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Serafina Cardenas (sera_fina) wrote in heureuxlake,
@ 2024-09-22 11:36:00

Entry tags:

Δ complete, Δ threads, → dagny lundgren, → serafina cardenas, ∞ 2000: 09, ◦ heureux lake

RP: Fina finds a new position
Who: Serafina Cardenas, Open to anyone reasonably able to reach her
What: Maria lets Fina know her skin is gone and Fina reacts
When: Sunday 22nd September, early
Where: Fina's house and Heureux Lake
Warnings: Nudity
Completion Status: Complete

It had started when Fina, still asleep thanks to being stuck at the party and a shift later, was woken up by banging on her door. Her mother hadn’t even waited for her to leave her room before opening it with the key that was kept in the house.

Almost everything after the words “It’s gone. My skin is gone.” was pretty hazy.

She’d tried to ask if mama had checked everywhere, but before she could really get the words out the only other words that had stuck appeared.

“You’re the head of the clan now.”

Head of the clan.

Nobody could head the clan without access to their sealskin, she had always known that, and precautions were taken to ensure that didn’t happen. Precautions that had failed.

She stared for what felt like a long time at her mother, barely blinking. She could see Maria saying something but it wasn’t getting through. Something about sand? That made no sense. Clearly she wasn’t tracking properly.

Tears pricked at her eyes.

She stepped forwards and hugged her mama to her, kissing her on the cheek.

“I’m sorry, mama,” she said. Even though she wasn’t sure what she was sorry for. Sorry that she had lost her position? Sorry that her skin was missing? Sorry that she had to take over far before her time?

Turning on her heel, she went to her own locker. It only occurred to her as she started to unlock it that hers might be gone too and her hands began to shake. She managed to open the lock and a sound of wordless relief left her when she saw her skin, putting her hands on the sleek, fuzzy surface. She pulled it off the hook and grasped it to her chest, hugging it tight.

Without a word she turned around, skin in hand, pushed past her mama and started to run.

She ran out of her apartment, across the expanse of the garden, down the path and to the shore of the lake.

Only when she reached the lake did she swing her skin up and over her as she stepped forwards. As it landed on her shoulders she felt it encase her, comfort her, and dull her senses and she dove.

She didn’t know how long she swam for. The lake was cool and deep and she was agitated. It wasn’t helping her cool off. Her brain was alight with fear and rage. Several fish got in her way and she ate them without a second thought. She swam in circles. She swam in lines. She followed the warmer and cooler parts of the lake. Up and down.

Nobody else was out.

There were bits of branches in the lake in some places, she noticed that much.

Eventually she began to tire, but she didn’t want to go home.

Instead she headed for the little thinking spot that she was sure everyone in the clan had discovered at one point or another. It was a rock that was smooth and almost flat surrounded by mishmash of the sort of small and uneven rocks that would be uncomfortable even for a selkie to cross in human form, largely because of the risk of turning an ankle.

She skimmed over the uncomfortable rocks as a seal, reaching the slightly bigger rock and relaxing.

She let go of her form and appeared, lying down as her skin fell from around her.

She shuffled herself upright, sitting deliberately on top of her skin so she knew where it was.

Staring out over the lake towards home she didn’t know what to feel.

She was scared: there could be more thefts.
She was angry: she hadn’t wanted to become the head of the clan so soon and it messed with her plans.
She was upset: her mama had lost a vital part of herself.
She was alone.

Raising her head to the sky she cried out in anguish, a loud, raw sound that subsided into tears as she buried her face in her knees.

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dagnylundgren
2024-09-22 01:11 pm UTC (link)

Last night had been surprisingly lovely, which probably wasn’t the way that most people would describe the storm that had descended upon the village and the subsequent power outage that had lasted for several hours. However, she had already been at Patrick's apartment downtown before the storm had truly kicked into high gear and a little bit of darkness never bothered an owl. All there was left to do was enjoy each other’s company and staying overnight was as far from an imposition as Dagny could imagine.

