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 Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:59 am
Lori wasn't a social mer, and Japi knew that the minute she'd been given to her. Lori's species was usually a deep sea type, only reaching the surface for one thing, death. Japi had to make sure Lori interacted with near surface fish before she even tried to bring her anywhere outside of the water. But convincing the poor girl to go anywhere near other mers was a chore in itself.
Physically, there was no way to challenge Lori, she was twice as long as Japi's mer-form already, and frankly, still a very young mer. Japi couldn't even begin to imagine how big she'd get as an adult. She wondered if she shouldn't try and find another large mer to play with Lori. That might be a good thing to try.
Today was just another baby step though, bringing Lori to the surface to play, just the two of them. At least Lori enjoyed these games.
"Mama," Lori shouted gleefully as they played a game of water-tag. She was it. Japi laughed, equally enjoying the game. The first time they'd played, Japi had planned on staying just out of Lori's reach but had been suddenly surprised at the little one's speed. All the extra muscle in her tail, really did make a difference.
Lori and Japi traded off as equals this time, playing tag and catching up to the other, giggling and laughing. Japi slowly made their circles widen until they were in view of the dock at Mer Co.
Lori hadn't noticed yet. She was still enjoying the game.
Japi decided she would show her later, if she didn't notice on her own.
"Tag, you're it again," she giggled at Lori as she brushed their tails together.
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:15 pm
The little inlet that Mer Co was nestled upon housed few things: The docks, some rocks, and a small, mostly empty anchorage for boats too big to fit in the docks.
In that anchorage was usually just a single boat, although occasionally there was more. The boat, Alacrity, was a good sized sailboat that served as the permanent residence of the company's head of education, and one of the mers.
It just so happened that that particular day, Tom had decided to set sail and head out to sea for a while, with little Alex perched on the deck...as the boat could move faster than he could for long periods of time.
Since it was a sail boat, it made very little noise, especially with the stereo system off, like it was then. As they went sailing out of the bay, Alex called out, "I see something," and pointed off in a direction.
Tom squinted to where the little mer was pointing, but didn't see anything. "What am I looking for?" he asked.
"Mers!" came the reply. "Big ones!"
'Big,' of course, was a relative thing coming from him, since Alex was on the small size of all of the Mers that existed just yet, being 3' long. "Big ones?" Tom asked, and turned the boat slightly in that direction. It was upwind, so he couldn't go straight to where Alex had been pointing at. "Well, let's go look, then!"
"Okay!" Alex said happily.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:07 am
Lori was the first to notice the boat approaching and quickly hid under the water. Japi saw this movement, accompanied by Lori's widened eyes and turned around. The boat was still a way off. "Lori, dear," she sighed, going underwater with her daughter to try and coax her up. "It's just a boat. You're a mer, not a fish. You don't have any worry of boats."
"That's not what they said in The Little Mermaid," Lori protested. "And they looked more like people."
"Humans," Japi corrected. "You're a person just as much as anybody. And that's just a movie, not real."
"Humans," Lori repeated, hiding her face behind her tail.
Japi nodded and looked back, she could barely see the underneath of the boat from under the water, her eyes functioned much better on the surface, so she returned there.
Lori followed, barely. Nothing but her eyes and her bright red crest showed above water. She hated that red, it was too bright and betrayed her from hiding. The rest of her body was just the right color for blending in with the sea, but that red streak and her hair. She never had liked it.
Japi on the other hand loved it and in this case she hoped it would do exactly what Lori wished it wouldn't. It was about time for Lori to make some friends.
The boat was drawing closer and Japi began to recognize it. It was the boat she'd seen, tied off at the anchorage, the only boat she ever saw there. Didn't one of the Mer Co people live there or something? Maybe they'd have a mer. Even better.
When it was sufficiently close, Japi bobbed up and down to get as high as she could and waved. "Hellooooooo there!"
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:22 am
After a moment, Tom went and retrieved his binoculars from the cabin, and pointed them in the direction. Sure enough, he did see not just a mer, but two. That one looked...too old.
