Charlene Pearl (fiercetide) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-02-03 19:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-07-02, charlene |
Who thought you'd be friends?
Who: Charlene and Imogene
Where: The river
When: Early afternoon
Normally when it rained, Charlene would not even think of leaving the river. The last time she had left because Nixie had been bothering her and today... today she did not want to stay because she did not know where her sister was and it was distressing her to be in a river that seemed so empty. Of course it was not, there were fish and turtles and frogs and somewhere there were other merfolk, but none of them were Nixie. And there was a new hole in her boat that made her wonder if something had happened. But instead of dwelling on it, Charlene had made it into the shed where she kept her things, changed and started to sort through them while setting the stuffed animals Roxy had gotten her on an older shelf. She was entertaining thoughts of going into town to see if maybe she could find some more of those red things and see if figuring out how they worked was possible... maybe later. Right now she was wrapped up in all of her little trinkets and the sound of a light rain on the roof.
Despite her having never actually been to Charlene's shed, Imogene managed to poke her way along the river bank until she found it. There was no need to rush - once she'd slipped away from all the safety workers at the scene of the 'accident', she really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Her shoulder, red and raw where she'd rammed it against the wood door, was already healing, and the light drizzle of rain soaked what little was left of her clothing. It gave her something to think about that wasn't the fire, so she didn't mind. It'd been days since she'd gotten out to talk to Charlene, but she figured the woman wouldn't mind. It wasn't like they were the sort who had to see their friends all the time. It was just that... lately, the world just wasn't going Gene's way.
After a moment, the bear realized she'd been staring at the door to the shed for a good few minutes, and with a grunt raised her hand to knock. If Charlene wasn't in, she'd just wait inside out of the rain. The mermaid had said that she left it open, right?
Charlene was turning over something that she had found in the woods, trying to figure it out, when she heard a noise coming from the door. She stared at it for several moments after the knock before climbing to her feet. The windows were not exactly clean, it was not like she actually came and sat in here very often, but after rubbing at one she saw a familiar form on the other side. Carefully she pushed the door open, standing back far enough so that the drizzle would not get on her skin and change her right back. It was inconvenient to be a mermaid out of the water. She smiled brightly at Imogene, noticing that there was something slightly... off about the young woman, and waved for her to come in before searching around for her notebook and a pen. 'You're a mess! Fight with another demon?'
"Not exactly." She absently tugged at her tattered shirt and ducked inside, not waiting for an invitation. Charlene had offered the space before, so she assumed she was welcome. Ash still streaked her skin where the rain hadn't quite washed it away, and her clothing was all but useless now that she'd transformed in it. It'd go into the trash as soon as she could find something to replace it with. "The, uh, place where I work? Y'know, where I've been staying? It's burned down." When she left, the fire was mostly under control, but there was little but charred support beams and a pile of rubble where the building had been. "We got out, but..." But they almost hadn't. The doors were jammed. The fire had moved fast and had been difficult to put out. Little Grace had almost... Imogene turned and coughed; a hoarse, tight sound. She hadn't let the paramedics get close enough to look her over. "Ren's pretty bent up. And it was damn lucky I'm big enough to get the door down." She was letting her mouth run just a tad, which was distinctly odd for the normally taciturn Imogene. The fire shook her up more than she liked to admit.
Fire. Charlene shuddered just at the idea of being close to a fire, trapped in a building that was burning down because of fire... it had been hard enough for her to stay anywhere near just a little fire that had been contained, but a raging one? One that had ended with Imogene messed up like this? Yeah, the mermaid pushed those thoughts right out of her head while she still could. 'Good that you're alive,' Charlene wrote. Empathy for the situation or anything like that went right over the mermaid's head because, honestly, she did not know how to do that. Imogene was probably her best friend out of the water but, unlike with Roxy, understanding how she felt about something was not exactly... important to the mermaid. 'And that you're as strong as you are. Come to stay here?' She remembered telling the were that she could.
