Caelan glanced over at the man as he held a satsuma in his hand, surveying the thing. He looked akin to a caveman while his calloused hands gripped the fruit almost delicately. “It’s a type of mandarin orange. It’s from Japan.” He reached down and picked one up from the floor. “They’re similar to oranges. It’s not as, uh… astringent as oranges can be. They’re sweeter.” Caelan cranked the window down as they drove and began working the peel off. He tossed bits out the window as Dusty drove, finally revealing the nectar inside. “Here.” He offered a wedge.<br/><br/>“I don’t think hooch will do me much good.” Caelan commented. He ate a piece of satsuma and nodded to himself. It was juicy and sweet. He was proud of his crop, that was for certain. It would taste good with some of Dusty’s catfish from the other day. Maybe some lemon, too. “I’m more of a social drinker and I have a few people in town that will do trades for perique.” Caelan shrugged and looked over at Dusty, trying to keep his mind off the road they were maneuvering. “If you teach me how to make it, I don’t mind getting a few jars going for you. I owe you that much.”<br/><br/>That was what this all boiled down to. Owing him. Dusty had done a lot for him and Caelan didn’t have much to offer by way of paying him back. Dusty had replaced his tire when it went flat. He taught Caelan how to shoot and even gave up one of his guns. In return, Caelan let Dusty fuck him in the back of the truck and brought him fruit to turn into hooch. They could have a symbiotic relationship if he didn’t dwell on it too much. If Dusty could get what he wanted out of their interactions, then Caelan supposed he could start to figure out how to do the same.<br/><br/>“I didn’t grow this in my apartment.” Caelan laughed. It was nearly impossible to grow produce indoors without synthetic lighting or electricity. He was sure it could be done by the dedicated, but at least Caelan didn’t have to add that to his roster of things that needed figuring out. “I found a few packets of seeds at the hardware store pretty early on and built a garden on the roof. I knew that food would become pretty difficult to find soon enough, so I had to do something to provide for myself.” Caelan grew up in an orchard in Connecticut. His father used to joke that the members of the McHugh family were all born with green thumbs. Caelan guessed his dad was right.<br/><br/>They reached the lake before long. Dusty maneuvered the truck and trailer like it was a God given appendage to the man. Caelan was impressed by the control Dusty had over just about everything he touched. The bayou man was slowly giving him something to aspire to.<br/><br/>"I get by." Caelan answered simply while he helped to load the boat. He didn't want to explain the concept of nutritional yeast to Dusty. "I have a stockpile of black beans and chickpeas." There were times where he could get his hands on a few breasts of cooked chicken, but he didn't have a source he could bet his money on for dependability. He had experimented with tofu and tempeh in the beginning, but quickly found that he would much rather starve. "That catfish you brought was the first I've had in probably five years."<br/><br/>Together, they loaded the boat and set off down the river. Caelan sat on the metal bench, keeping his eyes on the lazy, murky water. The boat - or piece of metal, rather - wasn't exactly what he had planned. He had seen many people fishing from the banks of the river. Maybe that would have been safer, but he went with what Dusty decided. Caelan had not once gone fishing in his life, so who was he to say anything?<br/><br/>"Uh, no, not really." He responded, plucking a piece of Spanish moss of a branch as they passed. Caelan rolled it between his thumb and pointer and flicked it off into the water. It floated on the surface as they cruised away. "I didn't really leave Tulane. I was a dumb college student that was more concerned with drinking and fucking around than I was with exploring the city." The thought often made him wonder why he even bothered to come to New Orleans in the first place. He didn't take advantage of the beauty of the city. He could have made his fair share of mistakes from the safety of Connecticut, instead of some random ass city over 1,400 miles away. "You come out here often?"