Canterburys
Ophelia, Orlando and Rosalind Canterbury stepped out of the cab, their father close behind them.
"Now, are you kids SURE you want to do this?" their father asked.
"Yes, Dad, we're sure," Rozzie answered, fed up with her father's constant pestering.
"Dad, we all agreed to this. It's time we spend more time around humans," Orli said, "Or at least humanoids who can accept our differences. Mutants, humans, whatever. WE, just, need a break from the sea." Ophelia looked hesitant.
"I mean, the call of the sea is intense, and I love it, but I'm half human, maybe I should explore what it means to be human." she said.
"Well, if you're all sure. But remember, the boat always has gas in it, and we can go home whenever you want."
"Yes, we know. Now, let's check out this school," Orlando said.
Nyx and Logan
Nyx walked up with Logan, smiling. "Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters..." She paused, and looked at them. "You're mer, aren't you? And she's Selkie. Well, anyway, welcome."
"Explain, Nyx." Logan nudged her in the side.
"More magic." She patted Logan's arm. "You'll get used to it eventually."
Canterburys
"Yeah," Orli replied, "This is our dad, he's human. Rozzie's mother was a selkie, and our mom's a mermaid. But we can control our form, 'cause we're half human. Well, sorta human. It seems Rozzie & I are half mutant," he smiled.
"I'm just a mermaid," Ophelia said. "Well, half. But the eels like me," she said, shooting off sparkss, giggling.
Logan and Nyx
"Mutant," Logan said briefly. "Logan, but my codename's Wolverine."
"Nyx. I'm a cat. Seriously." Nyx grinned. "Should I purr? And promise no biting. Well, do you want to come in and meet some students?"
Canterburys
"We'd love to," Rozzie replied. "Our father's a bit skeptical of our coming here, but we need to explore our human side."
"Yeah, Pop," Orli said, "THe houseboat's wonderful, and the call of the sea is amazing, but we need to stretch out our landlegs."
"If you're sure," Phil said, "I guess I can go. You two promise to look after my babies?" he asked Nyx and Logan. "Sherry is waiting, after all."
"Yeah, Dad, go home to mom," Rozzie said, "We'll be fine, we promise."
"OKay, call my satelite phone if you have any problems," he said.
"WE'll be fine, Dad," Ophelia reassure him, though she wasn't toocertain herself. With kisses and huga, he got into the truck and drove back to the harbor.
"Truthfully," Ophelia said, "I don't know if I like it on land yet. It doesn't move right. All still, not like on the boat. It's too stagnant." Orli and Rozzie put their arms around their sister.
"WE'll be fine, sis, and you can always go back. Though, we do need to ask, is there a pool on campus?" Orlando asked Nyx. "I feel so parched."
Nyx
"Yeah, there's a pool. You need to wet yourselves down?" Nyx asked with some concern.
Ophelia, Dawn and Tina
"We could use with a good soaking, but we're okay. It's not salted, though, is it. Are there bathtubs we can put sea salt in?" Ophelia asked, worried about her skin, she hated it when she felt dried out.
"Bah, I hate these pants," she complained. "I hate pants in general," she explained." she was shaking her legs out very oddly as Dawn and Tina walked up.
"Hey, are these new students?" Dawn asked.
Nyx and Logan
"I'm sure we can work something out, and yes, these are new students." Nyx turned and hugged Dawn. "How ya doin', sweetie? Feeling better?"
"Pool's chlorinated," Logan said. "But the professor'll work something out for you. We've got a lot of kids with special needs."
Canterburys, Dawn and Tina
Ophelia stepped up. "You're a child of chaos. I can feel it," she said to Dawn. "And you," she pointed to Nyx, "The magick just rolls off you in waves. I'm Ophelia, and this is Orlando and Rosalind, my siblings." She introduced them.
"Hi, I'm Dawn. the Key, beloved daughter of Januzs. And this is my friend Tina."
"Nice to meet you," Orlando said, shaking their hands.
"Likewise," Rosalind echoed.
Logan and Nyx
"Godling, that's why. My mom is Bastet." Nyx flashed them a toothy grin.
