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Natalie rolled over when the phone rang a few hours later and picked up the receiver. Norman's tired voice informed her they were a little over an hour from the first string. Natalie swung her feet over the side of the bunk and quickly got dressed. After she got out of the bathroom she shuffled into the kitchen to start breakfast. She put the bacon and sausage in the oven to cook then started boiling a huge pot of eggs. Hard boiled egg sandwiches were on the menu along with some muffins. She toppled the plastic covered muffins into a bowl in the center of the table and turned to asses the coffee situation. Once everything was cooking she looked around for a place she could do some stretches. Yoga was her favorite way to start the morning and she never really felt like herself if she didn't get a chance to do a few of her favorite positions. Realizing that inside was just too small to accommodate what she wanted to do she slipped outside. The cold air that hit her was intense but strangely exhilarating. She was better dressed this time, wearing warmer pants, a long sleeved t-shirt and a sweatshirt. On her feet were a pair of sneakers. She took care to stay away from the deck camera and under the protection of the awning. The boat was in fairly calm seas, but it still rocked constantly. Doing the majority of poses were fairly easy, the ones that required her to take a foot off the ground were basically impossible. After going quickly through a basic yoga routine she walked back inside arriving just ahead of a very grumpy Sig Hansen.
"Where the hell is the coffee" he barked.
"In the coffee pot" replied Natalie.
Sig cracked an eye open and stared into the pot, it was full.
"Where's the smell?" asked Sig.
"What smell?" countered Natalie.
"You know the smell" repeated Sig.
"You mean the burning smell of old coffee?" asked Natalie.
"Yeah, whatever, the smell that tells us that there is coffee brewing down here" replied Sig.
"I'm sure you will smell it after a few drips are spilled all over the heating element. I cleaned it because it smelled gross, but I'm sure if you put your mind to it you can get the smell back soon" said Natalie.
"Things on this boat run better without change" said Sig.
"I'm afraid that the world is always changing and even when nothing seems to change something is" replied Natalie sagely.
"I don't need to here any of that mumbo jumbo" said Sig.
Natalie just turned back to assembling breakfast in response.
"Why are you wet?" asked Sig.
Natalie looked over her shoulder and noticed a very distinctive wet mark. She hadn't even felt the splash when she was outside.
"I was doing some yoga outside" said Natalie.
"You went outside without telling us?" asked Sig menacingly.
"I just stepped out right under the awning, I go farther to get food out of the freezer without checking in" replied Natalie.
Sig pondered continuing the argument and then decided against it. He poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a few hard boiled eggs out of the bowl and a few pieces of toast.
"Are you making something this morning or is it a hotel continental breakfast?" asked Sig.
"Eggy cheesy sandwiches with hard boiled eggs, bacon and sausage" said Natalie. "Oh and the muffins from the store."
"You didn't bake them yourself?" asked Sig.
Natalie gave him a look and took the bowl of eggs away from him before he ate them all. She got to work getting the sandwiches assembled and the rest of the breakfast on the table. The guys rolled in sleepy eyed and disheveled. Every single guy made a comment about the lack of coffee only to be informed there was coffee and the pot had been cleaned. Sig got great glee out of telling everyone they were wrong.
Natalie sat in the wheelhouse waiting for the first pot to come into view. Sig had tasked her to keep an eye out for it but Natalie couldn't see anything but a sheet of slate grey water. A flash of orange caught the corner of her eye and she happily announced her findings. Sig announced the pot was off the bow and fishing began. Natalie sat in the port side chair watching the waves and listening to the crackling voices from down on deck. The first few pots had yielded numbers in the high teens.
"So are you going to stay or go?" asked Chris.
"Well, these are numbers that we could grind on given a long enough soak, but I'd ideally like to find better fishing" said Sig to the camera. "So we'll probably stack on the gear and see what's in the rest of the string."
"So is there an over under of grindable fishing?" asked Natalie.
"Yes, but it depends on many factors" expounded Sig. "Firstly when the actual offload date is, if it's firm then the numbers can be lower, if it's liable to change then we need to be on strong numbers from the get go, so we will seek higher numbers from the beginning. Secondly, it depends on what I feel like doing. And really that's all that matters."
