young_swimmer (young_swimmer) wrote in dc_nextgen,
@ 2010-10-06 04:46:00

Entry tags:

The Healing Process
With all that had been happening Cait had very little time to go see and play with Hope and her pod. As soon as she could move reasonably well and wasn't in too much pain, Cait made her way down to the water. It was a cool day in San Francisco, too cold to go swimming, but Cait wasn't human and the temperature didn't bother her as it did humans. Not to mention the easiest way for her to stay hydrated was to go swimming in the ocean.

Cait dived into the water and called out to Hope and her pod.

Within a short time they came into the bay and Cait greeted them with a big smile. A few of them were happy enough to see her again that they started jumping out of the water and doing tricks.

Cait gave Hope a hug and watched the others play.

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	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 04:44 am UTC (link)
	"No, by sea creatures I mean creatures who live in the sea. Like whales, sharks, dolphins and fish." Sometimes talking to Pippi was an exercise in patience. "Yes. They're a type of shark actually." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bobblehead 2010-10-07 04:50 am UTC (link)
	Pippi nods. "Yeah, I figured it out. I was going to have you talk to King Triton and find out if he wants different food. He'd probably like more fish in his diet though. So... uhm, why are they called dogfish, anyway?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 04:57 am UTC (link)
	"I'm sure King Triton would like more fish anyway," Cait said. "I honestly don't know. Humans have some weird names for things." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bobblehead 2010-10-07 04:59 am UTC (link)
	"So, if dogfish are sharks, what are catfish?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 05:29 am UTC (link)
	"They are fish," Cait said. "Names can be weird." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bobblehead 2010-10-07 05:59 am UTC (link)
	"I figured they were fish. Just didn't know if they were some specific kind of fish, like whales or sharks." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 06:14 am UTC (link)
	"Whales are mammals," Cait said. "Like dolphins." Cait felt like she was digging a hole and getting herself in deeper. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bobblehead 2010-10-07 06:21 am UTC (link)
	"Oh!" Pippi exclaims. "So they're like seals and penguins then." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 06:23 am UTC (link)
	"Almost. Seals are mammals, penguins are birds." Keeping digging Cait. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bobblehead 2010-10-07 06:26 am UTC (link)
	"Pft, penguins can't be birds. The chicks are all fluffy. And they can't fly, birds fly. Birds are, like, robins and eagles and bats." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 06:28 am UTC (link)
	"Penguins are birds. They have specialized feathers for swimming. Bats are not birds. They are mammals." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2010-10-07 06:43 am UTC (link)

"That's silly, you don't fly with feathers. I know there's some mammals that swim, but mostly birds just float, like ducks. I wonder if the Hawkpeople would do that though... maybe we should throw Nic in the water next big party and find out. And /of course/ bats are birds. They have wings, they eat bugs, they make chirping noises... its just that no one can see them very well because they only come out at night, so people get funny ideas."

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	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 06:48 am UTC (link)
	"Pippi, birds have feathers and they fly," Cait said carefully. "But some birds like penguins and ostriches don't fly, but they still have feathers. Ducks can fly as well as swim." "Bats are definitely mammals," Cait said. "They fly, but they have fur instead of feathers and they don't lay eggs like birds." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2010-10-07 06:54 am UTC (link)

"Well of course ducks can fly, and float. Feathers float if you put them in water, which is why ducks can do that. Some mammals can swim, like you said. Penguins and ostriches kind of look like birds, but its just a trick to throw people off. I've played zoo tycoon, I see the ostriches running around with their friends the zebras and giraffes and eating the same stuff, instead of bugs and worms and birdseed. Its just a trick to confuse predators and things that might hunt mammals, but wouldn't hunt birds because they figure if they tried, the birds would just fly off. But ostriches and penguins are just tricky mammals. And so are emos. Those are kind of like ostriches, but really sad for some reason."

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	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 06:58 am UTC (link)
	"Penguins and ostriches are birds, Pippi. Trust me on this." Cait asked the dolphins to turn and head toward shore. "I'll get you a book that will help you keep track of animals. It will have lots of pictures in it too." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2010-10-07 07:06 am UTC (link)

"I don't think so, Cait, but maybe its a weird Atlantean thing. After all, you guys probably don't even see as many bats as people on land. I'll totally trust you on the whales thing though... and I'll take a look at your picture book. Ooohhh, oohh, I could lend you some of my books too, to help you learn surface stuff. But I'll wait til you've had some aspirin and a good night's sleep before I give you any hard reading."

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	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 07:08 am UTC (link)
	Go with this Cait, she told herself. Stop while you can. Cait smiled. "It could be an Atlantean thing. I'd love to see some of your books and yes, after some aspirin and some sleep would be best." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2010-10-07 07:10 am UTC (link)

"Ok, so, this enough water, or do you want me to get you some when we get back? And, you know, I can still hold your hair for you if you need it, but you seem to be doing ok... though you're kind of flushed."

She ponders.

"Oh yeah, speaking of your hair and skin, spending too much time in the water is hard on them. I can do your hair, give you a hot oil treatment that will take care of some of that."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 07:13 am UTC (link)
	"I think I'm good. I've been out here quite awhile already." Cait wasn't sure where hair holding came into getting hydrated. She didn't want to ask either. Cait blinked. "Uh...sure." Though she wasn't sure what she just agreed to. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bobblehead 2010-10-07 07:15 am UTC (link)
	"Awesome! This is going to be fun! I've never done a princess' hair before. We'll get you all fixed up." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 07:17 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah it will be," Cait said and forced a smile. It could be worse. Pippi could want to watch The Little Mermaid while doing Cait's hair. Cait thanked the dolphins for the swim, gave Hope another hug and walked toward shore. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bobblehead 2010-10-07 07:21 am UTC (link)
	"I'll get stuff for it. When's the last time you had a makeover, anyway?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 07:22 am UTC (link)
	"I've never had one," Cait admitted as she pulled the excess water out of her clothes. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2010-10-07 07:26 am UTC (link)

Pippi gasps. "Never!?" she asks, looking at Cait as though she just informed her that she'd recently grown another head. "Oh man, this is going to be like emergency treatment. I need to call home... I'm going to need to find a natural organics out here... mani... pedi... hair treatment... this is worse than water damage... I'm going to need mud packs."

She looks at Cait with pity. "Don't worry, we'll fix you all up. It will be ok."

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	young_swimmer 2010-10-07 07:27 am UTC (link)
	"Pippi, it's okay. You don't have to do all of this. I'm fine with you doing my hair and nails." Cait pulled the excess water off of Pippi to help dry her. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)