Private ocean, take me away

"Maybe I can give you a hand, um, with the underwater gardening." Jae liked flowers, and there were many interesting underwater plants. He wasn't sure how handy he would be at tending to them but anything was worth a short.

"What's it like. . . "Jae thought about it, and answered honestly. "It's. . . freeing. You're given a role to play, lines to speak. You let yourself become someone else, if only for a few hours. It's exciting, and satisfying to put work into playing your role well and others respond favorably. I don't even really think of the audience when I'm on stage until the very end." He falls into the role the plays and lets go of himself.

"And a bit chaotic." Jae added, "There's a lot of moving parts and people backstage. Costume changes if necessary or helping fix whatever problem comes up. It really keeps you on your toes."

"I know a thing or two." Jae said. His aunt worked a lot with plants and he's read one her books on the plants of the ocean and their properties. Though he didn't remember much, he can recall the book's title. The school or some library was bound to have it. Once they're back on land Jae and Quincy could exchange numbers and Jae can send him the name of the book.

"Yeah, it can be." Jae saw they were not too far from land, and felt relieved. Their little trip to the edge of the limminal space went smoothly but he would feel better back on the shore. "I'm not sure, I've liked all the roles I've tried. Good characters, bad characters, each was different in their own way. I guess I have a preference towards friendly and confident characters." People who could laugh and smile and never felt awkward. "Or characters who get to do heroic things. Those can be fun to practice."

All this talk of roles he liked to play made Jae think of future roles. If the does make acting a career then he might show up on television or on the internet. The thought wasn't as unnerving as he expected it would be. If he ever did make it that far, then he would want to play roles that people could relate to. Make them feel less alone.

"You do?" Jae said, and turned his head enough to look at Quincy through the corner of his eye. "Yeah, I would like that. Though, I don't know when I'll get the chance to play a brave knight. Maybe one day we'll do an Arthurian legend as a play." Jae could see it, the brave Asian knight in King Arthur's court, that thought made him laugh. "I'll sneak you in if I have to." Jae said.

Shore was close, and Jae put on a burst of speed. He let out a sigh of relief as his hands touched sand. Finally. What a night it's been.

"You'll be the first to know." Jae promised. "I'll tell you so you won't freak out in the audience when I take of my helmet." He added with a chuckle. It was fun to imagine someone being that surprised to see him. The thought warmed him. To be sought and liked. . .

Jae dragged himself far enough on shore where he could lay and not fear being dragged back into the water. He lazily swayed his tail, drawing lines in sand with the movement that quickly filled with water. Even after all that swimming he hardly felt tired, perhaps a little sore but he could hardly feel that.

He chuckled at Quincy's exclamation. Though the swim back was a bit tense at first, Jae found he really liked talking with Quincy. "Yeah, it was." He conceded. But where did he leave his stuff? Jae had a swim bag that he used to store his phone and shirt while he swam. It had to be somewhere around her as he kinda recognized that near-by rock. "If I can find my phone we could trade numbers."

Jae shifted his tail back into legs and started towards the sorta-familiar rock.