#mellora 005

[steph-anand]

@mellora-atoll and Steph have their first official date at the museum. Mel sets the place up, Steph brings the food, and then a bunch of cuteness comes about

Mellora had "pinterested" what a romantic date looked like. She'd made a whole "board" of picnic layouts with soft blankets and woven baskets and scenic views interspersed with a lot of candles set up on floors and wine glasses. Unable to decide between the "aesthetics," she'd gone with both.

Part of the museum jutted out over the rocky shore of the beach, the bay window standing wide and tall at the end. At all hours of the day, the glass was filled with the expansive view of the ocean. Now, as night grew darker, the ocean and sky both filled with inky darkness and twinkling light as the moon's reflection danced on the waves and the stars woke up, Mel was finally satisfied.

On the floor beneath the window she had layered blankets and pillows pilfered from around the museum and her house and around the corners of the room and on the window sills had placed a rainbow assortment of candles: tall white ones, thick green ones, pale pink, windy ones, and lit them all. Between the low flood lights, the sky, and the candles, the room glowed in gold and silver. It reminded her of the night of the lantern festival, the moon also illuminating them and the port lights warming them.

She'd dallied too long admiring her handiwork, though, and the grandfather clock tolled the hour. On socked feet she skid to the front entrance of the museum and opened it to reveal Steph. With a bright grin, and an over-exuberant shove to the door to keep it open for her, she greeted, "Hi, babe! I, the–I put some stuff in the window room. And got wine from home, if you want." She looked at what the other woman was carrying and added, "Do you need help carrying anything?"

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Steph was excited and maybe she spent most of the day preparing for tonight's date to make sure it was all as good as it got and that she could bring the kind of food Mel would have liked and enjoyed. In the end she showed up with a huge basket of food and a big thermos tucked under her arm. And almost as if Mellora knew when she arrived, the door opened to the museum and Steph's face lit up at the sight of the other woman.

"Melly, hey!" she greeted, her fingers and toes tingling, excited for the night. "It's okay, I can carry it, just lead the way." She slipped out of her shoes and followed Mel in, chatting along, "I brought some tacos, a couple of different kinds and I made those and then I bought a bunch of sweets for us to consume. Payasam should still be warm so we should start with that, and then gulab jamun and sopapillas and along with the wine we can decide to drink malasa chai too, if you're--"

She stopped dead in her tracks, though, when they reached the window room and Steph took in all the candles and the lights, the view, the blankets and pillows, and her expression softened. "Mel, this looks gorgeous! Did you do-- you did so much, everything looks so great!"

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She secured the door behind them before ushering Steph in. With the blankets on the floor, she figured being shoe-less would be more comfortable and was pleased that Steph so readily went along with it even without prompting.

Mellora was nodding to the long list of goodies Steph had made or acquired for them, the words for foods and sweets going over her head for the most part, and froze a step ahead of her when she did. Her heart flipped thinking she had done something incorrectly, or perhaps had done too much (had "pinterest" betrayed her?), but all the tension flooded out of her at the praise.

"Oh, I'm just so glad you–that it looks good to you." Mel darted ahead of her to smooth out an already flat corner of the blankets and gestured for her to set the food down wherever she pleased. She sat, plopped more like, with her legs tucked beneath her. "I didn't want it to be creepy, y'know, after dark. And, y'know, I wanted it to be... romantic, so I added candles." Sheepish now, she smiled up at Steph. "I'm sure the food is excellent and I can't wait to try it... how was your day?”

Wow, she thought, so smooth. Suave, in fact.

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Seeing Mel being nervous about everything didn't erase Steph's, but it was nice, to see how much Mel wanted this night to go well, how both of them were equally excited with a bit of nerves along with it.

Steph couldn't stop smiling, grinning. She set the basket and the thermos down and then settled down next to Mel, leaned over and pressed a quick kiss on her lips. It still felt so exciting that she could just do it. "Hi," she whisperred this time, staying close for a moment before properly settling down onto the blanket. "Definitely nothing creepy. You didn't make a horror movie scene, it's really romantic," she reassured Mel as she looked around again. She couldn't get enough of the entire setting - and then her eyes landed on Mel, and okay, she could, if that meant looking at her instead. The way the candlelights flickered on her face, the way her curls were a mix of gold and silver, giving her a glow.

"It was slow and fast at the same time," she admitted. "I couldn't wait for tonight, but wanted to make everything good. And for full disclosure, some of it is from the café, I am not the best baker and didn't want to experiment on you. But the tacos are mine and the chai, and payasam which I'm not sure if you know what it is, but basically just pudding, and it still should be warm." Which she probably already said, but still. She was also packing everything out from the basket while she talked, put it on the other side of the blanket - just close enough for the two of them to reach, but not too close to be at risk of spilling. "What about you? Did you have a good day?"

