The Song of the Siren
Who: Fern & Penny What: a fortuitous meeting Where: Bellagio & pizzeria, Las Vegas When: Present Content Warnings: pizza.
Penny laughed softly to herself. She twirled like a child, fingers carding through her blonde hair. Eyes were full of the hue of the water commingled with the lights. Beneath her bare feet she could feel the texture of the bottom of the fountain.
Around her, the hem of her dress brushed her thighs. The sequins shimmered.
A single high heeled shoe lay on its side three feet from the fountain. The other was strewn to the left, kicked off and away in the heat of the moment.
She didn’t care if anyone didn’t like what she was doing. Nobody would stop her. And the call of the water was too strong. It was growing closer to the time to submerge and take her true form, but lately she was holding it off as long as possible. Dangerous, rebellious.
One guard did try to coax her out of the water. Penny paused to smile at him, and a few moments later he was getting into the fountain, too though he didn’t seem to be himself. She splashed at him playfully and the guard only laughed.
She had missed Vegas.
Searchlight could be stifling. Fern had grown to appreciate it in its own way -- after all, it was her home now -- but at times it was downright suffocating. The quiet. The emptiness. The same handful of faces passing her way, often looking askance. She was still an outsider, after all; they’d learn in due time, but for now, she would suffer their wary looks.
A change of scenery had been order; with the desert playground of Las Vegas so near, it seemed the perfect place to go for some people-watching.
They were… interesting. Fern had been heavily cloistered for much of her life, and though college had opened her up to the rest of the world, it still paled in comparison to this. People walking along, laughing, drinking, spending money they didn’t truly have to spend. It was so free, so reckless.
Like this one, the girl dancing in the fountain. She seemed completely carefree, and had even managed to lure the man sent to shoo her away in to frolick beside her.
Very interesting. Fern paused at the fountain fencing, and watched.
There were many more water features to the fountain than Penny would ever know; she didn’t care to be familiar with all of them, at least not right then. Hands falling from her hair she smoothed down her dress just as one of the nearby features began to spray water up into a pattern.
Droplets rained down on her. She was soaked but happy.
The guard was also soaked but seemed to have forgotten why he was there, wandering out of the fountain. He sat down on the lip, taking off his shoes to dump the fluid out of them.
He didn’t fit her requirements. While he was tempting, sitting there with his back to her, she continued to twirl carelessly.
Finally she made her way to the edge. It was time to move on but she decided to return for another romp in the Vegas water.
Tilting her head, light eyes would come to rest on a blonde woman. Penny smiled at her warmly.
Fern’s eyebrows arched in surprise. She had been noticed! That hadn’t happened, not once, not really, since she had begun walking the Strip hours before. Everyone had been so involved in their own happy little worlds that they paid little mind to the slim blonde passing them by, save a few drunken catcallers here and there.
She cocked her head to the side. “Hello…” she ventured cautiously.
“Hi,” Penny offered. Her smile broadened, the straight white teeth would be offered in perfection. “Would you like to come and play, too?” Probably not. Most didn’t want to get into the water for fear of getting into trouble. Her hand would extend toward the younger woman. “Come on. I can keep everyone away.”
She didn’t judge anyone. She couldn’t. There wasn’t anyone like her here that she knew of, and her ways didn’t always sit well with others. Fortunately she had her close friends.
“I’m Penny.”
Fern’s eyes widened. The first intrusive thought to invade her mind at such an invitation was: what would her mother think?, but that was neither here nor there anymore. Laura O’Grady was dead and buried, maybe even rotted down to bone by now. Her judgement was no longer of any importance, not that it had ever carried any real weight for Fern to begin with.
It had been an obstacle. A hurdle to pass over. And Fern had been up to the challenge.
“Oh, in the water? Oh… no… no thank you,” Fern said primly, still frazzled at the suggestion. She paused a moment and added, “I’m Fern.”
Penny nodded. “It’s okay, most people don’t like the water.” She had learned this over a century of being alive. Some humans liked the water a lot, the rest did not. There was some variation between but it was slight. “I’m so glad to meet you, Fern! What a pretty name!” It was pretty, it rolled off of your tongue so elegantly.
She held up a finger to wait, and then trudged out of the water fountain gracefully. A graze of her fingers would dance across his shoulder and then she picked up her shoes.
Footprints would be left behind as she approached Fern. Her smile widened. “So if you don’t like fountains, what do you like to do for fun?”
It was difficult for Fern to parse such open interaction with a stranger. She had long learned to be cagey and discreet when meeting new people; this woman seemed the embodiment of the exact opposite of that approach. Open. Free. It was strange.
The wheels turned in Fern’s head, searching for the right mask to wear. Her features scrunched up in confusion; nothing seemed to fit. Abashed, she stumbled over her words.
“I… I like plants,” she stammered, cheeks going pink.
Penny smiled. Finally she felt comfortable replacing her shoes, pause to flamingo stand, then to the other leg. “I like plants,” she offered. “I don’t know much about them but some are prettier than others.” Some were also poisonous and dangerous, she liked those too.
