Exhale.
She silently waited for me to get my thoughts together while I puffed and took a few sips too.
“I never cared before this video started circulating a few years ago. It started on one of those subscription sites, and then it went viral. It was basically jellyfish porn, in and out of shifted form as well as with tentacles out while human. One of the scenes even gave birth to a gif, which became a plot bunny, and then people started writing about it, and it became a whole thing. Like, it was probably always a thing, but it wasa hidden thing, or at least not all up in my face. I got hit on so much afterward, which was flattering at first, until people got aggressive about it. Then the whole thing just got to be a nuisance.”
“And it’s the internet, so not only is the video forever, but sharing fuels the fad, which means it’s unlikely to die down anytime soon,” she said. “Even the completely reckless ones, like those damned Tide Pod and nutmeg challenges, took months before 9-1-1 stopped getting calls about the aftermath of people trying them.”
“I know people, even a few family members, who have been capitalizing on it, which has put a strain on a few relationships.”
“Because you feel like it’s perpetuating something that could be harmful to those who don’t want the attention,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“It’s a fine line,” she said. “And a hard choice, too, especially in this economy.”
“I can see it from their perspectives,” I said. “And deep down I know it’s not going to stop or go away if actual jellyfish are taking part. Not when there are wigs to mimic our hair and enough AI animation software out there that they can create fantasy videos featuring us half shifted with our tentacles out and shit. I just don’t think we need to help them with their fetishes, especially when people take them so far over the line that there have been times when it’s gotten scary.”
“Is that what happened in Manila?”
“You mean, with Shayla Kincade?” I asked, wanting to make sure we were on the same page about which Manila incident she was referring to since I’d been involved in more than one confrontation.
“Was that the name of the lady you rescued from an Uber driver after chasing the car down on a ‘borrowed’ motorcycle while breaking numerous traffic laws?”
“Yeah, that would be her,” I replied.
“The Uber driver wasn’t even a real Uber driver according to the report I read,” she replied. “He was using his brother’s account and car to pick up exotic shifters while the brother was away on vacation. He drugged them and took them home to be part of a fantasy harem he was building. You saved more than just Shayla with that motorcycle stunt. How’d you know he was a danger to her?”
I sighed, rubbed the back of my neck, and took a few puffs. “I had an encounter with him the week before, a block from where I saw him pick her up. I saw his face and her getting in the car with him and just got a bad feeling. He still had bruises on his face from what I’d done to him.”
“It must have been a hell of an encounter,” she replied.
“Would have been easier if he hadn’t been immune to my toxins,” I replied.
“There wasn’t an account of that incident in the reports I read.”
“I didn’t see a point in reporting it when he was the one who limped away.”
“Something tells me that happens often.”
“I plead the fifth.”
“We’re not in court right now, and I’m not judging you,” she replied. “I am glad you are sharing all of this with me, though. I wasn’t aware of this jellyfish fad or any potential danger to the jellyfish members of this community. That’s information I needed to know to effectively do my job. It also changes my position about your hair. I understand now why you did it and why you’d be reluctant to change it back.”
“I’m sorry to have come into this whole mating thing with so much baggage,” I began, only to find myself cut off, which was probably a good thing, because tears had started stinging my eyes.
“If there is one thing I’ve learned in my time here on earth, it’s that we have no control at all over when things happen. The fates deemed that now was the right time for you to find your mates. You could spend your time apologizing for your past while wondering why the universe chose to grant you this gift before you had your life in order, or you could thank them for giving you two men who will watch your back so you can finally stop carrying your burdens alone.”
Okay, so, when she put it like that, there wasn’t even a choice. I knew which I preferred, and she was right. I’d gotten lucky coming here and finding them the way I had. This was a blessing I didn’t intend to waste.
“Good, it’s sinking in. I hope it’ll continue to do so until you accept that this is where you were meant to be,” she said. “So the next time you’re tempted not to report things, like unfair treatment at work and someone else’s gross ineptitude, or an encounter with someone who assaults you at a bar, you’ll think twice and then fill out the paperwork. It’s not just about you; it’s about the ripples, because those can spread far wider and affect way more people than you could ever imagine.”
“Yeah, I’m, uh, starting to see that.”
“Trust me when I say that I make that speech more times than I’d like,” she said. “It’s almost become a stock answer when someone tells me that they didn’t want to ‘bother’ us by going to the authorities when we have far more serious crimes to deal with. I hate that assumption, by the way. Little things have a way of growing into far more serious ones when left unchecked. People get bolder each time they get away with something. Your fake Uber driver was proof of that, as was Nuno.”
“I, umm, that club fire everyone was talking about today, the name of the place sounded familiar to me.”
“It should; the company you formerly worked for did the renovations on that place and wrapped it up the week before they got started. I’m sure you can guess who the foreman was.”
