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 Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:31 pm
Nita listened quietly, brows raising further at every sentence. "Oh my god," Nita muttered, shocked. "That's horrible! I can't believe.. well, actually, I can believe they'd do that." She snorted softly, a contemptuous noise directed at the powers that be.
"I know I'm dependant on that faux-society, but good on you for staying out here," Nita said, her tone sincere.
She stared at the water for a few more minutes, debating. Then, with a shrug, she pulled off her t-shirt and jeans, revealing pink cotton underpants and a white bra. Her numerous freckles extended down past her collarbones, which, along with her ribs, showed prominently through her pale skin. A pair of small white scars stretched acroos her left hip-bone. Doing her best not to be too self-conscious, Nita waded into the river, finally sinking down until the water reached her shoulders.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:41 pm
"Oh," Emelyn said, after Nita had waded into the water. "Don't worry about the whole 'relying on the faux-society' thing. I don't judge anyone for wanting to stay in the village." She paused, seeing the freckles that seemed like constellations on the pale girl.
"Aw... I miss my freckles," Em said softly and a little amused, rubbing at her cheek.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:51 pm
"Well good. Because I like showers," Nita said seriously, a smile threatening the corners of her lips. "This is awfully nice, though. I'm a little white girl who's not used to it being this hot.. at least not in April."
She dunked her head, getting wet all over, then bobbed back up, careful to stay where her feet could touch bottom. "Really?" She held out her arms in front of her, gazing at them dispassionately. "You can have some of mine; I've got plenty." She giggled, part of her wondering what she would look like without her freckles. It was a weird thought.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:59 pm
She smiled, wondering how much longer she could stay in the water without finding an answer Ambrose's cheeky 'hedgehog prune' question. But for now, she was still enjoying the water enough to stay mostly beneath the surface. Only her head poked up out of cool blue.
"That's awfully nice of you," she said, her voice a fluffy English accent as she spoke. "But no thanks. I don't think they'd fit. Mine were brown. And I didn't have nearly as many as you." ...She had been joking, but suddenly, Emelyn realized that letting Nita know that soon she'd look so different... perhaps wasn't the kindest thing to do.
"I'm sorry." Emelyn said- covering not just her freckle-talk... but also as a sympathy for that blanket of the unexpected that Nita faced.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:10 pm
"Well, fine!" Nita replied, imitating Em's accent and haughty manner, sticking her nose in the air. "I'll just keep them all to myself!" She giggled and was brought up short by Emelyn's apology.
"It's okay," she said, shrugging. "Hopefully I won't be anything too weird. I mean, a hedgehog doesn't seem so bad. They're really cute! And the spines suit you somehow." That was the first time Nita had spoken blatantly about her impending transformation. It wasn't so bad if she thought of it as something in a story. This was just the next level of involvement...
"Someone said I could use that intercom thing and ask. I've been considering it." Nita trailed a finger along the surface of the water, watching the ripples that followed the slim digit.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:16 pm
"Thank you," Emelyn said, accepting the compliment with an easy smile. "...You know, it's funny to think that those new people to the island- like yourself- will only see me the way I am now. You'll never know what I used to be." Emelyn had never thought about it before- not until Nita had issued that sweet compliment about how her spines 'suited' her. She knew that the true 'her' was not the visage she projected- not her skin or flesh or bones- but it was still strange to think that the only witnesses to her life- how she'd appeared before- were contained in a handful of islanders that had been there with her, since the beginning.
"And I think that was me," Emelyn said, recalling their conversation with a laugh. "I seem to remember telling someone about the intercom system on the beach. Seems to be you that springs to mind."
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:25 pm
Nita blushed. It was actually a bit hard for her to imagine Emelyn without her spines. "I bet you were pretty, though," she said, without thinking. "I mean! Um. You're still pretty, and... Oh hell. You know what I mean!" She dunked her head under the water again, trying to calm her furiously pink cheeks.
She resurfaced and brushed the water out of her eyes, peeking through her fingers at Emelyn.
"Oh! Was that you? I've heard so much from a couple of different people... My mind's all mixed up!" She tugged one of her long braids, embarrassed.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:33 pm
Emelyn couldn't help but breaking out into laughter.
"You poor thing. Your cheeks are as red as your head," she said, splashing the girl with a friendly scoop at the surface of the water. "Word to the wise- don't listen to a word I say!" She laughed, and ducked beneath the water.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:38 pm
Nita turned even redder and giggled.
"Gah!" she sputtered, the splash of water catching her in the face. "Hey, no fair!" she protested, as Em ducked underwater and just out of reach. She waited for Em to emerge and splashed her back, immediately scooting back several feet with her arms up to ward off further attacks.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:42 pm
"Geeeh!" Emelyn squealed, turning her face aside, anticipating the splash. Nita was out of reach for another above-the-water attack, so she dove beneath the water and tugged Nita beneath the surface- quite summarily, since she didn't know how well of a swimmer she was- then let her free and surfaced.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:51 pm
Nita shrieked as she was tugged underwater, hoping that Em remembered she'd said she didn't swim well. She managed to hold her breath before her head went under, and almost as soon as it happened, she had bobbed back up, blowing water out of her nose.
"Gack!" she choked, her sinuses tingling slightly. "I should have seen that coming!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:56 pm
Emelyn burst up from the water in time to hear Nita's words- tossing her mane of keratin-stiffened hair back with a dew-throwing gesture. Em put her hands on her hips.
"Yes," she said, a triumphant smile on her face, "you should have. Emelyn, Queen of the River, has spoken."
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:34 pm
"'Queen of the River,' is it? More like 'Emelyn, Queen of Water-Related Trickery!'" Nita grinned, imitating her stance.
"I'll get you for that! Maybe not today, maybe not toorrow, but someday," she intoned. Nita nearly doubled over laughing at the 'threat.' She was hardly intimidating, even less-so in nothing but underclothes and her long hair weighed down by water.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:44 pm
"Well, as long as there's still the word 'Queen' attached, I can fuzz the rest out." She stretched up, standing on the balls of her feet, eking her torso out of the water an inch further as she tensed all the muscles in her legs.
"Ooh, this feels good. ...I used to make fun of those older women who do water aerobics, but ooh... stretching in the water really relaxes your muscles." She exhaled and let herself fall back to a stance with her flat feet.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:50 pm
Nita grinned again. "But would a tiara sit right over your hair?" She cocked her head to the side, imagining the balancing act that would ensue.
She stretched as well, shoulders popping. "And would you make fun of them if they weren't two-hundred pounds and wearing, like, hideous polka-dotted bathing suits?" Nita wrinkled her nose, amused.
"How old are you, anyway?"
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