InsaneJournal

Let's Spend the Afternoon
Who: Charlene and Roxy
When: 2:00 p.m.
Where: Lenore Bookstore and Cafe

Charlene tugged at a piece of her hair as she glanced down at the old-fashioned pocket watch she had slipped into her leather sidebag before leaving the river. It looked like she had arrived to the place Roxy had named early. Good, the mermaid thought as she slipped inside, looking around for the sign that humans used to indicate their bathrooms. Peering into one of the mirrors, and ignoring the stares that she received from the other woman in there who seemed bemused by her outfit, Charlene sighed. She was not used to trying to get her hair to do things while it was dry and it never managed to work out the same way twice. I wonder if that's why humans use those products I see in the windows... hairspray sounds like something to be used in the hair. No, no it did not matter what her hair looked like... did it? It might. She made a face at her own reflection. It was easier when shells were an acceptable decoration.

When she stepped back out into the shop, Charlene smoothed out her dark blue dress and leaned against the wall to wait for Roxy to arrive.

And Roxy was late, of course. A mixture of fighting her little sister for the bathroom, taking her sweet precious time with perfecting her look, random downtown traffic, and taking a pitstop to buy Charlene the cutest notebook along with ten different colored Sharpies made the time add up considerably. By the time she arrived at the Lenore Bookstore and Cafe, Roxy realized she was at least five minutes late. "Damn iiiiiiiit!" She groaned while killing the engine and hustled to grab her shoulder bag and the goodies for the mermaid. After she hopped on out of the car, Roxy peered in one of the side-view mirrors to readjust her hair that she left down. An immense, annoyed sigh escaped her when she pulled out a small handful of her hair. She was molting like a bird, as usual. Freaking hate summer....

On that note, the pink-haired girl shuffled her way towards the cafe part of the shop, swing the door open and frantically looked around for her coffee date. Shit, I hope she didn't leave. Pouting a bit, Roxy removed her sunglasses and kept them snug on the top of her head. It took her a second, but suddenly spotted Charlene against a wall in such a lovely dress. Roxy couldn't help but blush at the sight of her. She looked phenomenal!

"Lene!" Roxy called out, smiling happily while waving to her. "Hey, I'm sorry that took so long. My bad, but I picked a little something up for you along the way. Hope you like it!" With that said, she showed off the notebook and array of Sharpies.

Watching people as they came and went was strangely fascinating that day, and Charlene somehow even managed to keep from thinking her usual thoughts about which might taste the best. And even if she had been, she would have stopped when she heard someone calling her name. Turning, a bright smile broke out on her face when she saw that Roxy had arrived. So that's what she looks like in clothes... I guess they aren't always a problem. She shrugged off the fact that Roxy had been late, having not even noticed, before her eyes brightened at what was being offered. The mermaid accepted it happily, flipping it open before popping the lid off of a blue one. 'Thank you so much, they're so pretty! And it's good to see you again.' Especially after the Monday she had had. 'You look pretty, too.' Charlene's smile was a little more shy than it had been and she bit her lip, not approving of how her expressions were changing without her permission.

Glancing up at the counter, she motioned at the menu. 'So, what tastes good here?' It would be much easier to, well, not talk but converse, if they were sitting. That and Charlene did not really like how people were looking at her, it made her feel uncomfortable, like if they looked long enough they would figure out she did not quite belong there.

Roxy was so pleased that Charlene liked the small gifts. It was the least she could do, and apparently it was good enough to make the lovely mermaid happy. She also couldn't help but blush a bit more upon being told she looked good herself. "Aww, thank you." The pink-haired girl couldn't help but run some fingers through her hair, then looked on over to Charlene's hair. Poor thing looked like she went without any product at all, which made the perfect groomer in Roxy die a bit. Then again, Charlene was a mermaid, so toting around mousse, hairspray, and some bobby pins was probably the last thing she had at hand. Thankfully for Charlene, Roxy carried a hefty supply of beauty products in her bag. She figured once they ordered everything she could help the mermaid out with her hair.

"A lot of things are good here! I'm personally in the mood for a cold drink, so I'm probably going to go with like, an iced latte or something. Maybe toss some vanilla flavor in it. You can always get something hot, too, whatever works! Ooo, they have cranberry scones!" Roxy squealed in delight while leaning in to check out the selection of baked goods. "Have you ever had one before, Lene? They're totally amazing! We could split one if you'd like."

Delighted with herself for making Roxy blush so quickly - and without even trying! - Charlene nodded at what she said, then quickly shook her head at the question. She was not even sure what a cranberry was, for that matter, though she had heard about scones before... or at least, she had seen the word somewhere. 'I'd like to try one, please.' Human food could be the strangest thing, which was ironic because... stop that, she gave herself a bit of a shake and focused on deciding what she wanted to drink. Oh, strawberry frappucino, that looked good. She had had strawberries before and they never disappointed... she was not quite sure what the rest meant, but it could not be too bad, right?

Using a napkin - not wanting to waste space in the notebook Roxy had gotten her - Charlene wrote out what she wanted and showed it to the startled-looking person behind the counter. The mermaid's smile faded a little and she sighed, turning towards Roxy while she waited. 'Is it really so strange to not be able to talk? Do people have to stare?' It was different when she wanted attention - like she enjoyed Roxy looking at her - otherwise it was just plain rude.

Nodding to Charlene, Roxy looked to the barista and followed-up with her own order. "And I'll have a large iced-coffee with a... huh?" She blinked her eyes as she noticed the barista giving Charlene an odd look. Oh, you're fucking kidding me. SERIOUSLY?! Letting out an annoyed sigh, Roxy grabbed a handful of napkins on the counter, crumbled them up, and chucked them at the barista. No harm done, seeing they were napkins, but it definitely startled the poor person. "Uh, HELLO?! Didn't your parents tell you it wasn't polite to stare?" Roxy shot them a sarcastic smile. She never appreciated people being mean to her friends, regardless of what was going on. The were-penguin was there to defend Charlene and she wasn't going to stand for any of the staring nonsense.