"And you just love advertising it." Logan rolled his eyes, and then Nyx jumped on him. They went over backwards and Nyx sat on his chest.
"I win." She wriggled, and then Logan growled and quickly pinned her. She grinned up at him. "I think I'm still winning."
"Silly kitten."
"Oh, you have no idea."
Ophelia and Orlando
Ophelia suddenly got very dizzy. "Oh!" she shut her eyes. "Very landsick." Orlando reached over and picked his sister up. "Need water," she croaked. Please?"
"Please, Nyx, show us where the pool is? Feelie gets bad landsickness sometimes."
LOgan and Nyx
Nyx pushed Logan off and walked in the direction of the pool. "Sure thing, sweeties." They soon arrived, Logan still grinning slightly. "There you go. Do you want it to salt? I can do that." She knelt by the pool's side and dipped a hand in. Concentrating, she dechlorinised it, then salinised it. "Won't be what you're used to...but shoud be close."
Canterburys
Ophelia shifter to her natural form, tearing her pants in the process. "Whoops," she said. "I hated 'em anyway." Orlando set he at the edge of the pool and she slipped in. There were already a few students swimming, but Orlando stripped off his pants and jumped in.
"Mmm, feels so good," he said, growing a tail.
"How's the water?" Roz asked.
"Exquisite," Ophelia said, embracing it, drinking it all in. Roz morphed into a seal and jumped in, swimming laps as fast as she could.
"Come on in, the water's great!" Ophelia called to everyone else.
Nyx and Logan
Nyx looked at the water longingly, then took off her leather and shifted down into her cat form. Soon she was swimming happily. Logan opted to just watch, not being that much of a fan of water. Nyx seemed to behave more like a otter then a cat when she was in the water, but she carefully kept her claws sheathed.
Dawn and Tina
Dawn decided tha water looked good, and dragged Tina to the locker room where they quickly put on their suits. Wahim entered the pool room and looked at Tina sternly.
"Ms. Tina, you know better than that, leaving the library without telling me."
"UH, oops?" she said with a sheepish look as she dove into the pool.
"Sorry, dude, my fault," Dawn said jumpuing in. "OH, this feels so nice!"
Nyx
Nyx dove between Dawn's legs and then surfaced, knowing she'd given the girl a bit of a scare. "Mrowrrr?" Nyx sneezed, and then slid back under the water, going to the bottom of the pool. She fixed her claws into the bottom and let the currents ruffle her fur.
Ophelia and Tina
Ophelia sat on the bottom of the pool, stroaking Nyx's fur, and singing a sea-chanty in Mer. Tina sat on the edge of the pool wqatching it all. She looked up at Logan.
"You know? This is all quite romantic," she sighed whistfully.
Logan
He gave her a worried, almost frightened look and edged away. "Don't you bloody dare!"
Tina and Orlando
Tina sighed. "I won't, don't worry, I just think everything's romantic," she giggled. Orlando swam over to the edge.
"AlLl right you two, less chatting, more swimming!" he pulled Tina into the pool as she giggled, and then he slapped his tail, splashing Logan with a lot of water.
"Come on in, the water's great!" They laughed.
Logan and Demetria
Logan glowered at the students, then stalked off to get out of his now wet clothes.
Demetria had seen the whole tihng start from a window, and then ran to get changed. Dressed in an electric blue triangle binkini and tight dark blue hotpant boardies with white handprints over her ass, she stepped up to the edge and dived in, cutting the water cleanly. She surfaced and flicked her hair out of her face. "Hey, Dawnie. Who's the new people?"
Dawn and Orlando
"Mmm," Dawn said enjoying the water. "This is Orlando, and his sisters, Rosalind and Ophelia. She's a selkie," she pointed. "ANd they're merpeople."
"Pleased to meet you," Orlando said, shaking Dem's hand.
Demetria
Hmm. Cute. "Pleased to make your acquiantice. Demetria, but call me Dem, please. Demetria is too formal for words, darrrrling." She smiled widely.
Orlando
Orlando grinned, she was very beautiful.
"You can call me Orli, Lando, or Matches." He lit a tiny fire in his hand underwater, and then made it go out.
