How Green Becomes Wood

"You've had it before I'm sure, the man's obsessed with it," Cooger said, "it's that fish he cooks outside on a fire. You know? But it's good you're looking forward to it. 'Cause it'd really suck for you if you were dreading it. But I bet if you were, it'd be three straight months of take out, and then all y'all'd be looking just like me."
 
"Oh, yeah, that stuff!" Xander said, nodding. "I can never keep the names straight. No matter how hard I try, they just... they all blend together, especially when written."

"We've picked up quite a few words, actually, probably more than they realize, but reading the language is still very hard," Alec admitted, peering over the side of the boat. He held the string between two fingers and gave it a little tug. "I think I'm caught on something. It doesn't feel like a fish."
 
"With Tarot's family certainly buying plane tickets and visas to the US, you'll probably end up fluent before you know it. But being able to secretly speak their language isn't ever a bad thing." Cooger said casually, also speaking a bit more Arabic than he let on. Then he carefully made his way to Alec's side of the boat and looked over into the water, "Well reel it in, you gotta see what it is! Shoot, it just may be a turtle!"
 
Alec awkwardly reeled in his fishing pole, eyes on the water. There was definitely something on his line, but whatever it was, it wasn't big or fighting that hard. Slowly but surely, he reeled.

Xander peered over the edge. "I think it's a stick," he reported.
 
"Maybe it'll be a human bone and we'll yank up a skeleton who'll chase us all the way back to town," Cooger said, squinting to try to make out the shape, "I can't quite make out what else that shape could be. Maybe you hooked some lady's purse."
 
The rippling water finally gave up its prize, revealing not a stick or a skeleton, but a man's briefcase. Thin, black, and definitely showed signs of having been in the water for a long time.

"Who loses a case in the lake?" Xander mused as Alec pulled it up.

"It looks fancy, like what those tv lawyers carry," Alec said, shaking it off before showing it to Cooger.
 
"I wonder if there is a skeleton way down under there," Cooger remarked, trying to peer into the depths of the water, "if someone was trying to dispose of evidence. Even if there isn't," he looked back towards Alec and took the case from him, carefully turning it over in his hands, "We've got to look inside it. But be careful, it may be full of drugs or something. Or incriminating files... I wonder how old it is...?"

Once more he looked down into the depths, handing the case back to Alec, "Unless y'all are really interested in getting some fish, I think we should go back to shore and try to get this sucker open."
 
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"Hey, maybe it's money!" Xander grinned, already reeling in his pole. "If it's money, can we keep it? Or do we have to turn it into the government or whatever?"

"Maybe it's something important that got lost accidentally," Alec suggested. "We should try to find the owner."

"Can I drive back?" Xander asked. "I won't slam us into the dock."
 
"I guess it depends how much money is in it," Cooger said, "and sure, you can take over. It better not be something illegal, though, 'cause if we gotta talk to the cops or if we get framed for a crime while Daizi is in labour, we're screwed. Could you imagine how pissed Dark would be if he gets the call that we need to be bailed out on a day like this? He'd light every last one of us on fire."

He sat down in a seat to let Xander take control of the boat, "If we're the most lucky, it'll be some cool antique worth thousands of dollars."
 
Xander grinned and scrambled into the "driver's" seat. "Then I guess we better keep the cops out of it. For his sake, of course. It's what's best in the big picture."

Alec scowled at Xander and hunkered down to a more secure position. "That is not what Cooger means, and you know it!"

"Is it, though? And do I?" Xander teased. He steered the boat back toward land, only doing one zig-zag for the fun of it before heading directly toward the dock. It took him only a little bit to figure out how to get the boat properly lined up beside the dock and managed not to break anything on his way.
 
Dark was putting Daizi's hair into a ponytail while she breathed through a strong contraction. He had been able to see by the way she touched it that it was in her way, but it hadn't occurred to her that it could be managed. So he took care of it.

