The call of the sea [for Corrine] TW: drowning

[bachjones]

 It had been the first proper night sleep in two months. Maybe that was the sign Bach needed, maybe he should stop believing in signs. Right now the money he had received from Daniel and the charity he had received from April were the only things keeping him tethered to life, but it was all so .. tiring. The sea was the only thing in his head and maybe he would just have to give in.

Maybe Cinderella being on the beach, paws deep in the sand, the wind tangling up her fur was a sign. Cinderella hated the beach. She hated the water even more, so why was she walking into the ocean?

Bach followed, shedding clothes on his way in. It was probably silly anyway, fearing the water. Fearing the emptiness underneath the surface. And where had Cinderella gone so quickly?

The first time he stepped into a hole and went under, there was the familiar fear. Bach slapped at the water, fighting to become free of it. When he surfaced, Cinderella was on her way back to the beach. "Stupid cat! What are you do-" A wave silenced him. 

Second, third, fourth, the waves seemed to be furious with him. Maybe women waves, Bach thought with a smile. I always make them angry. But the water wasn't so bad, the pain not so much. Someone would just have to take care of Cinderel-

Something instead him tore and Bach screamed, his words caught in the bubbles screaming in. 
 

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[starsfallen]

Corrine was in the old wine cellar when she felt it. Not looking for bottles that may have been left in dark corners or secret stashes (she had already done this at a weaker time) but making plans. Figuring out dimensions. Envisioning plush velvet seats and a movie screen. A private viewing area in the confines of her own monstrosity of a home. No matter how many spaces she feels, no matter how much sun and color and flowers she lets in, it still feels empty.

Part of it is trying to stay distracted. There days now since rock bottom. Three days of sobriety rolling once again. But she still feels raw and beaten, like she's been run over by a tractor. She is an open wound, albeit one determined now to heal. So when the searing pain hits her, she thinks, at first, it's another dreadful moment of detox.

Then it screams. She doesn't hear the scream, so much as feel it. Vibrating in the parts of her she never felt until that night she translated the spell. The night the ancient Siren Song resonates within her.

She knows two things. A siren is in trouble. And that this Siren is connected to her. Somehow, in such a way, that whatever agony it feels is inside her now too.

She rushes up the cellar stairs almost blind, tripping. She has to tell Lara but there's no time. It calls to her, reaches her. She barely makes it to the beach before doubling over, fighting for breath.

"Hello?!?" Is she insane? She calls to the waters edge, sees no one. Her body has been through hell her mind is a mess, maybe this is still her breakdown. "Hello?! Is anyone out there?!??

[bachjones]

Bach fights the alarm that makes his body not-try to give up, to give in. The bubbles in his head don't hurt any more, the breathes aren't necessary anymore so what the hell is still demanding his attention?

He gasps for air when his head breaks the surface, involuntarily almost. "Wha-?" Did he hear someone?

"Cinderella?" And yes, maybe this means he's finally absolutely crazy, but the pain seems to lessen now, but why?

[starsfallen]

Great. There's a disembodied voice shouting for a Disney Princess from the sea. She half-expects to see Ariel rising from the waves. Detox-induced hallucinations never waited this long to develop before. She really needs to get back to Lara...

And then she spots him, head breaking to the surface in a frenzied burst, gasping for air as the sea churns around him. "Bach?!" There's no doubt it's him, dark locks wild in the waves. There's no doubt to her that he's in trouble, though he seems almost complacent in the depths of the water. "What are you doing?!"

She remembers their last encounter by the water. How dangerous tides seemed to call to him. Her chest stabs, empty, desperate for air though she breathes. He has reached her somehow. If the pain would stop. She can save him.

It's through gritted teeth and white hot light behind her eyes that she runs into the water, dives into a wave and swims out to him. She ignores the feeling of desolation and defeat. For once it is not her own.

[bachjones]

"Wh-"

Before Bach can finish the sentence, can finish the thought, he feels something new. No something all too familiar, but this time it really really hurts.