"ANYHOW, I want a large iced-coffee with a cranberry scone. Preferably the biggest one you can find." That said, Roxy fished out her wallet and paid for the order. She had no qualms with paying for Charlene's drink. Besides, Roxy wanted to be polite. After receiving her change, she turned around to also face Charlene while shaking her head. "People these days, I swear! It's like, one little thing is out of place and that gives them the right to flip out or something." She tried her best to laugh it off. It truly was annoying how ignorant people were recently. There were people turning into wolves or bursting into flames and they were going to stare at someone who didn't talk? Seriously? It made no sense.

Charlene was not quite expecting the reaction that Roxy gave to the staring woman, but to say she was delighted with it would be an understatement. She could never pull things like that off - the effect was lost on paper - and to have someone else do it for her without even being asked? It shed a new light on the pink-haired woman, one that Charlene found rather intriguing. Roxy was not the sort who would back down, as evidenced, and that was an extremely important trait. This just keeps getting better. A niggling voice in the back of her mind reminded her of the previous day, of her sister, but it was easy to ignore right then. Much easier to pay attention to the one that was telling her how nice Roxy was to look at and listen to.

'It happens a lot when I walk around like this, I've just never been able to ask if it's actually that strange. And thanks for the drink... you didn't have to pay for me. I sell things sometimes, for money.' She accepted the cup she was offered from the woman who was doing her best not to stare, grinning at how she was acting after Roxy's little statement, and looked for an open table. The mermaid wanted to be away from all of the humans so that she could just pretend they were not there.

"Oh, don't you worry about it! My treat for you." She smiled to Charlene before shooting the barista a glare when she received the scone and drink. After noticing the mermaid's searching gaze, Roxy began looking for an open table as well, then began walking towards one by the window. Thankfully it was sunny that day and not horribly humid, or else she would have been even more lethargic than usual. At least there was A/C inside. An immense sigh escaped her as she sat down, plopping her bag on the floor and took a long sip on her iced coffee. "Mmmmmm, soooo goooood."

Roxy looked on over to Charlene and motioned to her to come and join. Now that Roxy wasn't as close to the woman, she was able to look over her form briefly and take in the beauty of it all. "That dress is really awesome. I really dig it." It was a bit awkward giving her a compliment in public, but Roxy couldn't help herself. Charlene deserved it. For someone who wasn't human she felt the mermaid did a pretty damn good job at pulling off that gig, even if there was an extremely exotic air to her. Either way, Roxy was happy to have her company.

When Roxy moved for a table, Charlene waited for a reason that her inner mermaid was not happy about - she liked watching the were-penguin walk. If the mermaid had been possessed of a sense of propriety she might have blushed when she moved to sit down, but luckily she was not, though the compliment about her dress earned a sparkling smile. In her mind any clothes that she pulled on were just part of a costume that she did not like, but Roxy's appreciation made her think that maybe clothes could matter, even on her. Though she did not think that she was capable of pulling off an outfit with as many different aspects as Roxy's. That was a bit much for her, even if it did look amazing.

Taking a sip of her drink, Charlene's eyes widened. It was absolutely delicious. After another sip, she opened another of the markers that Roxy had given her. The mermaid was by no means accomplished at 'small-talk', but she could try. Besides... along with being mischievous she had an insatiable sense of curiosity. 'Do you have a large pod?' A frown creased her brow and she scratched the last word out quickly. 'I meant family. Sorry.'

She couldn't help but giggle at the way Charlene described a family. It was more of a colony than anything, being a penguin and all, but Roxy nodded her head in reply. "Ooooh yeah, you could definitely say that. Mainly from my dad's side, but it's definitely huge! I got an older brother and five younger siblings, two being sisters and the others are brothers. My grandparents live with us, too, not to mention there has to be at least five houses on that damn road dedicated to all the aunts, uncles, and cousins." Shaking her head while rolling her eyes in amusement, Roxy reached for her drink and took a sip. "Down side to being what I am, I guess. Penguins are colonel creatures, so we like, never leave our family. Like my dad's side is all from Chile, right? And when one of them wanted to move to the states, they moved. Same thing when we were out in California. Had to move, so we all moved."

While she talked she began breaking away at the scone that was before the two of them, taking a small chunk and plopping it into her mouth. A soft, muffled moan escaped her as she savored the piece. "You have to try this, Lene, it's so moist!" Roxy spoke with her mouthful, then abruptly covered her mouth in hopes that she wasn't being rude. Once she swallowed, she brought her hand down and waved it apologetically. "So sorry, I'm rambling! Don't mind me." Roxy was definitely a bit on the nervous side. Normally she was full of confidence and ambitious as hell, but she felt the need to impress Charlene and doing it with a mouthful of food while talking was not the exact route in her mind.

Listening to Roxy go on about her family, Charlene brought the hand she did not use to write with up to prop her chin up. Six siblings... that's a really large pod. Family... colony? It could be confusing to try and ascribe names to things when there were no proper lines drawn. Roxy had agreed that penguins were colonial, though, so... ah well, it was just her own thoughts. But from the sounds of it, Roxy had a larger family than Charlene's entire pod, and they actually moved for each other. Not because the heads decided but because one chose to. That sounds like a lot nicer way to live... it'd never work with us. But it must be nice if the family is pleasant. Charlene shuddered at the thought of her pod following her here. It was enough that Nixie had!

