Charlene Pearl (fiercetide) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-09-09 17:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | #solo, 2009-07-26, charlene |
Please keep your hands down and stop raising your voice
Who: Charlene. Felipe & Linda Diaz (NPCs)
Where: Diaz home
When: Early afternoon
Charlene's head had hurt after drinking that strange liquid with Cloelia and she had decided, swearing to the fish plushie that she was still sleeping with, that she would never drink it again. Ever. Humans could enjoy their mood and mind-altering drinks all they wanted but why would they enjoy them if it made their heads feel so awful the morning after? Sure, it had been a few days ago, but Charlene had spent them sulking in her boat trying to make it go away and realizing that her stomach was more than capable of getting rid of things it did not like. Throwing up - she was going to chose to go back to never, ever doing that again. It made the water look awful. Mermaids and alcohol were a bad idea and as soon as she figured out what she and Cloelia had drank she was going to make sure all of the others knew it. Who would have thought something that tasted so bad was terrible for you? Huh.
But today... Charlene was not going to spend today in the water. There were Important Things that she had to do. Granted she was not sure if she should do them but that was why she was not going to spend long dwelling on them. Roxy smiled and laughed and act like she was okay and Charlene accepted it because she wanted her happy, pretty much more than anything, but the mermaid knew better. She had seen damaged things before. Fish that had swallowed a hook and ended up dying even though they looked perfectly good from the outside, or a mermaid once who had cared too much about her mate and lost him to a shark attack. Her mother had pointed that out as something that they should avoid at all costs. Looks like I messed that up. And Charlene was not bothered by that, but by how Roxy was doing... that bothered her. Something was hurting her and it had taken hours of thinking for the mermaid to realize what it might be - her family. That whole mess with the Quentin boy - she still did not like thinking about him all that much and wanted to figure out if maybe humans grew gills if you held them underwater for long enough - and how long it had taken Roxy to come find her... yeah, it was her family. They had kicked her out of the pod, or family or colony or whatever penguins called it, and she could not handle it.
Charlene could not understand what it was like to want to go back to one's pod since she had left hers without looking back, but then, there were a lot of things about people up there that she did not get. Humans and weres and elementals, they were all a confusing lot. But she was not really trying to figure them out she just wanted to fix whatever was wrong with Roxy's parents so that they took her back and she was happy all the way through again. But their reason for disliking it, that was what gave the mermaid the most trouble. It was not because she was a completely different race, a mermaid who was probably a century older than her, but because she was female. Charlene knew her pod would be up in arms over the thing with Roxy but, as Nixie had stated quite clearly when she was still there, that was because she was a non-merfolk and they did not date the inferior races.
Shrugging, Charlene checked the street map and glanced again at the house up the drive. Yeah, this was definitely the one she remembered from the party. Only with fewer cars and it was quieter and she doubted that she was going to walk in and be assaulted by a bunch of penguins. Too bad because they were a lot cuter than most people and she imagined it would be easier to talk to a penguin who could not yell than a human. Or a were. Whatever, if they were not Roxy she was thinking of them as a human and that was it. Case closed. At least I look better. The mermaid had put conscious effort into what she was wearing just to try and impress the parents a little. If they could see past the fact that she was a woman. Which okay, now that she thought of it, maybe that would have been easier if she was not wearing some sort of a dress. Tugging at it Charlene frowned, but it was too late to change now. And even if she could then she was not going to put on jeans or something because that meant separating her legs and making it even more obvious that she was lacking her tail. Other people might not care but Charlene? Liked at least the illusion that her bottom half was not split in two. Plus she walked funny when she was in pants.
I'm stalling. Why would I be stalling? They're just humans. It was just dealing with Roxy's happiness.... okay, that was why she was stalling. Charlene wanted to fix the problem, not make it worse, and part of her was wondering whether or not this was really a good idea. Nixie would have scoffed and called her an idiot but hey, her sister called her an idiot for liking Roxy so... sooner I get it over with the sooner I can go back to the river and relax. Grab something to eat. Seaweed and a fish sounded absolutely delicious for the evening.
