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He drew in a deep breath and let the fresh sea air fill his lungs. This was something he would have to get used to, as he'd be taking a lot more of it in for the next several days of transit. Gavin Reev's profession was that of merchant. He made it his business to travel the continent buying goods from one region and selling them in another. He wasn't the best, but he did well enough to survive on his own. The income he made from his sales was enough to give him money to travel freely, finding lodgings wherever he needed. It was a lean and frugal life, and he'd long since learned the value of tucking money away and letting it grow.

But he wanted to try and do better. When he was still a kitten, he felt the longing to see the world, and now that he was twenty-two years old, he'd seen a surprisingly large amount of it, but travel was hard work. What he was doing now is shifting his focus. He was young, so he could afford to experiment and try new things while the going was still good.

What he thought he could do was travel south to the sea and try his luck with the islanders. There were a lot of goods that were commonly bought and sold on the continent that didn't make it down into the southern isles that the canines call their heartland. Trade south was mostly done in bulk shipments of basic goods, like grain, vegetables, wood, and the like. Luxuries were less common and shipping fees were too expensive for most islanders to afford.

But, if Gavin worked freelance and wheeled and dealed smartly, then maybe he could pocket some luxuries up north and then sell them south for a profit. Didn't need to be enough profit to make him rich, just enough to keep as fit as he was right now. The goal was to find a niche to fill that let him travel back and forth a shorter distance so he could have an easier living, and maybe even have a proper home of his own.

He needed to actually travel to the isles though, which is why he was here breathing in all this salty air. He needed to find the airboat that would take him to Krakallu, the main island in the southern chain. There were dozens of islands to choose from, but he felt he'd have the best luck visiting the largest one, since he needed to do research to figure out what the canines would value as a luxury item.

Gavin left his spot on the docks and started walking. He'd already secured safe passage to Krakallu with the port authority. That part was easy. The difficult part was finding an airboat with a cheap fare. Most airboats charged a lot, since all the seafaring canines here made a portion of their income off ferrying people and goods from the mainland port to one or more of the islands.

The night before he'd gotten lucky, since a married pair of canines had overheard him talking with the bartender about the best ways to get to Krakallu. Gavin had picked a modest inn that had a bar on the first floor, and this pair of canines had stopped in for a drink. They'd approached him, eager to see about earning some extra money by giving a traveler passage to one of the islands.

They were dedicated mariners, living on their airboat full-time, and worked by carrying goods back and forth from the mainland to Krakallu, which is where both of them had extended families. It was easy for Gavin to arrange a deal with them for passage. He'd offered to pay them 80 copper for the passage out to Krakallu, and then another 80 to return trip when he was ready to leave. He estimated that he'd be in Krakallu for maybe a few weeks at most, and this married couple made regular trips back and forth so waiting for them to return to pick him up wouldn't be much of a hassle. He had enough coin in his pockets to hold him well on the island since the value of his currency was much greater in the isles than it was on the continent.

Now it was morning and he just needed to find their airboat. He reached up to adjust the straps of his backpack, which was always a pain to carry with how heavy it often was. He was glad that the inn he'd stayed at had a porter. The young lad had taken his two other pieces of luggage much earlier in the morning and run them down to the pier. He hoped his belongings made it to their destination safely, as well as himself, since he was having a hard time finding his way around!

He remembered the directions they'd given him clearly, but there were so many boats and airboats alike! He'd seen hundreds of vessels all docked, their hulls lined up and down dozens of piers. This was the largest port in the south and the blood of the world flowed through it. His head was swimming with keels and sterns and sales and airbladders. It had been a spectacle to behold at first, but now that he had an urgent need to find a specific airboat, he was getting sick of the amusement!

He found what he believed was the correct pier and began to walk down it. The pier was littered with moving bodies of canines and felines, mostly sailors all. There were shipping crates of unknown goods, ropes for mooring, everything you can imagine that had anything to do with a boat. Every step he took had to be careful, as the morning dew had left the wood damp beneath his boots and the pier was slippery for it. He wasn't used to that.

Half the boats he passed were airboats, each floating just over the surface of the water with their airbladders inflated at their sides like the cheeks of a goldfish. Above each one was the same masts that a water based boat had, but of course their sails were tied up and secured.

Halfway down the pier he spotted an airboat with a pair of beige airbladders with its wooden hull painted a rich red color. He'd not seen any other boats with this description, so it must have belonged to the married couple! He hurried to the boat, saw neither the husband nor the wife on the pier waiting for him. The gangplank was extended out over the leftmost airbladder with its end hover just over the pier. He took one step onto the plank, felt the wood wobble under him, then took another.

He was uneasy the whole trip across the plank until he found his footing on the much more solid deck of the airboat. Everything looked to be made of solid construction, well maintained and tidy. Would make sense if this were a place where two people actually lived. This boat was maybe half the size of the largest airboat he'd seen docked in the port, but still much larger than most of the others he'd seen. It appeared that most airboats were like small skiffs meant for quick voyages rather than ferrying goods. That or for personal fishing ventures, which were common in these parts.

"Hello? This is Gavin Reev arriving!" He called out, not wanting to be rude. He stayed just near the gangplank and waited until a head popped out of an opening in the back of the boat. With the way this airboat was built the top of the boat was flat, except for the mast and sails, and some kind of tiny wooden structure near the front. The rest of the space was used to lash down large crates of cargo.

The face looking at him from the portal was the husband of the couple. He smiled, then climbed out of the hole and began to approach him for a greeting.

"Good morning, Mr. Reev!" The taller man said, the canine was very underdressed compared to what he'd been seen wearing last night. He was now shirtless in a pair of well-worn breeches. The night before he'd been wearing a tunic with trousers with his wife had been dressed in a similar fashion. With how hot and humid the islands were said to get Gavin knew that clothing was commonly lightweight in the isles. He'd have to buy new clothing when he arrived at Krakallu if what he was wearing now was too heavy to endure.

"Good morning, Mr. Patter." He replied, seeing the canine extend his hand for a shake, Gavin extended his own.

One shake later and another head popped up from the opening, which must have been the only way to enter or exit the airboat's interior.

"'Lo! Good morning!" She called, exiting the opening to join them. Unlike her husband, she wore a buttoned blouse, a lightweight looking item, and her legs were covered with breeches similar to her husband's.

He greeted her the same as her husband, Gavin taking her extended hand for a shake.

"Come along now, I'll be showing you to your room!" Mrs. Patter told him, and when she made to return to the opening that led down Gavin followed with Mr. Patter coming along behind him.

The wife descended, and then Gavin found himself standing at the edge of the square opening. There were a set of steps that led down, and he descended after Mrs. Patter until he was again on flat ground inside the center of the airboat. She was ahead of him waiting, and when he began to follow her, she began to move again. They walked the spine of the vessel until she stopped and pushed open a narrow doorway.

"It isn't large, like we said last night, but there is plenty of room for one person on a short journey, Mr. Reev. A porter was here earlier, and my husband put your luggage under the bed for you." She told him, stepping aside and offering him the room to enter his new accommodation.