She clicked alongside Fern gracefully. Droplets would fall from the edges of her hair. It had grown out since she’d left for tour and occasionally she considered cutting it short again. For now she would leave it.
“Are you hungry?” Eyes would sweep the throng around them as if she were looking for someone in particular. Then Penny smiled and turned to her new friend with interest.
Fern straightened and nodded quickly. “Plants are incredible,” she said, the words seemingly tumbling out faster than she could put a stop to. “They’re resilient and sturdy… ever see those shrubs just sprouting up out of a crack in the pavement. They’re so strong and people just pull them out like they’re nothing because they have no idea...”
She took a deep breath, remembering herself for a moment. She hadn't meant to give quite so much away. She could always leave now -- she’d been given an opening for it. Still. There was something interesting about Penny.
“I could eat,” she said carefully. She surveyed Penny a long moment and then added, “If you’re up for it.”
It was interesting the way people lit up when they indulged in something they loved. Penny could hear the passion for plants in Fern’s tone, the way the woman’s eyes illuminated, the cadence of her words. The siren simply smiled, nodding. “They can be beautiful. You will have to teach me more about them, I am familiar but not the way that you are.” She knew the plants beneath the water fairly well but those topside still surprised her.
“What would you like?” There we’re so many options for cuisine. Penny had an idea that Fern probably wouldn’t share her hunger for human flesh, so sticking to the basics of modern consumption seemed appropriate. “Oh, there is pizza! Do you like pizza?” It didn’t matter that she was way over dressed for a pizza place, she didn’t really care.
Fern’s eyes lit up. Pizza was a weakness; she’d never had it as a child on the commune and her adoptive parents considered it to be decidedly low-brow. Her first experience had been at a neighbor child’s birthday party, before the O’Gradys had started to keep her away from other children. After that, there was nothing until college.
Truth be told, she had been considering cutting back on it as of late, lest she develop a belly. But she’d done a fair bit of walking that day, in high-heeled boots no less, so it couldn’t hurt.
She smiled genuinely. “I love pizza,” she declared.
Penny returned that smile. Without thinking, she grasped Fern by the fingers and guided the other woman over toward the little awning that shared their declaration. “Pizza it is!”
The little place was cozy enough with indoor and outdoor seating sections, boasting views of the Vegas nightlife. The siren guided her new friend inside. Instantly she was overwhelmed with the aroma of freshly baked bread and fresh ingredients.
Overhead hung the menu options. Nearby in booths Penny spotted a large circle of cheesy goodness that had to be three feet in diameter easily.
“What do you like on your pizza?” By now she had dropped Fern’s hand, and was digging around in her little wristlet for her card.
There was a feeling of effervescence and cheerfulness around Penny that was all but infectious; Fern let herself be guided, feeling oddly at ease. There weren’t many people she talked to most days, not without instruction from the lady, and it was a mite difficult for her to acclimate to her surroundings, but it didn’t fill her with dread as if often did.
Funny, that.
“I like olives, and tomatoes,” she offered, then fumbled for the slim wallet in her back pocket. “I have money.”
Penny smiled at the offer, waving a hand at Fern. “Please, I would be happy to take care of it.” The card would be slid out and then it was their turn to order. Anyone else might have taken the liberty and ordered for Fern, but Penny believed in taking care of yourself. She got her own order put in, let her friend do the same, and handed over the rectangle of plastic.
“Here,” the siren said, handing over a cup for a drink. Penny always drank water, she didn’t like most other things and never drank alcohol.
Fern took the offered cup and filled it with pink lemonade from a nearby soda fountain. It was a bit silly, she thought; it wasn’t as though it was advertised as strawberry or raspberry, just pink. And it tasted exactly the same. She took a sip and grimaced at the sweetness, knowing it was most likely chock full of chemicals and corn syrup.
She made a mental note to order her own lemon sapling for the greenhouse.
She slid into a booth across from Penny, giving a tight smile before blurting out, “You’re different.”
A water for her. She didn’t like the taste of soda or the sweeter stuff. In all of her years walking around on the earth she never had acclimated to the taste of human beverages. Plain water was her go-to.
Sitting down in the booth, Penny set their little number into the slot and then turned to Fern with a smile.
“What do you mean?” She was different but such a comment had a broad meaning.
Fern paused a moment before speaking to gather her thoughts; it would be easy to offend, she knew, with a slip of the tongue, and conversation wasn’t quite her strong suit. There was something intriguing about Penny that she just couldn’t put her finger on, even outside of her gregarious attitude.
“I’ve been walking around the city all day and not many people have so much as looked at me as said hello,” she said slowly. “I watch people. I notice how they are, with themselves, with others. You’re just… different, that’s all. It’s not… it’s not a bad thing.”
She smiled a bit. It seemed someone other than Ro could see the potential she had and not just the predator she was. Fern didn’t know, but she was grateful nonetheless. “I’m glad you noticed. Not many do.” Many were caught up in themselves. Too busy to notice others. Was it fate they had met each other?
“I like to make new friends.” Not many stayed around but those she did have stayed a long time. “And I would be glad if you’d be mine.”