Patrick had taken her home this morning by motorcycle and the drive gave her a hankering to feel the wind in her feathers, despite spending the three nights of the full moon enjoying all the nocturnal delights of Westchester County. Losing the constraints of human clothes, Dagny had pushed her bedroom window wide open, shifting with ease and taking to the sky. The air was cool and clear after the storm and thankfully it wasn’t raining, her feathers not particularly waterproof. She found a current to glide on, following it over to the lake.

This was just going to be a short flight, she promised herself, knowing that she had things to do today, like attempt to bake a cake for Rashmi's birthday. On her first pass over the lake, she spotted a seal that had to be one of the selkies but didn’t pay it any more attention than it gave to her. She knew all too well that sometimes it was just nice to enjoy some time in your animal form. When she passed by again a few minutes later and decided that she should head back to the Roost, she spotted that the seal was now Serafina just moments before she heard that terrible cry.

Dagny wheeled back on herself, heading for the rocks as her ‘mother hen' instinct told her she couldn’t just ignore something like that. She was shifting within a few feet of the flat rock, landing in a slightly awkward crouch. "Serafina? Are you okay?"

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sera_fina
2024-09-23 12:49 am UTC (link)

In human form Fina didn't have the slight echolocation skills her seal form so she didn't hear Dagny land over the sound of both her tears and her pounding heart. Thus she jumped when she was addressed, startled enough that she stopped crying.

She sniffled loudly and then made a face of disgust at herself. Scrubbing a hand down her face to clear the messy tears that had only just started to fall she blinked at Dagny.

Opening her mouth she tried to find the words, but nothing came out and she sighed out a long breath. She shook her head, no. She wasn't okay. She didn't know what to say. What was okay to say. What to feel.

Automatically when someone was close enough to touch it she scooped up the sides of her seal skin, effectively wrapping both ends over her middle so that Dagny might have room to sit. The rock wasn't all that big, but there was room to share.

She gestured to the now skin-free rock and tried again. "Mama had to- I just became head of my clan," she said, feeling helpless. She pressed one hand to her face, trying to push the tears that were still threatening to fall back up the ducts.

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dagnylundgren
2024-09-23 06:18 pm UTC (link)

"Sorry, sorry." Dagny forgot just how quiet she was as an owl; more often than not, she flew alone since she was a nocturnal bird and she definitely didn't have Heidi's impressive wingspan to make her noticeable. She took advantage of a little extra room to sit sideways, almost mermaid-style, and shook out her long hair, though it didn't quite cover her bare chest.

Serafina looked so very sad that Dagny wanted to hug her. When she spotted the soft skin that she was holding, that impulse was immediately put to bed. Every summer that she'd come to stay in Tarrytown as a teenager, Dagny had been given one of the selkie leaflets as a reminder, as if she was going to immediately going to get handsy with the first young male selkie she saw.

Her eyes widened at Serafina's pronouncement. Maria Cardenas was a formidable woman surely a long way from retiring her position. It was as unthinkable as Vaya Garuda giving up his alpha role suddenly. "Is she okay? What happened?" Was she dead?

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sera_fina
2024-09-24 10:31 pm UTC (link)

Fina was utterly discombobulated by the latest series of events and struggling to process the incipient emotions. She took a deep breath, thinking it would calm her, but despite the increased lung capacity she got it didn't do much. She could feel her breath shuddering, which was disconcerting to say the least.

Her head started nodding rapidly almost without a thought. "Yeah, yes, she's- someone stole her skin?" she said. It sounded like a question even though it wasn't, her hands tightening the grip on her own skin wrapped around her. She wasn't using it to cover her nudity, neither hers nor Dagny's had really registered with her as significant, although her almost-foetal-but-upright position with her skin wrapped around her covered more than she might have done had anyone come across her at another time.

"She's... she's not allowed."

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dagnylundgren
2024-09-25 07:53 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, sweetheart." Dagny pushed down the impulse to offer physical comfort even further down as she watched the way that the selkie was clutching to her skin and every breath seemed to tremble. The shock seemed to be radiating off her and Dagny worked to keep her own expression at just 'concerned' and not 'kind of panicked'. The idea that the most influential selkie in town was not just suddenly without such a significant part of herself but that it had also been stolen was monumental. At least she could be faintly relieved that Maria hadn't died.

