Transform to take in water, cloaked in scales...

[Megan Drukker]

_{Tagging Matty, who requested a getting-to-know-Meg thread with the possibility for misreading... on which note, Laurie is also welcome to join in the fishy escapades.}

Some time after Josh had finished the grand tour, and left Megan to "settle in", she'd found herself a little... well, lost. In the sense of things to do, at least; unpacking hadn't taken long (she'd just thrown the suitcase into a drawer as-was, dumped her backpack, set up a photo of the brood on the bedside table and... well, that was pretty much it. Ingrained habit, no doubt, from having to leave places in a hurry...), and thereafter... what was there to do, really?

Too nice a day to waste indoors, this. Besides, everywhere that'd been pointed out was either for eating or socialising; the microwaved plastic that had passed for food on the plane had somewhat killed her appetite, with a mix of nerves and tiredness finishing the job, and she wasn't quite ready to be the 'new girl' and try to insert herself into 'socialising'. Josh'd mentioned something about a pool, hadn't he?

-----

Which is how she ended up out here, a glittering streak splashing from one end of the pool to the other, glinting and glistening, her garish surf-print towel spread on the tiles at the pool's edge. Any worries about flashing too much flesh in the black cut-out swimsuit her ma had chosen (because everyone in America wore things like that; the movies said so, so it had to be true) are long gone because... well, scales don't really count as flesh, do they?

It's not a bad look, she ponders as she pulls herself up out of the water, twisting to take a seat on her towel with her feet still trailing in the crystal-clear water. It has sparkly-ness in its favour, and anything's better than the fur-fang-claw look, right? The webbing's a bit weird, true (she spreads her fingers experimentally, marvelling at the thin membrane now linking them) but whatever. Maybe she can just stay in the water and make being the "incredible human-fish-girl" her thing?

Her mind wanders, pondering whether she could submit a proposal for a tank to the school board (it'd be great; she could have a human-sized version of those little castles you get in fish bowls....), and so she's blissfully unaware of any onlookers, perched on the edge of the pool in the sunshine, the light sparkling off silvery scales.

[Matthew Craft]

Like his fair-haired father, Matthew has never gotten along well with the heat. Hot days had typically reduced him to a sweaty, panting, pale-faced giant addicted to green Gatorade while trying to find a cool spot in the dark recesses of his house. But since he had moved the Institute, he learned to use the readily available amenities to cool himself off, pleasantly enjoying it all the while.

Like today, when the forecaster had said something about 95 degrees by the afternoon. Just the mere thought of that kind of smothering heat and humidity made his sweat glands tremble in preparation.

With a too-small towel in one hand, and a bottle of Gatorade in the other, Matthew hurriedly wanders outside into the heated hair, not enjoying the way his short hair frizzes in the unwanted humidity. Why couldn’t he just be like that lizard kid and love sitting out in the heat? That’d make life so much more enjoyable and less sweaty.

He’s already discard his towel and bottle and shimmied out of his white shirt before the splashing in the pool alerts him to another cold-seeker. At first Matthew can only see a stripe of glitter underneath the flashing ripples, but finally the figure emerges at the far side of the pool.

Now after growing up around Tobey Caine, the funny blue fish doctor, Matthew’s not nearly as surprised at the sight of the scaly girl as he would be expected. The good doctor had become quite comfortable hanging around him with his sparkly scales out for all to see, and he can tell that this girl has no issue being exposed. Actually, after a double take, there’s more exposed than he had originally thought and he promptly flushes and focuses on the rough brick beneath him as he nears the edge of the pool.

As he scoots down and drops his feet into the water, the cool water a little jarring on his heated skin, Matthew makes an awkward gesture with a hand wave. “Uh...I think something came loose...or something.” He stares down at the bottom of the pool, squinting passed the glare of sun shining in his eyes. “I didn’t look...I mean, not on purpose!” He shifts, feeling his temperature rise in embarrassment as his red Hawaiian-patterned swim trunks snag on the brick. “I...uh, yeah...sorry.”

[Megan Drukker]

< Uh... I think something came loose... or something
There's a squeal, and a strange three-part jump (once for the fact that someone else's somehow managed to sneak up on her, once for his being... well, freakin' huge, and a final time at what he's saying - something's come loose? Yikes...) and, with a flail and a splash, Meg's back in the water.

