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It's so easy when it comes to using her powers.

While it's been months since she's done any sort of con and while she has nothing particular on the horizon, it feels strange not to be stretching her wings, so to speak, at least once in awhile. This is what she is, it's part of her very makeup, and there's nothing about being a siren that April has ever felt the need to apologize for. Anyone who has an issue with it can take it up with her, though the truth is she's just as likely to laugh in their face as she is to listen to any concerns they may have.

This is the way she'd been born and no one had been there to teach her how to use her powers. She had discovered them on her own and she knows she's lucky that she figured out how to use them. Surviving the foster care system might not have turned out quite so easy if she'd been without and while she hadn't been able to save every single exploited kid she'd come across, being able to do the things she can do had certainly helped here and there. It's not something she talks about with anyone, the things she'd seen across the various home she'd been placed in, the way some of the foster parents had treated the kids in their care, the abuse of all kinds. She keeps it to herself, but she hasn't forgotten any of it.

Children unsettle her. She never knows what to do about them and she's always been certain she doesn't want any of her own, but she's also never been able to stand a bully. When she sees the little boy being picked on, it's easy enough to send out little pieces of her power that carry with them the influence she usually only holds over the men whose money she's trying to steal. This time, though, she sends them to the much bigger boy picking on the little one and it's only a few seconds before he's turning away, before he starts to walk, then picks up speed, and runs straight into a lamp post.

It's not enough to cause any lasting damage, but it's enough to hurt and she doesn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. Especially not when the little boy's tears seem to dry up all at once and he stares at his bully for a moment before the bigger boy runs away.

With a grin, she turns away from the scene and continues her afternoon walk down the boardwalk.

[Find April anywhere on the boardwalk. Feel free to have seen as much or as little of the scene with the bullying boy as you like.]

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"Los Angeles, actually. It's set in New Orleans, but I guess that's why they call it movie magic." He laughs a little and smiles up at the waitress, asking for some oysters to start them off with, and then a little more time with the menu. April seems into the idea, and that makes Caden smile. He'd love to have her there with him. "So, are you in? A buddy of mine has a place in Malibu he said I could use."

California is safe, though only recently and only thanks to Robert, which she doesn't say. Instead she only nods and smiles. "That sounds pretty amazing, actually. I haven't spent much time in California."

And that much is true. She's not prepared yet to tell him the reasons why, but she's getting closer. She hasn't taken a job in months now, hasn't even looked, and that's something unusual, too.

"Yeah, we didn't get to see much of San Francisco," Caden says with a small smile, not really wanting to draw attention to why they were there in the first place. After a moment, he brightens up and grins at her. "But yeah, it'll be great. I'd love to show you around. We'll hit all the best spots."

The thought of going on a trip with April, taking her home and showing her all his favorite places, makes him feel so warm and giddy. He's excited already, but he does his best not to look too overeager. "And then we'll visit the set, and everyone will mistake you for a movie star. It'll be awesome."

He winks at her and then smiles at the waitress when she brings their drinks, quickly turning his attention back to April. "I'll let you know the dates when I have them in stone. Do you think Coop will mind if I steal you away for a bit?"

She gives a snort at that and waves her hand. "Please, Coop is the most understanding boss I've ever had. If I ask him nice, I'm sure he'll let me go without much of a fuss." She won't ask to go for too long, mostly since she really does like the job and want to keep it. As far as places to work in Siren Cove go, working for Coop is far preferable than a lot of the options open to her.

And he pays her well enough that it doesn't look suspicious for her to be living on her own in her apartment. She's taken care not to get anything too extravagant, but it's hardly a hole in the wall.

Caden nods and does his best to reign in his obvious excitement. April is so composed and on control of her emotions, and sometimes Caden feels like he's going a little overboard. He wishes he could be a little more like her sometimes, but after thirty years of wearing his heart on his sleeve he isn't sure how much he can change.

"Good, I'm glad," he tells her, turning to the waitress when she comes back and ordering the salmon. He waits for April to place her own order and then shakes out his napkin, placing it neatly over his lap. "So, what else have you been up to today, other than watching over bullied children?"

