Naeemah | Pre-search
"Kai"
"Shai!"
"What's wrong with Kai?"
"I like Shai better, and it's my calf!"
Naeemah dipped her foot and flicked water at her dolphin. "Stubborn thing. It is a pretty name, I guess. You'd better hope it's a girl though."
Kiy replied by drenching her partner with a well aimed slap of her flippers. "It could be a boy's name too," the dolphin told her. "But I think my calf is a girl anyway."
"You can tell that already? Is it that close?" Naeemah asked hopefully. She was happy that her dolphin was having a calf, but pregnancy leave was another matter altogether. It seemed like more exciting things had happened in the three months they'd been on leave than in the entire time Naeemah had been a dolphineer.
Kiy made a reproachful clicking sound. "Not that close, and I can't really tell. I'm just hoping. Thess wants it to be a son. I want a daughter."
"Well that's just Thess," Naeemah chuckled. "I think that's how nearly every male, dolphin or human, feels about their first child, so don't hurt him too much for it."
The dolphin grinned wider than usual. "Why not? He deserves it for getting me stuck on pregnancy leave and making me as graceful as a wherry."
"That's the natural consequences, dear, and we're going to be stuck for a while, so you can't keep hurting Thess for it," Naeemah reminded her dolphin.
"Why are we on leave now though," Kiy complained, swimming restlessly from side to side. "I can still swim just fine. I could be doing useful, fun things right now instead of floating here and feeling useless."
"You most certainly aren't useless," Naeemah assured her, "you're busy producing the next generation, which is a pretty important job from a dolphineer's point of view. You'll be back working before you know it."
"I think it's a very important job indeed!" Naeemah turned as she heard Thess' partner, Vano, striding towards them. "Kiy, Thess would be very dissapointed in you if he heard you talking like that."
Kiy eyed the young man. "If Thess would like to switch places with me, then he can be dissapointed. Where is that lump of useless flesh anyway?"
"They speak so lovingly of eachother," Naeemah noted with a chuckle and then ducked to avoid Kiy's answering spray of water.
"Your lump of useless flesh is eating, at the moment. He said he'd bring something back for his pregnant mate," Vano replied, seating himself next to Naeemah and letting his feet dangle into the water.
Kiy trilled happily. "Y'know, I think you two would make a great pair. Naeemah, what do you say we endure pregnancy leave together? Yours takes less time than mine anway."
Vano grinned as Naeemah blushed. "I don't think it's such a bad suggestion, Nae. You're a very smart dolphin, Kiy."
"Of course I am," Kiy replied with all her usual modesty.
"And a very rude one as well," Naeemah replied. "Get your long nose out of my personal life, Kiy. You'd have us both pregnant all the time if you had your way."
"She's a dolphin," Vano reminded her with a chuckle. "She doesn't keep her long nose out of anything, much less something so interesting as your personal life. You should know that by now."
"Well you," Naeemah reminded him sharply, "are not a dolphin, so you, your nose, and your anything else are to keep out of my personal life. Just because Kiy is infatuated with Thess doesn't mean I'm as insane as she is."
"She wants you," Kiy told Vano in a hushed tone and recieved a kick from her partner. "She's just trying to be mean."
Vano opened his mouth to reply but his words were lost in the deep toll of the dolphin bell being wrung frantically by an apprentice. "Shipwreck of the Amber Dawn off the coast of Tarigol Hold! All teams to rescue!"
Vano was gone in an instant without a parting shot, yelling at the top of his lungs for Thess and cursing his dolphin's appetite. The dock became complete chaos in an instant: dolphineers were rushing out, only half in their wetsuits, struggling to finish dressing and grab their equipment. Dolphins were streaming in from all directions, yelling frantically for their partners. Within a few minutes, it was all over and teams were headed out to the wreck.
Kiy was silent for only a moment. "Well get your sharding gear and let's go! I can still swim and that was a passenger ship that went down!"
"Kiy dear, we can't we're stuck here. We can't risk the life of your calf on a rescue," Naeemah reminded the dolphin gently. She wished they were with the rest of the dolphineers, too.
But Kiy was not to be deterred. "It's just a rescue! They need us! I won't stay here! I am going by myself if you don't come with me."
Five minutes later, they were headed out, far behind the other teams, Kiy swimming like mad to reach the wreck.
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