Really smooth going there... Between this and the Mr. Worthington and, erm, Mr. Worthington debacle, her first day really isn't turning out as planned...

She bobs back to the surface, spitting out water and pushing rogue strands of fringe out of her eyes, and climbs back into position, perched on the edge. Careful examination reveals that, contrary to his assessment, still in place, and she flashes him a grin. "Nah, s'still meant to look like this, I think... sorry t'disappoint."

< I didn't look... I mean, not on purpose!
Aww, he's a sweetie... Megan immediately retracts the thought, because he's still a man-mountain and so it feels sort of sacreligious, but... aww. "Well, y'r a proper gent an' no mistake..."

She attempts an over-complicated, mocking bow, with a flourish... and nearly slips in again. Maybe someone should add "clumsy" to her list of supposed powers... Clinging to the edge, braced against gravity, Megan flashes the newcomer a pained "... whoops" grin.

"Well... this is awkward, eh?" she smiles, eventually, sitting back upright and pausing for a second or two to test whether or not she'll fall back in before relaxing. "But y've seen me kinda-naked an' I've made a right tit outta m'self... we're kinda formally introduced, huh? Y'can call me Megan."

Hand-shaking seems to be the done thing, doesn't it? She extends hers towards the giant. "I don't bite, pet. Honest... Never on a first date, at least."

[Matthew Craft]

Shifting in discomfort and awekwardness, Matthew continues to advert his eyes as the fish girl plunges back into the water to address the issue of her MIA bathing suit.

"Nah, s'still meant to look like this, I think... sorry t'disappoint." He looks up, neverminding that to his eyes she still looks rather underdressed, and clears his throat, his face burning red.

“Right, sorry. I guess I got ahead of myself there.” A sheepish grin appears before he stares back down at the water. “Better safe than sorry?” He offers as a sort of explanation for his abrupt announcement of her lack of clothing.

"Well, y'r a proper gent an' no mistake..." Matthew laughs — a sound that comes out slightly choked.

“You can blame my mom for that.” A hot breeze to his back reminds him that it’s a real scorcher outside and that he had originally come out to go for a swim. He swishes his toes back and forth and seriously considers momentarily cutting off their conversation to dive into the water.

"Well... this is awkward, eh?" He smiles at her antics. "But y've seen me kinda-naked an' I've made a right tit outta m'self... we're kinda formally introduced, huh? Y'can call me Megan."

“Sure, I guess. But I haven’t done anything overly embarassing yet, besides telling you that you were naked,” He laughs, scratching his head while inwardly thinking the worse. Good god...there is another Toni in the world! We’re doomed. “I’m Matthew.” He adds, smiling to try and cover up the fact that he was a little terrified at the thought that Toni might very well have a non-identical twin.

"I don't bite, pet. Honest... Never on a first date, at least." Ignoring the bit about the date, Matthew slips his much large hand into Megan’s and gives it a gently, customary ‘it’s nice to meet you’ shake.

“You don’t bite, but I think I might melt.” There’s a goofy grin and he kicks his feet in the water, testing the coolness. “It’s just stinkin’ hot today. How do you survive it out here without getting fried into fish sticks?”

[Megan Drukker]

< You can blame my mom for that
"I ever meet 'er, I'll buy 'er a drink." Megan grins, punching him playfully on the arm. "She dragged y'up proper, no mistake."

< I haven't done anything overly embarrassing yet, besides telling you you were naked
"True..." - yawning, she scratches her cheek thoughtfully - "We 'ave time enough t'set that straight, though. I'm bettin' I c'n get y'int'some sorta scrape or other 'fore the year's out. It's sorta a specialty, see" Megan grins wickedly - "An' you're on the list now." - and wags her finger at him, mock threateningly.

Taking her hand back, she's a little embarrassed to have left a few scales behind on his palm, inspection of her own revealing the *normal* flesh underneath where they've peeled away - changing back already, it seems. She wishes, not for the first (and definitely not for the last) time that she had a little more control over the whole process, rather than just being the test subject for whatever crazy scheme her survival instinct's picked out today.

