[center][url=https://imgur.com/893RI79][img]http://i.imgur.com/893RI79.png[/img][/url]
[h1]&[/h1]
[img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjg4LmYwYmRjZi5Ubmx0Y0dnLjA/nebulo.demo.webp[/img][/center]
[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjk2LmE0YzNjZC5UV0Z5YVc1bElIUm9aWEpoY0hrLjA/wasser.regular.webp[/img][/center]
[hr]
[color=Lightgreen]”Are you sure it’s okay Kassy….?”[/color]
Daphne fingers played with the sea water inside the tank, creating ripples on the surface. The tank was state of the art, constructed specifically for Kassy. It looked to be made from some kind of alloy. It was dull, lacking shine. The color shifted between several hues of blue and green, depending on where you were standing. Despite the humble looking material the tank was a work of craftsmanship, with impressions of shells for decoration. In some ways it reminded Daphne of the Greenhouse, but it didn’t trigger any negative emotions in her. The gentle murmur of the water was soothing and the smell reminded her of the sunsets on the beaches surrounding Mount Justice. 

She didn’t want to impose on Kassy. She’d been through a lot of hardship since joining the Team, not dissimilar to Daphne herself. There just weren’t a lot of options left for her to try. It was still too early to go to sleep and Daphne tried to feel out of Kassy was open to talk. 
[color=Lightgreen]”So how do you usually sleep in this?”[/color] She wore her swimsuit under her pajamas and brought a breathing mask with tubes attached. Something she wasn’t even sure she needed. 

[color=Orange]"I just… sleep. That's kind of hard to answer."[/color] Kassy leaned on the edge of the tank, orange tailfin idly stirring the water below. She'd been worried about her oldest teammate, and it had been ages since they last talked.[color=Orange]"Maybe… maybe I can come to your room instead?"[/color]

Daphne bit her lip. Her room was a mess. It would be embarrassing for her to let Kassy see that. These past days she’d been so extremely exhausted, tidying up her room wasn’t a priority. The lack of sleep made her behave out of character and it wasn’t just a messy room either. She became even more quiet and withdrawn with a lack of appetite and all in all just a lack of care in general. 

[color=Lightgreen]“I don’t think that’s a good idea, neither of us will get much sleep if we go there”[/color]
[color=Lightgreen]“Sorry”[/color] She added. 

The answer Kassy gave her was to be expected with such a redundant question. It was probably best to just get in and hope for the best. If anything bad happened Kassy would be there. Daphne began to take off her nightwear and moved to the edge of the tank, next to Kassy. She started by dipping her feet in first. Lucky for her the water wasn’t ice cold. 

[color=Orange]"Let me know if you need me to make it warmer, okay?"[/color] Kassy knew that she wasn’t as sensitive to cold as a human, and that Daphne’s powers actually heightened her feeling cold and sluggish. As Daphne settled in, Kassy swam backwards to give her space. Up close, it was easy to see the exhaustion and strain in her friend's face.

[color=Orange]"Daph…you're not doing too well, hm?"[/color]

[color=Lightgreen]“Not really no. I haven’t had a full night of sleep for two weeks in a row.[/color]. 

Daphne shivered as she got used to the temperature of the water. She ducked under once, to wet her face and hair. The top part of her hair was slicked back and the longer parts were floating next to her shoulders. The tired teen grabbed the edge of the tank and held herself afloat. She didn’t want to waste what little energy she had left by swimming. Daphne started talking again, staring absentmindedly at Kassy’s tail swishing back and forth underwater. 

[color=Lightgreen]“Lately I’ve been having nightmares almost every day. I think they are resurfacing memories of my coma. Different things happen. Sometimes I can see you guys visit me in the Greenhouse and you tell me stories. Your voices grow softer each time, until I can’t understand you anymore. Other times I can’t tell if my thoughts and memories are mine or of the Green. So then I feel like I’m not sure I’m human anymore, which scares me.[/color]

And they always end the same way. With sleep paralysis. I wake up but I can’t move or talk, sometimes it takes hours to break free.”[/color]

Kassy did her best not to look startled at what her friend was saying. She wanted Daphne to be able to talk about things. But - it sounded like a truly horrific nightmare. If it was fully a nightmare. [color=Orange]"Oh, Daph… That sounds awful."[/color] She carefully leaned over to give her a hug. It was a very, very gentle one. Once upon a time she would have been too afraid that she'd hurt Daphne, but right now she was more worried that it would feel like restriction.