He stepped in and found the room to be very small like she'd said. It was like a walk-in closet you'd find in a wealthy person's home. There was a narrow cot folded down from the wall with a thin mattress and a single pillow. It was furnished with sheets and a blanket though in this humid weather he wasn't sure if he'd want or need either. Beneath the bed he saw his luggage (they made it!), and then across from the bed was a narrow table folded down from the wall. He had enough room to sit on the edge of the bed and use the table for writing or eating. Up above him were empty cubby holes for storage, and then on the wall opposite the door... there was no window. He suspected the airbladder was right on the other side of the hull here and so there was no point in having a window.

"I think this will make do quite well, thank you! I appreciate your kindness. Do you mind if I settle my things now? I will make sure you are both paid in full before you are ready to set sail." He told Mrs. Patter, who then looked to her husband. Both shared an unspoken agreement.

"Of course, Mr. Reev. Neither of us will be very far if you need us." She told him with a smile, then stepped away from the door to head back the way she came with her husband in tow.

He breathed a sigh, looking at his tiny room, then reached up to grab the straps of his backpack. He was grateful to get the heavy thing off of him. He dropped it onto the bed, then turned around to lift the table back up. He fumbled with a latch on the wall for a moment until he had the table secured against the wall to give himself more space to move. Then he set about going through his backpack until he had what he needed most, which was his coin purse.

He pulled open the drawstring on his coin purse, then counted out eight large silver coins, which would equal in value to the 80 copper coin he'd promised the Patters. It was risky carrying around so many high value coins, but it did save on the weight you had sitting in your backpack. The smaller coins were less stressful to carry around on long journeys, but they were just so damn heavy!

He tucked the silver coins into his pocket, then moved his backpack to the floor so he could pull out the larger of the two pieces of luggage he had. He popped open the case and began to pull out the clothing and items he'd need for his trip, after which he put everything else away, tucked the luggage and his backpack under the bed again, then put his other items into the cubby holes up near the ceiling.

Gavin stepped back out of his room and reached down into his pocket to feel for the coins. He looked left out of curiosity, saw that there was a door at the end of the corridor, and then there was a door across from his own room. Looking back at the way they came he saw another two doors on either side of the corridor, and then there were the stairs going back up to the deck. He wanted to poke around to soothe his curiosity about the ship, but he'd be on this boat for the next few days. Gavin had only just arrived on this vessel, and he did not want to come off as a shady figure snooping through their boat. There'd be plenty of chances in the coming days for him to see more of the boat.

He turned and made his way towards the set of steps that would take him back above deck, and when he popped his head up, he saw that the Patters were each doing their own tasks. The husband was checking that the cargo was strapped down securely while the wife was halfway up the mast checking something herself. Gavin was not a mariner so he knew little of what was normal for caring for a boat, let alone one that could float in the air.

Gavin climbed out from the opening and as he did Mr. Patter noticed him, looking his way to acknowledge that Gavin had been seen.

"Need anything, Mr. Reev?" He called out.

Rather than shout back that he intended to pay his fare, he stuck his hand in his pocket, feeling the coins there, and approached Mr. Patter with his other hand raised to beckon him for a moment of his time. When they were close enough to each other that neither needed to shout, Gavin withdrew his hand and the coins along with it.

"I just wanted to pay you for the journey since I've finished getting my belongings settled below. I appreciate the good fortune you and your wife have afforded me with your offer to Krakallu." He told Mr. Patter, offering the payment.

The canine carefully caught the coins in his palm before quickly running a finger from his other hand across the coins to count them, his eyes widening as he did so.

"And you are very welcome to our courtesy, Mr. Reev! We both appreciate the chance to have an easy fare to the islands and back. Most travelers tend to show in groups or have too much luggage for us to easily stow. Our ship is not made to ferry larger numbers of people, sadly." He replied.

"From what I've seen, you have a fine vessel, Mr. Patter. If I understood correctly from our conversation last night you and your wife live on this boat year-round, is that it?" Gavin asked.

"Yes, we do. If we didn't, we might have more room for travelers, but most of our belongings are down below deck. The room we gave you is all the space we have for a guest." He replied.

"Ah, I do understand. All the more reason for me to appreciate what room you've given me." Gavin said in return.

"Of course, Mr. Reev. Ah, if your done settling your things down, then perhaps I should show you more of the ship, so you know what is where while we're making our way to Krakallu." He replied then, turning his body around and his head skyward to find his wife who was now doing something with the many ropes that were keeping the sails secure.

"Mamma, going below deck to show Mr. Reev where else he can go!" He called out to her.

"Shore!" She shouted back, keeping busy with her own intentions.

After that, Mr. Patter led him back down below deck and down the hall that split the ship in two. This proved pleasant since now he didn't need to worry about being a snoop whilst living in someone else's house, as he was being given a proper tour. Mr. Patter took him to the front of the boat. He opened it and stepped inside while beckoning Gavin in to join him.

What he found was the helm of the ship, which must have also been the couple's kitchen and living room. In the front was a set of glass windowpanes that gave a view straight out in front of the ship, the port in easy viewing from where they stood. The wooden wheel that steered the ship was set forward closer to the windows. Around the sides of the room were many cabinets and drawers. To the right side of the ship were things that you'd expect to find in a kitchen, and on the left side were personal belongings like fur brushes and items of clothing. Didn't look like either of them slept here, just broke their bread, and handled a few other matters. This space of theirs was a very warm and cozy spot with two well-worn chairs tucked into the corner for safe keeping. He wasn't sure where they kept their table, since there didn't appear to be one that he could see, nor even a stove for that matter.

"This where you will find either of us during the day or night. If the weather is calm the ship mostly flies itself, but one of us is always watching the wind and the wheel to keep our course true. We cook here, too, and of course you may join us when we eat. The fare you paid us gives you a seat at our table for every meal until we're at port in Krakallu." He told him, putting words to what Gavin and already assumed.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I will do my best not to be in either of your ways while you work." He replied.

"We're sure you won't be any trouble; you seem like a good sort of young man." He replied, the fact he was being called young left him questioning how old the two canines were. He'd assumed they'd seen thirty or so summers but was that really old enough to start calling men like Gavin a young man?

"I certainly will try to live up to that expectation, Mr. Patter." He replied.

"You can quit calling me by my surname, Mr. Reev. Just call me Tine, and my wife is Manina. Don't mind me calling her Mamma, you'll find she calls me Pappa. Though the only children we have is each other." He laughed.

"Of course, I can do that, Mr. Tine." Gavin replied.

"Just Tine. Manina." Tine replied with a wave of his hand, clearly no longer wanting to hear the words Mister or Patter in any combination hereafter. Gavin chose to say nothing more to that out of respect. Meanwhile, Tine then drew Gavin's attention back to the hall. He left the helm with Gavin in tow, and they stopped next to the door to his small room. Tine knocked his knuckles onto the door opposite his own room.

"Me and Mamma's cabin is here in case you can't find us elsewhere. Depending on the weather and the wind we might both be sleeping, but don't fear a knock if you need anything while you're here. Now, come look here." Tine was telling him, already walking further down the hall towards the steps. He stopped by the next set of doors and knocked on the door that was on the same side as Gavin's room.