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Satisfied that Steph liked the interior (and that it did not seem like a house out of a horror movie where the young couple that moved in should have run away screaming the first night (Mel would never understand the logic of human's horror stories)) Mel let herself relax too and all but melted into the quick kiss.

Mel followed Steph's hands as she set up their picnic, nodding at the names of food she already recognized and trying to place the ones she didn't. Human foods were a delightful adventure each time for her as textures, spices, and culturally identifying dishes slotted into place. Really, it stopped being just Human Food in her mind and became Steph's Food (and by extension Renzie's) and all the other food. "I'm sure it's all amazing, of course it is!" Not to lessen her skills in the kitchen at all, but Steph would learn that she was very easy to impress.

"It was good, easy, kind of slow. Not a lot of people come in now that tourists are out, school is in, and the pendant is gone, but... it was nice. And I had the after school group visit again." Mel smiled a little and looked at her fingers where stray bits of acrylic paint still stuck to her fingers. "We painted little pumpkins and glued bits of streamers to them to make pumpkin jellyfish." She pointed to one of the windows where her own example jellyfish hung, painted rosy pink with pale streamer-tentacles hanging down. "The kids named it Arnold, for some reason."

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Steph knew just how wild and crazy it could get at the museum, one of the first times she saw Mellora was in the mids of summer, Mellora doing probably one of her very first tours at the museum. She was impressive from the get-go, as she showed around a bus full of people, answering the questions of kids. ANd now she was making little pumpkin jellyfish with them. Could all of this get any cuter?

"Arnold, that's really cute. Your jellyfish looks like an Arnold for sure," she nodded, pretending to be all-knowing as if she actually knew anything. "Wouldn't have thought to make one out of a pumpkin, either, I usually just carve some horror mouth into it this year around. It was a whole family thing for a while for us." And then it sort of fell to the wayside and they haven't done it in a while, but she did have a lot of fond memories of it.

"Was decorating pumpkins a big thing for you and your family around Halloween?" she asked, really hoping for some cute baby Mellora stories as she offered up a spoon for the payasam. She just realized she didn't really know that much about the other woman's childhood. "Or had any kind of fun traditions - not even for Halloween, just in general, too."

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Mel smiled, indulgently proud of her jellyfish pumpkin. "You should have seen the babies' pumpkins, they were very cute all lined up in a row." The babies in question, of course, being the kids who were not actually infants. "I can show you how to make them. I haven't carved a pumpkin before. My family didn't really celebrate Halloween."

This was always dangerous ground, her past, so shrouded in a lot of water. She found it best to tell the truths, and pad them so they were believable. Besides, she wanted to be known by Steph. As much as they could be, anyway. She gratefully took the spoon and tried a bite of the payasam, cooing in delight at the taste. Words lost, she reached out to squeeze Steph's arm to communicate how good it was.

"We, uh. My moms would take us to the shore to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks." She remembered her sister flinching at the booms high in the air and she had taken her little hand in hers. She couldn't recall if she'd mentioned her sister before, the wayward girl, lost to Mel for now. "And we would celebrate my grandmothers birthdays like holidays, too. Food and getting together, but otherwise we didn't do a lot."

She didn't want it to sound melancholy, because her family had hundreds of traditions, simply none she could share. "What else do your family do? Do you bake with the pumpkins you carve as well?"

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"I'm sure they were. Did you take any pictures by any chance?" she asked. "Oh, I would love that, yes, I would love to learn how to make them. And I can show you how to carve pumpkins in return? And then both of us can end up with some fun new decorations for our places."

It sounded so strange, that Halloween was not celebrated in Mel's family, but then again, Steph lived in a town where holidays and celebrations were huge, not everyone celebrated it at college either. But it sounded like she and her family had their own traditions, and Steph just smiled fondly as she listened, squeezing Mel's hand back, feeling victorious when she expressed how she loved the payasam.

"Us to shore?" Steph asked back. "You and your grandmothers? Or do you have siblings as well?" Maybe some sisters. It sounded like one big family of woman so far, something that must have been fun to grow up in. "Food and getting together is really the best way to celebrate, that's usually how it goes for us too. Anyway, you guys went to the shores - you said you lived up north, right? Did you live close to the ocean or just close enough to take trips?"