[color=Orange]"Have you told Miss Dinah about it? That's too much to deal with alone."[/color]

Daphne leaned into Kassy’s hug and closed her eyes. An involuntary sigh escaped her. She thought her answer through, not wanting to sound as desperate as she sometimes felt.

[color=Lightgreen]”I told her about it a few days after it started to become a regular occurance. At first we tried talking about it, which didn’t help so she gave me sleeping pills. They sort of helped at first, but they made me so tired during the day. So I stopped using them.”[/color] 

She gently broke their hug. It was difficult to be this vulnerable with someone even though this was Kassy. Daphne struggled to maintain eye contact. Somewhere in the back of her mind she still sometimes felt like she couldn’t afford mistakes. Or be kicked off the Team. 

[color=Lightgreen]”This was really the only thing left I could try. I was hoping the change of sleeping environment might do something, change something. But to be honest I really don’t know anymore.”[/color] 

[color=Orange]"Oh. Well, maybe the pills aren't right for you."[/color] Kassy settled into the water slowly, giving Daphne a moment to breathe. [color=Orange]"I've sure you've seen the stickers in the infirmary with my name on them. Medication for humans usually do not have the right effectiveness for me. They work too much, or not at all, so I have to take other things."[/color] With a soft sigh, she tucked her hair under a scarf and gave Daphne a careful glance. 

[color=Orange]"Would it help to look into it, in the morning?"[/color]

Daphne nodded with a slight smile. 
[color=Lightgreen]”That’s not a bad idea. Maybe the compounds inside the pills get disturbed when I transform. My transformation occurs on a cellular level and the pills are made for regular humans. So what you’re saying makes a lot of sense.”[/color] 

She leaned over the edge of the tank to retrieve the breathing mask and slipped it over her face. Daphne gave Kassy a thumbs up to signal she was ready to dive. It took a few strokes before she reached the bottom of the tank. Once there she assumed a fetal position, floating a few inches above the bottom. The water was like a soft and comforting blanket that surrounded her from all sides. 

After a few minutes of submerged peace Daphne’s eyes closed behind the translucent material of the breathing mask. 

Kassy settled beside her, careful not to disturb her. She started humming a lullaby, and then singing, her voice softly reverberating with the water.

[color=Orange]"Sleep my sweet, don't you cry
the current's calm and the storm's gone by
lay your head upon my chest
rest with me for I love you best
sleep and dream, fret no more
lay your worries on distant shore
stay and rest my dearest one
tides are turning, the day is done
peace will follow in your wake
Together we'll be at daytide's break"[/color]

Under Kassy’s watchful gaze and gentle voice Daphne drifted off to sleep. The first half of the night passed by uneventfully. It was quiet enough that even Kassy eventually drifted off herself. But then Daphne’s transformation took place, almost as if it waited for everyone to be asleep. The verdant green crept up from her feet all the way to her head. Her hair changed into a kind of leafy tendril no one had seen before. It was kelp. Daphne’s powers adapted to the sea water. The tendrils snaked around her breathing mask and slowly but steadily pushed it off without waking her. 

Her feet melted together forming a clump of roots, but with no place to attach to they swayed in the water. Daphne’s eyes shot open and she looked down at her body. She tried to scream but her mouth didn’t move. Her heart started racing, thundering in her ears. She looked up, seeing the breathing mask floating on the surface. Only able to move her eyes, she searched for Kassy frantically. 

Kassy was asleep, a soft stream of bubbles from her mouth marking her snoring. It didn't seem like a peaceful rest though. Her brow was wrinkled and her tailfin jerked in the water.

