Goldie (showfish) wrote in schisms, @ 2019-03-26 21:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | !character: katherine donniger, !character: makai nemmoch, !complete, !log |
Who: Kat and Makai
What: Two fishy people meeting for the first time
Where: New York Aquarium
When: March 6th [backdated]
Ratings/warnings: Kat's in her birthday suit? Otherwise none.
A few shows at the aquarium each week after his morning classes had been enough to pay his half of the rent of a place, he was sure he couldn’t afford. The cost of living in New York almost felt like the cost of milk in Hawaii, was it really worth it? Moving to the city lifetimes away from his home island in the middle of winter also may have been a rash decision. Makai had to look on the brighter side of things; the people he could meet and the sights he had only saw on the tv or in the movies stood around him now.
When home felt too far away, Makai found solace in the waters at the aquarium. The few months he had worked there had not given him much time for non-show swims, between that and classes, but he managed a few times a month- tonight being one of the few times he could stay behind and not worry over homework.
Backpack slung over his shoulder, Makai entered the room at the top of the largest aquarium that provided his normal access point. Brows furrowed in confusion. A top of the line mechanical wheelchair sat without an owner at the ramp. Following his curiosity, a pile of clothes and a towel hung off of it. He did not know what to make of it. “Hello?” He called out, as if someone might be hiding out of the water and answer him.
Sliding off his sandals, throwing his shirt and bag to the side, Makai dived into the water to find the mysterious person- not particularly worried about the pile of clothes left behind and what that might mean. Once inside the calming waters, he took a deep breath through his hair-like gills that expanded slightly once in the water for maximum oxygen and his webbed toes allowed a better maneuverability.
---
Sometimes Kat wished she could just buy the aquarium and come here every day. There were few places in the city that she could swim in privacy that was large enough to let her really stretch out and exercise without having to turn around every few strokes of her tail. The fact that the aquarium was saltwater and not fresh made a big difference too, swimming pool water tasted nasty and could actually hurt her if she stayed in it for too long with all the chlorine and other chemicals they used to treat it. Her apartment operated with similar technology they used here at the aquarium, but it was cramped compared to this.
If she closed her eyes she could almost pretend she was in the open ocean. The water tasted right, and the bottom of the tank resembled a coral reef. In some ways it was better, there was no pollution in here and the animals were well cared for. The simple minded fish and eels were happy enough, they had a warm place to live free of large predators and a steady supply of food. It never entered their minds that they didn’t go anywhere or travel as far as they might in the wild.
Kat was roused from her musings by the sound of something large entering the water from up above, and the vibrations from its movement registered on her lateral line telling her that it was heading down. Being that the whole point of the tank was to put the inhabitants ‘on display’ it wasn’t easy to hide, but she did manage to duck around a part of the reef that provided some concealment when combined with the plant life. She’d never had something (someone?) join her in the tank before and she’d been here on a weekly basis almost since she’d been released from custody as a young teen.
---
Once the bubbles parted from his dive, Makai made a quick glance around. Many of the fish had scattered on his entry initially. The blue salt waters clear enough to spot the colourful species and the reef open enough that hidders could be seen when there were tours. If he was not looking for the owner of the wheelchair and clothes, he might have took another moment to relax all his muscles and just enjoy the peace. It was the fact that someone might be in trouble.
Long black hair waved behind him as he swam deeper into the large space. He could feel a small change in the space but with her hidden behind a part of the reef he could not tell where it was coming from. The vibrations that the condenser usually gave off when divers were in the water was absent. Speaking made no difference if it was a human unconscious and drowning.
His mind started to reach out, touching a single mind at a time of the creatures around, trying to figure out if they had witnessed someone fall in. Dark colours pulsed over Makai’s skin making his distress for whoever it might be evident. The only answers he seemed to recieve was that there was a large fish.
---
The newcomer was observed with wide eyes and not a little consternation. She’d never seen anyone else able to breathe underwater without tanks before, it just wasn’t very common even here in New York. Now she was in a bit of a pickle. He obviously knew someone else was in here, she could sense his mental communication with the other residents of the pool, and she thought he seemed distressed. So she really ought to let him know she was all right.
