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Feared and Fearful in this RP
Glaucus Masculli
Relana Sahira

Tucking a bit of her green hair behind her ears, Relana made her way down to the beach, hoping that this was the right spot she was supposed to meet Glaucus. She felt as if everyone was staring at her; her black armwarmers looked far too conspicuous for a day at the beach. She had formulated a number of rational responses to keeping them on, ranging from an extreme case of hives to insecurity. She was in her purple and pink bikini; around her hips was a purple sarong. She was embracing a green towel for comfort, uneasy about meeting the rest of Glaucus' family. One part of her said that everything was fine, yet the other told her she'd mess everything up.

She floundered through the hot sand; she was afraid that she would trip and make herself look like a fool in front of everyone. Then, she looked down the North Carolinian shore, its blue-grey waters sparkling brightly. She smiled vibrantly as she saw a familiar mop of blue hair; for a moment, all of her worries were gone. Then, she noticed the two others sitting on a blanket, looking at Glaucus.

That must be his mother and sister, she thought, biting her lip. But, where is his father? Shaking her head, she watched Glaucus from afar, not sure whether to wait for him or to go ahead and talk to his mother and sister.

Relana smiled as he ran towards her; she was afraid his recent tumble might have hurt him. She looked at his extended hand, noticing the webbing almost instantly. She nodded in response to his question, coming closer to embrace his wet body for a moment.

"Glaucus," she whispered, "your hands....They've got webbing on them, as I'm sure you already know." She took his hand and looked at it for a moment, turning it over as she studied the strange webbing. It puzzled her; he had already gone through another change, yet she had not seen nor felt any other changes on her. Once more, her doubts began to manifest in her mind. Was she to be stuck with these strange scales for the rest of her life when Glaucus was to become a merman? Or, would the changes come at her all at once? Would she grow into an ugly, scaled monster?
"I think that the webbing is so...interesting. Really, it is. Perhaps...perhaps you're becoming an earthy-toned merman or something!" she finished looking at his hand as she pulled away from him, pushing the thoughts away to the back of her mind.

"I'm not going to think about this, I'm going to have fun with Glaucus and meet his family!" she scolded herself, taking in a deep breath as she prepared herself.

"Wow, really?" Relana replied, blinking. "So....You think you know the reason why we're changing, then?" She was curious that he had changed when he touched the water; could it be that when she went into the ocean, she would change?

Relana was taken by surprise at the fact that Glaucus was so open with his family about this; quite frankly, when Relana had recieved a call from her mother a few moments before going out to the beach, she made sure not to tell her anything about her scales or Glaucus changing. All that she told her was that she was enjoying America more than she could imagine, and that was the truth. Indeed, she was having more fun than she could have ever possibly fathomed, even with these strange but frighteningly interesting changes occurring with everyone she had seemed to meet.

Relana smiled, glad that his family had been so supporting of these changes. She wasn't sure that her family would be so nice about it, yet she didn't know exactly how they would react.

"Well," she laughed lightly, "I'm glad that they're not overly concerned about it....I'd be so sad if they took you to a hospital to be subjected to...to....Ach, I can't even think about it!" She shook her head, trying to dispell the terrible images that had surfaced in her head. "Ach, Glaucus, you're so thoughtful and kind. Thank you so much; yes, I shall tell them with you later."

Relana's face instantly broke into a big grin as Glaucus' sister introduced herself. Augusta was so bright and vibrant; she could tell by her excited tone of voice and body language.

"Ach, that I am. I'm Relana Sahira....Ach, aah....I hope my accent doesn't bother you too much..." she blushed with Glaucus, hoping she didn't sound too stupid.

"Hello, Mrs. Masculli," Relana smiled. "Ach, I'm Relana Sahira."

Her fears had loosened up quite considerably when Augusta had greeted her with such warmness. She breathed a small sigh of relief, glad that Glaucus' family was so laidback.

Relana couldn't help but stifle a giggle as Glaucus turned red.
"He looks so silly," she thought, beaming at him.

