6607/Surf's up... but why

Surf's up... but why
Date of Scene:	18 June 2021
Location:	Atlantic Ocean Coastline
Synopsis:	Arthur discovers Aspen surfing on a calm sea. A possible problem comes up, and serious fangirling is let slide.
Cast of Characters:	Aspen Matthews, Arthur Curry

---

Aspen Matthews has posed:
Aspen is a regular at the boat rental place. Such a regular that nine times out of ten her favourite boat is waiting for her: The Rocinante. Today was that tenth day. She was sailing the Serendipitous Sloop instead. Not that there's much difference.

Having expertly sailed out of the harbour, registering with the coast guard as a solo sailor (to their intense irritation--solo sailors are the ones who cause the most kerfuffle if things get rough), she tacked her way upwind before...

...furling her sails, once out of sight, and just drove straight against the wind, carried along by a freak water current under her boat and localized to her immediate environs. Dropping anchor at the first patch of shore that has no witnesses, she pulled out her surfboard, changed into a half-suit, dropped the board into the water and dove in next to it, popping out of the water with speed that would impress a dolphin as she tried (and actually succeeded this time!) to leap out of the water and onto the surfboard.

Then another freak current, forming a distinct wave behind her, complete with white peaks, started pushing her around her boat while she laughed and made the assorted appreciative noises that a person who believes herself to be alone might make.

And thus we find her, surfing where there is no surf, and, embarrassingly, doing a sport announcer routine about her own skills.

Arthur Curry has posed:
Cruising down the coast on a regular trip between Maine and Metropolis, Arthur is a little below the surface, leaving a visible trail as he travels at a low Mach speed through the water. Despite this, a thousand little impressions come to him every moment, waves, currents, sea life, all kinds of things. And so it is that Aspen's pet current strikes a discordant note on his senses. Almost by instinct, he rolls in the water to change his direction and approaches the sailboat, a trail of bubbles rising behind him like a finger in the water marking his approach.

As he gets near the boat he slows to just above a normal swimming speed and surfaces. For a moment, he just watches Aspen riding the wave that doesn't belong where it is and shouldn't be doing what it does, but then he moves a bit closer, raising himself out of the water to stand on the surface and calls out, "That's a pretty good trick. Do you have any others?"

He's in his normal travelling outfit, which is to say that he's in jeans and well, nothing else. His elaborate Maori inspired tattoos cover his arms and most of his torso.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
OK, a 'hallo!' from shore ... that would be annoying but understandable. She did select an empty stretch, but populated shores have population. And she was far enough out that she could plausibly lie about what she'd been doing.

Having a voice right next to you? When you're far away from shore? That's not understandable in the slightest. The following series of events happens very quickly, almost simultaneously, but it's probably best to list them in rough order:

    1. Aspen's monologue stops.

    2. It is replaced by a small squawk of surprise.

    3. She rapidly turns her head in the direction of the source.

    4. Upon seeing Arthur she lets out something more like a strangled scream.

    5. Losing concentration her wave suddenly flattens beneath her.

    6. Losing balance as a result she windmills and then falls into the water.

    7. She doesn't come up. Not on this side of the boat.

    8. Arthur feels something moving through the water at high speed to the other side of the boat.

    9. Aspen pops up on the far side of the boat, keeping the boat between her and Arthur.

"Who the Hell are you!?" she asks accusingly, stabbing her finger at Arthur. "And what the Hell are you doin..." She pauses as the situation catches up with her. "HOW the Hell are you standing on ... ?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
Turning to look at Aspen in her current location, Arthur quirks an eyebrow and chuckles. "I could ask the same question of you. Most people don't surf in circles on a calm ocean. Not to mention you certainly got over there awfully quickly. But if it would make you more comfortable, we could both get on your boat and talk if you'd like. I'm Arthur, by the way. I noticed your little pet current and decided to take a look.

