About a week after their failed mission, the day dawned clear, bright and warm. It was a stunningly beautiful spring day, the kind you just wanted to spend outside. And that is just what one member of the team decided to do.
Kassy headed down to the beach with her MP3 player tucked in her top and a pair of sun-yellow waterproof, wireless headphones. Soaking up sunlight was usually Daphne’s deal, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the day too. Once she settled down on the sand, some way away from Mt. Justice, she relinquished her legs for her usual orange tailfin. The cold ocean water washed over her tail. It felt fantastic to be in her natural state during the day.
Slipping the large headphones over her ears, Kassy did the one thing she would never do in the presence of others. She began to sing.
Ja in the meantime had just gotten his first bit of outside for the day. Today was gonna be one of the days he decided to bother someone else. Daphne would need some time to try the meditation techniques he had taught her, on her own. To truly master one’s abilities, they had to battle with themself. That inner fight had to become a conversation until your abilities could finish your sentences. This was what Iwisa taught him.
She also told him that he needed breaks, lest losing himself to the Red Beast. So, today was a break from training and stuff too. Going down the list of people to bother, he realized that he hadn’t gotten around to Kassy as much as he liked to. Well, maybe not bother her but at least see what she was up to. It was getting close to lunch time…maybe she’d want to eat lunch with him and stuff!
So far, his sniffer had led him outside as he didn’t feel her presence from the Blue on the inside of the base. Remembering she loved the ocean, intuition led him to the beach. For such a trip, he wore the green sleeveless hoodie he was gifted and some simple black swim trunks just in case she was swimming already.
On the way, he debated on sneaking up on her to surprise her. Mischief made the decision for him, chattering softly, he skittered across the sand like a raccoon. Upon catching sight of her, Ja was careful not to make a sound as he approached. Though as he got closer, he found himself slowing down and his ears twitched. His lips quivered a little and the back of his eyes stung as he listened.
Ja could do nothing but sit back and listen. The boy had heard singing many times in his life, and at times even sang himself. This, however…this was much different. Beautiful felt like the wrong word…it wasn’t strong enough to describe Kassy’s voice. Ja’s memory told him that she said that she wasn’t very good at singing…She lied.
Kassy had gone back to the excellent music store in the mall for more things. They taught her how to get the music onto her device, and even offered some suggestions. Today’s soundtrack was Queen (Queen of where, she didn’t know) and she was simply singing along to one of the songs without a care in the world. Freddie Mercury spoke to her soul.
“Can anybody find me… somebody to love?” Her voice carried across the beach, a velvety alto, rich and smooth like melted butter. It belonged in a smoky speakeasy, crooning into a silver microphone over a jazz band.
There was a bit of amateurishness, her voice lifting excitedly as she ran through the lyrics with Freddie. She was just a touch too fast, perhaps too loud. She gestured along with the music animatedly. But she was clearly, utterly happy.
“Every day, oh I try and I try and tryyyy!” She carried on, blissfully unaware of Ja’s presence behind her.
The boy had only gotten about an arm’s length away and a little off to her left side before stopping. He simply sat with his hands laid on his knees in silence. Any thought of pranking the mermaid vanished into thin air. He could feel the happiness in her voice and it, in turn, made him smile a little. He felt a foreign warmth come to his face, one that the rest of his body didn’t share, but he didn’t mind.
“Uzuri wa kichawi…” Ja couldn’t help but mutter softly.
The song finished, Kassy nailing a high note near the end. She grinned to herself, as the music died down. Then she blinked, and ever so slowly turned her head.
“...”On pure instinct, she dove forward into the water, splashing heavily as she doused herself, her music kit, and Ja. Poking her head up, she stared accusingly at him.
“How long have you been there?!”Getting super soaked by the splash of Kass’ panic knocked Ja out of the daze that she inadvertently put him in. He jumped a bit, but still sat pretty stably, albeit shaking any large clumps of water from his afro. Upon her question, he blinked and pursed his lips. The wonder in his eyes still remained as he stared back.
“I…am not sure…I was going to surprise you but you were singing so nice and…” Ja trailed, having retraced his steps. Oddly enough, the way her eyes bore into him actually made him feel kind of bad, to which he broke eye contact.
“I am sorry, Kassy.”Kassy’s gaze softened, and she looked away as well. It was hard to be angry at Ja and his soft, pretty eyes.
“It’s okay. I’m not mad, you just… startled me really badly.” She ran a hand through her thick curls, dislodging water.
