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When Nico arrived, Sylvie stared. From Nico’s grin and expectant look, she judged that surprise had been the desired reaction, and asked, “Why is your hair pink?”
“It’s dyed. I won a bet.”
“Won or lost?”
“Won. Someone bet me I wouldn’t dye my hair pink. Didn’t know me as well as he thought he did.”
Taking in the slightly frilly dress, and cat’s ears, Sylvie asked, “And the rest?” They were not going to a costume party.
“Just seemed to go with it well.”
If it was a joke at Nico’s expense, she sure had fun with it, anyway.

Sometimes, survival was a struggle against nature. Finding shelter from the elements as well as food was essential.
Sometimes, the elements were all on your side, and food was there for the taking.
Nico wondered if it counted as person-against-nature or person-against self when she just could not stomach fruit that called out “Eat me! I’m ripe and juicy!” from its trees.
It was one reason why she disliked places that seemed taken right out of fairy tales.

Because it was better than thinking of anything else she might complain about regarding being trapped in an abandoned mine with a collapsed entrance, Nico said, “You know what I hate most about this? Not being able to see a thing.”

Her companion did not answer, but there was a brittle little crackling noise, and a faintly glowing, angular object between their thumb and forefinger.

“Oh, thanks. What is that?”

“A piece of my soul.”

“And it… glows.”

“Temporarily. It will last a few hours.”

“Um. And that’s no problem, ripping a bit off your soul?”

Her companion seemed as confused at the question as she was at the whole thing, but after a moment answered, “It will grow back.”

“OK, then.”

A short time after entering the recently abandoned complex, Nico stopped in front of a lever. Whatever mechanism it belonged to must have been under the floor.

When she didn’t say anything, only glared at a sign sloppily taped up at the wall next to it as if it offended her, Daaren asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Says ‘Do not pull lever’.”

“Ah.” He understood the dilemma, and why it bothered her quite a bit.

“They could at least have mentioned what would happen if it was.”

“Would that make deciding if it was a trick easier?” he asked doubtfully.

She snorted. “No, but I could just pretend I believed it.” After another moment of consideration, she shook her head. “Oh, it’s stupid. Let’s just get on with it.”

“Right.”

After they had left it behind, she still couldn’t let it go. “I bet it does nothing, and they put it there just to mess with my head.”

Now, that idea would have been easy to test. So… “It seems to work.”

The gentle mocking tone apparently got through to her, pulling the tension out of her along with the irritation. “I’d better pay attention, eh?”

“Right.”

“With a good rifle, I could shoot him from here.” In Nico’s opinion, when you picked sides, you might as well do it properly. “Unfortunately I don’t think they make any here.”
On the way back from the lookout point to the camp, Daaren remarked, “I don’t like guns.”
“Oh? Why’s that?” He had shown pragmatic attitudes to fighting and killing, so moral objections would have been a surprise.
“They are too loud.”
Nico wondered if it was a good or a bad thing that an opportunity to introduce him to the concept of silencers was a long way off.

When after a lengthy chat the merfolk offered Nico a mask that would let her breathe water instead of air, and invited he to visit their realm, she took that rare opportunity immediately.
She had just arrived at those shores, and none of the land dwellers had told her yet that such a mask would grow to her face. nor that humans thus trapped under water, and made even more clumsy by cutting off their hands, were in the eyes of the merfolk amusing pets.