From Beneath the Waves

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Korrin was careful not to let Olivia rock too much in the boat as they got close to the beach, until he could finally push her up onto the beach and get both it and himself a bit stuck on the sand. He pulled himself up next to the bow and used the water to push it up a bit firmer, though he knew he could always retrieve it if it floated away.

"Here we are." He said with a little smile, pushing wet hair back away from his face so he could see her better. "Did you want to eat first, or swim first?" He was a little hungry, but he could wait if she wanted to. Transforming back and forth was more work than just swimming some more.
 
She stepped out onto the sand, being careful to keep the picnic basket and his clothes dry as she glanced around curiously. "Hmm, I'm happy with whatever you'd prefer." She answered with a smile and soft shrug, "but would you like to eat first so you can rest for a bit?" She figured he might be a bit tired, swimming was what he was best at, but she knew he wasn't usually lugging a boat around when he did it. It made her feel a little guilty that he'd been doing all the work while she just sat around, she would be more than happy to help with the oars, but then it would take them forever to get anywhere.
 
Korrin leaned on the boat, thinking for a long moment as he considered the effort of swimming and transforming, and of his own energy levels. He was a little tired from the exertion, but swimming was his whole life and his mer body was made for it so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Still, his stomach was a bit empty.

"Mm, suppose I just pull myself up into the sand and eat like this?" He suggested after he'd considered it all, looking at her with a curious little twitch of his tail fin. "I didn't see any boats anywhere nearby, so it should be fine." He would hear them before they got too close, he was sure, and then it would be a simple enough matter to either crawl back to the sea or use a bit of magic to bring the water closer and get himself hidden more quickly. Then he could let Olivia eat, too, without tiring himself out more by transforming back and forth.
 
"Alright, that sounds fine." She agreed with a little smile, hoping that no boats would show up, but confident in his ability to slip out of sight if one did. She would still worry a little, but if he thought it was fine, then it probably was. So she set the basket down, higher up on the shore so it wouldn't get wet, setting his clothes aside for the moment as she began to unpack their lunch. "I'll keep an eye out, but it looks pretty deserted out here today."

She brought the food to him, a plate filled with fancy finger sandwiches, some fruit and cupcakes for dessert. It was within his reach, but safely away from the water. She passed him a hand towel so he could dry his hands before he ate, having gotten into the habit of having those ready for him. "Is it hard for you?" "Transforming I mean." She asked as she sat down on the sand beside him, a little further up so she wouldn't get wet.
 
Korrin pushed himself carefully up the beach until they could rest far enough from the relatively gentle waves that their food and blanket wouldn't be in danger of getting wet. It was just like all the times he had visited Olivia at her home before realizing he was capable of having legs, though it felt less secure. Once he'd cleaned off his hands he was free to lounge across the blanket with his tail in the sand and just spend time with her.

"Hard?" He repeated thoughtfully as she started to set things out. "Mm, I don't know if I would say hard. It's getting easier the more I do it, but it takes a lot of energy is all. I think if I did it a few times in a row it would be very tiring." Even just transforming back and forth on the last island they'd visited had made his body feel a bit strange, and though he wasn't tired quite yet he thought he would probably be sort of exhausted by the end of their day together. It didn't stop him from wanting to have fun first.
 
"Well, I'm glad it's not difficult at least." She replied as she picked up one of the sandwiches and took a bite, "I'm sorry that you're doing all the work, I guess I really don't have the best type of boat for a long trip." She apologised with a small sheepish sort of smile, and a glint of amusement in her gaze, "I can still row us, so long as you don't mind it taking us a few hours to get home." As she ate her lunch, she fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying his company and the soft sounds of the waves crashing against the beach.

Once she was finished, she brushed the crumbs from her hands and sat back to wait for him. "So, before we met, what did you do for fun around here?" "In your free time I mean?" She asked curiously, she knew he had spent much of his time alone, so she wondered how he entertained himself when he wasn't busy with his work.
 
Korrin was content to settle in and eat with his dear friend - she was always sharing so many human things with him, sometimes he felt like sitting together and sharing a meal was all they did. He enjoyed it, even if it felt like something that most would think of as very simple. When he was lonely and confused, their time together had meant a lot to him, and it still did.

"I don't mind," he said with a soft chuckle when she suggested she row for a while, imagining it wouldn't be a very fun time for her. "I'm a strong swimmer, and if I need a break I can always climb in for a little while." They could just rock with the waves for a bit, or if she truly wanted to she could row for a little while. He wouldn't let her do it for long, given how difficult a way to travel it was.

The waves were just barely beginning to touch the end of his tail every now and again by the time they were done eating, but it left them plenty of time to sit and chat for a while, relaxing in the warmth of the sun. "Free time?" He repeated, thinking it over with a little tilt of his head. All of his time felt like 'free time', but he supposed he knew what she meant. "A lot of exploring, mostly. Sometimes I take trips that are several days' swim away from home, looking for new treasures or just swimming and seeing what there is to see." He flushed a little, head fins pressing back a bit with a hesitant glance away. "Sometimes I follow the ships. . . To see where they go, or what they're doing. . . I know I shouldn't have gotten so close."

But they were far too interesting, and after the first time he'd seen a person fall into the water and the boat leave them behind he had wanted to help, too. He was sure they couldn't have swam for long enough to be rescued if he hadn't helped keep them up. They, at least, hasn't been caught in a storm like the one that had prompted him to give Olivia more hands on help.
 
She thought his exploration and trips sounded interesting and like they could be fun, but they also sounded rather lonely, surely finding new things and exploring new places was better when you had someone to share it with, or at least someone you could talk about it with when you returned home, Korrin didn't really have either of those things. He does now, she thought to herself with determination, the more she heard about his life before they'd met, the more she resolved to be there for him, to be a friend he could rely on.

"It's alright." She reassured with a soft smile at his embarrassment, "it's only natural you'd be curious about them." She supposed he had put himself in danger by possibly exposing himself to the wrong kind of people, but what good did it do to dwell on it now? "It all worked out okay in the end, didn't it?" She wondered if his curiosity was just that, curiosity, or if some part of him was drawn to humans because it knew it was where he belonged.
 
Korrin couldn't help the almost wistful little smile that came over him as she reassured him. She was always so nice to him and so gentle, and sometimes it made him want to laugh but sometimes it only made him feel warm inside. He had been taking care of himself for long enough that having someone who cared enough to try and protect his feelings made him almost overwhelmingly happy. He was so glad he had found her.

"If I hadn't been looking for boats, I wouldn't have seen yours," he said with a little nod, reclining a little further on the blanket now that they were done eating and giving her an almost adoring smile. "I wish I could show you what it's like where I live. . . Maybe I'll ask Minamet some day." She'd given him the ability to change shapes completely, after all. Maybe she would know how to give Olivia the means to breathe under water, or how to make a portable air bubble of some sort. It was no doubt a complicated magic, and not one he was completely certain he could master, but he would give it his best try.
 
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