"This here is where we keep storage for ourselves, not cargo for customers. Mamma keeps this room clean, so if I ever have you fetch anything for us from storage I'll be sure to keep her mad at me and not you if she gets upset that somethings not where she put it." He said with a smile.

"Of course, and don't hesitate to ask for assistance from me if there's anything you think I can do. I've never been much on boats, but I have traveled through many cities. I'm not useless." He told Tine, hoping both that he was making himself sound like less of a burdensome guest, but also that he wouldn't actually be asked to do anything terribly difficult.

"We don't expect to need you much, Mr. Reev, but we will keep the offer in mind, thanks." Tine replied, then reached over to the other door and popped it open.

"Gonna need to step in." He said and entered through the door. Gavin followed.

"This here is the head." He told him, pounding his fist on a cheaper looking little door that was just across from the doorway the two men were both standing at. Tine stepped further into the room, which was revealed to be fairly large and reached deeper into the back of the ship, and back behind the steps that led up above.

"We keep a big cistern here of water we use for everything." He pounded his fist on a large wooden drum that looked like it might have been intended to hold an excessive volume of wine at some point in the distant past. Tine started pointing at other things in the room, such as mechanisms for the steering of the ship, as well as a boiler that kept the airbladders full of the air that they needed to fly.

All of the things he mentioned were things Gavin was to never touch. He was allowed to enter this room to use the toilet or to fetch water from the cistern. That was it. When they emerged back into the hallway Mamma, or Manina, took a few steps down into the ship to call for her husband to help her with the rest of the deck work.

It was then that the couple told Gavin that he was free to wait for a bit in his cabin if he wanted, because as soon as they finished up above they would be setting sail very soon. Gavin complied, and excused himself to his small quarters and took out his journal to write down everything that had happened so far today. When he was finished he felt the boat begin to stir, rocking gently enough to make him feel a little uneasy. He put his journal away and walked down the hall to poke his head up over the deck to see if the boat was setting sail.

Soon as he made to look, Mrs. Patter, or just Manina or Mamma, stepped down into the ship and shooed him aside so she could rush past him and towards the front of the boat.

"Go up above and grab onto something solid if you want to watch me sail us out of port, Mr. Reev." She called to him as she stepped into the from room to take control of the ship.

Gavin did as suggested and got up above deck and took a firm grip on the ropes holding down some large crates of goods. Tine was standing at the front of the boat, shouting at his wife who would have been below him at the wheel. The ship began to move, wind catching the sails as the airboat began to both lift and twist in the wind until it had cleared the port and the moored boats docked around it. Once she was up and safe in the sky Manina down below began to steer the boat in the direction of Krakallu while her husband rushed to the mast, taking a coil of ropes into his hands before tugging at them roughly. Up above them a second set of sails opened, and Gavin felt the airboat lurch slightly as new wind caught the sails.

Once they were moving at good pace away from port Tine approached him.

"You said you weren't much for boats, yes? Never been sailing?" He asked.

"I've been on boats, but only to go up and down rivers. Not an airboat like this." He replied.

"Aye, well, if you get sick on our boat like some do, try to make it to the head before you empty your stomach." He laughed, clapping him on the back before stepping past him to start double-checking the cargo yet another time to make sure everything they had on board was safe and secure.

Thinking about being sick, Gavin retreated below deck hoping that he never needed to rush to the head. So far, he felt fine, and hoped that it would stay that way.

He stayed in his small cabin for a few hours writing in his journal and sorting the belongings in his luggage. He had a variety of things with him that extended far beyond his own personal effects. He had brought along with him an array of luxury items that he could present to vendors and merchants in Krakallu in hopes of enticing someone into agreeing to a business agreement.

His samples weren't particularly valuable or precious, but they'd all be foreign to the people in Krakallu. If he found that any of these items were fit to sell well in a place like that, then his hope was that this trip would reward him with good business and a potential future to settle down in one place.

Around noon Manina met with her husband in the front of the boat, and soon after that Tine was knocking on his door to invite him for a meal. Gavin was famished, as this morning's breakfast had been skipped since he was afraid of being late to find the boat. Once he was led back to the front, he found there was now a low table set up in the middle of the open space.

"Where was there a table?" He asked first thing.

Tine pointed to the ceiling.

"We hang it up out of the way. Sit! Lunch is simple today, but you can eat your fill of it." He told him while gesturing to the floor. The table was too low to justify a chair, and so he knelt himself down and sat crossed legged while Tine remained standing. He joined his wife on the kitchen side of the boat where she was chopping something quickly with a butcher's knife.

"Tonight, there will be a proper meal, but for now I hope you can be satisfied with a sailor's snack of sausage and cheese. We've opened jug of rum if you'd like a sample." Manina told him from her spot at the narrow wooden counter.

She finished chopping and handed a wide platter to her husband who turned and walked it over to the table. He knelt down and sat the platter down in the middle of the table. On the platter appeared to be a mound of sausage, sliced, and a block of cheese, also sliced. He did not know the kind of sausage, nor the type of cheese, but the meat had the scent of salt. It was likely something that kept well and easy during long voyages and was probably a common item found in a ship's kitchen.

"I've never had rum, actually." He replied.

"Get him some then, Pappa." Manina answered from her spot.

From Gavin's vantage it looked like she was now cutting a hard loaf of bread into slices. Well, perhaps 'cut' was the wrong word since it sounded more like she was sawing into it. Tine moved back to the kitchen and retrieved a jug from a cabinet along with some glasses.

When he returned to the table he sat down the glasses and uncorked the jug. As Gavin watched a glass of rum be poured Manina finished her work at the counter and came over to join them with the bread. It looked like a hard loaf of flaky bread, which she'd cut into large slices. She put the bread to the table before returning to the counter and grabbing another jug.

Once everyone was seated at the table the married couple used the second jug to pour themselves cups of water, while Gavin was left with the rum. They encouraged him to eat and drink his fill, and he thanked them for the generosity before digging in.

The rum was strange in flavor, and he wasn't sure if he enjoyed it or not. Perhaps if he drank enough to get drunk he'd change his mind but that's not how he preferred to drink over dinner. As for the food, it was surprisingly good if a bit simple. The bread, though hard and crunchy, was not stale. It was apparently supposed to have this texture and it had a salty taste that was pleasant.

The sausage was salted, too, and very savory. The cheese was creamy and cool to the tongue and paired well with the bread and sausage. Gavin watched as the pair made open faced sandwiches with their ingredients, and he in turn did the same. Taking crunchy bites of the bread with the sausage and cheese together was a surprisingly good combination! If this was a simple meal by their standards he wondered what something more substantial would be like. He enjoyed what he was having so far despite its simplicity.

After they finished eating, the Patters invited him to return to his cabin, or to join them on the deck.

He didn't feel like spending several more hours trapped in his small room, so he joined them up top. The pair stayed on deck with him, explaining to him a few details of the airboat so that he might better understand the vessel he'd paid to take him to Krakallu. It was an interesting lesson, and when they'd finished showing him the upper deck Manina excused herself to go back down below to man the wheel.

