tōnga o te rā

This made number three. The third person that Marcus had to drag back to shore, just this week! Weren’t the winter months supposed to be less busy? Once the would-be victim got his legs back underneath him, he was sent on his way with, hopefully, a powerful lesson about not getting in the water without knowing how to swim. 

“I swear, if the town doesn’t kill some of these people their own stupidity will” Marcus said, shaking his head. He couldn’t be there for every swimmer turned victim. He’d found plenty of corpses and dragged them back to shore just as he would a living person. However, they did serve as a reminder that every person he saves very easily could end up like the floating bodies he came across instead. 

He was tired, and he was hoping to return to the lighthouse just to kick back and relax for a bit. The sun had yet to set, so his watch hadn’t technically started yet, but he took more solace in the lighthouse than he had in his own home recently. Just as he was about to head inside, however, he heard a screaming in the distance.

She was actually totally chill about water. In the same way that someone with ophidiophobia was chill about snakes. (That was the phobia of snakes, by the way – she’d googled it for funsies one day). So why Mahuika had stuck around a coastal-freaking-town in freaking-Maine of all places was as much a mystery to her as it would’ve been to anyone who knew her. 

Luckily, few people did. Which was totally chill, because the fewer number of people who knew her, the fewer number of people who could figure stuff out that she didn’t want figured out. Which was good. 

Except that sometimes she got a little cocky about things – and yes, she could admit this about herself. That was part of what made her such a good person. Mahuika very much figured that she was a good person, and this was just further proof of that. She liked science, she’d excelled in mathematics. She was freaking good at proofs. Just, as it would happen, not so great at looking where she was going (on the coast), and a few rocks got loose and suddenly she was in the water (salt water, which tasted horrible in her mouth) and she couldn’t help but scream. She was a shit swimmer, and the water was really really super dark.

Marcus looked behind him to see a woman crashing into the water, and it didn’t seem like she was doing a great job of even treading water. Marcus took a deep breath and put his head into his open left palm before shaking his head and running towards the drowning woman. Given how the waves were already starting to come over her, he knew he wouldn’t have much time until she was submerged. At that point, it’d be very tough to find her without shifting into his seal form first. He palmed his pelt, ensuring he had it just in case.

“Hold on!” he yelled as he ran closer to the woman. 

He really hoped that she wouldn’t completely go under before he got there. Some people had a tendency to sink like stones and, while swimming was something he excelled at, diving was not. His feet padded along the wet sand as he finally neared the woman, who looked to slowly be losing her struggle with the crashing waves. 

Salt water tasted funny. Not funny good – and honestly, not totally funny bad, either. But it wasn’t good. It was horrible, actually. Nothing to do with the ocean was good. Well, Mahuika supposed that some animals were good and beneficial and helpful, but the ocean on the whole was just bad. She heard someone’s voice, vaguely, far off (though she hadn’t been that far from shore, had she?).

She slipped under, for a moment, then back up, before she was about to try and see if somehow she was able to control the water (it didn’t work). But a figure appeared next to her and without even thinking twice she grabbed onto them. “I – shore. Now. Please.” Mahuika coughed out. “I’d very much like to not be in this fucking water any longer.”

As Marcus approached the drowning woman she quickly clung onto him without missing a beat. He was used to people grabbing onto his shoulders with their full weight, and was grateful he was strong enough to keep both of them afloat as they did so. Too often a rescuer would be pulled down by the victim they were attempting to rescue, resulting in both people drowning. He had heard many stories of it happening, and had even seen it a time or two out on the field. 

He made sure the woman had a secure grip on him before he made yet another grueling trip back to the shore. At least in this instance he didn’t have far to go, but the fatigue from the day was seriously starting to set in, and it was obvious he was moving more sluggishly than he normally would. 

Soon after, the pair reached the shore line and Marcus ensured the woman he rescued was on her feet before collapsing onto the sand, spitting out sea water as he did so. The woman didn’t appear too worse for wear, and he hoped the same could be said for himself. After catching his breath for a moment, he sat up and said “You gotta be more careful. The currents this time of year are unpredictable, and a riptide can come on at any moment. If I wasn’t here…” 

Then, rather than chastise her further, he simply shook his head. He was frustrated at the folly of humans, but this woman didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of that frustration. Hell, she had just avoided drowning to death, the least he could do was show a touch of sympathy rather than berate her. Marcus took a deep breath to recompose himself. 

