WHO: Fox, Cecaelia NPC, Violeta De LaFuente WHAT: Recounting the night, with unexpected dunks. WHERE: The Lagoon. WHEN: Nov 20th 4AM, post State Ballet Ball with Vi! WARNINGS: TBD, likely low
“That’s not fair!” the little brunette chuckled, splashing her companion with a flick of her foot. “Revolving doors were scary, alright? I thought I was going to lose a tail. I only had two, then.” Fox had carefully folded her vermillion gown and laid it a safe distance from the damaging salt water, her stockings and fancy shoes left beside it. Still, she was careful not to splash lagoon water back in their direction when she put her feet back in. She swished them to and fro to soothe her aching soles. Otherwise, she was entirely at ease perched on the lagoon rocks in her fancy undergarments and a half undone formal up-do. Perfectly normal. “High heels are awful,” she groused. “Never again. Why do women do this to themselves?” The question was rhetorical, but still merited voicing. She’d asked before. No one had ever given a reasonable answer. Perhaps someday.
“So you laugh, fine, but what were you afraid of first?” she asked, wrenching off another piece of salted bavarian pretzel from a paper basket balanced between them. “Bluetooth earpieces,” he admitted. Fox snickered mid-chew, her dark eyes leveled on Julian, encouraging him to continue. "I came ashore when they were a big deal. Here are all these humans, walking around talking to themselves.” He swept an arm ahead of himself theatrically. "Some of them are listing food they want, or yelling at invisible lovers or family. I understood language well enough to decide that humans were, as I feared, completely insane.”
She swallowed her bite of pretzel hard, coughing around her laughter. “Oh no. That’s precious. And you didn’t turn around and dive right back in?” She straightened up, shimmying her shoulders dramatically. “How very brave of you,” she flattered, then winked.
Julian rolled his eyes. He made a show of being calloused, but was amiable, and had a bright sense of humor that didn’t come at the cost of intelligence. Several times she’d wondered if his pleasant mix of attributes was common to his species. Fox glanced at the purple and gold tentacles that extended from his lower body into the waters below. The patterning looked eerily like eyes, moving with the muscle beneath. Initially, his bright coloring had unnerved her, but no longer. It was the sign of a clever creature not to be underestimated. She respected that.
“You’re still dodging. How was it?” he asked. Fox pursed her lips, flicking a loose strand of black hair from her face. “It’s one of my best skills,” she countered, then sighed when he squinted at her.
“Fine. It was beautiful,” she gushed as if releasing a terrific burden, her hands clasped at the pale hollow of her neck. She was a little embarrassed by how fully she’d enjoyed herself at such an odd human gathering. “The colors! And the food! I danced. Not just by myself, even. I think I made a new friend, too. She’s sassy. I invited her for pretzels, but...” Fox shrugged and flashed a Colgate smile, nudging her friend’s side. Looping an arm through his, she sidled closer to hug the captured appendage. “I wanna go again. Come with me tomorrow? We’ll find another. Dry off, wear legs for a night and borrow a suit, it’ll be fun.”
He grumbled.
“Be a downer, then. You’re missing out. My heart’s still all fluttery.”
“You sound like a cartoon character. Big thumping red heart and all,” he chastised, his voice the driest thing about him.
“Well, you sound like a human. A mean one.” Affronted, Fox disentangled her arm from his, then flicked his shoulder with a spark of electricity. “Pretending you don’t feel something when you do gets you hemorrhoids. Or a heart attach. It’s an ‘H’ something. I can’t remember how they say it, whatever. It’s repressed and boring.” Her expression was entirely serious, defensive to the point of annoyance.
A hard shove between her shoulder blades sent the foxgirl forward into the water, arms flailing. She resurfaced, blowing salt water through a grimace as her friend watched, amused. “You jerk! This is really expensive … stuff!” Half of it she hadn’t even known how to wear without consulting the Burlesque girls. There were so many slinky straps and fastenings she thought the lacy pieces resembled tent rigging. Quite insane, really. Treading water, Fox searched the rocks for the best handhold to haul herself out. Her eyes widened. “Wait, am I even allowed in here?! Is there anyone down there at this time of night?” She gestured into the inky darkness beneath her.
“C’mon, pull me up!” That was the last time she messed with an Octopus for a while. Clever bastards.