The only trouble was, since nobody else was ever in here she’d never bothered with a top! Her grandparents could drone on about morality all they liked, but when she was in the water it just felt better this way.
Nothing else for it. She reached out and touched his mind. Can you hear me?
---
Not able to touch more than one mind at a time to ask about the new large fish, and one grumpy eel pointing out it would rather be sleeping, Makai shifted quickly when he heard the voice in his head. Skin flashing in quick hypnotic waves of blacks and blues before settling. His heart in his throat, he had never encountered true telepathy before. Long dark hair floated in the wake of his movements as he looked around, trying to feel any of the other’s vibrations in the water. The connection between minds made on her end, he followed the energy to send back a response.
Like the flashing images of a reel to reel old film, flickering from the changes in slides, images of her things on the deck with the feeling of worry splashed through the mind. If she could send out thoughts then she must not have been in distress, but Makai had never interacted with other water-based mutants. He barely interacted with other mutants at all.
---
It’s all right, I’m fine. So he could only send images and emotions back, interesting. I’m sorry to worry you, nobody’s ever come to this tank before when I’m here. They didn’t tell me there was another water breather in the area. Her tone was a bit chagrined for reasons that would soon be made clear.
I’m coming out now. Don’t stare too much ok? Kat took a deep ‘breath’, not that it really did any good down here, and with a few flicks of her tail pushed herself up above the reef and it’s plants so she was fully visible.
---
Vibrations flowed over his skin when she moved from her hiding place. The flash of a tail and sudden realization on what her embarrassment was about, had Makai’s eyes widen and then divert. A bare chest was not something new to see nor something to be ashamed over, chests were chests, but if she felt the embarrassment he was not about to keep his gaze on her. It was out of respect that his brown eyes found other things to look at for a moment.
His curiosity over her tail though pulled his gaze towards that. The fish had been correct in their simple descriptions, a large fish. Pressing his lips together, he offered her a smile and pointed toward her tail in wonder. Flipping in the water, he showed off the webbing of his long toes that helped him swim faster. Makai could not imagine how fast she could go- or more he could imagine but wanted to see.
Sending her images of him working as a mermaid in the tank during the day, he tried to convey images to tell her that he was playfully jealous of her tail.
---
It wasn’t so much embarrassment per se, but between her upbringing from her grandparents and her time in essential spider she didn’t make it a habit of going around naked in front of men she didn’t know. Or women for that matter. After tonight she’d always have a top even if nobody else was supposed to be around.
She cocked her head at him when she received the images he wanted her to see. He was jealous (not in a serious way) of her tail? And why would he put himself out there for the amusement of others? It seemed, well, degrading, but she wasn’t going to criticise him. If that’s what he wanted to do who was she to tell him he was wrong? His own abilities seemed to let him blend in to both worlds, she was a little jealous of him.
Still, he wanted to see how fast she could go? Her lips quirked upwards into a smirk. Do you want to race?
---
A poor college student could do worse in picking a job to pay for courses than spending hours in a warm, inviting, salt aquarium that reminded him of home. To be on display might have been degrading to some, but he saw the joy in children’s faces at his performances. That was all he needed to bring that joy into his own heart.
For the beautiful red haired girl in front of him, he kept his mind an open book. No matter how her telepathy might work, she had access to any thought she wanted. Her being part fish as he was meant he trusted her immediately. His gaze dropped to the gills along her ribs, intrigued by the positioning of them. She really did look like a mermaid of legends.
Nodding his head, a grin spread ear to ear, his high cheekbones making his eyes into joyful crests. He did not believe he could win against her, but he never had anyone he could swim against without fear of them drowning. Swimming in a circle to set himself beside her, he looked over and nodded again.
---
Now that she'd gotten over her initial surprise and concern about having someone else in the tank with her, Kat was looking forward to their little race and getting to know more about her new friend. She would have heard about him long before now if he’d been a native New Yorker or anywhere close to the city, which meant he must be a relatively new arrival. How had she not heard about him before now? Why hadn’t the aquarium staff notified her or her grandparents about him? They donated quite a bit of money both out of belief in the foundation’s mission and to give her a secure, clean and warm place to ‘stretch her legs’ (or tail in her case) on a regular basis. It would have been a simple courtesy to let them know about the new addition.
