Selkie Lake, Saturday Morning

[boneyard_girl]

Ada had fallen asleep in her tank last night. Where else did she sleep these days? But when she woke up... this, this water was fresh, she could feel the springs that were feeding into it, the cool currents sliding past her skin. Was that a rock? And another rock and... a fish? No one put fish in her tank, that was a recipe for disaster. Tasty disaster, but disaster.

A flip of her tail and Ada was barreling towards the surface at a speed no human could match, breaking past the water and-- huh. She couldn't see the bone yard anywhere. She recognized the smell of that bit of ocean, though, its familiar song starting to unfurl in the back corner of her brain as the sight of Selkie Peak loomed over her.

Ada sighed and hauled herself out of the lake on to a decent-sized flat slab of rock, ringing out her hair. "Well an' fine, I guess that's one way to get me to attend the reunion," she sighed, shaking her head. "Though can't say I much appreciate the magical kidnapping. You best put me back where you found me, Fandom, 'cause I got two shows on Monday when we hit Texas!"

And for the first time in three years, Ada Miller, the Arizona Mermaid and star of the Miller Family Carnival, was back in Fandom.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

Demon Marcus was around here somewhere, right?

Dante - and his too tight t-shirt and his too-small pants - was pretty sure it had to be somewhere around here. ... Or maybe he'd barreled right past it. It'd been a while since he last visited Fandom, so sue him. And...

... that was a familiar voice.

Dante turned his head in the direction of it. Turned his path, too, feet beating against pavement until it hit grass. "Yo?"

[boneyard_girl]

Was that an actual voice? Or was her memory getting so slippery that she'd started imagining people to feel less lonely? Ada blinked in surprise.

"H'llo!" she called back, tail slapping against the rock as she tried to look around and spot where the sound was coming from. "Someone else actually out here?"

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante's mouth curved. Okay-- he was a little confused. But he wasn't unhappy about this one. "Ada," he called, walking over with bigger and bigger steps until he hit the edge of the lake. "The shitting hell are you doing here?"

[boneyard_girl]

"Dante!" Ada didn't even bother to try and hide her glee, and she waved at him happily. "I woke up here! I was gonna complain to the rocks all day about how magically kidnappin' people is a shit thing to do if'n you're gonna dump 'em on the end of the island with no company, but maybe now I gotta apologize for cussin' out the island."

She reached up to tug at his pant-leg. "Sit your ass down an' give me a hug. 'M only a little damp."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You gotta give me five seconds to get out of this shirt, at least," Dante said. Not that he really cared about getting it wet. It was a crappy shirt.

But it was uncomfortable, so off it went, and then he was stepping into the water next to her rock. "Guess the island's got a special mermaid express."

[boneyard_girl]

"Well if'n you want to do some skinny dippin' I ain't gonna complain," she teased slyly, before leaning in to claim her hug. "Maybe we should rig me up a tub on wheels so I can party with the rest of you."

She didn't really mean that; Ada would be perfectly happy out here all weekend, as long as someone stopped by occasionally. Besides, she knew how... uncomfortable she could make people. She didn't want to spend the weekend with everyone feeling sorry for her.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante slid his arms around her and hugged her tight. "Maybe we'll just put you in a giant water balloon," he said. "Like the opposite of those big plastic balls people use to run across the river. Hey."

[boneyard_girl]

"Hey yourself," she said, putting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Like this, she could almost pretend they were kids again. It was nice. "Water balloon, huh? You just wanna watch me knock over everyone in my way, send 'em scattering like bowling pins."

It was easier than saying 'I miss you.'

[rebelseekspizza]

"Hey, it'd be funny," Dante said easily. "You'd enjoy it."

He smoothed his hand gently over her hair. Down, and back again, a couple of times. Not that he was trying to soothe her, or anything. That'd be ridiculous.

"People running everywhere, maybe spilling drinks all over themselves..."

[boneyard_girl]

She made a sound like a happy kitten, leaning into his touch. Ada always had liked being petted. It was soothing for both of them, maybe, even if neither of them was going to admit it. Ada was aware that her change was hard on her friends, and it was only going to get harder.