Taking in a deep breath, Charlene rearranged the necklace she was wearing - her gift from Roxy, she had not removed it since the penguin-girl had given it to her - and walked up to the front door before knocking. That was what you were supposed to do at human dwellings right? Knock on the doors? Yeah, sounded right, she was doing it right. If not then she would press that little button giving off the faint glow... maybe she should press the button too. Shrugging, the mermaid reached out and pressed her finger to the button, though she heard absolutely nothing. Frowning now she left her finger there until finally the door opened to reveal a slightly annoyed looking human woman. With the door open Charlene could hear the ringing and let go of the button almost instantly, putting her hands behind her back like she had been caught doing something wrong.
"You look familiar," Linda Diaz remarked. Yes, Charlene remembered her name. It was important to remember the names of the parents of your mate and that was what Roxy was. Therefore Charlene had to know her parents - since they were supposed to be part of the same pod - and make them stop hating her. Because she was pretty sure that they did and that flicker of annoyance that was suddenly in Linda's eyes told her no different. Nor did the way the door was attempted to be shut on her. Shaking her head, Charlene reached out and stopped her. Like a human was going to close a door on her. Please, they hardly had the strength to carry themselves around! Right?
"Roxy isn't here."
Charlene rolled her eyes. Really? No she was just here to do this because everything was going just swimmingly. Frowning at Linda, Charlene reached into her purse and pulled out her notebook and the purple Sharpie. 'I know that. That's why I'm here.' She held the notebook up and pointed at the letters, waiting for a moment before adding, 'Isn't it polite to ask whoever you're speaking with in so that you don't make a scene? Or whatever it is?' She had seen a scene like that on one of the television shows she had watched in the hospital.
Linda stood there for a moment, shoe clicking on the tile before finally she stepped away from the door and jerked her head for the mermaid to come in. Which Charlene did, stumbling just a little because she did not quite notice the step up. "Not used to walking?" Linda asked, a sheer edge to her voice that Charlene did not even catch. She could be just a little oblivious to tones. "Alright, you're inside of the house, what do you want?"
No polite banter? Good, Charlene never got why humans felt the need to go through all of that. 'I want you to make Roxy happy again.' Straight to the point.
"I thought that's what she was doing when she left here to... be with you." Those words sounded almost like they had to be dragged out of her throat. "If she takes back what she said then maybe I'll think about telling her father and we'll see."
What? 'You kicked her out, no one likes being kicked out of their pod. You're all about pods.' She had looked penguins up at that store with all of the books. Roxy had been telling the truth, of course, and they were extremely social. They needed to be with their colonies to survive and be happy. A lone penguin was no good and Roxy, even with friends, was a lone penguin without her pod. Colony. Whatever. 'Pods don't do that to each other, she needed you and you kicked her out.'
Linda's eyes flashed again. "She lied to us and that's unacceptable. She brought you here, into our home, and you hit the boy we thought she was dating! Do you know how much the family is still talking about that?? It's unacceptable! We didn't raise her to be like that and if your mother were here she'd agree. Do you have a mother?"
Charlene wished she could talk instead of just clicking her tongue in irritation and scribbling out replies she doubted the human was even fully reading. 'I have a mother and she wouldn't agree with you. You're a human, you're lesser, she'd be mad I loved a non-merfolk.'
"That's racist!"
'...you have room to talk?' This was not exactly what Charlene had planned but she was not liking Roxy's mom and the things she was saying all that much. Or at all for that matter.
"I have nothing against the other races! I don't care that you're a whatever you are." Mermaid. "Just that you're with my daughter and you shouldn't be because that's not how things work. She's straight just like everyone else."
No wonder she's miserable, but why does she miss this? Charlene was completely unprepared for that. Now she expected something rude but... really? Wow. And it was all said far too loud. She was starting to wonder if yelling was just normal in this house because that would explain why no one had come to see what was going on. 'Because it's better to disown her for liking girls than because she's with a mermaid.' There was a specific word or term form when girls liked each other, it had been in the title of that book Charlene had read, but she could not recall it. 'I don't get why, but she wants to come back and you're not letting her. That's not what pods do.' Hers would, but that was because she was a mermaid, they were different. Even if she did not understand why they were different she at least recognized the differences and tried to get them to make sense.
"Yes, it is! Lesbians don't have children and that's what she's supposed to do! I didn't raise her to be that!"
Charlene's lips curved up in a sneer. 'Clearly you did. And she's pretty good at it.'