But that was for later. Now she grinned at the young man as he settled in beside her. This would be fun. On Three: One...two...three! With that she was off like a rocket, tail undulating to build up speed and lap around the tank heading up towards the surface.
---
Makai would not have any of the answers for her. It could have been that the aquarium did not want to be vocal about having a mutant on display; they tried to keep his ‘tricks’ a mystery saying it was part of the children’s show. They even had him wear a silicone tail as most mermaid performers did; though his movements were smoother in the tail than a normal human given his cartilage acting bone structure.
On three, Makai sped forward. Feet moving together, toes spread for optimal webbing use. High cheekbones pushed up further in a grin that lit his face. He had never been able to race anyone before. Not quite as fast as the girl with a tail, he pushed himself as fast as he could possibly manage- always a second behind her. Dodging into the coral rocks, he pulled himself through a hole that looked smaller than the muscular man looked like he could fit, taking a shortcut to their final destination.
Breaking the surface, his laughter exploded up from an air bubble.
---
Kat had exploded out of the water like a dolphin, her body leaping into the air and twisting to make a graceful dive back below the surface instead of landing in a belly flop. She swam once around the young man before settling in front of him, her head breaking the surface so she could look at him. It took a second for her body to make the adjustment from water to air that would allow her to speak with her voice, but her happy smile spoke volumes.
“That was fun, thank you.” His shortcut hadn’t gone unnoticed and she made a mental note for later to try a more challenging route for him next time.
“I’m Kat, what’s your name?”
---
The sight of her dive through the air and back to the water had Makai staring in awe. Words could not express how magnificent it was to watch. Swimming with dolphins, playing amongst the fish and mammals of the ocean had nothing on watching another mutant such as her do the same tricks.
“I’m Makai.” He answered, still laughing and grinning like an idiot. “I’ve never met another water dweller before. I love your tail! It’s so pretty. But, man, did you scare me. I thought someone had drowned.” His words had a relaxed tone, pausing for breaths, but he also wanted to express everything he could not when they were in the water.
---
“Thanks.” It had taken years and thousands of dollars in therapy to embrace her tail. Living on land as a creature built for the sea was not easy to say the least, and the way humanity treated the environment made her sometimes despair that things were going to be any better in the future. But that was why she’d chosen to fight for the future. Maybe one day she could swim in the ocean without pollution and overfishing screwing everything up.
“I’m sorry to have scared you. Nobody has ever been in the tanks before when I come here.”
---
“I only started recently. I needed the extra money… this city is expensive.” Makai pushed his hair back out of his face, strands had migrated forward with the splash of the water around them. A rosy blush ran over his cheeks followed by the wave of purple in his embarrassment. “I play a merman for the kids coming into the aquarium, but my tail is fake.”
Swimming over to the ledged ramp into the tank, he grabbed onto the side and pulled himself out so his legs were the only thing in the water. “How do your gills function when you’re in the air?” Nature was magnificent enough to make them so different with the same functions.
---
“Aw that’s cute.” She couldn’t see herself doing that, but his explanation made sense and it was different in that he was ‘playing’ a part instead of a specimen on display like just another fish. “The city is expensive, that’s true, but it’s home for me.” And it wasn’t as if she really had to worry about money.
“They don’t, really, at least when I’m dry.” Kat shrugged at his question. Her anatomy wasn’t exactly a mystery but the exact details weren’t something she’d wanted to know. The staff at Galen’s knew and that was good enough for her. “It’s kind of like they shut down when I’m in air and let my lungs take over again.” Her lungs didn’t exactly work the same way a regular human’s did either, she couldn’t drown if they filled with water and let her expel it quickly when needed. “I keep my tail wet all the time but my upper half doesn’t need it as much.”
---
Surprise could not be hidden in his expression when she called New York home. To be like them in such an environment had to be difficult. The waters were not the greatest, though the beaches scattered around seemed to be kept clean enough for people to enjoy.
Makai separated out the feather-like gills from his black hair, changing their colour so they were easier to see and held one out lightly in his fingers. “I’ve been told they are similar structures as an Axolotl. I don’t think I breathe with them when I’m out of the water, but hairsprays or high traffic or anything like that that fills the air can make be really sick. I can’t even put my hair up with a normal hair tie. I have to use a scrunchy because it’s softer.”
