[Finally, it's Jade's turn to turn 19 too! Knowing that it'll be hard for him to celebrate his birthday without his twin, Frieda meticulously planned a day of distractions: They'll get up bright and early and go for a hike in an area of his choosing, and she'll bring along all the presents she collected for him over the course of the year in her Hammerspace Purse to gift him during their picnic break.
However, when she gets up in the morning, she finds that plan immediately sidetracked in the form of an eel merchild in her home. With no other eel people around to her best knowledge, it isn't hard to put two and two together, but if there were any doubt about the little boy's identity, the mismatched eyes - one bright and one dull - would have removed any illusions.]
Jade?! What happened to you?
[Her eyes wander over to her potion set... that's right, she made him a potion to cure the stomach ache he got last evening, but it had to slow-cook overnight! Did she make a mistake? She hurriedly rummages through the ingredients she used - and sure enough, rather than the soothing menthol, the Potion of Time bottle is empty.]
[So there he is, lost in a pile of his older self's clothes. Lost, dazed, out of water, and very very confused.
His golden eye was clear to see as he peered out from the neck of his shirt. He was perfectly quiet and still. Unsettlingly so. There was no outward sign of panic or fear, just very pointed observation.
Of course, he WAS fearful. He was out of water. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know where Floyd was. There was just some human that found him. But thrashing and panicking would only tire him out, he was young, but he was able to keep calm enough to think logically... for now. And that ment watching.]
[She… knew his name. That was strange. Why would a human know his name?
Still, now she was closer to him and he disliked that. She was pretty big and he didn’t know if he could take her in a fight while out of water. So it was time to be SCARY! Or try to. He thinks he has a shot at least.
So she’ll probably recognize the warning clicking sound, much like the one he used back when he was bullying that One Siren In Particular, and it was accompanied by a rumbling growl.
Of course, being young, the clicking sound wasn’t the low reverberating pop from before, no. Now it more closely resembled someone popping bubblewrap, and his growl was no deeper than a cats. His lip does start to curl up slightly, just starting to show teeth- but only just. Those are his secret weapon for getting out of this! Or so he thought.]
[Hearing those clicks and growls at a much less menacing volume than usual made Frieda think of a kitten practising its hiss, and she couldn't suppress a smile. How cute!! Giving him a little more space, she sat back, hands relaxed in front of her where he could see them.]
Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you! Do you want to go into the water?
[She pointed at their waterfront veranda from where they so often jumped right into the artificial sea. Part of her was concerned that he'd swim right off, but at his current size, she might be able to keep up with him, and he might feel more at ease in his element. With no memories, he had to assume that she caught him!]
[Jade only briefly looks in the direction she pointed, but didn't completely take his eyes off her.
He DID want to go back to the water, and absolutely did plan to torpedo off the second he hit water, but also he still didn't trust her. If she brought him here then why would she throw him back? There had to be something of a catch...
So he continues his little warning sound- but mixed in there might be the faint rumblings of a hungry belly. Hostile he may be but there was a sure fire way to get on his good side.]
[Oh, she knew that noise! Standing up (and simultaneously stepping back to not scare him), she turned to the fridge.]
You haven't had breakfast yet, hm?
[Having planned to head out bright and early, they'd prepared their picnic provisions yesterday, so she had delicious things to offer to the little eelboy: Big fish sandwiches with herbs from their garden (a growing assortment of big crates and pots filled with good soil rather than an attempt of growing anything from the sand), whole smoked and dried fish with dipping sauces, and a container of seafood salad (the idea was to romantically eat from the same bowl with forks). She set it all up on the floor since that was where he was and she doubted that she'd manage to pick up the slippery (and sure to thrash) kid and seat him on a chair.]
Doesn't this look good? Please don't tell me you want raw fish instead!
[Well, the GOOD news is that he’s not so picky that he’ll turn down food.
The bad news? He doesn’t know what cooked food actually is (he doesn’t even know what “hot” is, which is kind of a prerequisite for cooking), and his sense of smell is diluted out of water.
But, there’s a curious gold eye that can be seen through the neck hole. Also still making the hostile grumpy baby noises. Just wave the food in the “danger zone”, and it’ll get in his mouth one way or another.]
[Rather than outright feed him, she nudges the food containers closer to him and shuffles a little farther away. While it shouldn't be a surprise to her, having spent enough time with him to know that he's a true predator of the depths, she's still reeling a little from just how feral he is. He's nothing like a human toddler who'd just be babbling and crawling! She's pretty sure that if she extended her hand towards him, he'd sink his sharp little teeth all the way into it - not that the bite wound would last long, given her various healing powers.]