Charlene reached out for a piece of the scone in response to Roxy's urging, popping it in her mouth and chewing slowly to savor the new flavor. It was even better than the drink! She took another few bites before wiping the crumbs away from her mouth, smiling sheepishly before tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear. 'I don't mind at all - I like listening to you talk. And you're right, this scone is delicious! Best thing I've ever tasted.' And that included her favored meal of squid. But with another smile, Charlene continued with her questions. Roxy liked to talk so much that it seemed a shame to not give her reason to. 'Do you like having your family always around?'

Fantastic, she liked the scone! She wasn't sure how a mermaid would take to a baked treat like that, but apparently Charlene enjoyed it quite well. Roxy couldn't imagine being a mermaid and not having things like an iced coffee or home-cooked casseroles. Perhaps there was some ocean equivalent out there, but she couldn't even begin to fathom that idea. Roxy smiled to Charlene while she smoothed out her hair. The day the girl sat still for more than five minutes without adjusting her looks was the day hell froze over.

"I'm glad you like it! We can always get more if you'd like. They come is so many different flavors, but cranberry is a big fave of mine." Roxy took another sip of her iced beverage before continuing. "And my family has its ups and downs. I mean, we're all really close and there for each other, but it definitely sucks now and then. I have to share a room with my two kid sisters along with share a bathroom with them." She scoffed at the thought, briefly recalling fighting them for the bathroom earlier in the day. "But it's not as bad as I make it out to be. As long as they don't like, step over the section of the room I have duct taped off, then I'm cool. Sometimes I wish I had some privacy, but I don't know, I'm so used to having people around that I feel more uncomfortable alone." A lone penguin was usually a sad penguin and Roxy was no exception to that. She hated being alone and was easily startled when by herself. Probably explained why she was so timid when meeting the mermaid the other day. "And how about you? What's your family like?"

Always fixing her hair, Charlene noted with an amused smile as Roxy reached up to smooth her hair out. Oh no, what must she think of mine?! The mermaid experienced a short-lived moment of panic, almost mimicking the other woman's motions before she got herself under control, wiping at the corner of her mouth instead. Don't be ridiculous. I look fine. She had to or else Roxy would not smile at her so easily... even if standards were so different up here than they were beneath the waves. Charlene knew that she was pretty by merfolk standards, but human ones were different. Though Roxy had liked her dress... She needed to stop worrying so much over these things that did not really matter.

She shook her head at the idea of sharing a room with sisters - though really, she was sharing her 'home' with hers suddenly - unsure that she could have managed that for very long. But then the focus shifted onto her and her family and Charlene blinked for a moment, unsure of how to answer. It was not often that she spoke of her pod since leaving them... and for good reason. 'My family is... large, and they like causing trouble in the ocean. We're not close and I left the pod a dozen or so years ago because of something my brother did. I've got two older sisters and one younger brother.' The cap of the marker went into her mouth as she tried to think of how to phrase the next part. 'My sister, Nixie, came looking for me yesterday. She's the one I get along with but we don't see eye-to-eye on some things.' Like Charlene remaining there. Or, even more, on Charlene coming ashore and taking on a human form to do something like this. For a moment, Charlene forgot that she had to breathe with her lungs, remembering what Nixie had said the previous afternoon about 'the problem'. 'My family isn't very tolerant of non-merfolk.' She did not used to be either. Wrinkling her nose at the unwelcome thought, Charlene took a long drink of her frappucino.

It appeared the pink-haired girl had hit a sour note with Charlene and she hoped it didn't make the mermaid think less of her or anything. Roxy couldn't imagine having a large family and not getting along. True, she bickered all the time with her siblings and parents and so forth, but at the end of the day they were all smiles and hugs. Penguins were weird like that, especially with how they constantly argued over one another for seemingly no reason at all, and then cuddle with on another when it came to rest. Mermaids were apparently very different. "You left all by yourself?" Roxy fluttered her eyes, trying to think that through in her head. She could never do that, and even if she did her whole family would have followed her.

The mention of her sister, Nixie, made Roxy perk up a bit. Oh, she has a sister she gets along with- wait.... And as Charlene kept writing she noticed that it wasn't as wonderful as she thought it was. Not to mention the bit about having a lack of tolerance around non-merfolk made Roxy rather uneasy. That obviously meant her. Was she not going to be tolerated by Charlene's family if this went any further than a simple coffee date? Roxy averted her gaze in thought, thinking about her own family constantly bugging her about whether or not she found a boyfriend or not. She was petrified about confronting her family about her sexuality and she was sure if she brought home Charlene and tried to explain both that and the fact she was a mermaid was probably not going to fly so well. Seems like we're both in a dilemma. Lame.

"Am I ok?" Roxy looked back up, tilting her head to the side. Despite all the anxiety inside of her, the pink-haired girl sounded rather confident. Things normally didn't eat away at Roxy, but when it came to a pretty girl - scratch that, she was freaking gorgeous - she felt herself waver a bit.

The surprise was rather expected after hearing about how large and close Roxy's family was, so Charlene nodded with a small smile. 'My pod will never leave the Atlantic, and it's really common for us to leave when we grow up. I don't think I'll ever see them again.' That was something she did not mind in the slightest; especially when it came to her other sister and brother. Plus, her pod was too large to survive in a river like that and far too set in their ways. Better that they stayed where they belonged and left Charlene alone. 'Nixie showing up was a big surprise, I don't even know how long she'll stick around.' Her sister did notoriously bad when it came to existing around humans, especially if they tried to fish. Charlene shook her head at the thought of what headlines would read if her sister started 'playing'.

