Bella Hartley (mermaidbella) wrote in saveatlantisic, @ 2017-02-07 14:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, *maxi, *reese, bella hartley, mulan |
Bella & Mulan
Regardless of spending a good amount of time in Atlantis now, Bella still didn’t feel completely comfortable. She knew people knew about the supernatural and all the weird stuff that went with it, but she still felt uncomfortable admitting that she was a mermaid. Luckily, she didn’t have a roommate, so she wasn’t too worried as she put waterproof headphones on and started to draw a bath. 10 seconds after she got into the nice warm bubble bath she grew a tail and turned into her mermaid self. It was moments like that when she really missed her friends. Not having people to explore the ocean with here was hard for her. “They don't like it sue me, Mmm the way you do me, Oh I swear to you, I'll be there for you, This is not a drive by” Bella sang loudly with her eyes closed, that was until she got that feeling that someone else was around, opening her eyes she looked towards the door screaming as she slashed about awkwardly in the tub. “You scared the seashells out of me!” Bella said looking up at who could only be her new roommate. Mulan was mildly comforted by the answers she’d received. Mildly, and that wasn’t to suggest at all that she was not still on guard. One could easily call it paranoia, but she preferred to refer to her suspicions as being mindfully cautious. She’d never seen anything like the device she’d been communicating with, so who was to say that the answers she received weren’t from the people who brought her here. Face to face conversation was the real first step toward getting to the truth, and even then she knew she had to be wary. When she’d typed her fill, which hadn’t taken long, Mulan decided to investigate the quarters she had been placed in. Though she hated to comply with the apparition that had greeted her, she couldn’t deny that a bath would be refreshing. Perhaps it would help to take a moment and sit with the thoughts that were racing through her mind. While her thoughts were indeed many, she was not so deep in her own head that she missed the sound of someone singing in the bathroom. Who was that? How long had they been here? There was no way to answer those questions from this side of the door. Mulan carefully stepped toward the bathroom, listening as the song continued on as loudly as it had begun. She didn’t knock, but she did crack the door and call out before entering. Mulan had just stepped through the doorway when the girl caught sight of her and started to scream. No, not girl: mermaid. She had heard stories of them, of course, but she had never seen one in person. The fact that here one was, and in a tub, no less, caught Mulan off guard. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized, snapping out of her daze. Mulan caught herself staring at the mermaid’s tail before covering her eyes. “I just got here, and you were singing.” She cleared her throat, obviously embarrassed. “I tried to warn you I was coming in.” Dropping her hands into the water she pulled them back out rubbing her face for a moment and remembering to take off her headphones dropping them quickly to the floor next to the tub moving so she was sitting up a little bit more although her tail was still sticking out the end of the tub. “Well, I guess it’d be more awkward if when I took a bath I was naked.” Bella said finally after a couple of beats. “I mean that, well this isn’t as embarrassing as it could be. I guess that doesn’t really make sense either does it?” Shaking her head she sighed. “I’d get out but then I’d have to wait until I could dry off to get my legs back and that isn’t always fast.” Sticking her hand out in greeting. “I’m Bella. Don’t be freaked out by, well, the tail. But don’t tell anyone either, although I don’t think it really matters here seeing as we are all some kind of fictional.” Bella’s statement caused a hot flush to rise to Mulan’s cheeks, which in turn caused her jaw to set with anger. She wasn’t mad at the mermaid -- how could she be when the girl hadn’t done a single thing wrong? The only person she was upset with was herself. A bathroom was a bathroom after all, and even if this place was foreign, there were only so many things a person singing in a bathroom could have been doing. Mulan had walked in, fully expecting someone to fight. “It does.” She tried to swallow her feelings of foolishness. Slowly, Mulan lowered her hand and opened her eyes. The mermaid might not have been completely exposed, but it still felt wrong to be standing there. Awkwardly, she extended her own hand to take Bella’s. “Mulan,” she said simply. “I’m familiar with mermaids.” There was a pause, during which she debated whether to continue the conversation or leave Bella to her bath. “Fictional? Are you from a story too?” “It’s nice to meet you Mulan.” She said as she gave a puzzled face. “As in the disney movie Mulan? I loved that movie!” She said getting excited. “I mean I guess you wouldn’t come through looking like a cartoon that would be