Cleo Sertori (withthedolphins) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-01-20 13:17:00 |
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Cleo was doing her best imitation of careful. The minute she’d seen the water, the city, she felt herself brighten. It wasn’t really the place to be secretive, she supposed because people were able to go down and swimming with the mermaids was part of the adventure. She just couldn’t help herself. She wanted to swim. It had been so long since she’d been to the ocean. She wasn’t passing up a chance. Slipping into the water when everyone seemed distracted, Cleo made her way down further and further underwater. She kept near the darker parts of the water at first before allowing herself to swim out a little more to look at the sea creatures. She hadn’t been able to see them for so long that it was practically impossible not to want to get closer. Eventually, she knew she was going to have to go up for air again, but for now, she was happy where she was, admiring the sea creatures and finally having space to be herself and not worry as much about other people. Even if she knew she should be worried. Just because no one was in her line of sight didn’t mean she wouldn’t be seen somehow. Part of her couldn’t help but think about how Lewis would have loved this. More Atlantis than anything else, but he’d always enjoyed swimming together and he’d be able to without worrying about not being able to hold his breath for as long as her and the other girls. The thought made a pang of loneliness echo in her chest. She missed Lewis and Rikki and Bella. She missed Emma, too, but she’d been gone the whole year. It was mostly that she missed having people that understood, that knew. Here was lonely even with people like Remy and George that knew. They still only knew her so well. It was too much at times, but there wasn’t anything she could do but let herself do what she could to keep herself happy for however long she could. And she was. Here she was happy even if it felt temporary. Jesse wasn’t a strong swimmer. So when it was suggested he go underwater, he passed it up. But he certainly didn’t mind the sailing portion of the trip. He laid back on a boat while some random Altantian moved the sails so they could glide of the water. Jesse felt a little silly embarking on this alone, but didn’t want to be too clingy towards Sherlock and Joan. Maybe Paine would like this? She did say most of Spira was water. He leaned over the edge of the boat and looked into the water, dropping one hand in to slide over the ripples. That’s when he saw it-- a mermaid. “Whoa! Hey, do you see this?” The Altantian didn’t bother looking at him, he’s see it all before. As the mermaid got closer to the surface, Jesse had a strange feeling wash over him. Hadn’t he seen this mermaid before? How could that be possible? Shit, it was the girl who hated snow. The hand that was in the water started to wave frantically at her, and he shouted-- not sure if she could hear him well over the water. “Cleo! Hey, it’s Jesse!” Fifteen minutes was always so much longer when she was home. There never seemed to be a lot of people, either. But she could only go so far and she didn’t want to be left behind. So she hadn’t been paying as much attention as she swum up toward the surface. Until she saw a hand in the water. People. It was possible that it was just someone who didn’t know her, another tourist. She stopped in her place for a moment, staring up at the hand and trying to figure out who it was. But she needed air, so she surfaced. Whoever it was, they’d already seen her and there wasn’t really a way to hide now. “Oh. It’s you.” Someone she knew. Someone who knew her. She didn’t mean to sound rude or be so blunt, but she wasn’t sure what else to say. Her brain was coming up with various possibilities. She’d already said the scientific experiments thing to George. “Um. Hi.” Yeah, she wasn’t doing much better. Jesse’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, it’s me. I thought you’d be happier to see me, I tried to help you out when it came to the snow. I checked on you when we got on the boat. --How are you a mermaid??” Jesse went from slightly insulted to completely confused. “Is that something they offer here? I heard we can get gills, but that sounds too weird for me. Not gonna do it. Maybe gonna do it, I don’t know.” He was talking too much and glanced over at Cleo. “You want to get in the boat?” Cleo felt her face heating up. She hadn’t known that he actually really cared that she’d reacted the way she had. Now she was like Rikki. Totally missing the fact that people were people and had feelings. Guilt was a really weird feeling and she wasn’t sure how to handle it when she was feeling exposed herself. There was a short list of people who knew about her and really she hadn’t meant to make it more, but she was starting to realize that wanting to be a secret and wanting to enjoy herself were not exactly mutually inclusive things. She’d have to choose. She wasn’t sure how she wanted to choose. “I’m so-” A pause. “Um. No. It’s not…” Her brow furrowed and she tried not to let the flurry of emotions show, but she’d never been very good at that. “I’ve always...well, not always, but-” A frown. “I’m a mermaid. If I get wet, I turn into a mermaid. It’s a pain most of the time, but sometimes it’s not. Only it’s supposed to be a secret.” If she didn’t need to keep herself afloat, she’d probably have started wringing her hands right now. “Your brand of science doesn’t involve trapping people and doing tests on them, does it?” As for the boat… “Can you even lift me? I’m not really that much help getting onto boats and I have to dry off before I can be human again.” Jesse knew what secrets were like. Except he kept his to keep people from thinking he was a terrible person. Cleo was keeping hers out of self preservation. Completely different things. He nodded his head, “Which is why you didn’t like the snow. I’m sorry, that… that sucks. But here’s cool, isn’t it?” Still on the subject of it being a secret, “But now if it’s out, you can swim alongside the boat. You don’t have to hide anymore.” Jesse hung himself off the side of the boat and offered his hands, “Come closer-- and no, they won’t do that to you here. They haven’t done it to anyone else, why would you be any different?” He tried to smile for her, because it was cool-- but also to comfort her. He knew it went a long way with him, it surely would for her. “Yeah.” She’d never really experienced snow before. It seemed really pretty, but it wasn’t something she could choose to enjoy because there was always turning into a mermaid in the middle of everything and being stuck in the snow. She wasn’t prepared for that. She guessed that it would just be a normal thing if she let people in on the secret, but then she wasn’t sure if it really would