( open starter - plot drop 003 )
âIâm. Not. Sick.â Allegra hissed again, furious at having to repeat themselves. Because sirens didnât get sick â or at least this one didnât. Allegra had never been sick before in her life â her long, long life. And yet â now she felt awful. The siren had never felt like this before. Allegra prided themselves on their sharpness, both in mind and body, and wit and cunning and precision. And yet, the brunette felt sluggish, ached in a way that was unfamiliar. It was disconcerting, an the siren didnât like it one bit.Â
And that in itself was terrifying. Allegra had never been vulnerable before, and they had made enough enemies over the years that the threat of someone taking advantage of this opportunity was real, even here on land where there was no territory to rule.Â
Humans called it âa coldâ, though Allegra didnât feel cold. She was used to the icy depths, and this was nothing like the crushing pressure they were familiar with. No, this was something different entirely. And honestly, Allegra wasnât entirely sure they believed that it was this human âcoldâ. Something just didnât feel right. Something was off.Â
So despite the pounding in her head, the fever running through her, Allegra denied being sick, as if that would somehow make this better, following her words with a flash of sharp eyes, the annoyance clear in her gaze.Â
  As far as the drama in Assyria went, Soren was pretty out of the loop. Scylla was particular with the information she ever chose to give, and though he understood there was strive in the seas, he wasnât aware yet of the illness sweeping through the lands. It was an interesting space between places, Soren found himself; he was of the sea, and yet, not quite of Assyria. Heâd lived in the empire for his whole natural life as a seal, with no knowledge of what it all meant. Now that he did know, he felt strongly attached to the world, though entirely unknown to those within it.Â
  So this siren, and a siren he did know her to be, Scylla had been helpful enough on that front, maintaining her stance on not being ill, had Soren a bit perplexed. She certainly seemed it, but he didnât think he wanted to pick a fight right then, not there, with a captain heâd heard to be quite ruthless, as it was. âRight, got it,â He nodded with raised eyebrows, hoping he sounded at least half convinced in his tone.Â
  âBut, just in case you ever were, hypothetically, in the future or something, I was saying-â He continued where heâd been at, before she cut him off at his assumption. âI have a killer chicken soup recipe, itâs supposed to be a miracle get-well sorta deal, with vitamins.âÂ
  Because, everyone had use for vitamins, right? And besides, heâd quite gotten interested in the ways the Earth helped those living within it, merfolk or otherwise, and could personally attest to the ways food helped fix your problems. Or, maybe, Soren just loved to eat. âIt would help you feel a hell of a lot better, more than the beer youâve got - or, hypothetically, it would, I meant. Obviously.â