But something had caused Roxy to look away, though she looked back soon enough. Her question was greeted with a surprised expression. 'Don't be silly, of course you are, more than! I like you, that's what matters.' That was the truth, plain and simple, and Charlene tried to emphasize what she said by touching Roxy's hand quickly. Humans were strange when it came to physical affection, she had learned that just by watching them. Some were all over each other and others would not even touch though they were clearly mates. Besides, all she knew was that Roxy had wanted coffee after letting Charlene kiss her, that might be completely friendly. She had not exactly gone and made a study of how non-mermaids acted when they liked someone, and were penguins could be completely different than humans... it could be very confusing to come out of the water. 'My sister will either get used to it or she won't, she knows we're different.' Accepting it was just... something else entirely. It took time for long-lived creatures to change.

The touch of Charlene's hand wasn't an expected one, but definitely welcomed. Roxy could feel her cheeks blush again as they had several days ago. But then she realized the two were in a public space. Were people watching the two of them? Did anyone catch a glimpse of Charlene touching Roxy's hand? Sure, female friends touched each other all the time, but she couldn't help but feel a smidge weird about it. Had they been in a private room of some sort, Roxy wouldn't had minded at all, but that wasn't the case. After reading Charlene's last words, she pulled her hand away and quickly busied it with another piece of scone before grabbing her drink and sipped away. Hopefully it wasn't too painfully obvious. Damnit, and it was so nice, too...

"Well, I hope your sister gets used to it or something. Definitely sounds annoying that she can't see eye to eye with you. I would go insane!" Roxy found herself smiling as she looked back down at the notebook to see Charlene's prior words. "And that's really sweet of you to say. You're really cool, too. Would hate to like, not being to hang out with you because your family doesn't like me or whatever." She rolled her eyes at the thought, though the smile remained on her lips. Poor girl couldn't stop thinking about how introducing Charlene to her family would play out and vice versa. Or at least her sister. From the sounds of it, it seemed as if Charlene had completely detached herself from her family. Roxy couldn't even begin to imagine what that was like.

Charlene sighed and stirred her drink before turning her eyes out the window. That was not exactly the reaction she had anticipated receiving, but there was not anything she could do about it. Either there was a difference for Roxy in being around other people or one in how she felt. Whatever it was, the mermaid was not interested in thinking about it just then. Even though she should have been somewhat pleased for stirring up some sort of trouble without trying, she was not. Besides, she was apparently 'cool'... she was pretty sure that was a compliment. Charlene was sure that she would never be able to understand the human language, or all of the meanings behind it.

'That seems to be a way you're different from me. Nixie will learn that I'm not so easy to influence or I'd be gone already.' Just the way Roxy spoke about her family made it clear that their opinion was one of the most - if not the most - important things in her life. 'I think I'd be more worried about how your family would think of me.' One corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile when she looked back at Roxy. 'I guess a mermaid wouldn't go over too well? If it mattered, I've never known a family to interfere with friends.' Charlene decided that then was the perfect time to distract herself by rummaging through her bag. The last thing she wanted to do was make Roxy uncomfortable, and she had a nagging feeling she might be doing that. It was unusual for her to care, she had become very good at completely ignoring other people's feelings. And yet she found that she did.

It wasn't that a mermaid wouldn't go over to well with the family - they were freaking penguins, seriously now - but more along the lines of the fact that she brought home a woman around her arm. She remembered how hard it was to keep things secret with Kayla and how that ended in shambles. While Roxy loved her moment with Charlene at the river days ago, she feared that something like that would happen at her home around her family. Not that she didn't mind sharing sweet kisses with the lovely mermaid, but she knew at the very least her mom would shit enough bricks to make a castle. And it didn't help that Roxy was still self-conscious about everything. She felt horrible from pulling away from Charlene and really wanted to hold her hand again. Perhaps meeting some place public wasn't the best idea after all.

"I really don't think they'd be that surprised about what you are." Roxy tried to lower her voice in hopes to not embarrass Charlene and her identity. Some people were still sketchy about that, even since the Light of May. "It's just..." She paused and let out a sigh. Her eyes scanned over Charlene's words ago, settling on where she called the two of them 'friends.' Was that all this was ever going to be? Did Roxy just get her hopes up? She idly wet her lower lip with her tongue, trying to remember the lovely sensation from their first meet. Roxy really didn't want that to be the only time. "I guess I don't want things to be uncomfortable with either of us, that's all." It was the best way she could say 'my parents don't know I'm a lesbian and would be TOTALLY weirded out if I brought home a mermaid to make-out with in the jacuzzi or something' without making a scene.

As she watched Charlene rummage through her bag, Roxy's eyes lit up in realization. "Oh!" She then dove for her own bag, quickly pulling out a variety of items: a brush, a bottle of smoothing serum, hairspray, adorable hairclips, and a mirror. "We should totally beautify your hair, Lene! I mean, not that it's not beautiful, but smooth out some of those flyaways and you'll definitely be perfect!" That said, Roxy hopped out of her chair and walked on over to Charlene, instantly running her fingers through the mermaid's hair. Her inner penguin was an obsessive compulsive groomer, so it made her flash a giddy smile when she was able to groom Charlene.

Trinkets and a few shells came into contact with her hand as Charlene focused on looking through her bag. Though when Roxy spoke, she could not keep from looking back up at the pink-haired woman. Her breath caught a little when Roxy wet her lip and she could not help but remember how wonderful it had felt to kiss her. She did not want to just be friends, but how was she supposed to say that? Humans were different than merfolk, quite so when it came to these things, and even if Roxy was not a human she still acted more like one than Charlene could understand. What had once worked with a mermaid would probably not go over well.

But Charlene's thoughts all but vanished when Roxy was suddenly out of her chair, fingers running through Charlene's hair. No one had ever touched her hair when she was in human form and it felt so nice that she smiled and closed her eyes for awhile. 'I don't mind whatever you're doing to my hair, it feels nice,' she informed Roxy once she opened her eyes. There was not anything she could do to help Roxy with whatever she was doing - the things she was using were foreign to the mermaid - so she returned her attention to her bag. A thought had occurred to her just before Roxy had begun playing with her hair and it had been one of her better ones. Or so she thought. She could be wrong, after all she did not know penguins much better than she knew humans. But what was the worst that could happen? Roxy had already shown that she did not like being touched for some reason - a change that Charlene really wanted to question the reason behind - so she might as well.

