10625/Jersey Is Better

Jersey Is Better
Date of Scene:	02 April 2022
Location:	Tricorner Island
Synopsis:	Dinah goes on patrol with Arthur and learns there is more to him than she realized. He also disappears really fast when he wants to.
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Curry, Dinah Lance

---

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Twenty and one was the count.
    The number of silvery flashes in the water that led one to imagine so much more was underneath the waves. Just flickers of light that shone through the brine and gave small insight into the livelihood of such creatures. Underneath the water one might be able to tell, to see the various snake-like creatures as they rushed hither and yon.
    But from the railing of a small sailing vessel which Arthur had suggested she use, it looked like fireworks beneath the waves.
    "Won't be long now, just gotta keep convincing them to go back." So many flurries of light, so many flashes of movement.
    It had started in a small conversation. A discrepancy in their relationship had been discovered in that usually... Arthur tagged along when Dinah went about her rounds. Rarely did she come with him when he dealt with some of the things that preyed upon his time. One thing led to another and thus...
    Out on the East River, so near to Gotham city... yet so far. And the purpose? To convince these remaining silvery eel creatures to not come onto land. To not try and breed in their old breeding grounds from hundreds of years ago.
    And instead convince them to do so in safer waters.
    Like Jersey.

Dinah Lance has posed:
When the conversation came up, Dinah couldn't deny it. He was often with her doing her things. Be it League related, work at the flower shop, or going with her to things she liked to do in her down time. Even if those things were not the nicest or even considered okay but normal society.

They had done some of his leisure things. They both liked a good beer in a bad bar. Or even a bad beer. They weren't stuck on formality and fancy, though they could do that when forced. But given the choice? Casual. However, she had not helped him in his patrols or work.

Honestly, she hadn't really thought it was possible. After all, he could breathe under water. She could not. Kind of made it difficult to swim along with him. But leave it to him to figure out a way.

She was near the controls on the boat but the engine was off for the momemt. To keep from disturbing, or even injuring, the creatures below. They drifted along with the current while he worked on talking to them. The light under the water was captivating. "It's beautiful, I have to say."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "It's a hassle," He says from where he floats, expression twisting into a scowl. That grumpy facade he embraces evident as he floats there on the side of the boat and treads water, his long hair slicked back and his beard glistening in the moonlight. He grimaces and gives a nod, "Every few years. And they have this... significance."
    He starts to explain, but instead stops and tells her, "One sec, I have to go explain to them again why the water is bad this way."
    And with that he drops beneath the waves, disappearing from view for a few moments. Which gives her some time to reflect and consider, even as those lights flicker and change as the underwater 'conversation' goes on. Angry reds and purples show that the eels are very displeased. They had wanted to return here. Why must they move.
    Then when Arthur replies the colors fade to muted blues that disappear save for the silvery shimmer as Aquaman explains to them. It is...

    Far. So far from glamorous work.
    Yet it's what she sees of his life and few people rarely do.
    Until /finally/ a heavy arm slings over the side of the boat and he pulls himself up and over the edge, swinging his legs back onto the deck and grimacing as he spills water all over the side of that ship. Bare of chest, wearing little more than ragged blue jeans and a shell necklace, Arthur grimaces.
    "Ok, I think I got through that time. We'll shadow them until they do their dance further South."

Dinah Lance has posed:
She had to grin when he called it a hassle. But to her, it was fascinating. She'd never realized he was out dealing with this. On top of crime fighting. On top of the political nightmare that was Atlantis. On top of...just everything.

He was out here trying to save creatures that most people probably didn't know existed. Trying to help them find a place that would allow them to continue their species. It seemed silly perhaps to those out of the know. Aquaman talked to fish. But it was far more than the image people had as he was helping the eel like creatures.

She watched the beautiful lights beneath the surface then when they went to silver again, she knew he'd be back. Like clockwork, he was coming back onto the boat and he was a sight to behold. Which had her just enjoying the view for long moments until he spoke. Words. Yes, she knew words.

"Alright, let me know when it's safe the start the engine. I don't want to hit any of them with the prop." Which happened to too many water creatures thanks to humanity and boats. "I never realized the things you have to deal with outside being a hero or an Atlantean."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Yeah, I'm... something of a big deal." Arthur says with a half-smirk as he leans over and rests an arm on the rail, affecting a non-chalant posture as if he indeed truly were so. A Big Deal.
    But then he murmurs, "Give me a second, think we should let the current carry us a bit, best not to risk disturbing them. I'll keep us apace." Which even as he's saying that his eyes flare to a brighter gold as his brow furrows, causing a subtle swell in the ocean's waves that begins to move the boat purely by the power of the water beneath, giving it some decent headway as he looks off ahead.
    "Usually, I consider it a good week if New York doesn't get hit by a tidal wave. Each time I like to call up Hal and tell him, 'You're welcome' but never for what." His lip twists.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah had to grin at his Big Deal pose. While she knew he was just being silly. Having spent a lot of time with him, she'd figured out far more than she had ever suspected. Arthur was deeper than people realized.