Natalie tuned out the rest of the lecture, she felt Sig's self importance start to fill the room.
"Nineteen, one, nine" said Edgar's voice over the hailer. "By the way can you ask Nat to send out more redbull."
"Roger" replied Sig.
By the time he turned to deliver the message she was already gone. She returned to the wheelhouse after making a few quick sandwiches and delivering them and the drinks to the guys on deck.
"How's everyone doing out there?" asked Sig.
"Tired" said Natalie.
"Well the snack should buy us a little time until they need lunch" said Sig.
Lunch arrived after 8 hours out on deck. The guys came in tired, wet and starving. Natalie served a huge bowl of chili and cornbread. For dessert warm chocolate brownies with ice cream. The guys enjoyed the food and the short respite from the never ending work. Everyone sighed as the meal came to the close. The jovial conversation all but came to a halt until Edgar smiled.
"Natalie, I have something for you" he said suddenly.
He walked out on deck and returned a moment later with a pair of oilskins.
"What's that?" she asked warily.
"Your new deck gear" said Edgar.
"Where are the slippers?" asked Natalie.
"Funny" said Edgar. "Lets get you suited up."
"What do I have to take off?" asked Natalie.
"If anything you should put more on" said Matt.
"Yeah, I definitely think you should maybe put another layer of clothes maybe two" said Edgar.
"I don't know if this is a good idea" said Sig.
"She'll be fine. We'll keep an eye on her" said Edgar.
"I agree with Sig" said Norman.
"Of course you do, you and captain Ahab are thick as thieves" complained Edgar.
Norman rolled his eyes in response and walked out of the room.
"Edgar, lets be reasonable. She has no experience on a deck doing anything, the weather is probably going to start coming up, she's just another liability" said Sig.
"Lets suit her up and if you get scared then you can call her in" countered Edgar.
"Fine" said Sig. "But the minute I call her in she's coming in."
Edgar smiled gleefully and told Natalie to go put on some more clothes.
Natalie walked into the ready room wearing three layers of clothing. Edgar helped her to step into the pants. He pulled them up and tightened the suspenders, the pants fell about 6 inches too long. Placing her feet in boots that were far too big Edgar cut the bottom of the pants so they hit just above the heel of the boot. Around her waist Edgar wrapped duct tape in order to make the pants little snugger. The jacket proved to be a bigger issue. Nick took over and folded part of the back of the jacket in thirds and taped the pieces together. It wasn't pretty but everyone was confident it would probably keep her fairly dry. The shoes were a little bit of a problem, she was tripping over them and occasionally her foot would just come out it completely.
"Well I guess if you don't walk around too much it won't be an issue" said Matt.
Natalie just smiled and managed to shuffle over to where Norman was sitting. She sat down next to him and placed her hand on his leg.
"I don't have any cigs if that's what you are asking for" said Norman.
"Do I look like the kind of person who smokes?" asked Natalie.
"Not really" said Norman. "Are you sure you want to be out here?"
"Enough socializing, it's time for a quick tutorial" said Edgar.
"I'll show her" said Jake.
"No, I want her to learn the right way" said Edgar.
"Are you kidding, there is the right way, the wrong way and the Norwegian way. And you know which way you're going to teach her" said Matt.
Edgar half dragged Natalie around the deck showing her the different positions in the rotation. The last place he showed her was the sorting table.
"This is where you'll be" said Edgar.
He handed her a while plastic measuring stick and when Natalie reached out to take it he noticed she was just wearing striped gloves.
"You'll need rubber gloves" he said.
"They're going to be too big" said Natalie.
"Well if you don't wear them you're hands are going to get destroyed" said Edgar. "Junior, go get her a pair of gloves."
Jake arrived with a pair of gloves and Natalie dutifully slipped her hands into them. They were gigantic.
"Told you so" said Natalie shaking her hands which caused the gloves to come off.
"Are you sure you can't keep them on?" asked Edgar. "Do you have another pair of gloves."
"No, all I have is a pair of mittens" replied Natalie.