Cooger only sat back on the boat, trusting Xander to handle it. He only sat up at all when the boat approached the dock to make sure the teen didn't crash.

Then he got out, "Is it locked?" He asked Alec, "We may need to pry it apart, but I've got files, we can force it open."
 
Alec fiddled with the briefcase briefly. "Yes, it's most assuredly locked. It feels... medium sturdy."

Xander held out a hand from the dock to help Alec up. "So, what do we do if there actually is anything in there?"

Alec accepted the hand and scrambled up. "I think it depends on what we find and how old it is. And if we can find the original owner." He frowned. "What if this contains all the memories of a really bad breakup?"
 
"Then we post it on reddit and reap the karma," Cooger said, looking again at the lock, "it sucks Dark can't be here. He's better at getting into locks than I am, I kinda just force things open, he's better at easing it... Which is good news for Daizi..." He paused, "Come on, let's bring it inside. Logically, it's just junk we won't really care about, not much more than a good story."

He went in, moved a cat, cleared the table, and flicked on an additional light. Then he moved a cat, and fetched his tool box, which he plopped inelegantly on a chair and flipped it open, "Alright, let's see its guts."
 
Alec and Xander pushed each other out of the way and crowded in close to see what was inside the case. Alec let out a little shriek and scrambled away. Xander let out a little gasp and stepped back. Little porcelain faces stared up with glassy eyes amidst curls of brown and blonde hair and a nest of lacy fabric. Dolls. They were small, delicate dolls, most of them still in decent condition. They looked like possibly collector types.
 
"Well shit," Cooger laughed, picking up one of the dolls and turning it over in his rough hands, "Wanna give your sister a birthday gift?" He looked down at the case, setting the doll he picked up beside it and began looking through it, "Maybe they're haunted, and that's why they ended up in the lake. What'd'ya think, Hank?" The dumpster cat who followed them inside mewed disinterestedly, "Well shit, if this place ends up haunted I'll be pissed."
 
"No!" both twins yelped. Alec peeked around Xander from where he half hid behind his brother. Xander glared at the dolls, daring them to do anything.

The poor dolls sat looking innocent and doe-eyed, only a little bedraggled from their time underwater. One had a droopy eye, and they could use a day at the hair saloon, but they looked good otherwise. A collector would likely pay big money for them.

"That one has a tag," Alec noted. "Does it have some kind of information or year on it?"
 
"You know that kid'll end up collecting hundreds of haunted items throughout her life, we may as well give her a head start," Cooger chuckled, unfolding the tag to read it. The text was a bit smudged, but he was able to read it, "it looks like they're from the 70s, they've been there for a long, long time. Wonder how they got there..."
 
"Maybe because they're creepy?" Xander suggested, standing well back.

"No way am I going to be responsible for giving her a cursed doll!" Alec protested, looking over Xander's shoulder. "Cursed dolls are always trouble. If she wants to collect cursed objects, she can do that by herself."

Xander nodded in agreement. "I'm not going to be responsible for her getting hurt. How about we toss them back? Or sell them?"

"Someone put them there for a reason, and that briefcase is shockingly waterproof," Alec said.
 
Cooger lightly flipped the lid of the briefcase, "We could try to toss 'em back in, but this ain't gonna stay closed anymore." He picked up a doll and put it back into the case, "We could sell 'em, though. I'm friends with a guy who owns an antique store, he could probably appraise them for us. Should probably split it..." He squinted an eye, "50-30-20. 50 to Alec, 'cause it's his catch. 30 to me, 'cause it's my boat and rod, and 'cause I got the case open. 20 to Xander, 'cause he was there too."
 
"I'd agree, but are we sure we want to unleash whatever they are upon the world?" Alec squeaked.

"I think it'll be fine," Xander assured him, eying the dolls warily. "They're small, at least. And porcelain. Easy to break. Right, Cooger?"
 
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