Teach A Man To Fish

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Skakru. Tomac wasn't entirely certain how he felt about them, but if Luna was willing to trust them enough to allow the boy on the rig . . . then Tomac was in no position to disagree. He was loyal to her. He trusted her emphatically. And, he would be keeping a damn close eye on this one. The one that went by the name of Jasper. He looked more like a twig to Tomac. Tall. Lean. Maybe Skaikru were pathetic hunters and couldn't even feed their own properly. Fortunately for him, he would not have the same problem among Floukru. Tomac's interactions with him had been quite limited. That is, until Luna had asked him to teach him a few things.

Like fishing. Though as most of that was done, Tomac would teach him the gutting part of it. The large man made his way to where the boy was sitting, talking with Shay. He gave her a look that she seemed to understand as she made her leave from the two of them. With that, Tomac tossed a dead fish at Jasper's feet, eying the Skaikru member expectantly. "Swima." Fish. But Tomac wasn't too quick to reveal that he spoke English. "Sis op em, Omi Klaka." Take it, Chicken Bone. Because the boy reminded Tomac of something he could snap so easily in half.

Tag: @jasper420

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Jasper wasn't entirely sure why Luna hadn't sent him away with the rest of his friends, but he was appreciative, none the less. He missed them. Monty most of all. But this place... other than the chaos he and his people had brought here, this place was the first peaceful place he'd been since landing on Earth. It would be his luck if something turned out to be horribly wrong, like it had at Mount Weather, but that didn't seem to be the case.

He'd spent the first couple days sitting by Shay's bed as she recovered from her arrow wound, and tried to not to feel awkward at the looks he was getting from her visitors, and then the next few days she'd repaid him by showing him around the rig and introducing him to people. Jasper was still struggling with his depression and anxiety, but it seemed quieter here, more manageable.

He'd been chatting with Shay again one afternoon when someone approached... and Shay left without a word. Jasper looked up at the looming figure in front of him as he threw a fish at his feet, eyes widening. Jasper wasn't used to being loomed over by many people. He wasn't a big guy, he knew, but he tended to be taller than most. Shay had told him this man in front of him was Luna's second. Tomac, he thought she'd called him.

Jasper gave the other man a confused expression. He didn't know Trigedasleng, though he recognized some of it as just bastardized English. "Swima... swimmer. Fish," he said, pointing at the fish on the floor. "I'm sorry, I don't follow the rest," he said, scratching the back of his head. Didn't all Grounder warriors and leaders speak English? Jasper should probably learn some Trigedasleng now that he was here, but getting speared in the chest on day one hadn't made him inclined to embrace Grounder culture right away.

Tag: @tomac

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Well, at least he pieced together swima to fish. Maybe there was hope for the little chicken bone after all. Tomac continued to eye him expectantly, regardless of his apology and explanation that he didn't know what he was saying. "Feesh" He repeated, as if his English wasn't strong which wasn't entirely true. But he wanted to see how much this boy could pick up on. Plus, he just didn't feel like speaking anything other than his people's language right now. He wasn't going to adhere to the Skaikru boys langauge so easily. Tomac then pulled out a knife, pointing the tip of it toward Jasper's face, holding it in this position for a bit longer than needed . . . as if mulling over what to do with the wepaon so close to the foreigner. In one abrupt motion,

Tomac lowered the knife and stabbed it into the dead fish with enough force that it was wedged onto the tip. He then lifted it up and waved it in front of Jasper's face, letting the tail of the fish lightly slap against Jasper's nose a couple of times. "Sis op!" Take it he demanded, his voice not raised but there was a command in it. "Nou branwoda." Don't be useless. Though, technically Tomac was the one that was supposed to teach him but . . . he felt the need to pick on the boy a little bit before then, not needlessly though. He wanted to see how much the Skaikru boy already knew.

Tag: @jasper420

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Jasper didn't think this made much sense. Shay spoke English. She told stories to her people in English. Which meant that most people probably understood it, even if they may not speak it. Surely Luna's second spoke it. Jasper was starting to wonder if the other man was messing with him when suddenly there was a knife in his face. He sucked in a breath, jumping slightly, but he just stared at the blade. Luna wouldn't let him stay just to have him killed a few days later. Still, a knife in the face was unsettling.

