The Deep ☼ SHURI UDAKU

☼ Chapter Two ☼

A New Life

☼

The next few days consisted of Nerissa wallowing in self pity, laying bare in her sheets. No one had visited her as her parting words were something along the lines of "Leave me be to grieve." They had all nodded and she had not seen them since.

She supposes it's time to pull herself together, start with moving on and hopefully she'll be able to get over it- come to peace with everything.

The Queen and Shuri had done everything they could to ensure she was comfortable in her room. So, it was dark and had a blue glow, just like the ocean. Her bed was plain, just as she had asked, with simple white sheets and no pillow.

She's slept on rocks and coral her entire life, why would she need a pillow now? The two were hesitant but soon caught on to the fact that she didn't grow up like them.

Nerissa doubted she even needed a bed but decided not to freak them out even more by sleeping on the floor.

The sheets that wrapped around her body endlessly from hours of turning and tossing finally fall away, leaving her standing in the middle of her room fully bare.

If this was back home, she could walk outside and no one would bat an eye, for nudity was quite common.

But this is land, and land people are not used to them. So she walks to the room that isn't the bathroom and begrudgingly picks out a dress, something she thinks she'd be most comfortable in. Or so she assumes. She hasn't exactly tried on pants but she can only imagine how uncomfortable it is.

The dress is short and there's not much fabric on her body which she's thankful for.  Her entire back is exposed, the dress very loose fitting.

It's an off-white, a color that reminds her of seashells and sand-dollars.

She had ventured into the bathroom last night and took a shower, reading all of the labels and directions. Her hair is soft, flowing down to her thigh. It was a strange feeling for it to not be wet or dry with sand and salt.

She grabs a pair of sandals, something she's seen when she watches the humans from afar, and place them on her feet before walking out of the door, searching for the Queen, Shuri, T'Challa, or perhaps even the intimidating looking lady who stared her down.

Nerissa turns the corner and bumps into Shuri, her wrist up as she calculates something on a hologram. She falls, balance still a foreign concept. When she hits the ground, Shuri gasps, pulling her back up.

"I'm terribly sorry, Nerissa." Nerissa smiles softly at her, pressing a hand over her arm "It is quite alright, Shuri." Shuri sighs, gesturing for Nerissa to follow her.

"Why don't you come with me to my lab. I would like to, if you don't mind, study you?" Nerissa raises an eyebrow and Shuri begins to stumble over her words "I-It was just a thought. Sure, it would be a groundbreaking discovery, everything about your DNA could change all that we know- but you really don't have to."

Nerissa chuckles, trying not to pay attention to the intimidating lady trailing them.

"I wouldn't mind, though I do have boundaries for what kind of tests and no one is allowed to see your research." Shuri stops mid-step, nearly tripping over herself. "Really?" she takes Nerissa's arm, gently urging her to quicken the pace.