“Sorry, just having one of those days. Are you okay? Do you need any kind of medical attention?”

She wanted to snap at his reminder for her to “be more careful”, because what? Mahuika was a very careful person (when she wanted to be) and this stranger judging her? So not it. Still this stranger had saved her life and she was probably supposed to be grateful for that (not even probably, she genuinely was), but that didn’t mean she couldn’t also be annoyed and frustrated about things. She was amazing at multitasking, after all.

Mahuika brushed her hand through her hair. She was so going to have to go home and wash it with extra shampoo and conditioner, which was a total waste of money, proving once again how stupid and awful and terrible the ocean was.

“I’m fine.” She coughed, spitting water out of her mouth, “or, like, at least mostly, haha.” She resisted making a face and figured she should be rewarded for that. Except that this dude had just saved her and asking for a reward at a time like this was so not tactful. Mahuika wanted to be tactful. Most of the time. “I might need a towel? But I don’t think I need medical attention. Unless it looks like I do?” She frowned.

For having almost drowned, Marcus couldn’t help but notice the woman seemed pretty non-chalant about the whole ordeal. Something told him this wasn’t her first offense. To Marcus, she seemed okay. Her color was good, she was moving appropriately. She was able to speak without difficulty, and Marcus hoped he wouldn’t end up being annoyed by this fact. 

“You seem okay, aside from being soaked of course. I don’t have a towel on me right now unfortunately, I came running as soon as I heard you hit the water.” He said flatly. The adrenaline from the situation was starting to subside and he finally started to look at his rescuee as an individual instead of another dumbass almost getting themselves killed. 

“I uh, take it you don’t swim much.” Her ineffective flailing was proof enough of this. “What brings you to the beach then? Especially so close to the shore line”.  

Marcus was always perplexed by people who made it a habit of being near the water yet never learned how not to die in it. It was like setting up a lawn chair next to an active volcano. 

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if I’m okay, but it’s – I’m alive.” It was easier to focus on that than on her fear. Her fear that shouldn’t have ever even existed, because fear made you weak and Mahuika was not weak. She refused to be, and that would work.

“Well, I’m glad you were there to rescue me.” She offered him a small smile. Because she did have to be nice because he’d saved her life, and she wouldn’t be alive without him, because you couldn’t control water no matter how hard she’d tried (she could remember trying when she was tiny, being pissed that she could help people confess love, could make her siblings bring her snacks, but couldn’t move water around.

“I don’t. No. I – well, I can’t. Not technically.” Or well at all. Much at all. Mahuika sighed. “I was out for a walk and I slipped. I don’t usually do that.”

“Alive is a very underrated thing to be,” Marcus began. “You’re on solid ground now. Well…solid as sand can be I guess,” he continued, finally allowing himself to laugh a bit. He had saved a life. And while the work could be tiresome, it was also rewarding. Remembering this is what he needed to help keep himself going.

“I’m glad I was too. Don’t know if I’d forgive myself if I saw you washed up here tomorrow morning.” There was a brief pause, just enough to be really awkward, before Marcus realized how morbid what he had just said really was. “Not to be all gloom and doom or whatever. I’m just saying. I’m glad you’re alive.” 

“A lot of people slip around here,” Marcus often wondered how. He figured the sand would add a little extra grit to people’s feet, but it seemed to do the opposite for most. “Maybe they should set up rope barriers or something? A lot of other piers and beaches do that. Makes it a lot harder for people to fall in.” He then shrugged his shoulders. “What do I know? I’m just the guy that hauls people back in.”

“That it is. It’s a great thing, and too many people make a waste of it.” Mahuika wasn’t exactly going to go about explaining in what ways she thought people were making a waste of it, and then of course, there was that girl, whose name she tried to forget, who’d been taken and not even had a chance to waste or not-waste her life.

She thought she was going to be sick for a moment, but she spat against the rocks and shook her head and everything was better (temporarily, at least). “Doom and gloom’s part of life sometimes, but yeah, that was a bit… much.” It was, and he’d admitted as such, so wasn’t it more rude of her to claim that things were super wonderful and hunky-dory? It was, Mahuika decided. If he didn’t think so, his loss.