"You have absolutely no proof that's what I was doing," April says primly, but she's smirking a little, not quite making eye contact, which makes it fairly clear Caden is exactly right. It would be easy for her to lie, to pretend to be someone else, but she's found herself not wanting to do that with him. It's not always easy, but she's as close to herself with him as she's ever gotten.

"I didn't really have any exciting plans," she admits. "I was going to go shopping."

Caden doesn't tease her about it anymore, but he does give her a fond smile before taking a sip of his water. If anything, what he saw just made him like her even more.

"I was going to see if maybe you wanted to head back to my place and get in the water with me," Caden tells her. "It's finally warm enough to surf, I think."

There's an obvious excitement in his voice, because it's been far too long since he was able to comfortably spend any time in the water. He hooks his foot around her ankle under the table and gives her a sweet smile. "Is there any way I could persuade you away from your shopping trip?"

"Persuade a siren away from a shopping trip with a promise of the ocean," she says, her voice thoughtful, faintly teasing, as if she really has to consider something like that. She nudges her foot gently against his leg under the table and sighs heavily, as if the very thought of having to give up her afternoon of shopping is some horrible sacrifice she's willing to make.

"I think maybe we can arrange something like that," she agrees. "I mean, I can go shopping any time, right?" She can go into the ocean any time, too, even when Caden can't, but it's nice to know it's warm enough for him to go out with her now.

"Oh, I know," Caden says with a mock serious expression. "A warm, sunny day, the ocean, and a shirtless boyfriend who adores you. It's a lot to ask."

It's only after the word has slipped out that he realizes what he's said, but he does his best not to let his expression change. April has said that they're together, but he doesn't know her stance on that particular label.

He just smiles and reaches down to playfully grab her ankle under the table, laughing a bit and rubbing his thumb across the bone before letting her go. "I need to go shopping too. I promised Callie that I'd bring her something delightfully tacky from New England."

"There's definitely no shortage of delightfully tacky things here," April agrees with a snort of laughter, a light shiver running through her at the touch of Caden's thumb on her ankle. He calls himself her boyfriend and it's strange how difficult it is for her to use certain words, but not to hear them.

She might not say it herself, not without being prompted, but it is how she thinks of him. It could be dangerous in the long run, it could just lead to her getting fucked over again, but she's cautiously optimistic. Caden isn't Les and she has to trust in that.

"But you're taking that shopping trip on your own," she adds, smiling. "I don't do tacky."

Caden is pleased by her non-reaction to the label, and he feels a bit silly for worrying about it in the first place. He tries his best to just go with the flow when it comes to their relationship, but sometimes he over thinks things.

"Of course not," Caden says with a laugh. Their food comes soon enough and if there's one thing to be said about Maine, it's that they do seafood right. So does San Francisco, of course, but there's just something to be said about getting it on the east coast. It tastes better, somehow. The waitress brings the check and Caden reaches for it, tucking his credit card into the billfold and handing it back over.

"Dessert's on you later," he says to April, winking and taking his napkin from his lap to drop it on his empty plate. He's eager to get into the water, especially with April at his side. "You ready to go?"

"Using me for my dessert skills, huh?" she asks, but she reaches for Caden's hand and climbs to her feet. He's eager to get out on the water, she can tell, and the ocean has long since been her favourite place to be. Living in cities away from the water has always been difficult for her and although she's managed for the sake of money, she's never felt good in any of those places.

Most of the time she's still not sure how she feels about Siren Cove. The fact that she has family here, people she's expected to care about despite knowing nothing about them makes her uncomfortable, but being this close to the water helps.

"Let's go," she says. "I've left a few suits at your place. Don't want to scandalize the neighbours."

"That, or dessert could literally be on you," Caden says with a laugh, winking at her before slipping his sunglasses on. He keeps a loose hold on her hand as they step out into the sunshine, and he grins over at her. "Well, one of my neighbors is Coop, and I don't think it's possible to scandalize him. And I don't really care what the other neighbor thinks."

