markofthewise | Sokka the 60th

[Today? Sokka is at the smithy. Honestly, are we really surprised by this? Seriously, this is kind of his thing. He is waiting for Winry, though. He wants her input on a project.]

It's been two weeks since the equinox. And we're finally getting a break from all the rain. Funny how the new season just kind of Springs up on you like that, am I right?

[Oh Sokka, you are hi-lar-ious. He wipes a tear from his eye even, pleased that he managed to let such a well-seasoned joke be released into the wild. Oh, speaking of wild.]

No but seriously, now that it's getting that time of year, how many people out here hunt and fish? I know, I know. Boo hoo, the talking animals. I've heard it. But is there anyone here besides me who still does that kind of thing?

[Also, lately Sokka is keeping a new little trinket in one of his pockets. It's something he intends to give to someone at the right time. After the small blunder of forgetting to bring it on Suki's birthday, he's keeping it all the time on him now. So even as he's walking away from home, he'll often put his hand in his pocket to make sure it's still there. He probably won't show it to just anyone, though.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Because I eat them?

But animals eat people too. Shouldn't it be even?

[Spoken from the expert. Keimi stopped counting how many times she's been eaten by some giant sea monster.]

Well I don't usually talk to animals either?

But sometimes they really have some nice things to say! You should listen sometime~.

I have Momo and Hawky at home. If any animal is going to have something nice to say, it's them.

Can they talk too? Momo and Hawky are cute names!

They've never talked to me. But they're from my world. So maybe it's different? Who knows.

[Nod.]

Maybe only the animals born here can talk.

Maybe? Who knows. It doesn't really change anything.

...I guess so, huh?

Pretty much. [Jeez, it's like he kicked a puppy or something.]

Hey, what do mermaids eat anyway?

Undersea vegetables and seaweeds, mostly. I know how to make a pretty good meat substitute for people who do eat it.

Oh, so you're a vegetarian.

Mostly. I'll also eat shellfish every now and then. They're pretty yummy~.

Shellfish... I wonder how chatty they are.

They can't talk too well with those shells over their mouths.

So it doesn't bother you that they might talk, huh?

Well some merfolk can talk to fish, and humans and fishmen eat them all the time. It's just how things are.

Thank you! Finally, someone practical about this kind of thing.

But do they really taste that good? They're all scaly and wiggly.

Well we boil them, but I guess that's kind of hard to do... underwater.

Well...there's some hot air vents near Fishman Island. They're kinda dangerous, but I guess you could do it there.

That... yeah, actually, I have no idea how that would work. [Living under the water is kind of a hard concept to swallow.]

Well...hot air from volcanoes blow into the water, making it really hot. Hot enough to cook stuff if you can get close enough! Some of the fishmen use them as a competition to see who's the strongest.