“Ropes might be good. Yeah. You also should get a better job. Unless you’re a lifeguard in which, well, I think I might still tell you to get a better job but at least saving people would be your whole job.” She fought off the desire to roll her eyes, and, just for a little bit of fun, willed her savior to do a spin in place. Something simple. Just to make sure that nearly dying hadn’t taken her powers. That would be worse than death.

Marcus found himself agreeing with the woman’s sentiment. People often squandered their life and health. He figured people in this town would be more grateful for their lives than in other places. 

“Sorry…I don’t have much of a filter lately.” It was true, Marcus had much less tact since William was killed. The burdening weight of death seemed to be looming everywhere for him ever since. 

“Lifeguard is only part of the job. I do maintenance and lookout work at the lighthouse over there” he said, pointing to the lighthouse nearby. “I really like it actually. Guiding ships to safety, saving wayward swimmers caught by the waves. It’s rewarding work, but incredibly exhausting.” 

Without warning, Marcus felt his muscles twitch and he quickly did a small rotation in place. What the hell was that? Marcus eyed the woman suspiciously before slowly backing away. She must have been more than she appeared to bed to be

“I’ve been told that I, too, at times lack a filter, so you’re all good there.” At least he was relatively easy to talk to, though Mahuika certainly wasn’t paying too much attention to their conversation. Which yeah, was probably rude, especially to somebody who’d just saved your life, but she also didn’t really care. Which sounded bad, even if her head, but there was simultaneously a certain delight in that.

She gave a half-hearted shrug at his comment about work. “Well, lighthouses are quite nice.” Which was a lame and half-baked sort of thing to say, but what exactly else was Mahuika supposed to talk about? The weather? As if! 

He backed away from her after she’d made him turn around, which was intriguing. It might’ve meant nothing but it also could’ve easily meant that he knew more about Things than most people in this town. Huh. “You good? If you want any like, payment, I’ve got some random-ass Certs in my car. Or I could give you like, five bucks? It was in my jeans, so it’ll need drying out, but it’s something. Or I can just leave.” Mahuika raised an eyebrow. “I don’t even know your name, though, so like, what’s up with that?”

Marcus was thankful the woman seemed to understand at least. “I’m usually more…reserved. Just one of those days, you know?” Marcus found that “one of those days” was often a surprisingly good excuse for mildly bad behavior.

“Well, they help stop shipwrecks and save thousands if not tens of thousands of lives a year. So I’d say they’re very nice” he said, somewhat defensively. He could tell the woman didn’t have much interest in maritime affairs but figured she could at least appreciate the business of saving lives. 

As Marcus looked on at the woman horrified at what she may be, his anxiety rose when she asked for his name. The odds of this being some sort of fae magic were far too high for him to give her his name. No way would he fall for that. 

“My name…you can call me Mark.” He figured it was close enough. “You really don’t have to repay me. Honest. In fact, I should really get back to work. Never know when someone else might need saving. Nice meeting you though!” He said, hurriedly turning to leave. If she were some sort of malicious fae, he needed to get out ASAP

“Yeah, valid.” There wasn’t much more Mahuika could say, and she was pretty sure there wasn’t much more that needed to be said, honestly.

After the confrontation with the man who demanded his wife’s ring back, Alistair had almost forgotten about it. Sure, he remembered the young girl who had stepped in, but the man? Waste of breath, really. It wasn’t the first time he’d had a rough encounter with a displeased husband. He strongly doubted it would be the last. Still, he hadn’t come back, true to his word, so Alistair forgot. Stupid of him. 

It was after he’d closed the shop, and instead of going straight up to his flat, Alistair had decided to go on a walk with Brutus, get the guy’s energy out from being stuck inside most of the day and give him a chance to decompress from being in work mode all day. It was cold out, and the sun was starting to set, seeing as how it was still the dead of winter. 

He and Brutus were about a block away from the flat when he heard footsteps coming toward him. It was a public space, so Alistair thought nothing of it, until they got close enough to feel the person’s breath on the back of his neck. Freezing in place, Alistair frowned as he listened to Brutus growl at the unknown figure behind him. “I’m going to ask one last time for my wife’s ring back before things get ugly,” the man’s voice was immediately recognizable, and Alistair cursed himself for forgetting about the encounter. Of course it wasn’t the last time he’d see that stupid git. 

