Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Apollymi]

A laugh. Of course, after all she'd just done, Charles was laughing. What a ridiculous notion he was passing off this whole thing as if he was going to handle the fish, how utterly ridiculous. "Well Chuck you should have been faster about it huh? And how was I to know skills were on the table, Mr. LIVING OFF THE LAND!" she exclaimed. This was a conversation happening still in relatively good humor, even with the amount of childish argument currently taking place.

Whatever the case, he'd at least noted the awesomeness of her punch, so that was to be appreciated. But he claimed she'd touched it, so she had the ick or something to that effect. After rinsing off her hand and picking up her beer mug, she walked menacingly towards Charles with that same hand she'd punched into the creature extended. "Come here Chuck! No need to be shy!" she exclaimed. Was she planning to touch him with her 'infected' hand? Yes. Was that childish? Yes. But she'd been drinking and it seemed like it was in good fun given the lad's teasing of her about her brash decision. One could say many things about Angelica but at least she was consistent. "We can have ick or whatever together," she claimed as that playful little shadow of hers grew and grew. If nothing got in her way she'd be content to chase the other lad around with an extended hand while drinking her beer like some sort of deranged killer in a horror movie. Yes that's right, she wasn't even running. She was just calmly walking forward, each step the same weight and not even seeming bothered.

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, he should have been quicker about eliminating the fish if he was to do so. There was some logic to that clause, yet it was flawed. He'd been without his first option and debating being reliant on the second, but before he could voice his intentions to handle matters, Angelica jumped the proverbial gun. Who, then, was having an issue of timing? Surely it wasn't him. "Maybe you should have been slower about punching a gross, freaky-eyed mustache fish. You would have heard me then. Skills weren't on the table until the risk of having to touch that thing became real. In emergencies, even those of us who live off the land must use whatever is at our disposal," he said with certainty, as if sharing great wisdom from generations of development.

Much to his chagrin, Charlemagne was soon approached by Angelica. Well... it wasn't just that. Held out toward him was the looming hand of ick, wetted by the lake yet still plagued by that awful fish's touch. Oh no! She was going to touch him, and he was going to become some sort of freaky fish zombie! That had to be how something like that was born, right? By some kind of spread curse? "Whoawhoawhoa! Let's not do anything brash now, eh? We can just chop off your gross hand before anything happens, and nobody has to become a fishbie!" he stated. At this point, Charlemagne was holding both hands out while backing away, keeping pace with Angelica as to avoid being touched by that hand. Sadly, there was nowhere for his back-stepping to take him besides... the edge of the dock. In this very extreme moment however, he couldn't even think about his own placement. All he could think of was getting away from that cursed touch. "Let's just... chill out. We can still save you from the ick. Maybe. We can at least try!"

[Apollymi]

Should she have taken a bit more time for considering what to do about the freaky fish monster? Probably? "Why would I have done that, for all we know once it had legs it was going to start trying to eat me. I didn't want to get swallowed up by a giant walking fish, Chuck!" she exclaimed. He was always Chuck, in moments where her temper bubbled up. She wasn't quite sure why, but it seemed to slide of her tongue with the most ease when she was having a fury induced moment. Or maybe it was just when she was being a bit brash? Regardless, she kept moving towards him, watching with quite a bit of foreknowledge as he backed himself down the pier. She wasn't really chasing him so his movements seemed almost comical. Still she wouldn't stop moving forward. Her one hand remained extended less she lose the threat of touching him.

"Brash is the mark for the day, Chuck... also I don't know what a fishbie is but I am definitely not going to be one alone!" there was a declaration, childish as it was. Charles always seemed to have some rather strange things to say. Right now he was claiming they could probably save her from the ick, they could try. "I don't know, try isn't good enough," she claimed as she kept moving forward, would he fall into the water first or convince her to stop progressing. Only time would tell. Whatever the case, a swim was in their order of business for the day, and they still had to prepare the fish for roasting over their fire. Perhaps a cooling dip would bring Charles to his senses as she finished off her beer.

[Bloodedge]

The fish Angelica caught and murdered wasn't on the list of easily-eaten things. They had to put a stop to this nonsense and catch something edible, but most important was Charlemagne not being touched at all by that accursed hand of hers. "If you don't want to be one alone, don't be one at all! I'm not signing myself up for that kind of life! I'm still too young!" he pleaded. Whatever mental image of a zombie fish plague he had, it was nothing pleasant. Still, she tormented him with the idea of a single touch. One would think Charlemagne, or any man, would relish in the idea of being touched by the Holy Princess. In this case however, even his initial thought was to escape.

