on the differences between humans and mermaids

who: Dee and Melia
where: the lake
when: afternoon

It was a day most people would refer to as pleasant. Mid 70s, partly cloudy skies... well, those people weren't Dierdra. She'd started feeling dizzy and generally unwell by lunch time, and the pull of the lake had been too great to ignore. She'd stripped down carelessly to the one piece navy blue suit she always wore, concealing her clothes and shoes among some rocks, and then she'd taken her first step out into the lake of the day.

The water churned up to greet her, seemingly joyful she'd returned, and then she was pulled out with the wave, towards the deep waters. Dee drifted, letting the unnatural tide do as it wished. She was safe in water, no matter how far out it brought her.

Melia was having a rather boring day. She preferred when it rained because it stirred up the types of things fish liked to feed on, which in turn made it that much easier for her to catch her dinner. But more than that, she was bored. None of her friends had come to see her again - though Caleb had been leaving shiny things to add to her collection. She was wearing several of them, and thought fondly of the boy whenever one of them caught the sun.

She wasn't doing much, only drifting along looking at things as they caught her attention, doing a bit of swimming, but she felt the strangeness of the sudden tide. It wasn't natural, that much was certain; she knew the waters of the lake nearly as well as those in which she'd been born. It certainly roused her curiosity; ducking underwater, she followed the strange pull to investigate.

Dierdra's eyes had closed as the tide around her had calmed, but when the waters went completely and suddenly still? Her eyes flew open. That was the signal, the warning. Someone was approaching. She let her legs and torso sink, ducking under the water so only her eyes and forehead were visible as she looked around, wary. There weren't any boats or crafts she could see, and it was much too far out for a normal swimmer. Maybe it had been a false alarm?

She bobbed up then, taking a deeper breath and setting the waters to churn again; slower, this time, a small whirlpool to gently tug whatever the thing might or might not have been towards her. Any strong swimmer could escape easily, of course, but an unconscious person (or a body) would be pulled towards her. Cautiousness and paranoia did occasionally pay off... just sometimes in drowning victims.

Well, wasn't that strange. The tide had been lost, but it didn't matter. Melia had already spotted the human girl as she approached, but feeling the waters still and the girl hide herself was intriguing. She was surprised when the sudden whirlpool formed; it didn't take much effort at all to keep herself in place as she moved slowly closer. She circled, getting a good look from below, but that got boring. Grinning to herself, she surfaced behind the swimmer. She was certainly very far from shore, wasn't she?

Flicking a bit of water in her direction, Melia grinned. "Hello," she said.

She jumped in startled surprise, and immediately sank under. The water pulled Dierdra away from the stranger by several feet before she popped up again, brushing her hair out of her eyes. The whirlpool dispersed; the 'intruder' of her personal space had been found, so there was no point in maintaining it any longer.

"Hello," she managed cautiously, piercing blue eyes wary. People did not casually swim out this far. Especially not naked people. Unless there was a boat nearby that she had yet to spot, this felt wrong.

Melia laughed at her surprise, always amused to see humans get jumpy. She looked around when the whirlpool vanished, eyeing the reappearing girl curiously. "That's an interesting trick," she commented, drifting a bit closer and circling again. "You're very far from shore, aren't you?"

Dierdra eyed her warily, circling in place with the strange woman to keep her in eyesight. It was predatory behavior. The water was Dee's home. It protected her. Nothing could touch her here, not really. If this encounter had taken place on land, she would have been in screaming panic mode already, but as it was, she felt herself only slightly on edge, ready to call up a violent rush of water to displace the stranger if need be. "So I've heard," she replied quietly. "Yes, I am. Far from shore, that is. And so are you," she pointed out.

Melia smiled, amused. "You could say that," she said, head tilted slightly as if considering the notion. "It doesn't really matter, though." She swam a tiny bit closer, curiosity written plainly on her face. "Who are you?" she asked. "How do you do that... thing?" She made wavy motions with one claw-tipped hand to indicate the whirlpool.

Blue eyes tracked the clawed hand, widening just a touch. Ah, well, that was unusual. She was no longer dealing with an odd skinny dipper. This had just advanced to the realm of Other. "My name is--" she paused, biting back her birth name just in the nick of time, "Dierdra." She kept on her guard, however, namely because of the claws. This was something new, and maybe, just maybe she wasn't as safe as she'd originally thought. "I'm not sure how I do it. Water just responds to me," Dee explained, keeping cautious. "It's drawn me since I was little."

