Bluefin Bar, as it was now known after the sign above the door was amended with a small paintbrush, was a hub of economic activity, despite the early morning hours. Despite a slight decline in customers, massive stores of food and drink were wheeled in. When the delivery drivers left, about half the goods exited the bar again, carried by an assortment of sweating pirate swabbies towards the harbour.
In the midst of all this hubbub sat Bill like a fat spider in its web, inspecting wares, haggling prices and occasionally shouting orders. During his long career he had served in the busiest galleys serving hundreds of hungry sailors, turned a profit selling water to mermaids in a ramshackle beach bar when he was stranded on a deserted island and managed to feed many an unfortunate crew on not much more than weevils and the odd unlucky crewmate. Stretching the Bluefin Bar's budget to cover provisions for the Sweet Pirates' continued voyage was no big deal. And if he went over budget, that would be something for whoever would steward the bar after the crew would leave the island to do. Skipping out on the tab was an honored tradition in the business, of course. It certainly happens a lot in bars.
Bartending Wisdom 2 Star
A bartender has basic knowledge of every part of the food and drink service industry, and serves as an impromptu therapist for the drunk and bedraggled.
During a temporary lull in activity, when nobody was in the saloon but Bill and a young man fussing with the head of Lear the Marlinespike, the old sailor opened the newspaper. He wanted to check if they had finally printed that
article he'd sent in, and to check on news about his captain. Finding no news about further kings strung up on any ships bows, and after a self congratulatory read through a barcrawling guide in the lifestyle section, he kept leafing through the papers until something caught his attention.
"Oi Blueno! C'mere, lad!" he shouted for the former owner.
"They say some giant marlins were seen 'round these waters! Get a fishing rod and hop in a dinghy! Bagging yourself one of these -" he patted the giant body of Lear that was currently laying on the counter behind him. The young man whose hand was currently deep in the spearfish's mouth eyed him suspiciously.
"- ought to make a man out of a coward like you! Get underway, will ye?"
---------------------------------------------------
"Alright, I got my measurements. You do know this is a bizarre weapon, right? Most people would put a bayonet on a gun, and not the other way around. Sticking a gun in there..."
Done with his inspection, Stevie "Sterlet" Mirac rolled up his tape measure and gave the fish head back to Bill, so that the old man could put his taxidermied marlin back together again. Munching on some salted mini pretzels, Bill did a quick check if the young man had damaged anything.
"Haha, 'tis a thing dear to me. He's been with me fer decades, that Lear. Gave me the fight of me life when I first hooked 'im, and we've been a team ever since. I'm sure I've fought more battles with him than without. Even in court! An ex wife once wanted custody, can ye believe it?"
Stevie had learned quickly not to ask too many questions about Bill's backstory, lest he get an hour long history lession of dubious veracity.
"That makes us even, though, right? For saving my skin?"
"Aye, if ye throw in a neat gun for my boy Johnny, I'll forget all about how I came about some half starved kids that tried to rob me for food. Mmhh. Want some pretzels?" he waved the basked with the pretzels over to Stevie.
"They ain't as salty as can be, but they is good and crunchy. Some of them's probably older'n you are, haha. I remember back in the day, when I was still at Santiago's Bar and Grill, I had some pretzels so salty me whole body dried up. I practically inhaled water, but I've been feeling dry ever since..."
Sometimes Bill could trigger himself into telling stories of his past...
-----------------------------------------------------
Johnny Brathering was ambling through the streets of Water 7. Somehow, since Bill had offered Kokoro and Chimney to take them back to Shift Station when the Sweet Pirates would head out of town, somehow he'd been stuck babysitting the little girl and her cat. As a consequence he couldn't really indulge in his favourite vice, alcoholism, and so for the first time in a long while he experienced a morning without a hangover.
Instead he had been sent by Bill to find that member of the Zambai Family to collect on his bar tab. After another unfruitful search carried him past the Bluefin Bar, the old man streaked past him, Marlin weapon on his back.
"Too much salt! Too much!! Water!"
Johnny shrugged and kept going on his search tour. Bill could start with his magarithas early in the morning, but Johnny wouldn't let him rub it under his nose.
Cursed Weapon Trial: Cursed Marlinespike "Lear"
He'd overdone it. Bill just wanted to seem tough to impress the young sailor Stevie by putting entirely too much salt on his pretzels. And now he was paying for that. His tongue felt like dust, and no amount of water could ever be enough. He ran out of the bar to one of the myriad canals streaming from Water Seven's central fountain towards the ocean and just dunked his entire head into it. Even though he drank like a camel, the feeling of dryness just wouldn't leave his throat.
With his position prostrate next to the water, it just so happened that the tip of Lear's rostrum barely touched the water. For a second, it seemed as if the long dead eyes of this proud fish glowed red and the smell of formaldehyde covered the area.
Johnny, who despite intentions, was still watching from afar, would not be able to say what exactly happened next. Was it an especially forceful gulf from Bill, or did Lear move its body of its own accord?
How ever it happened, the chain with which the strange weapon was wrapped around Bill's torso rattled as the massive Spearfish glid from his back and into the canal.
Immediately the current accelerated him towards the ocean. Was it just the torpedo shape giving it speed, or was the fish actually swimming? Soon he would reach the ocean despite the heavy chain and harpoon stuffed into his hollowed body.
All of a sudden the lone figure of Bill seemed strangely pathetic to Johnny, all alone on the water's edge without the usually everpresent Lear. How old was the old man, anyways?
"Nay, Lear! Don't leave me behind!"
With a splash the old sailor jumped into the current, to follow his weapon. Wild, desperate strokes sought to catch up to the old friend.
Swimming: 1 Star
Sailors that can swim are bad omens, as they don't take enough care to not fall into the ocean (where you're shit out of luck without a boat, no matter how well you can swim). Bill spreads the superstition around, teaches it to every apprentice pirate.
Bill of course can swim very well.
"Where are you going, Lear?!"
He managed to shout between strokes, but of course he recieved no answer.
) Berry later, lol)