Simon enjoyed the early mornings. Them and late evenings, with a healthy interest in the darker hours of the night. Yet above all, he lived for water. It was the element he thrived in, what he lived and breathed for. And in general, was just as capable of breathing if he found himself in such a pinch. Adaptability was the name of the game for the strange one, but no matter how hard he try he could not fit into human society. He stuck out like a sore thumb, more than a spotless evening gown in a barn. He'd never wholly understood mankind either, and he was told that they wouldn't come to understand him. Cassandra had been smart enough to set that small factoid straight despite having to tell it to something that had back then been the closest Simon ever had been to a normal human child. But truly, when one took on as a child a strange creation of alchemy, one that made fun of all that was natural in its oddities, one had to be ready to make such decisions.<br/><br/>It had all started from when Cassandra's husband had made that strange purchase. Soon after he was found dead, blood smeared all over the egg that poor Harris had still been clutching in his hands. The Raingroves had never been a family much for revenge, and so all that came of it was that the last words of Cassandra's now late husband's had been honoured. He had wanted to know what exactly these strange "Well Wardens" were. And that was how Simon had come to be. There had to have been something in that blood that awakened him from his slumber in the shell, for he'd always resembled his deceased 'father'. But that could have been a coincidence just as well. It was difficult to tell at times.<br/><br/>What could be said easily about him was that he was no human, yet there were many similarities. Two arms with hands in the usual configuration, a face built like a man's with perhaps a little larger a pair of eyes and very diminutive outer ears, the usual kind of torso if a bit on the strange side in its beep blue and chalk white colouration... he had hair, to be sure, hair that seemed to always be damp if not drenched, and then came the little things about his lower body. Like how in water he had good number of tentacles to propel him onward, yet when he rose on land they would soon converge into a pair of legs. Simon did avoid making that alteration in anyone's view though, usually. He found it somewhat embarrassing.<br/><br/>As he'd grown, people had begun noticing some weird things. Sure, it was one thing when one's child told them they'd seen another kid in the water that was a little strange coloured, since children saw things. Especially when they'd heard first about this strange kid from another child. But when something man sized was breaking free of fishing nets, that's when the rumours start to circulate. Yet it wasn't as if Simon could have gone cold turkey on swimming. It was his element. Water was what he lived for, what his body yearned to soak in. Everything was so dry and bright on land. In the dew of the early morning, the land above surface was full of wonder however. And today, an old friend would arrive at the very same hour. The hour of pleasant miracles.<br/><br/>Simon had been out for a swim this night, as he had been on so many others just as well. And once again he was out later than he had planned. He was already on his way back to the shore too, when he noticed something was off. There was somebody there. The ripples vanished from the surface as the freed well warden dove deeper into the lake, releasing behind him a small cloud of ink to make sure he wouldn't be followed by gaze alone. He didn't have much of it, so what followed next would have to be slow and careful. He crept towards the bank, or rather a lush reed growth behind a larger rock. Who was this person? The manner of dress wasn't familiar to him.<br/><br/>Yet it didn't take more than his forehead and eyes poking out from amid the reeds and a squint in the new arrival's general direction to identify her. Lilia! It had been so long! She'd grown to be a woman too, no longer a child like they had been when they last saw one another. What could have brought her here, Simon pondered while he slipped back under the surface and glided into the shadow of the jutting rock. His tentacles coiled into the muddy bank, and soon he sprang forth from the serene waters with a splash that would only just not reach the other person at the scene. A series of wet slaps sounded from Simon landing down on the tilted surface, his bottom away from view as he leaned over the edge at the top of the rock, setting his hands on the tilted surface on the other side. He was wearing no clothes, so this sort of censorship had to do while he dried.<br/><br/>"Lilia! It's you!" he called out with his oddly normal voice, the amphibian nature not affecting his vocal chords in the slightest. He was as cheery and bubbly as ever, never having outgrown such behaviour. The tentacles that had spilled over to the visible side of the rock detached their suckers from the uneven surface and coiled behind him, where they begun their adaptation into more ordinary legs. Sun reflected from the bright white of Simon's damp chest, his large eyes remaining squinted as Lilia stood in the direction the light of the sun was coming from. "It's been so long!" he finally added, but would have to drop his voice after that. Water was excellent in carrying voice after all. And what men lived on this side of the lake, hmm? Nobody, officially. "Mother did say that she sent a letter to you. Never told me what it was about, but I have my suspicions. Haven't you gone to the house yet? I can carry your luggage if I dry off enough to get dressed before you go. My clothes are under that rock there if you'd be so helpful", he go her up to speed, pointing at a pair of stones set on top of each other. "I wouldn't want the first thing you see here be, well. Inappropriate." It might all have been fine when they'd been kids, but those times were long gone.<br/><br/><a class="username" data-user-id="8" data-username="@Alchemy" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/8/">@Alchemy</a>