"So go put those on"said Edgar.
"I won't be able to put my fingers through the gloves" said Natalie.
"What the hell are you talking about?" asked a frustrated Edgar.
"Edgar, mittens don't have any fingers. Just a part for a thumb and another section for the rest of my hand" explained Natalie.
"Well, fuck" said Edgar.
"How about some dishwashing gloves" suggested Natalie.
"That's fine" said Edgar. "Just something to keep your hands dry."
Natalie stumbled across the deck and into the house. She managed to make it back out onto the deck as they pulled up to the first pot. She took her place at the sorting table, grabbed her measuring stick and waited. The first pot was pulled up and had a few crab in it. They were dumped onto the sorting table and Natalie stood frozen on the spot.
"Come on Nat, pick up a crab and measure it" said Matt.
"They look like giant bugs" said Natalie.
"Grab them by one of the claws, spin it around, measure it and then put it over here if it's big enough, over there if it's too small" explained Matt.
Natalie tentatively reached out a gloved hand.
"Oh my God, nice gloves" said Matt with a snort.
"Thanks, they're for dishwashing" said Natalie turning her pink gloves to display them.
"We left the last crab for you" said Nick.
Natalie's smile slipped off her face and was replaced by a determined frown. Reaching over she grabbed the crab by one of the claws and turned it around on the table. She gingerly set the measuring stick on top of the crab and was able to see it was big enough. Then using the measuring stick she pushed it over to the pile.
"How many?" asked Jake.
"What?" replied Natalie.
"How many did you count" asked Jake.
"One" said Natalie.
Jake walked over to the deck intercom and announced 15 keepers. Natalie watched as the smaller crab were tossed back via the trash chute. Sig decided to stack on the pots and continue to look for better fishing. Natalie stood next to Jake at the bait table and helped to scoop bait into the bags. It was disgusting work and she kept waiting for Jake to chop a finger off in the bait chopper.
"This thing reminds me of the end of Fargo" said Natalie. "You know the part where Steve Buscemi ends up in the woodchopper."
"It's a pretty mean machine" said Jake. "You could easily chop up a body in it."
"Good to know" said Natalie.
Hours later Natalie was still on deck. She was leaning on the sorting table attempting to push her small stack of crab down the chute into the tank. Her feet were on tiptoe and finally Norman took pity on her and pushed her stack the rest of the way. Natalie smiled gratefully and walked back to the bait station. She and Jake had taken turns loading the bait bags and eventually Natalie decided that she preferred to slash and hang the cod. The weather was still flat calm and almost pleasant.
"Ok Natalie, lets see you hang the bait in the next pot" said Jake.
"No thanks" said Natalie.
"Come on, you can do it. I have faith in you" said Jake encouragingly.
"I have no doubt I can do it, I just don't want to" said Natalie.
"Baby" muttered Jake.
"That won't work" said Natalie.
"What?" asked Jake innocently.
"Attempting to call me weak because I won't do something" said Natalie.
"How about begging?" suggested Jake.
"Not that either" said Natalie.
"How about trying to ask nicely" suggested Nick.
"No one does anything nicely on this boat" said Jake.
"Natalie, will you hang the next bait set up, so we can quit hearing Junior bitch" said Nick sweetly.
"For you Nick, of course" said Natalie.
Nick gave her a quick lesson about how to get into the pot and where to feed the hanging bag through the mesh. Natalie stood at the ready for the pot to be set in the launcher. Sliding across the deck it banged painfully into the side of the boat making Natalie wince.
"It's good to be scared, that means you aren't going to get in it's way" said Edgar.
After a moment the pot was set and the doors pulled open. The buoy bags and lines were pulled out by Nick.
"Ok, you're up Natalie" he announced.
Natalie hopped into the pot doing her best to scramble towards the back. She'd just gotten the bait bag string handed to Norman when a wave crashed over the side of the boat dousing her. She finished hanging the cod and sputtered as she got out of the pot.
"That my dear is a Bearing Sea baptism" said Edgar with a smile.
"Oh my God, I'm soaked" replied Natalie.