"Didn't touch me. Just... smoke. And I had to change to get the door open. It wasn't an accident, 'Lene, that I'm damned sure of. Someone was trying to kill everyone in the damned shop, and there was a fucking kid..." The EMTs said she'd be all right, but Grace hadn't looked good when they got her out. "Sorry, yeah. Can I? I really don't want to deal with anyone else right now. And I don't got nowhere else, 'cept the woods, and the last thing I need is to run into another fucking demon." The demon attack had scared her, sure. But it'd happened so fast and was over before she could think about it, so she'd maintained some sort of distance. This? This was exactly the sort of thing she'd been afraid of since the Light of May. And it meant someone was after one of the Dog-Ink employees, or more of them, and didn't give a damn about collateral damage. What if it were her? If she'd been found out by someone that dangerous, she wouldn't be safe anywhere anytime soon. With a grunt she slumped into a corner, letting herself relax against the wall marginally.
Smoke. Was the smoke dangerous too? Charlene did not know, had only really had experience with the flames and the damage they could cause. If she knew about smoke as well then she would have been convinced of - wait, a kid? The mermaid did feel a pang at that, her hold on the small telescope tightening until she felt it cracking beneath the pressure. Guppies, or children, were not to be harmed. Shaking herself to clear the thoughts out, Charlene's eyes were nonetheless chilled. Someone had done it on purpose. With a child there. That was as bad as what her pod had always done. 'You'll be fine here, there hasn't been... oh.' The mermaid paused. That hunter had known what she was, but perhaps that had been because she could not speak. Imogene could speak and did not give off any obvious signs of being non-human. 'Since the river's right there you won't want for fish, they're quite plentiful. And you can use that blanket I found.' Was not like she actually had a use for it, she had just thought it was pretty.
Imogene nodded and rubbed her shoulder. Nothing broken, but the skin was bruised up pretty good. It should be better in just a couple days, though she wasn't so sure about the smoke damage. Were lungs should heal as well as anything else, right? And she'd never had a problem with the various inhaleable substances she'd experimented with. Had she been a bit more present, she'd probably have noticed that Charlene felt rather the same way she did about children, and appreciated it, but as it was she was wrapped up in her own little miserable worries for the moment. "Yeah, I just need some place with a door. Don't worry 'bout me taking care of myself, I'm used to that." She wouldn't need the blankets, anyway, with how warm it'd been. "Though I won't complain if you've got some clothes that'll fit me."
Charlene knew hardly anything about injured humans, or weres for that matter, but pain she understood. The hospital had given her stuff for pain when they had discharged her and maybe Imogene would like some of that. It helped her. 'Not going to take care of you', Charlene wrote with a roll of her eyes as she turned to pick up the orange bottle, fiddling with the lid for a moment before popping it off. 'But here. These help a lot with pain and you keep rubbing your shoulder so I bet you're in it too. As for clothes.' Charlene really had a multitude of dresses and skirts and tops, but for some reason she was not sure that Imogene would much appreciate those. She had never seen her in a dress. After offering one of the painkillers she nodded towards the chest where she kept all of her clothes. Imogene could look through those and see if anything caught her eye.
Well, good. Not that Gene expected Charlene to really fuss over her - that was one reason she came here instead of going along with Austin. "Shoulder's not too bad, it'll heal in a couple days, and..." She took the bottle and stared at it for a moment in utter bafflement. "Where the hell did you get this? It ain't something you find lying around. Someone sell you this on the streets?" She, of course, hadn't heard about Charlene's hunter troubles, and it didn't even occur to her that the woman might have gotten the pills through legit sources. She'd bother with the clothes later.
Blinking, Charlene shrugged. She had no idea that pills could, or even would, be bought and sold on the streets. 'I got them from the hospital', she explained, folding her legs underneath of her as she sat down on the floor, rearranging herself and reaching out to pick up the container of leftover oysters from the previous day. 'To help with the pain.' The mermaid held out her left arm to show off the bandage covering the stitches that had pulled her flesh back together and motioned to her side, where a larger bandage covered the worse wound. At least Imogene did not seem to mind the lack of clothes. 'They said that I can take three a day, but two work plenty fine so I guess I have extra.'