He lowers himself back into the water and surges over to the boat, climbing up the ladder and onto the deck. Looking around, he takes a seat and waits for the woman to make up her mind. Sitting there, he shakes his head a little to spray some of the water out of his hair and beard, then slicks his hair back from his face. "I don't bite, if that's what you're worried about."

He leans back and relaxes a bit, waiting for her to (hopefully) join him. He's not looking too threatening or anything, other than the fact that his hair and bread make him look vaguely like a pirate.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
A pause.

A long pause.

Then a grudging, "Aspen."

Having apparently come to the decision that she probably couldn't do much if she decided not to talk and Arthur insisted, she swims back to the boat--like a normal person--and climbs up the ladder, reaching for a knit shawl to wrap around her shoulders. Almost aggressively blue eyes look Arthur over as she stands near the edge of the boat, ready to dive back in should he give the wrong impression, before deciding he seems harmless.

Well, mostly harmless. There's still that standing on water thing.

"I just found a cool current is all," she lies unconvincingly. "Thought I'd give it a ride."

Yeah. Terrible liar.

"I've surfed since I was a little girl, so seeing a weird wave, my first thought was to surf it."

Doubling down. And ... who carries a surfboard in a rented sailing boat? The rental company's name is clearly visible on every major surface...

Arthur Curry has posed:
Arthur chuckles, "Care to try again? You were surfing in a circle around this boat on a current that was in no way natural. I can tell that sort of thing, by the way."

He looks over to where the surfboard is currently floating and makes a lazy gesture, which results in a little wave pushing the board over and up onto the rear of the boat.

Looking back to Aspen, he continues, "Fine, you're gonna make me say it. Maybe you've heard of me by another name? Aquaman? You know, Justice League, Superman, Wonder Woman, that whole crowd? I'm not going to overpower you and drag you to my underwater lair of evil or anything, if that's what you're worried about. You just caught my attention with the current thing."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"You're ... Aquaman?" Aspen's eyes open wide. Then her mouth does. And from it comes something that will likely send chills down Arthur's spine.

A fangurl's squee.

"I can't believe it! You're Aquaman?! I've wanted to meet you for ages! I love water and the sea and everything in it!"

She practically launches herself across the boat, hand outstreched for a handshake.

"Aspen Matthews. Dr. Aspen Matthews if you want to be all pretentious about it. I'm a marine biologist working for Metropolis University's Oceanographic Institute. Mind if I get a selfie with you? My colleagues will be SO jealous!"

This is probably not the reaction that he was expecting (nor hoping for). The introduction has completely wiped out the sense of awkwardness that his questioning was causing.

"And yeah, I guess if it's you I can open up a bit. I found out I do weird shit with water."

She hunts around in the watertight box for her phone, holding it aloft like the Lady of the Lake holding aloft Excalibur.

"Found it!"

Arthur Curry has posed:
There's a slight wince at the reaction, but he's working in it. Diana has discussed the whole 'being more personable' thing with him, and he's lately had another reason to be far less of a loner as well, so this is something he can deal with.

At least there's just the one of her.

He does take the outstretched hand, shaking gently but firmly before she's off to hunt for her phone. "Nice to meet you Dr. Matthews, always nice to run into someone else who cares about the oceans. And how do you define 'wierd shit'?"

When she comes up with the phone, he nods and goes into picture mode, putting a smile on his face and offering an arm around her shoulder so she can get the 'me and Aquaman' photo she's after.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
There is 'checking out' going on that's so obvious aliens in another galaxy using primitive telescopes c.1600s-era technology would be staring at and going 'way too obvious, girl, turn it down a notch or ten' as Aspen steps into position for the picture.

He might get the idea of how uncomfortable leering is the other direction from this. Though she does at least restrict it to a very short span.

For the picture she lights up her face with a smile. Behind the pair a white-capped wave forms just before she hits the trigger, falling back into the sea with barely a ripple when finished.