Alistair suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and slowly turned around. “She made a deal. She knew she could have traded anything in the world, and she chose to trade away her wedding ring. It meant something to her, so count yourself lucky that she saw worth in a stupid brute like you.” Alistair stared directly at the man, despite his lack of sight. The sun was setting behind the man, giving Alistair a rough outline of where the guy’s head was. “So I’m going to ask you to back off kindly.” The redhead flashed a venomous smile, acutely aware that there was the sound of another set of footsteps nearby. Would they intervene? He could only hope. 

She wasn’t one for altruism. 

Which was a bit of a lie, but facts still stood where they were. She wasn’t the sort to just do good things. At least not anymore. It was cold out, and Mahuika both adored and loathed that, all in one.

The warmth was far better, but the cold was far more at home. In a sort of brilliant kind of way, mostly due to the fact that it was easier to mentally freeze things out when the world was that way. Which was way too dramatic of a way to think about things, but that was that, and all that was, was how Mahuika saw things now, and much like many other aspects of her life, she had no immediate sort of plans to change anything about any of that.

Still, some dude had started yelling at another dude with a dog and there wasn’t even anything in particular that should’ve made her look twice, but something did, and wasn’t part of growing to be the best taking every chance you could to practice?

Yes, she answered, entirely to herself and entirely in her head.

That was part of the beauty of being alone. You could talk to yourself in your mind and think every single thought that you wanted, and nobody could tell you to stop, or think kinder things, or to chill out. 

Mahuika bit her lip to keep a giggle from escaping, and strode over to where the two men were standing, giving a tap on the non-red-headed man’s shoulder. “You know it’s like, way totally illegal to accost people?” Before the man could speak a single word, her fingers had found his lips, and she grinned, and even let something of her giggle escape. “You’ll be leaving now.” She looked at him, grateful again for her height. And so maybe she did a little snap, and maybe she thought about how funny it’d be if he walked into a few phone poles on the way to wherever he was going.

– and, just as she knew he would, he turned around and began moving away. “You good now, dude? He’s elected to go and try hanging out somewhere else and not bothering people.” Mahuika’s fingers found the single strand of hair that had fallen out of place and tucked it right back in.

One second, Alistair was preparing for the worst, and the next? Someone had intervened. Alistair frowned, realizing something else was at play for why they were suddenly not being accosted. She was giggling, and something in the air made Alistair wonder what exactly she was. 

That man was ready to rough him up, and now Alistair was fine. Alistair blinked. Once. Twice. “I…” his frown deepened, wracking their brain to figure out what had just happened. She was addressing him now. “I’m fine, thanks to you.” He finally spoke after trying (and failing) to figure out what had just happened. 

He held Brutus’s lead a little tighter, once again faced with the reality that, in the grand scheme of things, Alistair was helpless in the face of a fight. He couldn’t see it coming, after all. He’d grown accustomed to being blind, but it was knowing how vulnerable he was that shook him to his core. “I owe you something for that.” He decided, brows shooting up above his sunglasses. 

He waited for the girl to ask why that encounter had even happened. Surely she had heard it, right? He shifted his weight from foot to foot, feeling Brutus lick his hand to calm Alistair down. He relaxed, running a hand through Brutus’s fur to ground him.

“Well, no duh.” Mahuika couldn’t help but grin. Thanks to you. The gratitude felt nice. Very, very nice. It was true, after all, and Mahuika appreciated any sort of special acknowledgement of what she could do. “Thank you though!” She added on, with a grin, because of like, proper decorum and all sorts of things like that.

Then he said that he owed her, and that certainly made Mahuika’s grin all the more genuine. This was something she could work with. Being owed favors, that was. She hadn’t even had to do anything to get this particular favor. No work put in at all, which was all rather incredible. Maybe this town was more worth it than she’d previously figured, after all. 

“I wouldn’t say no to any of that,” she acquiesced. “The you owing me, I mean.” She giggled, putting it off as a joke, even though it really wasn’t. But this guy didn’t have to know that. Nobody other than Mahuika, Cat, and Rat ever had to. Cat and Rat weren’t here, but she could tell them later, when they both curled up against her, their warmth seeping into her body.

“Okay, but, like, what was up with that? The dude goin’ all after you? What??”