Corry's house is far enough down the beach that it doesn't really have a chance to bother him. He never really sees her or Les, and he doesn't think that she's even in town right now anyway.

"But if you must insist upon a swimsuit," Caden says with a beleaguered sigh, like it's some great and terrible burden. "Then I suppose that's okay."

"Coop is my boss and he shouldn't be allowed to see me naked," she answers in a prim voice, though if he has seen her naked already it wouldn't come as much of a surprise. The fact that she and Coop had somehow managed to avoid sleeping together -- though she doubts either of them were actively avoiding it -- is baffling to her at times, but things have certainly changed since she'd first arrived in Siren Cove.

And if Corrine and Les have a problem with what they see, they can just deal with it.

"We'll see how well I feel like swimming once we're out there," she says, which she's sure he knows is code for her ability to transform.

"Well, that is definitely his loss, because--" He lets out a low whistle, teasing, and then laughs as he wraps an arm around her waist as they walk towards his place. "I've seen Coop naked. I think he was trying to seduce me with naked yoga on his deck after I first moved in."

The memory makes him smile fondly and roll his eyes at the same, which he supposes is how most people react to Coop. He looks over at her and curls his hand around her hip loosely as they walk. He's excited at the prospect of maybe seeing her siren form again. She's intriguing in any form, but there's something exhilarating about watching her change. Part of it is knowing that he's one of the few that gets to see it, and knowing that he's earned that trust.

But also, she's just beautiful. She's always beautiful.

Her relationship with Coop is one she doesn't quite know how to explain. Somehow, despite all their flirtations, all the times they had both tried to actively engage him in her relationship with Les, they hadn't ended up together. And in some strange way, he'd become the person in this town she's had the easiest time talking to.

It defies any explanation she has, but so does most of this place.

"Should I be offended that Coop has never tried to seduce me with naked yoga?" she asks with a laugh. "I see him nearly every day."

"Maybe I'm just prettier than you," Caden jokes, perking up a bit when his house comes into view. He leads her toward it by the hand, obviously excited. It isn't long before Caden is unlocking the front door and leading her inside, toeing out of his shoes and heading for the bedroom.

"Now, do we wait the prerequisite thirty minutes before getting in the water?" He asks with a chuckle, pulling off his shirt and tossing it onto the bed. Usually when he gets undressed in such a hurry with April in the room, it's for a very different reason and the next look he gives her is the slightest bit heated before he turns and digs through his drawers for a swim suit.

"What do you think?" she asks with a laugh as she flicks through the drawer as well, reaching for a simple black bathing suit, one she knows she isn't going to be wearing very long. It's simply impossible for her to be in the water without wanting to be in her siren form and there's no need for a swimsuit when she has a tail.

"I'm not sure that rule applies to sirens," she says, grinning. "And if you get cramps, at least your fish-tailed girlfriend can save you."

And now she's said it, too. It doesn't stick in her mouth or come out sounding awkward like she thought it might.

"Hmm, I don't know," he says thoughtfully, pretending to think on it. "I am quite pretty."

He laughs and looks over at her, shoulder brushing hers as she looks for a suit. Of course he notices when she calls herself his girlfriend, and it means a lot to him, but he doesn't want to call attention to it. He just smiles softly and leans over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Can you save me even if I don't get a cramp? Being your damsel sounds fun." He kicks off his jeans and underwear and pulls on the trunks, form-fitting and black, tying them before turning around to unabashedly watch her change. "And hey, I like your tail. Which isn't something I ever imagined coming out of my mouth, but it's true."

He's only seen April's siren form a few times, and while it was a little startling at first, he really does find her beautiful. She's elegant, ethereal, and predatory all at once, and Caden likes the way her dark eyes track him, and how her scales feel under his fingers. But mostly, he likes how comfortable she seems wearing that skin. It makes him happy, seeing her like that.

Once she has her suit on, he comes over to draw her in for a kiss, long and lingering to distract her before he scoops her up under her arms and knees, laughing brightly as he shoulders open the sliding glass door leading to the patio and carries her towards the sand. "Time to get wet."