"Deirdra," Melia echoed, trying out the unfamiliar name. She'd never met a Deirdra before. "I like water, too. You could say that... I live here." She was amused at her own little joke, tail flicking beneath the water's surface. It was funny that the girl hadn't noticed before now; the water, while not as necessarily clear as shallower waters, was far from murky. All the same, Melia was enjoying the little game.

Her eyes trailed from the claw to underwater. To the tail. Dee's eyes widened much more noticably this time. "You're a mermaid," she noted, her voice still quiet and now filled with amazement. "I've never met a mermaid before..." she murmured, voice trailing off. Strange that she hadn't. If they existed, with as much time as she spent in the water, why hadn't she happened upon one before? Well, she had lived by the ocean for most of her life, instead of by a lake... "Can you not swim in salt water?" she asked, genuinely interested. Anything to do with water fascinated her, and mermaids definitely were included in the category.

She laughed then, enjoying the look on Deirdra's face. "Took you long enough," she said, tail moving lazily, only enough to keep her afloat and in one position. "Of course I can swim in salt water," she said. "How do you think I got here? I was born in the ocean, spent most of my life there."

Dierdra's eyes stayed locked on the tail, completely fascinated. "I spent a lot of time when I was little in or near the ocean. You're the first mermaid I've met, so I thought maybe you couldn't go into salt water," she explained, somewhat distracted by the tail. It was probably worlds better for swimming than her own awkward legs... Was she jealous? Maybe a little.

"Just because you've never seen one of us doesn't mean we don't exist or can't go somewhere," Melia pointed out. "It isn't as if we spend our time swimming where you humans go, now do we?" Okay, well sometimes she did, but she didn't make a habit of approaching every human she saw. Just the interesting ones. And if they were the type to blab, she could always eat them.

She smiled faintly at that, nodding in agreement. "That's true." Of course, she wasn't a 'normal' human by any means; water was much more home than land, to her, so it just seemed insanely odd to only just now being discovering the existence of mermaids. "Places where humans swim are boring, and usually dirty. The deep water is much better, especially if you're not afraid of drowning."

"And you're not?" Melia questioned, head tilted, gaze vaguely predatory. She hadn't yet decided what she was going to do with this one; it wasn't as if she was terribly hungry at the moment, but having a bit of a snack and tucking the rest away for later wouldn't hurt. "What if you get tired?"

Dierdra tilted her head to the side, gaze moving back up to the mermaid's face. She picked up on the predatory gaze immediately, but really, she just wasn't afraid in the water. It was home; it was safe. Even around a mermaid. "It's never been a problem before. If I get tired, I can just float and have the tide move me back to shore. What do mermaids eat?" she questioned abruptly, because that seemed like it might be an important question to ask. Especially with the clawed hands and the gleam in her eye... Hm, Disney had been way off, apparently. Interesting.

"Fish," Melia said. "Kelp. The usual." She'd picked up that phrase during one of her trips to town and liked it. It was convenient for telling the truth without revealing the third staple to her diet. Technically it fell under 'the usual.' "Why, what do humans eat?"

The usual? Right... Well, Dee wasn't going to push on that. It was a little rude, especially if she was wrong and mermaids didn't snack on people. "Vegetables. I suppose those are like land kelp, but we have lots of variety. We eat animals, too, and fish. Have you never had human food before?"

"Why would I want it?" Melia asked, wrinkling her nose and trying not to laugh at the phrase 'human food' and its dual interpretation. "You ruin your food by sticking it on fires and burning it. It's disgusting."

Dierdra nodded empathetically at the word 'fire'. "I don't like fire," she agreed, quickly. "But we don't do that with all of our food. Some of the vegetables and fruits you can eat raw. And you've obviously never had sweets... but maybe you wouldn't like them. They're really processed. Not at all natural."

"No, I've never had sweets," Melia said. "What are those?" Sweet, obviously; there were some kinds of fish that were sweet but Melia didn't think it was the same kind. Some humans were sort of sweet, too, but she thought it was prudent to leave that bit of information out.

