(no subject)

[syreni]

The mainland's changed in fourteen years.

Comments

[laura_kent]

Oh! [Cue a startled girl]

Were you talking to me?

[syreni]

[Cue a just as startled merman.] I wasn't really talking to anybody, I suppose. Sorry.

I'm Cody.

[laura_kent]

I'm Laura

Are you Atlantian? [A safe guess, considering he is a Merman]

[syreni]

Um, no? I'm American.

[laura_kent]

Oh...

But you said you haven't been on the mainland for awhile?

[syreni]

Yeah, well, I kind of... haven't? It's a long story.

[laura_kent]

I'm a good listener... [A small smile] And know how to keep secrets.

[syreni]

[He raises his eyebrows at that, but doesn't ask.]

Okay, well. So I was raised by my adoptive parents, but then when I turned thirteen, this happened. [He gestures to his arm fins and tail.] Since then, I've been living in the ocean with my birth mother and her family.

[laura_kent]

That is interesting. Have you learned a lot from living with your birth parents?

[syreni]

Yeah, lots. Living underwater is totally different to living on land.

I'm sorry, I'm talking about myself too much, aren't I?

[laura_kent]

No that is okay. Talk as much as you want.

Is it cold underwater?

[syreni]

[Cody laughs. He wasn't exactly expecting that question.] A little, I guess, but you don't really feel it after a while. When you belong down there, it just feels right, you know?

[laura_kent]

Of course. I have been to the Arctic a few times, but I never notice the cold...

[syreni]

Oh, why'd you go up to the Arctic?

[laura_kent]

To learn from my grandfather. All his memories and his knowledge is saved in a special computer.

[syreni]

Your grandfather has a special computer in the Arctic? [So confused.] Why?

[laura_kent]

[Laura figures he has been honest and open with her about his specialness]

Because my grandfather was an alien. He and his world was destroyed years ago.

Dad was sent to Earth, the last of his kind. Until he and mom had us kids.

[syreni]

[Cody's taken aback.]

Oh. Wow.

Your dad kind of sounds like me. I mean, I'm not last of my kind or anything, but sent to be raised by other people, that sort of thing. Did he know what he was, really?

[laura_kent]

It is a lot like you... actually

Dad never knew he was different, until he was a teenager. Then he started to gain abilities. Powers.

[syreni]

That's exactly like me, actually.

If your dad is different, does that mean you are too?

[laura_kent]

Yes. I have some of his powers.

[syreni]

Like what? Show me!

[laura_kent]

Really? [A bright smile, she doesn't get asked that a lot]

Well, I have super speed. I can even run over water, if you think you can keep up.

[syreni]

That sounds like you want a race! [He looks around, then points.] First one to that peninsula's a rotten egg!

[laura_kent]

Very rare when I find someone I can actually race against, without holding back.

{Laura laughs, she spots the peninsula that he is pointing at, and blurs towards it. moving 'faster than a speeding bullet'.]