"Oh, thank you so much!" she enthuses, slipping the phone back in its spot (and being polite enough not to start sending it all around social media in front of him while ignoring his presence). "You're, like, a real bona fide hero to us in the marine studies world. So many people take the oceans for granted while we who practically live beneath its surface--I mean for those of us who do... you know... live up on land--know how important and fragile it is."

She sits down across from Arthur then, and, apparently, all 'checking-out out' her demeanour is once again more polite, even professional. "I guess this is the part where you ask questions that I probably don't know the answers to. The only things I'm pretty sure of is that first, I'm probably not human." She holds up an arm that is now pure transparent water to emphasize that point. "And second, unless several people have lied to me at very different times I'm something called a 'Blue'."

She shrugs helplessly.

"That's about all."

Arthur Curry has posed:
That eyebrow goes up again as he's checked out, with another chuckle. "Well, I know I have a bit of an effect on some women, but take a deep breath, Doc."

He still takes the picture of course, being as friendly and personable as he can manage. He nods, "It's good that some folks on land care, I'm just hoping I can get some more people caring along the way. I don't need to tell you the mess humans are making of the ocean."

When she settles down to talk, he does so as well, tilting his head to look at he quizzically as she turns her arm to water, "That's interesting, but you sure you're not just a mutant or something? The Blue are just a fairy tale from a long time ago."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Oh, I'm sorry, was it that obvious?" Aspen flushes a bit at being 'caught' (though, as mentioned, aliens who don't even know GENDER AS A CONCEPT would have 'caught' that...). "I'll keep it professional. Just ... up close you're so much more impressive than I'd imagined."

Deep breath. Keep breathing, Aspen. That's the secret to not passing out.

"Well, if I'm just a mutant, I'm just a mutant like at least five other people I've met who... well... they're the same. And there was that city I kinda saw in the distance too. That's a lot of underwater mutants. The old weird submarine. The weird power station. If I'm a mutant, I'm pretty damned good at making things just happen to make it look like more."

She shrugs helplessly.

"I mean you're the expert, but ... I'm the scientist and I have to go by the evidence. And the evidence is that five strangers with the identical "mutation" in all respects are probably not mutants."

Arthur Curry has posed:
Arthur shrugs, "Maybe a little. Around the edges."

He hmms, "Yeah, that would be kinda off. Most mutants I've heard of are one offs, there doesn't tend to be a bunch with the same powers. So you've met a number of other people with the same powers you have, so yeah, you're probably not a mutant. But what makes you think you're a Blue? I mean, I've only heard myths of those. And not even too many of those. It seems like there might be a different explanation, but who knows."

He considers her for a moment, eyes narrowing, "I wonder if there might be something about you in Atlantis. They've got a bunch of libraries and stuff there, it might have information that would be useful."

He looks her over for a minute, "Blue, huh? Well, I dunno if I buy it, but it's interesting to think about, anyway."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
Another helpless shrug. "I was just told I was a 'Blue'," Aspen says. "I mean this kinda came out of nowhere. First time I knew I wasn't human was when I started turning into water when a submarine base started to flood. And the guy in the tube that we were trying to figure out how he was living without air rescued me and told me a bunch of stuff."

Pause.

"His name was Killian. He was an asshole, but I didn't know that at the time. Taught me about these things I can do and started to use me for a project. Then other people told me the project was to wipe the surface world clean of people by draining all the ocean water away into ... somewhere else."

She does an awful lot of shrugging. Most of it helpless. Like someone telling a story they know won't be believed but feel the need to tell it. Which is precisely what is happening by complete coincidence.

"So I ran off, after activating one of his stations. He needs two more to get all the surface water drained away, and he needs me, for some reason, to do it. So ... I'm here, not down there."

Arthur Curry has posed:
"Ok, that sounds bad. I'm just gonna take it on faith that you're telling the truth, mainly because it sounds like things could go really, really bad if I don't. Thing I don't get is if he's water based too, won't draining all the water kinda screw him over as bad as the rest of us? Course, if he's one of these typical insane villains, he won't be thinking about that, just his master plan."