“...I’ve never sung in front of anyone before. Please don’t laugh too much, okay?” The fact that he said she had been singing nicely had seemed to soar straight past her.
His wandering eyes blinked back into focus on her last bit of words.
“Laugh? At what?” His tone found genuine confusion.
“I mean…I suppose startling you would have been funny if it wasn’t that bad for you…Plus your singing made me too happy to laugh…” Ja said, though the phrase tasted strange. Being too happy to laugh didn’t make sense, but he didn’t quite understand how to describe it.
“Uzuri wa…kichawi…” He said it aloud again, hand on his chin to remember and his head bouncing left to right.
Kassy looked just as puzzled right back at him.
“I don’t know what that means. But -- wait, are you saying it wasn’t terrible?” She seemed lost for several moments, gaze going distant.
“But I was always told…” Dropping into silence, she went very still.
“She always told me to…” Something strange seemed to be happening, as her gaze darkened. There was something different about her eyes, suddenly. She shut them, taking in a deep, deep breath. When she looked up again, everything seemed to be fine.
“Thank you, Ja. Knowing my singing isn’t bad makes me really happy.” There was a shy, sharp toothed smile on her face now.
Ja nodded to answer her question, but she seemed aloof. The distant look in her eye spoke to memories, the jungle boy knew the look well, he wore it sometimes too. Seeing it emboldened him to crawl closer. He was at the ocean’s rising and falling border with the land when she seemed to snap out of it. Her smile quickly reflected one from his face as well.
“It is not only “not bad” but it’s actually really good! I have not heard anything like your voice before.” Ja felt the need to elaborate, unashamed by the enthusiasm in his tone.
“Wait, really?” Kassy’s eyes lit with happiness, and even her cheeks lit with embarrassment. A happy embarrassment, if there was such a thing. Swimming forward toward the shore, she grabbed Ja in a sudden hug.
“T-thank you! That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”She let him go just as fast, looking down as she had practically saturated his shirt.
“Oops. You might have to change. Sorry.”The sudden cold of the water rushed through his system, but his training kept him from instinctively flinching. Instead, he giggled.
“It is okay, Kassy.” He reassured, clawing through the back of his hair in hopes that his hand didn’t get stuck. Ja wanted to say something else but a low rumbling growl escaped from his stomach.
“Oh yeah, I forgot why I came out here…again.” He chuckled.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go find food with me. Of course, you can always go back to your singing though, and I’ll leave you be this time.”Kassy giggled, having heard Ja’s stomach complain.
“Food sounds good. I think I skipped breakfast so I could get out earlier. Would you like me to hunt some fish? There’s decent pickings around here. Big, fat, lazy fish that have never been hunted before.” She grinned, sharp teeth on display.
Ja bit his bottom lip in thought. There was American food on the inside that was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Then there were times that someone inside would yell at him or Red Robot would have to chase him from the kitchen because a bag had someone’s name on it. Ja wasn’t sure why they were so mad…he didn’t eat their bag.
On the flip side, he didn’t get the chance to go to the ocean too much. BSF claimed that he would swim away…though to Ja, he wasn’t sure where he could go. He could get pretty lost on his own…but this time, he wouldn’t be, and surely Kassy knew the way back. So, returning her toothy smile, he nodded.
“It sounds like fun!”“Great!” After depositing her headphones and music player in the sand, Kassy pushed herself back toward the water.
“I know a really good spot full of tasty ones. Let’s go!” And she slipped into the ocean with barely a splash.
Ja watched her go and his grin stayed. He hadn’t met someone, other than his Amai, that understood the excitement of the hunt before…He wanted to jump in the air but didn’t for now. Instead, he looked down at his shirt now soaked by water. Pulling off his gift from Daffy-Knee, he found two sticks to prop up the shirt in the sand to allow it to dry.
Turning back to the unknown bounds of the ocean, he felt a side of the Red that he hadn’t dove into yet. It felt like the first time he was thrown off of a cliff to fly. Though, this time, it was by choice that Ja took the leap.
--
Present Day
Location: Mission Briefing Room, Mt. Justice
Interactions: Probably staring at Batman Kassy was once again in awe of the Batman. Even she knew his exploits. To see him in person was actually a little scary. His presence had shut her up entirely. Even though she had questions. Like 'what was a circus' and 'wouldn't it be suspicious if they just showed up and pretended to fit in'. But she didn't say anything, not yet.
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Xaltwind
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