"Edgar! I told you to keep her away from the rail" yelled Sig's voice over the hailer.
"Busted" said Matt with a smirk.
"Back to the bait table Bug" said Edgar.
"Wait, what did you just call me?" said Natalie.
"Bug, you know because you're Nat for short and that's a type of bug. Consider it your new nickname" explained Edgar.
"What if I don't like it" said Natalie.
"Then we will think of one a thousand times worse" said Edgar.
"Fine" said Natalie as she stalked back to the bait table.
She'd almost made it back when her foot came out of the boot and stepped right into a puddle of water.
"Ok that's it. I'm done. I'm pretty sure every part of me is now wet" she announced.
"Every part" said Jake waggling his eyebrows.
"Yes, every single part" said Natalie completely missing the innuendo.
Everyone on deck broke out into hysterics. Natalie rolled her eyes and walked towards the ready room.
"Are you going to stop her?" Nick asked Edgar.
"Nope, she'll be back in a second. There is no way she can get out of the duct tape by herself" said Edgar proudly.
Natalie shrugged off the rain slicker and then kicked off her boots reveling in the satisfying thunk they made as they hit the dryer. Next she pulled her soaking wet sweatshirt off and threw it in the washer. After attempting to pull off the rain pants twice she realized she was going to need a little help. Deciding she didn't want to go back out on deck she walked through the galley and up to the wheelhouse. Sig was watching the guys on the monitor when she walked in.
"I need some help" said Natalie.
"Oh yeah?" said Sig not taking his eyes off the monitor.
"Yes, I can't get my pants off" said Natalie.
Sig's head shot up so fast it took his eyes a minute to refocus. When they did focus he saw Natalie standing in his wheelhouse in a soaking wet t-shirt apparently very cold. He finally pealed his eyes away from her chest long enough to see her dilemma. The waist of the pants was wrapped with duct tape.
"How did you managed to get those pants like that? And why are you so wet?" asked Sig.
"Edgar did the pants for me and I'm wet because it's like a fucking washing machine out there" said Natalie.
"Come over here and I'll help you" said Sig.
Natalie walked across the deck to Sig's chair and waited. Sig popped the boat into neutral and turned around.
"Shit, I'm going to need a knife or something to cut this" said Sig thoughtfully.
"I can slip out of them if you just loosen the tape a little" said Natalie.
Sig pulled a small leatherman out of a drawer and sliced through one layer of tape. He pulled slightly and Natalie shimmied around in an attempt to free herself.
"Stand still so I don't cut you" said Sig.
"No I've almost got it" said Natalie. "Just pull the pants down a little."
Sig set down the knife and pulled the pants down as hard as he could. The force managed to free the oilskins but also pulled down Natalie's sweats as well. Sig got a nice view of her panties.
"Oh well the pants were wet anyway" said Natalie as she stepped out of the two pairs of pants.
Sig didn't hide his sudden interest in Natalie's newly revealed body. She was thin but muscular and her skin was tan. When Natalie bent down to pick up the discarded clothes Sig almost forgot to breathe. He sucked in a stunned breath which cause Natalie to look at him.
"Honestly, I can't be the first girl you've ever seen in a pair of underwear" said Natalie exasperatedly.
"Why are you so tan" asked Sig suddenly.
"What?" said Natalie.
"Tan, you're so tan. You live in Washington right? It's not that warm there even in the summer" said Sig.
"Not that it matters but I visited my family Hawaii this summer" said Natalie.
"Are you hawaiian?" said Sig.
"Do I look hawaiian?" asked Natalie.
"Maybe" hedged Sig.
"No, I'm not hawaiian. My parents vacation there" said Natalie.
She stood there waiting for Sig to say something else, when it became clear he'd lost his ability to speak she turned to go. She'd almost reached the door when she heard Sig start to speak.
"My little coffee thing is empty" said Sig.
"Thanks for letting me know" said Natalie as she continued walking.
"Can you please refill it" said Sig.
"Is this just an excuse to see me in my underwear a little longer?" asked Natalie knowingly.
Sig just shrugged his shoulders and shook the french press in her direction. Natalie sighed and walked back to collect the pot.