"They're foods, made with sugar or honey or sweet fruits. There's lots of different kinds," Dee explained. "Candy and cake and cookies and ice cream..." She eyed the mermaid thoughtfully as her voice trailed off, an idea popping into her head. "Since we're going to be neighbors, sharing the lake and all, I can bring you human things. Food, or anything else you might want. A good will gesture?" she offered, voice somewhat crafty. When it came to her and access to water, even she could muster up a little courage. If she had to make a deal with a (possibly flesheating) mermaid to enjoy the lake, then she'd do it. It wasn't like swimming in the park fountain was an option, anyways.

Melia leaned back slightly to ponder that offer. If she took the offer, she could get things that maybe tasted good, and maybe some more shiny things. On the other hand, if she ate the human now, it would be tasty, but wouldn't last more than a few nights. "Hm," she said, thinking. "What if I don't like the things you bring me?" Never let it be said that she didn't explore her options beforehand.

Dierdra shrugged, sending a little ripple through the water. "Then I'll bring you two more things the next time. And if you don't like those things, then... well, you can try to eat me." She smiled a little then, a wry little edge to it. "I'm probably not very tasty, though."

"Why would I want to eat you?" Melia asked, looking interested. Was she really being given permission? "I like shiny things," she offered, though it was fairly obvious. She had on a necklace and three bracelets, things that Caleb had left for her. Another necklace was clipped into her hair, dangling down.

Dee's smile grew a little at that, the wry edge becoming just a little more obvious. "You have claws. You circled me like a predator at first, and you looked a little hungry. Maybe I'm just paranoid" and, well, she was, that was one of her things, "but predatory behavior usually makes one a predator. If you do eat people, and I don't live up to my end of the bargain?" She shrugged carelessly. "Then you can try." It wasn't like she had the strongest will to live among most humans, anyways. Being eaten by a mermaid wouldn't be that horrible of a way to go. At least she'd die in water. "I can bring you shiny things, and human sweets. Is that all right?"

"I am a predator," Melia said, grinning. "I eat fish, and kelp. The usual things." She swam close, peering into Deirdra's face. Personal space? What was that? "Why would you just give up like that?" she questioned curiously. "Why wouldn't you want to stay alive?"

The question threw her off balance. So far, the conversation had revolved entirely around neutral things; water, food, human things and mermaids. Talking about herself? Bad. Dierdra's face crumpled, just a little, expression going from wry amusement to despondent. "Why would I want to?" she asked in return, her voice a quiet mutter.

Melia frowned at that. Most humans had at least a reason or two. Not that it had ever mattered to her, but someone willing to die was new to Melia. "Why wouldn't you want to?" she asked instead. "Don't you like it?"

Dierdra focused on the water instead of the mermaid's question, feeling it swirl comfortingly around her calves. She didn't answer for awhile; didn't even look at anything but the water. "No. I don't like it." As a matter of fact, she was of the opinion that she failed horribly at living in general, and her death would save a little bit more oxygen and a little bit more food for some other poor soul. But that didn't need to be said aloud, did it?

"Why not?" Melia demanded, growing irritated. "You're not sick, you're pretty, you can make water do things. What could be so bad about it that you have to mope? That's very boring, you know."

She balked at 'pretty', but decided to ignore it. Or think about it later. Probably that one. "I..." Dierdra frowned intently at the water, thinking. She couldn't very well explain the things going on in her head, why she thought the way she did. They just were, and couldn't be changed. Her childhood (which was The Big Issue) wasn't something she went around talking to people about, anyways. Not even mermaids. "My reasons would bore you," she tried carefully.

"That's stupid," Melia said scornfully. "Obviously, if something is bothering you, you should fix it. Then you'll be all right. Otherwise if you just sit around and cry about it, it's your own fault for being miserable."

Dee smiled faintly, ducking her head. "Yes, that's true. It is my fault," she agreed easily, because there was truth, and genuine belief in the statement. But the things bothering her... they couldn't really be fixed. Or if they could, she didn't know how to go about doing it.

"You know," Melia said conversationally, "if you were one of us, your parents would have eaten you by now. Have you even tried or did you just give up first thing?" It irritated her; survival was coded into her every instinct, and to see a creature throwing it away grated on her nerves.