< You don’t bite, but I think I might melt. It’s just stinkin’ hot today. How do you survive it out here without getting fried into fish sticks?
"Fish sticks? That what you Yanks call Fish Fingers?" She looks at him sidelong - seriously, someone should have got her one of those 'handy travel phrases' books, because it's like a whole other language over here. "Kinda makes sense, though, callin' 'em tha'... 'cos fish don't 'ave fingers, not usually, like. An' sticks of fish is what they are, see..."

... ah, right. There was a question in there first, wasn't there? She flushes slightly, having let her mouth run away with her again, and, flicking her fringe back from her face, starts over, pouting slightly with the effort of thinking and focusing at the same time. "I'm no' righ'ly sure, no' really. S'probably some other adaptation or sommit. S'what I do, like, adapt t'suit what's 'appenin'." Megan shrugs, noticing with some dismay that the gesture seems to have dislodged a couple more scales.

"Though I'm'a gettin' all crispy, looks like. S'bloody boilin' out 'ere." She plunges back into the pool and bobs up to the surface, her smile broadening.

[Matthew Craft]

"She dragged y'up proper, no mistake." Matthew grins impishly, rubbing his arm where she had knocked him (not that he had really even felt it, mind you).

“Oh she dragged alright.” He pulls his eyes upwards and watches the wind bustle about in the leaves. “Not to say that she’s given up dragging yet, either.”

"An' you're on the list now." Shooting her a sidelong look, Matthew scrunches his nose.

“Now I’m supposed to scared of that, right? Not like the little fish girl can do much.” There’s a casual, nonchalant way he says that, even though he has no real idea what the ‘fish girl’s’ abilities are.

"Kinda makes sense, though, callin' 'em tha'... 'cos fish don't 'ave fingers, not usually, like. An' sticks of fish is what they are, see..."

“Exactly. I don’t know why you brits call them that, but you seem to have a lot of weird names for stuff. Chips are fries? Take-aways are take-outs? Serviettes are napkins?” And that about ends his list of weird british words. “How have you survived so long with such confusing language?”

“S'what I do, like, adapt t'suit what's 'appenin'." Matthew cocks his head.

“So you’re not really a fishy person?" He notes — after she does — the little scales that are already popping off her skin. “You can be other stuff too? Very neat.”

"Though I'm'a gettin' all crispy, looks like. S'bloody boilin' out 'ere." And she’s gone, splashing him with water before resurfacing in the pool.

“I hear ya there.” Hands on the edge of the pool, he shoves his bum off and sinks down, his entry containing far more grace than Megan’s. He only reaches mid-chest depth when his feet hit the bottom and he’s left standing. “I hate it when that happens.” Kicking off the pool floor, Matthew’s feet swing up and his torso tips backwards, head submerging with a goosh. “That is so much better.” He announces when he appears topside again, water flattening his hair and dripping off his nose.

[Megan Drukker]

< Now I’m supposed to scared of that, right? Not like the little fish girl can do much.
"Watch who y'r callin' little" she scowls, the way only the 'baby of the family' can, and punches him again before flexing. "Y'lookin' atta junior bareknuckle champion two-thousan'-an'-five an' two-thousan'-an'-six... woulda had two-thousan'-an'-seven n'all, 'cept bitin' gets y'disqualified... We can' all be built like a brick shit'ouse, now, can we? An' 'sides..." Megan's tone switches from playful to matter-of-fact as, with a shrug, she adds "I could always get me ma t'put an 'ex on ya. She's right good with curses, so she is. So yeah, watch out."

< you seem to have a lot of weird names for stuff.... How have you survived so long with such confusing language?
It's a good question; why is English so damn weird? Can't really answer that one, can she? She settles on a shrug and an impish grin - "It 'elps us confuse th'rest o' ye what aren't wise enough t'understand it."

< So you're not really a fishy person?
She shakes her head...

< You can be other stuff too? Very neat
... and then nods. Quick on the uptake, this one. "Leastways I think I can, aye... pretty new t'alla this. But that's 'ow it's supposed t'work."

It is much better in the pool, she decides, nodding enthusiastically. The fact that she's treading water while he can stand on the bottom and still have half his torso in the open drives home exactly how tall Matthew is, and she submerges and does a curious underwater pass around, circling him as near to pool-bottom as she can to check that... yeah, his feet really are on the tiles. Weird. Resurfacing, she regards him sidelong. "So, what's y'r deal then, Mat - y'don' mind me callin' y' tha', d'y? I'm guessin' it's somethin' like bein' really tall"

[Matthew Craft]

"Y'lookin' atta junior bareknuckle champion two-thousan'-an'-five an' two-thousan'-an'-six…” Up go the eyebrows and his mouth pulls into a wide smile.