Told you so, Lara Quinn. It feels so loud that the world could hear it, scales ripping through skin, climbing up his sides, down his jaws, his spine, covering his ears.

Bach tries to wave his savior off, doesn't know if he can or wants to be saved, but the water and blood and scales are too much and he feels a pleasant lightness drown his thoughts.

Just float.

[starsfallen]

Corrine curses under her breath as he transforms. Its shocking to her, one who has been denied her true form her entire life. Who last saw the claw's of a siren against her throat as she struggled for life. If she'd not seen Bach there, barely surfacing, before his skin shifts to scales, she may have fled. But whatever is surging through her veins keeps her going, allows her only one destination, one goal.

He seems to be floating now. The struggle seems less but the scream inside is still present. She treads out to him. bobs just beside him as she evaluates the scene.

"Bach, that is you, right?"

[bachjones]

Bach regrets a lot of things. Coming to Siren Cove is right now the thing foremost in his mind, but he doesn't know if that was the start or the end of something.

"Cor?" How does he know that? His blood is metallic in his mouth and staying out of the water seems to become harder than just keeping near the surface, underneath the surface.

He dips under and relaxes. And breathes.

[starsfallen]

"Fuck. God damnit. Bach." Corry dives under into the waves when he disappears below the surface, finds his scaled torso, wraps her arms around it and starts kicking. She bobs them both above water. "Come on, help me out here before you drown us both." Waves crest over them and she takes deep breaths when the water levels, kicking towards shore.

[bachjones]

"Corrine."

Bach wraps his arms around her, tries to get her to calm down. It's not so bad after all, the water.

"Just show yourself? Be yourself?" The air is too cold on his face and he dips under again. Better.

[starsfallen]

He's trying to hold her down in the water. This Bach who looks so unlike any musician so unlike anything she's seen so close before.

"This is myself!" She struggles to stay afloat. "What are you doing?! Come on!" The screaming has stopped. Something inside her is humming contentedly now that she's there beside him. But the rest of her is sputtering water under his weight.

[bachjones]

"But I know you?" He says it with bubbles catching his words, laughs.

It feels like there's something inside him trying to fit into the something else. It's weird and maybe a bit scary but he knows he needs Corrine close. Something's humming inside him and he hopes she can hear it as well.

[starsfallen]

"Yes you know me. Corrine Flynn who houses your damn cat only to be thanked with attempted mauling and seriously Bach did you take some siren happy pills or something?"

Still, the more she fights the waves the more whatever is inside her pulls her to him, until she's holding him close. Until she feels itching - no something like a deep tingling under - on - in her skin. Along her arms a blue gold shimmer is growing, skin shifting to scales. She doesn't scream, just stares. How is this happening? Even asking Lara for help, she said it would be a long difficult process and... what is going on?!

[bachjones]

He lets go of a deep, big, happy sigh.

"I think so?" The air is cold and wet while the water isn't and Bach lets her go for a moment. "There's something about you. Something with you. Why are you here?"

Scales. He grins. "Is that why you're here?"

[starsfallen]

She doesn't transform, not completely. It's like the places he's touched have reacted on her skin. Not some irritant, but a second self - a long hidden truth - coming to the surface. Corrine stills completely. Shock, intrigue, fear, sheer befuddlement, undeniable happiness - it's all there and more.

"No. No!" She shakes her head. "I - I heard you screaming. Somehow. I came to help you! I - I don't even know what this is."

[bachjones]

"I didn't scream. I think." He grins. "But I can't swim either, but what am I doing right now?"

Bach dips under to listen some more. Listen to everything. "But you're like me" he adds after resurfacing. "How did you find me? Why are you so worried?"

[starsfallen]

"And I can't -" She holds her transforming arm to him. "-do this. But I am." She shakes her head, finding it almost effortless to stay afloat. Corry has always been a strong swimmer, but this is something else entirely. She is as light as seafoam. She's still not entirely sure she's not having a complete break down. She may be on the road to recovery, but Corrine is still a walking wounded. Still, Bach is in this with her. He seems as close to the edge of sanity as she. This is all about him.

