. Eyes full of foxholes and rot, exploding jungle and things Cody couldn’t even think about, even now. Nick looked around the harbor, and Cody watched the simple rise and fall of his chest underneath the tight blue shirt. He watched his best friend’s eyes grow less tight and weary. Saw them fill with something that looked a lot like longing.
Nick threw down his rag. “Y’know, Cody, maybe you’re onto something.”
“I am?”
“Yeah, I think so. It’s a beautiful day.”
Cody nodded.
“Sun’s out. The sea looks…” Nick tilted his head on one side. He scowled. “Well, I’d fly it, at any rate. So whaddaya say, big guy, you wanna do a little fishing instead of this?”
Cody made a show of looking over the boat. “Seems clean enough to me.”
Nick grinned and slapped Cody on the thigh. “Then what’re we waiting for?”
Where Nick’s hand hit, Cody felt the skin tingle. He sat up quickly. “We’ll need bait. And charcoal.”
“Beer.”
“Chips.” Cody scooted over to the edge of the roof. He dropped to the deck with a thud, then waited for Nick to join him. “Dip.”
“Hey, you planning on doing any fishing, or just having a picnic out there?”
Cody grinned self-consciously.
Nick squeezed his shoulder. “Kidding, big guy. Just kidding. We got time for both. C’mon. The sooner we start on our shopping list, the sooner we’re gone, capisce?”
Cody’s grin widened. He turned and looked out over the water to where he’d last seen the rainbow Sunfish, but all he could see were the masts of a couple day sailors and a vast field of rolling blue water. He turned back to Nick. “Last one to the Bait Shack’s a rotten egg!”
He vaulted over the side of the Riptide, the keys to the Jimmy digging into his hip as he jogged up the slip, hearing Nick in hot pursuit.