She shook her head. "Not with the carved ones, no, but generally with pumpkin, yeah. We have something called calabaza en tacha, which is basically candied pumpkin. We usually do it for Día de Muertos. And we usually sell it in the cafe around Halloween time, too." She loved Halloween, of course she did, but for her it was always mixed tradition - Halloween and Days of the Dead. "Food was always a big thing for my parents. They said it was part of how they fell in love. Abu taught mama his recipes and mama taught him, and the magic happened in between."

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"Oh! Yes," Mellora fished around in her pocket for her phone and whipped it out. Clumsy in her haste, she managed to find the photo she took of the whole school group holding the little pumpkin jellyfish up by their strings, their arms extended. Kids ages five to ten all stood in a grinning row. She turned the phone to Steph so she could see. "I'd love that." She winked. "It's another date."

Mel blinked, catching up slowly to what she asked. "Sorry, yes, no–I mean, I sometimes travelled with my grandmothers too. I also have a little sister. And cousins, too, but we didn't see them as often." She laughed and brushed hair out of her eyes. recalling how much trouble they both caused when they were just wee mers. Steph was asking more specific questions, though, so Mel focused. "Well, we lived in a few different places in the north, but always on the ocean." Not technically a lie. "And sometimes we were near towns or cities that would set off fire works. It really depended."

She cooed a bit at the mention of candied pumpkin, trying to imagine the smell alongside the smell of sugar. That was her best guess for it. "Aww, I love that," she said in response to the romance story. She tried her best not to look at the food prepared for her in front of her, tried not to think of the L word right now at all. It was too tantalizing and too guilt-giving. She reached for the wine she had prepared instead and poured two glasses, taking a sip of hers and offering the other to Steph before setting her cup aside. "What were your parents foods of love then? It sounds like they might have a whole list of them."

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Steph was eager to see the photo and the cuteness overload didn't disappoint, all the kids were bright smiles and glowing, so excited to show off their different jellyfish. "Aww, they all look so cute and sweet, I love them." She leaned forward and gave Mel a kiss, "You did such a good job with them. And I can't wait for that other date already." It was exciting, to know there was more ahead.

It sounded like Mel had such a huge family who travelled a lot and Steph just smiled as she listened, enjoying getting some peeks into how Mel lived before she got to Port Vale. "That sounds fun. Did you enjoy growing up with moving around relatively often?" To her, moving several time while growing up was often. She grew up in one single time and the only move she did was to college and then right back.

And then another thought crossed her mind and she tilted her head, "Do you miss them?" It sounded like they were all close, and now Mel was here, all alone, without her family. That could have possibly been really hard for her.

"Thank you," she took a small sip of the wine before setting it aside too, reaching for a sopapilla. "Yeah, they have a whole list. Honestly? A lot of the stuff we sell at the cafe comes from the two of them putting their heads together and sorting out their favorites. And obviously things changed around based on demand, but a lot of it stuck for them. But if I'd have to say one thing, it's mama's pozole which is a really delicious stew, and abu's naan, which is a kind of flatbred. They say it's the two of them together on a plate, they get really mushy over it on their anniversary."

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Mel had to smile through the kiss because she couldn’t fight it down. Note to self, she thought, educating kids was apparently a new key to Steph’s heart and more kissing. Good thing she really loved kids.

For her, moving fairly often meant once a decade, perhaps two, but she couldn’t exactly share such numbers. Sometimes she had to wonder what Steph, or her family, would think of her dating someone who was older than all her living relatives. Likely not positively, but at least she wasn’t old for a mermaid. “I didn’t think too much about it, honestly. I enjoyed my life, though. Where I was didn’t matter.”

With a sopapilla half in her mouth, Mel froze. Missing her family remained a cold, achy core behind her sternum. Managing to tear off a bite and chew through it, pausing long enough to compliment that too, she nodded. Opened her mouth. Closed it. And opened it again. “Of course I do. I hear from my mum and my mama.” She could feel the absence of her sister, even the sheer mention of her, like a missing limb and twisted her mouth.

Listening to her parents love language was easier, and it warmed the ache in her chest. “Aw, that’s lovely!” she said and pressed a hand over her heart. “I like that, and that they still talk about it so much. It sounds like that’s such a part of you, too.” Mel looked down at the display of food. “If you were a food, what would you be?”

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"That's nice, just enjoying wherever you were. What was the favorite place you ever lived in?" Steph asked, it not really sinking in for her that Mel was trying to give her vague anwers while she was asking for specific things. She just wanted to know more, learn about Mel's life before Port Vale. It felt like such a mystery that she loved unwrapping.