"I'll see what I can do," she says when he asks if she can save him regardless, then lets out a startled laugh when he scoops her into his arms. It's nice, though, and she lets him carry her out toward the water, the waves already calling to her. She can feel it, like a pull in her blood, like the pulse in her throat.

It's the only place she's ever felt at home.

Once they reach the water and Caden puts her down, she wastes no time in walking out, through the waves. They're still cold, but not nearly as cold as they could have been and she likes how the water feels against her legs.

There are few sights Caden enjoys more than watching April walk into the ocean. The waves have always felt like home to him, and April is such a commanding presence as she moves fearlessly into them. Two things he cares so deeply about melding together, and he finds it hard to look away.

Eventually he manages, and he grabs his surfboard before wading in himself. The water is cold as it envelopes his thighs, and then his hips, but he expected that. The water would warm for him if he asked it to, which is still so incredible bizarre, but the likes the shock of it. He knows that he'll get used to it eventually.

He comes up behind April and tugs playfully at the string of her bikini without untying it, kissing the curve of her shoulder before pushing his board out and diving under the water, cutting through it easily. He's always felt comfortable in the deeper waters, especially when he has his board. That's a feeling that's only grown as he's learned about his powers. The ocean as always been good to him, and now he knows why.

It's not until his lungs ache that he surfaces again, head popping up out of the water with a happy grin as he pulls hair into his lungs. His board floats towards him and he swims after it, propping his elbows on it as he watches April.

"Our own little slice of heaven." They're the only ones in this part of the water, and along this stretch of beach. It's more populated on the other side of the small bay, near the touristy areas and the public beaches. This is just theirs, and Caden is glad for it.

She hasn't transformed yet. She doesn't know if she will, but she doesn't have to. Even being in the water like this feels good, as natural as nearly anything else and she's floating on her back, kicking her legs lazily when Caden speaks and she looks over at him. "I have to admit, it's preferable to a public beach," she agrees and maybe it's awful of her, but she knows if she hadn't met Caden, she would have found another way to use someone's private beach. Even if she's not running a con, there are plenty of ways in which she can get what she want and being close to the ocean has always been a requirement.

"No teenagers," she says with a laugh. "No screaming toddlers and then equally as loud parents. No tourists."

Not that she really has a leg to stand on, being barely a permanent resident herself, but at least she's not a tourist.

"Hey, I've lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and here," Caden says with a laugh, lazily swimming over to her and resting his arms on his board, watching her with a smile. "You don't have to tell me about tourists."

Caden had wanted to surf, but now that he's out in the water he's content to just lounge. He takes in a breath and floats up onto his back near April, closing his eyes against the brightness of the sun as the waves lap at his skin. Being back in the water is like greeting an old friend, and Caden spreads his arms out, fingers brushing April's shoulder as he lets out a pleased sigh.

"Toronto was never big on tourists," she says, although she didn't really live in Toronto proper. She'd spent most of her childhood in the surrounding area -- Mississauga, Oakville, Etobicoke -- but it was close enough. And it didn't compare to any of the places Caden has lived.

She's lived there, too, but under different names and a different times. She's getting closer to tell him, but it's not coming just yet.

"Maybe it was just that no tourists wanted to visit foster homes," she adds with a smirk, then flips over the water quickly. One moment her feet are in the air and the next it's a tail that slaps at the water once, sending a spray in Caden's direction.

Caden turns his head at this new nugget of information she's given him, all set to ask her about it, but when he opens his mouth all he gets is a spray of salt water. The wave she sends cresting over him leaves him spluttering, but he resurfaces with a bright laugh and swims after her.

"Dirty pool, Ross." He's grinning as he swims up to her, looking at her shifted form with the same helplessly fond expression he always wears around her. He slides his hand around her hip, thumbing at her scales as her tail brushes against his leg. It's an interesting sensation, and one that he finds that he likes.

He watches her for a moment and treads water as he leans in to kiss her without hesitation, mindful of her sharp teeth but not really worried about them. Caden knows that she wouldn't hurt him.

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