As the boat started to move on the water without her firing the engines, she opted to sit down on the back bench. She'd dressed comforably, in a pair of jeans and a sweater to help with the chill that came in on the breeze. Underneath was a bathing suit and there was a wetsuit and scuba tank available if he had wanted her to join him in the water for whatever reason. After all, the water here wasn't warm. While it was nothing to him, it would be an issue for her pretty quickly without a wetsuit.

So far, she was still dry. He, however, was not. Thus she sat a little away from him as he dripped into the floor of the boat. "Wait." Because that didn't sound good. "There are that many tidal waves?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Oh heck no, but you know. Gotta maintain job security." That wry smile is clear he's teasing a bit, joking assuredly. Though his eyebrows rise as the boat continues to sail forth pushed by the languid waves as they move across the water. Little sound to the night beyond their words and the lap of the river against the hull of that small boat.
    "To be fair, there've been times. There's a good amount of preventative things that can be done. It's just difficult to know when something is going to rear its head." He looks out across the water, then gives a small shrug.
    "So yeah, long periods of boredom peppered with bouts of intense panic." The old fighter pilot motto.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"So like police officers. Firemen. Military." She didn't even know it was a fighter motto. Dinah smirked. "Superheroes."

All of it was time down, doing things that didn't involve having to save anyone. Then an instant later, pandemonium and a need to perform at top ability for potentially extended periods of time.

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath of the ocean air. Out here on the water it was far better than when one was standing at the docks. The quiet sound of the water against he hull was relaxing. "Thank you for inviting me along tonight. This is truly lovely."

She opened her eyes again to look at him. "Sometimes I wish I could actually swim with you. To see the other half of your world. Not necessarily Atlantis," she explained, referring back to a conversation they'd had with Rave. "But just to understand a bit more. If that makes sense." She looked off toward the front of the boat, looking for the silver flashes of light.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Now and again the eel creatures could be seen purely from that flicker of light. It would be a fairly long trip, perhaps two hours. Perhaps more. But at least now they seemed commited to the effort and didn't need more persuading.
    "Well we can always go swimming," Arthur says with that wry smile, "Float a bit as we let the waves take us. But a trip to Atlantis takes... some doing." Which is entirely true. They had covered some of that when they had that conversation with Rave not so long ago. The propensity for explosive decompression was fairly high unda da sea.
    "Could always borrow a submarine from the Atlantean fleet, I'm sure Namor wouldn't begrudge that." Arthur smirked knowing full well that Namor... might well indulge in a little begrudging.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Well I could swim with you to an extent. I mean we could paddle around and you could laugh at how slow I am. But to experience what it is like for you to be able to move through the water so quickly. To see things through a different pair of eyes. No way for me to do that."

She isn't complaining really, more just musing about a day dream sort of thing. Because Dinah has no illusions that the depths were not for her fragile human form. "I mean, I'm sure Namor would take offense because from what I've heard through the rumor mill, that's all he does with those of us topsiders." She grins a little at the idea of it though.

"Tell me what it's like. Not Atlantis. Just being under there without having to worry about how much air is in your scuba tank."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Ah man, it's..." Arthur reclines a bit more, arms folded over his broad chest and one leg crossed. He looks to the side, listening to the lap of waves against the hull of their boat before he looks back to her.
    "Hard for me to tell since even when I was young I could breathe underwater. I was still fast. It's..." He smiles a little, "Sort of like flying, but the world flies with you. It feels like, for me, that when I'm underwater my body extends very far, and I can feel small disruptions to what goes on around me."
    He holds up a hand as if trying to capture some sort of sentiment, some perfect word to encapsulate everything. But he just shakes his head, "Hard to explain."

Dinah Lance has posed:
She tried to imagine it. Tried to put it into a mental thought she could understand. But just like those heroes with flight powers, it didn't seem to be something easy to portray to a person stuck walking around on the ground. "So you can sense things, even when moving at that speed? That's even more impressive. And the speeds you travel at are enough you'd likely kill a human if you were toting them along, yes?"

Which is why she had not asked to be toted along on such an adventure. She liked all her parts as they were.

"Although, going to say it. If we ever do go on a vacation together, somewhere warm with clear water. I want to swim with you my way."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "That could be arranged," Arthur said with a smile, then there was a brief flicker of red from the lights beneath the water, just a flash of disagreement for some reason...
    Which caused Arthur to scowl as he shook his head, "If we ever get these guys to see reason. I'll be back in a sec." The Atlantean says as he pushes himself to his feet...
    And with little further ado he leaps once again into the water, only he disappears beneath the waves with nary a sound and no disruption to the river. One moment he's there, the next he's gone.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah has to grin a little at his disgruntled reaction to the eels. Poor things just wanted to go have a good time in Gotham, which sadly wasn't really safe for them anymore thanks to toxicity. But they didn't really understand all that.

As he leapt into the water again, she shook her head a bit.

"It's like Batman. But with water."