"I don't know. Its like - you were inside of me. Its like you were a part of me."

She dives underwater for a moment of clarity and resurfaces to the same that she left. "It sounds crazy. Right? But Siren Cove, so who knows."

[bachjones]

Any other time with any other woman (or man, to be fair), Bach would have made a comment about that. Would raise an eyebrow and invite words to become actions.
But with Corrine that doesn't feel right.

"There's something stuck on my hip that got warmer when you got closer." It sounds stupid, but he knows it's the truth. "Like ..comfort. Nice things. And that usually doesn't happen in Siren Cove. Not to me."

[starsfallen]

Comfort, nice things. The home she typically feels only with Les by her side. She thought it was the water, the scales, the reconciliation with that buried deep under her skin and in her soul. But maybe it was something else. Something about him.

"Who are you?" She asks, not with accusation, but wonder. But Corrine already knows the answer. She remembers something Bach said about his family when they first met. She feels it written across her DNA. It's just too unbelievable. The answer comes barely whispered above the waves. "...You're my brother..."

[bachjones]

"Brother? Corry, I don't have any-"

But he does. He does now. Bach feels like diving, dancing, jumping and singing. The music is back is his ears, underneath his skin, surrounding his heart.

"Sis." He pulls her into another hug, finally feels the scales settle on his skin. "Sister. Corry."

[starsfallen]

She's high. She has to be. Its the giddiness of a perfect pill cocktail with the meaning-of-life epiphany at the end of a joint. How could she have a brother? Well... its obvious how she could have a brother but finding one another like this...

...It doesn't matter. His arms are bliss, and home. Back on shore, will be reality no doubt. But here is something transcendent.

"I can't believe it." Corry holds him close, scales tickling up and down her extremities now. A tear of happiness falls and it is such a welcome change from the cries of fear and trauma that have downed her these past weeks. "I can't believe we found each other."

[bachjones]

"It's this town. This stupid weird, scary people town. So many things never happened to me before I got here. I just sung and people were happy with that. Which made me happy."

He wipes her tear away. "Don't cry, Cor. Not for me, nor for yourself. Please."

[starsfallen]

"And I used to just act and make people happy. This place was always full of the unexpected." Corrine slides from the hug and cups his face in her hands. Her beautiful brother. This part of herself she never knew. There are traces of gold scales laced with the skin on her hands and it's shocking, but right, like she's expected to see them her whole life.

"My father - your father - what do you know about him?"

[bachjones]

They match. The colors on his skin (scales?), hers.

"Father." He licks his lips, grins. "No clue. You think it was the father? I think so. My mother was never ..she was never really happy with me happening. That's for sure. Just said I could find him here, in this place."

[starsfallen]

"It wasn't my mother." Corry gives Bach a long look, melancholy hand in hand with the bliss. All those years she hated the idea of him with other women. Leaving her behind while he traveled the country, seducing, conning - having unknown siblings was a nightmare of Corrine's once upon a time. "He was a salesman. A traveling salesman who used his powers to seduce customers and lovers wherever he went." She sighs, a happier sigh than ever expected. "He had... has an amazing voice. I bet you got it from him."

[bachjones]

Traveling salesman. Bach should have known that his mother wasn't the only reason that he didn't have a family. It takes two to create a child. And it was clear that he got that from his father's side.

"He traveled." Maybe they weren't even the only ones. Hopefully he hadn't touched any of the others in an indecent way.
Bach felt his scales shift (his!). "Ah. I think we should get out of the water." He saw something familiar on the beach.

"That stupid cat. Cinderella! Stay away from the water!"

[starsfallen]

His words snap her back to reality. They should get out of the water. There is a world outside of this. Cinderella. The flash of claws in front of her face. It is Bach and she is Corrine and whatever just happened those facts are still undoubtedly true.

"Yes, we should get back." She nods. "Do you want to come in? I can make some tea. You can dry off for a bit."

