Chapter 12: Three Fish in a Pod

The 3:40 proved itself a marvel; its light was dim, yet it shawn diligently, as if to say it refused its early bedtime call. Unfortunately for Nigel, this observation proved far from interesting for him. Though in all fairness, when one has sat in the same position for nearly, boredom appeared to be the only logical progression as his exhausted face depicted. Slowly but surely, a quick glance towards his uncle revealed an irritated expression, a stark contrast to his father, whom seemed happy as a calm as he reeled in yet another batch of fish.

"Well, look at that; that's the fifth school of fish I've caught today", said the delighted Monty as he threw the fish into the pile, much to the irritated glare his brother was sending his way currently.

"Sure, rub it in why don't you", Ben callously replied, the snarky remark enough to tighten the brows upon Nigel's face.

"Oh com on Ben, you can't give up so easily, that's what pappie always used to say", the old cheerfully replied as his son gave him a curious glance, much to the dismay of his irritated looking brother.

"Why do you think I stopped trying", the grouchy louse asked, his tone verging on anger as he bit down on his pipe.

"But pappie was always so supportive of you", Monty kindly reminded him, unaware of his son's surprised expression almost as much as he was to his brother's brows flurrying with rage.

"He dunked m in fish sauce Monty, fish sauce", he angrily reminded him, not that it did much to wipe the smile off his elder brothers face.

"Oh that's just like you Ben; always remember things so negatively", the plump old man happily remarked as he returned his line to the sea.

"Yeah, yeah, sure", Ben replied rather rudely, his face filled with irritation as he returned his gaze to the lake beyond him.

Unbeknownst to either of them was the look upon Nigel's face; it was so gentle, so surprised by such recollection that couldn't help but release a small fit of laughter, the first for him in an entire days span. Unfortunate for him however, that the suspicious black eyes of his uncle had caught such a reaction.

"What are you laughing at baldie", Ben asked, his threatening tone enough to snap the bald boy back into reality as he came to face the threatening glare upon his uncle's face, much to his cringe worthy dismay.

"What? Oh, nothing", the bald boy nervously replied, not that his uncle was buying it.

"Don't act coi, I saw the little look on your face", he replied.

"Well so what? You always find my misery amusing", he explained to the man who bore the unfortunate title of his uncle.

"That's different", grouchy louse explained to his now suspicious looking nephew. "Besides...I haven't exactly been in that mood much lately."

"Really. I find that hard to believe", Nigel stern said with a scawf, catching the attention of his uncle once more. " Of anything, you probably enjoy seeing me and my friends this way."

Yet even as he spoke, the stern British boy remained ever present in his own thoughts, enough that he seemed unaware of just how much his uncle's brows were furrowing, as if he were attempting to hold back excessive anger.

"Look kid, you don't exactly know everything about me...Besides, if I REALLY wanted to do something today, I would have brought along my Delightful Children for the ride", the middle aged looking man attempted to explain, much to the disbelief of his stern looking nephew.

"You really expect me to buy that", he asked, his stern tone in complete disbelief as he spoke.

"It's the truth kid", Ben explained.

"Oh come on, just admit it; this is a trip to the beach for you. If anything, you're probably enjoying seeing me squirm at a mistake I've been trying to fix for over a year", the young boy angrily retorted, an anger reflected ever so diligently in his navy blue eyes.

"Look kid, this ain't all about you; in case you've forgotten, I was the one responsible for reawakening Grandfather", Ben explained rather directly to his nephew, his own black eyes fierce with suppressed rage as he did so.

"That's exactly my point; if it wasn't for you, none of us would be going through this right now", the stern bald boy replied, his tone ever fierce with suppressed rage and anger, even as he watched his uncle breath in a deep sigh.

"Why do you think I came here today kid", Ben asked, his voice soft yet still sharp and callous in his delivery.

Surprisingly however, Nigel could feel his mouth opening, his navy eyes widening even as he turned to face the disgruntled looking man. "Did he really just say that", he thought. Even the unsuspecting words of Abigail from earlier began playing in his thoughts, though quick was he to shake off such thoughts as his gaze returned towards the lake once more.

"Well, I...I...Like you really-"

"What, you can't see me past a one-dimensional bad guy", he asked as Nigel squirmed for an answer, only to give up upon seeing his uncle's raised eyebrow.

"Well...not exactly", the young boy said, rubbing his head as his voice became nervous and high-pitched, much to his uncle's sighing dismay.

"Well, I can't really blame you", the grouchy louse casually replied. "But it's like I said earlier; I haven't exactly been up to evil lately."

"Maybe it's guilt...maybe it's karma, I don't know. All I know is that I feel uneasy about the whole incident for some reason...", he admitted, unaware of the surprised expression we was receiving from his passive nephew.

"I guess it's like what I told you last year; sure Grandfather's evil, and I admire that, but he's also a JERK", he further explained, even as his teeth tensed and his black eyes quenched at the very mention of the word.

"Shouldn't that have been your first clue", the bald boy asked, his disbelief and curiosity rather evident upon his face.

"Do you want the rest of the story", he asked his nephew, his rather bemused expression enough to silence the curious bald boy once more.

"Ah...Point taken", he replied, his voice somewhat squeaky in its delivery.

"Well anyway...I had some strange feeling that I needed to make it up to Monty for some reason", Ben casually explained.

"And you felt fishing was the only logical choice to do so", asked a calm yet observant Nigel.

"Are you kidding! I'd rather sit down and watch Highlander 2 than relive those days again", the grouchy louse made clear with his almost enraged tone.

"Oh, right, your black sheep reputation", the bald boy reminded himself, a tiny grin emerging upon his face at the very mention of such words.