Steph almost winced at Mel's reaction to her question, but she held herself back. "Sorry, stupid question, of course you miss them, they're your family. I couldn't-- I moved away for a couple of years about a decade ago for college. Never regretted it," well, she did towards the end, when she wasn't here when it counted, but that wasn't about it anymore, "I loved it, but I missed them so much. Even if I also loved the distance."

She smiled, looking over all the food she brought herself. "I guess I inherited some of it myself, I never really thought of it like that. I didn't start actively cooking and trying to learn until just recently, before that it was just takeout mostly, but I really enjoy it." And more importantly, she enjoyed seeing Mel slowly try the different options she brought and enjoy them, even if she was in the middle of a not that pleasant question.

She let out a small chuckle at the question, but somebody her brain immediately knew the answer, "Churros. Don't ask me why, I don't know, but first thing that popped into my head and I am okay with that. You?"

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Hm, fuck, thought Mel. She couldn't damn well say she adored the kelp field she'd camped out in once or the sweeping North Atlantic palace she resided in for over a century, off and on as duty willed it. As much as she really, really wanted to. She knew Steph would find the tales entrancing, perhaps too much, or so much so that it became an analysis and not about knowing Mel, but the thought didn't stop her yearning for it.

"Well," she hedged, leaning forward to hover closer. "Port Vale is getting high on the list." Teasingly, she kissed Steph, once, twice, and plopped back where she sat with a smile. Surely, that would distract and satisfy her.

"That makes sense... I think it's probably good to get a bit of distance. Even if it's just to, y'know, figure out whether or not you want or need distance." She was just musing aloud, but it felt true enough. "Are you happy you're back in Port Vale?"

As she proceeded to slowly try and savor each bite of the food Steph brought, giving each morsel the time she felt it and Steph deserved to truly taste and decipher it, she listened intently to what she said. The woman was so effortlessly easy to savor, regardless of what she was doing.

"A churro?" she asked curiously. It sounded familiar enough that she must have heard the name previously, but couldn't place it. "Oi, I really, really am not a good cook. Or baker. Uhh..." she fished (ha!) around for any human dish she had made successfully. "I sure can make... a toasted bagel with almond butter. Chocolate almond butter on a good day."

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It wasn't the kind of reply Steph really expected, but she couldn't help the smile and then Mel was kissing her, and the only answer to that was melting into it. Mel's strategy worked just as she wanted it, Steph forgot everything they talked about before and when the other woman pulled away, she followed her, a small, unhappy voice coming out from the back of her throat.

And at Mellora's question, she kept close,a couple of small nods as she bit into her lips. "Yeah, definitely glad I'm back here," she said and leaned in again to kiss Mel. Maybe she was a touch bit too distracted by Mellora.

At some point she did pull away though and they got back to eating and not getting too distracted by kissing (really, it was a problem, that was all Steph wanted to do while also she just wanted to keep talking to Mel, too), and she she smiled at Mel talking about what she can cook. "That sounds lovely, you should make it for me one of these mornings." Steph certainly wasn't picky.

"Oh, oh, by the way, I wanted to ask - are you dressing up for the festival?" she asked as she reached for the glass of wine on the side, taking a couple of sips. "I'm definitely entering the contest, it sounds awesome and I remember being sad that there wasn't one by the time it would have been my turn in high school, though I guess my costume now will be ten times better than what I could have made back in high school. Either way, though, whether you dress up or not, we should check it out. Play some games, have some fun."

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With the returned kiss, Mel relaxed again.

She hummed, tilting her head teasingly. "I guess you'll just have to stay over more to unlock bagel in bed privileges." Maybe she should attempt to learn actual dishes to share since it seemed so sewn into who Steph was and how her family loved, but she had no idea where to begin. Her attempts thus far had either been disastrous or so simple there was next to no way to mess them up.

Also sipping wine, she nearly choked on both the wine and her own chuckle. "Ohoh, I've heard of this festival, lots happening around it! The kids keep chatting about it and the games. I'd love to go with you." It could be fun to go to a festival with Steph rather than running into her after the fun had ended. Of course, they'd made their own fun. She bit her lip recalling it and had to dig her mind out of the gutter.

"I haven't thought about dressing up..." she narrowed her eyes at Steph. "What are you going as? Do I have to guess?"

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"I wouldn't mind that one bit," Steph said, leaning in to give a long kiss to Mel. Bagel in bed privileges sounded awesome, but mostly because it meant waking up curled up with Mellora.