Ophelia
Ophelia was happily playing with Nyx under the water, when something that had been gnawing at the edge of her mind suddenly popped together.
"Oh my goddess, Nyx, the daughter of Bastet?" she asked her. "We learned about you in our schooling! Many of our kind revere you, because it was you who gave us Atlantis!"
Demetria
"How very intriguing. I'm a teleport and levitator myself. Can move myself, and 'port other things too. I fly. Kinda." Demetria shot out of the water, then did a neat half turn in the air and came down until she hovered just over the surface. "I can only move myself this way. Not other things." She let go and splashed into the water.
Nyx
Nyx looked embarrassed, well, as possible as it was for a cat underwater to look embarrassed, and nodded slowly. She'd kinda lost her temper and torn the place down. And it was Posiedon's fault anyway. Trying to cheat on his wife an' all. But maybe she'd done some good anyway,
Ophelia
"Posiedon was hopping mad, he's still angry at you, all these centuries later. But we're happy, because you gave us a city. We lived there for a while, but some of the Elder's didn't like our father's houseboat being so close, so we moved into the Atlantic, closer to the States. But I liked the Carribean best, though Orli preferred the Great Barrier Reef. Roz, of course, likes the colder waters." Ophelia continued to sing in Mer and stroke Nyx's fur.
Orlando
"Oh, that is so awesome. I have asome control over the elements, not nearly as good as Feelie, though, it comes more natural to mermaids than mermen. Roz is hydrokinetic. We can also make and control electricity in our hands, like eels," he grinned.
"Did you know that you're very pretty when you smile?"
Demetria
Demetria's smile got wider. "Thank you!" Oh yes. Cute, and a sweet talker. She was keeping this one, she thought.
Nyx
Nyx wriggled happily. She could stay underwater like this all day. And Posiedon was still mad? Whoopety frigging do. She was still mad at him too. Pinch her ass and get away with it? Not bloody likely. Although, destroying a city might have gone a bit far...
Orlando
Orlando took a deep breath. "Dem, would you like to go to a movie with me tonight?"
Ophelia, Tina and Dawn
"It's okay, Miss Nyx, we're mischevious, mermaids are. Dance with me!" Ophelia cried in Mer, as she swam circles around Nyx.
"What are they doing?" Tina asked, her eyes twinkling. It looks like they're dancing!"
"I think they are, Teenie," Dawn said, watching Nyx and Feelie swim musically around each other.
Demetria
"That sounds delightful. I'd love to go," Demetria said. "What should we see? I haven't been to the flicks in simply ages, and I have no idea what's playing."
Orlando
"We used to rent movies and watch them in the houseboat, but I haven't been to a movie theatre in a very long time. Earlier today on our drive here, I saw an old cinema, the kind where they have double-features for $3? And they were playing Lord of the Rings 2, and Harry Potter 2. I love movies based on mythlogy, or fnatasy. because people have no idea how real it is. You have some magick in you, I can sense it." He smiled his sexy little smile.
Demetria
"Yes, but I thought magic was a myth, and then I moved here. Nyx was quite the eyeopener, and so was Spike. You'll probably like Spike, but ummmm. He's a vampire. *Good* vampire. With a soul. And going out with one of my best friends." Demetria ran a hand through her wet hair. "I saw the first Lord of the Rings movie, and I love the books. Harry Potter sounds good too."
Orlando
Orli laughed. "My sisters tease me and call me Legolas, because Orlando is such an uncommon name. It's from Shakespeare, though, we were all named after Shakesperean characters," he said. Suddenly he thought of something.
"Here, let me show you something," he said, holding out his hands for Dem to take.
Demetria
Demetria took Orlando's hands. "Well, my parents have a thing for Latin. Demetria Juno, and my twin's name is Octavian Felix. At least you share your name with someone famous."
Orlando
"Yeah, well, I think Ophelia's getting a bit of a complex. She's a mermaid, and yet she's named for a woman who drowned herself, you gotta see the irony there," he laughed. "But at least Rosalind is posing as a man."
Demetria
Demetria giggled. "Very ironic. Verging on sarcastic. It's a nice name though. I'm just glad my parents didn't decide to be oh so amusing and call Tav and I, Sebastion and Viola. That would too horribly undignified."