She considered the question for a long moment, uncertain of how to respond. "I think," she began slowly, keeping her eyes on the water, "that human parents and mermaid parents must be very different. Human parents can sometimes do much worse things than eat their young." And that? That was as much as she planned to say, even if she didn't believe for a second her newest acquaintance would understand what'd she'd just implied. It was the most explanation anyone had ever gotten from her, ever, and hopefully it wasn't some horrible omen of unpleasant conversations to come.

"All right," Melia said, willing to concede the point though she was having a hard time figuring out what could possibly be worse than being eaten alive. "So why didn't you leave? Or kill them?"

"I have left. We have," she corrected herself, happy she hadn't been questioned on what was worse than being eaten. "My mother is with me."

"There you go," Melia said. "Problem solved. You left, now you can get back to being a normal human."

Dierdra smiled wryly, finally looking back up at Melia. "That's true. I guess I just need practice first." Why was talking to a (presumably older) mermaid easier than talking to a(n attractive) human boy her own age? Maybe it was the lake.

"It's not that hard," Melia pointed out. "I can do it, and I'm not even one of you. Just go out and do the things you like to do."

Dee treaded water while she pondered that. "I already am, really. I like swimming, and water. Anything to do with water is my favorite thing to do." Of course, she always had her writing... but she tended to only do that when water simply wasn't an option.

"What about people?" Melia asked. "You're supposed to spend time with humans that you like, too. Don't you get sick or something if you don't?" Her knowledge of human health - physical or mental - was sadly limited.

"Sick? Hm, not really. Not physically... we get lonely, though," Dierdra admitted. "I suppose that's like being sick. It just makes you sad all the time." And she was definitely plagued with loneliness... "I don't really have humans that I like and like me," she explained. "I just moved here, so I don't have any friends. It's just my mother and me."

"You seem like you're sad all the time," Melia said, eyeing her speculatively. "You should go find some humans that you like. If not, something bigger might come along and eat you, and then where would you be? You don't want to be weak."

She nodded agreeably. That was true... if anything, she and her mother had both learned that to be friendless in the world was very bad for your own personal safety. "People my age think I'm creepy," she confessed with an odd little smile. "My eyes scare people."

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Melia asked, leaning closer to stare at them. "I like them. They're pretty." Then again, her eyes weren't terribly normal; they were large and greenish-brown, which passed for normal easily enough, but she did have a second set of eyelids that was sometimes hard to hide. "They look like my mother's eyes." Blue ran in the family on her mother's side, but the brown was from her father. "Humans who are scared of eyes aren't worth knowing, if you ask me."

Dee smiled faintly. She didn't know why she was more inclined to believe a mermaid's opinion more than her own mother's... but she did. Maybe it was because Melia wasn't a human that she trusted her words more. Why would she lie? "Thank you," she murmured shyly. She briefly toyed with the thought of telling Melia about Isaac, but ultimately dismissed it. Why would a mermaid care that she'd met a strange, (attractive) persistent boy yesterday? "I should head home now," she said instead, very reluctant. She liked talking to the mermaid... oh. That reminded her. "I never got your name."

"Yes, you wouldn't want to get cold and die," Melia said, nodding wisely. Humans could do that, she knew. She'd experimented. "You can call me Melia," she answered. "You couldn't pronounce my real name."

"Melia," she repeated, smiling faintly. It was a pretty name. She eyed the lake water speculatively. "I don't really feel cold, not when I'm in water." But she could probably still get hypothermia... It wasn't something she particularly wanted to test. Her mother would be very upset if she died. "I'll bring you two things, next time, since I don't have anything for you now. Is that all right?"

"All right," Melia said, grinning. Two things! She liked getting presents. "Now go," she said. "Just because you can't feel the cold doesn't mean you can't die from it. You're a human." After all, she didn't want the girl to die - Melia wouldn't get any presents if she did.

Dierdra nodded agreeably, and after a quick wave good-bye, she was sucked under the water, letting her unnaturally created tide carry her back to shore. Letting the water move her was much faster than trying to swim the whole way on her own, anyways, and she was already late for dinner.

Melia watched her go for a moment, interested in the way the water carried her. Then she got bored. Turning, she dove underwater to head out to her favorite fishing spot in the middle of the lake.