For the first time, Imogene actually looked at her friend. Well, fuck her sideways. "How the hell did I miss that, woman?" Sure, she was rather freaked out and probably a wee bit in shock, but it was no excuse for not noticing that her friend looked like she'd been through a grain thresher. "More importantly, what the fuck happened to you? That don't look like something a demon did." She'd made a point of reading up about the attacks at first, to prove to Ren she wasn't crazy. "You're worse off than me. I can't take these, not for a fucking bruise and sore lungs. Weres heal like a sunnuvabitch, anyhow." She handed back the bottle and absently tugged off her tattered shirt. "Ugh. I probably smell like ass... I'll take a swim before I touch your shit." Having something to do and some clean clothes would make her feel better. Maybe.
Charlene made a face, if she had offered it then she did not think she needed it, but accepted the bottle and placed it back where it had been before. At least Imogene did not get all sorts uncomfortable about clothes. Though maybe that had something to do with the fact that she was not, well, Roxy. It took another moment before Charlene could focus and get the smile off her face, but the subject at hand did that well. 'Someone's out hunting mermaids', she informed Imogene with a frown. 'Guns and things that explode in the water, but someone - Otter - found me and I went to the hospital... Roxy brought me back yesterday.' She was secretly grateful Imogene was not touching her clothing yet, her were friend did have a bit of an odor about her.
"Huh." She dumped the few things that'd survived her recent troubles in a corner - her ID, a bit of cash, and a chunk of flint - and pulled off her pants as well. "And someone's hunting weres. Or I'm pretty sure they are. 's what half of us are in that shop. So we've either got a very busy hunter, or..." Imogene frowned as she headed outside to get a good soak. "Well, to be honest, sounds like yours was a bit less worried about making a fuss. Might be more than one to look out for, fuck." She sank into the river, utterly mindless of the rain. "But I'm pretty fucked in the head right now. Probably just panicking for no reason, don't got no evidence or nothing." At least she admitted it, somewhat. At some point the numbness would wear off and she'd want a bit of time alone to properly freak out over the ordeal, but presently that wasn't an issue. "You're being careful, right? And d'you need help tracking down the bastard?" It was a bit bloody-minded, but she'd really like to get her claws into someone right now. Things you could kill were less terrifying.
When Imogene went outside, Charlene reached for the rain jacket she had found and pulled it over her head and shoulders so that she could lay part in and part out of the shed without shifting. She was beginning to get pretty resourceful about that sort of thing, to her pride. It was not that she did not want to get back in the water, but apparently her wounds healed better dry and she really wanted those to be gone. At the question about being careful, Charlene shrugged and nodded, she supposed that she was. As careful as she ever was. 'Woman. It was a woman and I don't want to look for her until I find my sister. She isn't anywhere in the river that I can find and I don't think she'd just... go back to the ocean without me.' Charlene knew Nixie and had every reason to doubt her older sister would leave. Not when she had come all of this way just to find her. 'Then I'll think about who tried to kill me.' It was not comforting to be shot at.
"Damn." Imogene closed her eyes and ducked under the water for a moment, then just sat soaking. "At least we're both fucking hard to kill, huh?" The hoarseness was starting to ease out of her lungs, and it did feel about a thousand times better to be relatively clean. "But man, I was liking it here. Goddamned hunters. Like we don't have enough problems." She grumbled and groused to herself, content to wallow in her sour mood. She'd earned it, dammit. "Left my boss sleeping in his fucking car. He'd better be watching to make sure whoever did this to us doesn't come back to finish the job. Your sister's gone?" She glanced over the note again. "Well, I'd ask around. If she's been around us land folk, someone's probably seen her." Especially if she looked anything like Charlene. Imogene didn't swing that way (or, really, any way in particular), but you had to be blind to not realize that the mermaid was gorgeous.