When Tomac stabbed the fish and then flapped it in Jasper's face, Jasper was certain the other man was messing with him. He flinched away, scrubbing at the part of his nose the fish had touched, and tried to piece together Tomac's words. Sis op? Sit up? He was sitting up. Stand up? Jasper stood, and then pulled the fish off Tomac's knife, as he seemed to want him to take it, scrunching his face at the sliminess of it in his hands.

Nou branwoda... No bran w-- No brain w--? No, that didn't make sense. Jasper gave up on that one right away. He gave Tomac an awkward smile. "You're, uh... Tomac, right? Shay told me. I-- why am I holding this?" he asked, holding the fish up slightly as he looked at the other man. Jasper felt small standing next to him. Jasper was not used to feeling small.

Tag: @tomac

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He watched the Skaikru boy stand up, taking the fish and then speaking his name. While including Shay's name. And halfway through his thought, questioned his reason for holding the fish. Was he genuinely asking him or was he just talking to himself? Sky people were bizarre. Tomac wouldn't put anything past them. He just stared at Jasper, his expression unchanged, giving him a deadpan look that held no room for emotion. Luna had told Tomac to take care of him as they did others . . . but Tomac wasn't exactly an over nurturing type of male.

"Choj op," he practically demanded. Wanting to know if the Sky Person would do it. But also knew, that he was speaking a language he didn't understand. So Tomac raised his fingers to his lips, pretending as if he was eating something. "Choj op feesh," he said, purposely enunciating the latter English word in his sentence. He looked at Jasper expectantly. This wasn't normally how they ate their fish, but he wanted to see if the boy would do it. If he would respect what was presumed to be their customs.

Tag: @jasper420

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This was so weird. Grounders were weird. This Grounder, at least, was weird. Tomac wanted him to eat a raw fish? With the scales on and guts inside? Jasper had been here a few days, and he didn't think he'd seen anyone else eat fish like that. The scrunched expression on Jasper's face remained unchanged.

Jasper didn't really want to go against Luna's second, but he wasn't going to bite into cold, slimy fish either. "I can't eat this, dude," he said. And then tried a little trigedasleng, since Tomac had been clear about what 'choj op' meant. "I can't choj op this feesh," he repeated, pronouncing fish in the same weird way Tomac did, though he wasn't sure why. "Can I cook it first? I mean, I'm not even really hungry." Jasper had no clue how to clean and descale and gut a fish, but at least if it was cooked, even whole, it would be less disgusting.

Tag: @tomac

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Was this Skaikru boy making fun of him? Tomac was unamused. And what was a 'dude'? Was it some sort of Sky Person insult? Once agani, he was not amused. He just stared at Jasper, listening to his rejection of eating the fish. Unimpressed that he mimicked his words and spoke like he did. "You people are picky." He didn't care to hide the fact that he could speak English anymore. "You are lucky we are not so easily offended by your refusal." Another group or clan may not be so patient with his protests. "You complain much." Not eating it, not being hungry. He stepped closer to Jasper, his eyes directly locked onto his.

"And your Trigedasleng is bad." Now that Tomac had critiqued him, he took a small step back, though not parting from Jasper's company. Luna had instructed him to speak to him, teach him, so Tomac was going to respect his leader's wishes. "Now take the fish and knife and I'll teach you how to clean it." No more foreign instructions. Jasper needed to learn a few basic things to keep him busy here on the rig if he intended to stay.

Tag: @jasper420

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Jasper blinked at the other man when he started speaking in English. Jasper knew it. He started to protest that he wasn't complaining when Tomac said he complained too much, but then Tomac was in his face, and Jasper pressed his lips together. Floukru or not, Tomac was intimidating. Tomac insulted his Trigedasleng, and Jasper just continued to stare at him. No shit, his Trigedasleng was bad.

"Okay," Jasper said, taking the knife from Tomac and waiting for him to lead the way to wherever they were going to go to deal with this slimy thing in his hand. He figured they'd probably give him a job eventually, and maybe this was it, but Jasper hoped not. Handling fish guts didn't sound appealing. Though, it was more appealing than being back on land, afraid for your survival every day, Jasper supposed. "I can learn it," Jasper said. "Trigedasleng." Maybe Shay would help him. "I just wasn't particularly inclined to until now. Not after they almost killed me and strung me up in a tree on day two on the ground."

Tag: @tomac