"Sounds like a plan!" Steph grinned excitedly. "And yeah, with all the extra events, this will be one of the biggest Halloweens the town has seen in a long while." There certainly haven't been weddings on the festival until now, and the costume contest wasn't around for way too long, either. "We're also aiming for a festival reopen for the café, so hopefully with all the buzz, it'll be a big deal."

She covered her face in her palm. "I am so easy to read, really. But it's a mermaid costume contest! It's not my fault that is a requirement!" As if she wouldn't have dressed as one either way. She just wouldn't have gone all out for it, probably. "It was a thing years ago, when Victoria was in high school, I'm not sure why they stopped running it, but it's it's cute, how she is bringing it back. Nostalgic and all."

Steph tilted her head, trying to gauge Mel's reaction. "You're not sick of all the mermaid sticks of the town yet, right?" Or mine, she wanted to ask, but she didn't want to ask that outright.

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"I have to help set up the museum for the high school fundraiser, they're using it for a haunted house because the school is, and I quote, 'just, like, gross and also too big, Ms. Atoll', but after that I'm all yours." She would have to wait and see how this would go with the new woman in town and Victoria preoccupied with the costumes. She and Elistra had witnessed Soibhan near the water and since then her suspicions had been on high alert. "I'll send my volunteers over to the café after, too. You can be pleasantly swamped by teens hunting for lattes."

Mel chuckled and shook her head. "I thought Halloween was supposed to be spooky! Are they undead mermaids?" In her opinion, not much in the ocean was especially spooky besides the unknown darkness. Even the deep sea creatures that creeped humans out were somewhat commonplace to her, in the grand scheme of things.

Although, seeing her friends and neighbors dressed as unrealistic versions of her species might be creepy.

Steph's wavering insecurity reappeared and it hurt Mel's heart that, as unshakeable as her belief in mermaids was, that the repercussions of that belief, the rejection from people because of it, could make her so uncertain. Mel set her wine glass aside and took one of her hands in both of her own, pressing butterfly kisses to her knuckles and pinning her with an intent look. "Baby, that depends entirely on whether or not you're gluing shells to your boobs for this."

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"To be fair, the high school is gross, at least parts of it. Wouldn't hold a fancy fundraiser there for sure. And you clearly do such awesome work with the museum," Steph said, gesturing all around them. The view and the vibe was still so perfect, so romantic. "If you need help setting up for that, or need any food for it, I can help arrange that, and we will happily take all those volunteers. And then once you're done, we can meet up by the harbor? I will probably drag Renzie down there for a bit, he needs encouragement to join the festivities."

She gave a small shrug, "Not sure if they will be undead mermaids, but some people might do that as an extreme costume to stand out. I'm gonna try to go the realistic vibes. Some undead mermaids would be cool, though. Are you gonna dress up? Not necessarily as a mermaid, just as anything?"

Steph felt so unsure - Mel believed her, she believed in mermaids, but her experience in the past was that most people who weren't used to Port Vale got used to all the mermaid events, and even if Mel believed, that didn't mean she wouldn't get tired of it. Or her. But Mel took her hands and kissed her knuckles and Steph melted as she kept her eyes locked on Mellora's.

"Oh, no, no shell boobs for me. And definitely no gluing anything onto my boobs. Or anywhere else," she chuckled and covered Mel's hands with her free one, squeezing her hands and dropped her head onto the woman's shoulder for a moment. "I like it when you call me baby," she muttered, pressing a kiss onto her neck and then up her cheek and her lips.

"If I'm ever too much-- you can tell me, Melly," she mutteres as she pressed her forehead against Mellora's. "I don't want that to be-- Just tell me, please."

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"Thank you! I think it's fine. The kids have plans and supplies already, I'm just supervising and lending a hand." Mellora shrugged. "Of course you're welcome to swing by because it'd be fun to see you, but meeting up on the harbor works. And definitely drag Renzie, he should take a break."

She wondered if Steph knew that Renzie had pulled her aside some days ago to give her, in Renzie fashion, the big sibling talk about dating her. Not hurting her. Maybe she could assume, having known him for so long.

Mel's eyes widened and she peered at her. "What constitutes an 'extreme' mermaid costume?" Abruptly she turned fond at Steph's plan. "And what entails a realistic vibe? Wait, are you going to mimic the one that saved you?" If she did, it would surely cause a great deal of bizarre dissonance if she recognized the hue and pattern. "I know I should–" but not as a mermaid, that might give her a heart attack if she tried– "I think I'll go with a pirate."

