surprising and uncanny

[un_gloved]

Rogue had the script for Much Ado About Nothing in her hand as she strode brusquely down the beach. It was not her copy. It was, in fact, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce's copy, and she would not give it back to him.

"Because," she continued, "you're startin' to talk funny! Funnier'n usual. You need a break, English." She smiled brightly at him over her

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[cryptogam]

Stephen was fond of many animals - sloths, honey-buzzards, albatrosses, and wombats, among others - but dolphins were one of his favorites. He had often seen them swimming alongside ships, and would happily watch them for hours as they sported in the waves. He had wondered if there were dolphins in the island's waters, and was surprised and delighted to see that there were.

"They are indeed splendid creatures, are they not?" he said to the enthusiastic young lady who seemed as excited as he was about the dolphins, though perhaps for different reasons. He pulled off his boots and stockings and waded into the surf to get a closer look, shading his eyes against the glare of the sunlight on the waves.

[un_gloved]

"Yeah," Rogue said, holding her hand to her forehead, wading into the water as well. She didn't know the man, but there was something sort of electric and inspiring about the swimming mammals' presence.

"I'd love to get closer but I'm scared they'd run off."

[cryptogam]

"A friend of mine, in my own time, has gone swimming with them many a time; it seems they are quite fond of humans."

Stephen had been planning on going swimming in any case, to exercise his formerly-injured arm, which had grown weak from being immobilized for six weeks. Now he briskly unbuttoned his shirt and breeches, and waded further into the water.

It struck him that six months ago, he would have been mortified at stripping nearly naked in front of a woman; now he had grown so used to seeing men and women alike going about in hardly any clothing that he felt only a mild twinge of discomfort. The water would soon cover him, in any case.

[un_gloved]

Rogue grinned, shucking off the cutoff shorts and throwing them lightly over to land by her t-shirt and Wesley's tie, then ran forward and dove into the water with abandon, and a joyful sort of whoop.

[cryptogam]

Stephen smiled slightly at the young lady's enthusiasm; he himself was more cautious, as he was still not particularly skilled at swimming, and indeed was uneasy at swimming in deep water without Jack Aubrey in the vicinity to rescue him if he got into trouble. But he had heard legends that dolphins were wont to rescue drowning men, and thought he might be safe enough.

Fortunately he did not have to go far. The dolphins - there were four of them - soon circled around them, looking at the interlopers with keen, intelligent eyes. One swam close enough for him to reach out and touch its smooth, slippery skin with his fingertips before it shied away. "You see, they are quite tame," he said happily, treading water with an unaccustomed smile of delight on his face.

[un_gloved]

Rogue hesitated, then reached out with a care and curiosity reminiscent of a little girl touching a butterfly- scared to break it, but too desirous to abstain- and let her palm slide along one dolphin's skin and up it's fin before it dipped, rocketing around them surfacing again with a series of clicks. She laughed, a sound that bordered on panicked, and beamed over at him.

"This is exhiliratin'."

[cryptogam]

"It is indeed," said Stephen. He thought he ought to introduce himself to the young lady, but the dolphins were proving far too distracting for good manners to prevail.

He took a deep breath and ducked under the water, watching the dolphins arcing around him in the sub-aquatic twilight. One of them, bolder than the others, swam directly up to him, causing him to start back in alarm, but it merely seemed to be investigating him; perhaps it had never seen a human before. He waved at it, and it bobbed its head as if in acknowledgement and spun away as he rose to the surface again.

"They are intelligent creatures," he said. "I do believe those sounds they make are some sort of communication. Would that there was a dolphin lexicon, so that we might understand them."

[un_gloved]

"Thought I read somethin' about that in a magazine once," she said, kicking lightly forward as the sand bottom sloped down and away, turning in the water as a dolphin passed her close by.

[cryptogam]

Stephen finally managed to tear his eyes away from the dolphins long enough to take a closer look at the young lady, wondering if the white streak in her hair was the result of some genetic defect. He also wondered at her peculiar accent, which reminded him of Mr. Johnson, the plantation owner who had once been Diana's paramour.

"I have entirely forgotten my manners, madam," he said cheerfully. "I am Dr. Maturin, at your service."