He raises one hand to stroke his beard as he thinks, "Ok, do you know where this first station of his is? If we can take a look at that, maybe it'll give us clues to that's going on and what his plans are. I'm not willing to just let this go and hope things work out."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"What he was saying...I wish I'd paid more attention, but I was more, you know, in shock at the idea of murdering several billion people!...was that the water would flow somewhere deeper and that the submariners would live there while the surface dwellers would die."

Aspen looks around making a wry face.

"I might be able to find that station, yes. He needed something I can do that no other Blue, apparently, can to activate it. It is near Japan."

Something dark--haunted even--crosses her features at mentioning this.

"It's not a place I'm going to easily forget," she says quietly.

Arthur Curry has posed:
With a nod, apparently decisions are made, "Well doc, I'm glad I ran into you like this. I gotta ask though, why didn't you set off the alarm bells about this right away? I mean, if he's still out there, and still planning on killing everyone, I'd think you would maybe want to make sure he couldn't do it. Seems like going to the authorities would have been a good idea, you know?

Arthur looks around, then back to her, "Well, if we're gonna be looking into this, I need to know what I'm working with. So let's go into your weird shit, ok? What all can you do? You can make currents, you can apparently turn into water, what else have you got? It's kind of important I know what you can do so I know if I gotta be watching after you the whole time."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
Aspen's eyes widen at the mild rebuke. "Who am I going to tell?" she asks. "I mean without being locked up in a tube like Killian was in that underwater station, being poked and prodded at?"

It apparently didn't dawn on her to mention it to the world's most flamboyantly well-known water-based superbeing.

"He needs me to do this," she continues. "He was adamant about that. Kept telling me that while training me. That there was something very important about me. I figured the immediate threat is gone with me not helping him. He can't make me charge up his stations, and he needs me so ...?"

For the other question she turns to water. Then into a sheet of water that pours itself down in the boat's hull. (Her swimsuit is left behind.) That same water comes back, then, flows into the swimsuit, filling it out with a transparent version of herself. Keeping that form, of a pure water woman, she gestures a little and behind her the water builds up what looks like a fountain display, except the jets of water knit with each other in complicated ways as they form a web around the pair of them on the boat.

While that web is around them, she looks seriously into Arthur's eyes. "I have a lot of control over water. Including impure water. I can move it anywhere I like. With a lot of force if I need to." The eyes falter and she looks away. "Like blood. Impure water."

One of the jets in the web around the pair moves and suddenly increases its velocity while something happens to its tip. Something solid and crystaline impacts the wood of the mast, leaving dozens of little flechettes of what could be ice ... except for the temperature ... stuck into it. Before it then disappears into water collapsing across the deck.

"I'm not very good yet," she says as the demonstration vanishes, covering everything but her in water. "I cut my training short to get away from that psycho. But I'm strong. Killian kept commenting on how strong I was. That's why I like to come out and practice. See if I can't get the control and finesse as well as the power up."

Her eyes meet Arthur's once again. "Need more?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
Arthur watches her demonstration, nodding as she demonstrates. He looks impressed when she pours herself into the hull and then reforms. Watching the fountains, and then the attack on the mast he shakes his head, "No, looks like you are pretty good with water, just like I am. And the water form thing is pretty cool, I gotta admit. That could come in real handy, especially underwater, I bet. You'd be hard to pin down, so I'm thinking you'll be ok."

He considers her words and demeanor at one part of her explanation, "Blood.. you had to use that ability, didn't you? I see it in your eyes." He meets her gaze and says, "It's not easy, but sometimes you have to do something like that."

He sighs, shaking his head, "Ok, I'm going to need to bring some other people in on this, I'm not much one for interpreting weird technology and such, so I want someone there if we find this station who can figure it out. Ok, let's do this then."