weird, and I’m not being very sensitive am I? Sorry!” Bella said feeling embarrassed as her expression turned to worry. “So, you’ve met other Mermaids?” She asked. “Yeah. I’m from something called H2O: Just Add Water. It’s really weird seeing yourself on TV but I came here before the end of my series so I got to see how they decided to wrap it up. Which is also really weird. Did you know people show up here who look exactly like other people? My boyfriend, well he’s not my boyfriend yet for me, anyways some guy from some other show looks exactly like him just older. And I’m rambling aren’t I? This has to be so confusing for you! I promise it’s not that bad.” Bella’s words, much like her tail, was a lot to take in. The barrage of words began to wear down what remained of Mulan’s guard, at least for the moment. “You’ve seen it?” As she asked the question, a small smile pulled at the corner of her serious expression, cracking it. She had been curious about the movie ever since Neal had explained it to her; there had never been an opportunity to see it for herself. “I’m not sure what a cartoon is, but I don’t think I’ve ever been one.” Then again, would she really know? “Not met, but heard stories. Though, they never made them out to be as friendly.” Though they were still making first impressions, Bella certainly didn’t seem like the type to lure sailors to their death. “I will admit, it’s a lot to take in.” She gave into a full smile, albeit a tight-lipped one. The mermaid was obviously trying, and Mulan was willing to meet her halfway. “So it’s like getting a glimpse of the future, watching your… TV? And someone could look like someone I know, but not be that person.” Mulan’s brows knit as she tried to process those concepts. “And to think just a few months ago I was tracking werewolves and protecting someone under a sleeping curse.” “I guess I was curious and figured why not? They also have a spin off that’s really weird to see.” Bella responded. “Oh, well we could see it, I bet we could get it on the tv, I need to dry off first to get legs for that, but we could watch it.” Frowning she sighed. “Oh.” She didn’t like the idea of mermaids not being friendly. “I guess it is sort of like that, but it’s also just part of what could happen? I still think that it could change because well, I’m not there and I guess it’s just one view of what could happen… if that makes sense.” She said shrugging. “Werewolves and sleeping curses?” She asked having little knowledge of the show Mulan was from. Mulan was quiet again. She was considering whether or not she wanted to see herself ‘on the tv’ and, given that she decide to, whether it was wise to know her story. Even if it was only a version of what things could be, what if she didn’t like what she saw? It was one thing to know that you were a character in a story, but another to know that you could see it for yourself. She was barely keeping the thousands of questions about this place at bay, and there were more adding up with every second. “I was in Oz, helping my friends, Ruby and Dorothy,” she said, as if that explained everything. “I come from The Enchanted Forest, a place of stories. I think a friend once called them fairy tales? He made them seem as if they were common stories in certain realms.” She couldn’t shake the nagging fact that she had rudely interrupted Bella. The mermaid made it seem like such a hassle to dry her legs, but she supposed it would have to be if a single drop of water kept her in this form. “I shouldn’t keep bothering you during your bath.” Mulan moved her weight from one foot to the other. “I can wait, until your done. There’s a ...device I’m trying to figure out.” A sour look took over her face. She’d worked it reasonably well moments earlier, but she knew there was so much it was capable of. “I’ve heard some of the versions of stories, but I’m starting to think everything is slightly different no matter we go.” Bella said quickly moving to sit up a little straighter which caused water to splash a bit. “You’re not bothering me!” Bella added quickly. “I mean yeah, it’s probably awkward being stuck talking to me while my tail is hanging out, but it’s okay, really!” She said trying to be comforting but not too awkward. It was probably awkward though. “Device? What are you trying to figure out?” The reassurance, and the enthusiasm behind it, finally put Mulan’s mind at ease. “I don’t mind your tail.” She had the thought to compliment Bella’s tail, but there didn’t need to be any more embarrassment added to the situation for either of them. Instead, she continued to smile and moved to lean against the edge of the nearest surface. Mulan was trying to relax, but that had never been one of her strong suits. “The thing that played the message when I woke up.” She pointed back out into the rest of the room. “I used it to speak to the others here. Or at least I think I did. How can you be sure that you’re really speaking to who it says?” It wasn’t that Mulan couldn’t grasp technology, she could, her mind was simply trying to combat the stubbornness that refused to see how helpful the