"So someone stole her skin which means she's not allowed to be head of the clan? And you have to take over because it's a matriarchy." Dagny had known the latter part of selkie culture, but not the part about being ineligible to lead without her skin. It made sense since she couldn't picture any pack alpha holding onto control if they couldn't shift. She blew out a breath, trying to think about what she would say to Rashmi if Vayu gave up his leadership to her but was still around. "You're going to be okay and you're not alone. She's still here to guide you through this."

Dagny bit her lip. "Do you know when it happened? I can ask the flock if anyone saw anything suspicious." Unless it had been last night when not even the hardiest of the bird shifters would have taken to the air. "Oh, god. The storm?"

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sera_fina
2024-09-26 01:36 am UTC (link)

Unable to actually look at Dagny Fina covered her eyes, nodding sharply at her questions about the reasons. She could feel her pulse in the strangest places in her body, thundering with little place to go or movement to drive now that she was sat down. She focussed on her breath, sucking in great lungfulls through her nose and blowing them out noisily through her mouth. Breathing techniques were a common thing to be taught as a selkie because they were so important to sustain the sort of deep dives which were so freeing and almost magical. It wasn't easy, but without even trying to look at Dagny she found she could answer.

"It's not common knowledge outside the clan," she said. "But for ours if you don't have your skin you can't lead." She had no idea if it was the same for other clans, although she might look it up one day or ask her Dad if it was true for his. She'd not known it happen to a leader before, although she knew grandmother had been victim to a lover locking away her skin. "I was always going to lead one day," she said, certainty colouring the quietness her voice had suddenly taken on. "I just...didn't know it would be so soon. Fuck!" The last was an outburst that came from deep in her chest, followed by a growling sort of cry of rage and pain, although thankfully short.

"Sorry," she said, keeping her eyes lowered, but bringing her hand down. "I'm all over the place." She didn't want to shout at Dagny, but her emotions were whipping through her at a rate she didn't think she'd felt even as a teenager on the worst day of a period.

With a swallow and a half shrug-half nod she tried to confirm, but knew she couldn't. "Probably. We were all out... I didn't really... I sort of ran?" Retreating to an animal form could hardly be foreign to Dagny, but who knew if she would have done the same thing. "Buzzing," she said, gesturing to her ears to try and indicate the sort of tinnitus-shock situation that had blocked out any further explanation her mama could give.

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dagnylundgren
2024-09-26 08:06 pm UTC (link)

Dagny closed her own eyes for a moment, feeling a familiar knot of emotion building behind her sternum. She knew what it was to feel all over the place and to run in the face of bad news. No one had needed to deliver the news of her husband's death to her since she had witnessed it, but when she had been told there was some uncertainty about what exactly the culprit should be charged with, her first instinct had been to head to the nearest window and take to the skies. "You're okay," she assured Serafina again. "I've been there and I think running is a perfectly valid response."

Having spent more time thinking about crime than most people thanks to her work, a blackout during a storm seemed like something a thief would take advantage of. After she updated her sisters about this unexpected theft and change of leadership, Dagny was curious to find out whether there had been any other thefts overnight.

"Take your time out here," she advised gently. "All of those explanations and responsibilities can wait." Dagny tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Want me to buzz off so you can curse at the sky a bit more, really let it out?"

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sera_fina
2024-09-29 12:26 am UTC (link)

How could Fina have forgotten Dagny's tragic loss? Sure she hadn't learned about it until she came back to town, but it was the sort of thing that became a blow for the safety of the whole community that had been created here, regardless of where it happened. She looked over, leaning one arm and reached her hand out for Dagny's squeezing it and nodding. "It's just so... big. So hard to," she gave up and shrugged, sure Dagny would understand her general meaning.

