"Ulla felt hate bloom in her heart."

[neverwaitslong]

Who: Ulla & open
When: Early August
Where: around the Clipper
Warnings: Anger, possible ineffectual violence
What: Furious mermaid is not settling in well

Being captured all over again was bad enough.

But then there's this, her power stripped from her, stuffed into a body that used to be hers but doesn't feel like home anymore. A body even more ill-suited for being trapped in the confines of a ship than her eel tail was. At least that let her slither. Slow and unwieldy, but not impossible. Now, she'd flop on the deck like a caught fish.

The beautiful silver scales on the fish tail she grew up with are a reminder of all that she lost, and she hates it.

"Warren!" she yells. Because if he's here, it would at least be some consolation. He has to be here.

--

Eventually, Ulla figures out that the ridiculous ostentatious open seashell is meant for her, as a form of transportation. It feels like a mockery of a throne, an absurdity. She misses the fishbowl Warren got her. She misses her old cabin, with the comforting weight of water pressed around her. She misses Warren. And she's furious all the time.

All of the songs she sings are angry, impotent things that would tear the ship apart if she could put any real power behind them. She composes spells of destruction, and wishes they were more than an intellectual exercise.

[For Nanny Ogg]

Ulla glares daggers at her new warden. Or assistant, or whatever they're calling themselves here. "I've already had a warden for two years. You aren't him."

Comments

[cantbebuggered]

Nanny Ogg sits opposite Ulla, stirring her tea with a spoon. Between them sits the fearsome Greebo, the tom cat who's not quite convinced that Ulla isn't just a very large fish and he's figuring out how best to eat her.

Nanny only blows on her tea, and gives a nod to the toast slices she's brought Ulla.

"Jam's getting a bit runny."

[neverwaitslong]

Ulla folds her arms over her chest. Bringing food was not the right approach to take. It's another reminder of Warren, sharp and painful. He always offers to feed her. Offered. She can't imagine getting free of this place, let alone earning a deal to get back to him. A part of her hopes desperately that he'll manage it, but most of her hates the temptation of hope.

She ignores the toast. "I don't know what you hope to accomplish."

[cantbebuggered]

Nanny continues to devour her own slices, as Greebo eyes Ulla evilly from the floor.

"Currently? Trying to eat mine before the cat gets his." Nanny nudges Greebo fondly with the toe of her boot. "Silly bugger. Greebo, she's not for eating. Kindly sod off, will you?"

[neverwaitslong]

Ulla continues to ignore her toast, baring her teeth at Greebo instead. They may not be especially sharp, but they're the weapons she has at the moment. "If you try to eat me, I'll bite you back."

What is it with the cats here and looking at her as if she's food?

[cantbebuggered]

"Wouldn't recommend it. The lad's already tried to eat or have his way with anything that moves." She says, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Here, now. I know my cooking's not all that bad. What's got you down, Ulla?"

[neverwaitslong]

"I don't want your cooking, I don't want your attention, I don't want any of this. I already have a warden, and you aren't him." She misses Warren so badly it aches. She's so furious it's hard to breathe sometimes.

[cantbebuggered]

"More for me and Greebo, then." Says Nanny, completely unbothered. She hums a little song as she spreads jam on a scone.

"Who am I not, love?"

[neverwaitslong]

The cooking, the pet names... All of it chafes at the places she's desperately missing Warren. And this new person hasn't earned any information about him.

"I'm not yourlove. I've been paired with someone else for almost two years. And I'm not looking for anyone to take his place."

[cantbebuggered]

She nods, taking a moment to chew;

"And this someone else. He has a name, I take it?"