“Really?” He asks, not sure if he’s really going to believe her. “That’s impressive...considering you’re just so...you know...compact.”

“We can' all be built like a brick shit'ouse, now, can we?” Matthew laughs, pulling his shoulders back as he leans on his palms.

“Well, I’m not that tough. I’ve seen port-a-potties that have survived worse than I have.” Okay yeah, that’s a lie. He’s just being modest.

"I could always get me ma t'put an 'ex on ya. She's right good with curses, so she is. So yeah, watch out."

“Curse? How very medieval.” Matthew sticks his nose up slightly, then asks curiously, “What would she curse me with? I’m not up on what’s popular in the boy-smiting section of Hogwarts.”

Wiping the water from his face with a wet hand, he watches idly as Megan vanishes beneath the ripples, following her when she darts around him. "So, what's y'r deal then, Mat - y'don' mind me callin' y' tha', d'y?” He shrugs casually at the name, despite not really caring much for it. He suspects that she’d continue to call him that even if he voiced his displeasure. “I'm guessin' it's somethin' like bein' really tall."

Trying to appear as indifferent as possible, scratching his chin and glancing up at the tree again, Matthew explains his ‘deal’. “Well, we aren’t really sure about the whole ‘being a giant’ thing, but as far as the mutation goes, it’s nothing all that exciting.” He’s being modest again, but only because there’s some little part of him that likes to see people squirm when he mentions the word ‘radioactive’. “I’m just a nuclear reactor on the inside.” Yeah, simple as that.

[Megan Drukker]

< Really?
"Y'better believe it" she smirks. "Not at national, mind you - wouldn't let a Didikoi Poshrat like me get tha' far wi'it. But even wi' Da bein' a Geyro an' all I'm'a right royal terror of at least three counties."

< That’s impressive...considering you’re just so...you know...compact
"That a polite way o' sayin' I'm nowt but a little dwt, aye?" she shoots back, as if mortally offended, before shrugging, shooting him an amused half-smile. "Jus' go ahead an' say it. I'm used t'tha' by now - youngest o'five, y'can't no' be."

< Curse? How very medieval
"We're traditionalists back inna old country" she nods, her tone bright but still totally matter-of-fact on the whole subject, though there's a slight smirk playing on her lip which suggests her seriousness isn't all it's made out to be.

< What would she curse me with? I’m not up on what’s popular in the boy-smiting section of Hogwarts
Tapping the side of her nose and smirking darkly, Megan replies "Jus' pray y'never find out, Matt - it's pro'ly best tha' way."

< I'm just a nuclear reactor on the inside
".... y'what?" She tilts her head to one side, regarding him, then to the other... nope, doesn't help. "So, like, you're an 'uman microwave or som'it?"

<sub>- Didikoi - mixed blood (i.e. not pure Kale)
- Poshrat - half-Kale
- Geyro - non-Kale man
- little dwt - pet term, referring to someone / something small</sub>

[Matthew Craft]

"Not at national, mind you - wouldn't let a Didikoi Poshrat like me get tha' far wi'it. But even wi' Da bein' a Geyro an' all I'm'a right royal terror of at least three counties." He pauses, running the unfamiliar words over in his head a few times before shrugging them off.

“Well, then I guess I won’t be wanting to run into you in a dark alley anytime soon.” Matthew grins, feigning wariness of her fighting skills, even if she does still lack in the intimidation department.

"Jus' pray y'never find out, Matt - it's pro'ly best tha' way." Giving a mock salute with two fingers, he nods.

“Yes ma’am.”

".... y'what? So, like, you're an 'uman microwave or som'it?" Not as shocked as some people have been when learning of his mutation, but it’s still amusing.

“Yeah...I guess you could put it that way.” Lowering himself down until his chin touches the water, Matthew contemplates being a ‘human microwave’. “I can do all sorts of weird things...like cook an egg with my finger and uh...boil water.” He wiggles a few digits as if he were casting a goofy spell, just for effect.