Closing her hand over the object, Charlene pulled it out of her bag. She waited until Roxy was done playing with her hair to offer her the green stone she had found in the lake before she left it for this river. 'I know it's not as nice as what you gave me... but I want you to have this.' To make up for making the were penguin feel uncomfortable and also because it was just pretty, and Charlene wanted to give her something she thought was pretty too.

Roxy was all over doing Charlene's hair. She had doing her own hair down to a science, so working with someone else's hair was a cinch for the were-penguin. After running the brush over her hair several times, Roxy rubbed a moderate amount of the serum between her palms and combed it out over Charlene's lovely tresses. She smoothed it down, using a few clips to pin back a few strands, and quickly finished it over with a light mist of hairspray. "Tada!" Roxy handed Charlene the small mirror to check herself out in. Now her mermaid friend was drop-dead gorgeous.

And then there was the stone. Roxy's eyes felt like they became bigger than her face upon viewing the lovely stone. Her jaw dropped as her gasped, then instantly cupped a hand over her mouth. It took her a second to overcome the shock of how lovely the stone was, but when she did she immediately reached out and clung onto it. There was something interesting about Gentoo penguins in particular, and that was the females always expected gifts from potential mates. In the wild, Gentoo penguins would exchange rocks for another penguin's affection. The bigger and shinier, the better. And holy crap on a stick, was this one big and shiny! Roxy could feel her inner penguin doing flips in the water while honking like crazy. "OHMYGODTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!." The clusterfuck of words that escaped Roxy caused a few people to turn heads and stare at her. Yeah, she was getting extremely excited over a rock, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned everyone else was just jealous.

"It's beauuuutifuuuuul." Roxy plopped back down in her seat and gawked over the stone. Did Charlene even know to give Roxy a gift like this? Was this her way of saying she wanted to be more than just friends with Roxy? Oh crap, how was she going to explain this to her family? Pfff, who cared. She had a stone! Squee!

Accepting the mirror, Charlene smiled at her reflection. Her hair looked much better, she had to admit, more like those of the other women she had seen since leaving the river. It would help her fit in just a little bit more, and Roxy seemed to like it. Not that it would hold once she went back to the river, but that was a ways off and she was spending time with Roxy still. Looking nice for that was important to her.

The mermaid was a little taken back at how excited Roxy was at the gift, her eyes widening at the pink-haired girl's exclamation. It seems like that was a good idea, she thought as she propped her elbow on the table to cup her chin in her hand as she watched Roxy. She had not been quite sure if she should have done it at first, but now... maybe she should go find more stones from her if it got reactions like this. 'I'm glad you like it, Charlene wrote out with a bright smile. 'I wasn't sure if you would - I wanted to give you something nice.' After watching the were penguin stare at the stone a little longer she continued, 'I mean... I don't know what to do with you. You're not a mermaid, I know how to... umm...' She gave Roxy a helpless look and sighed, chewing on the permanent marker cap while raking her thoughts.

Nixie would kill her. Her sister was going to be looking for a reason to turn her into a fillet and Charlene was apparently hellbent on giving her a good one. It was more a matter of when she was going to get around to it, though if she was able to see the thoughts currently racing through Charlene's head then it would probably have been that moment. 'I need to read more books on relationships, clearly.' That was her attempt at a joke and with it went a weak smile. Though really, she doubted any would have recommended stones as a gift.

Roxy was busy fawning over her lovely, new stone, petting it affectionately. Oh yeah, she was petting the stone. Thankfully she wasn't in her penguin form or else she would have been nuzzling it for a great length of time before sitting on it proudly. Roxy was definitely keeping this one under her bed tonight. "Oh, trust me, this is utterly perfect! I can't even tell you how utterly psyched I am about this!" Roxy was truly beaming, not to mention blushing. It had been a while since she was this completely happy.

She furrowed her brow as she watched Charlene write the rest of her words. Was the poor mermaid struggling to get something across? It caused Roxy to blush a bit more, and then she let out a shy giggle when she read the bit about the relationship books. "Oh geez, you don't needs those. Seriously! Just a bunch of worthless crap, unless you want to read it to like, humor yourself, then go for it! I don't think there's anything in there that mentions stones, but hey, we're all different, right?" That said, Roxy looked back to her new gift and stroked it some more.

That had to be Roxy's penguin side shining through with how much she loved the stone, and how she was acting towards it. Charlene had seen behavior somewhat like that before, like when a human woman had gotten a ring with something shiny on the top or when fish made the largest nest and got the female's attention. Well, Charlene did not really care which side of Roxy that came from because she liked having impressed her as much as she had. 'You're more than welcome.' She knew that anything along the lines of 'take good care of it' was ridiculous because the look in Roxy's eyes told her quite clearly that she would.

Making the pink-haired woman blush again caused Charlene to make that strange giggling noise for the first time that day, probably because of what she said more than anything. 'Maybe that means I should read up on penguins,' Charlene wrote. 'But from all I know about them, which I learned in aquariums I didn't like going to, they use the same word that merfolk do.' To the mermaid's complete and utter surprise, she felt her cheeks growing warmer than they had ever been. Alarmed, she reached up to touch one, her alarm fading only slightly when she registered what it was she was doing - blushing. 'I don't know what humans call it and I don't want to offend you. I gave you the stone for a reason...' She held her hands up, uncapped marker in one, to express her confusion. Charlene was not fond of not knowing things she thought she should have.