...
You really don't recognise me, do you? My name is Frieda.
[Should she tell him that they live together, that she's his mate? No, there's no way he'd believe that. He looks like he's never even been out of the water before, much less experienced a human life!]
[Despite the childlike sound of his voice, there was a distant coldness to it.
The containers and food within still remained too unfamiliar to him to register it as such, so when she pushed them forward, he scooted back again with a feral hiss- which, again, compared to his older self, this current version sounded like an angry kitten.]
[She let out a small sigh. This would require patience. Staying put and sitting down properly, having noticed that any full-body movement only startled him even if she shifted away from him, she offered another encouraging smile.]
If you want, you can head out that way and swim off - but there are no merpeople in the artificial sea. You'd have fish to catch, but you'd be alone. No one would hurt you out there, but I won't hurt you either, so why don't you eat with me?
[Extending an arm slowly, she opened a foil-wrapped smoked mackarel for him, then set it back down. Come one, Jade. You were looking forward to these so much!]
[The little face peering out from the neck hold of his shirt scrunches up when he sees the fish.]
Those are poisoned.
[Because that was the only thing he could think of that would make fish look so... weird. Humans must be real bad at poisoning things, he guesses. Still, that made him worry...]
[With another small sigh, she picked the fish up - still with slow, deliberate movements - and took a bite. That ought to speak for itself on the poison front! Even so, she couldn't blame him for being so mistrusting and cautious. Given all he told her about his world and his home sea in particular, he wouldn't have survived this long if he weren't.]
I'll have it, then.
[As for Floyd, though... well, there was no answer she could give Jade that'd make him happy.]
Floyd isn't here, I'm afraid. My sister isn't either. They're alright, but they're back home.
[Bold of her to assume he cares about some nameless human's sister- but wait! That might mean Floyd was with her sister! Yes, he broke the code, clearly!]
If she took Floyd he'll probably eat her.
[He says this, but now he is eyeballing her stick of fish. That specific stick. Hers. That one was probably not poisoned if she bit it, but he couldn't be certain about the others... but aside from his eyes being VERY focused on that fish, he's not saying anything. Can't give her the advantage of knowing he wants Thing.]]
[She told him her name! But of course, he would just let such unimportant information pass into one ear and out of the other in his current mindset...
As his deadpan statement, she laughs.]
I wouldn't be so sure. My sister is the most wonderful girl in the world; even Floyd wouldn't eat someone as kind as her! I'm sure she'll be a good host to him, too.
[Jade won't believe that either, comforting as it honestly is for her to imagine that, in the unlikeliest of circumstances, their siblings might have been whisked away to some other magical world together by happenstance. But more importantly, she sees how his eyes won't leave her fish. She waves it in front of him on its stick.]
Do you want this one? You can have your own, you know! If you trust me so little, I'll take the first bit out of that one, too.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Jade's Birthday
However, when she gets up in the morning, she finds that plan immediately sidetracked in the form of an eel merchild in her home. With no other eel people around to her best knowledge, it isn't hard to put two and two together, but if there were any doubt about the little boy's identity, the mismatched eyes - one bright and one dull - would have removed any illusions.]
Jade?! What happened to you?
[Her eyes wander over to her potion set... that's right, she made him a potion to cure the stomach ache he got last evening, but it had to slow-cook overnight! Did she make a mistake? She hurriedly rummages through the ingredients she used - and sure enough, rather than the soothing menthol, the Potion of Time bottle is empty.]
Oh, no...
no subject
His golden eye was clear to see as he peered out from the neck of his shirt. He was perfectly quiet and still. Unsettlingly so. There was no outward sign of panic or fear, just very pointed observation.
Of course, he WAS fearful. He was out of water. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know where Floyd was. There was just some human that found him. But thrashing and panicking would only tire him out, he was young, but he was able to keep calm enough to think logically... for now. And that ment watching.]
no subject
Jade, please talk to me! I put the wrong ingredient in our potion; I'm so sorry! Are you alright?
...
Do you know who I am?
Let’s try this again without everything in my life breaking
Still, now she was closer to him and he disliked that. She was pretty big and he didn’t know if he could take her in a fight while out of water. So it was time to be SCARY! Or try to. He thinks he has a shot at least.
So she’ll probably recognize the warning clicking sound, much like the one he used back when he was bullying that One Siren In Particular, and it was accompanied by a rumbling growl.
