Ten minutes ago I met you / and we murmured our how do you dos (louie x webby)

[woo_oo]

The marina was deserted nowadays, which made it perfect for anyone who wanted to be alone - which was Louie's objective. Not that he didn't love his family - of course he did - but sometimes he just needed a break. Naturally he had no idea that the last couple of times he was alone... he wasn't. Not really.

After all, the one watching him had made sure to stay hidden. She wasn't supposed to go near his kind, but the forbidden fruit is always the most tempting. She had a million and one questions for him, but each time she thought of approaching him, she lost the nerve. Today would be different, so she hoped.

Right on time, she spotted him walking along the water, and dove into her hiding spot behind the large rocks - but her timing was off. Instead of a quiet slip, it'd accidentally become a loud splash...

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[talkyourwayout]

It really was the perfect place to escape all the adventure and danger that came with being part of his family. He was certainly getting better at dealing with those things, learning to use his skills to work a situation... But it was still frightening. Sometimes he did, indeed, just want to get away.

The marina seemed like the perfect, safe spot, and was quite familiar to him, of course - which just added to the comfort. It was a place where he knew nothing bad would happen, and where he could take some time to himself.

Or so he'd thought. The splash he heard indicated that he was not alone, causing Louie to stop still. Maybe it had just been a fish, but that was quite the splash...

"Hey, is someone out there?"

[woo_oo]

Oops. She froze in the water, her mind splitting off in a million directions - quick, go with your instincts!

"No!"

... Bad instincts.

"... Maybe?" She moved around the rocks, trying to peek at him without being seen herself.

[talkyourwayout]

Okay, the horrible job that - whoever it was - did of evading being discovered? That made things less concerning, though Louie still moved cautiously as he headed in the direction of the voice. His tone, however, remained casual.

"Oh, maybe, huh?"

[woo_oo]

All right, she needed to stop worrying so much. If this was a terrible land-walker like Granny warned her about, she could take care of herself! And if he wasn't... didn't that offer a chance to expand her world?

Taking a big breath, she suddenly popped her head over the rock, casually tossing her hair around, propping her arms here and there - and doing her best to hide the rest of her behind the rock.

"Yes! I meant yes, I'm just here, stretching out my long land-walking legs, as one does!"

At first glance, she did look like an ordinary girl. But a closer inspection would reveal some oddities - the hint of scales beneath her feathers, elongated pink nails, and unusual eye color.

[talkyourwayout]

Even though she may look normal at first glance, she sure isn't speaking normally. Louie gives a snort, and despite his earlier concerns, now he's just amused. Whatever kind of game this girl is playing, she's not going to get one over on him.

"Oh, yeah. Totally, that's not weird at all."

[woo_oo]

Sarcasm was as foreign to Webby as... well, almost everything, really. So she was convinced she really had fooled him. What a relief!

"Exactly! Here we are, not being weird, you and I. Nothing weird here whatsoever." That's how people talk, right? "I just came to watch the sun set on the water. It's really pretty at this time."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie couldn't help laughing at first. "Sure, it's pretty. But man, you are really bad at this."

He didn't even know what she was trying to pull, but he could still say with confidence that she was failing.

"What's your angle?"

[woo_oo]

... Oh, no.

"Bad at what?" She tried to keep at it, even though the nervousness was now obvious on her face. "I'm not angling anything! Who says I can't enjoy the sunset with my fellow leg-haver?"

[talkyourwayout]

He kept laughing. Was she being obvious on purpose, maybe? But why?

"Why the fixation on legs, anyway?"

[woo_oo]

"I'm not fixated on legs!" Panic mode had been fully initiated. "And I absolutely have them! I'm just like you so there's no reason for you to think otherwise and hunt me down!"

[talkyourwayout]

Okay, it wasn't funny anymore - it was kind of freaking him out.

"Hey, cut it out. Just... Come out here, okay? You're not tricking me."

[woo_oo]

She hesitated, nails tapping away on the rock.

"... You promise to be cool?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie nodded. "Yeah, sure. Keeping my cool is my strong suit."

Unless there was danger, but how dangerous could she be?

[woo_oo]

Promises were important things, so if he was going to keep it everything would be fine. Surely.

After a big gulp of air, she dove down into the water with a small splash, popping up on the other side of the rocks. Now that she was closer to him in the clear water, he could see she didn't have legs at all...

[talkyourwayout]

Louie stumbled back a bit in the sand, eyes going wide. "What the heck? You're..."

Okay, wait. He took a deep breath. He'd seen weirder - way weirder - on adventures with Uncle Scrooge. "Mermaid, huh? Please be a mermaid and not a siren."

[woo_oo]

She winced, fearing his reaction... but then her nerves melted completely as he was wasn't afraid. "No! I'm totally a mermaid! Sirens, ugh." She waved a dismissive hand. "They're such jerks, always trying to make boats crash for fun. We mermaids try to keep to ourselves, usually."

[talkyourwayout]

"Huh, no kidding," Louie said, with a light smile. "I mean, I'm not totally surprised, since I haven't seen a mermaid before. Uncle Scrooge has, but he's seen everything."

He shrugged, casual as could be, but the wheels in his head were already turning. If mermaids were really so rare, there might be some way he could benefit from knowing one.

[woo_oo]

Happiness began to bubble up and escape as an excited giggle. "I've never met a land-person before either! I want to know absolutely everything about you!"

Wen was the last time - when had anyone ever said that about Louie Duck?

[talkyourwayout]

The surprise on his face is clear, but... There's something nice about being asked that. He could get used to it. "Me? Uh... Sure, sure."

He doesn't even know where to start. "So, like, what? Everything-everything?"

[woo_oo]

"Everything everything!" She repeats, her cheeks in her hands, studying him from a distance, eyes going up and down. "What you do on the surface world, the places you see, the people you meet, how you sleep, what you eat, don't leave anything out!"

A tad creepy, but still well-meaning.

[talkyourwayout]

"Eugh, wow, that's... Okay, I was thinking we could start with like... My name?" he offered, taking a half-step backwards. "I'm Louie Duck. Mermaids have names, right?"

[woo_oo]

"Oh, right! I'm Webbigail! But my Granny sometimes calls me Webby."

First friend made, name achieved! Louie Duck!

[talkyourwayout]

"Webby. Okay, cool." He smiled a bit, nodding, before he started to answer some of her earlier questions. "Most days, I'm either going on adventures with my family, or working on my start-up company. ...Oh, do mermaids even have jobs?"

[woo_oo]

"I have no idea what jobs are." Nor what a company was. More importantly -

"So you DO go on adventures! I guess it!" She squealed a bit, splashing the water in her excitement. "Do you go all over the world, and meet all sorts of people, and do all sorts of things?"

[talkyourwayout]

Woah, okay, that took Louie aback a bit. This was one excited mermaid.

"Yeah, and yeah, and mostly we look for treasure? But we do... A lot of weird things when we're looking for it, so yeah, that too."

He didn't seem nearly half as enthusiastic about it as she did.

[woo_oo]

"What kinds of treasure?" She latched onto that word, trying to sit up in the water.

"I've always wanted to know what land-walker treasure was like! Can I see it, please, please, pleeeaaase? I'll do anything if you let me see it!"