"We might get some rain in a few hours." Tine commented, directing Gavin's attention to the west and the dark mass of clouds that loomed there on the horizon. They looked far away, but Tine was eyeing them with a more serious expression.

"It's very far away." Gavin commented.

"But the wind is at our backs, and those clouds are following in its wake. It'll move faster than we can, and then we will get very wet." He replied.

Gavin sat on the deck, using the cargo as a seat, and enjoyed the pleasant weather while it last, and tried to adjust himself to life at sea. Meanwhile Tine moved about deck to check that their cargo was still secure, also checking the mast and sails. Gavin was of the mind that Manina must be the one who steers the boat while her husband did most of the more physically demanding tasks if they weren't doing them together.

After a bit longer on deck Gavin got bored of the unchanging scenery and went back below deck with the distant dark clouds sitting a little closer to them than they had when he'd first seen them. They were coming for them, and Tine might be proven right about them getting very wet.

And as Tine had feared, the storm clouds that had been gathering in the distance were beginning to converge. Now, it looked as if rain were soon to come for them. The wind was all he could hear and feel for now, but he imagined that once it began to rain on them proper that he would struggle to sleep through it. With how the airboat was rocking he wasn't sure how he'd sleep through that either. After several more minutes of resting on his cot there was a light knock on his door.

"Mr. Reev?" It was Manina's voice.

"Yes?" He sat up. She did not open his door, but rather spoke through it.

"In case the storm is more severe than we think we are going to touch down to water and set anchor. We'd be better on the water than the air if the storm is too harsh. You'll feel the splash awfully soon, so fair warning!" She told him, then seemed to vanish off to another part of the boat.

With that news in mind, he sat himself upright and thought to secure his belongings better just in case. He pulled everything out from the overhead storage and took the time to tuck it back into his backpack, then checked under the bed to make sure nothing there would slide about.

Just like Manina had told him there was a splash. The slap of wood on water was heard and felt equally as the boat came to a rocky stop on the water. When it happened, he had to let himself fall backwards onto his cot to keep from falling to the floor and it wasn't until he was certain the boat wasn't going to do anything else violent that he stood himself back upright. He popped open his door and looked out and saw the door to the front was open but there was no one at the wheel. There was talking, or more like shouting, up above him though.

With no windows nearby he went to the stairs and looked up. The storm clouds were overhead, and he could hear the sails slapping in the wind. He climbed and poked his head up. No rain so far, but even in the darkening sky he could see that there was a sheet of water falling in the distance and surely coming for them. This was going to be a very good rain.

Tine and Manina were currently dropping an anchor near the front of the boat. When they were finished, they spotted him, and gestured for him to go back down into the boat. He complied, and a half hour later he began to hear the pitter patter of rain on the hull. Several minutes after that the storm was dropping sheets on them, the dull roar of rain fall was now louder than anything the wind could produce. There was a loud slam of a door from down the hall, and he got up to check and see what was happening.

Both the Patters were soaking wet as they moved towards him through the hallway. Behind them at the steps the opening that led above deck had been shut to keep out the rain.

"The winds are not too strong, but the rain will be very bad." Tine told him, then gestured, that he needed to move down past Gavin towards the front of the boat. He stepped back into his cabin while Tine and his wife both moved to the front.

"Will we be safe?" He asked them from behind.

"Perfectly safe now that we are anchored. We were over shallow water so the anchor will catch, and we can ride out the storm 'til it breaks." Tine shouted from within the helm.

"Since we have a passenger, we want to be more cautious. Don't want to lose you overboard!" Manina told him with a smile before joining her husband.

"I would have to agree." He replied.

With the hour being what it was, no one on board had eaten dinner yet, and he wasn't sure if they would be. With the Patters having just soaked themselves to set anchor in the storm he wasn't sure if they were done doing what they needed to do, or if they had yet more duties to perform. He decided to follow them to the front of the boat.

"Is there anything I can do to help? If there is anything I might can do." He asked them. Tine was at the wheel, seemingly locking it into place so it would not turn.

"No, just relax, Mr. Reev. With anchor down and sails at half we'll be floatin' in place while the storm goes over." Manina told him with a smile.

Between the two of them Manina was calm and even a bit upbeat, whereas Tine was more grim faced. Gavin honestly couldn't figure out if he should be worried or be calm judging by the two opposing moods. The boat was rocking harder under his feet now that the storm was coming over them, but it did not seem to be anything he should worry himself over.

"If you insist on helping, then you can go with Pappa to storage and help him grab something for dinner. I'll be cooking you something better tonight since we will be anchored for a while!" She added, and Tine turned to her.

"What do you need, Mamma?" Tine asked her.

"I want to make skewers." She replied, and that seemed to be enough to explain what she needed because her husband gestured for Gavin to follow him and together, they went to the back of the boat and through the door that led to the storeroom. Beneath the dull roar of rainfall Gavin stood idle behind Tine as he rummaged through their store of food stuffs. Every so often he'd pull out something he needed before handing it over to Gavin.

By the time they were done he had a handful of things in his arms. As Tine led him back towards the front of the boat Gavin was taking stock of what he had in his arms and was trying to consider how it would all be cooked. He had vegetables, a bag of flour, another bag of something similar, and what he believed was a jug of cooking oil. As for Tine, he had in his own hands a package of tightly wrapped meat that he'd pulled from a barrel, and a handful of wooden sticks that must have been for the skewers.

The returned to the front, and Manina took charge of the kitchen by taking all the food from the two men and putting them on the counter where she'd been cooking earlier in the day. The mystery of the stove was solved as she removed a wooden lid off the front of the cabinet, revealing that tucked under the counter was a stove. She took off a section of the countertop and sat it aside like a cutting board, and there were the burners for cooking.

"We should dry our clothes, Mamma." Tine told his wife while she was making the preparations to start cooking.

Both of them were indeed still soaked. Their clothing hung wetly off them while their fur was sluggish to dry. The storm had dropped the temperature quite a bit, and though it wasn't cold, it wasn't warm enough inside the boat to dry off a furred body with any haste.

"Ok, let me make sure the oven is going proper, then I'll join you." She replied.

Tine turned to leave and as Gavin watched him walk down the hall the canine was already reaching towards his waist to tug his drawstring undone. He opened the door to their bedroom and disappeared. At the counter, Manina was stoking the fire to the oven through the little door in the front. When she was finished she closed it shut and turned to face him.

"We're going to try and dry ourselves out over dinner, Mr. Reev. Do you mind if me and Pappa go bare this evening before bed? We don't want to see you upset since the mainland hates the sight of too much fur." She asked him before taking her leave to join her husband.

He was taken aback by her question.

"Pardon?" He had to ask, as he needed to be sure he'd understood her right.

"Can we strip, Mr. Reev? So, we can dry out while he have dinner?" She repeated herself, gesturing with her hand to the whole of her body.

Still taken a bit aback by her request he was feeling mighty awkward, but also overcome with an unwillingness to be rude. He was staying in what was their home, and a part of him felt that due to living off their generosity, it might be wrong for him to refuse her request. He had the option to deny them, but... Even though he'd paid his way onto their ship it felt wrong to impose too much on himself as he'd be sharing this boat with them for a few days more yet. It would be wise to maintain the peace even if it meant some awkwardness, right?

