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FOURTEEN

marcus graves was pretty excited to go fishing with his newfound friend, charlie swan. when the man had first brought it up, he'd practically glowed knowing that other people enjoyed it as well. his family didn't share the passion, mostly because they either didn't like seafood or felt uncomfortable knowing rosa was half fish.

but marcus had grown up fishing, it being something his grandmother taught him to do when he was learning to control his magic. it was an activity of patience, and she'd introduced him to fun little tricks to perform with magic while they waited for the fish to bite.

so, as well as going fishing with charlie, the chief of police was inviting his two best friends: harry clearwater and billy black.

the two other men lived out on the reserve, and he'd heard his daughter mention harry before after coming home from the clearwater diner with olive after lunch together. she'd mentioned how much she loved his fish fry, and that she'd try to go back often if it was available on the menu.

parking near where the other couple vehicles were waiting, marcus takes a deep breath and plasters a pleasant smile on his face. his nerves would not get the best of him as long as he acted the part of the cheerful but still respectful outsider joining a tight knit group of friends. he takes out his fishing supplies, and walks casually over to where charlie and two other men were getting set up on the dock.

"hey, charlie," he calls out, causing all three men to turn to him. the swan man gives a small, awkward smile in return, nodding at him and waving him over.

"hey. guys, this is, uh, marcus graves. marcus, this is billy black and harry clearwater."

marcus shakes hands with both of the men, taking notice of everything he could about them. another thing his grandmother had taught him was to survey everyone he met and gauge just how much of a threat they could pose.

it didn't help much when he tried to make new friends, considering she'd ingrained the teaching in him, but now, he was slightly thankful for it.

both of the weathered men had a look in their eyes that glistened with kept knowledge, a look he knew his family held when around regular humans. they both knew something secret, and it set him a bit on edge, but he wouldn't let that distract him from the fishing.

"it's nice to meet you both. god, i haven't been fishing in years. none of my kids really like seafood, so it's kind of hard to go when they complain about you smelling like fish once you get back," he says, over sharing a little with a laugh.

billy and harry both chuckle, charlie's smile turning less awkward when he saw his childhood friends warming up slightly to the newcomer.

"uh, marcus has got two daughters around bella, jacob, and seth's age. his eldest son is around the same age as leah, too," he says, and the two men make noises of interest.

"really? how many kids you got?" billy asks, smile kind as he rolls a bit closer in his wheelchair.

"five. there's jackson, jasmine, cecilia, alex, and olive. they're all amazing, i tell ya. makes me kinda glad we couldn't have kids of our own, or else we never would've adopted them."

all three men look a bit startled at the casualness of the statement, but seeing the genuine smile on his face causes their surprise to fade. instead of commenting, they gesture for marcus to set up his own things to fish, and he sets his chair up next to harry facing one side of the lake while the other two men face the other side.

"so, how long ago did your family move here?" harry asks, breaking the small silence as he glances at marcus.

"uh, a couple weeks before charlie's daughter came back. so, february. it was a long drive."