I haven't been on a boat since before I left Chicago. Daddy would often go out on Lake Michigan on good days and I would sometimes even get to go with him. I'd have to wear a one-piece suit that was designed to hide my tail and a cap for my ears, but despite the discomfort of having to press my tail tighter than the ligaments and bone wanted to, it is a pleasant memory. That said, we never went out in winter. Most years going out on Lake Michigan in December would be suicide - Lake Washington is just cold annoyance.
Athos seems quite adept at the controls, so I sit myself along the starboard edge and occasionally dip my tail in the water absently. I notice the attention we're getting and write it up to my tail, occasionally smiling and waving to passing boats with both my hand and my tail, but then Athos suggests it could be something else.
"Hey, Yulia," my best friend pipes up cheerfully, "it seems that people are curious about the Troll with the hot girl. Maybe you should lay on the front and pretend to be getting a tan. I won't look, promise."
I look up at the cold grey December skies and scowl. "If it were July instead of almost January I might take you up on it, onii." I then look back at onii with a smirk. "Even if I don't have a suit, it just means no tan lines. Still," I add pointing up to the sky, "I think today I'm more likely to rust than tan...not to mention freeze my tail off."
Just as I finish speaking an unfamiliar chirp causes me to jump and almost lose my balance on the edge since it happened right as Athos took a turn. Fortunately my inhuman agility and reflexes keep me from going for a swim. What the heck? I reach into my jacket and pull out the temporary comm Jack loaned me back at Strawberry's place. We had coded it with my number until I got my glasses back. That way I wouldn't miss a call from Jimmy or someone else who might know my main line. I hadn't changed the ring tone, though, so the classic Mercurial soundtrack was unexpected.
Unrecognised?
>>@Maxwell: And who might the employer be? I'm sorry, but I don't know this number.<<