"This is your home, Manina. You and your husband can do as you both please." He decided to say that and was hopeful that dinner would not be awkward as a result. And it was good that it was starting to get late and he could retreat to his small room and enjoy the privacy of it.

"Thank you, Mr. Reev. I'll be back shortly. Mind the oven in case a fire starts where it's not wanted." She told him before stepping out into the hall to follow where her husband had gone.

Same as with Tine he turned to watch her walk towards the door to their bedroom. She pulled off her top as she approached the door, surprising him. He only saw her from the back, but it was still something he was not familiar with seeing! He looked away and decided to take a seat at the table in the middle of the room.

It was there that he waited, though he occasionally looked towards the oven to see if things were all right. The fire was patiently burning in the oven but there were no unwanted flames escaping it, so all was well. While he watched and waited he considered what Manina had asked him, and was wondering if she literally meant that they were going to go about dinner naked as a newborn.

Surely not. Perhaps she just meant they'd be underdressed.

After a few minutes, the door down the hall opened again and a pair of footsteps approached him from behind.

"Mr. Reev, have you had skewers before like we do in the islands?" Manina asked from behind him, her voice floating behind him as she moved towards the kitchen.

He was almost afraid to turn to face the direction of her voice, but he felt it might have been ruder not to. He couldn't spend all evening looking in any direction except the ones where they were.

"I don't believe I have, but I could be wrong. I would have to see what you cook first." He replied, turning his head to find that Manina had returned to the stove to check it and the counter. Her backside was to him as she was completely bare, nude from her toes to her ears. Both her and her husband both had the benefit of long bushy tails, so Gavin saw nothing of the woman besides her fur, but that didn't stop his cheeks from flushing pink beneath his fur. She was actually naked!

Meanwhile, he could hear Tine walking around behind him on the other side of the boat, and reflex left the cat turning his head to his left to find the other canine moving around the table to take a seat across from him like he'd done during lunch.

And he was just as nude as his wife, from his toes to his ears the lanky dog was on full display. As he knelt himself down to sit Gavin failed to react fast enough to avoid seeing more of the dog than he'd wanted. If Manina had left him pink from her backside, then her husband had turned him positively red as the sight of Tine's manhood hanging limp between his legs.

That memory couldn't fade fast enough. Gavin had grown up further north where felines were the majority. Had he known ahead of time how much larger dogs were than cats then he'd have asked Manina to make sure they both at least wore bottoms!

Tine began to comment on the food, finally coming to a stop on the floor before dropping his elbows to the table as he waited alongside Gavin.

"They're good, I will say. Meat and veg chopped into chunks, then skewered on sticks or pokers. Mamma is going to roll the skewers in batter for us before frying in oil. Juicy inside and crispy outside. You'll enjoy it much better than lunch, I think." Tine was telling him, unbothered by his own nudity. By the look of the fur on his head and chest it seemed like he'd tried to dry himself off more with a towel while he'd been in the bedroom.

"That does sound good. I don't think I've eaten anything like that before." Gavin replied, thankful that the table was tall enough to hide the other man's crotch. He didn't to have to risk seeing another man's manhood every time he looked down at his own dinnerplate to eat.

He kept his gaze away from his right side, and Manina, out of respect for her privacy even if she was unbothered by her nudity. While he listened to the noise of a meal being prepared, Tine told him more about what the storm might do to their travel to Krakallu. He believed that stopping for the storm may delay them by half a day, but nothing more. During this time of year, it was common for sudden storms to appear and vanish, and that they often made this journey between Krakallu and the continent.

Tine sounded very confident that the small delay would be the only delay, and Gavin felt comfortable trusting his word.

It did not take long for Gavin to begin hearing the hiss and pop of food frying.

Manina's footsteps moved about out of view, then behind him, then back towards the opposite corner of the room with Tine's gaze following her as she walked behind Gavin.

"You forgot." He said with a amused look on his face.

"I did!" Came her reply.

This at last prompted Gavin to tilt his head in her direction, noticing that now she had thrown on a leather apron to cover her front as the skewers sizzled in their pan. Even with fur, you did not want hot oil splattering over you, that was true.

It did not take long for Manina to finish preparing their dinner, and she served it to them with her apron still hanging off her neck. She didn't sit down to join them, since she was still moving about to grab other utensils for the table, as well as salt and pepper in their shakers.

But now that the food was placed in front of him, he saw it was a large platter covered in a dozen skewers, each longer than his hand if measured from wrist to fingertip. Each one was a combination of meat and vegetable, all assembled in the same pattern, and fried to a golden brown in a crispy batter.

Manina handed the jug off to her husband before reaching up to untie the thin strap of her apron. Gavin averted his gaze, looking down at the table to try and be as polite as he could. In his periphery he saw she was walking it aside to the kitchen to hang on the wall before returning to the table to sit down next to her husband.

He did his best not to allow his eyes to wander to any place that was above her navel or below her neck, which was a challenge to be sure. Both the Patters were older than Gavin if judged by their appearance alone, but neither were what he would call 'old.' Old enough to have had children if they'd liked, but not so old that they were no longer appealing.

And it was a tragedy that the pair were an appealing couple, Manina especially. The two were for a lack of a better term, rugged. Their fur wasn't as fine and well kept as someone on the mainland would have kept it, and their mannerisms and speech were certainly coarser than what Gavin was accustomed to. He was a city boy and had yet to come to terms with the more rural side of life.

The Patters seemed to be a pair of hard-working sea folk who spent most of their time here on their boat and together. Being in the buff might have become second nature if they'd been married for a long time.

"Don't be shy, Mr. Reev, eat your fill! There is plenty!" Manina told him, encouraging him to eat as she reached out to pluck one of the skewers off the plate by the wooden stem. She flipped the skewer upright and offered it to him like one might a flower.

He thanked her, taking it from her carefully. The stem was still warm to the touch from the cooking, and as he brought it to his mouth for his first bite, he could only smell the aroma of the crust. Biting into what he thought was a chunk of meat, he found it almost too hot to eat, but the explosion of salt and pepper hit him harder.

As he took his first bite the Patters each started reaching for skewers of their own, pouring themselves and Gavin each a cup of rum. Gavin continued to eat his first skewer, finding the meat to be a bit too over seasoned for his liking, but then he took a bite of what must have been cucumber, and the flavor of that was pure and he felt it balanced out the strength of the meat. The more he ate of his skewer he found that his first bite had been the worst. That first piece of meat had gotten an unfair share of Manina's seasonings. The rest of the skewer went down into his gullet quite easily, and he found that he'd quite enjoyed it!

"Thank you, this is very good!" He thanked them, making sure that he sounded genuine at being treated with such generosity.

"You're very welcome! And have rum! Don't worry about having too much, Pappa can carry you to bed if you need him to later." She laughed.

"Will you be drinking that much, Mamma?" Tine in turn asked his wife.

"Only time will tell, Pappa." She replied with a smile.