Wait, was Roxy reading that correctly? Charlene was giving her the stone for a reason? And were they on the same wave length when it came to that reason? Roxy managed to flush an even deeper shade of red while swallowing hard. Receiving stones and shiny objects in general meant someone was interesting in the particular penguin. Roxy could only assume Charlene meant she was interested in her as a mate of some sort. Oh god, how the hell does that even work with a mermaid?! Now she was starting to understand why poor Charlene was all sorts flustered over the prospecting of meeting Roxy's family. Hell, even if she was simply a friend and nothing else Roxy was able to understand the fear in that, but she didn't want Charlene to be just a friend and it seemed like the feeling was mutual.

"Trust me, I'm not that easily offended! Try me." Ok, that was a bit of a stretch. While barely nothing crept under the girl's skin, minus her sexuality, she did have a nasty bitch lurking in her when something did make it's way through her skin. Roxy was positive there was nothing Charlene could say to tick her off. Besides, if she did, the whole cafe - hell, probably the whole block in general - would know.

That was a new shade of red that Charlene had never seen outside of a coral reef, the mermaid realized with an amused smile when Roxy's blush deepened. But even with the assurance that Roxy was not easily offended, Charlene still felt uncomfortable. There was a reason that she had learned human languages and spent time among them - so that things like this would not happen. Things like this aren't supposed to happen anyway. She's not a mermaid! Which, excepting that little voice that had yet to mute itself, Charlene realized she actually did not care about. It was just hard to get over the fact that words were simply not the same when translated.

'I don't want to be just your friend,' Charlene wrote, eyes focused on the paper instead of darting up to look at Roxy like she normally did. 'You're nice, which is surprising for someone who comes from my pod, and I want something... more.' A click of frustration was followed by a series of quick taps against the table while she took another drink of her frappucino. Whether or not it offended Roxy, she was still nervous about actually writing the next part. Just like talking, it could not be taken back. 'My kind calls it mates, whether there's any caring behind it or not.' Her mother had clearly not cared about her father, for an example of the one, but Charlene had never seen the draw to that. Therefore the word seemed to be terribly inaccurate to her and she wished for another. 'I'm sorry if it's upsetting.'

She had taken a few more sips of her drink and reached over to the scone before glancing over to read what Charlene wrote, and when she did her heart felt like it stopped completely. So her gut feeling was right! Roxy's face lit up at the thought, smiling happily while munching on her piece of the scone. "There's definitely nothing to be upset about. We call it the same thing. Er, well... penguins anyways." She couldn't help but giggle in between her words along with smiling uncontrollably. Oh god, was this really happening? It had to be!

But then reality hit Roxy upside the head - Gentoo penguins mated for life. She doubted that she and Charlene were going to go that far in a single day, but it was still something to consider. Not to mention she couldn't keep her a secret forever. Roxy had tried her best when she was Kayla, but for some reason she felt it wasn't going to be as easy with Charlene. Perhaps she needed a day for it to all settle in. Maybe blab it all to one of her friends. Definitely not Adelle, especially seeing she wasn't responding to any of her texts as of lately. Possibly Fina? She tucked that bit of information back into a corner of her mind as she brought her full attention to Charlene. "I really don't want to rush into anything. I mean, I'm still like... I don't know, shy about this whole... thing." Roxy didn't have the will to confront Charlene about her insecurities in public, nor did she have it in her to scribble it down on paper. "Not the whole mate thing, just like, other things. I need to let it soak in for a day or so, but trust me, I'm totally enthralled by all of this!" She flashed Charlene a reassuring, positive smile while her eyes gazed affectionately at her. "Maybe we could meet up again this week. I'd love to see you."

Charlene felt a weight lift off of her when Roxy's face lit up, and she could not keep a return smile off of her face when the pink-haired woman giggled while explaining that it was the same word with penguins. She still did not know what humans called it, but that did not really matter. It was not like she intended to go out asking a bunch of humans the same thing. Her nose wrinkled a little in disgust at just the thought of doing anything like that. And not only because of the fact that they would be humans, Charlene realized with a slight widening of her eyes, but also because doing that would, well, doubtlessly upset Roxy.

'Of course, it's understandable... this is a lot to think about.' The mermaid nibbled on her lower lip, trying to not think about her sister and failing miserably. It would be completely impossible to see her that night and not talk about what had happened or what she had said... and how Roxy had responded. Perhaps, if the were penguin had felt differently then it could have been easier, but - to be completely honest - Charlene did not want easy. If that had been what she was after then she would have gone back to the ocean with Nixie. Seeing if her pod would take her back, or living a solo life with the chance of crossing paths with another merfolk, would be much easier than this risk. That's why I left the pod in the first place, the mermaid thought with a slightly wistful smile. Shaking herself mentally, Charlene brought her attention back to where it belonged with a much brighter smile. 'And yes, seeing you again would be wonderful. Perhaps in a... better setting.' Not that she did not like being at the coffee shop with Roxy, she just did not want to repeat it so soon.

Thankfully it seemed like Charlene was in no rush either, which made Roxy's smile that much bigger. She gnawed playfully at her drink's straw, then sipped a bit more while eying Charlene. Everything was going so perfectly. Almost too perfect. Was something bad bound to happen when things were this perfect? Roxy tried not to worry about it and simply basked in the moment. It had been forever since she had someone this special in her life and it felt amazing to finally know once again how Adelle and Fina felt when they were talking about their men the last time they met. And here she felt she was out of the loop.

"You should pick a place for next time, seeing I picked this one out." Roxy took another piece of the scone into her fingers. "I'm game for anything, and I'm sure whatever you think of will be totally awesome." That said she tossed the scone piece into her mouth and munched away.