He reaches into his picket and pulls out a sealed pouch that he opens and takes a phone out of, "Ok, what's your number? I think we're going to be in touch pretty regularly for a while."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
Her thoughts couldn't be more transparent if Arthur were Emma Frost being nosy.

Aquaman. Wants my phone number.

She's trying not to read any importance into it, but ... failing. Very obviously failing.

Aspen practically scrambles to the waterproof box and pulls out her phone, tapping the screen rapidly to get her number up on display, eyes wide open, body practically vibrating from the excitement of it all.

Aquaman. Wants my phone number!

"Here it..." Her voice squeaks, causing her to pause and settle down. "Here it is," she says in a more measured voice. In the meantime visions of her phone ringing while in a meeting and her saying 'Oh, sorry, I have to take this call from Aquaman.' dance in her head.

Her head is turning very rapidly into a very happy place.

"I'll try and write down everything to put it into some kind of order, too, OK? 'Cause that will probably make it easier to find that station."

Aquaman. Wants my PHONE number!

She really can't help it. She'll get better.

Arthur Curry has posed:
Watching her practically vibrate when he asks for her number makes him chuckle again, but he doesn't say anything just yet. First he waits while she gets her phone out and takes her number, entering it into his phone. He slips it back into the pouch and seals it, putting it back in his pocket.

"Doc... Aspen. You've gotta bring it down just a little bit. I know I'm kinda famous and crap, but really, I'm not worth this much excitement. Hell, you've got powers yourself, so you know it doesn't make you a rock star. We're gonna be working together for a while, and I need you focused, not thinking about the next selfie."

He looks a little uncomfortable with her reaction and having to have this talk, like he's afraid to hurt her feelings, but there's a serious job to do here, and he's got to get her over the fangirling before they get into anything.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Oh, I'll get over it. It's just, you don't get to meet your teenage crush in person very often, so ..."

Aspen pauses.

"Oh no. I said that last part out loud didn't I?"

She covers her mouth quickly. On the plus side, Arthur just saw her 'O' face. On the minus, it's the 'O' of mortified embarrassment.

"Let's pretend I just didn't make an idiot of myself. More of one I mean," she finally says, the grin on her face so sickly it seems like it (the grin!) is in dire need of an sea sickness bag. She forces herself into some amount of composure. "I promise, I won't always be this way. Just ..."

Teenage crush thing.

"... And I promise, no more selfie requests either. I get those from the tourists at the aquarium, so I know how really annoying that must be."

Is mind reading in her repetoire as well?

"Once I get this out of my system, I'll be purely professional like usual."

As long as scarpering out of boring symposiums to catch waves at a beach she hasn't tried yet counts as 'professional'.

"Deal?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
Arthur grins when she says the quiet part out loud. "Yeah, ya did. Fortunately for you, I already have a girlfriend and won't take advantage of that knowledge."

He chuckles and reaches over to pat her shoulder. "Look, I know you're kinda off balance right now, and I'm not gonna hold it against you. You'll be fine, we'll just take care of business and not bring up anything embarrassing. Now, I gotta get going for now, but I'll be in touch soon, so think about that station, ok?"

He stands up and moves to the edge of the boat, then turns and winks at her, "By the way, if I didn't have a girlfriend, I might have been tempted to use that info, you're pretty cute." He grins and falls backwards into the water, then a trail of bubbles marks his movement as he zips away at high speed.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Well, that could have gone worse, Aspen," the woman finally said to herself after staring into the distance after the bubble trail. "You could have thrown yourself at him, humiliating him and you in the process instead of just yourself."

Beat.

"THAT WAS AQUAMAN! I MET AQUAMAN!"

The dance of joy that happens on the tiny deck of the rental is more fluid than a dance usually is. Both literally and figuratively. Aspen spins around on the deck, laughing and throwing her arms into the air as if in supplication to the gods that delivered her this treat.

Then she settles in and decides ... maybe it's time to get to work. Be the pro she said she was.