[Taylor was at work in the kennel, but she simply leaves. When she gets to Ulla’s, she just lifts a few strands of kelp to see if the water is lowered or not.]
The water is all the way lowered, and Ulla's metal trunk is sitting open
just beside the doorway so she can rummage through it for pillows and
towels to nest in the grotto.
She smiles up at Taylor. "It could have waited awhile, but it's nice to see
you sooner."
She waits until they're sprawled together on the floor, leaning into each
other to say, "The part I'm angry about isn't even what I responded to, I
just snapped at him a little because I was annoyed. But could you listen
to it anyway?"
Taylor shifts until her leg is hooked over Ulla’s tail before she takes the communicator, plays the brief interaction. She’s heard the man’s voice before, but doesn’t know him. Focusing, she lets expression go, her face blank.
“Sounds like he’s got half the idea, but the half he’s missing is more important,” she says, looking up at Ulla again. “Being exempt from the nudity taboo is being othered.”
Ulla nods. She appreciates Taylor even more sharply than usual for a
moment.
"Like my body needs to be covered when I take human form, lest I drive men,
and the occasional woman," she gives Taylor a small flash of a smile, "to
distraction. But the rest of the time my body couldn't possibly have that
effect on anyone, so it doesn't matter. It... brings back old feelings of
being too different, I suppose."
She shakes her head. "I'm not hungry for approval the way I used to be. But
it stings because people on the Barge are usually better than they were in
the world I left behind. So I expect better now."
She rests her cheek on top of Ulla's head. She never minds the damp hair.
"I do get what's bothering you. If he's from a world like mine, though, he probably wasn't implying you couldn't possibly be attractive to anyone, considering the old, old connotations we have in our mermaid myths."
Ulla makes a face. "I've heard that reaction, too, from that one
warden, I think his name is Edward Teach? It was uncomfortable in a way I
haven't been since Sondermane."
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All conversations are better when I get to wrap around you.
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[Taylor was at work in the kennel, but she simply leaves. When she gets to Ulla’s, she just lifts a few strands of kelp to see if the water is lowered or not.]
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The water is all the way lowered, and Ulla's metal trunk is sitting open just beside the doorway so she can rummage through it for pillows and towels to nest in the grotto.
She smiles up at Taylor. "It could have waited awhile, but it's nice to see you sooner."
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“I love hanging out with the dogs, but they’ll be there later.”
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She waits until they're sprawled together on the floor, leaning into each other to say, "The part I'm angry about isn't even what I responded to, I just snapped at him a little because I was annoyed. But could you listen to it anyway?"
She offers up her communicator.
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“Sounds like he’s got half the idea, but the half he’s missing is more important,” she says, looking up at Ulla again. “Being exempt from the nudity taboo is being othered.”
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Ulla nods. She appreciates Taylor even more sharply than usual for a moment.
"Like my body needs to be covered when I take human form, lest I drive men, and the occasional woman," she gives Taylor a small flash of a smile, "to distraction. But the rest of the time my body couldn't possibly have that effect on anyone, so it doesn't matter. It... brings back old feelings of being too different, I suppose."
She shakes her head. "I'm not hungry for approval the way I used to be. But it stings because people on the Barge are usually better than they were in the world I left behind. So I expect better now."
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"I do get what's bothering you. If he's from a world like mine, though, he probably wasn't implying you couldn't possibly be attractive to anyone, considering the old, old connotations we have in our mermaid myths."
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Ulla makes a face. "I've heard that reaction, too, from that one warden, I think his name is Edward Teach? It was uncomfortable in a way I haven't been since Sondermane."