Charlene swirled the remaining bits of her drink while she tried to think of a place where she and Roxy could go. The last time she had been in this sort of situation they had gone to an exceptional ice field to watch the whales go through. That sort of thing was not exactly... possible when she was here. But surely there was something. Tapping her marker against the notebook, Charlene finally shrugged. 'You could come to the river, near where I live. It's pretty there - and secluded. I could show you some things from where I'm from.' Her look became slightly teasing. 'I could always sing for you again...maybe even talk.' That would be a bit of a stretch, she would have to spend a lot of time practicing, but it was not like she had too much else taking up her time.

Oh, except for her lessons... oh! The mermaid's eyes lit up with remembered excitement. 'I wandered into a dojo this morning.' She was rather proud of herself for not only doing that, but not taking a single snap at any of the people inside. 'Humans have the strangest places.'

The location Charlene suggested sound perfect! Roxy made a mental note to wear some sexy bikini for the occasion. She was happy they were both water creatures or else things would have been quite awkward. "That sounds perfect!" Even the thought of hearing Charlene sing again was enticing enough to lure Roxy in. For some reason she couldn't quite recall all the details to the mermaid's singing, causing the pink-haired girl to draw a constant blank. All she remembered was that she loved it and wanted to hear more. And Charlene speaking was always a delight. Perhaps she would say more than her name, but even if she didn't she was content with just that.

"Wait, you came across a dojo? Like, where they teach stuff like kung fu and so forth?" She couldn't imagine the mermaid dabbling in such a thing, but it caught Roxy's attention. "Oh wow, how did that go over?" Roxy leaned in and sipped on her drink while awaiting Charlene's response to the experience.

Smiling - Charlene was delighted that Roxy liked her idea - she made a note to remember to draw a map so that Roxy would be able to find the place. And possibly more importantly, make sure that Nixie had something else to occupy her time with. That would not be the best situation if her sister popped her head out of the water just yet.

'It was interesting,' she wrote back, thinking with a grin of the short woman who had told her about the classes. 'I just walked into the place because I was bored and had a lot of time to kill and saw humans going through what looked like fighting moves.' Self-defense was what had been explained to her, true, but Charlene still could not see any of that without thinking of it as something to be used on the offensive. She was a mermaid after all, used to having to deal with dangerous creatures on a daily basis. 'I signed up for a basic class, though I don't think it'll be too hard.' Charlene had always been a fast learner when it came to things, and she was fully aware of her own strength. The only problem might be that she would have to remember not to hurt anyone... well, unless they pressed the wrong button. Anyone who thought that she was just some weak woman who wanted to learn for safety would probably deserve getting thrown into a wall. It would not be her fault if they broke said wall.

'It'll give me something to do.' More along the lines of keeping her out of certain types of trouble.

"That's really cool!" Roxy thought the concept of Charlene being able to kick some ass was rather awesome. "I haven't done anything hardcore when it came to sports since like, college or so. Maybe even high school. I'd play field hockey and volleyball. Not to mention surfing whenever I had the chance, which was like, every morning." And she missed not being able to hit the waves out in Michigan. Nothing could truly compare to the west coast. At least she could still turn into a penguin and enjoy a fast paced swim now and then. So far she had both her chances to do so interrupted by onlookers, but thankfully so far one was also a were and the other was Charlene, so no harm was done in her mind.

While finishing off her drink, Roxy ran her fingers through her hair to smooth it out, only to gather up a clump of hair while she was at it. She didn't realize it at first until she stopped, and let out a massive, irritated sigh. "Dear god, not now." Roxy began diligently running her fingers through to rid her hair of any more clumps. By the time she was done there was a moderately sized ball of pink and black hair on the table. Blushing slightly, Roxy took it in her hand and briskly disposed of it in a nearby trash. "Ugh, GROSS." She groaned while plopping back down into her seat. Hopefully Charlene didn't think less of her because she was molting. The heat didn't help one bit either and only made the poor girl more mellow than normal. Still functional, but by no means bouncing off the wall with energy.

"Sorry about that." Roxy shrugged her shoulders, trying to giggle it off. "Penguin thing. Happens during the summer like, big time."

Hardcore... there was another word Charlene was not exactly sure of. The two words separated she knew, of course, but together was a different matter entirely and caused her to make a bit of a face. She did not like not understanding. I need a dictionary. A really modernized one. Those had to exist somewhere, like in the bookstore that was right there. She might have to take a look in there before she left to return to the river. Volleyball was something she had seen on the beach before and of course she had watched surfers trying to ride waves, but field hockey was not something she had ever seen. 'Would it show how out of touch I am with your world if I asked what field hockey is?' College she knew, that was important for humans for some reason. 'But asking what you went to college for, that's just normal.' It came up in conversations she overheard between people all the time.

Then Charlene's eyes widened slightly when she realized that Roxy was quite literally pulling her hair out. Well, that was something she had not seen happen before. She was about to ask what was making her hair come out when Roxy explained. Ohh right, penguins molt and she's a penguin. It made perfect sense when you thought about it. 'Doesn't bother me,' Charlene informed Roxy with a smile. 'It's just hair after all, I've got to deal with mine coming out whenever I take the shells out before coming ashore.' Reaching up to touch her hair she was momentarily shocked by how it felt, before she remembered that Roxy had had at it with some things out of her bag to make it look nicer. Now she did not want to touch it for fear of messing it up.

Picking up another part of her scone, Charlene chewed slowly. What were other questions that people asked in typical conversation? No, good hunting is not a question, she's not a mermaid! Smiling at the thought she tapped her marker against her chin while thinking. 'I completely don't know what it means but I hear people ask it all the time for some reason; what's your sign?'