The blood drained out of Linda's face momentarily before flooding back and turning it a brilliant shade of red that Charlene was certain she had only ever seen in blood and on boiled lobsters. "You're corrupting her," she hissed at last, "it's just a stage and she'll get over it faster with you gone. Don't you want her happy?"
'You don't leave your mate.'
"You aren't mated! You're both girls that can't happen."
'Yeah, it can, and I'm not leaving because I want her happy. I'm here because I want her happy. So why don't you stop yapping and think for a minute about what an awful thing you've done?'
Footsteps sounded and Charlene turned in time to spot a man she did not recognize. "Linda?" the man asked, his voice accented in a way that Charlene did not know. His eyes widened upon seeing her however and she had a sudden feeling that this was likely Mr. Diaz. Felipe? "What's going on here?"
Linda shook her head, still looking shocked at what Charlene had written. "Cherrie here is trying to tell me that Roxy's miserable and we're not a good family. Isn't that right?"
'That's not my name.'
"Her name's Charlene," Felipe corrected quietly, sliding an arm around his wife's shoulders while his eyes went to Charlene. She shifted a little at that look, feeling like he was studying her and somehow figuring things out. She was not all that fond of being studied by people who knew what she was, made her feel like maybe they really wanted to take her apart and figure out how she worked. "And I don't think you're qualified to make judgments about our family, miss, you don't know how we work."
'I know that you kicked Roxy out because of me.'
Silence stretched. It did not bother Charlene, she was used to silence, but she saw the discomfort on their faces. Good, let them be uncomfortable, they had hurt Roxy and they deserved it. Felipe was not even blinking. "That's not why."
'Then why?'
"Because she lied about who she was with."
Charlene rolled her eyes. 'That's not a reason. Or it's a really bad one. Kat doesn't mind me and she's as much a Diaz as either of you.'
Linda's hands curled into fists. "You stay away from Kath-"
Felipe interrupted smoothly, "Linda, please, calm yourself. Now can you say your parents would approve of you being with her?"
Figuring it was moot to point out that her parents did not matter, or that she had never even known her father, Charlene figured she should answer. 'No, in fact my sister expressed her disapproval. But! It's because she's not a mermaid. They have stiff beliefs I clearly don't share.' She tilted her head, showing her teeth in a slightly savage grin. 'Has nothing to do with her being a girl.' A long glance went between the two that Charlene understood not at all. But they were not saying anything to her, just looking at each other, and that was actually making her a little uncomfortable. Yet another reason to be grateful for the fact that she did not have to deal with her pod. 'I just want Roxy to be happy,' Charlene explained, straightening. 'She's my mate and a good person, she deserves to be with me and to have all of you. You need to get over your little me being a girl issue because for whatever reason she misses you and this.' Idiotic humans, no wonder they ate them all of the time. How had they gotten so high on the foodchain again.
Linda was snapping something, but Charlene was done listening to her. 'Take her back, it'll make her happy and that's what I want. Her happy. You've got to be dumb as a shark if you keep her away because of this. She's just the same as always.' Shaking her head at them, still frowning and beginning to regret coming, Charlene turned back for the door.
"Charlene," Felipe said, stepping away from Linda.
The mermaid turned, but since she had already slipped her notebook away she did not have the ability to say anything, so she just looked at Felipe. "Thank you for coming. If, well when, you see Roxy..." But then he stopped, shaking his head before turning back to Linda, speaking rapidly in a language the mermaid definitely did not understand. She blinked at them and nodded before leaving, unsure whether she had accomplished a single thing or not but she felt better. Like they needed to be told that Roxy missed them and they needed to take her back. What sort of family did not understand that?
Well. Except for a merfolk one like hers. Charlene did not care all that much, she just hoped that maybe she had somehow made things at least a little better for Roxy. If the pink-haired girl had been able to stand up to Nixie back before the other mermaid had vanished then this had been the absolute least Charlene could do. She really doubted it would have been appreciated if she jumped on Linda and pulled her hair after all. Maybe next time she would try that instead. It would definitely involve less remembering human words. And trying to behave. More than once she had started to reconsider her ban on eating humans because Linda seemed like she could benefit from having a bite taken out of her. Probably tastes awful, the mermaid thought to herself, grinning as she stopped to slip out of the boots and carry them, they were hurting her feet terribly. Like a starfish, all prickly. I totally deserve a good meal after putting up with her without snapping once.
So maybe seaweed and two fish.