tragic_mask | (no subject)

Click.

He smiles. "I think there was a sign for the line outside. The brochure says we get free souvenir ponchos and everything."

She pushes the door open purposefully, looks for the sign.

"Ah, well, we certainly don't want to miss that."

"We'll need them. It's like a rainstorm out there."

He walks along with her, looking through the camera.

Click.

"Don't you like the feel of rain on your skin?" she says, looking around, then sees the sign, and follows it.

"I do," he agrees, "but not soaked that completely, not spending the rest of the day walking around wet. Besides, the brochures would get wet, and then how would we know what else we want to do?"

"We'd know to get more brochures," she says. "I think this is it."

There's several people in front of them, in line.

"Excellent," he says, slipping his stack of brochures into the bag with the spare cameras. "It's been a long time since I went anywhere on a boat. I can't remember the last time I was on one bigger than a rowboat, in fact."

"Clearly this is an excellent opportunity to remedy that."

"How about you?" he asks. "Been a while for you too?"

"Yeah... haven't been in a boat, period, for... years. Decades. I guess I just don't get near the water enough lately."

"Anything happened, or... it just hasn't worked out that way?"

She shrugs. "I just haven't had the chance. Mostly I'm landlocked."

"We'll have to remedy that, on vacations," he says. "Just as long as it wasn't something like... you were attacked by alligators while on a boat or something, and are now afraid of them."

A pause.

"In a fight with alligators, though, I think you'd win."

She grins, ferociously. "I know I would."

"And look beautiful while doing it," he says. "I'd pay good money to see that, you know. So would a lot of other people."

"We should start a business," she says. "Mel's Fighting Gators."

"We should. I'll sell tickets and popcorn, and make you elaborate jewelry for nonexistent championships--not that I don't think you would win, just that I don't imagine there are championships for that."

"Hey, we could make them. After all, it'd be a great marketing technique." She sighs. "Thought of course the whole thing would be terribly unfair to the alligators."

"So we'll stop once the alligators unionize and demand better working conditions," he says. "But until then, I see no problem with it."

"Well, good. If we ever get hard up for cash, that's what we'll turn to."

"When we're not making a living telling stories and selling seashell jewelry," he nods. "We'll have quite a time."

"I'm glad we've got such job security for the future," she says.

"The trick is to have many skills, and be able to adapt," he says. "Nowadays we can't afford to specialize."

"Well, I certainly try to have a specialty. I guess that's why no one remembers my name."

"Some people do," he says. "Classics majors, probably. And hippies, I'd wager."