"Ohhh, I'd love to look for shells, Glaucus!" she exclaimed when he asked if she wished to comb the beach. "I'm sure that the American seashells are much prettier than the ones I have in Ireland....What kinds are here on this beach?" She scanned the shoreline, wondering if she could spot any from where she stood. "Are they bright and colorful?"

She watched several sandpipers scuttle across the beach, their legs moving incredibly fast for a bird of their stature.

"Glaucus!" she exclaimed, pointing to one of them, "those birds look so silly! They're moving so fast and running away from the tide, haha!"

"Hahah, yes! Their balance must be so good!" she responded, giggling as one ran in terror from the incoming tide.

Relana watched as Glaucus picked up one of the strangest shells she had seen. "Oooh," she said as he brought it to her, staring at it in curiosity.

"Here, you take it, Relana. It matches your beautiful eyes.”

Relana took it carefully from his hand, smiling. "Thank you so much, Glaucus...." she embraced him, nuzzling his neck. "It's wonderful; I'll make sure to keep it safe."

She walked next to him in silence; just having him close to her made her content. "You're so wonderful, Glaucus....You wouldn't know. You're so nice to me and such a romantic...." she thought, holding his hand tighter.

She looked at him, taken back by his somewhat worried face. He asked if she wanted to go into the water; she had to think for a moment.

The cold rush of water, drowning....

She couldn't shake it from her. However, Glaucus looked terribly sick over something. "Perhaps he needs to cool off," she reasoned. Swallowing her fears, she nodded. "Sure, Glaucus....Just....Glaucus, do you mind if you hold my hand? I'm still...a little scared."

She smiled, nodding. "Thank you, Glaucus....Are you sure you're alright?" She stared into his eyes; he almost looked sick. She pushed a lock of his azure hair to the side, feeling his forehead. He was hot to the touch. "You don't feel dehydrated, do you? I mean, you look kind of sick now...." Making sure no one was looking at her, Relana took off her black armwarmers, putting them beside her flip-flops. Her scales shone brightly in the sun; she was fearful that someone other than Glaucus would see them. However, no one came rushing up to her, trying to tear her away from Glaucus to be put into some strange science lab.

She walked to the tide, controlling her urge to stop and turn back. The water felt surprisingly cool, however; it washed against her calves soothingly, soaking the fringes of her sarong. "Well, this isn't so bad....It's not freezing," she thought with a shudder. "I've got Glaucus with me, so it'll be fine. Besides, I think I'll have to get over this eccentric fear soon, because I'll be living in water all the time...as a mermaid. Or, I hope so."


She waded into the water until it got to the base of her neck. She hoped that she wouldn't step on anything under the soft sand beneath her, like a glass bottle or a can. Relana wondered if Glaucus' temperature would drop when he went into the water; if not, he may of caught something like the flu. "What would happen if he would have to go to the hospital?" she thought. "No, I can't even imagine, and I won't. I'll just hope that this fever will go away."

Putting yet another doubt of hers to the back of her head, she stared at Glaucus' gills with curiosity. Would he be able to breathe underwater with them? She wished to ask him, but she thought that would be much too obtrusive. Instead, she splashed him with a small amount of the briny water with her free hand, making sure she didn't splash him in the eyes. She remembered all too well how it felt to have salty water thrown in your eyes.

"So, Glaucus...." she embraced him by the waist, looking out to the yawning horizon of the steel-gray ocean, "do you think there are other merfolk out there that are waiting for us? Perhaps they're only a few miles away...."

Relana giggled playfully as he splashed her back; her fears were slowly ebbing away as she got more comfortable in the water.

She smiled at his response as she stared out into the horizon once more. Several seafulls circled overhead, crying shrilly.

"It's really nice in the water," Relana stated, still holding on to Glaucus. She was getting less and less rigid in the water; she let her tense body relax.

"Nothing bad is going to happen," she told herself. "Nothing bad--"

A sharp pain shot through both of her legs, interrupting her calm thoughts.

"Aaah!" she yelled, panicking. "What was that?! Oh my gosh, is there a jellyfish in the water? Oh no, oh no, oh no!" She flailed about in the water, terrifed of the thought that a jellyfish may have stung her. She looked around in the murky water, hoping that she wouldn't spot a colorless blob floating about.