[PRP][PLOT] Others Like Us [Anxo and Mnemo]

[Menelie]

Anxo had been enjoying his new freedom as a teenager. His parents had gradually allowed him more autonomy, with his mother letting him into the water without insisting on waiting on the shore for him to return, and his father letting him swim away from direct supervision. Now that they were confident about his abilities underwater, it seemed like they worried less. Well, not less, necessarily, just differently.

And so Anxo had taken it upon himself to explore the bits of the lake he hadn't seen yet. He's got his wings folded back for less resistance, though they do weigh him down. His strong legs kick at the water. He's an expert swimmer by now, but it had taken him forever to get the hang of it. Mom never came swimming, and Dad's legs always fused into a tail the instant he touched water. Not ideal for teaching. Still, he'd persisted, and in time he'd taught Anxo the basics, and he'd taken off from there. Besides, Anxo had been a natural!

This is further than he'd ever swam away from the palace. There wasn't much out here...just a bunch of holes in the rocky lakebed. Just wide enough for a naiad to wriggle into. Curious....this one had bubbles coming out of it. He wonders if someone lives here.  

[Antidia]

Minding her own business, just out roaming the lake bed and watching the aquatic life, the little sea-slug Naiad was used to being alone. It didn't particularly bother her, as she'd never known anything otherwise. Once in a while, her mother would come out to check on her, to make sure she was eating and still alive she supposed, but that was about the limit of the parenting she received. Mnemo learned most of what she does about survival from watching the other sea critters anyway. Lethe's visits always made her feel sad anyway, so she tried to not think about it.

Unfamiliar movements in the water alerted her that something bigger and clumsier than a fish was heading her way. She hesitated, to see what it could be, but when she noticed Naiad-specific features, her heart leapt to her throat and she worried it was Lethe. But then, a split second before she darted down her nearby hole she noticed that whatever was coming near did not have a tail. Two tails? No, they don't move right. What is that?

A small school of fish fled from the encroaching stranger, and she took the opportunity to do the same. She zipped down her hole, tucking herself in down as deep into the darkness as she could, hoping whatever it was did not see her.

It had noticed something, because she was able to see two eyes approaching the hole, searching for something. Her normal instinct is to be afraid, to hide and hope whatever it is, it didn't eat fish. But seeing the face of another being similar to her, with eyes like hers and earfins sort of like her mothers, she was curious. She reached out of the darkness of the back of the hole, slowly, with an upturned hand towards the face that looked so soft.  

[Menelie]

Anxo backs away from the hidey-hole when he senses someone moving. He doesn't want to intrude on someone's home. But it's very clearly someone and not something, as it has hands like his and, as it emerges further, a face like his.

Oh goodness, it's a girl.

Anxo isn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it certainly hadn't been a girl. What do I say to her? What do I do? Trying not to let the vague panic show through in his face, he smiles brightly. "Hello!" he says with a little wave. "Do you live here? I'm sorry if I bothered you, I wasn't really expecting a person, more like a fish or something..." He bites his lip. Did he just imply she was a fish? Well, she was sort of fishy. Fishy like his father.

"I'm Anxo," he says, to keep himself from saying anything else stupid.  

[Antidia]

Mnemo's head pops out of the hole and she pulls her hand back quickly. He speaks! He is a thing ... like her. But he didn't share many similar features. He didn't even look like Lethe. Is he a mutant like me? she wondered, growing curiously excited at the possibility that there are others like her.

"Hello," her meek, seldom used voice was soft as she spoke. Her big eyes watched him and she giggled slightly, listening to him and noticing how he moved. He was different, and she couldn't help but find that endearing. She tries to mimic his smile, seeing if she can make the same face. Smiles weren't something she had seen very often in life, but she knew they were something good.

"I ... hide here," she says to answer his question. She didn't have a home or live anywhere. The Lake was her home, as far as she knew. "I'm Mnemo." She pulls herself up from the hole a little further, to get a closer look at Anxo.

"Where did you come from, Anxo?" she watched his hair in the water, fascinated by how soft it looked. Self-consciously, she raised a hand and ran it through her own stripe of hair.  

[Menelie]

Anxo blushes a little at her question. That's a complicated thing, where he's from. "Well," he begins. He scratches the back of his neck. "Technically speaking I came from the palace." He points in its direction. "That's where I live, sort of. Most of the time. My dad lives there all the time, his name is Toli. He's a Naiad like you. My mom lives above the lake, on the land. I live there too sometimes, but I can't stay long or my skin dries out." He bites his lip. "Sorry, I ramble sometimes."

Gosh, she's pretty. Pretty pink skin and a smooth tail. She looks so graceful, her fins fluttering in the current. And her hair! He wishes he could run his fingers though it. She looks so different from all the other girls down here. The same, but different. Unique, and beautiful.

But her eyes looked sad. Lonely. He wonders... "What do you hide from all the way out here?" he asks, tipping his head to the side. It seems so empty out here.  