He frowned, wondering about that, when he remembered that he'd been told that a few of the guardians they'd found had various forms of supernatural powers. He really needed to go meet them all some time.
As they got closer, Alex moved himself to the bow, where he sat in front of the forward sail, on top of where the anchors sat. He waved happily to the two in the water, but was far to quiet to be heard by them just yet...and barely by Tom.
Once they were close enough, Alex announced happily, "Ahoy!" Tom had told him that it was a way to say 'hi' on boats, and he liked the way it sounded.
In the cockpit, Tom laughed. You'd never know that the little white one was shy, seeing him here...there was something about being on or in the water, plus people with fins, that made him very much not shy.
Once they were within easy talking distance, Tom did an interesting maneuver with the boat that caused it to stop in place, and just slowly turn back and forth. He didn't have the engine on, or an anchor dropped.
"Hello," he said, coming over to the side. "Alex, you can hop in now, if you want."
"Yay!" Alex said, and dove off the bow, to see the other mers from underwater.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:18 pm
"Ahoy there, little one," Japi replied with a chuckle. She was glad to see that there was another mer, but he was so very small. Japi thought about it a moment. Maybe it would be better this way. Lori might not feel as intimidated.
Lori had other thoughts. Realizing she could no longer hide from the little white one, Lori let out a meep and popped her head back under, She didn't run though, which Japi found a good sign. Instead she just watched him, a little frozen. It was really her first time meeting someone new, since it felt like she had known her mother all along. Though in her mind, she knew she really hadn't.
On the surface, Japi decided it would be a good time for a break. She really wasn't used to this tail, after all. "Would you mind giving me a hand?" she called up to the captain. "I could use a rest."
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:41 pm
Tom, who had just concluded checking the lines to ensure they would hold while the boat was hove-to, stepped over to the side and said, "Why, yes, of course...just a moment..." On the back of the boat was a little ladder, which he unfolded and let it dip down into the water.
The deck was about 4' out of the water, and it's a little hard to get up that unaided. "There you go," he said, "Although...it might be a bit of a challenge without legs. I usually just scoop Alex out with a boat hook, but...he's pretty light."
In the water, Alex was watching the long, blue & red mer curiously, while she did the same. After a few seconds, he giggled and waved at her. "You're really long," he said with a bit of amazement in his voice.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:17 pm
Japi laughed. "It's a good thing this tail's not natural, then." She grabbed the ladder and hauled herself up a bit, transforming her tail back into legs as she did. The tail became a small skirt that appeared to be made of seaweed. "Then again, if that were the case, I doubt I'd get so tired." She was indeed out of breath and sat down at the edge of the boat to watch how Lori would interact with the other mer. They were still underwater, so it was a bit difficult to make anything out.
Deciding that it was useless, she turned and extended her hand to the man on deck. "I forgot to thank you," she admitted. "My name's Japi, and my little girl down there is Lori. You work at Mer Co, don't you?"
"Uh huh," Lori answered sheepishly to other mer. What to say, what to say? What did people say in movies when they met someone new? "Hi," she said. "I'm Lori."
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:37 pm
There's something you don't see every day, Tom thought as he watched the woman climb out of the water.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Japi. The name's Tom, and yeah, I'm in charge of Education at Mer Co. In the water over there is Alex. As far as I know, he was the first of the mers...although the doctors never let me see too much of there facilities...so I don't think that means much."
Down under the water, Alex was slowly moving closer to Lori, marveling at the massive size of the other mer. "I'm Alex," he said in reply to her name. "What'cha doin'?" he asked innocently.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:11 pm
Japi nodded. "It's a very strange organization, if you ask me," she said shaking her head. "N-not to mean any offense," she added suddenly, waving her hand in the air wildly.
"I was playing tag with Mommy," Lori answered, looking away. She realized her mother was no longer floating with her and looked about for her. Mommy breathed air usually, so Lori surfaced, just to check. Indeed her mother was nearby.
Japi waved.
Not close enough. Lori grabbed hold of her tail, a thing she did when she was nervous. She sank back underneath the water, knowing she couldn't hide from this Alex either way. Mommy would save her if she needed it, after all.
