[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}
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.