The were had a point, they had both survived a demon and then a hunter. Supposedly a hunter on Imogene's part, but Charlene was willing to believe it after what had happened to her. She had just been sitting on the bank drawing... Imogene's grumpy mood was easy enough to dismiss, mostly because Charlene was used to the company of her sister and Nixie was anything but pleasant this close to humans. And Roxy had that bitchy side when she got upset... yeah, Charlene was used to people who were not always smiling. She wanted to ask what a boss was, not able to place the word, but was distracted by her worry for Nixie. 'Oh, she hasn't been. Nixie hates humans and anyone who isn't a merfolk so she usually stays in the water. Which is why it's so odd that I can't find her. I almost would think something happened to her after I ran off.' Which would make her feel terrible. Probably forever. Nixie was there because of her, after all.
"She didn't try to eat anyone, did she?" Almost immediately, Imogene's scowl deepened. She hadn't meant to say anything that might upset Charlene more, but there it was. And, of course, Imogene being Imogene didn't apologize, just glower disapprovingly at the bank. "Between the demons and the hunters... I'll let you know if I see or hear anything. But if she shows up and tries to bite me or something I'll hit her." Fair was fair, after all, and just because she was her (best?) friend's sister didn't mean that she was immune from getting smacked around if she did something stupid. "But I've been pretty holed up lately. Which I guess you knew, since I didn't even notice you were in the fucking hospital."
Why was it always coming back to the eating people thing? She did not go around asking everyone if they had tried eating one of her people. Or if they thought at all about what they had eaten... 'She probably has in the past year', Charlene wrote back, frowning a little. 'But we were raised to do that, you know.' And it was not like she had gone and tried to bite everyone she had met. Charlene had, actually, not tried to bite anyone. Granted she was a slight odd and had, basically, sworn off eating people... but still. It was the principle of the matter. 'If she does that, go ahead and hit her. My girlfriend pulled on her hair the other day. Kind of funny to see Nixie get beat up a bit.' Not so funny if it was serious. If that hunter woman had her then Charlene definitely did not want to see her beat up at all. 'And don't worry about it! Only two people came to see me and it's not like it matters. Just the hospital and it's not like I'm dead.'
"Yeah, you're out now, anyway." Imogene ducked under one more time, running her fingers through her hair to at least get some of the ash out, then pulled herself out of the river. "I'm feeling remotely more sane now, at least. And if she's anything like you, she's fine." For a long moment she paused and tried to figure out whether she'd known Charlene was dating a woman, then decided she didn't particularly care either way. "Sounds like your kind of person." With a snort, she stepped to the side and shifted, shaking the water out of her shaggy fur. Of course, it wasn't as effective as it might have been, what with the rain, but at least she wasn't soaking when she changed back and walked inside. "So, you staying here while you, uh, heal up?" Those bandages didn't exactly look waterproof.
Hopefully Imogene was right, though Charlene had trouble figuring out how much like her Nixie actually was. She had always been the more scholarly of the two... now Kendra. Oh, Charlene had no doubts that Kendra would have been perfectly fine. And never anywhere near Scarlet Oak. Thank everything. hearing the remark about Roxy made her light up a little, rolling aside as Imogene came back inside and pulling the door closer, relieved that the smell was pretty much gone. 'Something like that, though I was mostly up here to sort through my things. Haven't done that since I came here and it needed to be done.' Though the doctors had said something about keeping her bandages dry so that she healed better. 'It's not too bad, for a building.' The mermaid shrugged and started sorting through the pile of stones, looking for the best one.
No, it really wasn't. The shed was sturdy and unobtrusive, sound enough to be dry and close to the water (which was probably more of an advantage for the mermaid than it was for Imogene). Of course it'd probably be terribly cold in the winter, but the season was still something of a vague concept for the southern bear, so she hadn't even thought that far yet. "Small quarters to be sharing. Uh, thanks." Being vaguely grateful was really the best she could do under the circumstances. "You've sure got a lot of... things. Where do you get it all?" It seemed a bit odd that a woman who lived underwater had more material possessions than she did.