Of course, being young, the clicking sound wasn’t the low reverberating pop from before, no. Now it more closely resembled someone popping bubblewrap, and his growl was no deeper than a cats. His lip does start to curl up slightly, just starting to show teeth- but only just. Those are his secret weapon for getting out of this! Or so he thought.]
♡
Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you! Do you want to go into the water?
[She pointed at their waterfront veranda from where they so often jumped right into the artificial sea. Part of her was concerned that he'd swim right off, but at his current size, she might be able to keep up with him, and he might feel more at ease in his element. With no memories, he had to assume that she caught him!]
no subject
He DID want to go back to the water, and absolutely did plan to torpedo off the second he hit water, but also he still didn't trust her. If she brought him here then why would she throw him back? There had to be something of a catch...
So he continues his little warning sound- but mixed in there might be the faint rumblings of a hungry belly. Hostile he may be but there was a sure fire way to get on his good side.]
no subject
You haven't had breakfast yet, hm?
[Having planned to head out bright and early, they'd prepared their picnic provisions yesterday, so she had delicious things to offer to the little eelboy: Big fish sandwiches with herbs from their garden (a growing assortment of big crates and pots filled with good soil rather than an attempt of growing anything from the sand), whole smoked and dried fish with dipping sauces, and a container of seafood salad (the idea was to romantically eat from the same bowl with forks). She set it all up on the floor since that was where he was and she doubted that she'd manage to pick up the slippery (and sure to thrash) kid and seat him on a chair.]
Doesn't this look good? Please don't tell me you want raw fish instead!
no subject
The bad news? He doesn’t know what cooked food actually is (he doesn’t even know what “hot” is, which is kind of a prerequisite for cooking), and his sense of smell is diluted out of water.
But, there’s a curious gold eye that can be seen through the neck hole. Also still making the hostile grumpy baby noises. Just wave the food in the “danger zone”, and it’ll get in his mouth one way or another.]
no subject
[Rather than outright feed him, she nudges the food containers closer to him and shuffles a little farther away. While it shouldn't be a surprise to her, having spent enough time with him to know that he's a true predator of the depths, she's still reeling a little from just how feral he is. He's nothing like a human toddler who'd just be babbling and crawling! She's pretty sure that if she extended her hand towards him, he'd sink his sharp little teeth all the way into it - not that the bite wound would last long, given her various healing powers.]
...
You really don't recognise me, do you? My name is Frieda.
[Should she tell him that they live together, that she's his mate? No, there's no way he'd believe that. He looks like he's never even been out of the water before, much less experienced a human life!]
no subject
[Despite the childlike sound of his voice, there was a distant coldness to it.
The containers and food within still remained too unfamiliar to him to register it as such, so when she pushed them forward, he scooted back again with a feral hiss- which, again, compared to his older self, this current version sounded like an angry kitten.]
no subject
If you want, you can head out that way and swim off - but there are no merpeople in the artificial sea. You'd have fish to catch, but you'd be alone. No one would hurt you out there, but I won't hurt you either, so why don't you eat with me?
[Extending an arm slowly, she opened a foil-wrapped smoked mackarel for him, then set it back down. Come one, Jade. You were looking forward to these so much!]
no subject
Those are poisoned.
[Because that was the only thing he could think of that would make fish look so... weird. Humans must be real bad at poisoning things, he guesses. Still, that made him worry...]
Where's Floyd?
no subject
I'll have it, then.
[As for Floyd, though... well, there was no answer she could give Jade that'd make him happy.]
Floyd isn't here, I'm afraid. My sister isn't either. They're alright, but they're back home.
no subject
If she took Floyd he'll probably eat her.
[He says this, but now he is eyeballing her stick of fish. That specific stick. Hers. That one was probably not poisoned if she bit it, but he couldn't be certain about the others... but aside from his eyes being VERY focused on that fish, he's not saying anything. Can't give her the advantage of knowing he wants Thing.]]
no subject
As his deadpan statement, she laughs.]
I wouldn't be so sure. My sister is the most wonderful girl in the world; even Floyd wouldn't eat someone as kind as her! I'm sure she'll be a good host to him, too.
[Jade won't believe that either, comforting as it honestly is for her to imagine that, in the unlikeliest of circumstances, their siblings might have been whisked away to some other magical world together by happenstance. But more importantly, she sees how his eyes won't leave her fish. She waves it in front of him on its stick.]
Do you want this one? You can have your own, you know! If you trust me so little, I'll take the first bit out of that one, too.