[Antidia]

She looks to the palace, sadness washing over her. She's dreamed of going to the palace, and mingling with others, but Lethe told her to never go there because it's dangerous and she'd scare pae. I'm not scaring this one, she thinks.

She wasn't familiar with the word he used, 'ramble' so she didn't know why he was sorry. But his talk of a mom and dad intrigued her. "My mom lives there, sometimes, too. And you go on land?" she was impressed. She was far to scared to leave the safety of the lake bed, let alone go to the surface and on the land. He thinks I'm a Naiad. Lethe says there's no way I could be. The thought makes her a little hopeful, but sad at the same time. Being a normal Naiad is her biggest wish.

She dips down into the hole a little when he asks what she hides from. "Others," she whispered. He was being so friendly, she didn't want to waste this chance to make a friend, so she tried to not let herself retreat back to the hole. Be nice. Just because Lethe says you are a sea monster, doesn't mean you have to act like one. She pulled herself back up, fully floated out of the hole. It was at this point, when she looked to see if he was going to swim away horrified that she noticed he had something on his back. She couldn't be sure, but it almost looked like a tortoise shell. Excitement bubbled up inside and she smiled naturally this time. She wanted to learn everything she could about Anxo, especially if he wasn't scared of her.

"Did you come looking for something? Not many others come out here except to look for things."  

[Menelie]

Anxo nods matter-of-factly. "My mom lives on land, so I have to go be with her. She's a land-pae, an angel. It's not so bad up there, just my skin gets dry and itchy if I stay out of the water for more than a couple days." He shrugs a little, but then his eyes widen with delight as his new friend comes all the way out of her hidey-hole.

"Your tail is so pretty!" he gushes, then bites his lip and laughs nervously. "I mean....yeah..." He scratches the back of his neck. "I wish I had a tail like yours. I got wings instead." He unfurls them to show them off. "But they're not soft like my mom's. They're soggy and heavy and I can't fly properly with them." He sighs a little, but then smiles. He hadn't meant to get all sad on her. Just some days he wishes he was a real Naiad.

"Hm? Oh, I didn't come out here looking for anything, really. Just looking." Then he tips his head to the side, confused. "What do you mean, others?"  

[Antidia]

If blush were visible on her already pink cheeks, she'd have been glowing. Pretty. She knows the word. It's just never been attached to anything relating her. She's feeling suddenly shy, but also a little giddy. He thinks my tail is pretty. She couldn't hide the smile on her face even if she wanted to. "Thank you."

She dared not look at the tail, because she's never found it pretty, and she didn't want to lose this wonderful feeling that washed over her whole being at the thought that somepae else seen as she's always wanted to be seen. But when he unfurled his wings, which she finally got a good look at it, she's completely awe-struck. He is very different from any Pae she's ever seen, but it doesn't strike her as odd or freakish, like she assumed she would, considering how judgmental she felt her mother was about her own daughter's appearance. This new revelation made her genuinely happy because it means she isn't like her mother at all. But that thought itself made her wonder why it made her so happy, and guilt found a way in. She loves her mother, how she understand that parental love should be anyway.

Now is not the time to dissect my relationship with my mother. New, exciting things are happening now.

She reached out to touch Anxo's water-wings, gently feeling the texture, expecting it to be something soft, even if he said his mother's were softer. She'd never felt anything like that. "Why would you wish for a tentacle tail when you can wish for a beautiful tail-fin?" she asked curiously. "Your wings are fun. And you can fly? Like in the air?" She started putting two-and-two together. Angel mother, wings, land, air. She started wondering what her father looked like. Maybe she wasn't a mutant, and just had a special kind of father. Naw, couldn't be that easy.

"Others," she starts, and swims slowly circling Anxo, "like you. Other Pae. I've never actually talked to them before though. You are the first."  

[Menelie]

Anxo can't help but giggle when she touches his wings, little bubbles escaping from his mouth and fleeing for the surface. It isn't often that pretty girls want to touch his wings. Well, more like never. Her hands are small and soft, and they feel nice on his feathers. He blushes, then realizes she'd asked him a question. "Yeah, I can fly, but not very well...my wings are always so wet and heavy that I can't get very high. I more like...hover." He chuckles a little. "But my real love is swimming, which is why I wish I had a tail...and yours is so pretty and unique." He smiles, but then it fades.

"You mean you've never talked to anyone before? Don't you have like, parents? Or brothers and sisters?" he asks, tipping his head to the side as he rotates to keep facing her. She must have someone to take care of her. Who wouldn't love her sweet face and exciting hair? Maybe she could come live with him and Dysmas and Dad...  

[Antidia]

Anxo's declaration that he can fly is exciting for Mnemo, because the air and anything above the surface of the lake is thrilling. She's never been specifically forbidden from going to the land up top, but her mother did just tell her to stay away from every Pae'il cuz they'd think she was a sea monster of some kind.

Anxo was proving Lethe wrong on nearly all accounts.

"Pretty is not something that's ever been associated to my ugly tail," she said as she stopped floating in circles around him. She floated backwards slightly, bringing her tail up front where she could grab the tentacles. "No other Naiad looks likes me. I want to be pretty, like Lethe."