Manina seemed like a woman of generally good cheer, very affectionate with her husband and warm with her hospitality. Tine was a more serious sort, but equally as warm in his own somewhat aloof way. He'd have a better read of the pair by tomorrow night, as one full day of interaction was not enough to make a good judge of someone's character. So far, he liked them both, though he was not sure how much culture shock he could endure if their nudity were to become more commonplace.

He drank his rum, and he hadn't decided on if he liked it or not. He wasn't going to refuse it if offered, as that might come off as rude, but if given the choice in a bar he would not order rum for himself. It just had a flavor that didn't agree with him, but he drank it along with his skewers.

The Patters both seemed to enjoy the rum immensely, and were drinking it quite heavily, the pair being very friendly with him to a point that Tine was opening up more and letting his aloofness fade. They asked him about his work, and what he hoped to do in Krakallu.

They seemed interested in what he had to tell them, and they asked questions as they ate and drank. Mostly questions about what he thought he was going to be selling in Krakallu to be making such a journey to the island. He answered as best as he could but could do no more. He explained he needed to walk the island first and see what the people there wanted most.

Manina was more vocal about what she thought people would want. She spoke of glassware since the continent had a plentiful supply of tradesmen skill in making all sorts of things out of glass. Though by the way she spoke of it, Gavin had the feeling she was more interested in the potential for jewelry. He'd not seen her wear any jewelry herself, but in her inebriated state he was learning that she was more feminine that her seafaring life let on.

Tine was different, he spoke of things that he thought would sell, but they were things Gavin couldn't realistic trade. Lumber, for example. He'd be traveling lightly more often than not, and if he did transport larger items he just couldn't know if it'd be profitable to pay a captain to ferry his goods to one of the islands for sale. There was a lot of research for him to do.

"Maybe I should have made more?" Manina remarked, her voice now a slur, as she looked down at the empty plate. All that was left of dinner was crumbs.

"You only cook for two, that's why!" Tine scolded her playfully.

"Maybe if you gave me a bun, I would learn different!" She replied in a teasing way, leaning over to him to plant a kiss on his nose.

From their exchange he was wondering if children were something that they were now planning?

"Is it impolite to ask if you tell plan on having children? It would be hard to do on a boat, I would think." He decided to ask.

"We both grew up on boats!" She immediately replied.

"We both had warm beds on Krakallu, Mamma! We only tagged along on the boats when our parents let us!" Tine replied. His voice wasn't angry, but more like exasperated as if this was a topic that had come up more than once, leaving Gavin feeling that maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.

"Next year." Manina replied to that, leaning herself closer to her husband. He leaned himself against her too and planted a kiss on her.

"Next year." She replied.

He had the gist, and he wasn't going to ask any more of it especially if they were becoming drunk. Both of them had already happily drank a good deal of the rum, quickly draining the jug Manina had brought to the table earlier. Gavin, caring not much for the taste, had only drank a modest amount for himself and so he felt only the barest hint of buzz.

Gavin continued to sip at what was left of his own drink, and with the jug of rum having now run well and truly empty, Tine grew frustrated with nothing else to wet his tongue so he stood to retrieve another one. Gavin had to keep his eyes on the food the entire time to maintain Tine's modesty. Even as he tried, the sight of the dog's member swinging as he walked was there in his periphery, along with Manina's head twisting on a swivel to watch as her husband walked towards the kitchen to fetch more drink.

"Do you want anything else, Mr. Reev? Make Pappa bring some water, since you aren't drinking like us!" Manina replied loudly, turning her attention to him, and revealing that his lack of drink hadn't gone unnoticed.

"I will bring water, Mamma!" Tine was already complying.

Now he understood Tine's earlier frustration was names. He'd been called Mr. Reev so many times in one day it was beginning to become an ache in his ear.

"You can call me Gavin if you'd like. Mr. Reev is very formal, especially at dinner." He said, Tine already wandering out the room and down the hall, probably to fetch water from the cistern.

"Of course! And you can call me Mamma, or just Manina. Either will do!" She replied to him, rocking in his spot on the floor before reaching out to grab one more skewer, only to remember that the plate was empty when she found nothing to grab. The rim was clearly having its intended effect, and the woman then started to mop up the crumbs with her fingers to drop them in her mouth.

"I will! Your husband told me earlier today to stop calling you both Mr. and Mrs. I just haven't have many chances to say your name yet today." He replied.

"Good! Say, what does my name sound like in your voice?" She then asked. That seemed like a strange thing to ask.

"Manina?" He said her name, answering her question. She started giggling.

"Mah NEE Nah!" She replied, drawing out every syllable, revealing that he'd pronounced her name wrong.

"I'm sorry, Manina." He replied. "Your husband said your name only once. I misremembered how he said it."

He must have, as he'd been thinking this whole time that it was 'mah nin nah.'

"Say his name!" She then told him, the rum fully in control of her it seemed.

"Tine." He did.

"Good!" She replied with far more excitement than one would expect.

Behind him Tine returned and walked around the table with two jugs in his hands. One was obviously another container of rum, and the other was a pitcher of water. He sat down, a strong sway in his movement as he clumsily dropped himself onto the floor next to his wife. This time Gavin had been able to avoid seeing Tine's manhood thanks to the jug of rum that was in the way.

"He can say our names!" She told her husband.

"I know! I told him he could!" He replied, looking confused.

She started laughing, a quick joyful noise that was loud and boisterous.

"I told her that you both could call me Gavin. I said her name, but I said Manina instead of Manina. Then she asked me to say your name, and I did." He tried to explain the situation to him.

He still looked confused.

"You have drunk a lot of rum, Mamma." He told her.

"And I should have cooked more skewers!" She replied.

"I think you cooked enough, Manina, thank you. It was very delicious!" Gavin complimented her, to which the woman smiled brightly.

With her being drunk it was just serving to embolden her cheerful nature, showing a side of her that left Gavin feeling comfortable being at the table with her. With Tine being drunk as well, he was getting a similar feeling from him. It was Gavin's good fortune that these two were pleasant drunks, as even the more aloof Tine was now a warm and cheery sort of fellow now that his belly was full of rum.

"You are welcome!" She replied loudly.

"And she will do it again tomorrow!" Tine told him in the same volume.

"I can't wait. You are a very good cook for a woman with such a small kitchen." He told her.

She laughed loud and heartily, Gavin blushing at the sight of the woman leaning back in her guffaw, her breasts shaking with the rise and fall of her chest. Tine seemed to be so taken in by the sight and sound of his wife's good mood that he leaned in to plant another big kiss on her cheek. Had they both been fully clothed this would have been a very endearing moment for the pair.

With them being naked Gavin felt a strange sense of danger from them. Not in the sense that Gavin was in any sort of personal danger, but that in the couple's good spirits they might embarrass themselves in his presence and the rest of the journey to Krakallu would thus be left in a permanent state of awkwardness.

"If I had my kitchen at HOME, then you would see what I can cook with a BIG kitchen!" She shouted amidst her laughter.

"I thought you both lived on your boat?" Gavin asked.

"We do!" Tine replied. "Mamma is talking about her mamma's kitchen! Mamma's mamma has a BIG kitchen!"

Oh, then that explains it.

"Perhaps if there is time when we are both on the island, I can see the big kitchen." Gavin suggested being polite.