But that was a train of thought best left untouched, and Ada let it flicker out of her mind like sunlight on water. She giggled at the mental image his words created instead. "Listen to you," she said, laughing. "Thinking up ways to raise hell, just like always."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I gotta get my kicks somewhere," Dante said. His hand slid under her hair, petting over the back of her neck, letting that hand slide idly up and down her spine. "Besides, the new generation of pick-pocketers on island would thank us for it."

[boneyard_girl]

Ada couldn't remember the last time she'd had human contact like this. She missed it so badly it hurt.

Then his hand went under her hair, over her scales, and Ada almost cried.

"You get plenty of kicks, if half the things Trish rats you out for are true," Ada countered, smoothing her hand over his chest. She knew where the scar should be, but nothing. "I hear stories, you know. And I make my cousins read me the alumni newsletter."

[rebelseekspizza]

There was a lot of stuff Dante hadn't forgotten about her. Hadn't had a chance to put it in practice in a while, but fuck, he knew it'd make her feel better. So while he leaned back a little so he could look at her properly while they spoke, he never removed his hands. "That was just the one time," he said.

True, and not true. He got stabbed a lot, but he didn't get stabbed like that often. "We put Sid-slash-Abigail back down, anyway."

[good_for_six]

Isabela had woken up on the Call, the original version, this morning. Oh, how she had missed her. This had led to deciding to reacquaint herself with the place. She stopped dead when she came to the lake.

"Well, no wonder I can't find my crew," she said, plastering a grin on her face. Easier to act like there was nothing wrong if it was a good day...or if was a bad one. "They must have gone looking for the mermaid."

[boneyard_girl]

"Dante the trouble magnet," she said, tilting her head just enough so she could smile up at him and meet his eyes. "An' how is business, anyway?"

[boneyard_girl]

"'Bela!" It was a good day, Isabela, at least so far. "Ain't no pirates come looking for a mermaid yet, but 'm pretty sure there's no treasure in this lake."

[good_for_six]

Isabela could deal with good days. "Of course there is," she said. "I'm looking at it."

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's coming along," Dante said. "I'm hearing rumblings of some trouble brewing a few countries over, so who knows. There might actually be a vacation in my future."

One full of demons and nephews. Yeah, a real vacation.

He slid one hand up to cup her cheek. "How's carnie-ing? People still showing up in droves for the magnificent mermaid?"

[boneyard_girl]

Ada laughed and flicked her tail at Isabela. "Fine, maybe I shoulda said the only gold in here is fool's gold," she teased. Because, well, golden scales were no substitute for gold coin. "Get over here so I can see you better."

[boneyard_girl]

"Still decent crowds, but less than when my mama did it," she admitted with a little shrug. "One kid threw a rock at my tank at our last top, said you could see my legs under my fake tail."

And oh, how that had stung, and it had nothing to do with the rock.

"There's an entire culture of people who buy swim-worthy mermaid tails, you know. They call themselves fin-folk and make youtube videos and perform at renaissance fairs and the like. Who's gonna pay to believe some little traveling carnival got a real one when you can watch someone on your phone?"

[good_for_six]

Isabela came over and plunked herself down on the rock. "You only had to ask, sweet thing."

[rebelseekspizza]

"People who actually care if something's real," Dante said. His finger slid under her chin and tilted it up. "I met another mermaid," he said. "She was a lot meaner'n you."

[boneyard_girl]

"Plundered anything fun lately?" Ada asked, propping her chin on her hands. "Discovered long lost lands or defeated a wicked captain? I want all the best stories, if'n you don't mind."

[boneyard_girl]

And he'd always cared that she was real, hadn't he?

"Really?" Ada's eyes lit up. "A mermaid like me, or one from another world or-- or a demon pretending to be one to fuck people over?"

That was just the way your world worked, Dante.

[rebelseekspizza]

"A little bit of everything, I guess?" Dante said. He gave the faintest of shrugs. "She was a mermaid demon. Possessed this rock singer. They made some beautiful music together, then they took off. Killed a bunch of people, but you know how it goes."

The way his world worked, yeah.