Gently moving his feet back and forth, he enjoyed the feel of water against the webbing in his toes. “I’d stay in the water all the time if I could. I practically did back home,” he smiled. “Living on an island has its perks, I guess.”
---
She peered at his gills from her spot in the water, maintaining her position with the occasional flick of her tail. “Wow. That’s very different from mine. But the same sort of thing happens to me if I’m in a regular swimming pool for very long: the chemicals make me sick.”
“Manhattan’s an island,” It came out a little defensive but she nodded along to his comment. “I understand what you mean though. We typically spend a few weeks somewhere on the ocean during the spring and after Thanksgiving, somewhere warm obviously. It’s hard to come back sometimes but the energy of the city is something I’d miss if I left for good.” His accent sounded super familiar but she couldn’t place where he might be from. An island meant California was out. He didn’t look Puerto Rican or Hispanic at all, and the accent didn’t match either. “This is going to be kind of a rude question, but where are you from? What island are you talking about?”
---
“Yeah! Swimming pools are terrible. I understand the why they do it, but there’s more natural things now to maintain a clean pool that I wish more places used. It would make swimming outside of an aquarium easier.” He chuckled.
“Oh! I know,” he offered, his hand waving out and then pushing his gills back into his hair. “I just meant far away from the mainland.” Came his answer after she was finished speaking. Makai’s Native American, islander, and asian features did not lend itself to many islands close by. He grinned at the question.
“It’s not rude at all. I’m from Lānaʻi, one of the islands of Hawaii. We aren’t very big, the population is maybe that of two blocks in this city. But… if I say something wrong or what have you, please tell me. I’ve mostly been focused on school since the beginning of the semester and still am not use to city life.”
---
”That’s where I’ve heard the accent before!” Kat snapped her fingers. “I’ve been to Oahu and the big island, but never Lānaʻi. The chain of islands is beautiful.” She honestly had never been very far from water there, and had never gone very far inland except on helicopter tours. Her condition didn’t allow it even in human form, too dangerous for her. “I’ve gone swimming along some of the reefs there, it’s great.” She hadn’t wanted to leave the last time they’d gone two years ago, but knew she’d miss the city if she’d stayed.
And here, in the heart of the most powerful city in the country, she could fight to protect such beauty better than she could living there. So she’d come back.
“You came here for school then?”
---
Another array of colours passed over his skin in embarrassment. “I try very hard to not have a heavy accent here. When I first got here someone thought I was Jamaican.” He chuckled, his gaze dropped to the water between them. “Yeah. There’s lots of tourism there, not so much in Lānaʻi. The island is very small, mostly dirt roads. Some company owns a large majority of it for their two golf courses and hotels, but tourist aren’t as fond of the place. We get enough for our liking.”
“Yeah. I am getting my masters in Environmental Science, focusing with Ocean and Marine sciences. Have to keep our reefs thriving, for people like us.”
---
“It’s not that heavy.” Kat hurried to assure him. “But you definitely don’t sound like a native New Yorker, and it isn’t southern or midwestern so it stands out. It’s good though, don’t be embarrassed. It fits with your name now that I realize you’re Hawaiian.”
“I’m in school too, finishing my undergrad in English and Political Science.” A shrug that tried to show it was no big deal that she was behind the ‘normal’ schedule’ even if the reason why still bothered her. “I was a ‘guest’ of the government for a few years so it put my education back. But I want to work to help convince people to do better protecting the environment. And help people like us too.”
What happened to her and so many others could never be allowed to happen again.
---
Brows furrowed. “Guest of the government?” Makai had heard about the black sites when they were leaked about, but having never experienced them or known anyone who had, the concept was still foreign to him. Just by how she said it though, he could tell it was nothing to joke about. “Everyone finishes school in their own time, and going into the politics of it is just as important. If not more so. I can study the ocean and know how to preserve it to no avail if the government don’t back the programs.”
He offered a soft smile. “You think there’s more people like us, yeah?” The idea was nice and almost fantastical, even as they sat amongst a large aquarium part fish and part human. But if there were more, they would all be real life merfolk. They could have a colony of them protecting the reefs and living amongst the vast oceans. It was a great daydream.
