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[Circle of Sirens] - closed to Caden
She goes to his place without calling, without thinking.
Les is gone, which doesn't make any sense. In a place like this where half the town has some kind of magical ability, where Les has powers she doesn't even know about, it doesn't make a goddamn bit of sense that he's missing. It seems inherently wrong and absurd and she thinks about calling Coop because she knows he and Les are friends, too, but when she finds she has her phone in her hands, she's not sure what to say.
He hadn't shown up for his plans with Corrine. He's not at home. He's certainly not at her place. No one can reach him, he isn't answering his calls or his texts. His front door had been left open. He's nowhere to be found and it doesn't make any sense.
She's on Caden's porch without knowing how she got there and she's banging on the front door and she's furious with herself because this behaviour is ridiculous. She isn't like this. She doesn't worry or overreact.
Les is probably fine.
Except no one knows where he is and what she's feeling is definitely worry. Because not that long ago, it had been her fault he'd been hurt. Not that long ago, she's the reason his safety had been threatened and now she can't help but wonder if it's her fault again.
Les is gone, which doesn't make any sense. In a place like this where half the town has some kind of magical ability, where Les has powers she doesn't even know about, it doesn't make a goddamn bit of sense that he's missing. It seems inherently wrong and absurd and she thinks about calling Coop because she knows he and Les are friends, too, but when she finds she has her phone in her hands, she's not sure what to say.
He hadn't shown up for his plans with Corrine. He's not at home. He's certainly not at her place. No one can reach him, he isn't answering his calls or his texts. His front door had been left open. He's nowhere to be found and it doesn't make any sense.
She's on Caden's porch without knowing how she got there and she's banging on the front door and she's furious with herself because this behaviour is ridiculous. She isn't like this. She doesn't worry or overreact.
Les is probably fine.
Except no one knows where he is and what she's feeling is definitely worry. Because not that long ago, it had been her fault he'd been hurt. Not that long ago, she's the reason his safety had been threatened and now she can't help but wonder if it's her fault again.
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She won't say any of that to Caden, though. All she does is laugh and nod and leans against him. And thinks about how long she needs to wait before leaving town.
"There's nothing we can do but wait," she says after a long silence. "Is there?"
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Caden sits there with his arm around April and stares at the door, willing it to open and for Les to walk in. It's improbable that he'd just show up at Caden's anyway, but still. He hopes.
The comment April made earlier about how should would normally just get out of town gnaws at him. Caden doesn't think that he's enough to make her stay if... if things go bad. He can care about her and want her all he wants, but if she wants to leave, she'll just go. Even as he holds her, he wonders if he's losing two amazing people that he's only just found.
It wouldn't be the end of the world if April left; life would go on. He's just afraid that she would take some small piece of him with her. He doesn't want to lose her.
He doesn't want to lose Les either.
"I guess not," he replies, feeling helpless. He takes her hand and threads their fingers together, squeezing a little. "I'd do anything, if I just had any idea of what there was to do."
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"No, I think we're stuck just waiting," she says. "And I hate it."
She's good at plans. Making them, executing them, taking off before the aftermath begins. There's nothing to plan for here. It doesn't matter what she does, they have nowhere to begin.
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"Me too." He skims his nose across her cheek and then kisses it, holding her close to him and looking out the window at the beach. It's cold outside and the moon is bright, and he itches to get into the waves. Being in the ocean always makes him feel better.
And then he remembers April's scales, the way they'd gleamed in the candlelight, and wonders if she might be the same.
"Do you want to go for a swim?" He kind of cringes as he says it, but it's still a valid idea, maybe. If it calms them down, tires them out enough to sleep. They can leave their phones at the water's edge in case there's any news. "I just - when I'm upset being in the water always helps. I'm calmer out there. I thought maybe you might be too? You looked at home in your other skin."
It's probably a dumb idea, but it's the only one that comes to mind. He feels pent up and stressed out and he wants to jump headfirst into the waves, swim until his muscles ache and his mind stops racing.