With great drama, Mel sighed in relief to the confirmation of no shelled titties. "Oh, good, because that definitely wouldn't be realistic." Letting her eyes drop closed, Mel tracked Steph by the map she drew in kisses along her throat and cheek, finally giggling as their lips connected again. Lost in the pleasant bliss of it, of simply getting to tease and explore each other, the meaning and implication of her words didn't sink in right away.

She tugged back to look at her squarely, a frown firmly fixed in place. "What do you mean, Steph?" The idea that she could be "too much" made her stomach twist with an unidentifiable, unpleasant feeling. "Don't want to be...? You aren't too much, you're you. And I like every part of you, why do you think I wouldn't?"

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"Please tell him that if you get a chance. I keep trying to and he keeps insisting that works needs to get done, as if he was the only one working in the entire business. I did manage to drag him out during the lantern festival, though, so I'm hoping for the same for Halloween." Renzie really needed her for this, Steph was sure of it.

She gave a small shrug, "Not sure how far people are willing to go this year, since it's the first year back,s o people might go wild. But I saw a couple of pictures from when it was used to be a thing and one year somebody did their entire costume out of shells, which looked way too much, and then I heard that there was somebody who just showed up naked because why would the mermaids wear anything they were mammals in the water, though I am not sure if that is just a legend that people came up with or if it actually happe--

"Oh, no, I should have thought about going for that mermaid's look." Steph shook her head. "I have this awesome tail that can be used for swimming as well - like it looks like a full on tail, it looks great. This purple and pink mix as a base color with blank in it, it looks really cool."

And when Mel announced that she was gonna dress as a pirate, Steph just grinned. "That sounds amazing, yes. Pirate and mermaid. Totally go hand in hand." Not that they were going for anything matching, but still. It would be considered and Steph was excited to see Mellora in pirate hat and an eyepatch. "Are you gonna have a sword too?" Very important question, obviously.

It was nice, to bury her head into Mel's shoulders for a moment, kiss her everywhere Steph could, and then for a moment she froze when Mellora pulled back because she thought she'd be telling her exactly what she asked, but then Mel spoke and Steph felt like she was melting again. She bit the inside of her lips as a soft, small smile curled up onto her lips. "It's-- it's nothing, just kind of automatic reaction, I guess. I-- let's just say that some people think I can be way too much in certain areas and topics. And it ruined things for me before and you-- I don't want that to happen with you. It's all."

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"Maybe pretend it's a great marketing opportunity? I don't know, but I hope he finds time to relax. It's important to, even if you're responsible for things." She should know. Renzie's sister is currently the source of all her relaxation. When she had been beside Atla, they had taken turns getting the other to relax, but Atla did most of the reminding for Mellora.

Naked sounded right. She wouldn't mind Steph being naked, but of course mid contest that might be a bit inappropriate. "Nakedness is better for swimming," she hedged, as though she didn't have personal experience on what suited a mermaid's body in the waves and what didn't. Unless it was a stationary party, you wouldn't ever catch her in a gown of strung together seashells. Much too heavy and had too much drag.

"Aww," she cooed, trying to picture Steph as a mermaid and once she got past the jolt of uncanniness, it was a beautiful image in her mind. Maybe a bit too beautiful, honestly, and tantalizing. A hypothetical that would break down all the lies and barriers still between them. "Wait–" her mind stalled. "Like, actually swimming? With the tail?"

Humans were insane.

Mel gasped and pressed her hand to her chest. "Of course I'm going to have a sword. I'm going to have two swords. What self respecting pirate doesn't have a minimum of two swords and also a mermaid lover." She kept up her act of being scandalized. "I'll be the best pirate queen you've ever seen, of course!" Of course it can't all be giggles. In her mind, of course, Mel feared when she wouldn't be enough for Steph. Mellora as a person wouldn't be more loved than the mermaid. If Steph ever found out, then her selfhood and her intrigue wouldn't surmount that of a mystical thing. She no longer believed in the seafoam myth, but it would likely feel just as painful to be dissolved into an idea to be dissected.

"It won't," she murmured, pressing close again, her lips against Steph's hair. "You aren't too much, maybe... maybe those other people who fucked up by losing you just weren't enough."

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"Oooh, that could work, yeah. That is usually the way to go with him in these matters. Trick him into it or sometimes I just annoy him into taking a break, that works too." Steph could be a brat and a big one at that, especially with Renzie, but he expected that much of her already.

She couldn't help but giggle at the small comment from Mellora, thinking about how they would definitely have to go skinny dipping at some point. Not this time of the year, but if it was still a possibility when the temperature was better. "Yeah, for actually swimming. They kind of work like those snorkeling fin, but the two feet are built in together and it looks like an actual mermaid tail when you wear it. And mine is really gorgeous, it's better quality so it looks super realistic."