It wasn’t too much longer that someone brought over their pizza order. Penny sat back, though her eyes didn’t leave Fern. The aroma of sauce, cheese, and toppings met her. She hadn’t hesitated to pile on the meat.
When the server arrived, Fern began to mirror the energy Penny had been putting out, smiling and speaking in a friendly, open tone so unlike who she really was. It was easy to mimic, easy to drift from one false face to another.
“Thank you so much!” she said brightly, accepting her meal. When the server left, she let it drop; such a persona would be exhausting to hold onto for very long, and Penny had already seen her in a more uncertain state. Sometimes it was easier to show rather than tell.
“I don’t have many friends,” she offered quietly. There was still that crackle of a connection at the back of her mind, of a coven formed in the desert to combat an evil that threatened all of them. It wasn’t as strong as it once had been; Fern wasn’t even sure it was complete any longer. But it was there… still there. “I don’t seem to keep them for very long.”
“I don’t make friends well either,” Penny admitted. She picked at a lump of meat on a slice of pizza. It would be drawn up, eaten thoughtfully. “A lot of people who get to know me don’t like me.” She had been in love once and it turned into a pile of .. she didn’t have a word for it.
Her smile would broaden. “But I know a few good people!” She picked up the slice of pizza. “One came to me in a mirror. The other one, Noah, so sweet.”
Fern’s interest was piqued but she tried not to let it be too obvious, keeping the mask of calm complacency in place and picking up her own slice of pizza, biting the end of it primly to keep from dropping a topping or letting sauce dribble down her chin.
“I know a man named Noah. Or, I knew him. I was sent to find him, but things… I think things have changed,” she mused. It had seemed so hopeful, that day in the nursery; a family. But it certainly hadn’t turned out that way. She took another bite, chewed and swallowed before speaking again. “And I know a Lady who can move through mirrors.”
“He was sent to find me. He mentioned a family.” She leaned close, “I know a woman they call the lady.” Penny leaned backward casually and ate her pizza slice. If this woman didn’t know the lady she could coax her out of the mindset. “You know her?!” She brightened.
“I don’t know if you remember the article in the paper…it was a hospital.” Not her finest moment. Penny chewed her pizza.
Fern cocked her head to the side. A hospital… now that would be interesting. People on the street were largely unaware of their own mortality; she would imagine that those confined to a medical facility would be more open, expending what energy they had left as carefully as they could. Power and intent. Intent and power. She had learned quickly that such things were the key ingredients to any spell and had used her own liberally, alongside the conve, alongside James, and on her own.
But others, so frenzied and near death… that had possibilities. Could such power be borrowed? Taken even? Stolen.
Fern took another bite of her pizza and shook her head. “I don’t read the news,” she admitted. She had no use for it, after all. The Lady kept her informed of all she needed to know. “But the Lady brought me here, to Nevada. She gave me a path to follow.”
Penny only nodded. It wasn’t her finest moment, it risked everything she had been taught, but oh the rush that had come in serving the Lady. “There was a massacre at a hospital,” Penny replied. She took a bite from her slice of pizza. “Many died unexpectedly.” She had hoarded what she could carry. And then some.
The siren flashed Fern a smile; jagged teeth, razor sharp that were a stark contrast to her normal white, straight ones. But they vanished in a second and the normal human ones appeared again.
“The lady and I have not been reacquainted. She was taken from me. Treated terribly. I thought I knew what I wanted back then but now I realize she was right.” Penny had been betrayed, cast away. But the lady understood her.
The teeth didn’t shock Fern; she didn’t even question what she had seen, only accepted it as fact. What did frighten her, however, was the thought of being kept away from the Lady and all of Her graces. The Lady had given Fern her life back, after all.
The compassion that crossed her features was real.
“That’s terrible,” she said, shaking her head. “The Lady has blessed me over and over… She is… everything. I could try and speak to Her for you, if you want. Ask Her to see you.”
Her expression would soften a bit. Penny had been about to take a bite of her pizza when the offer came. “You would do that for me?” She had not experienced that level of kindness in so long. With a wide grin, she nodded and ate a bite of the pizza. “I would like that.”
With the Lady she had purpose. The Lady didn’t treat her like a terrible monster but understood her natural instincts to survive. Pizza was subpar to human even if it was tasty.
Even Fern seemed to understand. Was this yet another blessing from the Lady? Their crossed paths had to mean something.
“Of course!” Fern exclaimed, eyes wide as she leaned forward just a tiny bit. If the Lady had approached Penny on Her own, then she had been deemed worthy. The Lady didn’t make mistake when it came to that; other people, they might interfere, turn them off of the right path, but the Lady knew who deserved Her guidance.
“Sometimes, the Lady sends me to find people for Her, but sometimes… sometimes I think it just happens.” Power and intent. Intent could bloom without reason, after all. “Maybe I was supposed to find you… to bring you back to Her, back where you belong.”
Penny smiled. She wanted to belong and her time with the Lady had been memorable. There wasn’t anything to distract her now, nothing to steer her from the path that she was destined to walk.
She had a trust for Fern. Now she was glad they had met each other.
“Let’s finish our pizza so you can get back to her.” She didn’t want to keep Fern from the lady or her plants.