Sadly, an escape would not be the same as saving himself. Angelica's hand moved closer, and he moved farther away. In doing so... "Damnit Angie, don't you bring that thing any clo─whoa!" Splash. One step too far resulted in Charlemagne falling off the pier and into the lake. Almost comically, bubbles rose to the surface en masse before stopping abruptly. Though they did stop, there was frantic movement beneath the water's surface, which showed itself in the form of waves. What was going on down there? Time would tell. . .

[Apollymi]

There was a certain innocent hilarity to watching this entire situation play out. Angelica obviously meant Charlemagne no real harm. Even so, she couldn't really stop herself from chasing him down and teasing him without mercy. Her beer seemed to be approaching empty even as she took measured and menacing steps towards him. "You're a thousand years old, Chuck, that is hardly young by any normal person's standards..." she mentioned. She was after all, a thousand years old herself and still young, but as far as she knew her mother was much much older than that... so she was still a baby by comparison. Perhaps she should have spent some more time thinking about what it meant to be a relative baby in the world, but no.

Today she was watching as Charles seemed to finally break his cool. He claimed she shouldn't come any closer. But then nothing else. Why? Well, the thing she'd foreseen by placement alone finally happened. Charles fell into the water and she couldn't help but laugh initially. Then she watched the surface as bubbles rose up and then stopped. This water was far from completely clear, so she couldn't really see what was happening there. "Chuck? You alright down there? Release some bubbles if I should come save you~" she yelled. Yes. She wouldn't directly be interrupting, instead she'd finish her beer as she waited for some sign of life. She wouldn't leave Charles to any real harm, but she was sure there was something more to the situation unfolding beneath the waves than she could possibly know about without his words.

[Bloodedge]

In one terrifying fall, Charlemagne came to know true torment. He didn't have reason to fear for his life in this lake, or really anywhere in Aincrad. Why then, was he tormented? Well, for the same reason those bubbles stopped so abruptly. Angelica wasn't overly concerned, nor did she need to be for any safety-related reasons. Alas, it may have been necessary for concern regarding Charlemagne's coolness. He was underwater for quite some time, obviously moving, but without many bubbles appearing within the waves.

As for the reason, Angelica would soon enough find out. Charlemagne's head and shoulders emerged from the lake in a large splash, and there... one would see the source of his troubles. Within moments of falling into the water, it seemed a large fish had sauntered its way into his open mouth. It was still there when he rose; Charlemagne's maw was caught on the scales of a silver sea creature's side as if by suction. Displeasure was apparent in the male's face. Never had he felt less cool than in this current moment. Of course, this had to be how his first date in a fantasy world went. If not for moments like these, he could have become the coolest guy in the world. Sadly, that could never happen.

[Apollymi]

Angelica might have begun to worry about Charles' safety but before any major actions needed to be taken he actually surfaced. Apparently with a fish in his mouth. Oh. Is that why the bubbles had stopped? "Hehe...hehehe.... hahahaha!~" she couldn't help the laugh that built up and fell out of her face. "Sorry, sorry... it's okay Charlie," she said placing her mug down on the pier she extended a hand to help him out of the lake. "This is a bit dramatic, but you should probably get that fish out of your mouth," she mentioned as if it was the most normal thing to comment on. Of course she wouldn't well leave him in the lake forever.

"Come on Charlie, I'll help you up." she offered earnestly. Of course, there was one matter which seemed to slip her mind and that was... the hand she extended. It was the same hand, which she'd used to punch the fish. Obviously that made sense, it was her dominant hand and all, but there was still a bit of hysterical fun that could be had at the expense of that hand.

[Bloodedge]

Of course, Charlemagne emerged from the lake... only to be laughed at for this ridiculous turn of events. It seemed he wasn't capable of removing that fish from his mouth before surfacing, and now he would pay the price by hearing Angelica's laughter over the whole ordeal. This day couldn't have gotten any worse if he tried ruining it on purpose. No, that wasn't true at all. There was one worse thing soon to come after Angelica claimed he should remove the fish from his mouth. Firstly, if he could have done that any earlier, he would have done so before she saw it. Secondly, he was busy spiraling into crippling depression.