[bachjones]

"I don't know. I don't .." Is your father still around? Your mother? Do I need to meet them?

"I can't even swim. My mother always kept me away from the water." He dips under and swims toward the beach. My mother kept me away from many things, looks like.

[starsfallen]

"Just say yes, don't think about it." She dives under with the swell of a wave, riding it towards shore. "And don't forget how to swim until we're back on shore."

[bachjones]

"Corrine, this means that my father is a sl- he sleeps around. And not in the fun, safe way. Who knows how much more brothers and sisters we have?"

He follows her back to the sand. "And it's your father! Doesn't it hurt? How are you going to introduce me to your mother?"

[starsfallen]

By the time the water releases them to the sand and her scattering of scales fade to a shimmer beneath the skin, Corrine is throwing Bach a death glare. But his questions are only fair, so she lets it fall.

"My mother and I aren't on speaking terms, so you won't need to worry about that from me." She lets out a deep sigh, ringing out her sopping dress. "Tea. I need to dry off to dive into this discussion. Come in and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

[bachjones]

He licks his lips. "I'm sorry."

With a shrug he feels the scales fade back, his ears popping when air can reach them again. "This is just all so weird. My mother told me to come here to find my father but to really ..I could meet him. Soon. I mean, wait, let me get my clothes."

Cinderella was stretched out over his clothes, head-butting his knees as soon as he knelt down besides her. "Now you love me again? Stupid girl."

[starsfallen]

Corrine ties her hair back from a band on her wrist as Bach finds his clothing, feeling far more an audience member to this surreality than an active participant. And what is the normal scenario when brother clothes by sister? It's an alien scenario to her and she chooses to focus on Cinderella instead. The frienemy feline.

"He skipped town for the last time 3 years ago, or so I've been told. Sorry."

Cinderella has spotted Corrine. She raises her tail and eyes the girl with a challenging glare. Corrine meets it and then some. "Alright cat. We're family now. Looks like we're going to have to call a truce."

[bachjones]

"Behave", he tells both. "Please."

"Three years.." Bach tries to ignore the sinking disappointment. "Oh. Okay. Didn't need a father before anyway. Can do a bit longer without. You ready to go?"

His cat jumps up to his shoulder, draping herself around his neck. At least one of them is.

[starsfallen]

"Will you settle for a sister, for now?"

She leads him back up to the house, head spinning between questions for Bach and hang ups with her father and far too many images of past seduction in bad 80s-wear.

"He called asking for money a little while back. I set things straight and it was the last I heard from him." She finds the key and leads them through her glass doors. Keeping them locked is new, but after recent events, she's taking a lot more precautions in life. "But - look, he's not all bad. When I was a kid - he was like James Bond meets Peter Pan by way of John Lennon."

[bachjones]

"I don't think I ever met those people", he frowns. "And that's not even a question, of course. I never had a real family, a sister is like ..four levels up now."

He frowns at the keys. "Money? My mother said he used to be money."

[starsfallen]

Corrine ushers him over to the sofa. "James Bond, 007? Peter Pan of NeverNever Land? John Lenon the Beatle? Oh honey, do we need to do a Pop Culter crash course for you."

As soon as she settles, she jumps back up. "Right, tea! And you need to dry off. Bathroom's over there if you need towels or a hot shower." Corrine herself uss parking head to toe but the events ofthe day have left her woefully forgetting such worldly states of being.

"Money." Corrine sighs. "Yes, Dad was made of money. Siren salesman extraordinare. But he said something about getting in with the wrong crowd." She sighs again as she heads to the kitchen to put tea on. "So you know how it goes."

[bachjones]

"Don't ..call me honey. Please, Corrine. And not only because you're my sister. That sounds weird. Can I call you that? Should I continue to use Corry? Do you have other nicknames?"

He rolls his eyes. "Wrong crowd, yes. No money, no. My mother was tighter with money than any bank I can think of. I still think I should have more money than I do right now."

Shower? Bach decides against it. "I'm almost dry, I think."