Two swords. Mellora was going to be in a full pirate getup with two swords. She was going to die, Steph could already tell. It was a done deal, no question about it. Not that she was complaining, no, she couldn't wait to see Mel in all of it. "Of course, my apologies, Captain Mellora - or Queen Mellora, whichever you prefer - I didn't intend to offend," Steph tried keeping her chuckle in, going along with it, but it was hard to keep a straight face.

And a smile that slowly appeared again when Mellora pressed her lips against Steph's hair. Not as wide and bright, a softer, more shy smile, but Mel's words were soothing and reassuring and Steph didn't realize how much she needed to hear them until Mellora already spoke them. "That's-- that means so much, you have no idea."

She pulled back, just enough to be able look at Mellora, to cup her cheeks gently and say, "You're enough. You're so smart and fierce and amazing and gorgeous and you're definitely enough." Not that that was ever a question, but she felt like saying it. "And I'm so lucky to be here with you. Wouldn't be anywhere else."

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"Oh," she murmured in understanding, though still doubted to what degree "realism" would play into humans' recreations of her kind's tails and fins. Maybe the people who produced them out of plastics and whatever other material had secretly seen a mermaid and were just coyly profiting off it. She wouldn't put it past them. "I'm sure you're a beautiful, whimsical, and alluring mermaid." With her praise, Mel leaned in to sneak a kiss to the shell of her ear. "No wonder I undoubtedly recruited you to my famed pirate crew–and come, now, I'm the queen."

Neither captain (that, in her mind, referred to lower military personnel and sirens) or queen (which implied a degree or royalty that she did not possess and didn't want to) really fit, but she didn't actually know enough about pirates or naval function to think of a better title. Queen would do. Empress, maybe.

Mel rolled her eyes teasingly and laughed. "'Your majesty' works too."

She likely didn't know how much her words meant, still unsure of how important she was or wasn't, but she was glad to see them soothe Steph. She inhaled sharply as the reassurance was returned, though, and leaned into the touch at her cheeks. As much as it made her heart do a flip, she knew Steph's assertion would be put to the test someday. Knew it as surely as she knew she would end up kissing her; the inevitability was set.

"Neither would I," she murmured, and rather than kissing her again, because they had all night for that, she dipped forward to hug her. Fiercely, her long arms enveloping her, and held her close and tight.

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"You'll see on the day, i could show you a partial picture of the tail right now, but it would be better as a surprise. But it looks good on me, I promise." Steph didn't know if it was good enough to win the contest, but she wasn't entering to win, she just wanted to have fun with it.

"Your majesty," Steph nodded, testing out the different words. "My queen. Eager to be part of such a famed crew, hope I can gather a ton of treasure for you and make you proud," she played along. "No matter how deep the treasure is, I'll swim down to the bottom of the ocean to get it for you."

The way Mel leaned into her palm made Steph smile, her fingers caressing the other woman's cheek, and when the hug came, she leaned in ans wrapped her arms around Mellora gentle but firm, holding the other tight as she buried her face into the crook of her neck for a moment.

She gently nudged the two of them down onto the blankets, towards the couple of pillows Mellora set up, lying down next to each other, still holding each other, just cuddling. "You know, this almost feels like glamping," Steph chuckled, taking their surroundings in again from the corner of her eyes. "I mean we're not outside and we don't really have a tent, not even a fancy one, but it's as close to it as we can get in October I guess."

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"I'll just have to be surprised. And, well, yeah everything looks good on you."

Mel tried not to preen with the honorifics pointed at her. She didn't care for them when she was in an actual place of authority, but from Steph's lips it just made her giddy. "Aw, now that's devotion right there!" she laughed, imagining the pink mermaid diving down beneath a great, multi-masted ship into the depths below. She was born some years after the age of piracy and common sailing ships, but she recalled the relics and the human's depiction of them in film. "Unstoppable with a mer by our side, I'm sure."

Mel sank willingly into the pillows she had set out. She ran her knuckles up and down Steph's arm, content in the simple display of affection. She blinked though, her hand paused in its rhythmic motion for a second. "What on earth is 'glamping'? Glamp sounds like a medical condition."

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"A queen such as yourself deserve all the devotion and loyalty," Steph said, still joking and playing along, but she did mean the words completely. "You need the most loyal by your side and I will be one of those on your ship." It was all just fun and games, but Steph already knew for sure that when she would see Mel in the pirate costume with the two swords at her side, she'd die and would take great pleasure taking it off of her at the end of the night, devouring Mel like a queen deserved it.

