"Inventing the Future"

Author's Note: My sincere apologies...I don't know where this came from.

"Chapter 16: Juvenile High Jinks"

Yet another hot Veniccio day was drawing to a close, and Jaming stood fishing at the edge of one of the docks, trying desperately to keep a straight face. Behind him, Pau and Donny were laughing like a couple of eight-year-olds, and it was hard not to join in.

"That's disgusting, Donny!" Claire made a face and moved off to stand with Julia instead.

"Aw, come on! It's funny!"

Jaming frowned as he removed an undersized Bon from his fishing line and tossed it back into the sea. "It isn't that funny. And it's rude to do that in front of a lady."

Pau rolled his eyes. "Aw, don't be such a stick in the mud."

"Yeah," agreed Donny, "It ain't like you never do it."

"You've never heard me do it," Jaming retorted, joining in on the conversation in spite of his better judgment. "and there's a good reason for that. It's a natural bodily function, yes, but there are certain things I don't do in front of other people. Ladies in particular."

Donny nudged Pau and snickered. "No wonder he's always so uptight. He never farts!"

There was a chorus of roaring boy laughter, and Pau fell over and held his stomach as he kicked his feet in the air. Jaming's cheeks darkened as he drew himself up taller and proceeded to ignore them.

As luck would have it, though it was debatable whether this luck was good or bad, Meredith had just stepped off of one of the shop boats. She heard the laughter, and came over to investigate. "What's so funny?"

Jaming shut his eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh as he shook his head. "This is the aftermath of a flatulence joke. And, fair warning; you would be wise to stand upwind from Donny."

Donny and Pau cracked up even harder, and Meredith rolled her eyes in a 'boys will be boys' manner. "Kids, huh?"

Pau sat up and stuck his tongue out at her.

Donny sat down cross-legged right where he was standing, and asked Pau in a voice that was louder than necessary, clearly teasing them. "You think when those two have kids, they'll teach 'em to be all boring like they are?"

Jaming's expression was pure shock, and he fumbled his fishing rod and nearly dropped it. He came very close to falling off the dock himself as he made a mad grab for it, and was only saved by Meredith grabbing the back of his waistcoat and yanking him away from the edge. He was trying to find his voice, but Meredith beat him to it.

"Quiet in the cheaper seats, you two."

"I wonder what they'll look like?" Pau joined in, unable to resist.

"That's rather premature," Jaming said coldly, reeling in his empty lure and casting out again. "And none of your business."

Meredith certainly didn't miss the days when her peers were so overt with their teasing, but she was long past the point where it bothered her. She noticed, though, that Jaming seemed to be very bothered by it. His blush almost looked like a bad sunburn, and he wasn't making eye contact.

"Seriously, you two," she told them firmly, "that's enough. Why don't you go down to the beach and help Granny Rosa get a fire going? The captain said he has more than enough Kaji on board for a fish fry."

"Eew..." Pau made a face, "I think I'll pass."

Donny, however, was excited. "All right! No more instant mac and cheese for me!"

He ran off, and Meredith frowned. 'Is that what he eats every night? Why is he living here on his own, come to think of it?'

Jaming watched Donny leave with a look of concern, and he whispered, "Did you know?"

"No..."

Pau, who had belatedly realized that he didn't like being told to be quiet, flattened his ears on his skull and smiled wickedly. Tip-toeing up behind Meredith, he stood there for a moment before giving the small of her back a very light push.

Meredith, who was standing right at the edge of the pier, flailed out her arms and tried to arch away from the danger. "Ack! No! Aah!"

Before Jaming could do anything about it, his girlfriend had plunged into the ocean. "Pau!"

But when Meredith broke the surface, she was laughing. "I'll kill you!" She was able to reach the dock from where she was, and she quickly hauled herself out of the water with arms that were very used to climbing at this point. "I'll kill you, Pau!"

Of course, she didn't. Her version of 'kill' was to chase the cackling adolescent until she caught him, then to haul the shrieking and laughing boy bridal style back to the edge of the dock, where she charged forward at a run and jumped into the water again with him in her arms.

Jaming, who had been ready to angrily retaliate, found this deliciously funny. All eyes in the immediate vicinity turned to locate the source of the unfamiliar, uproarious laughter. As Jaming doubled over and braced the hand that wasn't holding his fishing rod against his knee, the people of Veniccio learned that their introverted neighbor was, in fact, very capable of laughing.