---
She nodded at his question. “That’s how I try and think about it. When I was born I looked just like any human, I didn’t get this-” she leaned back to poke her tailfin out of the water - “until I was ten. It freaked a lot of people out and my grandparents had to go to court to get me back. It took a while. I always loved the ocean and marine wildlife, I just never imagined I’d become part of the wildlife.”
A smile spread across her face at the idea of more sea creature/human hybrids. If asked she wouldn’t consider him merfolk, at least not like her, but he was close enough that the distinction didn’t really matter. A few more people with tails wouldn’t hurt anything though. “That would be awesome if there are, I didn’t know about you so maybe there are more out there, somewhere.”
---
He was not a traditional merfolk like Kat, obviously, but he would not have minded a tail- even though it seemed like a hard life in the current state of the world. Makai would have never left the ocean if he had a tail.
“Wow. That had to be rough.” Empathy flitted across his features, not pity or anything demeaning but his own ability to imagine having to deal with the changes and with a custody battle at that age.
His smile came back at her smile though. “I was a late bloomer.” He laughed. “I was 14 and they kind of kicked in when I got stuck in the shipwreck off one of the beaches. Saved my own life.” Another soft giggled escaped his lips.
Pulling his knees up to his chin, he watched her with as much excitement as the idea of others like them could muster. “Want to make this a weekly thing? Or monthly? I don’t know what your schedule is like, but it’d be nice to have someone to swim with other than that grumpy old eel at the bottom.”
Leaning back, he pulled his cellphone out of his stuff that had been set down close to her chair. “Or we could just chat.”
---
“It was.” She left it at that, not wanting to dwell on the past or think about the dark times.
Much better to think about the future instead, and her good mood returned at the thought of having a swimming partner. A grin crossed her face and she nodded. “He is a grump isn’t he? The fish are nice enough but they aren’t exactly good conversationalists.” She rattled off her phone number. “Go ahead and send me a text, I’ll look at it when I get out. My schedule is pretty flexible but I usually come by once or twice a week after closing time for an hour or two. It lets me get some exercise that I can’t do anywhere else, and I can pretend I’m out in the caribbean or somewhere else with warm water and coral reefs.”
Maybe in a few years she’d split her time between there and the city, she could touch the rest of her trust fund by then and have more at her disposal. A private island with it’s own reef would be nice. She’d just have to work on making whatever she put there hurricane proof.
---
The grins from the mermaid brought larger smiles to Makai’s face. He liked it when others smiled and the fact that she knew the eel as well as he did made him determined to be her friend. Fish people had to stick together after all. Just that made a closer connection for him than with anyone else. She could hate him for all he knew and he would still feel like she was one of his kind and would do anything for her.
Typing in her number, he immediately he sent her a simple text: ‘Mahalo for the swim. - Makai.’ Once the text was sent, he smiled at his phone, his gaze catching the time at the very top of it. “Oh no. I need to get going. Sorry we couldn’t swim longer, but I need to get a paper done by tomorrow evening.” Makai flipped backward, rolling his feet out of the water and sliding to his feet easily. “I will have to see if they’ll give me a new schedule for my shows, so I can catch you when you come in.” He laughed softly, pulling on his sandals and colorful t-shirt.
Leaning down to her, “Maybe you could come visit me in Hawaii for a week too- when we’re on break- I could show you around our reefs and the shipwreck and everything.” Excitement already laced his voice as his dreams expanded in his mind of what it would be like to have the pale mermaid swimming at his side and being able to go where his friends could not.
---
“I’ll text you back when I get out, so then you’ll have my number.” His number would be in her contacts before she left the building. Having a swim buddy would make these after hours swims more enjoyable even if they didn’t do anything else and she was already looking forward to arranging a time.
Kat’s smile went even wider at his suggestion she come visit him in Hawaii. It would certainly be easy enough to arrange, it wasn’t as if she needed to fly commercial. “I’d love that! Hawaii was always amazing but I’m sure you know the best places for people like us.” A few of her friends had swam along with her with scuba gear, but it wasn’t the same.
“Good luck on the paper, and I’ll see you soon!” With that she pushed herself away from the ledge, and with a slap of her tail dove back under the surface. A few more minutes to enjoy the water and then it would be time for her to get out as well.