Sharing quarters was completely new to Charlene. Sure, she shared her boat with Nixie and had spent over a century with her pod, but they were in the water and the ocean. Not exactly closed in. Merfolk did not tend to do closed in so well, but this beat the hospital room by a long shot. No one coming to take her blood and she doubted Imogene would go talking her ear off. 'Here and there', Charlene replied, matching up the stones by color. 'A lot of it came from all over the river and from the lake... I like to keep things. End up selling a lot of it at your markets for other things I want. It's amazing what humans lose in the water or woods. Though those-' She motioned to all of the stuffed animals. 'Were a gift.' And probably the pride of her collection at that, even beating out the few snowglobes she treasured.
"Mmm..." Imogene rummaged through the trunk of clothes, discarding various articles for being too colorful or frilly, or just plain too small. "Yeah, it's amazing what people leave behind. Seems like the less you got, the more you try to hang onto it." She'd grown up around ex-hippies and idealists, and quite frankly, a minimalistic life just made sense to her. Though at the moment she found it was a bit too minimalist. "Uh... they look very... nice?" The appeal of stuffed animals, however, completely eluded her. When she was tiny she'd just rip them up for fun, finding taking them apart rather more fun than carrying them around like the lumps of stuffing were children. But Charlene was obviously fond of them, so she tried not to judge.
Watching Imogene go through her clothes, Charlene tried not to wince. It was not like they were actually important to her, but no one had actually... touched her things. Ever. The only person who had touched her clothes had been Roxy and that had just been unavoidable. At least the were did not seem attracted to the prettier things, not too surprising judging off of what Charlene had seen her wear before. 'I guess.' What Imogene had said did not make much sense to Charlene, but she did not think it could be explained any better. Nor did it seem that important. 'They are very nice.' Especially the penguin. 'But I bet you'd actually like these.' Turning, the mermaid picked up something that she had picked out of the wreck of the boat they had sunk the other day. After looking through it she had figured out that it was some sort of human fishing kit. 'For fishing, I think.'
Imogene pulled on a dark blue top that wasn't too girly, but was still unfortunately cut to fit someone with curves, and a jean skirt, and turned around. "What's that? Oooh..." She grinned as Charlene brought out the kit. "Damn, that will come in handy." It meant she might be able to find something to eat that wasn't just leaves and berries. Or fucking hot dogs. "Glad you hung onto it... I'll dig up some bait later. When I'm ready to think about food, that is." At the moment, she really doubted she'd eat anything for the rest of today. The adrenaline made her a bit queasy, and the smell of a building burning... well, it stuck in your nose.
Seeing Imogene in a skirt was... well, odd, and Charlene hid a smile when the were turned around. Imogene had had a bad day and she did not want to make it worse by laughing, it was not like she looked bad or anything. 'It's here whenever you need it' Charlene shrugged as she put it back and went back to rearranging the rocks. Roxy had said that bigger was better, but pretty was still a factor so she had some deciding to do. Of course she was going to end up giving them all to the penguin but not at once. 'Which one do you think is prettier?' The mermaid motioned between a large, striped blue rock and a shiny black one. 'Give me an opinion and I'll let you look through whatever you want even if you don't care, it's for a were penguin.'
"Well, damn, I dunno." She set the rod aside and peered at the rocks. "Does it matter? It's for a... a what?" It took Imogene several re-readings to decide that she had not, in fact, misread. "A were penguin? Damn, we've really got everything in this world, huh? What's a fucking penguin doing up here? Uh, no offense to them. Just... kinda weird, isn't it?" Granted, she was supposed to be down in the cloud forests of the Andes by that logic, but the irony passed her blissfully by. After a moment of consideration, she grunted and pointed to the blue one. "I guess that one's kinda more unusual."
Charlene arched an eyebrow. She had seen Imogene's bear form and it did not look like the sort that was native to the area at all. So really, she did not belong there either. 'I don't think it's weird at all, her entire family moved here from California.' Plus she was extremely glad that Roxy was there. 'And it makes a weird sort of sense, a penguin and a mermaid.' At least they both came from the water, right? Picking up the rock Imogene had pointed to, Charlene smiled and nodded, sure that it would get a good reaction when she finally gave it to Roxy. 'Thanks! You're not really... into pretty things. Are you?'