Alistair smirked as the girl seemed keen on him owing her. He could respect it. The smirk faded away as soon as she questioned why he was accosted in the first place. That was a little harder to explain. Then again, seeing as how she was able to do what Melody could do, maybe it wouldn’t be. One way to find out. “Well, see, I own the Sugar Pot in Oldtown.” He began, rocking back and forth on his feet. “While it seems like just a tea shop, I also heal people in the back.” 

He paused, waiting for her to say anything before continuing. “Instead of asking for money as payment, I ask for something that matters to them.” Saying it aloud, Alistair could understand how strange it sounded. “His wife decided to give me her wedding ring.” He further explained. “He wasn’t to keen on it and seemed hellbent on getting it back. That’s the second time he’s tried that.” He paused, tilting his head to the side. “And now hopefully the last.”

“Tell you what, you’ve got a few free drinks on me if you want them. For helping me, I mean.” The redhead offered, grasping at Brutus’s lead a bit tighter, thankful that his furry companion was with him.

This person was far too willing to give facts about themselves away. So maybe she’d used her magic, but she wasn’t totally out here telling him what she did, exactly what she was. That got you in trouble, but if he didn’t care about getting in trouble, then it certainly wasn’t her problem. What was most important to Mahuika was that he owed her, and he was down to owe her.

“Well, that’s boring. If his wife gave it away, that’s their own personal marriage problem and like, so totally shouldn’t be taken out on you!” Though Mahuika would absolutely throw him under the bus if the occasion called for it. There were few (and right now, off the top of her head, she couldn’t think of any) people she wouldn’t throw under the bus. If the vibe was right.

“I won’t say no to drinks – do you mean alcohol or tea, because, like, totally down for either, but I just like to know what I’m getting into, y’know?” Her gaze fell to the dog. “What’s your dog’s name?”

Alistair didn’t mind showing their cards when the opportunity showed itself. After all, he came from a line of proud magic casters. Despite the hatred people had for necromancy, his family always held their heads high. He was no different. He smoothed his shirt out before running a hand through Brutus’s fur, grounding himself again. That could have gone a lot worse for him, yet here he was, standing on his two feet. 

“That’s what I think, but many people don’t share that sentiment,” he answered with a simple shrug. Of course he knew the price he asked of people, how much people would give to get back things that mattered to them. If something like this happened again, he might have to insist on a different item from this woman.

“Tea! I don’t have alcohol on me.” Alistair pulled a face; the idea of asking someone that much younger for a drink made him feel weird. “Free drinks from the Sugar Pot, should you ever want it.” He spoke with a nod. “This is Brutus. He’s my eyes.” He didn’t speak on how literal that was. “He’s on duty right now otherwise, I’d allow you to pet him.”

“Yeah, well, you can’t always make everyone happy.” She figured that he must’ve known that. It wasn’t like she was someone who always made everyone happy, though she tried, really, she did, and she also pulled her fair share of strings to make certain that people usually felt good about her, even if initial ideas may have implied otherwise. But Mahuika didn’t really care, not completely, but she also did care, sometimes more than she wanted to.

Though Mahuika made note to not ask for him to heal her. She could get a doctor to do it. She’d watched Grey’s Anatomy on her late-night shifts. She knew how doctors worked. Even if she didn’t, she could just make them do their very best, and then she’d be fine. For all that she did, she wasn’t too keen on the idea of owing anyone. 

“I’ll settle for tea, then,” rolling her eyes at his face, but quickly shrugging it off. “I do want it. Oh? Eyes in what way? But he’s charming. I’ve got a cat and a rat. “It’s fine, I understand that I can’t pet him. That’s how service animal rules go.” She made a face, as if to say, I don’t need you telling me what to do or how things work. “Like, now, or later on? I don’t wanna crowd you or anything.”

Alistair let his hand drop from Brutus and gave a half smile. “Both as my seeing-eye dog and as a familiar.” He tapped his temple knowingly, then struggled to keep himself from rolling his eyes at her comment of knowing she couldn’t pet him. Something about her tone led him to believe that she was pulling something over on him. He remembered himself at her age, thinking that he was all powerful. Little did he know how much he had left to learn, of course. 

As she spoke of her own pets, Alistair found himself curious if the two got along, but found that wasn’t sure if he cared enough to ask. He’d already taken up more than enough of the young girl’s time. “Tell you what. Sugar pot’s open Monday through Saturday from seven to four. Stop by any time. I’d be happy to give you whatever you want.”