Once I was on my feet, it was time for a much-needed shower and bath. Until then I'd had nothing but sponge baths courtesy of my new caretaker and confidant. Since we were both Espers, Yaviri and I could intuit each other more deeply than others, so my anxiety toward being seen in anything less than twenty layers of clothing and a poncho were... not absent, but certainly not as bad as usual. Knowing shi was different too helped as well, but spending basically my entire adolescent and now adult life looking over my shoulder? That feeling isn't going away anytime soon.
Shi helped me through the whole process, from disrobing and walking to cleaning, drying, and re-dressing. My clothes were filthy, so we had to find something in this house that would actually fit me. I was easily the tallest out of the four of us - well, five, but I don't think Nelstrata has clothes - so there wasn't much to choose from. Thankfully what we did find was baggy and heavy enough for me to be somewhat comfortable.
If I just stayed here... maybe I could get used to lighter clothes.

For the next couple weeks, this became routine. Eventually I did get comfortable around Yaviri... something I honestly thought was impossible. And now, here I am, standing in the mirror... picking a swimsuit?! I know I wanted to open up, but isn't this a bit much?!
No... no, I literally asked for this, and this sister Esper I've gained knows my mind well enough shi'd never accept excuses. That's exactly the sort of person shi is. Fray's right... "gremlin" is exactly what I'd call hir right now.
Everything I try on makes me turn six different shades of red, but I finally settle on the bandeau and sarong. Any sort of one-piece suit would simply never fit me right, so out of all the options this is by far the most comfortable. A bit less exposure in the cleavage and enough concealment down below that I don't feel completely awkward, but there's no way I'm going out in this until night... so instead, I take a while to acclimate, sitting around in this strange, new outfit in relative privacy.

A whisper in the ether... "Proud", huh? I guess I never thought of it that way. I suppose you have a point... if this were anyone else's reflection, I wouldn't bat an eyelash. Hell, I'd be just as thrilled as any guy... and it's not like I really wanna look "manly" or something corny like that. I like the way I look. Yeah!

My face contorts in perplexity and annoyance as I look down to the absolute vision of smugness looking up at me, and I'm suddenly possessed of the urge to grab her face and push it away.

Once the artificial sunlight fades, I make my way out to the lake with Yaviri sitting on the cabin's porch. The water is cold at first, no surprise there, but I still my nerves and make my way in.
I can't deny how good it feels... how exhilarating... how refreshing. I dive under the surface, amusing myself with the way my hair moves, fanning out into a cloud from the single point of binding at the base. It takes until my lungs burn for me to finally decide to surface, and I stand sharply and gasp, throwing the length of my hair behind me and a spray of water into the air in the process. My heart is racing.

I notice shimmers of light in the corner of my eye and turn to see it... just like the fireflies I'd seen in my travels, twinkles of shimmering azure light flowing through the air, barely illuminating two bodies and following their complex, swirling movements like a dancer's veils. Neon Snow I've heard it called. A little of it shows up sometimes when I use my bioresonance, but I've never seen that much of it at once. It's beautiful.
I submerge again and imagine how the dancers might move next. My body follows suit, and I visualize those luminous particles following along. For just a moment, I almost think I can see them for real. And then, the hunger for air returns, and I surface with a gasp, that first breath sweeter than the one I'd just held.

The snow is gone now, a fleeting thing in the absence of strong resonance, and instead all I see is... oh!
I plunge back down immediately, covering my much-too-exposed figure with my arms and the water. I can already feel my face burning hot, returning contrast to the coolness of the water.
"Fray! Nel!"

I can already feel Yaviri's cattish smirk in the back of my mind. I can't tell if it's resonance or simple knowing at this point, but it doesn't make it any less frustratingly... right. I know shi's right, I know Nel's telling the truth, I know there isn't a problem outside the confines of my mind. So I stand... nervous, still too shy to stop covering myself, but I'm still standing. It's a start.

I'm shocked again when Nel steps forward and takes to the water as naturally as an otter, but that shock fades quickly as swim turns to play... as do my shyness and all my other troubles.