The park, Monday afternoon

[betterthanaplan]

"Arrrr, ya scurvy dog! Ye may have the high ground now, but the Great Pirate Crocker will take ye down forthwith!"

"That's the worst pirate accent I ever heard!" Jean cried from the top of the jungle gym, giggling. "I'm the queen of the jungle gym! You'll never bring me down!"

"Ye think that, Jungle Queen! But I have a secret weapon!" He pulled a bag of jelly beans from his pocket. "Bribing you with candy!"

Jean sat down on the jungle gym, swinging her legs. "Wow. You're a terrible father."

"I mean, I'm not dead yet, so I'd say I'm doing pretty well."

[open!]

Comments

[outofherdepths]

"Hello, spawn of Octavia," Larceny said, giving the girl a wave. "Your mother is very fierce and strong, which will help your survival."

Larceny...still didn't get kids much. But she wasn't trying to mug any of them, so that was good, right?

And, look. It was hard to be a baby in the ocean. It usually meant 'dinner.'

[seingeda]

"I'm not a spawn!" Vanessa objected. "I'm Vanessa kom Floukru!"

Larceny may also have caught Octavia referring to Duke as 'Duke kom Floukru' in the past.

"But you're right about my mom."

[outofherdepths]

"I'm Larceny," she said. "I don't have other names. Except for Lucy but that is different."

[seingeda]

Vanessa's eyes went wide to an almost comical degree. Like she'd just seen a rock star or something. (You know, if she'd cared about rock stars.)

"You're Lucy?!"

[outofherdepths]

"Yes?" Larceny said, nodding. "There is another Lucy in town, but he is a shark that looks like a man and you should not go near him. He will eat you up."

And this Vanessa shouldn't be eaten up, because she was Octavia and Duke's and therefore important.

[seingeda]

Sorry, Larceny. Vanessa now definitely wanted to meet this other Lucy. Sharks were a Thing in her family.

But, as for the more pressing issue: "My parents told me so many stories about you when I was a kid!"

As opposed to now, when she was eleven and therefore fully grown.

[outofherdepths]

Well, that was just a terrible plan all the way around. Sharks were dangerous.

"They did?" Larceny asked. "About me?" She looked back at Duke and then down to the spawn. She broke into a small smile. "I like that."

That was how mermaids shared their history, too.

[seingeda]

"You really like food!"

Tiny Vanessa had found that downright inspirational.

[outofherdepths]

As well she should!

"Yes!" Larceny said, nodding wildly. "And there is so much food! I can eat until I am full every day and never have the same thing if I do not want!"

[seingeda]

"Right! That's the best!" Vanessa enthused brightly. "Isn't that just the best?"

[outofherdepths]

"You understand!" Larceny said, lighting up. "Most other people around here do not understand. They are used to it."

Her stomach growled, a reminder that it had been over a week since she'd been able to sit down and eat and eat. "And even if you eat it all, there is always a little extra room for dessert!"

[seingeda]

Vanessa's ensuing facial expression was best described as !!!.

"I always say I have a second stomach just for dessert!" she declared. "But Mom and Dad don't believe me!"

Which was clearly offensive.

[outofherdepths]

"There are many species that have more than one stomach," Larceny said. "There is no reason they should not believe you."

You know. Other than human biology. But neither person in this conversation was an expert at that, so...

"I will tell them I have a dessert stomach, too," she decided. "And then they will have to believe us."

[seingeda]

"YES."

There were moments where it seemed implausible this extremely loud child was actually Octavia's. This was one of them.

(Though to be fair, after Duke and Bellamy, Larceny was the most likely person on the island to be aware that Octavia could actually be loud when the situation called for it. But, anyway.)

"Thank you, you're the best!

[outofherdepths]

"You are welcome," Larceny said, grinning and proud. She was the best. Both of the spawn liked her! She was glad she'd cut through the park; their approval warmed the spot in her heart that had chilled, a bit, with her continued inability to find not just her pod, but any pods at all.

"Also, you are young and the young must eat to grow strong and healthy to survive predators," she added. "I will remind them of this."

CAKE COUNTED AS EATING!