Maid of the Wave

David thought it'd be best in the situation they now found themselves in to play a soothing melody. Merfolk were known for their excellent musical talents and…once or twice maybe they might have lured a few sailors to some sort of ocean-related death. It wasn't really like they could just stop playing music on the off chance that maybe humans were intelligent creatures. What a silly notion. So they built a few boats…so what? They obviously didn't build any sound proof boats. Wasn't that the important thing?
David looked around his new group of friends and stroked a few strings of his lyre. The sound lifted up on the water and crashed with the waves on the cliff rocks above water.
He turned away from the group and stroked a few more strings.
Heidi came and peered down at him, "You aren't like…a music love are you?"
David looked up, "Oh. No. I have a love for the ladies."
His flirtatious grin was lost on Heidi and she sat next to him, "Oh. Good. You must have tons of girlfriends."
David was about to speak up to reveal that he, in fact, had none when Heidi said, "Do you think Lord Matthew likes me?"

David laughed and stopped playing, "Matthew likes anyone who presents a challenge…and doesn't call him lord."
Heidi bumped her shoulder against David's and coiled her tail up as to catch her caudal fin in her fingers, "So I have to be subtle. Mysterious. Present a challenge. Do you think he'll…like…like-like me though? Like…do you think he'll like-like-like me?"
David shrugged, "Maybe. You need to make it hard for him though. He likes it when he needs to prove he can have something."
Heidi nodded. She had it down. Then she left.

Somewhere in between the regroup point and the excellent directing of Cornelius, the kingdom of Dianus became even farther than it had been to begin with. All in all it was just a sure sign that Cornelius did not, in fact, know where he was going. He held out his herb bowl full of crushed seaweed to apply to the long cut on Matthew's arm, as yet again he attempted to prove the game of Phyte meant nothing and he was clearly better than David. He curled his black tail up to his chest and his fingers stroked along the silver colored scales on all the lines that swirled in with the black scales.
The day had been long and it was a good time to relax before someone scouted ahead to see if they'd reached any scrap of civilization yet.

Heidi swished herself up by Matthew and looked down at him. Slowly she rested the butt of her long blue fin next to him and leaned herself against him. So smooth. So subtle. How could he resist the air of mystery about her? He turned and stared at her and she opened her mouth into a pearly toothed smile, "Hi. I'm Heidi."
He gave her a slow blink, "…So you've said. About fifteen times. I think…um…I think I've got it down, Heidi."
She erupted into a series of giggles and curled up into a little ball, her cheeks turned pink and she might have thrown in a snort of two, "Oh my gosh! You know my name! You know my name!"
She lifted herself and twirled and then she stared back at him, "You're so mysterious! And…having such a difficult time! But it's okay! Because…I'm not making it easy! What else do you know about me? I can't believe you know my name! "
Matthew leaned back as her face came in closer to his. He cleared his throat lightly, and Cornelius grunted at the sudden change in position as he tried to patch up the wound.
Matthew scratched his cheek with his free hand, and said quietly, "You're favorite color is blue… you've a love for music…and you definitely don't understand coy fish."
Heidi let out a high pitch scream and darted away.

Naomi passed by the scene and swam over to Claire who decided right away to sit herself on a rock. Claire was picking at the purple scales on her tail, and staring at how her caudal fin shifted the beads of ocean sand. Though Naomi was silent, before she'd managed to sit herself down Claire began to speak, "I always used to think I could pick out all of my scales. That they'd grow back into a normal color and…I'd be as pretty as you."

Naomi brushed her long black hair off of her shoulder and bubbles shot out as it floated into the water, "No one is as pretty as me. Don't feel bad. It's a gift. Anyway, I think your tail is pretty. I always have. I might be a bit obsessed with my appearance…granted…but that doesn't mean I don't get what's going on in the inside of people too."

Claire scoffed at Naomi, and said between a snort, "You? You're always obsessed with how you look! Always obsessed with the latest fashions! Always obsessed with…with yourself! Vanity is like your love! It must be! I don't have a love! Okay? Can you please like, just, not…for two seconds…throw it in my face that you're so beyond perfect! I get it! You're pretty! No one is as pretty as you! I'm sorry! Okay? You're so beautiful, and you were born that way, and…and…I'm ugly! I'm some…freak! I'm a m…monster. Aren't I?"

Naomi reached a hand out and brushed the long blonde hair down Claire's back, and felt the heaves of her body as she let out her heavy sobs, "Some people can't afford perfection."

Naomi smiled and pulled the seaweed band from Claire's hair. It floated off for a few seconds before sucking itself into a crack between two rocks.
Naomi opened her mouth to say something again, but Claire shook her head and in a whisper asked that she just leave. Naomi had been born with this peculiar ability to think of herself first and this inability to really put others first. Vanity wasn't very kind, as it turned out. No matter how hard Naomi tried, even at the most critical moments, she couldn't seem to live down her own total perfection. She got up from where she sat by Claire and gracefully swam away.

"Is she talking yet?" Matthew asked as Naomi approached the main group once more. Naomi just shook her head. Matthew looked over at the forlorn banished girl sitting alone on that rock. Then he looked over at Cornelius who was dabbing the rest of the herb gunk on Matthew's cut. They met eyes and Matthew gave a sheepish smirk. Cornelius shook his head.
Matthew lost his smirk and replaced it with a lift of his eyebrows. Cornelius said a firm, "No."
This verbal attachment to an otherwise silent conversation piqued the curiosity of the ever attentive and ecstatic David.
He peaked around the rock he'd been sitting against while playing his lyre and pipped up, " 'No', what?"
Matthew looked over, "Cornelius wants to go talk to Claire."

David picked up his lyre and hooked it to the belt buckle hooked around his chest, "You should. You practically stalk her anyway."

Cornelius took a sharp in take of breath then whispered harshly; "I do not! --- I do not stalk her. I've just...in the past...shown extra concern…for the well being…of a peasant citizen…who received a lot of slack. That's all."
As soon as he was done defending himself he delved back into his work dabbing at the herb goo on Matthew's cut.
Matthew pointed at the large layer of cream, "Hey. Lou. Do you think maybe it's healed? It was just a scratch."
David laughed and coiled up his red tail, "You think everything's a scratch."
Cornelius wiped away the large layer of cream and it slowly moved through the water until it crumbled and sank to the bottom in pieces that got stuck to the coral at the bottom. Matthew looked at his own arm and saw the scratch had vanished, "See? Just a scratch. You should go talk to her or something, you know."
Cornelius shrugged, "Listen. We're just here to take her to Dianus, that's it. What am I going to say? 'Oh, by the way, I might have lied about knowing where Dianus is? Considering I've never really been there?' Besides, for all we know the people of Dianus like…execute purple tails. I'm just saying. For her protection…maybe…"
David shrugged, "Maybe that other place we've never been!"
"Exactly!" exclaimed Cornelius, then he quickly retracted his exclamation.

Matthew smirked and jerked a thumb to Claire, "Listen Lou, she doesn't seem entirely unreasonable, you know. Maybe you could just swish-ay on over and tell her you have no clue where you're going. I'm sure she'll understand."

Cornelius was sure she wouldn't. On top of that he was pretty sure she probably wanted to attack him the minute she got him alone. In the bad way. In the….Cornelius leaves either permanently scarred or dead…way. He put down his empty herb bowl and swam over.