"If you and your mother are both good cooks, I can't imagine how fat I would be after I leave." He added.

"You will be PLUMP!" Manina giggled.

"Her mamma is PLUMP, too!" Tine added, and then they both laughed far harder than Gavin thought the comment deserved, but had he been as drunk as they were he'd probably have thought it hilarious, too.

Tine grabbed his wife by the chin and turned her to him, and he kissed her hard on the cheek first, then on her lips. The kiss lasted just long enough to make Gavin feel awkward being there to see it. By the time the two had parted, Manina started giggling like a girl many years younger.

She looked back at Gavin, then giggled even louder.

"Pappa! We are DRUNK and we are making Gavin blush!" She told her husband, in good cheer.

"We are! I am sorry Mr. Reev!" Tine apologized.

"Call him Gavin!" She interrupted.

"But we get very drunk when it rains! Good weather means good sailing! Bad weather means we anchor and drink!" He continued where he left off.

"It's no bother to me, really. You've been very generous hosts to me, you are welcome to drink as we wait out the storm." Gavin replied.

"And YOU have been a very generous passenger! Thank you for the heavy coins!" Tine replied with more cheer.

The storm outside was still raging, the wind keeping the boat rocking in place as it tugged at the anchor. The noise of rain pelting the hull had been going on for so long that Gavin had almost grown numb to it, but since Tine had just mentioned the storm he couldn't held but be drawn back to the sound of the rain outside.

"Pappa, we would be BAD hosts if we get any more drunk!" Manina then said, and twisted around in her spot on the floor so she could grab her husband and use him as a set of handles which she then used to haul herself up to her feet. She was unsteady in her steps, both due to the alcohol and the steady sway of the boat on the water.

"Mamma, you will fall!" Tine warned her, but she waved him drunkenly off that she was fine.

Gavin averted his gaze to anywhere more polite than the nude wife as she stumbled over to the where she'd hung her apron, and she haphazardly pulled it on. The result was a crooked mess that left one pert breast sticking out from the side where the other was covered.

"Gavin, before we get more drunk, let me show you your room!" She told him then before swaying her way back towards the table to where he sat.

Suddenly, he was embarrassed all over again as Manina reached out her hand acting like she was sober enough to help him up when she'd sooner tip over if she did so much as lift a fork.

"Manina, I know where my room is. It's just down the hall." He explained, hoping to stop her.

She did stop, looking at him with a confused look.

"We showed him his room already, Mamma!" Tine told her, and then she furled her brow harder and stood herself back up straight.

"We did!" She shouted suddenly, the memory of this morning no doubt flooding back to her senses, before reaching up and tugging at her apron. She yanked it off, giving Gavin an up-close eye full of everything below the woman's navel. She staggered away and sat back down next to her husband while the mental image of her red hued petals joining the one of her husband's curiously large manhood.

"You don't need to stay with us, Gavin. There is... maybe rum left. Me and Mamma will drink a little more and then go to bed." Tine told him, shaking the jug and listening to whatever remained inside of it sloshing around.

"You can sleep! Or drink!" Manina added, offering him the chance to stay.

Gavin felt it wise to take them up on their offer to leave now that it was polite to.

"I am tired. I think I should go to bed before I drink too much. Thank you both again for the delicious meal!" He told them, making sure it sounded cheerful as he pushed himself back up onto his feet to stand.

"Goodnight, Gavin!" Manina told him, and Tine did the same, pouring more rum out into each of their glasses.

He excused himself, retiring back to his small room.

Once he had the door shut, he dropped onto his cot and breathed a sigh of relief. He hoped they wouldn't get drunk often like this, weather permitting. They were proving to be a very friendly and generous couple but once you add alcohol to their mixture and they became even friendlier! He wasn't prepared for that sort of culture shock.

When he made it to Krakallu would he be putting up with similar behaviors from the natives? He wasn't sure. Admittedly, he didn't know that much about the way of the islands, which was one of the reasons he was making this trip in the first place! He'd have so much to learn and absorb once he got there. In fact, before he even arrived Gavin thought that it'd be a good idea to actually ask the Patters about... nudity. Well, maybe not ask it in such a blunt fashion.

But they'd know better than anyone, and hopefully could educate him on any cultural matters he'd need to know about. Better this way than to step off the boat and be blindsides with every turn he took!

That was something to deal with tomorrow or the day after. He needed both sleep, and time to let the Patters sleep off the rum. Tomorrow would be a good start to a new day, and maybe get to know them better so any questions he might think of asking would be easier to bring up to them.

Gavin changed his clothes into something lighter and cooler, then made his best effort to fall asleep as the sound of rain drummed across the hull of the boat. In the distance he could still hear the occasional laughter of the Patters, jovial and warm. Drunks though they might have been, at least they were pleasant ones.

At some point he did fall asleep, the rocking of the boat combined with the sound of rainfall making it easier than he'd thought. However, that rest was short lived as he opened his eyes to the pitch blackness of his room with the familiar pressure in his loins bringing a grimace to his face. He needed to pee.

He sat up, unable to sleep now that he knew he needed to go, and so in the darkness of the room he carefully found his way to the door, opened it, and peered outside. There was a single lantern hanging in the front of the ship, burning silently in the darkness so that the ship's wheel was in view along with the dinner table where he'd eaten dinner not too long ago. With no clock at hand, he had no idea how long he might have been asleep for. Could have been minutes or even hours.

But the Patters were nowhere to be seen, but as his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he was able to find his way down the hall towards the stairs. Using a hand on the wall to help him remain steady in the dark he found the door that led to the toilet, but he was bathed in even more darkness as he navigated himself to the smaller door that led to the actual toilet. Tine had not thought to explain how you were supposed to see what you were doing in the dead of night, but Gavin was able to carefully manage his business, and once the uncomfortable pressure to urinate was gone, he felt enough relief that he might just be able to salvage the rest of his night and get some sleep.

He left the toilet, making sure to shut both doors behind him as he went until he reached his own door. When his hand touched the doorframe, a noise exploded from behind him, and it gave him such a fright he stood up straight as a board before relaxing again while his heart raced.

Gavin pivoted quickly to look in the direction of the noise, finding the door to the Patter's room in view. Now that he was calm, the noise had vanished, and he was struggling to even understand what he'd heard. It wasn't lightning, that was to be sure. The dull thudding of rain had not ceased, and if anything had intensified overhead with the sound of it growing into a more thunderous roar.

But it could have just been a noise in the storm. It had been a sharp sound, something quick like a crack of lightning, and yet had been...

"Ah!"

There it was again! Gavin heard the sound a second time and was certain it was the one in the same. His heart, already racing quickly from being spooked earlier, was now beating even harder in his chest as it dawned on him what it was that he'd heard. That was certainly Manina!

He stood stock-still in the hallway just outside his door, frozen both from his earlier fright and from the realization of what it was he'd heard.

"Oooh..."

Her voice cooed loudly from their bedroom, much too loudly! The sound of her voice was too clear even in the roar of the rain. Against Gavin's better judgment and morals, he reached his hand out across the hallway until his fingers bumped against the opposite wall.