be. “You’ve clearly never been trapped in a cave before and held against your will because someone decided they needed to perform scientific experiments on you.” She was still glad that Lewis and Zane had showed up. Even if she wasn’t sure that Zane was really a friend anymore. Still she swam closer, feeling a little anxious about the situation. She reached up for his hands, eyeing him cautiously. Jesse grabbed her wrists and began to pull her aboard. He was skinny and weak, but she was smaller. “I was trapped in a cage and forced to make … chemicals for a gang. So I know kind of what it’s like.” Again, smiling to keep it light. He didn’t really want to relive that, and he didn’t think she would either. “Tumbleweed is different, this boat is different. Everyone here has a power, or is special in some sort of way. We’re kind of all equals in a way?” He wasn’t sure if that was true, but a little white lie never hurt anyone. He was sure no one would experiment on her, though. The last time someone had to pull her out of the water, it’d been Lewis and at the pool party where the popular kids had thrown her into the water. It was sort of strange to remember something that seemed to have happened so long ago. It was before they were together, before she realised that Lewis was the boy she liked. Only he wasn’t here and there wasn’t any real possibility that he might show up. She frowned a little when he said he was trapped in a cage. “Oh.” She laid on the boat once she was over, not really able to sit on her own. She propped herself up on her elbows, however. “I guess I don’t really trust people a lot because they always seem to...well...it’s usually not good. Outside of Lewis.” Jesse sat beside her and leaned back with her, so he could keep his face in line with hers. He thought it was important to look at people when you talk to them-- it’s shady not to. Plus it kind of sucked that she was in fish mode and couldn’t sit properly. “I’ve become more trusting. You’d think all the stuff I went through would make me hard, but it just softened me up more.” He pointed at her tail, “That’s really cool, it’s pretty. You shouldn’t hide this.” “I’m not really hard,” she said quietly. “I just don’t trust people with this part of me because I can’t.” She frowned again. “Not even my dad knows and I trust my dad. Kim knew, but I managed to convince her it was a clever hoax because she tried to reveal me as being a mermaid. She’s my sister.” The last part was added on as explanation. “My dad just got remarried and I didn’t tell her and I didn’t tell my mom either.” She looked at her tail. Being a mermaid was the most magical thing. Sometimes she worried it was the only magical thing about her, but she knew that wasn’t true. She knew she was smart and pretty...even if it felt weird to think the second part. “I know it’s cool,” she replied. “It’s just that people aren’t always very good about these things. Sometimes they are really terrible about them and sometimes people...just can’t know things.” But it would probably make her a lot of friends. “Plus everyone keeps going on and on about swimming with mermaids and it’s making me feel a little weird about the whole thing.” Jesse shrugged, “I didn’t think you were, it’s just hard to go through life not trusting anyone. I know you’re scared, but this place is special.” Still leaning back, he brought up one hand to block the sunlight from his eyes. “They could have been swimming with a mermaid the entire time they’ve been on this boat, you mean? Do you feel jealous that they’re okay with those mermaids but might not be okay with your brand?” Jesse clicked his tongue, “I don’t think that’s true, I think people will like it.” Cleo looked over at him and shook her head. “No. I’m not jealous,” she replied. “It’s not anything like that. I know that people would want to swim with me, I just don’t know how to feel about it being such common knowledge and people just not…” Her nose scrunched up as she tried to explain it. “I’m just not used to it being something that people know about. I guess is the easiest way to explain it.” She wasn’t jealous of that. Maybe a little envious that there were mermaids who didn’t have to worry what would happen to them if their secret got out. She wondered what might happen if she just told people, but she couldn’t move past the overwhelming feeling of ‘bad idea’ that kept showing up. “Are there any towels on the boat? I should probably try to start drying off or you’ll be dragging me around all day.” Jesse sighed. “It’s all good, Cleo. Maybe don’t keep it a secret? People will help you out. This place has a lot of good people in it. They picked out the best ones when they brought us here.” He really meant that, Sherlock, Joan, and Jason were amazing to him. When she asked for a towel, Jesse got up so quick the boat wobbled. He grabbed some nice fluffy towels under one of the seats and handed them over to her. He would help but-- she was a kid. He didn’t want to come off as a creep. “You could just get back in the water? Or… I’ll just not tell anyone?” Cleo could agree that the people who’d found out seemed to be pretty good, but she was uncomfortable with the idea of people gawking at her. It just felt like a lot. Even if it was positive gawking. It felt intrusive. And awkward. But it felt weird having to explain it. “Yeah. I guess.” She’d have to think about it first. She took the towels. “Thanks.” Had she known about being thought of as a kid, she might have objected. She was 18. She was...probably an adult. Okay, so she’d just graduated from her last year of school and was going to go to University, but that wasn’t really important. “I could, yeah, but I’d have to get out eventually and I’d have to find a way to dry off.” This was so much easier with Rikki around. She missed her friend. “It’s a whole process. It’s easier when there’s already towels around or a place to dry out.” Jesse didn’t mean to gawk. He’d never seen anything magical in his life. Nothing was good where he came from, except for Jane. She showed him art and liked his drawings. Jesse made note to draw Cleo when he got back to the boat. Maybe that’d make her feel better about being a mermaid. “Just lay in the sun, you’ll get dried off.” He looked up at the sky, closing his eyes. “We don’t have to go back until you’re un-mermaid-ified.” Cleo looked at Jesse quietly for a moment. He made a good point. She guessed that she didn’t have to fight to turn herself back that instant. “I guess you have a point.” After a moment, she turned over on her stomach. It was easier to do that since she didn’t have any bit of fin sticking up in the front like she did along the back. She wished her friends were there so that at least she could have people to talk to about it. “Thanks for being okay about this.” Jesse gave her a salute and went to the other corner of the boat. “You’re welcome, Cleo.” |