"I... guess. Sorry, I just... it's a bit hard to imagine. Don't know many weres, y'know." And until the Light, she hadn't realized there were other species out there, never mind something as ridiculous as a penguin. Really, what must the hybrid look like? "As much sense as anything, you've got a point there. So she, uh, likes rocks?" Maybe a geologist. Imogene wasn't exactly a natural scientist, and so she hadn't ever heard of penguins that built their nests from pebbles, though she did vaguely remember some insipid animated movie from when she was little. "And why should I be? They're no use to anyone, except to look good, and it's not like I've got someone I want to impress. I like to be... practical." That wasn't quite it, but it the best explanation she had for why such objects failed to delight her as they did most others.
'I keep running into them.' And she had throughout her life. There had been that wereshark in Newfoundland, a werewolf once and now the ones she had met here in Scarlet Oak. Charlene was not so unused to people turning into animals and actually found it quite interesting because, in a way, it was like what she did. Only she never changed completely into an animal. 'And yes, it's a penguin thing. You give rocks to the one you like and want as a mate, that's how she explained it.' Seemed to be true, too. Imogene's explanation was a little odd, but Charlene supposed it could make sense. She knew someone else who did not want to be pretty because she did not care - Nixie. Maybe Imogene would get along with her if she ever showed up again. 'Practical works, I guess, but I like being pretty for some reason. My sister doesn't. If it weren't for the fact that she had such a thing against non-merfolk I bet you'd get along.'
"Dunno whether or not that means you're lucky. From what I can tell, a lot of us tend to be kinda nasty." Herself included, of course, so the statement was made without any real venom. "But maybe I'd get along with her. Doubt it, though. I don't like most people, and they don't like me. 's the way I like it, usually." She plucked absently at her skirt, clearly not used to wearing something without legs. "But if you like to be pretty, go ahead. It's not like I care what other people do, anyway, I just know what's not for me." Talking, oddly enough, helped. The fire seemed far away from this little shed where they were chatting about rocks and weres.
'Means I'm lucky', Charlene wrote rather firmly. And she did not see what was so nasty about any of the weres she had met. But then again, Charlene did not realize that her definitions of words was different from other peoples. Like she thought Imogene was perfectly pleasant because she enjoyed the same things that she did. 'And you don't have to like her, probably not even meet her. I don't think she likes people knowing about me.' Leaning back against the wall of the shed, Charlene closed her eyes for a moment to let a pang pass before looking back down at her notebook. 'What do you like? Other than causing mischief and sinking people's boats?'
"I don't have to like anyone." No one had ever managed to force her to be civil to someone when she didn't want to. "But I'll reserve judgment." She sat quietly for a moment, frowning a little as Charlene scribbled away. "Not much, according to some people. I like a smoke, a beer, and a good story. People who don't treat me like a kid just 'cause I'm younger than them. People who've got the balls to stand up for themselves without being idiots. And..." Imogene's expression turned almost sheepish. "I like trees. All of it, the woods and everything. Especially climbing them. Guess they're kinda like what water is to you, except it doesn't kill me to go without, if I've gotta."
Charlene shrugged. She doubted that Imogene would ever even meet Roxy so it really did not matter. Besides, Nixie had already proven that Charlene had a problem with caring about other people's opinions once she formed her own. Why should she? Easy enough to not think about it right then when Imogene talked about what she liked, especially when she talked about trees. 'The bear thing, that makes sense.' It was remarkably easy to picture Imogene climbing up into a tree and perching there for the night, maybe even tossing things down at someone as they passed. If not for the fact that Charlene did not want to take herself up that high - ever - then she might have tried that herself. 'And how old are you? Not going to treat you different, just curious.' The other day had proven how bad she was at guessing human - or were's - ages.