Orlando
"Yes, that would be amusing, though. Anyways, my sisters and I should probably get settled in now that we've had a good soaking, and we can leave at 5, and get a bite to eat on the way to the movie. Does that sound okay?" he asked.
Demetria
"Sounds good. I might stay in the pool for a bit longer...pretend that my homework is this." She grinned at him. "I've basically done it all anyway. That's something of coming here you'll keanr to detest - the homework. But the teachers are nice. Just watch out for Logan. He's been in a bad mood lately."
Orlando
"Yeah, he's all snarly-like, wassup with that?" he asked.*
Demetria
"Well, what happened was a while ago, Tina, she has the power of Cupid, she made Logan fall in love with one of the other teachers. Who he disliked intensely and argued with frequently. A *male* teacher. Scott, or Cyclops. And then Tina made their two girlfriends, or rather Scott's fiancee, Jean, and Logan's girl, Nyx, fall in lust. I don't think it was love. And Logan apparently had a thing for Jean when he arrived. And I think Logan is slightly homophobic. Which is sad. But all of that basically added up to one very upset Wolverine once the love thingie wore off." Demetria took a breath.
Orlando
"That's sad. Anyways, let me show you something." He took her hands and pulled her to the deep end. "You have to trust me, though." He pulled her under, holding her hands in his.
"Breathe," he orered. Watching the look of amazement on her face.
Nyx and Demetria
Nyx snickered as she saw Demetria and Orlando. Well, someone was a quick little worker.
Demetria breathed in the water cautiously, then giggled slightly. Wow. Just...wow. She looked at Orlando with wide eyes.
Orlando
"Never do this unless you're holding hands with a Mer. You'll drown," he cautioned. And don'ttry talking underwater, unless you're with mer, either. Not good." he smiled at her. Her eyes looked so beautiful like that, all sparkling with surprise.
Demetria
"Well, I think I discovered that when I was five, and after my nanny read me the Little Mermaid, deciding I wanted to be one. Thankfully, she got me out of the bath before I swallowed too much water." Demetria smiled at Orlando. He was really very good looking. "Nit an experience I'm dying to repeat."
Orlando
"Well, you stay with me, and you'll be fine. Do you need to dry off and get dressed?" he asked, as they came up.
Demetria
"Yeah...probably wash my hair as well. That was just...wow. There are no words." Demetria sighed. "Always wanted to be a mermaid...even for a little bit."
Orlando and Ophelia
"Well, someday I'll take you out to the ocean with me, and you can really experience it," he promised. "Now, go get ready. I don't wanna miss out on my first date with a human because she wasn't done primping yet," he teased. "We need to go get settled in anyways. Come on Feelie, Rozzie, let's go. Reluctantly, they all shifted into human and threw towls around themselves.
"Nyx, can you show us to our rooms?" Feelis asked.
Nyx and Demetria
Demetria floated out of the pool, then teleported to the girls bathroom to get ready. A date. How fun. She smiled slightly.
Nyx got out of the pool and shook herself off briskly. She walked to the door of the mansion, then looked back at them with a 'well, come on then' expression. Well, the girls could settle into the girls dorm...pretty sure they had a few beds there still. And Orlando could go in the boys dorm.
' Canterburys
They followed the wet kitty to the dorms and then went in to put on some clothes, after Ophelia magicked their trunks into their rooms. Orlando took a shower got dressed in some baggy pants and a polo shirt, and fingered the choker his mother had made him of shells. He grabbed his wallet and went out to meet Demetria, making sure to bring a water bottle, because Mer drink a lot of water.
Demetria and Octavian
Demetria quickly dried her hair off, and then sighed in frustration as the long silky mass wanted nothing more to do then curl around her fingers and generally be annoying. She dressed in tight black jeans and a blue turtle neck sweater top. It was made out of a chenille type material, and looked a bit like water. She smiled slightly, and then slipped her silver sleepers into her ears. She went out to meet Orlando. "Going out, be back later," she told Octavian.
"He hurts you, I will slowly kill him." Octavian didn't look up from his homework.
"Let's go then." Demetria smiled brightly at Orlando.