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:00 am
Tom laughed. "Oh, it's okay. I know...they've got this tendency to just decide stuff, make all the plans, start enacting them, then saying, 'oh, by the way, we need you to do this,' and plop a big pile of things on my desk.
"Oh, tag?" Alex asked cheerfully, drifting closer to Lori. "I like tag! But I like it better when you can hide somewhere, too." He hadn't seen anyone so...long before, and wanted to (like he always did with new things) touch her, and maybe chew on a finger, although Tom had told him he should stop tasting people.
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 3:56 pm
Japi laughed too. "I've had jobs like that before. Though I guess I'm usually further down in the food-chain. But Education, then." She really thought someone that was the head of anything should really be told more in an organization, but if anyone was to be left out of the loop, it would be an educator.
"In that case, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other," she moved on to the subject she'd wanted to earlier. "I usually am very involved in my childrens' schooling... and I've been in contact with just about every type of education system." She hadn't really gotten to know any of the teachers yet, Lori still being less than school age and was eager to just get to the top of 'chain'. "But I've heard good things about the program. Not that it's even been around long though."
"Umm yeah," Lori mumbled. That made sense really. There were always things in the deep to hide in or behind. But Mommy always seemed to want to come up further toward the surface every time. She breathed air though, as far as Lori understood, maybe that was why.
That Alex was staring at her quite a bit. It made Lori a little nervous. Maybe if she could hide from him, she might feel better. "Do you want to play? There's things to hide behind down there." She indicated below them. It was really deep in this area and they wouldn't be within easy distance of the boat any longer. But even though she'd be far from her mother, she felt it would be better this way.
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:13 am
Tom quirked an eyebrow slightly. "Yeah, we've got a good reputation with school groups coming in...but a full blown school for all these kids," he gestured into the water, "That is still gonna take some work."
With a small smile, he said, "Of course, we'd be very happy to have parental involvement in the system. Schooling always works better with at least a bit of that." He nodded. "I'm sure we can work something out..although there's still a while before you really need to worry about the specifics of her education."
Down under the water, Alex happily declared, "Oh, I'd love to!" He looked down. "It's kinda dark way down there... but that makes it more fun, right?" He grinned, and drifted his way close enough to curiously poke Lori's side. She definitely didn't feel like he did...kinda like that seahorse he met before.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:08 pm
Japi nodded. "Oh, I know," she grinned as she tried to look over the side again. "I just think ahead too much. It's both a merit and a flaw." She laughed. She knew how often that backfired anyways.
Lori didn't know what to think. He's poked her. Was that his tag? Was she going to start out as 'it'? Either way, she backed up slightly from him. "Okay." She didn't really know how else one would reply to that. The only response that seemed right at the moment was to swim down, so she did.
The deep was where Lori was always more at home. She could actually see pretty well down there, but didn't bother to mention that to Alex.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:32 pm
"Planning ahead is more of a merit than a flaw, I think," Tom said, looking out into the water, and wondering what was going on down there.
Darkness was not something that bothered Alex. As a mer, he had all the human senses at approximately human levels, although his eyesight could be classed as less than perfect, and his sense of smell under the water far better. What he could do was heavily influenced by what kind of mer he was. A nudibranch can't see much at all. They "smell" the water around them.
Obviously, that isn't helpful for a humanoid creature to not have any eyesight, so he could certainly see in and out of the water, and see reasonably well. But all the same, he didn't rely on sight for navigating, seeking, and hiding in the water.
As Lori swam down into the deep Alex followed behind her, almost more excited about going into the dark deep without Tom than he was about playing a game with someone new.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:26 am
"Maybe so, except I usually fail to have backup plans," she almost mumbled. She couldn't even see Lori's vague silhouette in the water anymore. What was going on?
Lori was glad to be back in the deep water. This wasn't the deepest spot, but at least the sunlight couldn't get this far. She swam behind a large bit of deep sea coral, but then realized it might be her who was 'it' first. So she swam back around and waited to see if this Alex would run from her.
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