"Of course is taste better dan ta catfish," Dusty said with a laugh. It was the difference between thick, predatory fish, versus the work you had to put into a bony bottom feeder in order to get it to taste exceptional.<br/><br/>"My cajun spice blend and some batter could make your tennis shoe taste good." Now though, they were getting a lot of the fish natural flavors of the fish, unmasked by heavy spices, and enhanced with the citrus. Dusty didn't say it out loud, but he enjoyed the pairing and just having something a little different every now and again. Caelan stole his beer and they settled into a relaxed dinner, up until the young man asked an unexpected question.<br/><br/>"What am<i> I </i>afraid of?" he repeated, staring across the table at Caelan as he tried to digest the question. The young man admitted to Dusty that he made him feel safe, and wanted to extend the same in return. Safety was a precious thing that few took for granted any longer.<br/><br/>Dusty snorted.<br/><br/>"You listen to me. Dat feeling, dat false sense of security gonna get you in trouble. Means you gonna get used to lowering your guard, like you did here waltzing into dis place. Fear kept you alive dis long." He pointed his spoon at him, his gaze serious over the candlelight.<br/><br/>"So what do I fear? I fear da noises in da night dat don't make no sense. Te silence when da frogs go quiet and da low warning trill of an ol owl. I fear getting too old, too slow to react to dat warning." Dusty was no spring chicken. "So no, noting you can do for me except ta look after yourself. Don't rely on no one else to make you feel safe. One day dey fail you." Dusty's jaded words of wisdom. Part of it was a cop out. He wasn't prepared to share his real fear, or acknowledge that he worried he'd die out alone in the swamp, with no friend in the world to bury him. He'd just get a little too drunk one night and not wake up, bloating and putrefying out on the bayou somewhere. He wasn't sure what to do with the feelings that part of him liked that Caelan felt safe with him. The young man clearly was starting to trust him, and the self destructive side of Dusty determined that he probably shouldn't.