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Because they will find him. He'll be okay.
"Alright," she agrees, standing up and reaching for his hand. "Let's go."
And it isn't a test this time. He's already shown her that he's not afraid of what she is and even though he hasn't seen it all, it's really not a test. Caden isn't going to run when she slips into the water and changes, she's sure of that, and she doesn't know why, but she is.
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"Okay." He gets up and lets her lead him towards the door. He should get his wet suit because it's cold, but he doesn't want it. He just wants the water on his skin. Thankfully it's not as cold as it could be and Caden starts to pull off his clothes once they're on the deck, looking at her before pulling off his shirt. It's not a sexy moment. They're fulfilling a need. A need to be in the water, to distract themselves however momentarily from the pain that they're in.
Still, he leans in and kisses her on the mouth before heading towards the surf in his underwear, not stopping until the cold salt water is up to his thighs, and then he dives in all at once. The chill steals the air from his lungs and he surfaces with a gasp, shaking the water from his hair. He thinks about how much nicer it would be if maybe the water was just a little bit warmer, and maybe it's the power of positive thinking, or his body adjusting, but the chill subsides enough for him not to shiver.
He looks out at April on the sand and smiles invitingly, holding his hand out to her.
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She walks into the water a few steps before the scales begin to ripple across her skin, protecting her from the cold. By the time she dives under the surface, she's able to breathe under water, able to cut through it quickly, her power tail propelling her forward.
When she surfaces beside Caden, she's already swum around him a few times and she smiles as she lifts her hands out of the water to brush her wet hair back, her nails long and sharp. "I feel better," she says, her voice soft and musical.
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Caden watches as she shifts with unabashed interest, not looking away as her skin is replaced with gleaming scales. She cuts through the water in a powerful, graceful movement that leaves Caden impressed and a little jealous. He's always felt at home in the water, but she is at home.
He looks over at her when she breaks the surface and smiles a little, feeling proud that he was able to do something, however small and temporary, to help her. "You look like you feel better."
She's watching him and he can't help the way that he just has to reach out and take her hand, his thumb gliding along the tops of her sharp nails before he slides his hand up to rest against the side of her neck. She looks so different like this, but then again, not really. She's still April. Caden will always think she's the most gorgeous thing he's ever seen.
"You're beautiful," Caden tells her, sliding his hand around to the back of her neck to pull her in and give her a soft, closed-mouth kiss. "I like seeing you like this," he murmurs against her mouth. "And I kind of want you to read me poetry in that voice, which very well may be one of the lamest thoughts I've ever had."
He chuckles softly, but he doesn't forget the gravity of the situation, or what it was that drove them out into the water. It's just nice, being out here with her like this. He can't help but to feel a little bit better, at least in this moment.
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But she is. She hasn't once used her powers on Les or Caden. Not on any of the people in this town she's come to care about in her strange way.
Her tail flicks under the water and she rises and falls with the waves, not needing to move her arms at all to stay afloat. "When I was younger I used to think that one day I'd just live in the ocean," she admits. "I couldn't understand why I had to live on land when this was where I felt most like myself."
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He can't help but to grin, because it's the first time that she's ever really shared anything from her past with him. "I wanted to live in the ocean, too. I was out there all the time growing up, just floating on the waves. Things haven't changed much."
She feels different under his fingers like this, scales instead of smooth skin, and he lets his hands roam along her back, getting used to this new way she feels under his fingers. "Well, anytime you want to come out here like this, we can."
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And yet both Les and Caden find it appealing anyway. Without her powers, without having to compel him. They're here.
"Thank you," she says with a small smile, letting her hands roam over his shoulders. "I'm not very good at saying that as often as I should, but... thank you."
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"You don't have to say it," Caden assures her, but he's smiling. "But you're welcome anyway."
He puts his fingers under her chin and kisses her again, pulling her into a hug for a long moment before letting go. His fingers curl around her shoulders and he looks at her fondly, jerking his chin out towards deeper water. "Go swim if you need to, but come back to me when you're done, alright? I'll be here."