"Yeah...Well I guess to make a long story short, I just figured it would make him happy, guess I was right", he casually remarked as his gaze made its way towards the smiling old man.

"Yeah, I guess you were...", the young boy replied, his calm and gentle tone reflective in both his warm eyes and expression.

Little did he know however that his uncle appeared aware of his expression, allowing for his own to twitch with devious delight before opening his mouth to speak once more.

"Awe, what's this...daddy troubles", asked a devious sounding Ben as his nephew cringed in realization.

"What! What would give you that impression", Nigel asked, unable to hide the nervousness his tone nor the blush stains on his cheeks.

"Kid, you've been trying to spit something out to him ever since we docked, I think that would be an indicator", he explained.

Truthfully, Nigel felt resistive towards such an accusation as his navy eyes indicated. Yet those suspicious black eyes, that firm mouth, even those straight eyebrows, they were all it took before he found himself sighing rather subtly, his navy eyes reverting to a more melancholy glance than they'd appeared previously.

"I'm just having trouble seeing him as just my dad today...", the calm yet frustrating sounding boy explained, unaware of his uncle`s widening eyes.

"Oh, I see...", he replied rather casually, his silence only patient enough to last merely seconds before opening his mouth to speak once more. "It's that bad, huh?"

"Yes", replied teh bald boy, his frustration ever so clear within his tone. "It's not like I don't want to talk to him, it's just that I don't know how to go about adressing teh subject...I odn't even know I can approach that advice Two-Seventy-Three gave me earlier".

"What did she tell you", Ben asked with curiosity.

"Something about how we must find peace through being oneself or something", Nigel explained in a rather frustrated tone, only able to hear the exasperated sigh coming from his uncle.

"God, that kid loves metaphors, doesn't she", he asked in an almost annoyed manner.

"She must get that from your side", the British boy replied rather bluntly.

"Yeah, I just pray that's all she got", the grouchy louse replied, teh very notion of mutant's malevolent laugh overshadowing hundreds of work enduced Cheesecake factories across teh world seemed enough to make him cringe with fear.

Yet even with such a horrid image dancing in his head, it only took so long before he shook his head, allowing himself to be drawn back into his current reality once more.

"So, you going to try again kid", Ben asked, his mild interst enough to peak teh interest of his uncertain looking nephew.

"Well, I'd like to, but...Wait, have you even paying attention to the last few minutes or so", the frustrated bald boy asked his grouchy looking uncle.

"Look, you want to settle this thing, right? So, just do it", he explained, his frustrated tone rather unsetling to the now nervous looking boy.

"But...I don't even have a plan-"

"Just do it", Ben replied, his frustration peaking ever so diligently upon his face as he gave his nephew a rather violent push forward.

And just like clockwork did Nigel move forward, his girlish scream a perfect fit for the surprised expression settling upon his face as his feet continually carried him across the the tiny boat. Though soon enough, he found himself falling into something round, something squishy, something that managed to break his fall. Asa result, it was only so long before he looked up to face the gentle face of his father beaming him a smile.

"Careful Nigel old bean, you walk too fast on this boat and you might end up face first with the fishes", Monty said ever so kindly,unaware of teh nervous laughter escaping his son's throat as he stood on his own two feet once more.

"Yeah, sorry dad...I'll try to be more careful", Nigel said reassuringly, his tone growing ever so venomous as his gaze shifted ever so slightly towards his grouchy looking uncle.

"Now, now son, remember; accidents do happen", the cheery old man commented, leaving his son at a loss for words once more.

"Yeah...I know...", the British boy calmly replied as he crouched down to his own knees, hanging his head over the boat as he did so.

Sure enough, a blanket of silence overcame the tiny little boat once more. Though to be honest, it didn't take the young boy long before he felt determination overcome his very being, feeling almost confident as he raised his head before speaking once more.

"Say dad...", Nigel began rather calmly, catching his father's undivided attention almost immediately. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course son", Monty calmly replied as his son took one last deep breath before speaking once more.

"Well...I have this friend of mine...", he began.

"Really", his father asked.

"Yes...He's usually very sure of himself, but...well...he's been having trouble lately...For some reason, he can't seem to see someone he loves dearly as they are, rather than who they were...", the bald boy finished, feeling unsettled by an ever present tightness in his chest as he sat there, enduring silence once more.

"Son, let me ask you...Does this friend of yours love this person", the old man asked in an almost uncharacteristic observant tone.

"Of course", the British boy explained in an exasperated tone.

"So then he shouldn't let it bother him", the old British man sweetly remarked, even as his son stared at him in disbelief.

"What", he asked, confusion rather apparent in his tone.

"If your friend is so worried about that happening, than he's got nothing to worry about if already cares about this person, don't you think so old bean", Monty asked his son.

And even though the feeling of surprise over swept him as his father put a hand to his shoulder, the bald boy could only feel comfort as his father grazed him with a kind yet reassuring smile.

"I guess...Thanks dad...", the young boy calmly replied.

Yet almost instantly after did Nigel begin to feel his navy eyes widen; those words, they were such kind words, they were words that could only bring him a smile when they came from the mouth of his father.

"He who is lost must find peace and importance in one whom cares only about being oneself..."

In some strange way, those words somehow only made much more sense to the bald boy than they had previously. Slowly, but surely did a small yet accepting smile graze his face shortly thereafter, one that seemed troublesome enough to draw concern upon the old man's face as he opened hos mouth to speak.

"Is something wrong son", he asked in a rather concerned manner, only to watch his son's face soften into an accepting smile.

"No dad...everything's fine", Nigel calmly explained, allowing his father's concerned expression to soften as he returned his attention towards the lake once more.

Shortly after did Nigel too find himself reaching for his own rod, that ever accepting smile present upon his calm face as he began to wind up for a nice throw.

End chap. 12