Charlene didn't know what field hockey was? What the hell?! Roxy had to make a mental reminder, however, that field hockey was probably not customary in merfolk traditions. Would be rather badass, in her mind, but extremely illogical. "Field hockey is... well..." Wow, easier said than done. "It's like, two teams playing against each other with sticks, and they're after a little ball which they smack around and try to shot it into the opposing team's net. And if they do that, then they get a point. Most points wins the game. That's kind of it in a nutshell! I used to play as center in high school." Roxy paused and realized that, hurhur, mermaids don't understand sports jargon either. "That's like, the person who does all the face-offs when they first drop the ball and helps to try and score the ball."

Once she was done explaining that, Roxy giggled at the comment about the hair. She had a point, but at the same time most people found chunks of hair randomly coming out to be extremely gross. Roxy couldn't help it, sadly, and she was relieved that Charlene didn't seem to mind.

"My sign?" Roxy fluttered her eyes and let out a cheerful chuckle. "Oh wow, I hadn't been asked that in a while!" Last time it happened it involved some guy at a bar asking her, which quickly turned into Roxy taking her mixed drink and chucking it in his face before walking out. But now she was being asked by a beautiful woman, so how was she going to turn that down? "I'm a Sagittarius. Don't know how like, fitting that is to me, but that's what I am. And how about you? Do you know?"

Charlene propped her chin on her hand as she listened to Roxy describe field hockey, trying to picture it in her mind as it was explained. It sounded like it would be funny to watch, and she could not help but wonder if they ever tripped over their own feet or each other. Maybe they hit each other with the sticks too. If her pod had had any sort of game like that then she was sure that the sticks would have been used for exactly that purpose. Roxy's explanation of her own position was added in and Charlene thought that maybe she had a rough idea of how it worked. It was probably wrong, but it was better than the nothing that she had been picturing at first. I've really got no idea about so much. And she had thought that she was doing pretty good.

Sagittarius. The mermaid wrote it into the back of her notebook to look up later, maybe in the bookstore that was right there before she left. Charlene bit her lip at the question and shook her head. 'No,' she admitted. 'No idea at all. I've just heard humans talking about it a lot so I figured that it was important or something.' Merfolk did not really have things like that. Some of them watched the stars, true, but that was mostly because they were so beautiful from the middle of the ocean. Her mother had once mentioned that she knew a merman who had raved about the importance of them, but Charlene had never met him.

'I mean to look in a book about it because now I'm curious,' she admitted. 'Both what yours means and what mine is.' Charlene flashed Roxy a bright smile. 'Then maybe I'll tell you how well I think it fits. From what I know.' If what she already knew fit, then it would say she was fun, charming and quick to laugh. She really liked the last one, Roxy's laugh was beautiful in her ears.

Roxy wasn't entirely the type of person to be reading the zodiac section of magazines every week, especially when her sign felt like it didn't fit her at all, but now and then it was accurate in some way or another. Maybe Charlene would be able to read more into Roxy's personality than before. Then again, Roxy was extremely upfront about most of her emotions, so what was there to wonder about? Regardless, it seemed to peak Charlene's interest, and in turn that made the pink-haired girl happy.

"Sounds like you're going to be checking out a lot of books by the end of this!" Roxy teased with a giggle. "I personally don't take the whole sign thing seriously. I mean, how is it that everyone born in the same time frame is suppose to act alike, you know? Ok, so there's other things factoring in, but the basic stuff? Just always seems weird, but still interesting! Then you got some of those people out there that live and die by their sign." Now that made Roxy laugh. "I'd rather just be myself than trust what some book or magazine clips says how I should act."

Humans had a terrible way of taking things to the extreme, Charlene had noticed, and apparently it included this whole sign business. Being told how to act and lumped with anyone else close to their day or birth? A touch ridiculous indeed. Smiling, Charlene shrugged at the teasing. 'Seems like it's going to be that way... all your fault, too.' It was true, she felt like she needed to read more than she ever had before. Maybe it would be easier to find the library and read the books that were there... though a card would be a problem. From what she knew about them, addresses and identification were required and Charlene had none of those. Merfolk did not feel the same need to categorize every one of their race like humans did. Though it was inconvenient when she was in human form and had nothing at all to say she was anyone who, technically, existed.

Glancing around the room, Charlene was surprised to note that a lot of the people who had been then when they sat down had been replaced by newcomers. Looking back at Roxy she remembered the other day when the pink-haired woman had commented about her job. 'Am I keeping you from anything, like a job?' she asked, unsure of how exactly that worked. She knew what jobs were, some of them, and that they were how humans actually managed to pay for things... but past that, it was a concept she only had vague guesses and assumptions about. 'Not that I know what you do.' Going to take a sip of her drink, the mermaid was surprised to find nothing left. Huh, that went fast.

"Oh geez, no, don't worry about it. Today's my day off!" And thank god, too, it felt like forever since she had one. Last time she took the day off, the hospital still called her in due to a few EMTs calling out sick. While it ticked her off, Roxy did eventually make her way to the hospital to save the day, so to speak. But right then even if she had received a call, Roxy was positive she would have snickered to herself, silence the phone, and toss it back into her bag. "I work as a paramedic." Wait, did Charlene even know what that was? "It's uh... kind of like a special doctor who goes around saving people in emergencies. There are different levels and paramedic is the highest." She beamed a bit after announcing that tidbit. Roxy worked her butt off to gain her spot as a paramedic, so she had every right to flaunt it off.

"And do you want another drink at all, Lene?" Roxy pointed to her empty cup while gnawing at her straw a bit. "I don't mind getting you another one. You seemed to definitely liked that one. Or maybe something different?" She tilted her head while twirling a finger in her hair. Thankfully no hair was coming out. "I mean, unless you have a job you need to head on off to." What a mermaid would be doing for a job was beyond Roxy, but then again Charlene was practicing martial arts, so who knew.