“She dates a lot though,” offered Mitchell, tossing a look over his
shoulder at the two women. “Almost as much as me. Might as well set it
up. What harm can it do?”

“I dunno,” said Veile thoughtfully, sighing again before he decided to
turn his attention away from romance and onto far more important
things. Namely the fine sport of fishing.

“And thus we will now begin the all important task in fishing. The
ability to wait,” Helena said, her breath warm on Alice’s skin. She
stood behind the blonde, pressed lightly into her with her arms around
the other woman’s waist, cupping her hands to help her properly hold
the rod and operate the reel once the first tell tale nibble was felt
on the line. “And wait, and wait, and well… then we shall most likely
wait more.”

“I’m sensing a pattern,” said Alice sardonically, grinning and looking back at Helena.

“Perhaps because there is one, darling,” Helena responded smartly,
shifting her weight and moving her head in such a way she was soon
breathing in the light yet wholly intoxicating scent of Alice’s
perfume. Shivering slightly, she said, “Fishing is nothing if not
consistent.”

“I’m getting that,” said Alice, moving her gaze from the ocean to her
friend. Once again taking in the baseball hat the British woman was
currently wearing that featured a little red lion on the front of it.
When Helena knocked on the door to ask if she was done changing, she
had already been wearing it and Alice found herself immediately charmed
by the sight of this normally very formally dressed woman in jeans, a
t-shirt, and a clearly worn hat. Somehow she found Helena in these
clothes to be far more appealing than her usual sophisticated garb. “I
like your hat,” Alice said, grinning. “It’s cute.”

“Cute?” Helena blinked and wore an affronted expression. “This is the
Cambridge University Red Passant! It’s not cute! The lion is part of–”

“It’s cute,” said Alice, grinning and sweetly interrupting her as she
tipped her head back and tucked it underneath Helena’s chin to peer up
at the other woman who grumped visibly at her words. Giggling at this,
she lifted a hand up to wrap around Helena and play with the hairs at
the nape of her neck. “Cute is a good thing, Ms. Peabody. Don’t you
know that?”

“I’m not sure I do,” said Helena in droll tones. “No one has referred
to anything involving me and manage to use that word in the very same
breath. I must admit, it leaves me at a loss.”

“You better get over it,” declared Alice playfully, bumping back into
the other woman. “Because I say you and that hat of yours are cute. And
you in that hat? Oh, that’s super cute.”

“Super cute,” Helena echoed, looking and sounding downright grim.

“You don’t have to act like it’s a death sentence,” Alice laughed only
to then shriek when she felt a hard jerk to the fishing line.
“Something bit!” she cried in excitement. Looking at Helena with
expectant and eager eyes, she asked, “What should I do?”

“Reel in the catch, darling,” drawled Helena, her gaze sparkling and
her voice warm with affection as she placed her hands over Alice’s and
helped her spin the reel. “What else?”

The
men watching them from various angles on the ship somehow all managed
to see the exact same thing. A human catch and a human reeling it in
although they remained more than a little confused on precisely which
person was playing which part. And if either of them were even aware
that it was happening.

To be continued…