Daphne realized Kassy wouldn’t wake up by herself. She focused on the breathing exercises Martian Manhunter taught her. She tried to ignore the fact that she didn’t require any oxygen, or else she would freak out about that too. In through the nose and out through her mouth. Eventually she calmed down enough to attempt to regain control over her body. Daphne started small concentrating on a single tendril, willing it to move closer to Kassy. Her mind pushed hard and the tendril jerked awkwardly, as if someone was puppeteering it. The sensation was so odd. The paralysis made it feel like she had to move twice as hard to achieve minimal and unaimed movement. Daphne didn’t know how much time had passed when she finally managed to wrap a tendril around Kassy’s tailfins. 

A burst of bubbles marked Kassy's startled awakening. [color=Orange]"Hmm?"[/color] She moved blearily, still half asleep, to brush away the errant kelp. She was awake the moment she touched it, though. This wasn't the usual… 

[color=Orange]"...Daphne?"[/color] She looked down, orange eyes widening as adrenaline hit her. [color=Orange]"Daphne!"[/color] It took her little time to gently scoop her friend into her arms and get her to the surface.  

With the help of Kassy’s Atlantean strength they jumped out of the tank. They sat in a puddle of water on the floor next to the tank. The kelp tendrils trashed around Kassy and Daphne like stranded fish. It was the only part of her that was able to move. Neither of the girls talked as they waited for Daphne’s powers to eventually calm down. 

Kassy helped her along by drying her body with a towel. The dry spots turned back into skin, as if the lack of sea water enabled her to return to human form. 

Once they had time to catch her breath Daphne managed a tired grin. 
[color=Lightgreen]” I guess that didn’t work out as I planned huh…?”[/color]

Kassy finally let out a sigh, as tears suddenly formed in her eyes. She hadn't known what to do, and had been so afraid that her friend would be trapped again. The others would have been shattered. "No… I suppose not." She blinked rapidly, trying to stay calm for Daphne. [color=Orange]"I haven't seen kelp like that since I was very little. My parents and I, we traveled constantly. What you turned into, it - it lives where humans don't go. Deep, deep in the depths. That's why it moves, to stretch toward nutrients."[/color] She bit her lip, trying to think of a translation. [color=Orange]"Trawling net. That's what it's called."[/color]

Unlike Kassy Daphne had grown used to this happening nightly. Although not quite like this. She always felt the fear, but the aftershock ebbed away quicker each time. 
[color=Lightgreen]”Trawling net….”[/color] Daphne repeated softly. It wasn’t a plant she’d heard of before, that much was sure. It was most likely an undiscovered species, something only known to Kassy and her people. Daphne liked to keep it that way. 

She moved to stand and her legs were still wobbling. After finding her balance she held out her hand to Kassy. 
[color=Lightgreen]”Thank you Kassy, for watching out for me under the water. I really appreciate you were willing to try this out with me. Even though it didn’t work out as I hoped, I’m glad we at least tried.”[/color]

[color=Orange]"I am as well."[/color] She made sure Daphne was sure on her feet before giving her a soft hug. [color=Orange]"It didn't work, but we learned something new."[/color]


[color=Lightgreen]”It…”[/color] Daphne looked for the right words to explain her feelings. 
[color=Lightgreen]”I tried out so many things and everytime I end up with a failure. It feels like I’m running out of things to try sometimes and that’s scary. Though at the same time I still feel hopeful there’s a solution.”[/color] 

[color=Orange]"There will be. We just have to find it."[/color] Kassy offered up a smile, but her mind was somewhat distant. The barest seed of an idea was in her mind, but she'd need expert advice to bring it to bear. Later, though. For now, her friend needed help. [color=Orange]"You're not alone, Daphne. Never again. As for sleep… perhaps we sneak into thte lounge and watch some of those Disney movies? Any of them - even the dreadful fake-mermaid one."[/color] This was clearly an attempt to comfort; Kassy wouldn't suffer from the indignity of singing companion fish for anyone.

Daphne’s face lit up at Kassy’s suggestion. Watching a sappy movie always set her right. It didn’t get any more romantic than the Little Mermaid. It was the pinnacle of Disney romance in her opinion. 

[color=Lightgreen]”I’d love that, give me something else to think about for an hour and half.”[/color]