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April still hasn't made up her mind about this place.

That everyone is so open about the use of their magic, about being sirens is still something she's coming to terms with after an entire life of hiding who and what she is. Her meeting with Lara had confused her only because she's never been somewhere like this, where there are rules and expectations of her simply because of what she is and that alone is unsettling to her. She's never been very good at following anyone's rules but her own and now she feels, in some ways, as if someone is always watching, just waiting for her to screw up.

So far she hasn't had any real reason to use her powers. She'd sung to Bach, but only to make him feel better. She's hesitant to do what she might normally, she's reluctant to hum a soft tune just to get a man to do what she wants, and she doesn't like that feeling. On the other hand, living somewhere with people who haven't turned away from her simply due to learning what she is has given her a strange sense of belonging she's not used to. It's not something she's sure she likes very much.

She swims daily, but often tries to be done before sunrise. If she misses it, she'll go after sunset, when it's less likely someone will see her. There's probably not need, but she does it anyway, wanting to be back to herself and dressed again before the sun fully comes up.

Today, though, she's late.

As she drifts back toward shore, she realizes the sun is peaking over the tops of the buildings, that the first rays of light of stretching across the sand and people are out. Some are walking along the beach, others are jogging and there are more still on the boardwalk. She's made the effort to find a private place to swim, but even so, as she stands up in the water, her scales are visible, glistening and black, and she doesn't know whether or not she'll be seen.

[Timed to Tuesday morning. Catch her at any stage of her transformation or after she's returned to her human form and has gotten dressed again. >:D]

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She takes a very deep breath to keep her head from exploding. "I'm not a completely ditzy virgin. I carry some pr- protection. Magical ones, not sexy ones."

April laughs again, reaching up with one hand to comb her fingers through her wet hair, untangling the knots as the strands slide against her shoulders. "Well, I'm not doing anything to you now anyway," she says. "You don't have to be so nervous."

"I'm not." She takes a step back. "I'm always like this. So don't be nervous."

"I'm not nervous," April answers with a grin, letting Aoife take a step away from her. "I'm not often nervous." She can't remember the last time she was truly nervous about anything. Perhaps about whatever impending dinner it is she has coming up with Les.

"When was the last time?"

"That I was nervous?" April asks, considering. "I don't know. Maybe before I left home when I was eighteen." And by home, she simply means Toronto. There was nothing about the foster home she was in at the time she would have considered a real home.

"Exactly, I'm fairly certain that there's a law against you looking like you do," he said. She certainly was aware of what her more noticeable attributes were and Levi found that refreshing. False modesty or falsely placed arrogance wasn't appealing.

"I mean, there's not a single feature of yours that's moderately attractive, is there?" he asked. It was true, too, because every feature was ridiculously attractive.

The fact that Aoife wasn't nervous (not 'boy-nervous') throughout this entire encounter, made her nervous. Of course, she liked it that with women there was never a need to worry if they wanted Aoife for her body. She knows that there's such a thing as bisexuality, but she's pretty sure she's not the type for those people.
So why was she still looking at April's body and wondering what she'd feel like? It was probably the siren, getting bored with her.

"I think it's time for me to go now."

"Good thing I'm only moderately charming, right?" she asks in return, but she's still smiling, enjoying the lighthearted banter between the two of them. There's a part of her that wants to ask him about Lara, because she feels a strange sort of grudging respect for the woman, though she's not sure why.

But instead she asks, "You dropped pirate lessons in favour of surfing?"

"If you need to leave, then you need to leave," April answers and she knows she could reach out with her power and make Aoife stay, but it's always more interesting and more fun when people stay because they want to. "Don't forget the offering of a swimming lesson. I'm here every morning around this time."

Hmhm, sure you are.

The venom of the thought makes her laugh. "My swimming isn't that bad. I'm sure yours is just better."

"It is a very beautiful place, isn't it?" Essie didn't know if she was really flirting with the other woman or if she was reading too much into it, but regardless, this was some of the silliest fun she'd had since her arrival. Who knew running into a naked siren on the beach would be a highlight of her day?

"And I've been looking at a few ads, maybe making a call or two. It certainly seems like this is the place to be."

April stretches, then uses her towel to squeeze more of the water from her hair before she nods her agreement. "It's a surprising place, I'll give it that. I might kill to get a place on the beach, though, but there's just no way."

The rent is insanely high and she's still trying to keep a relatively low profile on the financial side of things. It's hard to explain away a small fortune when one doesn't work.

"No arguments here," April says with a sly grin. "Then not a lesson, maybe just a shared swim. Those can be fun, too." Then her smile grows and she says, "But only if you're interested."

"I was thinking the beach, too." After all, if she was really going start delving into her affinity with water, she should live as near to it as she could get. Not that she really knew what she was doing half the time, she just reached, felt and asked and she was pretty sure there had t be more to it than that.

"Swimming's better, less distance to run if someone swipes your clothes. Not that anyone here ever would..."

"You never know," April answers, her gaze sweeping over Essie as her smile grows a little wider, a little suggestive. "Someone might." She's hardly the type to swipe someone's clothes if she wants to see them naked when asking has worked so well for her in the past. When it comes to getting people into bed, she prefers not to use her influence, not because she has any real moral problem with it, but because she just prefers knowing someone is with her because they genuinely want to be.

At least for a night, which is usually all she's looking for.

Essie wondered if that was a challenge and decided that maybe it was. Something she'd certainly consider and she made a mental note to come walking here around daybreak more often. Could be fun. Lots of fun actually. "I think I'll have to take my chances. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get here while you were still in the water, I might have joined you."

"Exactly, anything more than that and it would definitely be criminal," he said. Levi imagined that being criminal was not something that would have bothered April. There were bits of their earlier conversation where she had thought things that made him sure she knew for sure she didn't mind being criminal.

"I had to. I couldn't keep up the limp, I healed right now, so I had to return to my love of the ocean in the form of surfing. It's a great tragedy."

"Just don't tell on me." She swallows. "Enjoy your day, April."

"Next time," April says, though she's never been quite so bold about inviting people to see her in her siren form. Before this town she'd only revealed herself in bits and pieces; only once in her full form and while he hadn't exactly run from her, it hadn't been a positive reaction either.

She's still not sure if it was the tail or the mouth filled with pointed teeth.

"I'm here most mornings," she offers. "If you're interested."

"Love of the ocean, though, in whatever form is acceptable," she decides with a more genuine smile for him. "A man after my own heart, clearly." April has never loved anything or anyone the way she loves the ocean. People have had a tendency to prove disappointing where the ocean is always exactly where she needs it to be.

"Never," she answers with a soft laugh, laying her hand over her heart before she waves at Aoife with three fingers. Her smile is anything but innocent, but all she says as she turns to go is, "And you."

Aoife feels something tingle inside. Yes, it's definitely the siren.

"Bye now!"

"I like the solitude of it. No matter how many people love it there's enough that you can have some all to yourself. It's one of the reasons I got a house up the beach with a lot of land and no neighbors," he said, jerking his head up the beach a ways. He had ended up surfing pretty far from where he lived but that had certainly turned out fortunate for him today.

"And it's turned out to be pretty fortuitous since my girlfriend likes the ocean so much."

"Lara," she says with a nod, her smile still present, though there's something unreadable in it. She's still not sure what she thinks of the other woman simply because she's never had to worry about anything like a matriarch. She's never had to answer to anyone and the idea that she might be kicked out of Siren Cove for not following a certain set of rules doesn't do anything to make her feel especially welcome here.

And on the other hand, she's clearly powerful. She has a firm hand in this town and April respects that.

"Yes, I met her at the music festival," she says.

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