Welcome to Gaia! ::

"My uncle forbade me to swim to human-populated shores. I guess he knew what he was talking about, but at the time, I was too young to listen," she sighed. She blushed a little when he mentioned her scent. "Thanks. I got my perfume in Tokyo, during the Sakura festival. You smell nice too, now that you're all clean. Sort of musky and woodsy."

She looked down on him, so innocent and cute.

"You are so adorable!" she gushed. "I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to hurt you."

"That's the funny thing about humans," Nixie agreed. "Their natures aren't fixed like ours. I'm a selk; you're a fox; it's easy to know what to expect from us. But humans! There are good ones and bad ones, good ones that do bad things, bad ones that do good things...but most of them are just crazy. Take Austin, for example. I give him a HUGE severance package, just like the rest of Sovenn's personal employees, but he showed up the next morning, ready to work again. Even though I haven't paid him a dime in the last month, he still works harder than before. I don't understand him. He just won't leave!"

She stroked his tail absently. It was so soft and bushy.

"You keep surprising me," Nixie chuckled and mussed his hair affectionately. "Life in the ocean is the only life. It's like being weightless and graceful, even though on land I'm a heavy clutz. It's full of noise and music and life--you haven't lived until you've chased a school of sardines! It's just--FUN!" she cried, enthusiastic about the memories. "I haven't thought about it in years, but if we're lucky, I could be back in the water late tonight and you could be the richest bachelor under 30!"

She was so excited about going home, that she didn't notice Austin coming back from the cockpit.

"We'll be landing in half an hour," he announced.

"Ooh--I need to use the lavatory!" Nixie suddenly remembered. She disentangled herself from Jace and ran to the small bathroom.

"Hey, kid," Austin whispered as soon as the door shut behind Nixie. "Whatever you do, don't let her get away. She wants to leave us because her sonovabich husband hurt her. But we can't let her leave with a broken heart, right?"

"Nah, her kind don't care much for humans, and that wouldn't change with a story or two," Austin said dismissively. "But she deserves better than what she got. If she finds her coat, she'll never ever come back. Do you really want to be the richest bachelor under 30?"

The lavatory door clicked and Austin changed his whole demeanor.

"So I was thinking that after we get to the chalet, you and I could take some snow-mobiles up the mountain," he said, all smiles.

"You are not suggesting something dumb and dangerous, are you?" Nixie called teasingly. "Get back to flying the plane--I want to be in one piece when we get to the chalet."

Austin saluted and went back to the cockpit. Nixie sat down beside Jace again and put an arm around him to keep him close.

The soon landed and Austin quickly unloaded their luggage into the rental car. He drove them out to the chalet--a ski lodge set into a hill. The bottom floor was beautifully laid stonework and the top two floors were beautifully preserved pine that glowed against the white snow drifts.

"Welcome to Chalet Prince-Hughes," Nixie said, spreading her arms to encompass the entire building. Her good humor seemed to have gone. "Lets get inside. Oh--Austin, we'll unpack ourselves. Can you go into the village down the hill and find Jace a quartz crystal? The bigger the better."

"Aye captain," Austin said, saluting. Then he shot a look at Jace and winked before he got in the car and drove off.

"Right, let's get inside and you can sniff around," Nixie said, grabbing the suitcases and rushing through the front door.

Nixie followed behind him, hopefully.

"It will probably smell like low tide or a seal rockery or just like salted leather," she suggested. "And he might have hidden it in a wall or under some floor boards or behind a picture."

She hovered over his shoulder, waiting for some sign that he coat was here and not in the multiple other homes, condos, or offices. The odds of it being here--on her first try--were not in her favor, but a seal could still hope.

Nixie had been so excited when she entered the room but when she saw what was in it, she froze. She felt sick. Her late husband had not been shy about taking mistresses and lovers and employing prostitutes and renting or buying sex slaves. This was probably where he kept all the outfits and accessories for them.

"Don't look inside any of those," she ordered. "Just sniff to see if you an smell it in there--but don't open them."