She sank into Mel's arms, her fingers drawing circles on Mel's arm and when Mel paused, she raised her eyebrows. "Wait you don't knowbwhat glamping is? It's awesome, it's-- I say that as if I actually have been before which is a no, but it looks really awesome. It's basically fancy camping. Glamorous camping is I think where the name comes from. You go camping and you sleep in a tent but not the basic stuff, there's like electricity in there and actual mattresses and you have toilets you can use and all that jazz."

She gestured around them and then out towards the waves. "All of it reminds me of a really, extremely fancy set up based on pictures I saw. Except we're not sleeping here."

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Steph didn't know how right she was, and how much Mel had fought to have the most loyal backing her in this time of turmoil. She could fantasize about Steph being in that flock, a mermaid with shadow blossom tail at her back, someone she could trust implicitly. It was just a fantasy, but fuck it was a nice one. A comforting one.

For a second she thought she had messed up in questioning what glamping was, having allowed her feigned competence towards all things human to lapse, but relaxed when all Steph did was explain it. "Huh," she said slowly. "Why not just go for a nice walk, then return to an indoor place with all of those things?" It seemed like an unnecessary extra overlap between outdoors and indoors to her. "I guess if it's like this, though, it's not bad."

Mel's smile turned mischievous and she detangled herself from Steph's arms and rose to her knees, nudging her to lay flat. In one graceful pivot she straddled her, knees bracketing Steph's hips. Draping herself forward, her face hovering inches above Steph's, she grinned. Teasingly close, but too out of reach to steal a kiss. "Why would we sleep here when I have a much, much comfier bed waiting. This is just... warm-up, right?"

Of course it was much more than just a warm-up, it was a date, a firstish date that was going swimmingly.

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"I can only imagine it's big for those who live in the middle of a big city or something. Also it just looks cool, maybe they go for the aesthetic and for the change of scenery." Steph definitely would have tried it out once, but if this was the closest she would get? She was perfectly fine with that.

Especially when Mel straddled her. This she was certainly enjoying.

Her fingers grabbed onto Mel's hip, her fingers tracing the smooth skin on Mel under her shirt as she tried to lean forward, tried to kiss Mel, but she was just out of reach and she let out a little desperate moan. "Your bed is definitely comfier, but I don't know about you, but I feel extremely comfortable in this position right now," she couldn't help saying, her hand running up and down on Mel's legs. "We should definitely not move for a while still."

And yet, she moved, but moved upward, cupping the back of Mel's head and pulling her back down with her, the two of them eye to eye now, Steph not looking away, mesmerized by the woman on top of her. "You have such gorgeous eyes, has anyone told you that before?"

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"We have all night," Mel promised before being tugged down to have her face hover a scant inch above Steph's. She swooped down the extra inch to steal a lingering kiss. Teasingly, a smile spread across her face and she shrugged, tilting her head to one side, and then the other in a grand show of thinking about it. "I do think someone has mentioned it before, but never so sweetly."

She straightened up, still straddling her, and reached behind her for the wine glass, sipping it as her gaze roved over Steph's face. He other hand lingered, resting on her chest and worrying the cloth of her shirt between forefinger and thumb. "Has anyone told you that you're brilliant. I mean, your eyes are too beautiful not to have complimented, so I know that base is well covered. Right? But your mind is something else entirely. So vast, so dedicated." She offered her glass to her.

They had the whole night. And perhaps her new plan was to whittle away the dark hours complimenting her. She could. There could be no end to what to compliment about one Stephanie Anand.

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Steph was running circles on Mel's hip with her fingers as she looked up at the woman. The candles and the atmospheric lights were shining around Mel, covering her in almost an angelic light, and for a moment Steph's breath caught in her throat. What a sight Mellora was in that moment.

Steph bit her lips, smiled up at her and steadied her in her lap before she moved, shifting up into more of a sitting position herself, leaning against the wall behind her, but allthewhile she still kept Mellora in her lap. She was certainly not going to let the woman go now. She leaned forward and gave her a kiss at her compliment. "Your mind is incredible, too. So focused, so determined. And you're fierce and kind and a badass too, from what I heard," she added, grinning, thinking about the Renzie telling her how Mellora took down Danzen when he was trying to steal from the museum.

Steph was mesmerized, really, by Mel, and that kept on for the rest of the night. They complimented each other, they kept on chatting and eating, and eventually they made it back to Mellora's apartment where they momentarily stopped talking. In the end, they fell asleep curled up into each other, excited for what came next.