He took a step, and in the oh-so-dim light coming from the front of the boat, he squinted at the Patter's door. It wasn't actually shut all the way! There was just enough light coming from the front for him to see that their door had been left ajar in their drunken attempt to take themselves to bed.

At least he had that mystery solved, even though solving it meant he'd stumbled accidentally onto what was... Surely, probably an intimate act he had no business overhearing.

He shouldn't be standing here, he didn't know what they were doing, and it was not his place to be knowing it either! They were his gracious hosts and the best and proper thing for him to do was to just return to his room and go back to sleep.

"Pappa!" Her voice sounded out suddenly. It wasn't a scream or a shout but left her lips like a desperate exhale. Gavin felt his heart flutter, a tremble in his legs, and the hair on his arms all stand up at once. The sound of her voice, the way she'd spoken, was like its own form of lightning striking Gavin right in the ears!

Right after her cry, there was a loud growl, like the coarse rumble of a wagon wheel turning. He couldn't hear anything more than that, but he found his legs to be locked in place with his hand gripping the Patter's doorframe vice tight. Manina's voice had shocked him, but Tine's growl had left him frozen still.

"Oh, Pappa!" She said again, loudly, breathlessly. The beating of his heart was going so quick, he'd never felt anything like it in his life. This was the closest he'd ever come to a woman, to anything like this! Was this what women sounded like during...?

It was then that Gavin heard for the first time the sound of movement. On the other side of their door was a sound that grew in volume until it was evenly competing with the storm outside. The sound had a steady tempo, the dull clap of two bodies, and Gavin's heart froze in panic at the sound of it. They were actually having sex! Right on the other side of the door!

His instinct had long understood what was happening, and yet it took his brain far too long to truly let it sink in. There's a difference between knowing something, and KNOWING something, and now Gavin KNEW what was happening on the other side of that door, and the guilt began to hit him.

He shouldn't be here; he shouldn't be listening!

"Pappa!" She shouted, the tempo of her husband quickening as the volume of their collisions defeated the rain outside. The steady drumbeat of two bodies was so clearly audible that the door might as well not been ajar at all but thrown wide open. Manina's cry did stop at her call to her husband, but kept going with more and more, of long continuous moans and labored thick panting.

His good sense finally prevailed, and he forcibly removed his hand from their door frame and willed his feet to move from their posts. He stepped away from the hallway and returned to his room, silently shutting the door behind him before throwing himself onto his cot. He took the thin pillow he had and pulled it over his head before shutting his eyes and prayed his heart would calm down enough to allow him to sleep.

Gavin Reev desperately tried to sleep, but despite having relieved himself of the pressure in his bladder he was now suffering from a pressure in his loins that dug painfully against his trousers. The seemed to drag on for eternity, the rain failing to drown out the sound of Manina Patter as her husband made love to her in the opposite room.

He eventually did manage to fall asleep, but only after Manina's cries of passion finally fell silent. Whatever Tine had been doing to her filled Gavin's imagination to the brim and left him dreaming visions of them he had no right to have. Visions of them naked again like at dinner, but on display, kissing each other with broad smiles and loud laughter until Tine had her pressed to the dinner table with his large manhood lining himself up against her lovely petals.

He woke up abruptly, and far too early in the morning for a man that had gotten far too little sleep. It had been a knock that roused him at first, and then the door opened.

"Good morning, Gavin!" It was Tine standing in his doorway, waking him up as the feline stifled his groan in the dim light of his room.

"Good morning, is something the matter?" He asked in reply, drawing his attention to the now open doorway as the half-dressed canine stood there. Tine was as he'd been the day before in trousers and a bare chest.

"None the matter, but Mamma is cooking breakfast if you want some. The storm has passed, and we'll be getting ready to set sail soon." The dog replied.

"Oh, thank you! I appreciate you waking me." He lied, sliding his legs off the cot and to the clammy wooden floor.

"Welcome! I'll be up top, but Mamma is still making breakfast." Tine said, then left the doorway and began to walk towards the stairs.

As he sat at the edge of the cot, collecting his thoughts, he realized that he felt a cold spot in the trousers he'd worn to bed. He felt the spot and realized what he'd done. He remembered the vivid dream he'd had and felt ashamed of himself.

He stepped towards his door, shut it, then quickly removed his soiled trousers, and pulled on the same ones he'd worn the day prior. When he opened his door again the smell of food hit him as he stepped out into the hall. He walked down, following the smell, and found that the table they'd eaten dinner at on the night before was gone. Gavin glanced up at the ceiling and saw that at some point in the morning the Patters had lifted it high to lash it to the ceiling.

"Good morning!" Manina said cheerfully, the canine was neither half-dressed like her husband, nor dressed at all. She turned to face him; Gavin too tired to flinch at her nudity as she approached him with a small plate of food.

"A light breakfast for today, but lunch will be better!" She told him with a smile. Her mood was cheerful and pure, and Gavin politely took the plate from her.

What he'd been given were three slices of toasted bread, each slathered with a thick layer of butter and some sort of jam. No meat, but with how thick the slices of bread were he felt he'd have enough in his belly to keep himself satisfied until this 'better' lunch arrived.

"Thank you, Manina. Tine says the storm has passed?" Gavin asked her.

In the dim morning light, he couldn't see much outside through the windows. This was the earliest morning he'd been privy to see in a long time. The sun hadn't even finished waking up yet.

"Yes! It passed during the night, and we can sail safely again. After I change, I'll be going above deck to help Pappa ready the sails." She told him, turning away from him again to return to the kitchen. She took up a jug, pouring water into a cup before returning back to hand it to him.

"Oh, that's very good news then. Will you two need any help?" He asked out of politeness, keeping his eyes up and locked onto her face.

"Of course! When you finish eating you can come up and be put to work! We won't be too hard on you, I promise." He smiled at him, patting him on the arm before turning and walking out of the room and down the hall.

"And put the dishes in the tray by the kitchen, please, sir!" She called to him as she entered her bedroom.

He sighed, not feeling the energy in him to be phased by either her nudity or the request to come up and help them set sail. He drank his water, and ate his flavorful toast, and then deposited his cup and plate into the tray like Manina had asked. By the time he was trudging up the stairs to stand above deck the sun was only just beginning to peak over the horizon.

"'Lo! Gavin. You can help me pull the anchor!" Tine called to him from the side of the boat where a thick taut chain, attached to a wooden crank and wheel, was hanging over the side of the boat. He looked around, found Manina squatting on top of a stack of crates, yanking on a rope to tighten a knot. She was as bare chested as her husband was. He sighed again.

"Of course!" He called, walking his way over towards the tall canine.

"It's not hard to do, if Manina can do it so can you!" Tine told him and began to explain to him that the wooden crank was going to do most of the work, but it took two to turn it if you ever wanted to see the anchor again before sunset.

And so, Gavin started his first day as a sailor raising anchor alongside Tine Patter, while his wife Manina Patter made rounds through their cargo to make sure the storm hadn't loosened any of the ropes holding things down. They promised they wouldn't work him too hard, but he hoped that anything they had him do would help pull his mind away from last night and the dreams that came after. The Patters were good people.

He also hoped they wouldn't drink too much at dinner tonight.