"Woah!" Flick was definitely startled when Bea suddenly started dragging them along to the stream. He watched them with a very confused expression, and after a minute or two, he simply crouched beside them to watch. They didn't know why Bea would want to do this; he didn't exactly go fishing very often, after all. "Um… what're you doing?" They asked after a few minutes of watching.
Bea responded, not even looking up at Flick. "Fish.", and continued on. All of the sudden, Bea grabs on to something, and, holding by the tail, pulls a minnow from the water. They seem ecstatic. "Look. Flick. It's a Minnow, great fish n' my opinion. Very cute." After showing it off to Flick, they put it back in the water. "Bye, buddy." After a few seconds, Bea turned back to Flick, obviously embarrassed about their soft spot for fish. "What are we doing next?"
Flick blinked in confusion as they stared at the fish that Bea had pulled out of the water. He tilted his head to the side a bit. "Um… yeah, if you say so. I don't really know that much about fish, to be honest." He shrugged, then watched the fish swim away once it was released. Once Bea seemed to be satisfied, Flick got back to their feet and looked around. "Well, we can do whatever you want to, I guess."
Bea stuttered. "Well, what do you want to do? Ain't I the one supposed to be followin' you around?" Bea's mind was swirling, from their father, to the fish, to the shack, to the blue stuff in the drink, and back to Flick. All of this came together to be one angry huff. Bea wasn't even supposed to be here, they should've been back at the shack, drinking whiskey and killing shit, not hanging out with some nerd-ass deer. "Go ahead."
"Well, I dunno." Flick flushed and looked down at the ground, scratching at the soil beneath them with one hoof. "I don't usually do a whole lot while I'm here, so if there's anything you want to do or see, we can do that. I don't want you to be bored or whatever." They hesitated before starting to walk through the trees.
(Also sorry if my writing or storytelling comes off as dramatic. I write for TV, and I kinda suck at real prose haha)
(It's fine! I don't really know what I'm doing lol, I pretty much just roleplay)
Bea grumbled, and whispered something other their breath, before sitting down and laying their head against a tree. "What do you even eat? Bugs?" Almost in response, a cricket falls from the tree bark and lands on Bea's arm. "It's kinda nasty, honestly." Bea flicks the cricket off their arm and into the grass, where it hops away. "Especially when you can ride up to a fast food place and steal all the burgers, hehe."
"Well, I mostly eat plant life around here. There's a lot of farms relatively nearby too, so sometimes I can nick that stuff." Flick stretched as he walked. "Berries… I do eat some fish and meat, but not nearly as much as I eat vegetation. And I try to avoid stealing if I can since it makes people mad."
Bea quickly gets up and follows behind Flick. "Damn, you're fast." They listened to him babble on about the food that he eats. "Y'know…you're not like everyone else in the shack. Not sayin' that it's bad, just maybe you don't need to be there." Bea looks up at the green treetop canopy, and watches the little bird flutter about. "We put the crime before the magic. That's why Maggot's there."
"Ah, sorry…" Flick slowed their pace so that Bea could keep up easier. He looked over at Bea's comment and tilted his head from side to side a bit. "Well, I dunno… I was looking for community first and foremost. I'm not against crime, I'm just… ah… a bit more selective on the category, and theft is one I generally avoid." They laughed nervously, still a bit flushed. "I… um… really don't like the government. That's more my area."
"Well, theft's our favorite, hehe. My favorite too. What about stealing from the government? Ever done that?" Bea chuckles, bringing their hand up to their mouth when they do so. "And the community's…it's hostile. I've actually been looking to get outa there." They continue through the forest with Flick, still taken aback by the scenery and such.
"Stealing from the government? Mm, I've never tried that, but I guess I wouldn't be opposed to it." Flick shrugged, focusing on the dull thud of his hooves on the soil. They looked up again at Bea's comments, looking confused. "Hm? Hostile how? Why do you want to leave?" He asked.
Bea points to a large, semi-fresh scar on their neck. "This is why. It's feral in there, I swear. This was an electric shock from Scruffy." Bea sighed. The shack was pretty similar to the government. If they didn't like you, you were "out" as they called it; but it meant more of a threat. Once Scruffy got involved, you were screwed.
"Scruffy doesn't seem very nice…" Flick mumbled, scratching behind his ears a bit. "He's the one that gave me the bad drink, right? Why is he allowed to stay if he's hurting people?" They asked. "Aren't we supposed to stick together? We've got enough to deal with without being attacked or poisoned by fellow magic people."
Bea darted their eyes back away from Flick. "Well, he kinda owns the shack…besides, the place can't run without him. His anonymous supporters pay for everythin'. I think that they run the place more than he does, between you n' me." They chuckle nervously. "Sometimes, a masked bunch comes into the shack and has 'private meetings" with him"
Flick sighed softly and ran his fingers through his hair. "That doesn't sound very good… you'd think he still wouldn't want to be hurting people regardless of his rank within the shack." They kept talking, looking around as they did so. "I don't think private meetings are usually very good, but I'm not familiar with that sort of thing."
"And that's why I'm leaving! The private meetings have been picking up, Scruffy's started hurtin' people, and the magic is getting stronger as we speak. I don't know what's goin' on, but I ain't gonna be a part of it." Bea continues, going deeper into the forest. "I kinda wish I could just start my own version of the shack, without all this shit."
"Well… why can't you?" Flick asked, shrugging a bit. "I mean, you can probably find some sort of abandoned building, or build something here in the forest. There might be some abandoned buildings in the forest, actually." He looked around as though expecting to see a building nearby.
Bea stutters. "I doubt there's anythin' around here, I mean, come on…" Almost in response, Bea steps on a plank of wood. They stare at it for a moment, a fizzle of both excitement and dread filling them. They look up at Flick. "If I did open up somethin' like this, would you help me?"
"I've seen abandoned barns around here before. Overgrown type stuff." Flick watched Bea curiously and started at the request. "Ah? Um… yeah, sure. I could help. We'd have to clean up the building and stuff. I'm not sure about the legality of it all but magic is illegal anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter."
"Do you know of any abandoned buildings nearby? I doubt there's any this deep in the woods." Bea looked up at the forest. The greenery was so thick that you could hardly see the sun through the canopy at this point. "I didn't even know the woods was this big."
"Nearby? Mm… I think there's one that's not super far. Maybe a mile." Flick hummed thoughtfully and looked around to get a sense of where exactly he was in the forest. "Should be… that way." They pointed to their right and then started to lead the way.
Bea follows behind Flick, nervously darting their eyes back as if someone were following them. "I hope the people in the shack don't come after us, y'know? They don't like when people leave." A few flash memories popped into Bea's head, but they quickly redirected their mind to the surrounding nature. "Sorry if I was a bit of a bitch earlier, by the way."
"Yeah, that makes sense…" Flick sighed softly. "They probably wouldn't do much to me since I never really joined, so…" He kept walking, stepping over holes and roots so they wouldn't trip. They looked over when Bea spoke again. "Ah? Oh, don't worry about it! It's fine. I probably deserved it."