Ah, and of course there was the extended hand of Angelica. Without thinking properly, Charlemagne initially reached out with the intention of taking that hand. Luckily, he came to his senses just before contact was made. That was the hand she'd used against that monstrous fish! Charlemagne halted the advancement of his own hand immediately, shrinking away from the potential touch. Instead, with a deadpan expression, he pulled the new fish out of his mouth. "Still not touching that," was all he said, interestingly enough while throwing his new 'catch' at Angelica's torso. "You tried to trap me on purpose!"

[Apollymi]

Charles didn't know the amount of depression he didn't need. It wasn't as if Angelica was having a bad time, and beyond that she always found the time she spent with him to be more than a bit amusing. Whatever the case, she'd been willing to help him up and out of the water, but of course the lad wouldn't take her hand. She hadn't even thought about which had she offered him. It was utterly ridiculous for him not to take it. But, he had words to voice of his opinion as he tossed the newly captured fish towards her after pausing when reaching for her hand.

"Hey! I did no such thing. I offered you my dominant hand, it makes sense...." she said while catching the fish against her body. If he didn't want her help that was fine. Perhaps his ego was a bit bruised or it was all the same extended joke about the ugly fish she'd just punched. "Sure Chuck, whatever it takes to make you feel better. when that fish's mate swallows you whole. I'll be sure not to punch it..." she said with a solid nod of her head. "What are we doing with this?" she asked about the fish.

[Bloodedge]

It did make sense for Angelica to offer her dominant hand to help him up, just as it made sense for her to punch the fish with it if she was going to punch it at all. He wasn't going to be touching that hand either way, due to the latter note. Moving on, if that ugly beast's mate was to swallow him whole, it probably wouldn't be necessary for Angelica to punch it anyway. "Don't punch it then! If something like that touches me, I'm a lost cause anyway!" he insisted. Realistically though, he doubted there was another creature so hideous─ even within the same species and family. That one had to be even uglier than its relatives... right?

Regardless, there was a new fish brought into question, namely the one Charlemagne so recently threw at Angelica. As he reached out to grab the dock and lift himself up, Charlemagne addressed the woman's query. "Well, we're not eating your best friend over there; that's for sure. That one's normal and pretty big, though. Wanna share it?" he asked of the new 'catch' she was currently holding. "We'll need a long stick, either naturally or unnaturally sharp on one end."

[Apollymi]

As always, Charles was choosing to be more dramatic than the situation called for. Still, Angelica found this to be one of his more endearing qualities. She couldn't help but shake her head at his notion that if he got swallowed up by a fish, he should be considered a lost cause. "Come now, unlike you I don't consider you are really a lost cause just because a fish swallowed you. If you don't get out, you'll never recover being cool, and I don't think you have that in you..." she said in a haphazard way.

Moving on, and according to Charles, they weren't going to eat either of the two big fish she'd caught so this one was pretty big and edible. "I wouldn't mind sharing," she said. "Also I didn't think that one was edible," she said about the big one. "And it's definitely not my friend," she said with her nose turned up in the air. Of course, such dramatics were part of her own soul as well... Still apparently the lesson went on, and they'd need a stick with a sharpened end if they were to share this particular fish. "Fine, I'll make it happen," she said handing the lad back his fish after he finally managed to pull himself up. She went to get a stick and a rock. Based on all of Charles other advice, she went to find a stick a bit bigger than the fish was long and upon finding one, she began sharpening the end of it with the rock she picked up. She had no idea what it was going to be used for, but figured this was the right way to begin. Once she had it in hand she rejoined Charles. "So, why a sharp stick?"

[Bloodedge]

One of them wouldn't consider him a lost cause if he were swallowed by a grotesque fish, but Charlemagne was not that one. Nothing could possibly be more uncool than that; his only option would be death in such an event. "That's a total lost cause scenario! It's so far from cool, it might burn every structure on the planet down!" he stated.