"Would you believe there aren't any where I'm from? Just cactuses." Imogene made a face and held up her palm to show a faint puckered scar. "Only tried climbing them once." Well, maybe a few times, but she hated living on the ground and her mother watched her too closely for her to sneak out on the roof all the time. "I like it better up here, that's for damn sure." And she had, indeed, taken ample opportunity to throw things at people from the branches. It was far too amusing to watch them jump. "I'm... well, seventeen." And not yet a legal adult, as she was well aware. "But most folk think that means I can't take care of myself."
'Where are you from?' The mermaid had never seen land without trees, except in their cities, because she had never been in the southern area and definitely never anywhere near a desert. Cactus was a foreign thing to her. Her dark eyes widened at hearing how old Imogene was. Seventeen? Charlene could hardly remember when she was that old! Or young, for that matter, still nothing more than a guppy according to everyone's definition of the word in her pod, not yet old enough to really be away from her mother for long... 'So just a guppy. Only not. You age so oddly, you seem perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.' And had proven it. Charlene doubted anyone who was not old enough to look out for themselves could go around living with their pod or family.
"Arizona. It's down south a ways, nowhere near any sort of water, so you probably don't know anything about it, huh." Imogene shrugged. "Humans decide to live in damn stupid places sometimes. It was too hot, too dry, and too damned open. I hated it." Not always, of course, but Imogene didn't yet have the perspective to realize that. "And I ain't no guppy. Bears are independent young. My mom understands that." Well, she did on some level. She grunted at the flash of guilt for leaving. "But I'm on my own now either way, so it don't matter."
Somewhere hot and dry sounded pretty stupid to Charlene. Everyone, human or not, needed water - so why go living somewhere without it? A shiver ran through her just at the thought of being there. 'Maybe not as you view it. But to me you seem that way, independent or not.' Charlene had spent a decent bit of time trying to figure out how old she was and, while the exact date was probably wrong, she figured she was close enough for any purposes. 'I was only curious because I can never figure out how old you non-merfolk are based on your appearances anymore than you'd be able to guess mine.' The mermaid grinned. 'Guess how old I am.' She knew the doctor had been shocked when he found out, maybe Imogene would be too.
"It's just how long I've lived. Don't mean anything else." Imogene shrugged and decided not to argue. "It's not like we look too different when you've got your legs out so why would -" Something about the way Charlene had phrased her question gave her pause. "Oh, right, you're like... a hundred and thirty something, aren't you. Fuck, I'd almost forgotten. Guess you weren't kidding about that, huh?" The mermaid had mentioned her age when she'd told Imogene what she was, but it was difficult to think of the woman as so... old. And she'd vaguely suspected Charlene had been joking with her. Apparently not.
Oh, Imogene already... ohhh, that was right, Charlene had mentioned it. Seemed like she really did not remember a whole lot from that day other than the fright of the hunter encounter. She smiled, amused at Imogene's surprise that she was telling the truth. It must seem so odd to look similar in age to someone only to discover that they were over a hundred years older than her. Oh, it's Roxy who doesn't know my age. She probably won't care either. Hopefully. Did not change anything about her. 'Nope, told you the truth, I'm really that old.' Even if it did not seem old to her at all. Old was three hundred or so, up there in her mother's age bracket. 'Do you need to sleep or anything after the morning you've had?' Charlene would not mind going back to her organizing.
"I'll never be that old." Imogene laughed a little and leaned back against the wall. "But, uh, yeah. I should probably get some rest. I'll get something to eat later, I guess. When I feel more like it." She took the blanket Charlene had offered and curled up in the corner. It was on the ground, which didn't sit terribly well with her, but at least she was relatively dry and not likely to get jumped by demons. Besides, she didn't need Ren or anyone else, right? So it shouldn't matter whether she had a couch to sleep on or the ground.
Nodding, Charlene watched Imogene curl up before shifting so that she could continue going through her things, enjoying the sound of rain on the roof even if it was not as nice as being in the water. At least it was right there and the only other person around was Imogene. Way better than the hospital.