Welcome to Gaia! ::

Emelyn jumped at the sound of the other woman's voice. She calmed in an instant, however- she'd been startled, not frightened. (A distinction she always hoped was made when others came upon her in that dazzled state- especially as she saw fear as a sort of weakness.)

"No, not interrupting. I think I'd have to be doing something to have it be interrupted." She smiled genuinely at the pleasant looking, already beginning to change woman. "I don't quite know what brought me down here."

From the moment she'd sat down, Emelyn had decided that she liked her. She was open, optomistic, and not like the scads of shy denizens she'd seen or half-met, slinking back to their duplexes and the away from the harsh realities of the island. Except for her brief self-confinement that she'd imposed on herself as punishment for essentially siding with Moreau, Em had mostly accepted what was happening, and started to enjoy her life again. ...Underneath it all, and no matter what had happened to her, Em believed that life was essentially fair. And good. So it was a refresher- not unlike the cool, salty sea breeze that blew her hair and still-forming quills away from her face as they sat... to meet someone who seemed to be like her.

Then she said her name. Greer. It was like a picture-show in her head- remembering the conversation with Ambrose- and how he'd said that someone named 'Greer' was ... with him. Sean. The Dude. And how Ambrose had said her name with almost a sad sort of longing. Or was it something else? Em didn't know, but the picture show faded to black, and she was left staring at the woman once more, wondering how she should feel about her now.

In the end- and after what was only a few moments, she stuck out her hand- deciding... not to decide. "I'm Emelyn. Nice to meet you." And she meant it, despite all her tumultuous feelings. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Not ominous," Em replied, pulling her goggles up off her forehead and pushing them back among her quills- it was an old affectation that mostly just kept her hands busy when her mind- or feelings- were otherwise occupied and tangled up, "Just true. I've heard about you from... Ambrose, and ...the Dude." She paused, her eyes darting out over the surface of the sea again. "I'm surprised he didn't mention me," she said.

"Latin names?" Em said aloud- but as soon as the words cleared her lips, her brain clicked. "Oh that's right. You're an entomologist. That's so fascinating. ...You know, when I was a little girl- four or five, I wanted to be an entomologist. ...Then I discovered mosquitoes, and my love for bugs was crushed," she said, laughing. "No pun intended." She stretched a bit on the sand. "...Is that how you came to the island? And if you don't mind my asking- what species of bird are you going to become?"

She watched Greer as she spoke, and noted the way she kicked off her shoes to dig her toes in the sand. It seemed to Emelyn like Greer was the sort of person who delighted in even the simple, everyday joys- and that sort of innocence made her... very appealing, Em decided, finally making her mind up about something that had to do with her new acquaintance. Even though the Dude's relationship had come as a shock to her, and she'd noted the sort of... regret in Ambrose's voice when he talked about the young scientist, Em started to understand the worth of her: why she had seemed to enrapture so many. Emelyn made most of this decision subconsciously- for she was always assessing people, and reading them, almost without realizing it, and applying it to making each person as comfortable as possible when they were around her.

Em took a single, droopy quill that hung near her eye, and rolled it absently between her thumb and forefinger towards Greer.

"Hedgehog. Good ol' fashioned humble hedgehog. Sad to say, it suits me rather well." She ruminated on Greer's answer. "I would think a hawk would be sort of upsetting to you... I don't think you'd be very keen on eating your life's work, after all. But perhaps you'll be able to fly. That would be... amazing," she said.

"Good in a scary way," Em repeated, musing... "I like that. I'm going to have to write that down. ...I'm a writer," she explained. "So don't pay any attention to me when I say things like that. But at least that's good," she said, segueing back to the conversation, "I actually didn't know that hawks didn't have insects as part of their diets. Makes sense, though, with their being larger predatory birds. ...I've always wanted to be a falconer- there was this one painting, by a German artist, I think, that I used to carry with me in postcard form- the Falkonerin, with a woman in such a strong pose, with a falcon on her arm. Both just looked out from the card with an expression like 'Bring it on." She smiled, knowing she was going on, but not much caring. She stood to stretch, planning on wading in the water at some point- but not willing to take off her steel-toed boots for a few minutes longer.

She looked down at where the barefoot Greer still sat. "And it's going well. The hedgehog, I mean. I've always loved them- they're such... strange animals. I mean, they're omnivorous- they're defensive, and yet they also have these wonderful attacks." She gestured to the quills. "My change has been going rather smoothly thus far, as well- not much pain involved. Although I can imagine when these quills come in full force, that won't feel very nice.."

"Oh no," she said, explaining for her sudden move to the vertical, "I just wanted to stretch- and I've sort of been debating dipping my toes in the water. I didn't bring my bathing suit, or I'd go diving again. Have you been along the reefs? They're absolutely magnificent." she recalled her own trip down to the beautiful sight of the ring around the island... but then, her mind answered her before Greer would ever have a chance to: Of course she's been down in the reefs. Sean would have taken her, as well. She smiled away the thought, pulling off one of her great behemoth boots.