Regardless of hypothetical fish-swallowing, Charlemagne did have to get out of the lake eventually... lest another creature of the sea find its way to him accidentally. He pulled himself up onto the dock in time for Angelica to return the one fish they'd be eating, and Angelica went about acquiring the sort of stick he mentioned them needing. Of course, she also expressed her opinion on the edibility of that giant... thing. "I'm pretty sure it's not. If it is, I say we sell it to whoever wants to eat it, and then never even look in that person's direction again." These words were accompanied by a firm nod while Charlemagne took his place by the fire. With that fish flopping in his hand, he awaited the return of Angelica, who questioned the stick she'd been preparing. "Sharp so we can stab the fish easier. To cook this thing out in the wilderness like this, we can run it through with a stick and keep it held near the fire," he said, taking his free forefinger and gliding it along the fish's body from front to back as example. "In the mouth, all the way through the body until it comes out the other side. Then we just jam the other end of the stick into the ground, angling it toward the fire, and wait."

[Apollymi]

"Chuck, you're being dramatic..." these were Angelica's words about the supposed lost cause. He truly couldn't believe that something as simple as being swallowed by a fish would leave her feeling any differently about him. Sure, it'd be worth teasing over, but that'd only be short term. What Charles really needed in Angelica's mind was the tiniest hint of flexibility in his understanding of coolness.

Regardless the other fish she caught wasn't edible and that was fine with Angelica, Charles suggested they sell it but she couldn't be bothered with something so trivial. "Or you could just give it to anyone who wants it. It was fun catching them but it isn't like I need funding for anything..." she said calmly. This was the generosity of the Holy Princess, as some would call it. But in truth, Angelica simply didn't see the point in selling something she couldn't use if someone else could get use out of it. All the while she sharpened that stick to hear out an explanation from Charles complete with a visual demonstration. Apparently they'd be running the stick through the fish and then just roasting it whole. That was a novel way to cook something she supposed. "I see. So are you going to do it or am I?" she asked holding out the stick in one hand and leaving her other open. The option here was for Charles to either give her the fish for her to run it through or for him to take the stick and do so himself. she couldn't say she'd mind either outcome but he was the one being weirdly picky about the hand she'd used to punch the other fish, so she'd leave it to him to decide.

[Bloodedge]

"Angie, you're being under-dramatic," Charlemagne reacted with the most deadpan expression he could manage. For a moment, it seemed he actually held coolness factor in the highest possible regard. Sometimes, that sort of statement may have even been true... but no matter. It seemed Angelica was more willing to give away that nasty fish instead of selling it. Charlemagne would agree based on the likelihood of it being an unwanted creature. He supposed Angelica also had zero use for monetary exchange; her life had been set for a thousand years. They were having the experience of living off the land, however, so... "It might still be worthwhile to keep some funds handy. What if something terrible happens and Aincrad is destroyed in some massive attack? If you survive the fall to the lower world, you'll be stranded. A few septims would help you survive until you got back on your feet."

Moving on, Angelica wished to know which of them would actually be piercing the fish they'd soon eat. A few moments of consideration were given. He could have shown her by example, or he could have led her to understanding more directly. There was, however, a method of doing both... so he used the pointed stick that was still in Angelica's hand, letting her keep hold of it while positioning the fish's mouth at its tip. "Why not both? I'll hold it steady, you put it where it needs to go!"

[Apollymi]

"There is nothing wrong with being reasonable, Chuck..." she stated plainly. This lad had his extremes but she knew he wasn't being quite as serious as his deadpan expression would have led some to believe. Of course, she couldn't help but stifle a giggle after thinking about it for a few more seconds. What else was happening? Well, Charles was explaining the need for funds. Not for right now, but for the future, just in case of some sort of disaster or catastrophe. He claimed she might need a few Septims for picking herself back up. Ah, but there was something missing here. Angelica had heard that other places didn't accept foreign currency in a straightforward way. And some places didn't even require it. "Emergency funding seems like preparing for an eventual doom. That being said, I thought other places didn't accept Septims as currency..." she said seeming to think about it from multiple perspectives. She supposed there was nothing wrong with being prepared though it seemed contradictory to assume the failure of a place that had been standing for a thousand years or more.

Beyond the discussion of money and its necessity for potential futures, Charles came up with the idea of a cooperative effort. He'd hold the fish and she could put the stick where it needed to go. "Okay, here I go..." she claimed. He even went so far as the place the stick in the mouth of the fish allowing Angelica to push against it making sure it went where it needed to go. There was something strange about being in charge of this part of this particular action. But she couldn't quite place her finger on it. As such, she continued to push forward with the stick following the guidance of Charles until she poked it out the other end.