device could be in this place. “I suppose it would be impractical to have messengers running all over to drop off a single note.” A beat. “Though that would be amusing to see.” “Thanks!” Bella said looking down at her tail, it was nice to have someone not freak out by it. She’d seen freak outs before. “Right, yeah, I think for the most part people only use their own, but I guess you never do know for sure. But I bet there is something weird about the technology here that could probably track that. They did have magic little coins that brought us here yeah? It’s likely that they could have done something odd like figure out who is talking and who isn’t. I think…” “Can you imagine! Loads and loads of messengers for the little comments, some people are really good at talking on them, others are a little shorter but I think that’s just some people prefer face to face too. Or if you’re like Becker, he’s nice but soldiery, doesn’t talk much.” Mulan nodded as she mulled over what Bella said. She wouldn’t have been surprised if those that brought her here kept track of every person that used that device, every single word they typed. However, she was more concerned about those powers that be pretending to be others like her. There was no way to know for sure, at least not now. Mulan made note of the fact that Bella didn’t seem to be as worried as she was. She often found herself in such situations. “I think you’re right. They’re likely capable of a great number of things.” She left her worry at that for the moment. “It would be quite a sight to see, I’m certain.” She allowed herself to laugh, even if it was the barest bit under her breath. “I believe I’m that way -- preferring face to face.” She wrinkled her eyebrows at the word ‘soldiery’, repeating it a few times in her head before deciding that she liked it. “Is Becker one of your friends?” "It's only logical that they would be, but I guess the question is what and what'll happen the more we learn about what they could or could not know," Bella said nodding her head. "But, so far the locals are really great." Shrugging she wasn't sure how to answer that. "I wouldn't say we're actually friends, but he's like that big protective not a lot of words sort. Nice enough bloke, a bit of an odd sense of humor, but he's perfectly alright I'd say." “You’ve met them,” Mulan asked with a sharp raise of her eyebrow. She had imagined all of the Atlantians to be locked away from the rest of those who had been brought here. That thought had certainly supported her assumption that something was wrong here. But if everyone was happily co-mingling, that had to point to something positive. “I would like to meet them sometime soon.” “Oh, I see.” She wondered if Bella was only acquainted with this Becker through the communication device and, if that was the case, thought how odd it would be to know someone without meeting them face to face. “Bella, if you don’t mind my asking, are you alone here too?” “Yeah, they’re around. I mean not really here in the housing stuff as much, but in general they are around. I bet you’ll be working with some of them too!” Bella told Mulan with a small shrug. “I don’t mind.” Bella said tilting her head unsure why that would be a problem. “Yup, only one from my world, there are a lot of us though, I mean people who are the only ones from their world. As much as I’d love my mates to show up people are pretty easy to talk to here, and the school is good.” “I believe I may be one of them.” Mulan’s tone wasn’t entirely disappointed. She would have been happy to see a familiar face here, but she had traveled alone for a great portion of her life. It was comfortable not to have anyone with her on her adventures. “I’m sure one of my friends would have responded to my message if they had been there. But you’re right, I spoke to a number of friendly individuals.” “Did you know early on that you would stay? Did you take the entire week?” “They’re really, really nice. Not everyone can be all nice but.. So far people have been pretty great.” Bella said as her tail splashed a bit. “If they were here, yeah, they probably would. I’ve seen people from the same worlds jump when they see someone.” Her question took Bella a second to answer. “I guess I figured I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t some real reason for it. I don’t know, even if we are from fictional worlds from this perspective or not, it seems like something that needs fighting against. It took me about a day.” She answered. “How are you feeling about it?” Even if Mulan hadn’t already felt a deep sense in her gut that Bella was a good person, her statement would have confirmed it. It was so selfless, so much more sincere than she had heard from people twice the young woman’s age. She had felt something similar the day she’d decided to enlist in the army. “If these people are sincere, and everything they say is true, then I believe this is something worth fighting for. It may take me more than a day, though.” Mulan smiled slightly once more. If everyone here was like Bella, she would have no trouble deciding to stay. |