Looking back over the lake she glanced at the lighthouse and thought how much it had become a place of comfort for her and her studies. Then she glanced over at her family home, not very visible from this part of the lake, but well known to her. "They can, but probably not for too long," she said, something shifting as the weight of her new responsibilities started to mix with her fears and panic. "I don't even know if she'll want to tell people. What she'll want to tell people," Fina said, clearly referencing her mama. She knew that the change of leadership would be announced, and probably very soon, but the calmer, more rational, part of her mind was pointing out that neither Maria nor the council had wanted the previous theft to get out, and it hardly seemed like the more serious one would be any different. She knew the reputation of the bird flock, and faintly recalled Dagny's job was journalistic in some capacity. "Can you keep it quiet? The specifics, I mean," she asked. "Me taking over will be obvious, but the theft...our skins are so...personal," she said, shuddering as she imagined some unknown person touching her skin.

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dagnylundgren
2024-09-29 12:40 pm UTC (link)

Dagny covered Serafina's hand with her own, giving her a small, tight-lipped smile. "So hard to get your head around, yeah," she agreed. It wasn’t any kind of competition, she just wanted the selkie to know that she understood how an event could spin your whole world on its axis. She couldn’t imagine how Serafina felt knowing that her mother was vulnerable like this and that she was going to have to shoulder so many burdens that came with being the leader of a community.

"Of course," she agreed instantly at the request to keep the specifics quiet. She doubted that anyone from the flock had witnessed the break-in at the Cardenas home given the weather, but she could still see whether there was any other suspicious activity in town. The part of her brain that liked to look for a good story was already thinking bigger, the theft of supernatural items. She would have to stew on that idea for a while to see if there was anything there. "And the Roost is always open to you if you need a place to escape," she offered.

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sera_fina
2024-09-29 11:03 pm UTC (link)

She was glad Dagny followed what she was trying to say when words failed her. It was so difficult for her to have words fail her when it was her supposed field of expertise, and yet so appropriate for such a unexpected and world-changing event, at least on a personal level. She sighed heavily and one corner of her mouth twitched into a grateful smile, eyes pricking with tears yet again.

"Thank you," she said fervently and sincerely. "I might need that swing of yours sometime." Being somewhere she wouldn't be treated differently because of her position thanks to the inhabitants already being used to the leader of a faction being nearby would, she would come to suspect, be a valuable resource. "Thank you for stopping." She hadn't thought she wanted to talk to anyone, but even blurting the truth out to one person had helped align her brain a little more to the truth, however painful.

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dagnylundgren
2024-09-30 08:53 pm UTC (link)

"The swing is yours any time you want it, day or night," Dagny promised. She would let Rashmi and Heidi know that they might have a visitor at some point. When she got home, she would double-check their snack supplies too. They were usually well stocked for post-flight calorie replenishment but Dagny never wanted to be a bad host.

Dagny gave a shake of her head and put her hands down on the rock so that she could push herself up into a crouch to make it easier to shift; she glanced at the water, not particularly wanting to think about how cold it would be. "I think you'd have done the same thing if you saw someone who looked like they were in distress." For all the negative things she wrote about in her line of work, Dagny still wanted to see the best in people when she could.

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sera_fina
2024-10-01 01:31 am UTC (link)

"Thank you." She wasn't sure at night would be her preference, because leaving her skin alone at night seemed far scarier than during the day, even now in this moment of terror, but she wasn't going to point that out. There might be a time she just needed to be anywhere but home.

Right in the moment Fina honestly wasn't sure if she'd have stopped, but that was more because she wasn't sure of much than an actual rejection of the idea. "I hope so," she said, looking away so Dagny could transform. She knew shifter transformations could feel private, even selkie ones might depending on the person. She reached out, trailing her fingers into the water she could just reach from her position, relishing the cold. "I'll see you soon," she said as she heard felt more than heard the uncomfortable transformation sounds retreating into a draft as Dagny's wings beat her into the air once more.

Fina took a breath, deep, deep as she could, filling her lungs until she felt she would burst and sighed it all out noisily. "I'm head of Clan Cardenas," she said quietly, disbelief still threading through the words she knew were true. It was so much more real now she had told someone. Hunching down she rested her cheek on her shoulder and sighed again, fingers running absently over her skin. She needed to get to work, she was sure her mama would say that, but she just needed a little longer here on a rock first.

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