At his next line of questioning, Mnemo lets go of her tail and allows herself to slowly sink to the sandy floor beside her hidey hole. "I've only ever talked to my mother, Lethe. I don't know anyone else. Lethe only says I have to stay out here and away from others because I'll scare them." She frowned, thinking about the many times her mother reminded her of this. "I think I scare her, because she doesn't know why I was born a freak, or at all, for that matter." She drew little circles in the sand as she spoke, avoiding eye contact with her new friend because she didn't want to see the disappointing looks like she was used to, nor did she want to see him swim away now that he knows she's a freak.

She hated this self pity that washed over, because she's never felt it this intensely before. She accepted what her mother said, and it never made her resentful, because she knew it to be normal. But Anxo kept saying things that did not match her mother's words. And what Anxo said was far more pleasing than what her mother said, so she wanted to believe his words more. But Lethe wouldn't lie to me, she's my mother.

Peeking up, looking through her eyelashes, she sees he didn't leave. "Do you really think I'm pretty?"  

[Menelie]

Anxo's heart just breaks for his new friend. The self-loathing is obvious, and maybe that's because he's felt it before as well. He knows how it feels to get the strange, side-long glances from "real" Naiad. He knows he's different, and there would never be a time in his life when he wouldn't be aware of his status as a half-breed.

But he's not sure what kind of mother would remind her child of this.

Anxo frowns and puts an arm around Mnemo. "I think you're very pretty," he says earnestly, giving her a little squeeze. He tries very hard not to blush in this serious moment, but it's difficult. She's very pretty and it makes his heart beat rapidly in his chest. "I think that...sometimes people don't understand why things happen....and that makes them afraid...and when people are afraid they can say awful things." He offers a little smile. "But we can't let what people say have any bearing on how we see ourselves."  

[Antidia]

Mnemo smiles a little smile, but when he moves to put his arm around her, she freezes. She's never felt this kind of physical contact with another before, and this sensation is completely alien to her. She doesn't know what to say or what to do, and can only hope the weird feelings this action incites will subside quickly.

But they don't. The stirrings in her gut only grow worse, and she starts to feel her face warm up. She wiggles a little bit, and swims just out of his reach. She didn't know if he meant harm, or if he even caused her to feel like she did, but it confused and scared her.

He talked of pae being afraid and saying awful things, so she tried to not say the things that popped into her mind. He thinks I'm pretty. He's nice. He's not Lethe. Calm down. "L-Lethe said that s-she doesn't know w-why I hap-pened." she managed to sputter out, trying not to show how she really feels, but failing miserably at it. She swallowed hard, paused a moment and composed herself.

What confused her most about the close physical contact was that she liked it. Her eyes searched Anxo, trying to find some explanation for the new feelings she was having.

"How do you know so much?" She finally managed to say, curious, because he didn't look much older than her, but he was by far, much wiser.  

[Menelie]

Anxo pulls his hands in toward himself as she pulls away. Had he hurt her? He watches her with wide eyes, then starts to draw closer to her again. No, he decides, he hadn't hurt her. But she was hurting.

"You learn things when you talk to people," he says in answer to her question. "Just being around them, even." He holds out his hand to her, slowly, the way he would with a skittish fish.

"Come on, let's go exploring," he says. He wants to get her away from this place, where she obviously feels so alone and afraid. "We probably won't see any other Naiad, but maybe we'll find some interesting fish. Or some cool rocks, my dad likes those." He wiggles his fingers enticingly on his offered hand. "I'll protect you," he says with a little smile.  

[Antidia]

Mnemo hesitated. He didn't behave like he had malicious intent. He was kind, and never raised his voice. His body language was not threatening either. But his invitation for her to leave her safe spot was terrifying. She wringed her hands nervously, and looked towards her hole, unsure what to do. "If-if I leave, Lethe might get mad at me," she stammered. It was true, but she was also using it as an excuse to not leave the safety of her comfort zone.

She did often wonder what was beyond the lake bed, and Anxo did offer to protect her. But her own insecurities would need a bigger push if she was to swim away from her comfort zone.

She unconsciously floated nearer to Anxo as he motioned for her to follow. She wanted to, but was just scared.  

[Menelie]

"We won't be gone long," promises Anxo, gingerly taking her hand. "Just right over here. You'll still be able to see your hidey-hole, I promise." He smiles encouragingly and begins to wiggle backward slowly, gently towing Mnemo along with him.

He begins to talk to her, to distract her from her obvious fear. "I have a brother, you know," he begins. "His name is Dysmas. He loves the ocean just as much as I do, but I'm a better swimmer." He grins a cheeky grin. "He looks just like me, only his hair is the color of gold and he's got different pink bits than I do." He almost glances down at himself, but he stops himself. He keeps focused on Mnemo's face so she wouldn't get distracted. She has a very lovely face. A very lovely everything, in fact. But he's trying to forget that. She needs a friend right now, not a dopey flirty boy.